Diamond drink question

[blondie from arizona]

When we use our vouchers, are the waiters supposed to make the drink the same way that it is on the menu. Or, do they just quickly shake and pour to get it over with?  Specifically, I have been drinking the rum punch. Not a fan of the new recipe; however, it says it has a "float of Kraken Black Spiced rum". It is obvious that the drinks that I am receiving do not have this. So, if I am in the lounge with my same waiter, should I say something to him? I don't want to be looked upon as a problem, but I would like to have a nice drink. I have found the consistencies of the drinks have not been great between bars. I know on my last cruise, the guy was new to bartending and I didn't want to stress him out. However, 3 weeks later, I am going back on the same ship and will probably have him be my main drink guy. How do I go about getting something better, or at least getting what is on the menu?? And, yes, we tip.

[smokeybandit]

How you "pay" has nothing to do with how the bartender decides to make a drink.

[Ocean Boy]

If you think the drink is made incorrectly then speak up. Bartenders come in different shapes and sizes. Find one that you like. When I was on Odessey there was one bartender in the Schooner Bar that I would not let make my drinks. I did not like what he produced.

 

And... why are you going to have someone on your next cruise be your main drink guy if you were unhappy with him on your last cruise?🤔🤔

[firefly333]

43 minutes ago, blondie from arizona said:

When we use our vouchers, are the waiters supposed to make the drink the same way that it is on the menu. Or, do they just quickly shake and pour to get it over with?  Specifically, I have been drinking the rum punch. Not a fan of the new recipe; however, it says it has a "float of Kraken Black Spiced rum". It is obvious that the drinks that I am receiving do not have this. So, if I am in the lounge with my same waiter, should I say something to him? I don't want to be looked upon as a problem, but I would like to have a nice drink. I have found the consistencies of the drinks have not been great between bars. I know on my last cruise, the guy was new to bartending and I didn't want to stress him out. However, 3 weeks later, I am going back on the same ship and will probably have him be my main drink guy. How do I go about getting something better, or at least getting what is on the menu?? And, yes, we tip.

Not every bar may have kracken rum or whatever. A guy at my table went to another bar to get his pre dinner drink made. 

[CntPAcruiser]

There can be a great deal of variance among the bars and lounges on board a ship. Not all of them have the same setup and range of spirits. Not all bartenders are as well trained or experienced. I've found that you have to experiment and find the better ones, or at least the ones that suit you. 

 

Our worst experience with Diamond drinks was in the lounge on Grandeur some time back, very slow, poor quality (not using the specified spirits), and outright awful mistakes. For example, I ordered a scotch and soda and got scotch with sprite. Ack!

 

From that point on I ordered only from the bars, where I could watch my drinks being made, and even then it was no guarantee of a good cocktail. Some of the bartenders must have been very new, or didn't care, and were sloppy about making drinks. There was one in particular who went out of his way to ruin my drink once when I asked for a slight variation (gin martini with a little extra vermouth--it was almost an upside-down martini the way he made it). I gave up on that ship.

 

On our most recent cruise on Adventure, the bar outside the Diamond lounge was providing the drinks, and they were a great bunch of guys. One had less training, but he was learning. The other two were very open to trying out new cocktails on request. So you just have to hope the staff are good and find the right lounge/server/bartender for you.

[Another_Critic]

Obviously YMMV, but I've had great DL service on seven sailings on Grandeur out of Baltimore, from Nov. 2013 to Feb. 2020.

[CntPAcruiser]

11 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Obviously YMMV, but I've had great DL service on seven sailings on Grandeur out of Baltimore, from Nov. 2013 to Feb. 2020.

I think that it was due to a lot of new crew and a lack of training. However, the management were not helpful at all when issues were brought to their attention. Somewhere up the chain, there was something different about bar service in general and very specifically in the Diamond lounge on this ship/sailing. This was also the first time I had encountered a Diamond lounge where you could not order from the bartender and let them know (or make sure they understood) what you were asking for. All drink orders were taken by servers, which added to the problem because of communication issues.

[Tree_skier]

On 4/15/2023 at 5:52 AM, Ocean Boy said:

If you think the drink is made incorrectly then speak up. Bartenders come in different shapes and sizes. Find one that you like. When I was on Odessey there was one bartender in the Schooner Bar that I would not let make my drinks. I did not like what he produced.

 

And... why are you going to have someone on your next cruise be your main drink guy if you were unhappy with him on your last cruise?🤔🤔

I usually find "my guy" on every cruise.  Day 1 and 2 I go to the venues I will likely frequent though out ht cruise and experiment.  It doesn't take long to find the guy you want making your drinks.  I have run into a few along the way that I wouldn't let pour me a soda let alone mix my favorite drinks. I can't imagine choosing that one to be my go to guy.  They don't need me to tell them how to bartend, if they don't know how to do it right I just move along.  There are lots of bars and bartenders to go to...

[Magicat]

We drink caesars in the morning and "teach" the bartender on how we like it.  Don't be afraid to let them know how you like it.

 

[blondie from arizona]

Thanks for the help. My DH liked our guy and got the perfect drink from him. That is why I didn't want to change guys. Plus, once they start to know you in the lounge, you usually keep the guy you started with. I had asked a similar question, which I didn't get a very good response too. I was really wanting the OLD recipe for the rum punch. Then I could tell him how to make it. It appears that isn't going to happen. I will work on him this week when we get back on. He was very agreeable to changing the drinks; he just didn't have a lot of knowledge on what to add to get it more like the old drink as he was not here then. 

[ABC Cruisers]

On our recent B2B on the Harmony we quickly found our guy at the Solarium Bar on the first cruise. On the 2nd leg of the cruises everyone was changed around to different bars, our guy ended up at the Rising Tide. A brand new very young guy joined the Solarium Bar crew who knew nothing about being a bartender. Whenever we went there and ended up with him, it was an adventure to see what he would come up with, if he started going way off track we would help him out. One day we ended up with him and a head bartender was there, I ordered a white russian, he was like a deer in headlights. As I went to help him the head guy shook his head no to me and said let him do it himself. He took out a large glass and looked at the bottles as he decided which one to choose in front of the boss. He decided on Baileys and poured 3 shots into the glass (luckily I love Baileys). Next up came the vodka, he choose Grey Goose, 3 full shots of that went into the glass. He looked at me like he was wondering if he was on the right track, his boss again said let him figure it out. Another bartender put milk in front of him, in went the milk and he went to shake it up. The boss looked at me and said what’s the main ingredient in a white russian, I said Kahlua, in went 3 shots of that. The boss asked me if I wanted it made without Baileys since that’s not in the drink, I told him I add Baileys when I make them at home, so all was good lol! It was definitely quite the bonus drink for a Diamond drink. When we spoke to him it sounded like he and others are hired, but they are on their own to study how to make the drinks, so they like the ones in the bar menus that list the ingredients.

[OCSC Mike]

3 minutes ago, ABC Cruisers said:

It was definitely quite the bonus drink for a Diamond drink.

 

Sounds like one heck of a drink, lol! Big fan of Baileys myself.