Louis Aquamarine help needed for March departure!

[mktopks]

We will be on the Aquamarine on a 4 day Greek island cruise in a couple of weeks with a group of friends. We are sorting through the various beverage packages, trying to figure out the best option. There are wine/beer packages you can use for lunch/dinner only that are much less than the "all-inclusive" option. It would help if anyone who has been on this line could tell us if you can bring on your own water bottles, soft drinks, wine/beer, or liquor for use in your cabin.

 

Thanks for any help any experienced cruisers are able to share!:)

[mmt44]

I will be on a mid-March departure. Several months ago I sent an email to Louis Cruise office asking about free water at dinner. No reply.

 

I have read that the stated policy is to not allow bottled drinks to be brought onboard. I have also read that no hand luggage or handbags were searched.

 

I am planning on buying bottled water and soda as we go. There are 2 port calls every day.

[CruiseDirections]

We were on the Aquamarine Greek Isles cruise in March of 2008. We did not purchase a beverage package but our friends did get the wine package for dinner and enjoyed it. All they had in the beverage dispensers was water, and that is all they served at meals, we did have coffee at breakfast. If you wanted anything else you have to get it from the bar, and they charged in euros making it more expensive. The ship is old and the beds leave a lot to be desired, one thing I would bring if I went again is a washcloth! There were none in the bathroom. I gave my room steward a $10 tip when he found one for me, but he said it was the only one he could find so I used it every day.

 

All in all the beverages did not matter, the cabin did not matter, the ports are amazing! We did excursions at all except Mykonos (because it is easy to walk up to the windmills and around town on your own). Ephesis is the most fantastic ruin and we saw and we saw a lot of them. We would go back to these ports in heartbeat. We also enjoyed the 3 days we spent in Athens and our trip to Delphi.

 

Have fun on your cruise and don't sweat the small stuff.

[mktopks]

Thank you for the replies. We are looking forward to this cruise and are well aware of the past reviews. Our expectations are not for a luxury experience but as a fun time with the friends in our group and experiencing the island ports. We are not "sweating the small stuff". My only question is for those who have been on Louis in the past, was it your experience that they do confiscate wine/beer/water bottles/soda that are brought on board (for use in your stateroom)? I know the stated policy is no liquor brought on board, but does this in fact, happen?

 

Thanks to all!

[petpringles]

MKtopsKS...yes we too are leaving at the end of the month and very interested on what people think about the beverage package...alcoholic vs non alcoholic...anyone?:)

[CruiseDirections]

I don't remember them confiscating anything returning from ports but I did not see anyone trying to bring alcohol onboard. There was no ice in the room so we did not try to bring soft drinks for in-room consumption like we usually do. Sorry I don't have the answers you are looking for.

[YoungDubFan]

I think the best option is to buy bottled water in port and drink that. I may buy some wine or sodas in port as well. I don't see how they can stop you from using soda or water at meals.

[YoungDubFan]

I did read, over on TripAdvisor.com

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g189398-i192-k2086153-o20-Our_4_day_Cruise_on_the_Louis_Cruise_ship_Aquamarine-Greece.html

 

that the prices for the all you can drink options have gone up: the current daily rate for unlimited drinks (including most, but not all alcohol choices) is 27.95Euros/day. The rate for unlimited non-alcohol drinks is 14.95Euroes/day.

 

Not sure if any of you who are going have this information.