Beer choices

[CLOU]

I saw an old thread on this, but it did not mention what beers might be available on board.  I am not much of a beer drinker, so other than Grolsch, I don't remember what beer choices there are.  I am sailing in a few weeks with my borther-in-law and he drinks only beer.   Last time we cruised together, following advice form this board, I contacted guest relations and asked them to stock some pale ale readily available in the US (we were sailing from Boston).  Disappointingly, my request was not met.  I would like to try again.   This time we are sailing from Reykjavik, so I will request a common Icelandic beer.  However, In anticipation of disappointment again, can anyone tell me what beers are generally available on board?  You can skip any light beers, because I know that is not his style.  Thanks.

[Accessor]

As a beer drinker, they have very few great beer choices. No IPA's. No wheat. No dark beer. Pretty pedestrian selection. The best chance of getting anything decent is to meet with the head of F&B or bar services and request something immediately when you get onboard.

 

About 1/2 way thru our 14 days cruise we did get some local IPA beers. Keep your expectations low otherwise you will be disappointed again.

 

[jdk-atlga]

Does anyone know if they stock gluten free beer? I know that I can request it, but I don't know if anyone just winged it...

[Hoyaheel]

We were spoiled as we sailed an Alaska itinerary last year and they stocked MANY local beers (every variety Alaska bottles, I think ;-) and some other brands as well. They had it well stocked throughout AND a special event around the pool one afternoon.

[galeforce9]

9 minutes ago, Hoyaheel said:

We were spoiled as we sailed an Alaska itinerary last year and they stocked MANY local beers (every variety Alaska bottles, I think 😉 and some other brands as well. They had it well stocked throughout AND a special event around the pool one afternoon.

Unfortunately that is the exception. We too have experienced this but not before or since. 

[Hoyaheel]

I did note we were spoiled ;-)

[jenidallas]

Hubby requests Belgian beers and we’ve always had great luck getting a special stash stocked for him and delivered to our suite daily.

[SKP946]

When we sailed “Route of the Vikings” (Dover UK to Boston) in 2016, Quest had just done a 16 day circumnavigation of the UK, and the Bar Manager had bought Boutique beers in every port; so we had an amazing selection, with a great many dark beers.

What cruise are you doing?

[galeforce9]

Just now, SKP946 said:

When we sailed “Route of the Vikings” (Dover UK to Boston) in 2016, Quest had just done a 16 day circumnavigation of the UK, and the Bar Manager had bought Boutique beers in every port; so we had an amazing selection, with a great many dark beers.

What cruise are you doing?

We did this in 2018.  The only effort to get local beer on board was in Scotland where we had a special display of mcewan’s lager in tins! This is certainly not boutique!! 

[CLOU]

As I stated earlier, last time my advance special request was not met. Perhaps I will try again. What is a reasonable amount to ask for? This is a fifteen day cruise and my brother-in-law pretty much only drinks beer, water and Diet Coke.

[cruiseej]

Clou, you mentioned that you're sailing in a few weeks. I don't know the ideal lead time, but I suspect that may not be enough for them to accommodate a special request like this. I picture that the containers of supplies that are pre-positioned in various port cities are coordinated far in advance. No harm in asking, but it may be that you would have needed to do this awhile ago to have a greater chance of success.

[jdk-atlga]

I spoke with my Seabourn TA yesterday regarding gluten free beer on-board. She indicated to me to let her know what brand and quantity I want for our December cruise and she she will see what she can do. Now, to find the available beer brand...Good thing that I am retiring tomorrow - I have some time to try several GF beers in advance. 

- jdk

[Hlitner]

37 minutes ago, jdk-atlga said:

I spoke with my Seabourn TA yesterday regarding gluten free beer on-board. She indicated to me to let her know what brand and quantity I want for our December cruise and she she will see what she can do. Now, to find the available beer brand...Good thing that I am retiring tomorrow - I have some time to try several GF beers in advance. 

- jdk

Congratulations on your retirement.  Now you will have more time to cruise and travel.  When we retired it was like being kids in a candy store when it came to travel.

 

Hank

[jdk-atlga]

Thanks - I am going to have to be very judicious with my selections. One thing that I have noted is that it pays to wait for SB cruises, albeit with the risk of not getting what you want in terms of selection and/or cabin. Generally, same year cruises are discounted (at least for the ones I've been tracking for years) compared to next year's same itinerary. That said, I have booked one of the new Venture expeditions - so there goes that theory...😏 jdk

[CLOU]

I have spoken to my travel agent and she spoke to Seabourn.  I asked for beers available in the UK or Iceland since those are the two countries which will be visited by the Quest right before our cruise starts in Reykjavik and so choices should be available.  We will see if anything comes of it.   

[jenidallas]

We’ve seen two different types of special provisioning done successfully...

 

1. Special requests that can be fulfilled via normal provisioning channels (e.g. “I’d like diet ginger ale”)

 

2. Those that can be easily fulfilled in port with direct purveyors (e.g. “I’d really like some IPA beers” or “it would be great to have Nutella with my toast”) which are two I’ve had friends request on past cruises.  Seabourn usually has someone who does these types of special errands in port each day and they go to the best place possible to get what they can.

 

Where I think people get disappointed is...

 

3. Special requests that are not easily fulfilled with standard provisioning stocks (e.g. what Carnival keeps in major ports) and cannot obtain that in any of the ports via normal channels (a relatively uncommon type of gin, for example).  

 

The other issue with local provisioning is making sure the F&B manager knows exactly what you want and in what quantity.  My husband will drink a couple of bottles of Belgian white ale a day, for example.  Those get brought directly to our suite.  But he also knows that if he asks for them at one of the bars that a) they might not have them and b) that other guests may deplete the limited stock if they see him enjoying one.

 

[SKP946]

Here is a list of the beer CURRENTLY* available on Ovation sailing off the coast of Spain, having come from cruising in Asia.

i would expect more variety as we head further north.

* might not be the same tomorrow🤔

[SKP946]

[BalbTheSailor]

On 5/7/2019 at 8:54 PM, galeforce9 said:

Unfortunately that is the exception. We too have experienced this but not before or since. 

 

The Alaskan beer was very nice 🙂 Tell them about our Black Sheep Ale experience 🙂

Edited May 12, 2019 by BalbTheSailor

[CLOU]

Thanks SKP946 but I cannot open these links.

[SKP946]

11 hours ago, CLOU said:

Thanks SKP946 but I cannot open these links.

 

Just a photo of the print out, it comes back on my screen. I’ll post again:-

 

[CLOU]

hanks SKP946.  As I remembered, pretty limited for a beer drinker who likes interesting beer, and tends to drink iPAs.