House Spirits .

[margo2011]

Hi ,we are looking at a cruise from Liverpool and can’t see anywhere the drinks package brands .It just mentioned house but other lines we have used ie, Celebrity,Azamara and Several others usually state the brands .We are usually happy with house wines but had one horrendous cruise with Marella  when they were undrinkable.I’m not looking for premium brands as I use mixers but would like to have heard of the brand I am drinking .Would it be better to just pay as we go knowing then what we are purchasing .I was surprised at the difference in pricing for the package for a short cruise 5 days £35 pp per day and £19 pp per day for anything over 6.

Please if any regular cruiser with Fred can share some brands for scotch and gin would be appreciated also didn’t see any cocktails .

Thanks in anticipation.

[tring]

28 minutes ago, margo2011 said:

Hi ,we are looking at a cruise from Liverpool and can’t see anywhere the drinks package brands .It just mentioned house but other lines we have used ie, Celebrity,Azamara and Several others usually state the brands .We are usually happy with house wines but had one horrendous cruise with Marella  when they were undrinkable.I’m not looking for premium brands as I use mixers but would like to have heard of the brand I am drinking .Would it be better to just pay as we go knowing then what we are purchasing .I was surprised at the difference in pricing for the package for a short cruise 5 days £35 pp per day and £19 pp per day for anything over 6.

Please if any regular cruiser with Fred can share some brands for scotch and gin would be appreciated also didn’t see any cocktails .

Thanks in anticipation.

 

Fred's drinks prices are not high, but the drinks package is almost twice the price for cruises of five nights or less and just not worth it if you are just a social drinker.

 

Could be worth the £19 for the package on longer cruises, but the spirits are unknown brands.  I find them fine within a mixer, but DH says the brandy is a bit harsh if neat.  Wines usually fairly drinkable, and you can also get glasses of cava which we like along with the cocktail of the day.  Hot drinks are not included in package.  If you have the package, you would have the choice of buying a bottle of wine or other drinks for half price.

 

just seen your edit - cocktails or mock cocktails are not included, though they did start including the cocktail of the day a number of months before covid.  Can be bought at half price though if you have the package.  Hot drinks are not available at half price, though TBF they are not overpriced like on other cruise lines either.  There is a list of what is included on Fred's website, though of course there could always be some changes.

Edited June 27, 2021 by tring

[margo2011]

Thank you for this information ,think we will pay as we go .

[Colin_Cameron]

The house gin is (or was) Kinross. Never having seen it anywhere else I thought it might be labelled, if not made for FO. But a couple of years ago I saw it for sale in Menorca, on the top shelf along side Bombay Sapphire and Tanquery 10!

 

I found it pretty tasteless. In a G&T all you can taste is the tonic, and you certainly couldn’t make a martini with it.

 

The whisky, never heard of before or since, was much better. I take mine neat and found it perfectly acceptable, if forgettable. 

 

The wines were fine. There was a choice of three reds, three whites, a rose and a sparkling, sometimes Prosecco sometimes Cava sometimes a Hock. Although most nights they would only have two reds and two whites to hand we found that if you wanted the other one it was no problem.

 

As tring has said one of the advantages of the package is that non-included drinks are half price although they have now excluded the top-end wines and champagnes. You used to be able to pay for several days worth of the package with one bottle of good wine.

 

Of course everybody’s experience is now a year and a half out of date and any or all of this could have changed.

[Britboys]

6 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said:

The house gin is (or was) Kinross. Never having seen it anywhere else I thought it might be labelled, if not made for FO. But a couple of years ago I saw it for sale in Menorca, on the top shelf along side Bombay Sapphire and Tanquery 10!

 

I found it pretty tasteless. In a G&T all you can taste is the tonic, and you certainly couldn’t make a martini with it.

 

The whisky, never heard of before or since, was much better. I take mine neat and found it perfectly acceptable, if forgettable. 

 

The wines were fine. There was a choice of three reds, three whites, a rose and a sparkling, sometimes Prosecco sometimes Cava sometimes a Hock. Although most nights they would only have two reds and two whites to hand we found that if you wanted the other one it was no problem.

 

As tring has said one of the advantages of the package is that non-included drinks are half price although they have now excluded the top-end wines and champagnes. You used to be able to pay for several days worth of the package with one bottle of good wine.

 

Of course everybody’s experience is now a year and a half out of date and any or all of this could have changed.

Apparently, Kinross Gin is made in Tarragona, Spain. That would explain why it was on sale in Menorca.

[Britboys]

10 hours ago, margo2011 said:

Hi ,we are looking at a cruise from Liverpool and can’t see anywhere the drinks package brands .It just mentioned house but other lines we have used ie, Celebrity,Azamara and Several others usually state the brands .We are usually happy with house wines but had one horrendous cruise with Marella  when they were undrinkable.I’m not looking for premium brands as I use mixers but would like to have heard of the brand I am drinking .Would it be better to just pay as we go knowing then what we are purchasing .I was surprised at the difference in pricing for the package for a short cruise 5 days £35 pp per day and £19 pp per day for anything over 6.

Please if any regular cruiser with Fred can share some brands for scotch and gin would be appreciated also didn’t see any cocktails .

Thanks in anticipation.

The house wine on my one Marella cruise was drinkable but certainly nothing special. Gordon's Gin was available on the all-inclusive but one of the things that annoyed me was if you didn't ask for Gordon's, they automatically gave you a foul gin called Kamel...

[margo2011]

Sorry for my late thank you ,we have booked on Iona mid august looked a better option ,pity having to travel to Southampton but looking forward now, thanks for your replies .

[Britboys]

On 7/27/2021 at 5:50 PM, margo2011 said:

Sorry for my late thank you ,we have booked on Iona mid august looked a better option ,pity having to travel to Southampton but looking forward now, thanks for your replies .

Wow. That will certainly be very different to Borealis with Fred Olsen...😄

[tring]

12 hours ago, Britboys said:

Wow. That will certainly be very different to Borealis with Fred Olsen...😄

 

In our opinion Borealis is very different to other Fred ships and we would not pay balcony prices on Fred so need the public areas.  Hope to get that review done within in a few days.  Home from Scotland now, but will be back on Borealis on the 6th August - not much rest for us, but determined not to be grounded after that last year 🙂

 

[July morning]

I hope your next Borealis cruise goes smoothly, looking forward to reading your review when you get time! 😁

[Britboys]

6 hours ago, tring said:

 

In our opinion Borealis is very different to other Fred ships and we would not pay balcony prices on Fred so need the public areas.  Hope to get that review done within in a few days.  Home from Scotland now, but will be back on Borealis on the 6th August - not much rest for us, but determined not to be grounded after that last year 🙂

 

Just meant that there will be a huge contrast between the experience on Borealis and that of Iona...