Cost of specialty coffee

[Islandbuoy]

Can anyone tell me the price for specialty coffees? Need to decide if user drink vouchers or pay separately?

[not-enough-cruising]

19 minutes ago, Islandbuoy said:

Can anyone tell me the price for specialty coffees? Need to decide if user drink vouchers or pay separately?

Figure about $5 plus 18%

[livingonthebeach]

23 minutes ago, Islandbuoy said:

Can anyone tell me the price for specialty coffees? Need to decide if user drink vouchers or pay separately?

 

For my upcoming April cruise, I checked my cruise planner and there is a coffee card available:

From the CP site:

 

"A card that entitles you to any 15 specialty espresso-based coffees throughout your vacation, all for one low price. Start the morning off right with a macchiato or latte and reenergize your afternoons with iced coffee or an espresso, then finish your meal with a cappuccino. Or enjoy your favorite cup of joe any time you'd like and save up to 50% on individually purchased coffees."

 

For my sailing the card is currently selling at $31. I'm not sure if It includes gratuities or not. If it does, then it comes out to $2.06 per coffee. If it doesn't, then it's $2.43 per cup.  Check your cruise planner for availability. 

[not-enough-cruising]

12 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

For my upcoming April cruise, I checked my cruise planner and there is a coffee card available:

From the CP site:

 

"A card that entitles you to any 15 specialty espresso-based coffees throughout your vacation, all for one low price. Start the morning off right with a macchiato or latte and reenergize your afternoons with iced coffee or an espresso, then finish your meal with a cappuccino. Or enjoy your favorite cup of joe any time you'd like and save up to 50% on individually purchased coffees."

 

For my sailing the card is currently selling at $31. I'm not sure if It includes gratuities or not. If it does, then it comes out to $2.06 per coffee. If it doesn't, then it's $2.43 per cup.  Check your cruise planner for availability. 

Keep In mind, on many ships the coffee card gets punched 2 or even 3 times depending on the number of espresso shots in your particular drink. Depending on the ships policy the card may or may not be a deal. Last year on Liberty they weren’t allowing cold blended coffees on the punch card at all. 

[TwinMamainMN]

On oDyssey last week, we used the coffee card. I paid $31 for it with 15 “punches”. We drank a coconut latte every day. Regular latte was one punch, a large latte (2 shots of espresso) was 2 punches. We didn’t have any other speciality drinks so I can’t comment on that part. For us, it was a good deal.

[ladysail2]

I’ve bought the coffee card several times and disagree with punching the card several times for one drink. The description should say…good for 15 small sized drinks.  To me, one drink equals one cup.  I like at least a medium sized coffee.  Back at the beginning of the card offering, you could get 15 drinks per card.  But like so many other ‘shrinkages’, this is just another example.

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, TwinMamainMN said:

On oDyssey last week, we used the coffee card. I paid $31 for it with 15 “punches”. We drank a coconut latte every day. Regular latte was one punch, a large latte (2 shots of espresso) was 2 punches. We didn’t have any other speciality drinks so I can’t comment on that part. For us, it was a good deal.

 

Was it $31 even? or did you have to pay the 18% gratuity on top of the $31?  Either way, this seems like a good deal if you were going to order speciality coffee anyway.  This got me thinking.....for those interested in comparing the DBP to a la carte drinks....

 

I priced out the coffee card and the case of water that you can also purchase in the cruise planner (sometimes on sale) and if a good part of why you're buying the DBP is for the specialty coffee and water, it works out that if you order 4 or 5 alcoholic drinks paying separately (without the DBP), then add the cost of the coffee card and the pre-purchased water, you come out ahead without the DBP.  Additionally, if you have C & A vouchers of 4-6 drinks a day and / or casino free drinks status, the DBP is not a good value -- as a matter of fact, you would lose money unless you drank 10+ alcoholic drinks per day. JMTCW.

[TwinMamainMN]

3 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Was it $31 even? or did you have to pay the 18% gratuity on top of the $31?

It was about $31 total. I don’t remember the exact cost. I’m not even sure we paid 18-% gratuity because it’s not alcohol, just the coffee card.

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, TwinMamainMN said:

It was about $31 total. I don’t remember the exact cost. I’m not even sure we paid 18-% gratuity because it’s not alcohol, just the coffee card.

 

Thanks. It's a good deal grats or not. 

[ladysail2]

9 minutes ago, TwinMamainMN said:

It was about $31 total. I don’t remember the exact cost. I’m not even sure we paid 18-% gratuity because it’s not alcohol, just the coffee card.

I’m sure they add gratuities when purchasing the coffee card. When buying a coffee on the ship, there’s a line to add a tip for the server when signing for the coffee/drink.  

[livingonthebeach]

13 minutes ago, ladysail2 said:

I’m sure they add gratuities when purchasing the coffee card. When buying a coffee on the ship, there’s a line to add a tip for the server when signing for the coffee/drink.  

 

I just did a mock purchase of the coffee card and there's a $5.58 gratuity fee added which makes it a total of $36.58 for 15. That comes out to $2.44 per coffee which is still a very good deal compared to a la carte.

[ladysail2]

Just now, livingonthebeach said:

 

I just did a mock purchase of the coffee card and there's a $5.58 gratuity fee added which makes it a total of $36.58 for 15. That comes out to $2.44 per coffee which is still a very good deal compared to a la carte.

It sounds good..but if they punch your card 3 times for a large size, then one is paying $7.32 for the specialty coffee, incl gratuity.   I’m not sure what a large specialty coffee costs these days.  And you only end up with 5 large coffees per card.  To me, one drink is one drink, regardless of the size.  The description says 15 drinks, not 15 shots of expresso.  I only get a half shot anyway.  I don’t buy the card anymore.  

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, ladysail2 said:

It sounds good..but if they punch your card 3 times for a large size, then one is paying $7.32 for the specialty coffee, incl gratuity.   I’m not sure what a large specialty coffee costs these days.  And you only end up with 5 large coffees per card.  To me, one drink is one drink, regardless of the size.  The description says 15 drinks, not 15 shots of expresso.  I only get a half shot anyway.  I don’t buy the card anymore.  

 

Question: If you buy a coffee without the card and ask for 2 or 3 additional espresso shots in that coffee do they charge you for 1, 2, or 3 coffees?  If charged for just one coffee drink, I would point that out and politely ask that my card be treated as such. Or another way around it is use the card when not asking for additional shots and pay for the additional coffee with shots a la carte-- assuming that one is a heavy coffee consumer of course. 

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

If you buy a coffee without the card and ask for 2 or 3 additional espresso shots in that coffee do they charge you for 1, 2, or 3 coffees?

This why you buy it on board after getting the answer to that question from the barista - the coffee card is one the very few items that is the same price on board as in the planner. 

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

This why you buy it on board after getting the answer to that question from the barista - the coffee card is one the very few items that is the same price on board as in the planner. 

 

Yes that makes sense if it's the same price. Do they always sell the coffee card onboard or is it like the 10 drink punch card that you sometimes see and sometimes not?

[ladysail2]

11 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Question: If you buy a coffee without the card and ask for 2 or 3 additional espresso shots in that coffee do they charge you for 1, 2, or 3 coffees?  If charged for just one coffee drink, I would point that out and politely ask that my card be treated as such. Or another way around it is use the card when not asking for additional shots and pay for the additional coffee with shots a la carte-- assuming that one is a heavy coffee consumer of course. 

Yes, additional shots means an additional cost.  The servers are only doing what they’re trained to do….but talking to their supervisor or manager seems impossible. Customer Service doesn’t know what to do.  I ask for a large coffee with just 1/2 shot of expresso, and they take 3 punches. Not fair in my way of thinking.  I’ve tried explaining how the description says..good for 15 drinks….but they have to follow orders.  So I simply don’t buy the card, but still might buy 2 or 3 coffees per cruise.

[ladysail2]

9 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Yes that makes sense if it's the same price. Do they always sell the coffee card onboard or is it like the 10 drink punch card that you sometimes see and sometimes not?

I’ve never seen the coffee card for sale on board. It might be but I’ve never seen it.  Ive always bought it through the Planner.  I’ve seen the 10-drink card for sale on board…signs anyway, sitting on the bars.

[ladysail2]

15 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

This why you buy it on board after getting the answer to that question from the barista - the coffee card is one the very few items that is the same price on board as in the planner. 

Where do you buy the coffee card on board?

[livingonthebeach]

3 minutes ago, ladysail2 said:

Yes, additional shots means an additional cost.  The servers are only doing what they’re trained to do….but talking to their supervisor or manager seems impossible. Customer Service doesn’t know what to do.  I ask for a large coffee with just 1/2 shot of expresso, and they take 3 punches. Not fair in my way of thinking.  I’ve tried explaining how the description says..good for 15 drinks….but they have to follow orders.  So I simply don’t buy the card, but still might buy 2 or 3 coffees per cruise.

 

Thanks that's good to know and might change someone's decision to buy or not especially if they add several espresso shots to their order.  But if they charge you for 3 coffees at the regular price if you don't have the card, three punches is still less than buying three coffees at regular price. 

[Biker19]

48 minutes ago, ladysail2 said:

Where do you buy the coffee card on board?

The coffee shops should have it. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, livingonthebeach said:

Do they always sell the coffee card onboard or is it like the 10 drink punch card that you sometimes see and sometimes not?

It should be available all the time.  

[twinmommy08]

This is why I always get the refreshment package. I drink 2 double shot espresso drinks in the morning, afternoon iced coffee, and at least 5 bottles of water per day. I always come out ahead. 

[ladysail2]

1 hour ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Thanks that's good to know and might change someone's decision to buy or not especially if they add several espresso shots to their order.  But if they charge you for 3 coffees at the regular price if you don't have the card, three punches is still less than buying three coffees at regular price. 

I’ll have to check that out. 😁

[livingonthebeach]

32 minutes ago, twinmommy08 said:

This is why I always get the refreshment package. I drink 2 double shot espresso drinks in the morning, afternoon iced coffee, and at least 5 bottles of water per day. I always come out ahead. 

 

Yes that probably works to your advantage on a longer cruise vs a short 3 or 4 day cruise. 

[mjkacmom]

2 hours ago, ladysail2 said:

It sounds good..but if they punch your card 3 times for a large size, then one is paying $7.32 for the specialty coffee, incl gratuity.   I’m not sure what a large specialty coffee costs these days.  And you only end up with 5 large coffees per card.  To me, one drink is one drink, regardless of the size.  The description says 15 drinks, not 15 shots of expresso.  I only get a half shot anyway.  I don’t buy the card anymore.  

I just purchased 3 medium coffee drinks from my local Starbucks, $25.