Margaritas aboard: any good?

[Mosaic]

Never had one on a ship, do they have them?  Do you like them?

[glorialagos]

Yes and yes.  The margaritas were very good.  I prefer the classic, not frozen, with salt.  

 

Due to having the HIA package, my friend and I tried a large variety of drinks.  The only "bad" drink we had was the smoking one?  I believe it was bourbon?  The presentation was fun and we felt very special with the attention given to make these.  However, we are not whiskey drinkers and we both took one sip and could not drink them.  

 

Cosmos became our favorite but we requested regular glasses.  The martini glasses were too easy to spill!

[ger_77]

I love strawberry margaritas and yes, I do enjoy them on every ship!

[aliaschief]

You can be specific with the bartender how you like your margarita. Such as not too sweet etc. Years ago they used  to put some club soda in margaritas. Always had to remind no soda water.

[TiogaCruiser]

42 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

You can be specific with the bartender how you like your margarita. Such as not too sweet etc. Years ago they used  to put some club soda in margaritas. Always had to remind no soda water.

Club soda? Is that common?

 

I’ve only had margaritas from 2 restaurants, and those we make at home from one of the restaurants recipes, and there is no club soda in that.

[aliaschief]

21 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Club soda? Is that common?

 

I’ve only had margaritas from 2 restaurants, and those we make at home from one of the restaurants recipes, and there is no club soda in that.

No but that is the way they used to make them. So for several years I had to remind Hal bar staff. Please no soda water.

[Sea42]

Never heard of a margarita with club soda. But a Paloma (much better than a margarita IMO) is made with tequila and grapefruit soda (Fresca or Squirt).

[Iamthesea]

2 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Never heard of a margarita with club soda. But a Paloma (much better than a margarita IMO) is made with tequila and grapefruit soda (Fresca or Squirt).

 

I will have to remember this name. Never heard of a Paloma.  I love margarita's!   I also like Fresca drinks, but never had Tequila mixed with it.

[Midwest Sunseeker]

3 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Never heard of a margarita with club soda. But a Paloma (much better than a margarita IMO) is made with tequila and grapefruit soda (Fresca or Squirt).

I wonder if HAL has Fresca?  Sounds good. Does anyone know if a Frozen Margarita is within the $11 limit of the Signature Drink Package?

[0106]

I make my Paloma’s with grapefruit juice and a slash of soda water.

 

The best grapefruit soda is Ting, found all over the Caribbean but probably not on HAL.

 

I try to find one bartender the first day to make my drinks the way I like them.

[Domer81mpc]

I like a frozen blue margarita with salt, made with blue curacao.  We call it a smurfarita! It is within the signature drink package.

[Florida_gal_50]

I adore the way they make caesars (I know you didn't ask) but I find their margaritas leave a lot to be desired.  They are too sweet for me and I don't want to be adding club soda to them.

[Colorado Klutch]

4 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Never heard of a margarita with club soda. But a Paloma (much better than a margarita IMO) is made with tequila and grapefruit soda (Fresca or Squirt).

 

I had never heard of a Paloma until I went to a food and drink festival with my son. He worked in the Bourbon industry and got free tickets. It started with a wine tasting where the pours were EXTREMELY generous. Then we walked over to the festival. Just inside the gate was a booth with many cups of juice on the bar. "Oh, juice!" I said as I was very thirsty. I grabbed two of the juices and pounded them down. "Hey, that was good juice", I said. 

 

Then my son advised that I had just pounded two Palomas. He explained they were made with grapefruit juice and tequila. Then it hit me. I could barely stand up. 😀

So yeah. Palomas are good!

Edited February 23, 2023 by Colorado Klutch

[AFNavigator]

1 hour ago, Midwest Sunseeker said:

I wonder if HAL has Fresca?  Sounds good. Does anyone know if a Frozen Margarita is within the $11 limit of the Signature Drink Package?

The margaritas are within the $11 limit as long as you don't specify a tequila that exceeds the $11 limit.  Drinks are priced based on the price of the spririt(s) used.

[Iamthesea]

Any idea what the highest level of Tequila is allowed?

[Hlitner]

Different folks have different taste, but I am not a big fan of HAL margaritas or the tmargaritas on most cruise lines.  I think that comes from having lived in Mexico for the past 17 winters and drinking great "killer" margaritas on a daily basis.  My drink of choice on most cruise ships are various whiskeys either straight or on the rocks because a bar tender cannot screw that up with various mixers meant to "extend" the size of cocktails without doing anything positive for the taste.

 

So, what is the perfect margarita?  We think it is a drink with no mixers to dilute the flavor. In my condo we make our margaritas with a decent (not great) reposado tequila, fresh squeezed lime juice, and Controy (a Mexican orange liquor).  If anyone wants to water down that drink, they can add some lime soda (such as Squirt) although I think it just ruins the drink.  My basic formula is 3 parts tequilia, 2 parts Controy and 1 part lime juice (only fresh).  Since it is hard to find Controy outside of Mexico one can substitute Cointreau but use a slightly smaller amount (about 1 1/2 parts) than with Controy.  If you want to try something different you can use Grand Marnier instead, but even less of this stuff will do the trick.  I am not a fan of using Triple Sec which is best left to those who cannot afford a decent orange liquor :).

 

The only really good margarita I ever had on any cruise ship was on the Seabourn Ovation where we had a Mexican bar tender (from near Cancun) who really knew his job.  He did not use any mixers, but had his own little touch which was to add a few drops of fresh squeezed orange juice...which varied depending on the tequilia.

 

Hank

[Ellencruise]

Love fresh margaritas, no sour mix, only fresh ingredients.

palomas are my second favorite, again all fresh ingredients. Had my first tequila sunrise on NS in November, loved that too!!

[oakridger]

13 hours ago, ger_77 said:

I love strawberry margaritas and yes, I do enjoy them on every ship!

I love them too!  I normally only drink beer/wine/champagne at home so the on the rocks strawberry margarita on Rotterdam last November was really, really good.  Dangerously good!!! 😎 Until...........after the 9th day of my 21-day cruise they ran out of strawberry puree (from a carton)!!!  😲  They didn't get any more on board on the 12th day during the turnaround in Ft. Lauderdale either.  

 

So, that's why I'm a bit cranky about so many of the "not available" items these days. 

 

~Nancy

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by oakridger