Coffee options early in the morning.

[Surfguyxxx]

I'm heading out on the Valiant Lady in a couple of weeks out of Barcelona.  I know they don't have bottled water onboard the ships so I'm bringing a reusable water bottle with me.  What's the story with coffee; I'm not a coffee "mug" person myself.  I get up very early, around 5am and I like a coffee "tumbler" with a lid so that I can go sit outside and do some emails and stuff in the mornings watching the sunrise before I hit the gym (if they're open early).   Is there a place to get a speciality coffee that early or is it only a brewed coffee in an urn sort of thing until the coffee bar opens? Thanks for all the useful info I've gotten on here already.  

[cantgetin]

The Grounds Club opens about 7.  There is brewed coffee at The Galley 24/7.  It is brewed from beans, not from that nasty syrup stuff...but being not.a coffee drinker, I can't comment on the quality. The only place that will have specialty coffee at 5 am MIGHT be room service.  It is on the menu, but can be spotty in availability.

The iced tea is from syrup.  I brew my own by getting a tea bag and hot cut for brewing and  filling my insulated mug with ice.  Brew the tea, pour over ice, and I have GOOD iced tea.

Edited October 7, 2023 by cantgetin

[jon81uk]

I find the brewed drip coffee great, it’s naturally quite sweet, not burnt tasting like Starbucks. Drip coffee is self-service 24/7 or from waited service restaurants.

 

Espresso based drinks are available from the Grounds Club locations from something like 7am to 8pm or can be ordered from room service. There is no delivery fee on room service if you order one of those paid-for coffees.

[Gretchendz]

I'm somewhat finicky and I thought the specialty coffees were quite good.  Also, you can add specialty coffee to a room service breakfast order. The room service charge is then waived, but you still pay for the coffee. You can order the night before. Room service, called Ship Eats, is available 24 hours per day.  Breakfast delivery starts at 5 a.m. The only thing I am not sure of if you can get specialty coffeee before 7, as I never tried 🙂

 

As to water, there will be two carafes in your cabin that they will contunually refill. You can have sparkling or still, or both. Of course, as you know there are water stations around the ship.

[1025cruise]

I had no issue with the brewed coffee in the galley. I don't think the specialty coffee shop opened until 7. 

I really loved the fact that water was available pretty much anywhere, and staff weren't afraid to fill my Yeti.

[MarkWiltonM]

2 hours ago, jon81uk said:

There is no delivery fee on room service if you order one of those paid-for coffees.

 

I assume this would be true even if you are using a Bar Tab for your paid-for coffee? Correct? How about the Sea-Rover $10 per day credit for specialty coffee? If you order food via room service and add on an espresso beverage, will the room service charge be waived even if you aren't technically paying for the coffee?  

[jon81uk]

56 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

I assume this would be true even if you are using a Bar Tab for your paid-for coffee? Correct? How about the Sea-Rover $10 per day credit for specialty coffee? If you order food via room service and add on an espresso beverage, will the room service charge be waived even if you aren't technically paying for the coffee?  

Any drinks ordered on room service will come from bar tab and there is still no delivery fee added.

 

The Deep Blue Extras $10 a day is only applicable at the two Grounds Club locations, it won’t work with Ship Eats room service. 
 

We ordered room service breakfast on Valiant Lady last week, ordered two free drip coffee and one paid-for American and $4 was charged against bar tab.

 

We didn’t actually have anything to pay at all at the end of that trip, the $800 of free bar tab covered all our drinks for the week.

[CruisingWalter]

5 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I get up very early, around 5am and I like a coffee "tumbler" with a lid so that I can go sit outside and do some emails and stuff in the mornings watching the sunrise before I hit the gym

 

You can order coffee from Room Service and I've found that coffee to be far better than what has been served in The Galley from the 24/7 drip coffee makers. At least on Scarlet Lady in Miami, it's not been good. Grounds Club makes awesome coffee and if you order a pot of coffee from Room Service it comes in a great carafe that will keep a few cups of coffee hot for you. I would recommend making the room service order over The Galley coffee, but that's me. Go up to The Galley on your first day and have a taste of that coffee, this way you'll know before your first morning. 🙂 

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

I assume this would be true even if you are using a Bar Tab for your paid-for coffee? Correct? How about the Sea-Rover $10 per day credit for specialty coffee? If you order food via room service and add on an espresso beverage, will the room service charge be waived even if you aren't technically paying for the coffee?  

The bar tab can be used for your specialty coffee or tea.  The $10 DBE benefit is ONLY good at The Grounds Club and Grounds Club Too and cannot be applied to room service orders.

[jon81uk]

41 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

You can order coffee from Room Service and I've found that coffee to be far better than what has been served in The Galley from the 24/7 drip coffee makers. At least on Scarlet Lady in Miami, it's not been good. Grounds Club makes awesome coffee and if you order a pot of coffee from Room Service it comes in a great carafe that will keep a few cups of coffee hot for you. I would recommend making the room service order over The Galley coffee, but that's me. Go up to The Galley on your first day and have a taste of that coffee, this way you'll know before your first morning. 🙂 

I’m the opposite, I found the coffee in the flasks via room service to be a little too strong, but in the Galley it was perfect.

[CruisingWalter]

27 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

I’m the opposite, I found the coffee in the flasks via room service to be a little too strong, but in the Galley it was perfect.

 

Agree to disagree. 😅 Coffee is definitely subjective, and I agree the coffee for room service is much stronger than what The Galley serves from the drip machines. I tend to go more robust, dark, bold, strong with my coffee....  🙂 

[raphael360]

12 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I get up very early, around 5am and I like a coffee

Virgin uses Intelligentsia Black Cat coffee beans for its drip/brewed coffee in the Galley.  I found it so good that I now use the same beans to make my daily coffee at home.  It's expensive at $17.50 per 10 oz bag, but worth it...

 

I'm always awake between 4 and 5 AM on the cruise so I head directly up to the Galley for my first 3 cups of coffee.  Here's a tip: there are 2 coffee stations in the galley so look for the one with the most recent brew (except at 4 AM when there is only one station open).

 

Bring your water bottle too.  There is no bottled water offered on board but there are many state-of-the-art water refill stations on the ship.

 

[SinbadThePorter]

Not being a coffee drinker and having a weakness for a morning hot chocolate, can I find it at the Grounds Club?

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

Not being a coffee drinker and having a weakness for a morning hot chocolate, can I find it at the Grounds Club?

Yes.

[Surfguyxxx]

9 hours ago, raphael360 said:

Virgin uses Intelligentsia Black Cat coffee beans for its drip/brewed coffee in the Galley.  I found it so good that I now use the same beans to make my daily coffee at home.  It's expensive at $17.50 per 10 oz bag, but worth it...

 

I'm always awake between 4 and 5 AM on the cruise so I head directly up to the Galley for my first 3 cups of coffee.  Here's a tip: there are 2 coffee stations in the galley so look for the one with the most recent brew (except at 4 AM when there is only one station open).

 

Bring your water bottle too.  There is no bottled water offered on board but there are many state-of-the-art water refill stations on the ship.

 

Looks like you and I are in the same boat.....about getting up that early.  Sucks but it's all good. 

 

Room service would be fine for me but at the hubby is still sleeping I don't want to disturb him until he gets up around 8 or 9am: must be nice  😴😂  Thank you everyone for your tips and tricks.  

[raphael360]

2 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

Looks like you and I are in the same boat.....about getting up that early.  Sucks but it's all good. 

 

Room service would be fine for me but at the hubby is still sleeping I don't want to disturb him until he gets up around 8 or 9am: must be nice  😴😂  Thank you everyone for your tips and tricks.  

The crew scrubs the floors at night so half of the Galley is closed during cleaning. Hence my tip about seeking out the second coffee station.  I almost always use the coffee station nearest the Grounds coffee bar except at 4-5 AM when I stumble over to the station on the starboard side of the Galley,

[cantgetin]

8 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

Not being a coffee drinker and having a weakness for a morning hot chocolate, can I find it at the Grounds Club?

Yes, but the hot chocolate being served on our last cruise was being made from the packets of powder mixed in milk.  My purist family member thought it was "OK, but not what you'd get at a real place on land."  She felt that hot chocolate should be made from real chocolate, not chocolate flavored powder and that this was no different than what she could easily make at home by warming up milk and adding "Swiss Miss" or Nestle's powder.

Now...do I care about powdered hot chocolate on Disney where I'm not paying for it?  No.  But a premium product maybe shouldn't come from a  mix that would cost me 30 cents at my local grocery store.

[1025cruise]

I got my wife a hot chocolate every morning from the Grounds Club (along with my mocha, I don't do latte's etc). It appeared to be made with real chocolate and steamed milk. I believe there were also packets available in the Galley. The only reason I went to Grounds was because I had the $10 credit daily. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. 

[cantgetin]

4 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I got my wife a hot chocolate every morning from the Grounds Club (along with my mocha, I don't do latte's etc). It appeared to be made with real chocolate and steamed milk. I believe there were also packets available in the Galley. The only reason I went to Grounds was because I had the $10 credit daily. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. 

Interesting.....my travel buddy swore that on Valiant it was from the packets.  Will check again and see what's happening on our next sailing.

 

[jon81uk]

Almost all coffee chains use some form of powdered chocolate mixed with milk, that doesn’t mean it isn’t “real” chocolate. I’ve not ordered hot chocolate onboard VV but for a mocha they were using Monin chocolate syrup which looked similar to Starbucks.

[3rdCoastFan]

On 10/7/2023 at 7:13 PM, raphael360 said:

Virgin uses Intelligentsia Black Cat coffee beans for its drip/brewed coffee in the Galley.  I found it so good that I now use the same beans to make my daily coffee at home.  It's expensive at $17.50 per 10 oz bag, but worth it...

 

I'm always awake between 4 and 5 AM on the cruise so I head directly up to the Galley for my first 3 cups of coffee.  Here's a tip: there are 2 coffee stations in the galley so look for the one with the most recent brew (except at 4 AM when there is only one station open).

 

Bring your water bottle too.  There is no bottled water offered on board but there are many state-of-the-art water refill stations on the ship.

 

Quick tip - you can order direct with free shipping in 5lb bags, dropping the price to $1.14/oz. 

 

I was disappointed that the coffee bars didn't have drip coffee, as well, making it a slightly longer trip from my cabin on 9 up to 14 to get a mocha for my wife and drip coffee for me. Minor problem, though, all things considered. Ordering a macchiato via Ship Eats was our big discovery - one of the few paid items that was less than the delivery charge! 

[jon81uk]

17 minutes ago, 3rdCoastFan said:

Quick tip - you can order direct with free shipping in 5lb bags, dropping the price to $1.14/oz. 

 

I was disappointed that the coffee bars didn't have drip coffee, as well, making it a slightly longer trip from my cabin on 9 up to 14 to get a mocha for my wife and drip coffee for me. Minor problem, though, all things considered. Ordering a macchiato via Ship Eats was our big discovery - one of the few paid items that was less than the delivery charge! 

At $4 for a latte or cappuccino

all the coffee is under the $7 delivery fee. 
 

They do have pour-over drip coffee at the Grounds Club if you want to pay for drip, but yes if you want it for free you need to go to the Galley (or order it with brunch at Razzle or the Wake).

[3rdCoastFan]

9 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

At $4 for a latte or cappuccino

all the coffee is under the $7 delivery fee. 
 

They do have pour-over drip coffee at the Grounds Club if you want to pay for drip, but yes if you want it for free you need to go to the Galley (or order it with brunch at Razzle or the Wake).

Right. It's been a few months since I was on my cruise but I think it was more that a macchiato was the cheapest drink available. Either way, easy way around the delivery fee.