In-Room Liquor Usage

[dabomb6608]

My wife and I are heading out on Mardi Gras Jan 6th. She hardly drinks so the drink package just doesn't make sense for us. We plan on carrying onboard 2 bottles of wine and 2 12 packs of soda onboard plus grabbing additional 12 packs from ports if needed . I am considering purchasing either a bottle of Woodford Reserve or Disaronno to the room and use my soda as mixers. I'm not much of a straight soda drinker in general so wouldn't burn through them too quick. 

 

I am curious what the logistics of using it throughout the cruise/days on board would look like? Obviously I can't be carrying around a 1L bottle of hard liquor and I know it says room use only, but surely I'm not the only one with this thought process? What's the best way to go about it without having to make trips to the room every time I make a new drink? I have a flask I could bring, and several Yeti tumblers. Assuming ice is readily available I should be able to carry around enough in a beach/pool bag for at least a few drinks right? This is only our 3rd cruise and it has been almost 4 years since our last one so I am a bit out of practice... 

[stobe1]

Pour out some of your liquor of choice into an empty water bottle, or flask as you mentioned, then use a backpack or beach bag to haul it around with you on the ship along with cans of your soda. Then you can refill your tumbler as needed.

 

None of the crew will give you any issues about it. It happens all the time.

Edited December 21, 2023 by stobe1

[sparks1093]

I used a hip flask. Ordered a soda and poured a shot in multiple venues.

[Elaine5715]

They just don't want you setting yourself up on deck with a bottle  of booze, mixers and ice.

[dabomb6608]

24 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

They just don't want you setting yourself up on deck with a bottle  of booze, mixers and ice.

That is fair...because I 110% would if I could!

 

Sounds like what I had in mind is the best move. Just bring some cans and a container of sorts to pour the liquor out of into my tumbler. 

[Elaine5715]

3 minutes ago, dabomb6608 said:

That is fair...because I 110% would if I could!

 

Sounds like what I had in mind is the best move. Just bring some cans and a container of sorts to pour the liquor out of into my tumbler. 

Just use a big Yeti

[sparks1093]

8 hours ago, dabomb6608 said:

That is fair...because I 110% would if I could!

 

Sounds like what I had in mind is the best move. Just bring some cans and a container of sorts to pour the liquor out of into my tumbler. 

You said that your wife doesn't drink much, but the Woodford is $165 from Fun Shops, that's almost a fifth the cost of Cheers (no pun intended). Have you used a drink calculator (like this one https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/ ) to actually see if you would save? If you each drink 3 glasses of wine, 2 cocktails and 2 gourmet coffees per day (average over the course of the cruise) then you could save money. You'll have 22 shots in your liter, which is 3 cocktails per day right there for you alone. (And of course Cheers covers mocktails, frozen cocktails, soda and bottled water as well so adding any of those in just makes it better.)

[dabomb6608]

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

You said that your wife doesn't drink much, but the Woodford is $165 from Fun Shops, that's almost a fifth the cost of Cheers (no pun intended). Have you used a drink calculator (like this one https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/ ) to actually see if you would save? If you each drink 3 glasses of wine, 2 cocktails and 2 gourmet coffees per day (average over the course of the cruise) then you could save money. You'll have 22 shots in your liter, which is 3 cocktails per day right there for you alone. (And of course Cheers covers mocktails, frozen cocktails, soda and bottled water as well so adding any of those in just makes it better.)

I added cheers to my cart and total with gratuities was $990. With 3 days at port (off ship most the day), 2 bottles of wine brought on board and a single bottle in the room I honestly think I will have plenty for myself. Add a few paid drinks here and there of course.  She doesn't drink wine at all, and will maybe get 2 cocktails max a day and each of us one fancy coffee. If we somehow spent close to $990 in paid drinks I would be beyond shocked. 

[Joebucks]

The bottle is the greatest value for a good chunk of us. It increases in value when you prefer one type of liquor and/or the other half doesn't drink. My situation is similar to yours. I love bourbon, bring wine, get a bottle, and buy a few drinks out of pocket. I save a crapton of money, and never feel deprived. 

[dabomb6608]

https://www.amazon.com/Dispenser-Replacement-Resistant-Compatible-Insulated/dp/B08S7VXPQ7/ref=sr_1_4?crid=8NO12KFRVGHD&keywords=tumbler%2Bwith%2Bliquor&qid=1703263680&sprefix=tumbler%2Bwith%2Bliquor%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-4&th=1

 

 

Tempting

[dctravel]

Ice is readily available either from you cabin steward or from the ice machines on the Lido deck.

[sparks1093]

33 minutes ago, dctravel said:

Ice is readily available either from you cabin steward or from the ice machines on the Lido deck.

From any bar as well.

[aborgman]

8 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

 If you each drink 3 glasses of wine, 2 cocktails and 2 gourmet coffees per day (average over the course of the cruise) then you could save money.

 

If they each drink 3 glasses of wine, 2 cocktails and 2 gourmet coffees per day - on a 7 day cruise - that averages out to 2.3 glasses of wine, 2 cocktails, and 2 gourmet coffees... and they'd basically break even (actually lose about $7 each).

 

The 2 bottles of wine (10 glasses) you get to bring on push it a little below break even.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by aborgman

[sparks1093]

17 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

If they each drink 3 glasses of wine, 2 cocktails and 2 gourmet coffees per day - on a 7 day cruise - that averages out to 2.3 glasses of wine, 2 cocktails, and 2 gourmet coffees... and they'd basically break even (actually lose about $7 each).

 

The 2 bottles of wine (10 glasses) you get to bring on push it a little below break even.

 

 

They wouldn't need to bring the wine and they wouldn't have to schlep liqour from their room either. We used to do the exact same thing until I actually did the math, but we both drink and that does make a difference. But according to the calculator 3 wines, 2 cocktails and 2 coffees save $95 per person.

Edited December 22, 2023 by sparks1093

[aborgman]

Just now, sparks1093 said:

They wouldn't need to bring the wine and they wouldn't have to schlep liqour from their room either. We used to do the exact same thing until I actually did the math, but we both drink and that does make a difference.

 

Just bringing the wine and paying out of pocket for the other drinks (not buying a bottle) would save a little... plus you'd get to pick from a lot better selection of wine.

 

I feel like if you're wine or beer drinkers who don't hit any of the specialty coffees or milkshakes - Cheers is a pretty bad deal.

 

If you're a cocktail drinker who is picking up a couple coffees/shakes a day - Cheers can actually save you a good bit of money.

 

 

[sparks1093]

2 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Just bringing the wine and paying out of pocket for the other drinks (not buying a bottle) would save a little... plus you'd get to pick from a lot better selection of wine.

 

I feel like if you're wine or beer drinkers who don't hit any of the specialty coffees or milkshakes - Cheers is a pretty bad deal.

 

If you're a cocktail drinker who is picking up a couple coffees/shakes a day - Cheers can actually save you a good bit of money.

Not sure about the wine but they do have some that are pricey by the glass that probably moves wine into your third paragraph. Drinking solely beer might be a challenge though to make Cheers worth it. We tend to mix it up throughout each day and get a variety of drinks. First time we had a package I tried every drink I'd ever heard of and found a few new favorites.

[dabomb6608]

For what it is worth my first cruise my wife was under 21 so I purchased the cheers for myself only. I was a lot heavier of a drinker at the time (in my 20s) and was drinking bourbon most the trip. I don't think I ever hit 15 that trip. The following cruise my wife was 21 and I chose not to get cheers that cruise. Our tab at the end of the week was under $300 if I remember right. 

 

The wine we would bring would be cheap sweet wines...we certainly aren't wine connoisseurs by any definition of the term. So figure under $40 in wine carried on. Plus the sodas we bring on board. She's the type to bring a can to dinner and be perfectly content. If I wasn't drinking I would do the same. 

 

We really aren't the type to sit around drinking sodas, fancy coffees, or cocktails all day. Her even more so than me. Like I said, I would be beyond shocked if we spent close to $990 on our tab, heck even half that seems a stretch. That is including what we bring onboard and the room liquor. 

[aborgman]

28 minutes ago, dabomb6608 said:

For what it is worth my first cruise my wife was under 21 so I purchased the cheers for myself only. I was a lot heavier of a drinker at the time (in my 20s) and was drinking bourbon most the trip. I don't think I ever hit 15 that trip. The following cruise my wife was 21 and I chose not to get cheers that cruise. Our tab at the end of the week was under $300 if I remember right. 

 

The wine we would bring would be cheap sweet wines...we certainly aren't wine connoisseurs by any definition of the term. So figure under $40 in wine carried on. Plus the sodas we bring on board. She's the type to bring a can to dinner and be perfectly content. If I wasn't drinking I would do the same. 

 

We really aren't the type to sit around drinking sodas, fancy coffees, or cocktails all day. Her even more so than me. Like I said, I would be beyond shocked if we spent close to $990 on our tab, heck even half that seems a stretch. That is including what we bring onboard and the room liquor. 

 

On our last cruise my wife and I drank pretty heavily... Like 8-10 pint beers a day each, and then about a dozen pitchers of Margaritas our last night... as well as a glass of wine a few night with dinner.

 

...but we also had port days, and you can cut the number of drink in half on those... and we brought 2 bottles of wine, so that covered one day.

 

I ran the numbers after the cruise, and even with me tipping an extra $1 every 1-2 drinks - we came in about $200 cheaper than Cheers.

[Joebucks]

It's also nice when you can walk into many gift shops on port days and grab a multipack of beer for around $10. Makes it even less so that I want to get on the ship and have multiple coffees, wines, cocktails, Powerades, etc (not that I did anyways though).

[simplelife]

Last cruise we did pay-by-drink to see if the drink package was really worth it. I did bring 2 bottles of wine onboard, but other than that, we did not limit our drinks in any way - we ordered  a drink whenever we wanted one. In the end,  our bill was still a couple of hundred dollar less that the drink package would have cost us.

[dabomb6608]

15 minutes ago, simplelife said:

Last cruise we did pay-by-drink to see if the drink package was really worth it. I did bring 2 bottles of wine onboard, but other than that, we did not limit our drinks in any way - we ordered  a drink whenever we wanted one. In the end,  our bill was still a couple of hundred dollar less that the drink package would have cost us.

This was basically my experience on my second cruise. 

 

I guess to update this thread regarding the in-room liquor. I have decided to skip on purchasing it. After further thought, I don't want to feel like I am restricted to drinking one liquor & wine the whole trip. I'd rather be able to change it up whenever I feel like it. So I will just be doing it like simplelife did above and how I did last cruise, pay by drink with no mentality that I need to limit myself and see what happens in the end. I'll be shocked if I end up near $990 at the end of the week. I will try to remember to update the thread post cruise to share what that number was. 

[stobe1]

We did a back to back cruise many moons ago and tried a little experiment where the 1st week we did Cheers and the 2nd week we did pay-as-we-go and did a comparison. We spent waaay more the second week after we factored in the alcohol, water, sodas, Gatorades, coffee, etc... 

 

For us Cheers just makes sense.

[Pika8347]

On 12/26/2023 at 2:56 PM, stobe1 said:

We did a back to back cruise many moons ago and tried a little experiment where the 1st week we did Cheers and the 2nd week we did pay-as-we-go and did a comparison. We spent waaay more the second week after we factored in the alcohol, water, sodas, Gatorades, coffee, etc... 

 

For us Cheers just makes sense.

Do you mind sharing how much ‘more’? Are we talking $200?

[ishap]

On 12/22/2023 at 1:56 PM, aborgman said:

 

Just bringing the wine and paying out of pocket for the other drinks (not buying a bottle) would save a little... plus you'd get to pick from a lot better selection of wine.

 

I feel like if you're wine or beer drinkers who don't hit any of the specialty coffees or milkshakes - Cheers is a pretty bad deal.

 

If you're a cocktail drinker who is picking up a couple coffees/shakes a day - Cheers can actually save you a good bit of money.

 

 

 

I'm mainly a beer drinker and according the calculator if I drank 12 beers a day (don't judge but yes I can do this starting at 11 and rolling through the night) and 2 specialty coffees, it would cost me $982 out of pocket compared to $566 for Cheers.  Now, the calculator also shows beers being $8 a piece.  My cruise last January I don't think I remember an $8 beer, but I could be wrong.  I did have the drink package so I didn't pay attention but I feel that's high.  Maybe not.  Anyway, according to the calculator, even just drinking beer it is worth getting the package.

 

Does anyone have a pic of the latest prices?

[aborgman]

2 minutes ago, ishap said:

 

I'm mainly a beer drinker and according the calculator if I drank 12 beers a day (don't judge but yes I can do this starting at 11 and rolling through the night) and 2 specialty coffees, it would cost me $982 out of pocket compared to $566 for Cheers.  Now, the calculator also shows beers being $8 a piece.  My cruise last January I don't think I remember an $8 beer, but I could be wrong.  I did have the drink package so I didn't pay attention but I feel that's high.  Maybe not.  Anyway, according to the calculator, even just drinking beer it is worth getting the package.

 

Does anyone have a pic of the latest prices?

 

 

That is generally 12x16oz beers, not 12x12oz.  The equivalent of 16 12oz beers per day.

 

I suppose if you're drinking "canoe beer", I can see that.

I drink basically nothing but IPA's - so a dozen pints is pretty significant.

 

....and are you drinking a dozen pints on days you're in port? I'm not - I get off the ship. That drastically reduces the spend 3-4 days of a 7 day cruise.

 

As I noted - if you start adding on specialty coffees, milkshakes,Gatorades, waters, etc. - it becomes a much better deal. I don't buy any of those things.

 

Current prices appear to be:

$7.00-$7.50 for 16oz Domestics

$7.95 for 16oz imports

$7.95 for 16oz craft beers

 

https://profcruise.com/carnival-bar-menus-and-drink-prices-2023/