Stopping the madness

I'm trying to figure out which cruise line is so expensive for liquor prices. I haven't seen any myself on Royal Caribbean carnival or Holland America. Maybe I just don't drink enough so I don't know what people pay for higher quantities of alcohol. I don't hang out in any local bars so my only experience drinking is a restaurants and mainstream bars. The prices on the cruise ship seem to be very fair and sometimes even lower than what I would expect. It's one of the few times I actually do drink.

and it's going into some working stiff's pocket instead of Billiondollar Inc.

LOL......as if the "working stiff" at the Caribbean bar is making more than the "working stiff" tending bar on the cruise ship?

Prices are lower if you ask for the 'house' wine, gin, bourbon, etc. I get a 'house' wine and my husband gets a Tanqueray & tonic, both for $15.75 which includes tip. He doesn't like the 'house' gin so asks for Tanqueray. You can ask what the 'house' whatever is.

I don't find the prices to be any more than restaurant prices. We also take advantage of happy hour.

I am sorry, but the drink prices aren't any different than what you will find on a land resort. I am not a big drinker, but dh and I do enjoy our wine and cocktails. We are after all on "vacation". Since we tend to take longer cruises (no shorter than 10 days) we usually order a bottle for our room and either bring a case or two of ginger ale to mix or buy the cans from the ship as we go. Then we usually have drinks and wine through the evening. I am sorry, but if I need to worry about the cost I would postpone the trip until I can afford to now worry. (This is not meant to offend any one it is just the way I feel about using my vacation money) Heck, my daily tips are more than a drink. Besides it is the only time in our lives that both of us get to enjoy a drink together while we are out, because when we are home one of us has to abstain as that person has to drive.

my 2 cents.

I am in Florida. Drinks here are half of what the ships charge. But it's a choice. I don't need it bad enough to pay those prices

I am in Florida. Drinks here are half of what the ships charge. But it's a choice. I don't need it bad enough to pay those prices

This article on the top 10 cocktails in Miami shows that cocktails in Miami run between $9 and $20 with most being around $15.

http://www.miami.com/top-10-cocktails-miami-article

Well I don't know where you are but .Miami is not tbe FLORIDA norm whatsoever

We lived in central FL for 25 years until Dec 2014. The places we frequented were not much different in price from the cruise ships and we didn't go to high priced fancy restaurants or pubs.

Let's say that you and your significant other plan a weekend getaway.

3 nights in a 4 star hotel $400 & up w/ free breakfast

6 lunches $90 + 6 alcoholic drinks $50

6 dinners $200 + 6 alcoholic drinks $50

2 tickets to a broadway style show $150

Valet Parking $30 at the theatre & dinner

Total for the weekend $1070.

VERSUS 3 days on a cruise ship.

Average Balcony Cabin $300 p.p. port fee $100

Breakfast INCLUDED

Lunch INCLUDED

Dinner INCLUDED

Broadway Style Show INCLUDED

Cheers Package on Carnival w/ tip $58pp/day up to 15 drinks =$348

Total $1048 and you get to have more drinks!

We drink two or three drinks a day on a cruise (including wine). We'll bring some bottles with us and pay the corkage fee in the dining room.

I do not find the prices for wine nor cocktails to be any more on Cunard than at home in any restaurant and I live a bit into the rural part of the country.

If you want low prices on wine, Chinese restaurants because they usually serve a full 8 ounces for what you pay for 5 ounces anywhere else or down south at places where they have but two choices "Ryed" and Wyite"

A cocktail on most cruise lines runs $8-$9. (I checked 3 lines to confirm this).

A cocktail at Applebee's , Olive Garden or Outback is $8-10.

At St. Elmo in Indy, (a Real steakhouse), a signature cocktail is $14-18.

The cruise line price point is well aligned. If it's expensive to you, you aren't drinking out much anywhere I suspect.

A cocktail on most cruise lines runs $8-$9. (I checked 3 lines to confirm this).

A cocktail at Applebee's , Olive Garden or Outback is $8-10.

 

At St. Elmo in Indy, (a Real steakhouse), a signature cocktail is $14-18.

 

The cruise line price point is well aligned. If it's expensive to you, you aren't drinking out much anywhere I suspect.

I suspect they're drinking in a local bar with low overhead and a loyal customer base. My husband used to get great prices (so I'm told) when he was drinking regularly at a bar before he met me, but that was because he was established and liked by all the women there. He quit going after he met me since he no longer had a miserable ex wife to avoid. [emoji14]

The picture prices are too high since they print and throw them out which makes zero sense to me but the drink prices are about right. We are a captive audience afterall.

The only time we have any drinks is when we are on a cruise, typically one or two at the evening show.

The drinks onboard are priced way below most San Francisco cocktails. That said, the mixed drinks are quite bad, they use mostly "mixes" like Margarita Mix, Daiquiri Mix, etc.(see picture - mixes onboard Emerald P) I had the drinks package on the Emerald P last March and just ordered straight spirits which I would bring back to the cabin and mix my own drink. I also brought onboard some premixed cocktails like a Negroni to which I would add gin from the bar. With a little planning even a cocktail geek can be happy.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=375904&stc=1&d=1455125888

Am i the only one who stops drinking alcohol when on a cruise? I love cruising and will continue to do so as often as possible. But i just cant enjoy a drink paying the insane prices. Its a choice and no answer is right or wrong. Affordability isn't the issue-- its just the principle of it. Not a complaint-- just a little vent !

Suggest you never order a drink at a bar in New York City or London

You're right......

We had cocktails with friends at the King Cole Bar at St. Regis Hotel in NYC. Whoa..... good thing we knew what to expect in advance. :D

What are the prices? My recent cruises have been on an "all inclusive" basis, and my last cruises that weren't were decades ago. However I think I asked once and they were in the $5-$8 range for liquor/a cocktail, which I hardly think is insane. Seems pretty routine to me. Local bars and restaurants in town regularly charge that or more.....when I go out for dinner, a glass of the house wine is usually $8-$10 Canadian, which in US dollars is about $5-$8, and cocktails are more. Obviously more expensive than if I made it at home, but that's hardly the point.

Just got off Oasis last week, almost all beers were in the $6.50 range, most cocktails were about $11.00,they also have a good selection of wine starting at $6.50 per glass, that was before the 18% gratuity was added. My son had the $49.00 per day drink package which included most beer and cocktails and thought it was well worth it, happy cruising

Am i the only one who stops drinking alcohol when on a cruise? I love cruising and will continue to do so as often as possible. But i just cant enjoy a drink paying the insane prices. Its a choice and no answer is right or wrong. Affordability isn't the issue-- its just the principle of it. Not a complaint-- just a little vent !

I enjoy going on cruises and paying less for alcohol than what I do at home.

I actually don't think Princess drink pricing is that bad. I have been to many land bars that cost far more, and paid those prices willingly.

We drink on vacation and now we do the AIBP. Not because we want to drink so much, but because we don't want to think about how much the drinks are. We are on vacation and we try our best to enjoy it.

On Hal the mixed drink prices are what I would expect to pay at a bar or restaurant at home. Bottles of wine are more heavily marked up, however. Hal has great pricing on drink set ups for the room so we usually have a couple of bottles delivered to the room at the start of the cruise, so we can enjoy cocktails on the balcony.

I am a wine drinker. I have a cocktail approximately once a year--Margaritas (yes, more than likely, I'll have more than one) on my annual visit to a Mexican restaurant. So, I am unable to comment about the price of cocktails on cruises.

I am a wine drinker. I drink wine with every dinner. My finding is that wine prices on cruise ships are fairly comparable to those in restaurants (roughly twice what I might pay in a retail store--100% retail markup), and, frankly, less than those in hotels. That being said, I have found that the price of the more expensive wines that I have enjoyed on recent cruises were, actually, fairly reasonably priced-10-25% retail markup.

Why not buy the all you can drink package and then drink the ship dry! :D

We got our package included but were going to purchase it anyway, we would just prefer to know upfront how much we are going to spend and not worry "can we afford one more". It also allows us to try things we haven't had before (alcoholic or not). On our only cruise so far it was nice to use it to get sparkling water for a change; speciality coffees in the afternoon were nice. Sampling a variety of cocktails allows you to find a new "fav".

What a shame to go on vacation and then be limited as to what you would normally enjoy, shouldn't it be the other way around?