buddyjones

I’d love to know if anyone has gone to this place. It just popped up as an option recently on Resort for a Day to purchase a day pass.

@Mullwi thank you for the feedback!

Bump! Would love to hear anyone’s experiences, thanks.

We had a stopover on our cruise in late April 2023 with Royal Caribbean. If you really enjoy bourbon, whiskey, or really any other kind of liquor, it is a MUST stop at Gulmohar’s to purchase liquor and then right across the street to Luxbar to try bourbons,etc at a very reasonable price. Here was our itinerary… 1. Beach time at Orient Beach (or of course you can pick any excursion). We bought the excursion through Royal Caribbean and it worked out perfectly. To me, this is the best most beautiful beach on the entire island, but that’s just my opinion. We did have some challenges with the seaweed that was well advertised, but that was obviously unavoidable. It did not damper the day! 2. Gulmohar's Whisky Paradise (schedule 30 minutes) to buy great hard to find bourbons (varied I'm sure during the year), and they have other fine selections as well. We picked up several bottles of Blanton's Gold, Blanton’s straight from the barrel, Elijah Craig barrel proof, and a dark Cuban rum that I bought for a friend of mine. You can ask them questions ahead of time via email. (check out their Facebook page) and confirm time for sending purchases back to ship. 3. LUXBAR (schedule at least one hour): We hung out here for about 1 1/2 hours and just had the best time. Kat Adams (Mixologist) was so friendly and helpful answering our questions. Enjoy some excellent pours for very reasonable prices. See the attached photo. A quick note about US customs and paying for items in excess of the duty free limit: I clearly bought more than the allocated duty free liquor. I had all of my receipts, and was prepared to pay the extremely minor amount of excise tax upon reentry to Miami. They did not stop us, nor did I have the opportunity to voluntarily pay for the excise taxes.

I can attest to that completely. Sailed on Explorer of the Seas last September and going on Harmony this month. It’s interesting there are some prices even lower (in the $50’s) for the deluxe beverage package (DBP). I don’t know for sure, but it would seem logical those particular cruises are not during higher demand times of the year.

$72.99 per person per day, Going on Harmony in a week and a half and this price was available as of last week. Now it’s gone up to about $77. We got it at $72 several months ago and that’s the cheapest we’ve seen it. I believe that’s about 30% off of the onboard price.

@ajtaylor29 thanks for your post. Which beach bars or specific locations do you recommend at Orient Beach? I appreciate your help!

Is the Deluxe Beverage Package worth it? Where do you start to evaluate this option? I see all manner of Cruise Critic forum and Facebook posts on the subject. I finally decided to build this basic decision tree, meant to be fun and practical, and really should help most people I’ve read asking questions about this package. Goal - Help most cruisers get their hands around this option, and hopefully make a quicker decision so they can move on to the next thing! Is the decision tree perfect? No. Too many variables, but the goal is to help most people make a decision and move on. See FAQ at end of page 2 and RCL flyer describing the DBP on page 3. Enjoy and cheers! Royal_Deluxe Beverage Package_DBP_Decision Tree 3-30-23.pdf

I can confirm…We cruise with another couple that the husband buys the drink package and the wife does not want it. They call the cruise line and explain his wife does not drink alcohol, which is absolutely true, and they have no problem. Hope your wife is doing well!

I pulled this info from Harmony of the Seas 3/11 to 3/18 itinerary. This may not match your cruise, but the schedules tend to stay fairly consistent. Attire Nights: Formal - 2 and 6 Caribbean - 3 Casual - 1,4,5,7 Dance/Party Theme Nights: 1. None 2. 50/60’s at Dazzles 3. 90’s Party, Royal Promenade, around 9:15 to 10:30pm 4. Caribbean - Dazzles 9:45pm and Dance Party Deck 15 10:00pm 5. Country dance party and hoe down, Royal Promenade around 9:15 to 10:30pm 6. 70’s disco inferno, Royal Promenade, around 9:15 to 10:45pm 7. None

Paid $72 per day last Nov 2022 for Harmony of Seas trip scheduled April 22, 2023. That is the price before tip. I don’t know that anyone will ever make the “math“ work. Trust me, I spreadsheet the heck out of it. Lol. The package pricing was low enough and the added convenience made sense. Plus I assumed single drink prices were going to escalate, and I think that’s exactly what has occurred.