Umm mm. ... Unbelievable. ..!! They Don't Know What Cider Is On Royal Caribbean???!!

[cello56]

Original Poster would you happen to know what an Arnold Palmer drink is off the top of your head? No? I am not surprised, but since I live in Orlando, Home of Arnold Palmer, everyone here knows that it is half ice tea and half lemonade! Or how about a Twist Shanty? That would be beer and citrus juice up in Canada at certain times of the year! Regional differences are what makes this world different and unique. Just have a wee bit of patience and you will find people are happy to help you.

Edited October 6, 2014 by cello56

[Arzeena]

Original Poster would you happen to know what an Arnold Palmer drink is off the top of your head? No? I am not surprised, but since I live in Orlando, Home of Arnold Palmer, everyone here knows that it is half ice tea and half lemonade! Or how about a Twist Shanty? That would be beer and citrus juice up in Canada at certain times of the year! Regional differences are what makes this world different and unique. Just have a wee bit of patience and you will find people are happy to help you.

 

Well said!

[reallyhooked]

Well said!

Agree

[delirious9876]

I started a thread and asked about hard cider and more specifically, Angry Orchard hard cider. There was a discussion on hard ciders and ales in general and the most common answer I received is that only ships with an english pub carry cider and that was strongbow. I have not heard of them carrying any other type of hard cider nor was it available in other bar areas of the ship.

 

This was something I posted about a few months ago. It's possible they are carrying strongbow in the bars now, but they weren't a few months ago...only those ships with the english pub.

 

Edited to add link to the thread I started:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1980141&highlight=angry+orchard

I've had hard cider in a range of bars on a range of RCi

I ships - even those without an English pub.

 

I've had strong bow in the nightclubs, casino and Viking crown lounges.

[Folk Singer]

:):)

[Folk Singer]

Most alcohol is made from some fermenting process. Weather grapes, hops molasses etc.

 

 

Lol. :eek::eek: Too funny.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Folk Singer

[Sitzmark]

Perhaps in Kansas it defaults to a non-alcoholic drink, but in the Pacific NW, we like our cider hard. I guess it might have something to do with the craft beer industry that is prevalent here. I can't think of a bar in my area that doesn't carry some brand of cider.

 

Around here cider is juice unless it's gone bad or you are in a bar. There are mills all over the place where you can watch it being made.

 

The craft beer industry fad isn't just in the northwest, I'm pretty sure that's nationwide if not international now.

 

The people I know that like the hard cider have gluten issues.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Sitzmark

[icsys]

Yes, Royal sells cider.

The only one sold is Strongbow, 5.3% ABV

 

It is third from bottom on the Pub drinks Menu. So it may only be carried on ships with a Pub.

 

Edited October 6, 2014 by icsys

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Hard cider is NOT popular here. 'cider' is apple cider.. NON alcoholic apple juice that is slightly cloudy and tangy and best when made into donuts

That's my idea of cider - especially the donuts part!

 

We are heading back home to Illinois for a visit soon and have to coordinate it with apple pickin' time. Yum!:D

[The_Big_M]

Original Poster would you happen to know what an Arnold Palmer drink is off the top of your head? No? I am not surprised, but since I live in Orlando, Home of Arnold Palmer, everyone here knows that it is half ice tea and half lemonade! Or how about a Twist Shanty? That would be beer and citrus juice up in Canada at certain times of the year! Regional differences are what makes this world different and unique. Just have a wee bit of patience and you will find people are happy to help you.

 

Hear, hear.

[crzndeb]

Original Poster would you happen to know what an Arnold Palmer drink is off the top of your head? No? I am not surprised, but since I live in Orlando, Home of Arnold Palmer, everyone here knows that it is half ice tea and half lemonade! Or how about a Twist Shanty? That would be beer and citrus juice up in Canada at certain times of the year! Regional differences are what makes this world different and unique. Just have a wee bit of patience and you will find people are happy to help you.

 

Just coming back from Australia, their idea of lemonade is a lot different. Lemonade is Sprite, 7-up, or lemon-lime soda, usually also added to beer to make a Shanty. What we in the states consider lemonade, they call a cordial (pronounced kor-dee-al), nonalcoholic.

 

Add a little (or a lot haha) of vodka to that Arnold Palmer, and you have a John Daly. Of course, now that they make Sweet Tea Vodka, you only need to add lemonade.

 

PS I love Angry Orchards Cinnful Apple that comes out Aug-Mar

Edited October 7, 2014 by crzndeb

[Hazydavo]

Just coming back from Australia, their idea of lemonade is a lot different. Lemonade is Sprite, 7-up, or lemon-lime soda, usually also added to beer to make a Shanty. What we in the states consider lemonade, they call a cordial (pronounced kor-dee-al), nonalcoholic.

 

Add a little (or a lot haha) of vodka to that Arnold Palmer, and you have a John Daly. Of course, now that they make Sweet Tea Vodka, you only need to add lemonade.

 

PS I love Angry Orchards Cinnful Apple that comes out Aug-Mar

 

Yes, Love the American lemonade (on ice) served on RCI ships :)

Edited October 7, 2014 by Hazydavo

[Hazydavo]

Original Poster would you happen to know what an Arnold Palmer drink is off the top of your head? No? I am not surprised, but since I live in Orlando, Home of Arnold Palmer, everyone here knows that it is half ice tea and half lemonade! Or how about a Twist Shanty? That would be beer and citrus juice up in Canada at certain times of the year! Regional differences are what makes this world different and unique. Just have a wee bit of patience and you will find people are happy to help you.

 

I get where you're coming from however I think the analogy may be a little off. The Arnold Palmer sounds like a mixed drink and yes one could understand that not everyone is going to know a specific mixed drink from a specific region (although I'd expect RCI to try really hard at knowing these for the region they are embedded in for a good six months of the year...).

Cider is akin to beer. The alcoholic vs non-alcoholic is another thing ok, but I think the point that was made was that the guy on the phone didn't know what Cider was at all...

Hope that makes sense :)

[Hozhoni]

Im hoping they have some sort of Cidar beer/drink for us unfortunate gluten free folks...no barley or malt for us...I think I will call C&A and request it in the DL. I get tired of wine sometimes :(

[SPacificbound]

Wow, I did not know this! Here cider is an apple drink we can buy at the grocery store in the fall. I'll have to look into this kind of cider onboard.

 

In Australia I did become addicted to lemon, lime & bitters. :) Unfortunately once we left Australia nobody knows what it is.

Edited October 7, 2014 by SPacificbound

[The_Big_M]

Cider is akin to beer. The alcoholic vs non-alcoholic is another thing ok, but I think the point that was made was that the guy on the phone didn't know what Cider was at all...

 

No, he did know what it is - in his part of the world.

 

The poster wrote " So, I asked him what he thought it was - JUICE was his reply! "

 

Which is exactly what it is for many.

Edited October 7, 2014 by The_Big_M

[The_Big_M]

Just coming back from Australia, their idea of lemonade is a lot different. Lemonade is Sprite, 7-up, or lemon-lime soda, usually also added to beer to make a Shanty. What we in the states consider lemonade, they call a cordial (pronounced kor-dee-al), nonalcoholic.

 

Are you sure that's right? We have for example, raspberry cordial, orange cordial, blackcurrant cordial... I wouldn't have thought those would be 'lemonades...'?

 

That said, I found it quite surprising to learn what you call cordial. You wouldn't be giving that to children! :D

[Hazydavo]

No, he did know what it is - in his part of the world.

 

The poster wrote " So, I asked him what he thought it was - JUICE was his reply! "

 

Which is exactly what it is for many.

 

Yes, I stand corrected :)

[temple1]

We see it quite often where individual post and quite a few board members are all ready to jump onto the band wagon about how stupid, ignorant, untrained, etc. the phone reps are when they are unable to answer what the OP thinks is a simple question. It would not occur to me to ask the phone rep specific questions about what is available for consumption on the ship. Kind of like asking - will they be serving honey stung chicken at lunch on day one.

 

I also find it funny that people get upset because a phone rep somewhere in the US doesn't know what is on every ship in the fleet when I've called hotels directly and asked the front desk what kind of coffee makers are in the rooms and I get deer in the headlights responses.

 

I think Cello56 nailed it. For the most part when someone says cider to the typical American we think - cloudy apple juice that is served mulled in the fall. Doesn't make us stupid. There is one hard cider company that runs plenty of commercials trying to make hard cider a more popular choice. Personally, I can't get beyond the smell of apple juice and mulled cider has to have a ton of spices for me to consume.

[Folk Singer]

Have started a thread on the Australia/NZ board to find out...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44333094#post44333094

 

 

:cool::rolleyes::cool:

[Folk Singer]

Are you sure that's right? We have for example, raspberry cordial, orange cordial, blackcurrant cordial... I wouldn't have thought those would be 'lemonades...'?

 

That said, I found it quite surprising to learn what you call cordial. You wouldn't be giving that to children! :D

 

It is a case of you say "Potato" I say "Potato".

[lucymorgan]

We see it quite often where individual post and quite a few board members are all ready to jump onto the band wagon about how stupid, ignorant, untrained, etc. the phone reps are when they are unable to answer what the OP thinks is a simple question. It would not occur to me to ask the phone rep specific questions about what is available for consumption on the ship. Kind of like asking - will they be serving honey stung chicken at lunch on day one.

 

I also find it funny that people get upset because a phone rep somewhere in the US doesn't know what is on every ship in the fleet when I've called hotels directly and asked the front desk what kind of coffee makers are in the rooms and I get deer in the headlights responses.

 

I think Cello56 nailed it. For the most part when someone says cider to the typical American we think - cloudy apple juice that is served mulled in the fall. Doesn't make us stupid. There is one hard cider company that runs plenty of commercials trying to make hard cider a more popular choice. Personally, I can't get beyond the smell of apple juice and mulled cider has to have a ton of spices for me to consume.

 

 

RCI is marketed here in Australia as an international company - not a US company. I don't think the original poster said anything about stupid or ignorant. They were just expressing surprise. To me this is one of the main points about travelling - to uncover the differences of different cultures and to learn and explore how different cultures and languages live. This goes both ways - the rest of the world learning about the US and the US learning about the rest of the world. Or Aussies learning about the rest of the world and vice versa!

 

Personally I love being surprised by the differences.

:)

[slyster]

I've had hard cider in a range of bars on a range of RCi

I ships - even those without an English pub.

 

I've had strong bow in the nightclubs, casino and Viking crown lounges.

 

Oh you can get strongbow around the ship? See, I didn't know that. I was left with the impression that the only hard cider could be purchased from the english pubs.

 

Has anyone else been able to order a hard cider besides buying it from the pub on board some ships?

 

ETA: look at post #33...they were saying the same thing...thought strongbow could only be purchased from a pub

Edited October 7, 2014 by slyster

[CI66774]

Hey, we'll be cruising on Royal Caribbean for the first time in January 2015, so I was online checking out potential drink packages. When looking at them, the lists of available alcoholic beverages indicated beer, wine, cocktails and of course non- alcoholic soft drinks. However, as cider is my favourite alcoholic drink I was looking for it and couldn't see it listed in any of the drinks packages. Rather than simply assume that it was cateogorised under beer, I rang up Royal Caribbean, and here's the thing- the young guy I spoke to didn't have any idea what cider was! So, I asked him what he thought it was - JUICE was his reply! Needless to say, my husband and I decided not to bother with drinks packages! As the cheapest package starts at approximately $45.00 Australian per person per day, the fact that we're allowed to bring 2 bottles of wine each onboard at the start, plus we'll probably get drinks at the Meet and Greets, the Captain's Cocktails, possible champagne at Art Auctions, possibly there will be a Champagne Fountain, and plus we'll be wine tasting in New Zealand - hey. .. we're not going to bother with drinks packages- especially when it doesn't look like I'll be getting any cider on Royal Caribbean, because they don't know what it is!!!!

 

I guess the moral of this delicious story is to never assume your definition of something is the same elsewhere. In the U.S., the word "fanny" means backside, buttocks. In other parts of the world, it means...well...look it up.:D

[Hazydavo]

We see it quite often where individual post and quite a few board members are all ready to jump onto the band wagon about how stupid, ignorant, untrained, etc. the phone reps are when they are unable to answer what the OP thinks is a simple question. It would not occur to me to ask the phone rep specific questions about what is available for consumption on the ship. Kind of like asking - will they be serving honey stung chicken at lunch on day one.

 

I also find it funny that people get upset because a phone rep somewhere in the US doesn't know what is on every ship in the fleet when I've called hotels directly and asked the front desk what kind of coffee makers are in the rooms and I get deer in the headlights responses.

 

I think Cello56 nailed it. For the most part when someone says cider to the typical American we think - cloudy apple juice that is served mulled in the fall. Doesn't make us stupid. There is one hard cider company that runs plenty of commercials trying to make hard cider a more popular choice. Personally, I can't get beyond the smell of apple juice and mulled cider has to have a ton of spices for me to consume.

 

No bandwagon jumping here, just personal experience.

I actually don't care where the rep is located and what nationality they happen to be but I do expect them to know their business and product.

And I do expect them to know all about the handful of ships that operate down here servicing predominantly Australians for 6 months of the year.

I don't believe this is unreasonable.

Unfortunately this experience isn't unique to RCI.

Your hotel experience is an example.

I also don't find it unreasonable when contemplating spending some decent dosh on a drinks package to ask if your favourite drink is even available on the ship...

Edited October 7, 2014 by Hazydavo