Not really wanting to carry on drinks...opinions?

[camprunner]

Please forgive me as I continue to sweat the small stuff here.

 

My cabin mate and I agreed that in place of the cheers program she originally wanted (I don't drink enough to really need it) to save money we'd carry on a bottle of wine and our 12 sodas each. Her idea. Fine with me mostly except...

 

I really think I'll only want soda if I get sea sick which is a real possibility. I've decided would really like to just get on the ship and not worry about lugging 12 sodas along with other things I need. She may not arrive as early and when possible I'd really like to board and hopefully enjoy the buffet with only a small carry on rather than also wheeling something around.

 

Does it sound like I'd be better off waiting to see if I actually get sea sick in the first couple of hours and then purchasing bottomless bubbles for cruise instead?

 

I feel like my options are:

A. Lug a wheeled carry on around with drinks plus an extra bag

B. Purchase FTFF since it's still available for $60 just to have the room ready (1 tender port but also an excursion there)

C. Purchase bottomless bubbles for $40+ after I see if I will actually want it.

 

Thanks.

[mrneil001]

Initially bring a small amount of soda with you during embarkation. They allow you to bring additional sodas onboard when you return from your port of calls.

 

Had FTTF my last cruise with 1 tender. Although it was nice to have, I probably wont buy it again on any future cruises. All depends if its worth it for you.

Edited January 22, 2016 by mrneil001

[danacline]

I would suggest each adult bring a bottle of favorite wine, because you can. I brought a 4-pack of Red Bull, had one left after a week. Wife brought two 4-packs of the little sodas, which worked well as the buffet glasses were small. She had two cans left. Next time she'll do just a 4-pack, and I'll probably skip the Red Bulls. The wine was nice - our headwaiter didn't charge us the corkage fee.

[Drazil65]

In lieu of spending the $60 for FTTF (if you are indifferent to using it or having it) spend $20 and order 2 - 6 pks of soda through ship and it will be in your cabin waiting no matter what time you get into it. Just a thought....

Edited January 22, 2016 by Drazil65

[jks336]

that was my thought too Drazil, pre-purchase the 6 pack of soda thru Bon Voyage.

[Cruisegirl6]

OP I happen to agree with you....I am stunned on how people can and want to carry on water and soda! Why would anybody want to lug all that stuff, even if it were just a case of soda????

I am on a cruise, so enjoy your cruise, buy what you want, you paying for the cruise in the first place, the way I see it, if you can't purchase your water and soda then you shouldn't be cruising.

I am sure others be attacking me on what I just said, but I don't care...I would not carry a can of soda into a restaurant and I won't carry even one can of soda onto a ship, its plain cheap and low. Sorry, but I have a right to say how I feel and by the way it is being cheap!

 

Your on a cruise, enjoy yourself. We always purchase FTTF when its available to us when we book our cruise, its so nice having priority boarding and with this staggered check in process that soon will be enforced in every port, trust me, you don't want to get stuck in having a late time boarding, you loose hours of being on the ship.

As far as the bottomless bubbles, if you drink soda and you say you don't drink much alcoholic drinks, you just may get your monies worth, if not, you have the peace of knowing when you want a drink you can get it anywhere on the ship.

 

Also, if you carry your soda on the ship you have to go back to the room to get it or refill it and you also need ice, which you can ask your cabin steward to supply but I would not want to be bothered by going back to my room to get a soda!

 

As far as a bottle of wine, well I can understand if somebody has a special brand they want which isn't available on the ship but your only able to carry one bottle, to me its not worth lugging and worrying about.

 

I love FTTF, priority boarding, we receive our luggage much faster and the room is available right away and we love dropping off our carry on luggage and not lug that around the ship waiting for the room to be ready, its so worth it an you also get priority tender and disembarkation whether you want early or late.

 

Im sorry the way I see it I am on a cruise, its a vacation, I want to relax and have less stress.....if you are this way then just purchase the items on board and enjoy your cruise.

[JLee1973]

If you plan to only drink soda and like Coke product get the Bottomless Bubbles package or by soda from Bon Voayage. It is roughly $20 I think. My first cruise I lugged around soda, water (when were still allowed) and the the wine. It was a pain to drag it around the terminal. I purchase water since it is $2.99 a twelve pack and either purchase Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles.

[camprunner]

If I brought soda it would be gingerale if that makes a difference. Is having the soda in the room at night more convenient than going out to get it?

[JLee1973]

If you want a Ginger Ale in the middle of the night you may want some in the room as opposed to getting dressed and finding an open bar. Through Bon Voyage you can buy I believe it is Seagrams Gingerale for $10 a six pack.

[sjbrown01]

If I brought soda it would be gingerale if that makes a difference. Is having the soda in the room at night more convenient than going out to get it?

 

It would depend on the location of your stateroom. If you're fairly close to a bar it may not be much of a hassle.

[Cruisegirl6]

There is a simple solution if you want a soda in the middle of the night, before you go to the cabin to sleep, go get a soda and bring it back with you for later on.

[camprunner]

It would depend on the location of your stateroom. If you're fairly close to a bar it may not be much of a hassle.

We're on the Riviera deck this time so probably not close at all. It sounds like at minimum ordering a 6 pack might be the way to go.

[camprunner]

There is a simple solution if you want a soda in the middle of the night, before you go to the cabin to sleep, go get a soda and bring it back with you for later on.

 

I've thought about that too. Some how I tend to get more thirsty when it's not available...

[StingRaysfan]

I gotta tell ya, when you are in your stateroom winding down for the night and find yourself thirsty there is nothing like having something to quench that thirst in the cabin. I've brought on a 12 pack just to have that before bed drink since I'm addicted to diet coke. Why not just buy a small 6 pk of mini cans in your carry on so you have something. Running to a bar and waiting your turn for a soda is no fun.

[RuthlessBoss]

If I brought soda it would be gingerale if that makes a difference. Is having the soda in the room at night more convenient than going out to get it?

 

Is this question for real?:eek:

[camprunner]

Is this question for real?:eek:

 

How is this response helpful?

[Alexus138]

I always find it worth the hassle to bring on the beverage that I prefer to drink. I dont carry on water. But before bottles were banned....I carried on juice and soda. Maybe u should consider limiting the amount to maybe 6 sodas that will fit in your carry-on.

[camprunner]

The problem being that my carry on will have my laptop because unfortunately I will have to do a little work. If not for that, I probably wouldn't find carrying the beverages to be a hassel. I feel they are going to cause me to need a second carry on to keep up with. Maybe another reason to consider FFTF. With FFTF, I just feel that i wouldn't want to do it since i am just considering this a cheap get away with cheap being a key word on this trip. It's also my very first cruise.

 

I do like the suggestions in this thread though as my eyes have been opened to other options. I still have a lot of thinking to do.

[LilMissScareAll]

Since it seems like you really don't want to carry on the pop, then dont. Order through Bon Voyage and have a couple cans in your room. You can always purchase more on board later if you need it. I believe you have until the 2nd day to purchase bottomless bubbles.

Also, if you're prone to motion sickness, start taking your dramamine a day or two before your cruise. My husband likes the wrist bands.

 

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[Warm Breezes]

We usually bring 2 bottles of champagne and we used 2 bring 2-3 1 Liter bottles of pop for DH. That will be out now with the bottle ban so we will probably just bring a 6 pack of cans for him. We carry these on in a rolling back pack. The 2 bottles of water given to us in the room are plenty for us in the water department for our room. If I want pop I will just order one and pay for it since I only drink 2-3 on a 7 day cruise. Similarly DH and I will usually get a couple of alcoholic drinks but usually less than a handful on any cruise. I sometimes order beer from bon voyage for him in their coolers. The last time I did that he didn't even drink them all. I will probably be drinking even less now since I can't drink due to medications. Unlike many I like the ice tea and can drink that. DH likes the lemonade and usually drinks that. We usually get a glass full and bring it back to the room before we retire for the night.

 

If we take the kids (DD(19) & DS(22)), they don't drink pop at all. DS is like me and drinks the ice tea or water and DD is like DH and sticks to the lemonade or water. Sometimes she wants a mock cocktail so she will order a couple on the cruise. DS doesn't drink alcohol or the mocks and sticks with ice tea or water. We are really inexpensive drinkers when it comes to cruising :D.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Warm Breezes

[camprunner]

We usually bring 2 bottles of champagne and we used 2 bring 2-3 1 Liter bottles of pop for DH. That will be out now with the bottle ban so we will probably just bring a 6 pack of cans for him. We carry these on in a rolling back pack.

 

Perfect! I've done very little traveling and had no idea about rolling back packs. It looks like the perfect solution!

[Mytime2014]

The problem being that my carry on will have my laptop because unfortunately I will have to do a little work. If not for that, I probably wouldn't find carrying the beverages to be a hassel. I feel they are going to cause me to need a second carry on to keep up with. Maybe another reason to consider FFTF. With FFTF, I just feel that i wouldn't want to do it since i am just considering this a cheap get away with cheap being a key word on this trip. It's also my very first cruise.

 

I do like the suggestions in this thread though as my eyes have been opened to other options. I still have a lot of thinking to do.

 

I think it comes down to the level of your friendship with your travelling partner. Make sure they know you can bring on additional soda in ports if that's available where you are. Carrying an extra six pack of soda doesn't seem huge to me, but then.....

 

I will be taking on a 6 pack of diet mt. dew and my friend will bring caffiene free diet coke [don't think that's available on ship]. She doesn't drink but will take a bottle of wine for me. If she needed more of whatever she likes to drink I would carry on for her - but we are good friends.

[camprunner]

I'm just not sure we re going to be boarding together. If we were both going to get there early and wait in line then I'd be okay because we could take turns watching stuff. However, I'm staying over night near the port to make sure I get there (terrible luck lately) and i think she's going to come closer to the last minute.

[LMaxwell]

Here's my left field suggestion. Get a bottle or two of those flavor shots. Very small. Like the size of a tooth floss case. Then order a 12 pack case of water to your room from fun shops for $2.99. No carrying but still have flavored drinks. Those little flavor shots are $2 to $4 per bottle

[camprunner]

Here's my left field suggestion. Get a bottle or two of those flavor shots. Very small. Like the size of a tooth floss case. Then order a 12 pack case of water to your room from fun shops for $2.99. No carrying but still have flavored drinks. Those little flavor shots are $2 to $4 per bottle

 

I'm ordering water anyway. I just am worried I'll need something fizzy. It's all about the fizz.