How bad is the coffee/Iced tea/Lemonade?

[RuthlessBoss]

Lol! Actually, just the opposite. But I've seen a theme on here that as good as everything is, the free drinks are not. I just don't know if the theme is just your certain percentage that you can't please, if the beverage likeability is subjective (hence, me noting I like DD versus Starbucks for flavor), or if they are truly just bad. I'm stuck on whether to get Cheers, as I'm not a huge drinker, but I do like coffee, iced tea, water...and a few alcohol drinks. My husband drinks more beer, so he could benefit, but it's either both or none.

 

I'm an over-planner, and keep going back and forth on Cheers, and realized one of my deciding factors is the daytime drinks. And hubby doesn't drink know soda, so Bublessed is out for at least him.

 

I guess if you don't like the free drinks, you should proceed with the vacation guarantee. :D

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Like food...beverages are totally subjective. Coffee strong, add more half and half or water, mix hot chocolate with the coffee and add half and half. Don't like the instant tea...just make an Arnold Palmer, or get a few tea bags brew a nice strong cup and pour over ice in your tevi thermos (a must on a cruise). Don't like the taste of the water just add lemon, lime, or fruit wedges (available at the buffet). Take a "beverage packet" with you on the cruise. Mini bottles of water flavoring, packets of flavored creamer, your favorite tea bags (there are hundreds of options at your local grocery store).

 

All that being said, I have no problem with the beverages on board a ship and the water tastes fine to me. There are plenty of juices in the am and by room service. But then, I'm not a picky person when it comes to sustenance. I've eaten out a gazillion times during my lifetime and some items are great others barely tolerable but I have survived.

 

If someone is a foodie they probably shouldn't cruise where food and beverages are there for a few thousand people to consume...it's just not like eating at home where someone has full control over what they eat or drink.

[fuddrules]

(hence, me noting I like DD versus Starbucks for flavor),

 

If you're that particular with your coffee (or any other drink) where you need a specific brand or go out of your way because you have to have something specific, there's at least a 99.99% probability you won't like Carnival coffee.

 

Same goes for food.

 

Not sure what else to say other than drink lots of bottled water and booze. Unless you need a specific brand of water and/or booze. If so, you're in for a rough cruise.

Edited November 1, 2016 by fuddrules

[evandbob]

I like Dunkin coffee, as well as some strong Peet's blends, and I find Carnival's coffee somewhat vague and tasteless. I'll have just one cup in the morning at the buffet, or maybe 2 cups with a sea day brunch.

 

The lemonade they serve is loaded with sugar, when I stick to water I don't gain weight.

[ryano]

I find that making an Arnold Palmer out of the tea and lemonade makes it perfect. The lemonade is loaded with sugar while the tea is unsweet. Mixing half and half is perfect for me.

 

The "free" coffee is just awful but that isnt just Carnival. Royals coffee sucks too. Im sure so does all other included coffee on mass market lines. They want you to pay for the goof stuff

Edited November 1, 2016 by ryano

[MisterOJ2]

I think the drinks must vary from ship to ship.

 

I was on the Dream a couple weeks ago and I found the coffee on the Lido deck to be really, really strong. It was too strong for me to drink black, and normally what I drink at home is generally pretty strong. But, I found that if I added a bit of half & half and a half packet of sugar, it was not bad at all. I got used to it pretty quick and enjoyed it for the entire cruise.

 

As for the lemonade, I found it very strong too. Not sweet, but extremely tart, which I happened to like. I drank lots of it over the course of the week, but I frequently saw other cruisers cutting it with water - I assume because it was so strong.

 

I didn't drink any of the tea from the machines, except for a couple times when I made an Arnold Palmer. It was fine for that. Mostly I just drank the lemonade straight though.

Edited November 1, 2016 by MisterOJ2

[maldenmusic]

The iced tea with some lemonade in it is pretty good

[summersigh]

Like food...beverages are totally subjective......

All that being said, I have no problem with the beverages on board a ship and the water tastes fine to me. There are plenty of juices in the am and by room service. But then, I'm not a picky person when it comes to sustenance. I've eaten out a gazillion times during my lifetime and some items are great others barely tolerable but I have survived.

 

If someone is a foodie they probably shouldn't cruise where food and beverages are there for a few thousand people to consume...it's just not like eating at home where someone has full control over what they eat or drink.

We agree :D

 

We've also found the room service coffee and MDR coffee in the morning to be fine. We're satisfied with a mix of iced tea and lemonade because it tastes good - not necessarily to cover any taste of the water. We order the 12 pack of water to use for the cabin and excursions.

[Bookworm1985]

I drink both tea and coffee and think its fine...never any complaints, and I drink it without any sweeteners (just some milk in the coffee). I am not fussy though. I also think the water is fine.

[bike1964]

Glass half empty kind of girl huh?

How BAD is this cruise going to be?

How BAD is the food?

How BAD is the coffee?

 

+1 Sounds like the makings for a great trip:p

[BTHodgeman]

Coffee is ok. A little burnt tasting, but drinkable.

 

Lemonade is good. Pretty tart, but I prefer the tartness over a super sweet lemonade.

 

Iced tea is terrible. Tastes like water. You'll see many people making brewed tea and adding to a cup of ice.

 

No worries about the water no matter your itinerary. It's put into tanks wherever you set sail from.

 

 

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[Shirleybird]

I'm a Dunkin Donuts coffee girl (not Starbucks, not specialty). I drink it with either coffeemate or half and half, and sweet n low. I usually have brewed iced tea with sweet n low for the rest of the day.

 

As I debate whether to purchase Cheers, I'm less worried about the alcohol, and more worried about my non-alcohol drinks. How bad is the coffee? Is the iced tea brewed? Do they have the Pink sweetener available (not equal, Splenda or stevia). Is the water safe (lol...as we are cruising in Mexico) and does it have a funky flavor?

 

This is the reason I am buying the Cheers package. I can go to the coffee shop and get a descent cup of coffee, bottled water and Honest tea's. Of course with a couple of umbrella drinks. :)

[winddawn]

I'm a Dunkin Donuts coffee girl (not Starbucks, not specialty). I drink it with either coffeemate or half and half, and sweet n low. I usually have brewed iced tea with sweet n low for the rest of the day.

 

As I debate whether to purchase Cheers, I'm less worried about the alcohol, and more worried about my non-alcohol drinks. How bad is the coffee? Is the iced tea brewed? Do they have the Pink sweetener available (not equal, Splenda or stevia). Is the water safe (lol...as we are cruising in Mexico) and does it have a funky flavor?

If you are satisfied with cheap store brand coffee made with tap water, you probably won't mind the buffet coffee. If you are more of coffee connoisseur, you will not like the buffet coffee.

 

The buffet iced tea is made from a tea syrup that comes in cartons and is then mixed with water in the fountain.

 

The lemonade is okay if you like sweet drinks.

 

If the water ratio is not set right though, the quality of the tea and lemonade can vary widely from being like syrup water to watered down.

 

Opinions about the taste of ship's water are very subjective and vary widely. I never drink it. And of course, the tea, coffee, and lemonade are all made with ship's water. The ship's water is typically safe to drink though. Fun Shops have packs of bottled water for $3.99 which is money well spent.

[2xsin12mths]

Lemonade/Ice tea is drinkable. I usually get ice water and add a little lemonade since it is so strong/sweet.

Coffee is horrid!!! I swear one morning when we got room service on Ecstasy it came out in blobs it was so thick and dark. I just go to the specialty coffee bar and get a good cup of Americana. I don't mind paying.

In Nassau my daughters and I found a Starbucks and were drinking Iced coffee's in line waiting to get back on the ship. Several people came up to me and asked how far it was to Starbucks and took off. :D

[asalligo]

I'm a Dunkin Donuts coffee girl (not Starbucks, not specialty). I drink it with either coffeemate or half and half, and sweet n low. I usually have brewed iced tea with sweet n low for the rest of the day.

 

As I debate whether to purchase Cheers, I'm less worried about the alcohol, and more worried about my non-alcohol drinks. How bad is the coffee? Is the iced tea brewed? Do they have the Pink sweetener available (not equal, Splenda or stevia). Is the water safe (lol...as we are cruising in Mexico) and does it have a funky flavor?

 

Very good that you posted what you like as I enjoy the lido deck coffee on the ships now, but I do not enjoy Dunkin Donuts coffee as it is too strong for me. If you like Dunkin, the ships free coffee may seem weak to you.

[GradUT]

If someone is a foodie they probably shouldn't cruise where food and beverages are there for a few thousand people to consume...it's just not like eating at home where someone has full control over what they eat or drink.

 

SO TRUE!

 

I took two Carnival cruise this year (and just got back from the 2nd one). I thought the food was delicious and I had no problem with the drinks. I drank the tea with a squirt of lemonade all day (but they also have real lemon slices). The water tasted no different from what I drink back home. The hot chocolate was excellent. My spouse, the coffee drinker in the family, thought the coffee in the Lido was just fine--but he's someone who thinks DD coffee is swill, so you might not like it.

[VASOXFANN]

The iced tea and lemonade are only drinkable when mixed together.

[VASOXFANN]

Also, be sure to rinse the (ship-provided) cups so they won't taste like soap :eek:

[jojo0356]

Most times its ok coffee, iced tea not strong enough for me, not big on lemonade. I usually drink water. Only on Conquest did I find that none of the drinks were much, even the coffee.

[A&Jfamily]

From the website:

 

"Shipboard potable water (drinking, bathing, whirlpools, etc.) either comes from a shoreside water treatment plant or is generated on board from seawater via Reverse Osmosis systems or Evaporators. Swimming pool water is typically seawater.

 

Our potable water is regulated by the Centers for Disease Control U.S Public Health Service Vessel Sanitation Program (CDC-USPH-VSP). Among various other requirements, the water on board is halogenated to USPH standards, regardless of where/how the water is obtained."

 

We are not picky and don't have any objections to the water; it can have a flavor if not iced- best guess is that is stuff from shore vs desalinated. We are also gold and get two large bottled waters in our room so generally drink that. But in MDR, the water is very iced and quite refreshing. We try to eat breakfast or seaday brunch, and our dinners in MDR so this is where I take in a lot of my water for the day.

 

As for tea, it stinks. It is not brewed and has that weird after taste that bottled tea does - think it is one of the acid based preservatives. It is very dark brown and not see thru. My hubby will drink it with 2 pink packs, but I split it with lemonade or just drink the lemonade - again from pre-mixed but does have pulp in it. If I want tea, I will get a large glass from the bar, fill it with ice and take 2 minutes to brew it. Problem solved.

 

I am not a soda drinker, and the calories from the bottomless bubbles for juice would be astronomical. So I keep it simple, and have my juice at breakfast (many additional options in MDR as opposed to OJ, Guava and Apple offered on Lido), water at the rest of my meals and a glass or two of something off the lido when passing thru throughout the day.

[trvlgirlmq]

The water is fine to me. The other stuff is pure crap full of high fructose corn syrup and chemicals. The coffee is crap too but it's free and I don't pay for extra food on the ship so I make do for the week.

 

I'll let the kids have the lemonade but it has to be half water to cut down on the bad stuff and only at lunch. The rest of the time it's water only.

[Domino D]

I'm a Dunkin Donuts coffee girl (not Starbucks, not specialty). I drink it with either coffeemate or half and half, and sweet n low. I usually have brewed iced tea with sweet n low for the rest of the day.

 

As I debate whether to purchase Cheers, I'm less worried about the alcohol, and more worried about my non-alcohol drinks. How bad is the coffee? Is the iced tea brewed? Do they have the Pink sweetener available (not equal, Splenda or stevia). Is the water safe (lol...as we are cruising in Mexico) and does it have a funky flavor?

 

In case it isn't obvious yet, this is a very subjective thing. I don't drink tea or lemonade, so I can't speak from personal experience. We are from Georgia, and my wife has informed me that it is certainly not southern tea. The water is fine, and I have honestly never noticed any issue with it. Now for coffee. I drink a lot of coffee and will drink any coffee. Yes some are better than others, but I have never met a cup I wouldn't drink. That said, I would suggest you go to a Chilis, TGI Fridays, or Applebees type restaurant and order a cup of coffee at dinner. That is probably as close to the free coffee as I think you will find. A lot of the large convenience store chains and fast food places have improved their coffee, but restaurants that open mainly for dinner still pour run of the mill coffee. It might not be identical to the ship, but it will be at about the same level.

 

We also take Starbucks Via's and just use the hot water at certain points in the day, or sometimes just put a little in the ships coffee to boost it.

 

Have a great cruise.

[LMaxwell]

I don't think any of the included drinks are bad. Try it for yourself and see. Then again I have friends who equate cost with good, free with bad.

[kapcruiser]

Is mango guava juice still available on buffet at breakfast? I used to fill a big drink bottle full of that and drink it the rest of the day. I though it was delicious

[simplelife]

I bring along some single-serve Chrystal Light packets and/or favor drops to add to the water.

 

 

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