Coffee Cards?

[mandymae]

Could someone explain the coffee cards to me? I'm going on my first Princess Cruise to Alaska in a couple weeks and keep reading about them here. I'm not a huge fan of coffee drinks, but I do need a good cup of coffee in the morning. Is this not available in the buffet or MDR?

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Could someone explain the coffee cards to me? I'm going on my first Princess Cruise to Alaska in a couple weeks and keep reading about them here. I'm not a huge fan of coffee drinks, but I do need a good cup of coffee in the morning. Is this not available in the buffet or MDR?

 

What ship are you on?

The card itself is good for unlimited fresh brewed coffee for the purchaser.

The card has 15 punch spots around the perimeter of the card for specialty coffee type drinks.

The punches can be used by anyone.

The ships regular coffee is free and available at the buffet and in the dining rooms, specialty restaurants, and room service. It is from a coffee concentrate syrup.

To me it tastes fine. Others not so much.

[tonyweir]

Correct. It's a great deal if you like specialty coffee. We do it on every cruise!

[ar1950]

If all you want is a cup of coffee in the morning the card probably won't be a great deal for you. If it is a 7 day cruise then just buying a cup of fresh brewed coffee if you find you don;t care for the stuff in the dining room or buffet will cost less than a coffee card. You can always buy the card on board if you decide you want to go with that option. BTW, I have always found the "free" coffee served in the dining rooms and buffet is fine. Enjoy the cruise.

[Thrak]

I "normally" find the regular ship coffee to be fine. I have experienced really (really!) bad coffee though. During the course of a single lunch I had a great cup of coffee and then a refill that tasted absolutely horrible. Obviously a different pot of coffee. Both were made from syrup.

 

I usually have a coffee card for my wife to get fancy coffee. I drink the fresh-brewed at IC in the morning and she uses the punches (which are totally fine for me to share with her). She never gets the fresh-brewed on the card. If she is going to do that then she either has her own card or she has the only card and I maybe get a foo-foo coffee once or twice using her punches although I don't usually get them anyway.

 

Many never drink anything but the regular ship coffee and are fine with it. We really only get the card so my wife can have the snazzy drinks.

[easyboy]

If you do not use all the allowable 15 punches on your card at the end of the cruise, you can still use the card on your next cruise for specialty coffee, but the brewed coffee will already need a punch, since your card was acquired in a previous vessel.

[cr8tiv1]

Have a free coffee with your lunch when you board (buffet/main dining room). If you are fine with the quality, then you won't need to buy a card. Otherwise, there will be stations all over the ship and in the dining room at dinner time to make a purchase of a coffee card for the same price as pre-pay. I always carry around a coffee card.

 

 

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[skynight]

Regular and decaf coffee is free and available all day and evening in the buffet, room service and any DR. It is prepared from a liquid coffee concentrate. Many restaurants and fast food places serve coffee prepared by the same method so you have probably had similar coffee in the past. Try a cup when you board.

 

The coffee card is for 15 espresso drinks and includes unlimited brewed coffee for the cruise. Unused punches never expire and can be used on your next Princess cruise. The brewed coffee option is for one cruise only. The brewed coffee is drip coffee made from grounds.

[Been There, Planning That]

This is a loosely related question.

 

If one wants a speciality coffee in the dining room, am I correct that a server must run down to the International Cafe to pick one up and that it's not served from the dining room kitchen?

 

In past cruises we had window cabins so it was convenient to pick up a coffee, but recently we graduated to a balcony and it doesn't seem worth the hassle of going down for a real coffee and then up for breakfast. And yet we both prefer 'real' coffee.

 

Ruth

[skynight]

This is a loosely related question.

 

If one wants a speciality coffee in the dining room, am I correct that a server must run down to the International Cafe to pick one up and that it's not served from the dining room kitchen?

 

In past cruises we had window cabins so it was convenient to pick up a coffee, but recently we graduated to a balcony and it doesn't seem worth the hassle of going down for a real coffee and then up for breakfast. And yet we both prefer 'real' coffee.

 

Ruth

The Royal, Regal and probably Majestic have equipment that prepares coffee from grounds. So 'real' coffee, as you call it, is available in every dining location. Believe that in the MDR's waiters must order espresso drinks from the International Cafe. In the buffet espresso drinks are prepared at one of the bars on the Lido deck and on certain ships at the new coffee and cones site. These sites do not have brewed coffee so brewed coffee is not available in the buffet on any ship other than the Royal class ones.

I don't think DR waiters will be happy to run over to the I.C. to just get a cup of brewed coffee, but they may do it.

[JF - retired RRT]

The card is also good for fancy brewed hot tea in a pot, hot chocolate...bot from the "free" side of the card.

The punches are good for the specialty coffees (as mentioned) and gelato if available on your ship.

No one has mentioned that the specialty coffees include hot & iced, plus some other concoctions (some are tea based).

My favorite is Black Forest Freeze...might not be a great choice on an Alaska cruise.:o

[Been There, Planning That]

The Royal, Regal and probably Majestic have equipment that prepares coffee from grounds. .....

I don't think DR waiters will be happy to run over to the I.C. to just get a cup of brewed coffee, but they may do it.

 

We'll be on the Coral. And you confirmed my suspicions about the effort required to serve speciality coffees in the dining room.

 

Thanks,

 

Ruth

[wheezedr]

As a longtime Princess cruiser I would confirm that regular coffee can be hit or miss. We use our coffee cards to get an overall more consistent product. The DW also prefers the Tea available at the IC to what is served elsewhere, including the MDR. By day 2 to 3 she has generally "trained" a barista to give her an extra tea bag to take with her at dinner time. Then she simply orders a pot of hot water at dinner. A fun thing to do with extra punches is to buy a newbie or occasional coffee drinker their drink while you are in line with them. Always gets a nice smile and thank you.

[Thrak]

We'll be on the Coral. And you confirmed my suspicions about the effort required to serve speciality coffees in the dining room.

 

Thanks,

 

Ruth

 

Coral has a spot (Amuleto) in the back (actually the most forward part but it seems like the back when you are in HC) of HC that can make fancy coffee for you - although it was usually not staffed when we sailed Coral for 17 days. It "should" be staffed most times though so you ought to be able to get your fancy coffee fix there.

[easyboy]

On the Regal, we ordered from a limited selection of specialty coffee like Capuccino at the Pastry Shop of the Horizon Bistro with our coffee card. We still had to order some like Frapuccino at the IC.

 

 

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[neverbeenhere]

As for the coffee in the buffet areas, hidden on the top of the Princess branded ship is this device. Now, I'm not sure what it is used for, but i have a pretty good idea.

[Been There, Planning That]

Coral has a spot (Amuleto) in the back (actually the most forward part but it seems like the back when you are in HC) of HC that can make fancy coffee for you - although it was usually not staffed when we sailed Coral for 17 days. It "should" be staffed most times though so you ought to be able to get your fancy coffee fix there.

 

Thank you, Thrak, we'll search it out.

[pablo222]

If one wants a speciality coffee in the dining room, am I correct that a server must run down to the International Cafe to pick one up and that it's not served from the dining room kitchen?

 

No. The MDR galleys have the machines.

 

There are sometimes special circumstances, like early in the morning, when they have to

run; but in general, no.

 

I had one head waiter specifically have the junior waiter run from the mdr to the i.cafe, because he

wanted her to learn how to do it.

 

Also, the specialty restuarant galleys also have their own machines.

[Been There, Planning That]

No. The MDR galleys have the machines.

 

There are sometimes special circumstances, like early in the morning, when they have to

run; but in general, no.

 

I had one head waiter specifically have the junior waiter run from the mdr to the i.cafe, because he

wanted her to learn how to do it.

 

Also, the specialty restuarant galleys also have their own machines.

 

Guess it will be best to wait until we board, find out if we can EASILY use it in the dining room and then purchase a card if this is possible. We only drink morning breakfast coffee.

 

Ruth

[Eaglecw]

I only drink coffee in the morning and the MDR coffee is OK for that. My DW and I both like to have a cup of Cocoa/hot chocolate about mid-morning so I use my Coffee card at the IC for that. You can also use your coffee card at the IC for Gelato, I believe the Gelato is 2 punches off the card. I bought 2 unsigned cards online a few years ago for $15 and I’m still using them, sometimes they don’t punch the card when I get a drink or Gelato.

[pablo222]

Guess it will be best to wait until we board, find out if we can EASILY use it in the dining room and then purchase a card if this is possible. We only drink morning breakfast coffee.

 

Ruth

 

Easily. Just use it. No problem.

[ESStutts]

We thought we might not end up using all 15 of the punches for coffee until I found out you could also use it for the tea specialty drinks. You can also use it towards ice cream sundaes at (I think the name is) Celebrations.