Pub Crawl on the Joy, Review and Plan

[3kidsncats]

Just off the Joy 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise.  I planned a pub crawl for the members of our roll call, and was asked by other CC members if I would share the plan so they could utilize it on their upcoming cruise — so am doing that paired with a review of the bars we visited.

 

There are so many different bar options, that I focused our crawl on a handful of venues with somewhat distinct menus.  We chose to hold the crawl on the first sea day for a few reasons — great time to get to know which bars you like, and a bit of ship exploration early on, meet fellow CCers early and allows for meetups later in the cruise, and since that’s when the CC meet and greet is held, people were mostly assembled already.  The Meet and Greet was set for 11 am, and there was a slot pull set for 12pm — knowing people would be hungry, we set the first venue at 1pm at the Local, so people could grab lunch as well.  Will post the full schedule at the end of this post.  

 

When choosing the order of the venues, and the timing, I took into consideration that you want to go when the venues are actually open, limit the amount of up and down, back and forth around the ship between venues, and alllow time for everyone to place, receive and consume their cocktails, plus time for restroom breaks and transition to the next place.  I allow 45 minutes per venue, with 15 minutes between — so one hour per venue.  If you want to hit more venues, I suggest planning two separate crawls, as 5 is a long time commitment, and a good balance between enough bars, but not too many.

 

I also put the plan out on the roll call ahead of time,, as well as brought a few printed copies to the M&G so people could snap a photo — this way, people can show up late if it suits their needs, and still know where and when the CCers can be found.  The flow of the schedule is more about having fun, and really having a chance to meet and get to know some fellow cruisers — if you are more interested in heavy drinking, you can shorten the amount of time you stay in each venue.

 

This schedule is based on the 7 day MR itinerary, for a sea day.  Port days will have different bar open/close times, so be sure to check the daily ahead of time to confirm.  And of course, different ships have different venues and/or venue locations.  Restrooms are located generally between the elevator banks and the stairs (so not Midship), although deck 6 has one Midship next to Teppenyaki, directly across from the entrance to Maltings.

 

1-1:45pm: the Local, Deck 7 Mid-ship

2-2:45pm: Maltings Whiskey Bar, Deck 6 Mid-Aft (Restroom directly across from entrance, to the left of Teppenyaki)

3-3:45pm: Sugarcane Mojito Bar, Deck 8 Midship (Closest Restroom is to the left at entry to Brewhouse)

4-4:45pm: District Brewhouse, Deck 8 Mid Forward (Restroom at entry)

5:00 to whenever: A List Bar, Deck 8 Aft (Between Le Bistro and Cagneys) (Restroom outside entrance)

[3kidsncats]

First Up — The Local

 

Not a great choice for chatting, as it is primarily a restaurant, but worked well for our schedule of M&G, followed by the slot pull — since people were happy to grab a bite.  Be sure to check in with the hostess for seating (it will be based on what is available, bar stools and tables of up to 6 — wouldn’t expect to be seated as a large group).

 

Food here was good — we only ate there once, as I don’t like the bar/restaurant in a foot traffic pass thru area.  It’s also loud.  I had them bring me a sample of the “Cocktails on Tap” — tried the Glacier Blue one.  Like most of the ones I tried at various venues, it was overly sweet (although I prefer lightly sweetened so your mileage may vary)

 

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by 3kidsncats
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[3kidsncats]

Local continued 

 

Salad is the Cobb salad, and soup is the soup of the day... hubby ordered it, and I can’t remember the name.  I think it was a barley and sausage soup, quite good.

[3kidsncats]

Next Up: Maltings Whiskey Bar

 

This is a great bar for groups — they do tastings, so make sure not to sit at the tables with glassware set ups for that.  It was rarely crowded.  Milan, the main bartender here is very skilled and can crank out a bunch of Old Fashioneds like no ones business — but we didnt get the impression he was the type to adjust the ingredients for you.  We didn’t ask, but myself, the hubby and our traveling companions all got the same impression.  The hubby and I don’t prefer vermouth in our OF, so we ended up preferring other venues for them.

 

Milan did get me sample glasses of both Cocktails on tap, neither of which appealed to me.

 

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by 3kidsncats
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[3kidsncats]

We continured on to the Sugarcane Mojito Bar — our group expanding as a few people joined up at Maltings, and then more came along for Mojitos

 

We arrived just after a tasting, which was perfect because it opened up a nice large space for us.  Service here continued to get better throughout the cruise, as we found our way here a few times for additional “crawl” meet ups.  Sebastian and the two Michaels took great care of us.  And the lovely female waitress whose name I neglected to get.  

 

This bar has both Waterfront and inside seating.  Since we were at sea, inside seating worked best on this occasion.

 

I loved the Spicy Passion Mojito, others loved the Brugal Ginger one and the Wiki Rum Punch.  And one of our CCers turned us on to his drink of choice (We just started asking Sebastian for “Ron’s Drink”) the Capriana (not sure on the spelling for that one—its the one with Brazilian Rum, more emphasis on the sugarcane over molassas in it’s production — served with muddled limes, soda water and some simple syrup)

Edited January 13, 2020 by 3kidsncats
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[3kidsncats]

A photo from our second gathering on Friday

 

 

[3kidsncats]

Our second to last stop was the District Brewhouse.  We scored the corner area near the entrance which just barely fit the whole group.  We had great service from Award Rei —if he is onboard for your cruise, you are in luck!

 

The hubby and I tried the Cannonball and the Jackhammar.  Really didn’t like either of them, but on a later visit we tried the Guillotine (If you like an Old Fashioned, definitely try this one).  

 

This post includes pics of the Guillotine (darker drink) and the tequila based Sancho Panza

[3kidsncats]

The tall, orange yellow drink is the Cannonball.  The smaller dark one is the jackhammer

 

 

[3kidsncats]

Final stop was the A-List bar.  There was a perfect seating area just past the bar itself — so come in and go all the way back.  It opens late, as it is the bar serving both the specialty restaurants on either side.  It features a lot of classic cocktails like Gin and Tonics, Vodka Tonics, etc.

 

I had tried the Matador here the night before, and this time had the Woodford Oldfashioned.  I had him adjust it though and was very happy with it.  (Omit the vermouth and switch the simple syrup for a half ounce of the elderflower syrup).

 

I only got a pic of the menu here — it is a fairly dark venue.  I am hoping some of my fellow roll call peeps will join in and post their opinions of the venues, cocktails and the crawl schedule, and maybe some pics too.

 

We had a lot of fun, and I’d like to thank everyone who joined in with us and helped make it a great afternoon.  

 

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by 3kidsncats
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[3kidsncats]

I forgot to mention — the Q has a bar with it’s own unique Cocktail on Tap.  We didn’t visit this bar on the crawl as it is only open after about 9pm for bar service and live music (not sure if they allow bar service early during the primary dinner service).  Anyhow, we did try the Cocktail on Tap here, and it was the only one we liked.  We ended up ordering a second.  It was the Smokey Peach Margarita.  

[tlm48]

2 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

I forgot to mention — the Q has a bar with it’s own unique Cocktail on Tap.  We didn’t visit this bar on the crawl as it is only open after about 9pm for bar service and live music (not sure if they allow bar service early during the primary dinner service).  Anyhow, we did try the Cocktail on Tap here, and it was the only one we liked.  We ended up ordering a second.  It was the Smokey Peach Margarita.  

That's awesome! I'm going to use your route for the crawl on our cruise. Drink suggestion were they done by bartenders or cruisers? I'm thinking we will let the bartenders to do their thing! Cant find your signature but read you report. Thanks for sharing 

[3kidsncats]

14 minutes ago, tlm48 said:

That's awesome! I'm going to use your route for the crawl on our cruise. Drink suggestion were they done by bartenders or cruisers? I'm thinking we will let the bartenders to do their thing! Cant find your signature but read you report. Thanks for sharing 

Have fun!  The drinks noted were just what myself or others ordered, that I noted.  I’m sure the wait staff will offer suggestions if you like.  Basically we just ordered things we know we like (Old Fashioneds for example) or things that just sounded interesting.

[GEORGIEGIRL129]

Thanks so much for sharing this. We’ve volunteered to lead the PC on the Jade from Singapore to Rome and your post is really helpful. Many thanks and Enjoy many more Cocktails and Cruises! Suzanne and Denis 

[3kidsncats]

8 hours ago, GEORGIEGIRL129 said:

Thanks so much for sharing this. We’ve volunteered to lead the PC on the Jade from Singapore to Rome and your post is really helpful. Many thanks and Enjoy many more Cocktails and Cruises! Suzanne and Denis 

Happy to help!  If you can find recent dailies from the Jade with the same/similar  itinerary as yours, it is helpful for guesstimating the times the venues will be open.  Have a great cruise 🙂

[2+2]

Thank you for the great post. I do have a couple of questions if you or others have time.

    Is the Capriana drink you described on the menu? If not will they know what I am talking about. 

     Are the snacks on the menu at the District complementary? I did not even know they had snacks on the menu.

    Our cruise on the Joy is just around the corner, and your post is perfect timing.

[georgemoe]

Thanks for the PC review. Will be on the Joy to Bermuda in 2021 and will use this as a guide.

[amcsoup]

Fantastic information! We will definitely give this a go in November. Thanks for sharing! 

[Uhleashyuh]

Great review! We will be on the Joy in March cant wait to try some of these drinks. I loved the mojito bar on other ships!