FIrst time getting a drink package, any insider tips I should know about?

[mary_228]

We are sailing on the Emerald Princess next month. We are a fan of classic cocktails, as opposed to tropical drinks, and my husband prefers craft beers, typically stouts and porters. We have a balcony cabin so would enjoy having some wine in our cabin. Not sure how all of this will work. Any tips for us? And is there is a top notch bartender on board our ship, I would love to be directed to him/her.

[Thrak]

Princess is known for a dearth of good beer. Your husband is doomed to disappointment in that area.  He will simply have to make do with "the best" of whatever they offer. The bartenders can make the classic cocktails. If it's not on the menu just ask. You can each take one bottle of wine aboard "free" to drink in your cabin. If you take more wine than the free allotment you will be charged a corkage fee of $20 per bottle.  Those bottles will be marked and you can take them to the dining room if you wish. If you don't finish the bottle you can either take it back to the cabin or they will keep it for you and you can have it with a later dinner. It doesn't matter if you eat in another venue they will still be able to bring your partial bottle for you to have with your meal.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Thrak

[Coffeeluvr05]

You don't have to order off of drink menus.  Just order your favorite drink and they can make it.  I am a classic cocktail drinker as well.  Gin martinis and manhattans are my standards.  I did recently have a Brooklyn though and loved it.  I has a maraschino liqueur in it.  Yum!

 

You can get many wines by the glass.  There are also many cordials and cognacs within the PBP price as well.  Don't forget specialty coffees either! 

 

I have been reading about people being able to have their cocktails and coffees delivered to their staterooms and I plan on fully testing that out on my next cruise in February!

[MissP22]

Delete

[landlocked12]

I will be on the Emerald Princess this month and would also like to know about the best bartenders on the ship.  😉

Edited December 3, 2021 by landlocked12

[epistax]

I will be on the Emerald Princess in March. First cruise and first time with the drink package.  I just wanted to know in what situations you might still be expected to tip  (if any) when you have the package. 

[mary_228]

On 11/29/2021 at 4:38 PM, Thrak said:

Princess is known for a dearth of good beer. Your husband is doomed to disappointment in that area.  You can each take one bottle of wine aboard "free" to drink in your cabin. If you take more wine than the free allotment you will be charged a corkage fee of $20 per bottle.  

Sad to hear that about the beer. Usually in the Wheelhouse when they have the British Pub meal there is Guinness at least. Regarding the wine, I see no point in packing my own if it is already part of the package. I don't suppose there would be any problem carrying my wine glass from the bar to my cabin, but room service wine would be better! Are you aware if this is a "thing"?

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, mary_228 said:

Sad to hear that about the beer. Usually in the Wheelhouse when they have the British Pub meal there is Guinness at least. Regarding the wine, I see no point in packing my own if it is already part of the package. I don't suppose there would be any problem carrying my wine glass from the bar to my cabin, but room service wine would be better! Are you aware if this is a "thing"?

Just order your wine via the TV set in your room, and it will be delivered in due course (the wait is variable depending on how busy the staff are) . If you don't want to wait (I normally don't!) get a glass from the nearest bar and carry it back to your cabin, and then order a second glass.  Avoids any dry spells ! 

Being a Brit, I normally don't tip for a one off delivery of a glass of wine ! 

[pjrockman]

Don’t forget that it includes 25% off of bottles of wine.  We don’t use it typically, except for the higher end bottles not available by glass.  Also, you can take your glass of wine anywhere, but some venues (a dining room here and there and Vines (on the Royal Classes)) may want to exchange glassware with you when you leave.

 

Hope that helps.  Safe Journeys, Paul

[hunt182644]

Most servers will let you put two drinks on at a time.

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, epistax said:

I will be on the Emerald Princess in March. First cruise and first time with the drink package.  I just wanted to know in what situations you might still be expected to tip  (if any) when you have the package. 

The beverage package includes a waiters tip of 18%.

[reedprincess]

The beverage Package doesn't allow for doubles (normally) although you may get a bartender who has a more generous pour. As I drink - almost exclusively - vodka on the rocks, my bartender friends aboard gave me the tip to order a Ketel One Classic Martini, on the rocks and no vermouth.  Since the actual Martini is about a 1 and 3/4 shot versus a regular vodka rocks - you almost double up for the almighty cost of one drink (against the 15 per day).  Works great.  Unfortunately, the app doesn't allow for special ordering - so gotta do it in person.. 

You can have all the non-alcoholic covered drinks you want - we generally get a bottle of water whenever we're heading to the cabin to have some on hand, and to take on shore excursions.  

Your room steward will keep you stocked with ice - but you do have to ask 

You can order drinks via the app virtually anywhere on shop - but be prepared to flag the bartender delivery person down if you're on deck or in a crowded venue - they'll be the one with your drink looking around aimlessly - the app doesn't pinpoint your seat, just general area..  and you can order drinks to your cabin - can be almost immediate or up to 20-30 minutes depending on how busy a venue is, delivery, etc. 

The 24 hour period runs 6am to 6am..

Ask for whatever drinks you want - if they have it, they'll make it. You're not limited to the cocktail menu in whichever venue.

The Good Spirits speciality drinks are covered by the package, if you want to try them, or go for the t-shirt even! (Try all 11 GS drinks and "earn" a free t-shirt..

Try new things - you may be surprised!! 

Safe travels.

[Mackenzie1]

I’m on the Sky Princess now. They have two IPA’s, and one is Goose Island. There is no British Pub Lunch yet.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Mackenzie1

[nini]

The good news is that almost all of the wine available by the glass, is included in the beverage package (under the max price) Or you would just pay the difference. We take our wine wherever we want to go, including our cabin and balcony.

[Tedferg]

1 hour ago, reedprincess said:

The beverage Package doesn't allow for doubles (normally) although you may get a bartender who has a more generous pour. As I drink - almost exclusively - vodka on the rocks, my bartender friends aboard gave me the tip to order a Ketel One Classic Martini, on the rocks and no vermouth.  Since the actual Martini is about a 1 and 3/4 shot versus a regular vodka rocks - you almost double up for the almighty cost of one drink (against the 15 per day).  Works great. 

Similarly, I was told to order a Rob Roy and hold the vermouth, so a double scotch. This was without drink package, so a double for the price of a single..

 

BTW isn't Guiness generally available in most bars ?

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

BTW isn't Guiness generally available in most bars

Correct me if I am wrong, but I dont recall Guinness being available on draught in any bar.  Yes, in cans or bottles,  but that is not proper Guiness. 

[epistax]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but I dont recall Guinness being available on draught in any bar.  Yes, in cans or bottles,  but that is not proper Guiness. 

While it would be great for a cruise ship to have a nitro tap, that doesn't really surprise me.

 

I think most people would consider me a beer snob, but anything that could be considered a type other than adjunct / pilsner / crap lager likely works for me. Of course that's most beer 

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but I dont recall Guinness being available on draught in any bar.  Yes, in cans or bottles,  but that is not proper Guiness. 

I agree with you, however it varies by pub and how well they handle Guiness. Here in the US, I know some Irishmen who drink canned Guiness even though the pub has draft Guiness. When I asked why, they said 'consistency'.

[Upper Bob]

As someone who also likes a selection of beers beyond the Bud, Miller, Heineken world, I was pleasantly surprised by the offerings on Enchanted Princess (just got off ship a week ago). Here is a list of the beers available on board (not at every venue or all through room service):

 

Budweiser

Bud Light

Michelob Ultra

Coors Light

Miller Lite

Red Stripe

Grolsch

Corona Extra

Dos Equis

Heineken

Heineken Light

Peroni Nastro Azzurro

Pilsner Urquell

Stella Artois

Fosters Oil Can 25oz

Tiger

Samuel Adam’s Boston Lager

Bass Ale

Sierra Nevada

Lagunitas IPA

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

Blue Moon Belgium White Ale

Goose Island Sofie

Gulden Draak 9000 Quad

Kronenbourg

Chimay Premiere 25.4oz Belgium Trappist Dubbel

 

On tap at Salty Dog Gastropub:

Newcastle Brown Ale

Affligem Blonde

Heineken

 

 

[Scottyren]

On 12/3/2021 at 11:24 AM, reedprincess said:

The Good Spirits speciality drinks are covered by the package, if you want to try them, or go for the t-shirt even! (Try all 11 GS drinks and "earn" a free t-shirt..

Never heard of the free t-shirt program. How does it work? Do you have to ask for a stamp card to track things or something like that?

[Upper Bob]

1 hour ago, Scottyren said:

Never heard of the free t-shirt program. How does it work? Do you have to ask for a stamp card to track things or something like that?

Good Spirits on Enchanted no longer had the free t-shirt promotion. It was likely just for the inaugural cruise.

[Sea Hag]

This probably won't be exciting to anybody but me. We don't usually get the drinks package, since we don't drink alcohol, but for our November cruise and the upcoming one in April, I booked us with Princess Plus. I was wanting to spend the credits for cancelation in 2020, so I splurged. I figured unlimited specialty coffees would be nice to have, but I hadn't thought of sparkling mineral water. I love that stuff! And I went through lots of bottles of it over the weeklong cruise. Does anybody else find this exciting? Thought not. 🤣

[Hlitner]

I cannot speak to the current situation on the Emerald but will rely on lots of Princess experience and our recent 20 days on the Enchanted.   My advice is to think of your drink package as a license to experiment and try new things as well as your trusted standards.  While I would agree that Princess does not have the most impressive beer collection there are still quite a few beer options although you are not going to find a selection of "craft beers" .   But we find the most fun is trying some new cocktails (look at the various bar menus at each bar which you can access with your phone (each bar now has a QR code with their menu).  The bar tenders are friendly and will make anything you want but the menus might give you some ideas.  

 

On our cruise we found that most bar tenders were willing to offer us doubles (but they would count as two drinks within your 15 drink per day allowance).  Most bar tenders were also willing to give me two drinks (one for my wife) when I only had my own medallion (they can look up the fact that your partner  in the cabin also has the drink package).  Our one big disappointment was the poor "wine by the glass" selection and constantly running out of even some of those options.

 

DW and I also follow a simple rule.  When we dine in the MDRs we like to enjoy wine with our dinner.  But in the past we have sometimes ordered wine (glass or bottles) only to have it show up at the table when we were well into eating our meal.  So now, we always tell our waiter we will not order dinner until after we get our wine :).  The waiters understand and there is no problem although this is best done when dining by yourself (or with friends).   We would not do this at a "shared" table since it is rude to the others at the table.

 

Hank

[peachykiehn]

On 12/3/2021 at 6:51 AM, landlocked12 said:

I will be on the Emerald Princess this month and would also like to know about the best bartenders on the ship.  😉

Best bartenders we found on the Emerald were  at the Good Spirits at Sea bar. Sarah and Olga lots of fun and their special cocktails are wonderful. 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

On our cruise we found that most bar tenders were willing to offer us doubles (but they would count as two drinks within your 15 drink per day allowance).  Most bar tenders were also willing to give me two drinks (one for my wife) when I only had my own medallion (they can look up the fact that your partner  in the cabin also has the drink package). 

Good to know.