Small martinis at Martini Bar on classic package?

[MamaToMany]

On my upcoming Apex sailing I have the Classic package. I’d love to taste some of the martinis at the martini bar, and have read that the bartenders will make various martinis in smaller glasses to fit the classic package. 
 

Can someone speak to this? Do I simply tell the bartender I have the classic package and then ask for a smaller size? Will they only make certain flavors? Do the bartenders hate making the small ones? 
 

I’m not sure it’s worth it to upgrade myself to the premium package, and I’m also willing to pay over the classic price if that’s easier.  I definitely tip bartenders and will stick with awesome ones as I find them onboard.

 

All info is gladly appreciated!

[jelayne]

I think they make the small ones during the Captains Club Elite Happy Hour, but they are not the specialty martinis that are on the Martini bar menu.  
 

I have not seen them make a specialty martini in a small glass.  You can, of course, order any of their martinis and pay the difference.  On the E class ships the Martini bar martinis were $15 before the price changed, so the up charge would have been $6 + 20%. 

[MamaToMany]

11 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I think they make the small ones during the Captains Club Elite Happy Hour, but they are not the specialty martinis that are on the Martini bar menu.  
 

I have not seen them make a specialty martini in a small glass.  You can, of course, order any of their martinis and pay the difference.  On the E class ships the Martini bar martinis were $15 before the price changed, so the up charge would have been $6 + 20%. 

Hmmmmm. I guess I must have misunderstood when reading other trip reports, etc. Thanks for the info. Paying the overage for a few will work just fine. 

[DaKahuna]

I may be wrong but bars other than the martini bar will make your martini using classic package liquors as they serve them in the smaller glasses.  I think only the martini bar uses the large size glasses. 

[miched]

You can get martinis using classic spirits at the martini bar.   It will not be the martinis from  Martini Bar menu in a smaller glass and I don’t think they try to duplicate them using classic package spirits.  

Other bars also serve martinis.  They will make it using well spirits even if you have the premium package.  If you have the premium package you  have to specify what  premium spirit you want in it but they won’t make any martinis from the martini bar menu as those are unique to that bar.  
 

drink up. 🍺🥂🍸🍷🍻

Edited January 1, 2023 by miched

[cruisemom42]

My experience at the Martini Bar, FWIW, on Constellation in October was that I sat down at the bar and asked for a martini that was within the limits of the classic package. The bartender was pretty curt and dismissive with his response, "we don't make any martinis on the classic package."

 

If he'd been even a bit nice or apologetic, I'd have ordered anyway. As it was, I never ordered anything else at the martini bar. Other bars were more than happy to provide.

Edited January 1, 2023 by cruisemom42

[jelayne]

5 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I may be wrong but bars other than the martini bar will make your martini using classic package liquors as they serve them in the smaller glasses.  I think only the martini bar uses the large size glasses. 

 No you are correct, the other bars serve the traditional size martinis and if they are made with the vodkas or gins from the Classic package they are covered.

 

[Purplsmurf]

The martini bar used to make small ones for people with the classic package. They have stopped doing it, although some bartenders still will even tho they aren’t supposed to. They were also very limited on what they would make. Cosmos and appletinis were about it.

[adolfo2]

Not efficient or cost-effective for the Martini Bar to be making the "mini" drinks when there is a line of guests having purchased the Premium package that are clamoring for drinks.

[Laurab23]

The only martinis we could get at bars other than martini bar was a regular martini or cosmopolitan. I asked for a lemon drop and was told to go to martini bar.

 

Laura

[LMaxwell]

Yes, just ask for the smaller size.  Worked fine for us Equinox at Martini Bar. 

[Kelownadon]

3 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

Not efficient or cost-effective for the Martini Bar to be making the "mini" drinks when there is a line of guests having purchased the Premium package that are clamoring for drinks.

Not efficient - small martinis take less time to make. Not cost effective - small martinis cost Celebrity less to make. On top of that I doubt anybody that pays extra to upgrade to premium will stop doing it as a result of some people getting small martinis. 

[SHIP TRAVELER]

9 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

The martini bar used to make small ones for people with the classic package. They have stopped doing it, although some bartenders still will even tho they aren’t supposed to. They were also very limited on what they would make. Cosmos and appletinis were about it.

I got one outside of Elite hours on the Solstice in December from a very friendly bartender.  It was a Cosmo which is my preference.  It looked exactly like the ones I got at the Passport bar. I did say Classic but didn't say small.  It was small and very tasty.  I think they need to exclude the Martini Bar like they do the World Bar if they don't want to make classic drinks. That would save confusion and nasty interactions with bar staff.

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, Laurab23 said:

 I asked for a lemon drop and was told to go to martini bar.

 

A lemon drop is super easy to make. It's one of my drinks of choice. If they say no, I'll just ask for titos, triplesec, and with a extra lemon. I can drink that on the rocks and usually skip the sugar rim anyway.

[Cruisy Guy]

Several years ago, we were turned away from the Martini Bar when we tried to order a martini with the classic package. That has since changed.

 

We were on both the Apex in 2022 and the Silhouette in May of 2023. On both ships, we had a classic drinks package and were able to order the smaller sized vodka martinis at the Martini Bar. These were covered under the Classic Drinks Package and the bartenders were more than happy to serve us. They don't have premium vodka, but Absolute or Smirnoff is fine with us .Not sure if they offer other specialty martinis the same way.

 

Unless you really prefer premium vodka or gin, you can just order the smaller ones and drink more of them.

[Mark_K]

At the Martini Bar on Solstice in June, I ordered a dirty martini expecting to get a large martini and an upcharge, what I got was a small martini and no upcharge.

[hrmkr]

If you have the premium package, does that cover the entire cost at the Martini bar?

[PTC DAWG]

13 minutes ago, hrmkr said:

If you have the premium package, does that cover the entire cost at the Martini bar?

They might have one drink that is not covered, also doesn’t cover flights of martinis if my memory is correct. 

[Cruisy Guy]

On 8/18/2023 at 6:54 PM, Cruisy Guy said:

Several years ago, we were turned away from the Martini Bar when we tried to order a martini with the classic package. That has since changed.

 

We were on both the Apex in 2022 and the Silhouette in May of 2023. On both ships, we had a classic drinks package and were able to order the smaller sized vodka martinis at the Martini Bar. These were covered under the Classic Drinks Package and the bartenders were more than happy to serve us. They don't have premium vodka, but Absolute or Smirnoff is fine with us .Not sure if they offer other specialty martinis the same way.

 

Unless you really prefer premium vodka or gin, you can just order the smaller ones and drink more of them.

As an update to my post in August, we were on a cruise on the Apex in October and were informed by the staff at the Martini Bar that they no longer serve martinis in the smaller glasses on the Classic Package.

I found this to be very upsetting and felt these decisions were random depending on the ship and the whims of it's hospitality department.

I complained to guest relations and they arranged an exemption for us. However, in order to avoid future problems, we upgraded our package.

We later met another couple enjoying "small glass martinis" with a Classic Package..... I didn't ask.