Coffee Mate in Le Bistro - c'mon man...

[smillerholmes]

11 hours ago, Sigyn said:

Reading this at home as I sit and drink my coffee with Coffee mate. 

Same.  

[Ellis1138]

16 hours ago, cruisinmeme said:

Forever i have brought my own.  It is up to 3.28 at walmart for 24 little cups.  No refrigeration needed. Release the stress of what they have or do not have. I also do this for land trips also. 

 

I thought NCL wouldn't allow us to bring those on? Don't they count as a beverage?

[cruisinmeme]

5 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

I thought NCL wouldn't allow us to bring those on? Don't they count as a beverage?

I have been bringing them on forever. I leave them setting by the coffee pot . I have even brought them to the dining room. Never been an issue. If you empty all 24 in a cup you still wouldn’t have much of a beverage.

[luv2cruise523]

On 5/22/2023 at 4:12 PM, goldmom said:

I'm probably the only person happy about the coffee mate.  DH is diabetic and I used to bring the coffee mate cups onboard for him as they don't have sugar.  And he actually prefers them to cream or half and half.  Now I wouldn't have to cart them in my carry on.  LOL!

Half and Half doesn't contain sugar. Carbs yes, but not "sugar".  Coffee Mate however contains:  Water, Coconut oil, Sugar, and Sodium Caseinate.

 

I'm  low carb, and I always arrange for a carton of Heavy Whipping Cream for our cabin fridge ;-)

Edited June 5, 2023 by luv2cruise523

[Russiamomm]

A little late to the game, but I agree with the frustration.  Coffee Mate is NOT cream.  I’ve sailed NCL a lot.  Half and half was always available until around February, when they seem to have switched to Coffee Mate everywhere - even in the Haven.  I’m not a picky person.  I rarely complain about anything.  But don’t mess with my coffee!  I just got back from 26 nights on the Breakaway.  This was my one complaint for the post-cruise survey.  It may seem like a little thing, but it’s not.  At least in my opinion.  I don’t want fake cream.  In the Haven they did bring a pitcher of heavy cream to the room and kept it fresh and supplied.  But for me, it was just too heavy.  I like half and half. And it was virtually impossible to find anywhere on the ship.  Late in the cruise I did see a pitcher labeled half and half on the buffet.  On future cruises I will bring a cup back to the room, but that doesn’t help in the restaurants.
 

I really don’t get this.  It’s a small thing, but it matters.  It can’t cost that much more to offer real half and half vs. the fake stuff.

 

Rant over.  😂

[goldmom]

11 hours ago, luv2cruise523 said:

Half and Half doesn't contain sugar. Carbs yes, but not "sugar".  Coffee Mate however contains:  Water, Coconut oil, Sugar, and Sodium Caseinate.

 

I'm  low carb, and I always arrange for a carton of Heavy Whipping Cream for our cabin fridge ;-)

I usually get the sugar free hazelnut coffeemate for him, but lately I haven't been able to find it in the cups for traveling.  Good to know if need be I'll just give him Half and Half if it's available.

[cruisinmeme]

24 for 2.62 at walmart and you will be covered

[Ellis1138]

I really don't want to have to lug as much Mini Moos as I will need for a 7 day cruise. If there's absolutely no milk or cream on the ship, I'll just bring caffeine pills and forgo my morning coffee. I won't have a fridge in my studio cabin, but I wonder if that Automatic Coffee Machine in the Studio lounge has actual milk in it? That would work for me.

 

Or I could hunt down cream at the bars. They have to have actual heavy cream at the bars, right? They aren't making Mudslides or White Russians with Coffee Mate, yeah?

 

Sorry to all the Coffee Mate lovers, but I can't do the artificial creamers or sweeteners. 

[disneylover89]

19 hours ago, cruisinmeme said:

I have been bringing them on forever. I leave them setting by the coffee pot . I have even brought them to the dining room. Never been an issue. If you empty all 24 in a cup you still wouldn’t have much of a beverage.

I bring them too and have no problem but I have to have sugar free and can't find them anymore. 😖

[smillerholmes]

1 hour ago, Ellis1138 said:

I really don't want to have to lug as much Mini Moos as I will need for a 7 day cruise. If there's absolutely no milk or cream on the ship, I'll just bring caffeine pills and forgo my morning coffee. I won't have a fridge in my studio cabin, but I wonder if that Automatic Coffee Machine in the Studio lounge has actual milk in it? That would work for me.

 

Or I could hunt down cream at the bars. They have to have actual heavy cream at the bars, right? They aren't making Mudslides or White Russians with Coffee Mate, yeah?

 

Sorry to all the Coffee Mate lovers, but I can't do the artificial creamers or sweeteners. 

You don't have to be sorry.  On my last cruise the coffee was so awful I switched to tea because I just felt like I was wasting my creamer.😁

[Ellis1138]

I wish I could drink tea. I used to be able to, but gradually over the past decade, I developed an allergy to each type of tea until about 4 years ago, when my final kind, black tea, was taken from me. 😞

 

[Von & John]

1 hour ago, smillerholmes said:

You don't have to be sorry.  On my last cruise the coffee was so awful I switched to tea because I just felt like I was wasting my creamer.😁

You are absolutely correct about the "coffee" on the sun...
I used more cream/milk than normal & even added sugar...
Tea does not give me the same caffeine boost.

I definitely upped my coke consumption for caffeine...
So happy they switched back to Coca Cola 🙂

Edited June 5, 2023 by Von & John

[smillerholmes]

4 minutes ago, Von & John said:

You are absolutely correct about the "coffee" on the sun...
I used more cream/milk than normal & even added sugar...
Tea does not give me the same caffeine boost.

I definitely upped my coke consumption for caffeine...
So happy they switched back to Coca Cola 🙂

I found it to be on par with Hospital coffee which the last batch I had was truly frightening.  I had to ask myself if they were "trying to generate business" with what they were serving.

[Von & John]

1 minute ago, smillerholmes said:

I found it to be on par with Hospital coffee which the last batch I had was truly frightening.  I had to ask myself if they were "trying to generate business" with what they were serving.

 

It was interesting...

If we went to the MDR for breakfast early - it was almost OK...
But if went later it was horrendous - like it had burned in the Coffee maker for hours...
I don't think I ever had anything near almost OK in the Buffet 🙂

[wurm914]

On 6/2/2023 at 8:38 PM, Ellis1138 said:

 

On 6/2/2023 at 8:38 PM, Ellis1138 said:

I can bring my own Instant Cafe Bustelo and add hot water to it, no problem.

 

I have been bringing my own Starbucks VIA instant coffee for years now, but I need cream or half/half at least. 

 

 

[wurm914]

23 hours ago, luv2cruise523 said:

I'm  low carb, and I always arrange for a carton of Heavy Whipping Cream for our cabin fridge ;-)

Me too and I would prefer HWC, half and half is the minimum for my coffee.  How do you "arrange for a carton of HWC  for the cabin fridge"?

 

deb 🙂

[Ellis1138]

1 minute ago, wurm914 said:

Me too and I would prefer HWC, half and half is the minimum for my coffee.  How do you "arrange for a carton of HWC  for the cabin fridge"?

 

deb 🙂

If you're in a suite/Haven, ask your butler. For other rooms, either see if you can pre-tip a bartender to give you a carton, speak to someone at one of the restaurants or maybe your room steward? For this particular cruise, my cabin will have no fridge.

[Sigyn]

20 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

Sorry to all the Coffee Mate lovers, but I can't do the artificial creamers or sweeteners. 

I understand. I was just teasing by mentioning my Coffee mate that I use at home. I used to drink heavy cream in my coffee when I did low carb 25 years ago. It was difficult to find that anywhere, and no one else was doing low carb in those days, so the looks I got when I asked for heavy cream for my coffee in Los Angeles were quite something! 

[luv2cruise523]

On 6/5/2023 at 7:46 PM, wurm914 said:

Me too and I would prefer HWC, half and half is the minimum for my coffee.  How do you "arrange for a carton of HWC  for the cabin fridge"?

 

deb 🙂

I request it through the Special Needs request form. The same form for special dietary needs.

[Lreeves316]

I just got off the Joy yesterday and couldn’t find cream or half and half anywhere. People realized Starbucks had it and started filling up cups from there. So half way thru the cruise, Starbucks took their cream away from the do it yourself counter and hid it behind the counter lol. Wouldn’t give you any unless you bought Starbucks coffee. The coffee mate is horrible. I guess it works to make them more money because most people were buying Starbucks every morning to get a decent cup of coffee. 

[Ellis1138]

1 hour ago, Lreeves316 said:

 I guess it works to make them more money because most people were buying Starbucks every morning to get a decent cup of coffee. 

That's been my guess as to why regular coffee on cruises has just been getting worse and worse. I also dislike Starbucks' actual coffee and for health reasons, I can no longer get their "cupcake in a cup" drinks. 

[Mississippian]

5 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

That's been my guess as to why regular coffee on cruises has just been getting worse and worse. I also dislike Starbucks' actual coffee and for health reasons, I can no longer get their "cupcake in a cup" drinks. 

Starbucks burns the beans. It tastes awful, which is why they have to dress it up as a cupcake.

[Lreeves316]

33 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

That's been my guess as to why regular coffee on cruises has just been getting worse and worse. I also dislike Starbucks' actual coffee and for health reasons, I can no longer get their "cupcake in a cup" drinks. 

I’m old fashioned. I use a percolator at home because I like hot, rich tasting coffee. But only use half n half and a drop of vanilla. Starbucks definitely always tastes burnt but at least it was a little better than black sludge with 15 coffee mates in it lol. That stuff just does not lighten the coffee and tastes horrible. 

[Lreeves316]

33 minutes ago, Mississippian said:

Starbucks burns the beans. It tastes awful, which is why they have to dress it up as a cupcake.

I agree. I don’t care for Starbucks or Dunkin’s coffee. They make money if more people get Starbucks packages and they want to make the free coffee as unappealing as possible. Only offering coffee mate is a good way of doing that. Having to guard the cream at Starbucks shows they know exactly what they’re doing. 

[Ellis1138]

4 minutes ago, Lreeves316 said:

I’m old fashioned. I use a percolator at home because I like hot, rich tasting coffee. But only use half n half and a drop of vanilla. Starbucks definitely always tastes burnt but at least it was a little better than black sludge with 15 coffee mates in it lol. That stuff just does not lighten the coffee and tastes horrible. 

 

I was using a french press with whole bean Molokai coffee that I would grind each morning, but it went up to $70/lb, so I switched to Illy. Then back in 2107, in prep for cruising, I decided to switch to instant coffee and chose Cafe Bustelo. It actually tastes really good and I can bring it along, in case the cruise coffee is awful. But I always used to be able to find half and half or cream on a cruise.