Those of you who have cruised

FutureMrs.McC · March 2010

We're working on planning a vacation with some friends for the fall. A cruise is one of the possibilities. We're all drinkers and one of the main reasons DH and I have never been on a cruise is for fear of the bar bill. In your experience how bad was it? We're looking at anywhere from a 7 - 9 day cruise depending on if it's out of Baltimore or Florida. TIA!

mkerr09 · March 2010

We took a cruise for our wedding last year with NCL and while the beer/liquor is marked up - I think it was about $7-9 for a special cocktail. I don't drink beer, so I can't help you with that. They did offer beer bucket specials - buy so many beers in a bucket for a cheaper price. Whenever you buy something (at least this is how NCL does it), you just give them your room key and thats how you pay for it. You sign the slip of paper and it tells you how much. So it's not like your blind sided at the end of the week with this outrageous bill that you didn't see coming. You can also go to the front desk or sometimes right from your tv screen in your cabin, and pull up your tab.

Mrs.N.H. · March 2010

You can also smugle the alcohol in...there are a few ways to do it and my mom is an expert at it...I'll give you some tips the next time I see you ;-)

Miami_Bride909 · March 2010

DH & I aren't heavy drinkers but I'll tell you on our last 5 night cruise between the two excursions, tips, and the bar bill we spent $700. We've only been on RC but I can tell you they make drinks a lot stronger than you'll find in a bar at home. To make your bill cheaper make sure you ask for house liquor. At least on RC they'll use the top shelf stuff unless you tell them otherwise - which saved us up to $3/drink.

Mags82 · March 2010

we are big cruisers and we are drinkers too. we learned from some friends we met on one of our first cruises that the best way to go is to smuggle it on. we usually bring a case of twisted tea...which is easy: when you "check" your luggage for the cruise the porters take it from you before you enter the terminal. the cruise line gives you stickers to put on each bag you check so that it can be delivered to your stateroom later in the evening. we've always just slapped a sticker on the case of twisted and so far every time it has arrived at our room in one piece. we usually take a huge water bottle each and dump it out & fill it w/ vodka and just walk on with it. we've never been stopped. then we purchase the soda package and keep a flask on us & mix our own drinks. and we have sometimes bubble wrapped a few bottles of wine or champagne & put it in our bags and this has worked too. i know this kind of sounds trashy lol and i am kind of embarrassed to admit all of this, but it cuts our bar bill at least in half lol. we still buy drinks here & there but this helps...a lot.

ashr16 · March 2010

Mags82:
we are big cruisers and we are drinkers too. we learned from some friends we met on one of our first cruises that the best way to go is to smuggle it on. we usually bring a case of twisted tea...which is easy: when you "check" your luggage for the cruise the porters take it from you before you enter the terminal. the cruise line gives you stickers to put on each bag you check so that it can be delivered to your stateroom later in the evening. we've always just slapped a sticker on the case of twisted and so far every time it has arrived at our room in one piece. we usually take a huge water bottle each and dump it out & fill it w/ vodka and just walk on with it. we've never been stopped. then we purchase the soda package and keep a flask on us & mix our own drinks. and we have sometimes bubble wrapped a few bottles of wine or champagne & put it in our bags and this has worked too. i know this kind of sounds trashy lol and i am kind of embarrassed to admit all of this, but it cuts our bar bill at least in half lol. we still buy drinks here & there but this helps...a lot.

That is not trashy.....That is economical!

aelopez · March 2010

We used rum runner flasks which are these plastic bags you can get online that are indestructable. They're pretty big and we were able to fit almost an entire handle in one of the big bags. We just bought soda cards and just came back to our rooms every night to spike our cokes. The rum runners also come in a few different sizes. I'd recommend these if you're worried about bottles possibly breaking.

Lisa7 · March 2010

Damn, wish I would have been as crafty as you ladies are when we went on one. We went on one 2 years ago and the alcohol did add up quickly

FutureMrs.McC · March 2010

ashr16:
Mags82:
we are big cruisers and we are drinkers too. we learned from some friends we met on one of our first cruises that the best way to go is to smuggle it on. we usually bring a case of twisted tea...which is easy: when you "check" your luggage for the cruise the porters take it from you before you enter the terminal. the cruise line gives you stickers to put on each bag you check so that it can be delivered to your stateroom later in the evening. we've always just slapped a sticker on the case of twisted and so far every time it has arrived at our room in one piece. we usually take a huge water bottle each and dump it out & fill it w/ vodka and just walk on with it. we've never been stopped. then we purchase the soda package and keep a flask on us & mix our own drinks. and we have sometimes bubble wrapped a few bottles of wine or champagne & put it in our bags and this has worked too. i know this kind of sounds trashy lol and i am kind of embarrassed to admit all of this, but it cuts our bar bill at least in half lol. we still buy drinks here & there but this helps...a lot.

That is not trashy.....That is economical!

I agree. Plus I ain't too proud to be a little trashy if it saves my wallet and gets me drunk. Thanks everybody!

ash.flea · March 2010

Another thing to remember is that the drinks are super cheap on the islands. DH and I would have *ahem* a few drinks at each stop and wouldn't need to buy as many on the ship. We also learned that (on Carnival) you can get the daily special for $2 less if you tell them that you don't want the souvenir cup so that helps -- it makes it $5 instead of $7.

We always did one morning drink special (mimosas, etc) and that was usually a couple of dollars, and then 2-3 drinks throughout the day/evening for $5/each. It still adds up, but it's not too bad really.

Those of you who have cruised

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