Beverage Tastings

[Cruisin Castaway]

How much are the beverage tastings? Which ones are your favorites?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

How much are the beverage tastings? Which ones are your favorites?

They vary in price - generally in the $20-$35 range.

We've only done Mixology (on the Fantasy) and loved it.

 

[southerngirl528]

DD & I just got off the Hawaiian cruise and we did the Mojitos & Caiparinhas (sp??), as well as mixology and a wine class (it was a 10 day cruise so we had lots of time to do tastings!). There were champagne tastings, beer, whiskey tastings, etc. Out of the ones we did I liked the Mojitos and wine one the best but the mixology class was very interesting. Miroslav was doing the sign-ups and he was such a hoot he talked us into a 3rd one because he was going to be doing the class. We very much enjoyed the classes. I say go for whatever alcohol appeals to you. I do not really like the taste of alcohol so I tend to prefer a cocktail or sparkling wine. Others might really love the whiskey tasting. We did a tequila tasting a couple of years ago on the Alaska sailing and though the rest of my group liked it, I was like, UGH!!!

 

[Mark D.]

We did the rum tasting on the Fantasy this week. Loved it! It was only $20, and we got to sample 5 different rums.

 

[shelbell77]

We enjoy beer, mixology, and the wine tastings. Martini wasn't for me but my mom liked it. Ooh, and chocolate and liquor is awesome!

 

[kylaura]

Chocolate and liquor!

 

[cgolf]

The whiskey tasting was ok, but I am very picky and have had too much good stuff in my day to really enjoy it. My favorite has been the cognac tasting. We got a bonus when a few people didn't show. That night either myself or the boat was rocking pretty good as I made my way back to the room lol.

The tequila tasting was a lot of fun too, and made me stock some in my bar after realizing that I really liked it.

Mixology has been hit or miss for us, it has been just good or great, totallty depends on your bartender.

 

[kiford]

We've done: wine (twice), tequila (twice), champagne, cognac, whiskey, mixology (twice), martini, chocolate and liquor, and beer. We like all of them but the chocolate and liquor was amazing and unexpected. After doing these, I developed an appreciation for martinis, whiskey, cognac and tequila, none of which I'd ever really enjoyed previously. Although I've always liked champagne, I discovered new ones. I learned a lot from the wine tastings. Mixology was a lot of fun with a wide variety of different types of drinks. I still have to get to the rum and mojito tastings and we discovered after our last cruise that there is also a high-end whiskey and a high-end cognac tasting which I didn't know about so we'll have to try those on our next cruise. I'd also like to do another martini one since they tend to vary between different hosts.

 

[cruisnfamily]

The chocolate and liquorwas outstanding! We'll do that one again!

The beer one was so poorly done we did not enjoy it at all. I would like to try it again and hope for a different bartender who a tually knew something about beer and about how to do this class.

We did wine tasting once years ago and I don't really remember so I would like to try that one gain too

 

[cgolf]

We've done: wine (twice), tequila (twice), champagne, cognac, whiskey, mixology (twice), martini, chocolate and liquor, and beer. We like all of them but the chocolate and liquor was amazing and unexpected. After doing these, I developed an appreciation for martinis, whiskey, cognac and tequila, none of which I'd ever really enjoyed previously. Although I've always liked champagne, I discovered new ones. I learned a lot from the wine tastings. Mixology was a lot of fun with a wide variety of different types of drinks. I still have to get to the rum and mojito tastings and we discovered after our last cruise that there is also a high-end whiskey and a high-end cognac tasting which I didn't know about so we'll have to try those on our next cruise. I'd also like to do another martini one since they tend to vary between different hosts.

Really curious about the high end whiskey and cognac tastings. Do you have any more info like cost and what I would even ask for? Also curious if you know what they let you try?

 

[kiford]

Really curious about the high end whiskey and cognac tastings. Do you have any more info like cost and what I would even ask for? Also curious if you know what they let you try?

I have no idea - I only saw them listed near the end of our cruise. I hadn't even realized that they existed or I would have tried one but by the time I found out about them we already had other things scheduled for the same time. There was no price listed on the Navigator so I don't know how much they were. We tried some pretty nice stuff in both of the regular whiskey and cognac tastings so I can only imagine that they have even better options. Probably not a tasting to do if you don't even like whiskey or cognac because you may not be able to appreciate the difference. Now that I do know, I'll definitely be on the lookout for it next time. We were on the 12-day Northern European cruise so I'm wondering if they only do these for longer cruises.

 

[Cruisin Castaway]

They vary in price - generally in the $20-$35 range.

We've only done Mixology (on the Fantasy) and loved it.

Thanks for the info!!

 

[professorandmom]

I learned a lot from the wine tastings.

I was learning a ton of very cool info at our Mixology class...the bar tender was going through the swap thing where he explained what the drink would be called if you changed one ingredient...nothing retained, however! Worth every dime!

 

[SailorJen]

Just off the Wonder last Sunday!

Had the whiskey tasting on the first night at 10pm, $25 for four glasses. Guess I'm not a big fan of whiskey, my first will be my last as well. 4 drinks each person...

Also went to the mixology on sea day, so much fun and laughters in that class. $21, each of us had 4 drinks, 1 shot, plus an extra one you made. Love this so much, will definitely try it again on my next cruise.

 

[cgolf]

To clarify my comments about the mixology class. While all were pretty fun and we learned something in some of them, the best we ever had was on the Dream where we had less then ten people and we each got to get behind the bar in Skyline and make a batch of drinks for everyone using the techniques we were learning. This happened to be our first and best experience.

On other cruises while we learned stuff and new drinks, it couldn't be as hands on due to the number of people attending. What would be great is if they offered more times and limited it to say 10 people to allow everyone some time behind the bar which was a very unique and fun experience

 

[PrincessShmoo]

To clarify my comments about the mixology class. While all were pretty fun and we learned something in some of them, the best we ever had was on the Dream where we had less then ten people and we each got to get behind the bar in Skyline and make a batch of drinks for everyone using the techniques we were learning. This happened to be our first and best experience.

On other cruises while we learned stuff and new drinks, it couldn't be as hands on due to the number of people attending. What would be great is if they offered more times and limited it to say 10 people to allow everyone some time behind the bar which was a very unique and fun experience

We did a private Mixology arranged on our Cruise Meet thread. We had 25 people and everyone got to make one drink (for 4 people).

Bar set up when we arrived


And, basically, 1/4 of the group got behind the bar to mix a drink under the guidance of the bartender. We each made 4 drinks (one for our self and 3 others). Everyone got to make at least one drink, some got to make two different ones.

 

[cgolf]

We did a private Mixology arranged on our Cruise Meet thread. We had 25 people and everyone got to make one drink (for 4 people).

Bar set up when we arrived
View attachment 128251

And, basically, 1/4 of the group got behind the bar to mix a drink under the guidance of the bartender. We each made 4 drinks (one for our self and 3 others). Everyone got to make at least one drink, some got to make two different ones.

That is cool, on the Hawaii cruise we did, that wasn't how it was done, wish it was though.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

That is cool, on the Hawaii cruise we did, that wasn't how it was done, wish it was though.

Well, I've read that it's done differently on the classic ships. I believe it has to do with the fact that to get to "behind the bar" you actually have to go through crew space on the classic ships. On the Fantasy, the bar is open on the end and so we had access directly to behind the bar.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

They vary in price - generally in the $20-$35 range.

We've only done Mixology (on the Fantasy) and loved it.

Well, I've read that it's done differently on the classic ships. I believe it has to do with the fact that to get to "behind the bar" you actually have to go through crew space on the classic ships. On the Fantasy, the bar is open on the end and so we had access directly to behind the bar.

Dh and some of our class went behind the bar for mixology class we had on our January 2014 cruise. It was in Keys Lounge on the Magic.

 

[GoofyNewfie]

chocolate tasting gets a thumbs up from me.