Cocktails on DCL - Good/Bad/Strong/Weak?

[ciniminis]

Since cocktails are one of the few things on the cruise that are not free, I need some help to make informed choices - from what you've tried, can you tell me which ones you would recommend (and what's special about it), or if there are ones that you would avoid next time?

If you can recall, please include which restaurant serves it, whether it was a "drink of the day", or available only during a certain themed dinner, etc. Also make a remark if it's especially strong or weak.

If there are kiddie drinks (non-alcoholic) worth mentioning, please do as well.

Cheers!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I like a drink of the day each night and they are all quite strong even the ones on captains reception night.

Everyones taste is different so I will just say go with the drink of the day, maybe avoid the champagne ones, go for the others.

Yes there are always children non alcoholic ones on the menu.

 

[LisaCM614]

We loved the cocktails in Skylines and thought they were a perfect pour - not too strong nor too weak.

 

[Melissa S]

Although DD was happy with the free Shirley Temples in the MDR, we tried both of the smoothies in the lounge. The Parrot Song was the much better of the two. As I am pregnant, I will be enjoying Parrot Songs and non-alcoholic Bon Voyages in May

 

[Dug720]

Agree that Skyline was great. In some cases they will make some adjustments - I am pretty sure they decreased the ouzo on one of the Athens-themed drinks for me. The drink overall sounded intriguing, so I ordered it. The server asked if I liked ouzo and I said honestly I hadn't had it before but the rest of the drink sounded good. He mentioned a "bite" that it had, but I didn't really notice a "bite", so my guess is they can customize even the signatures slightly by adjusting balances and that's what they did with that one for me. (It was still yummy!!)

 

[Flossbolna]

Agree that Skyline was great. In some cases they will make some adjustments - I am pretty sure they decreased the ouzo on one of the Athens-themed drinks for me. The drink overall sounded intriguing, so I ordered it. The server asked if I liked ouzo and I said honestly I hadn't had it before but the rest of the drink sounded good. He mentioned a "bite" that it had, but I didn't really notice a "bite", so my guess is they can customize even the signatures slightly by adjusting balances and that's what they did with that one for me. (It was still yummy!!)

I happen to like ouzo, but it is aniseed based and has a very strong taste. My boyfriend ordered the Athens drink with ouzo from Skyline on our Fantasy cruise and I had no idea that he never had ouzo. Here in Germany you always get a glass of ouzo with the bill at nearly all Greek restaurants, so I think everyone knows what it tastes like. But he is American and had no clue. He took one sip of his cocktail and made a face as if he had tried Beverly from Club Cool at Epcot. We ended up swapping drinks.

I agree with the recommendation of Skyline. On the Fantasy they have a passport which with you get 7 drinks for the price of 5. You are free to choose whichever drinks you want, you don't have to choose one from every city.

On the Wonder I thought that the cocktails at the Cadillac Lounge were excellent and this is a beautiful bar to sit in!

Otherwise I recommend to get the drink of the day from the bar at the adult pool and not the main pool bar. At the adult pool I always got the drink freshly mixed, at the other pool bar it was premixed.

 

[tidefan]

Just bring your own!

 

[perditax]

I happen to like ouzo, but it is aniseed based and has a very strong taste. My boyfriend ordered the Athens drink with ouzo from Skyline on our Fantasy cruise and I had no idea that he never had ouzo. Here in Germany you always get a glass of ouzo with the bill at nearly all Greek restaurants, so I think everyone knows what it tastes like. But he is American and had no clue. He took one sip of his cocktail and made a face as if he had tried Beverly from Club Cool at Epcot. We ended up swapping drinks.

I agree with the recommendation of Skyline. On the Fantasy they have a passport which with you get 7 drinks for the price of 5. You are free to choose whichever drinks you want, you don't have to choose one from every city.

On the Wonder I thought that the cocktails at the Cadillac Lounge were excellent and this is a beautiful bar to sit in!

Otherwise I recommend to get the drink of the day from the bar at the adult pool and not the main pool bar. At the adult pool I always got the drink freshly mixed, at the other pool bar it was premixed.

Oh my GOD. I haven't been to Epcot since the late 90s, but "Beverly" was a joke me and my friends made a lot. That silly soda thing is still there?

 

[astronautmom]

I recommend the "Mixology" class as the most bang for your cocktail buck! $15 for a one hour bartending class, experiences vary, but we were very satisfied with the drinks we had there. More detail in the trip report in my signature, if you are interested.

ETA: link to mixology post, so you don't have to wade through: http://www.disboards.com/threads/tr...otally-different.3356512/page-3#post-53090908

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I recommend the "Mixology" class as the most bang for your cocktail buck! $15 for a one hour bartending class, experiences vary, but we were very satisfied with the drinks we had there. More detail in the trip report in my signature, if you are interested.

They've increased the price to $20, but still an excellent class. It was a ton of fun and you get way more than $20 in drinks from it.

 

[Dug720]

I happen to like ouzo, but it is aniseed based and has a very strong taste. My boyfriend ordered the Athens drink with ouzo from Skyline on our Fantasy cruise and I had no idea that he never had ouzo. Here in Germany you always get a glass of ouzo with the bill at nearly all Greek restaurants, so I think everyone knows what it tastes like. But he is American and had no clue. He took one sip of his cocktail and made a face as if he had tried Beverly from Club Cool at Epcot. We ended up swapping drinks.

I agree with the recommendation of Skyline. On the Fantasy they have a passport which with you get 7 drinks for the price of 5. You are free to choose whichever drinks you want, you don't have to choose one from every city.

On the Wonder I thought that the cocktails at the Cadillac Lounge were excellent and this is a beautiful bar to sit in!

Otherwise I recommend to get the drink of the day from the bar at the adult pool and not the main pool bar. At the adult pool I always got the drink freshly mixed, at the other pool bar it was premixed.

I ended up loving the drink! (Though I only got it once...I wanted to try other things!)

And yes! The passport is the way to go!! A couple of nights I hit Skyline early-ish in the evening and had one drink sitting there chatting with the servers and/or reading on my nook and then I'd get a second to take with me to dinner.

 

[KLB9]

always order a double, the cost is less than "double" the cost of a single.

 

[tweis]

We've enjoyed most of the drinks that we've tried with DCL. A couple that stand out are the Paradise which is a drink of the day and the Blue Tang that we had in one of the clubs on the Magic. The Paradise is my favorite and a bargain since it's a DoTD and the Blue Tang was delicious and around $10 I think. Trying mixology is an excellent suggestion. We did it a couple of years ago and had a blast.





I however, did not enjoy the Melon Vine (I think). I do not recall it having a melon taste at all.



I, unlike a lot of folks do not enjoy the Konk Kooler but we did try a tropical depression while on CC. If I remember correctly, it was made up of 5 or 6 liquors. Definitely a strong drink.



As you can see, we like to try different things. The only drink that I did not like was the Melon one.

 

[Pens Fan]

Here's yet another vote for the drinks in Skyline on the Fantasy (haven't sailed on the Dream, but should be similar). We got the passport and tried a wide variety. I enjoyed all that we sampled, and found the strength to be just about right. They are strong enough that you feel you're getting your money's worth, but not so strong you can't have a couple and have to be wheeled out! Plus, Skyline is just a fun place to hang out. We loved watching the scenes change and the bartenders were terrific. My only complaint was that it closed at midnight. Come on Disney. We don't all have toddlers to get to bed!!

The only drinks I haven't cared for were the ones the waiters peddle around at the sail away party - watered down slushy - yuk! I've read on here that if you order them at the bar they are better. But we skip the sail away party now, anyway. It's one of those things that is sort of fun the first time you cruise, but once was enough for us.

 

[com_op_2000]

I make my own Cubre Libre in the room, therefor it is as strong as I like.
If I buy one on the ship, it is always Scotch neat.

 

[Ariel484]

I've only sailed on the Dream so far...cocktails from Skyline, Pink and 687 were great. But our favorite bar was Bon Voyage in the atrium. Mixology is a bargain.

Cocktails on Castaway Cay were not good - pre-mixed and watery. I'll stick to Corona next time!

 

[tweis]

I've only sailed on the Dream so far...cocktails from Skyline, Pink and 687 were great. But our favorite bar was Bon Voyage in the atrium. Mixology is a bargain.

Cocktails on Castaway Cay were not good - pre-mixed and watery. I'll stick to Corona next time!

I never get the drinks that the servers have on the trays. It is much better to go to the bar and get a fresh one. Of course, you can't go wrong with a Corona either.

 

[Ariel484]

I never get the drinks that the servers have on the trays. It is much better to go to the bar and get a fresh one. Of course, you can't go wrong with a Corona either.

Yeah, every drink we had was freshly mixed except for the mixed drinks on Castaway Cay - during Buy One/Get One Free I got 2 and the first one was so awful I threw it out after a few sips and gave away the second to someone else at Serenity Bay. Lesson learned!!

 

[El Cid 94]

My favorite Disney Dream (Meridian) drink:

Gin Garden - Hendrick's Gin, Fresh Muddled Cucumber, Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice, Sprite

a bit pricey but oh so good!

 

[Love2Cruz]

I though their drinks were quite good. I got a pina colada with muddled rasberries on the pool deck that was quite delicious.
Don't recall their name for it...but if you get a chance, try it.