Cruise Coffee

[ciniminis]

I tolerated the mediocre coffee on our first DCL cruise and survived - after most MDR meals, the tea bag was the better option. Cove Cafe was inconvenient because they don't allow kids, and I'm a single parent always having DS in tow - when I did find a chance to try it wasn't that great either.

On our second DCL cruise I tried Palo and Remy - Remy's Blue Mountain coffee was a REVELATION, truly excellent. I would gladly pay an upcharge for that quality of coffee every morning if only it were available.

Since the Blue Mountain was only available when dining at Remy though, for the other times I brought onboard 2 bottles of cold brew concentrate (CoolBrew brand is very good and ships chilled, but you can also make your own) - mix with cold milk from drink station (so refreshing!) or with hot milk from room service for breakfast. I think it's an enjoyable alternative especially if you like coffee with milk, but of course you can add water instead for something more like an Americano.

 

[Dug720]

I tolerated the mediocre coffee on our first DCL cruise and survived - after most MDR meals, the tea bag was the better option. Cove Cafe was inconvenient because they don't allow kids, and I'm a single parent always having DS in tow - when I did find a chance to try it wasn't that great either.

On our second DCL cruise I tried Palo and Remy - Remy's Blue Mountain coffee was a REVELATION, truly excellent. I would gladly pay an upcharge for that quality of coffee every morning if only it were available.

Since the Blue Mountain was only available when dining at Remy though, for the other times I brought onboard 2 bottles of cold brew concentrate (CoolBrew brand is very good and ships chilled, but you can also make your own) - mix with cold milk from drink station (so refreshing!) or with hot milk from room service for breakfast. I think it's an enjoyable alternative especially if you like coffee with milk, but of course you can add water instead for something more like an Americano.

I would just like to say THANK YOU for respecting that Cove Cafe is adult only. I've encountered many NON-single parents who don't do that. So truly. Thank you.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I cannot drink the coffee from room service or MDRs. I do like cove cafe. I find their espresso good. As a pp mentions they use Illy beans, which are good quality. The new cold brew machine in CC produces a really really good cold brew (just be really specific if you like cream as they can be heavy handed with it).

 

[Flossbolna]

Cove Cafe was inconvenient because they don't allow kids, and I'm a single parent always having DS in tow - when I did find a chance to try it wasn't that great either.

The Vista Cafe on Dream and Fantasy and the Promenade Lounge on Magic and Wonder offer the same espresso based coffee products as the Cove Cafe. And both places are not adult only. Just for future reference (and anyone else reading along who might be interested!).

I cannot drink the coffee from room service or MDRs. I do like cove cafe. I find their espresso good. As a pp mentions they use Illy beans, which are good quality. The new cold brew machine in CC produces a really really good cold brew (just be really specific if you like cream as they can be heavy handed with it).

Oh, I think I will give the cold brew a try! My sister has the suspicion that our bad coffee experiences might be an issue of the worker not being trained well or a maintenance issue with the machine. So, I think Cove results might vary. We just had too many bad experiences and therefore just gave up on it.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I think the less you take in your coffee, the more you notice the difference in what you're drinking. I take mine with just a dash of milk, my mother with double milk and my dad with double cream. My dad can drink just about anything, my mom is a little pickier and I am the pickiest. My parents both found the coffee on our last Disney cruise to be drinkable (November 2015).

What I strongly recommend is bringing a coffee cup with you. From room service you get these teeny-tiny little ceramic cups. I find that by the time I pour hot coffee into one of them, add my dash of milk, and then take a drink, it's already cooler than I enjoy coffee. I don't particularly like the hot drink cups at the drink station either (I think they are some kind of foam).

We've started bringing clean (unused) paper cups with us on our cruises (all cruise lines). If you see people walking around a ship with a paper Tim Horton's cup, it's probably us. We get our coffee at home "double cupped" (it's a Canadian thing) and save the unused cup and bring it with us. I also drink either a large or extra large coffee at home to get the day started so some little mini-foam cup just isn't going to cut it for me.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yes, the coffee is surprisingly awful. Lol The half and half is at the beverage station for some reason, but there's only coffeemate tubs on buffet, no half amd half dispenser. We also used whole milk from buffet for coffee.

I was able to get some sort of cream type stuff from a big dispenser at WJ on Dream.

I am not at all a coffee snob, I'm perfectly happy with folders or kirkland from costco. The coffee on the cruise is nearly undrinkable. TERRIBLE. Such a high end cruise line where almost everything feels like a luxury and they cut corners on coffee. This was Nescafe, so maybe it's better now. I'm also considering bringing a french press next time.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2014/06/joffreys-coffee-replacing-nescafe-at-sea/

Changed to Joffrey's in mid 2014.

I find joffrey's to be worlds better than Nescafé which I had solely when necessary.

But what Dug mentioned is so right. They set the machine to start and then servers start pouring from it. You have no consistent quality that way. One person will get it concentrated while the other gets water.

 

[jsgabel]

Though I certainly know people more fussy with their coffee than I, I'm pretty picky and like a very strong/rich brew. Can't drink the ship's coffee.

I bring a french press travel mug and ground coffee and use the hot water from the beverage stations. It's been a perfect solution and allows me to easily sit with it on the verandah, on deck, or carry it with me to breakfast (filled with coffee and ready to add water).

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I was able to get some sort of cream type stuff from a big dispenser at WJ on Dream.

Okay, I give up. What is WJ?

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Okay, I give up. What is WJ?

My guess is that poster also sails Royal Caribbean. Their buffet area is called the "Wind Jammer" or WJ for short. So I would guess that she's saying she got some kind of creamer at the buffet.

 

[GPaLarry]

We did a b2b Med/Trans last Sept. so non-Disney coffee was vital. Via from Starbucks was our answer, Pike Place for me and Italian for my wife. For 18 mornings I took our two insulated DCL cups up top to get hot water then down to the 6th deck forward...long walk but we walked everywhere to work off the meals. When we have dinners at Palo or Remy we drink wine, so can't comment on the coffee there. We have tried Cove Café and have the "6th one free" card. It is a good option. Hate to suggest designing your cruise around it, but Italy, Spain and France have great coffees...wines, too, then there is German beer and...

 

[starvenger]

I think the less you take in your coffee, the more you notice the difference in what you're drinking. I take mine with just a dash of milk, my mother with double milk and my dad with double cream. My dad can drink just about anything, my mom is a little pickier and I am the pickiest. My parents both found the coffee on our last Disney cruise to be drinkable (November 2015) .

I think you may be right about that. I take mine with one sweetener, and you can really taste the coffee like that. I have a friend that drinks quad-quad, which I'm pretty sure has no (or very little) coffee in it. He could probably survive free cruise coffee.

 

[MUN]

Greetings!!

I enjoy a good slushy drink but my true love is coffee. I'll be travelling with a few other coffee buffs.

I expect to visit the specialty coffee shop daily but I'm wondering about room service coffee for mornings...

Is it decent? Is there real cream (or just coffee mate). I'm trying to decide if I need to bring my own and a French press.

Any other coffee lovers? What can I expect?

Actually, imho, the coffee in the MDRs and the beverage stations is quite good. Of course the beverage station coffee used to be better when I was allowed to bring a bottle of Irish whiskey with me on the cruise.

MUN

 

[Brians_myth]

My wife and I took our honeymoon, in part, on the Dream back in November. I love my coffee black. I mostly drink espresso though I do enjoy the occasional press (currently drinking ). I found the coffee shop
(closest to the spa) to be very pleasant. If I remember correctly, they use Illy. However, I only ordered con pannas from them so I can't speak about straight black or any
other way. The main coffee dispensers (by the dining areas) were average. There was nothing special to them but they certainly weren't repulsive either. I honestly don't understand
the amount of bad reviews for it. But of course, YMMV.

 

[Toy Story Fan]

After our first DCL cruise, we learned to bring our own coffee. We use a travel sized Keurig contraption called Presto MyJo. Easy to use and no mess. We just fill the top with hot water at the beverage station and put the Kcup in and press down. Makes a great cup of coffee! Takes up little room in your luggage. The kcups take up a bit of room but it's so worth it!

 

[ciniminis]

After our first DCL cruise, we learned to bring our own coffee. We use a travel sized Keurig contraption called Presto MyJo. Easy to use and no mess. We just fill the top with hot water at the beverage station and put the Kcup in and press down. Makes a great cup of coffee! Takes up little room in your luggage. The kcups take up a bit of room but it's so worth it!

Oh thank you, that's what I call a great idea! Although I'm not too thrilled about K-cups (fine call me a snob - but my K-cup exposure was mainly from work and waiting rooms), this would be so much cleaner than trying to use a French press on the ship and risk clogging the drain with leftover grounds. Is the hot water from bev station hot enough though?

 

[Toy Story Fan]

Oh thank you, that's what I call a great idea! Although I'm not too thrilled about K-cups (fine call me a snob - but my K-cup exposure was mainly from work and waiting rooms), this would be so much cleaner than trying to use a French press on the ship and risk clogging the drain with leftover grounds. Is the hot water from bev station hot enough though?

Yes, the water is very hot. We have also used a Melitta plastic cone with a filter that fits over your cup. The MyJo also comes with a reusable Kcup so you can bring your own coffee, but you would have to clean it each time.
It's funny, when we were using these, so many CM's asked us where we got it from. The smell of fresh coffee stops them in their tracks.

 

[TheHulamuffins]

First cruise coming up. I don't know much about Disney cruises. At the Cove, do you have to pay with cash, or can you charge the coffee to your shipboard account? I am guessing the latter, but will have a serious coffee-drinker with me, so I wanted to be sure.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

First cruise coming up. I don't know much about Disney cruises. At the Cove, do you have to pay with cash, or can you charge the coffee to your shipboard account? I am guessing the latter, but will have a serious coffee-drinker with me, so I wanted to be sure.

Shipboard account. No cash.

 

[Alicatt]

What about the room service coffee? Is it the same as the MDRs?

 

[coloradocutie]

Though I certainly know people more fussy with their coffee than I, I'm pretty picky and like a very strong/rich brew. Can't drink the ship's coffee.

I bring a french press travel mug and ground coffee and use the hot water from the beverage stations. It's been a perfect solution and allows me to easily sit with it on the verandah, on deck, or carry it with me to breakfast (filled with coffee and ready to add water).

OK! This is amazing! It makes so much sense... love it. Thank you!!!