i don't find the drink prices on board any higher than what i would pay in a restaurant or bar (in california)-but the bottled wine prices always amaze me! we always joke that we could pay for our entire cruise if we ran a wine shop out of our cabin-the napa wines that they charge 30-40 a bottle for we can pick up localy for 12 or 15 tops!
on our last 7 day cruise we had a great server in the dining rooms-he suggested some south african wines that were incredible, so we tried several different wines over the course of our trip. what i esp. liked was that when we hit upon a wine that we just loved and figured might be difficult to find at home, we were able to purchase a bottle and have it held for us until the final night to bring home. i also love that even on the palo's night they arrange to have your unfinished bottle of wine waiting at your table if you want.
i think what can realy drive up the tab on drinking is the gratuity that is added to each purchase-we tend to order 4 drinks at a time so we only get hit with the gratuity once. we do the same if we order sodas for the cooler in the room-order a six pack and then tip once).
i havent seen it so much on the dis boards, moreso on other cruise board-but i know alot of people "smuggle" their own alcohol on board. it never seemed to me to be worth the hassle, although on our last
disney cruise we did enjoy some killer margaritas that another dis board member whipped up in her cabin (she brought one of those small travel blenders) using some of the fruit from one of the buffets. i was surprised with the variety of fruit they have on board there was a fairly limited selection of fruit infused drinks (just the standard strawberry, peach and melon).
i know my tab will be much less on our upcoming trip-it was the diet cokes that were my downfall
