Need tips to help save money while onboard.

[Cruise04]

IF you don't want the drink with the fancy glass and want to wait until the end of the cruise to get the glass, they do just sell the glasses at CC. I think they were $3.50. It was a great souvenier to have at home and when we got "cruise sick" (you know, sad that you can't be cruising) we break out the glasses and use them at home. My dd uses hers all the time.

 

[The4OfUs]

Originally posted by tigger53
on the past cruises i've been on there have been many people carrying glasses of wine or beer into lunch or dinner, myself included, no one gave any strange looks or comments in fact when i asked our drink server if this was o k he said it was done all the time. if it saves me a coulple of dollars i'm happy, more to spend in the gift shops or on excursions.

You know, my first instinct follows along with Mrs. Pete. Would you walk into a restaurant with a drink in hand and sit down? At our local McDonalds, if you want the kids to play in the playground, you can't have any food in there but what they sell, and rightly so. I was trying to think of a situation where I'd see this, and I guess it would be ok were I to sit at the bar waiting for a table, have a drink, the table is ready, we move over...but I bought the drink there.

I guess I treated the restaurants on board as "restaurants", and wouldn't personally do that...it's interesting that you say the drink server says it's done all the time, but did he actually say it was ok? I'd feel a twinge because those few drinks you get at dinner, the tips for that go to him/her.

Of course, as you say, they didn't stop you, and it's matter of personal comfort if the restaurant doesn't do anything to stop you. The fact there's a corking fee tells me that this isn't what they intend for folks to do, tho, because the corking fee is not really a charge to open your wine, it's to help the restaurant "break even" (yeah, I know, they mark the wines up HUGE, but you know what I mean *grin*) in light of the fact you didn't purchase the alcohol from them. Did you know that the majority of profit is from alcohol in many restaurants? (See, someone tell DH I DO listen when he talks about his food costs and budgeting in running his catering business! *wink*)

Not trying to berate anyone, just wanted to add another viewpoint.

 

[geffric]

re carrying them wine into the restaurants..

on the first cruise in '98, I had asked the server if it was okay to bring in a glass of my own wine and he said sure.. go away bring your own into the restaurant.

On the second cruise in 2000, I again asked and was told 'no not allowed.'

 

[dharma517]

Maybe I should wear my sunglasses to dinner if I bring a glass of wine with me? lol Thanks for most of the comments to my post. Some people are more TACKFUL than others to those of us who have never cruised before and don't know all the "rules". I hadn't really considered that bringing one glass of wine to dinner would take away from my servers tip...but with that in mind perhaps I can add on to my tip accordingly. I know they work very hard for their money. I am not concerned with my tablesmates view of my bringing a drink with me..that is very petty. If something like that bothers them that much imagine how miserable they must be! I would feel sorry for them.
Jenn

 

[The4OfUs]

It's not that, really..it's the fact that despite the layout, these are *restaurants*. If you would bring a drink with you to your local restaurant, to save on the alcohol, then I guess I can see the mindset, but just because we move from our stateroom to the various restaurants doesn't really change that...in my mind at least.

Again, like the "Jackets required" that it says in my navigators for Palos, and the lack thereof that I saw while there for dinner, if the cruise line does not say a word, I should shut up...but would you do this if you were staying in a hotel and they had a restaurant down in the lobby? I guess that in my mind, the fact that you don't have to drive to the restaurant doesn't mean you can "BYOB", but that's me. If you're comfortable doing it, and they don't say anything, more power to you, and I wouldn't say a word, or probably even notice. I tend to be more "aware" as DH is a professional chef and in the business for over 2 decades, so I know what the waitstaff and kitchen deal with and think...and I tend to be hypersensitive to it. Hope I didn't make anyone feel bad, just wanted to give you the "other side" of things!

So much for me shutting up, huh? Really, I will now.

 

[lotsofboys]

I think many are neglecting to remember that there are numerous places on board to get a drink prior to dinner. My parents, DH & I met everynight before dinner at the Promenade Lounge and listened to music, had drinks and went to dinner. Often times, we were not finished with our drinks and brought them with us to dinner. It would be impossible for other diners, CMs or waitstaff to know whether we purchased these drinks at the bar or brought them from our room (if we so chose). I was not uncomfortable bringing unfinished drinks into the dining room just as I am not in a restaraunt where I am sitting at the bar waiting for a table and am not finished with my drink when they seat me for dinner.

This was our 2nd cruise and I can quite honestly tell you that if one has enough time to notice who is and who isn't bringing drinks into the dining room, one isn't having enough fun on their cruise

 

[lotsofboys]

The4ofUs.......my comment about noticing whether people bring drinks or not was not directed at you, it took me a while to compose my post so as not to offend anyone and you posted while I was composing so I never read yours until now. It totally sounds like I'm referring to you and trust me please, I was not.

 

[MrsPete]

Tactful or not, I think gracious manners have become a thing of the past. I'd encourage posters who are considering bringing drinks into the dining room to consult an ettiquette book. You'll see that it's considered inappropriate to bring a drink from the bar (much less from "home") into a restaurant.

 

[dharma517]

The4ofus....I also appreciated your reply and am glad that you brought up the tipping issue because I know how important an issue your paycheck can be especially in the food service industry. Thank you.
Jenn

 

[The4OfUs]

thanks guys, I feel better now...and you know what, I TOTALLY agree, and think that getting a drink in the bar and going to dinner is one thing...I know it's nearly impossible to tell, it's just...well (how CORNY is this) the principle of the thing, you know?

What a dork I am, now I can actually sleep. *grin*

No matter what you do on the cruise, the most important thing is to relax and cherish your time.

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."
- Roald Dahl, "The Minpins"




If there's one thing the people on this board know how to do, is find the magic.

 

[Padre Disney]

I guess I should say that my last cruise was only a three and we didn't have the kids. So I was able to have a drink in my hand more then usual.
We drink wine from a box that cost about $8 bucks. I a do not like alcohol and am not a very big drinker so my drink is 70% diet sprite and 20% boxed wine.
But I do not have a problem taking a drink (a spritzer) that I fixed in my room to dinner with me if it is in one of the DCL glasses. In the past others from our group have order wine in the dinning room but I just can't drink it.

 

[crisi]

MrsPete,

Do you have a cite for that? I've dug through all my ettiquette books and done google searches and can't find any mention of bringing a drink you paid for from a bar to the table. It is impolite to do it at a dinner party, where the host has presumably chosen the wine to complement the courses (and besides, you don't want to be so gauche as to imply that you want to be so drunk from cocktail hour you can't taste the food), but in a restaurant its a little different. And on DCL, I really can't see the ettiquette difference in if you bought the drink at the prominade lounge or poured it in your room.

I hate bringing a drink to the table from the bar in a restaurant - unless its a very casual situation - I think its a little tacky (I do it at my club when we are dining in the bar - have a drink at the bar while I wait for the table, then move to the table in the bar - but I won't bring the drink from the bar to the dining room in the next room, although it is permitted). But I can't find a cite for it being tacky and its certainly done often enough when your waiting for your table with a drink in the bar and the table is ready before you've finished your drink.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Well, just chalk us up as tacky people right now- because if I'm somewhere having a drink and it's time for dinner (which is a possibility since we have the late seating for dinner) and I haven't finished that drink- I'm taking it with me! I'm NOT going to be throwing it in the trash because it's bad manners to take it with me (in some people's opinion). Sorry... too expensive for me to trash it- it's going with me. (and I'm not one to chug down a drink quickly either- I'm more of a sipper....)

 

[Lorraine]

one downside to taking wine on board is that the in room cooler does not keep the wine (or anything else) very cold, and if like me you like your wine nicely chilled it does take the edge off it. I have taken wine from my room into the restaurant and nobody has ever questioned it, but as I like my wine cold we usually buy a couple of bottles during the course of the cruise. You can order a bottle of wine one evening, and what ever you dont finish is carried forward to the following evening. This way, we tend to take a glass of wine with us each evening, drink half a bottle of wine and then drink the remainder the following evening.

Lorraine

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by Lorraine
one downside to taking wine on board is that the in room cooler does not keep the wine (or anything else) very cold, and if like me you like your wine nicely chilled it does take the edge off it.

I guess that's true if you like to drink wine that's ice cold. But if you do so, you'll miss the full flavor of the wine.

The optimum temperature for red wines is about 65-70° F. For fine white wines, about 60° F. And for white table wines, rosés and blush wines, about 50° F.

The electric cooler in the stateroom makes the wine too cold, but letting the wine sit out for a little while fixes that.

Oh, I'm not trying to be the wine police. Please enjoy your wine at whatever temperature you like.

 

[Madaboutthemouse2004]

Hi!

We just returned from the 7 day western and had a ball. Some ideas to save money.

We didn't opt for the refillable mug -- it does make for a souvenier, but I have way too many already! Since we were visiting warm climates and want to keep hydrated, we chose to have a large pitcher of ice water brought up via room service every morning with breakfast. Our room (cat 5) had a refrigerator and we choose to over-order juices, cereals and choc milks (for the kiddies) so they could have a little snack while waiting for everyone to dress for dinner.

The menu suggests wines to accompany the various entrees -- as much as I enjoy wine with dinner, I was able to forego the wine.

Take advantage of the daily duty-free offers at Upbeat. I enjoy Bailey's Irish Cream and 1 liter sold for $15 -- here in NY I am paying $25+ for the same thing. On the 'Special' day it was $15 for the first bottle and $13 for the second. 2 liters for $28! There are many different alcohols to select from at great prices. The downside is that the bottles are not delivered to you until later the night before disembarkment.

Avoid Shutters if you don't want to be caught up in the vacation picture-buying frenzy. They offer a prepaid package for 10 pics @ $85. -- but truth be told, among the 10 of us in our group there weren't 10 worthwhile photos. (Did I just make my family sound homely? LOL) Shutters charges $10 for a 5x7 candid. If you're taking your digicam you're far better off.

Tips -- ballpark here but I believe the head waiter was $6.50pp/stay; head server (ballpark) $25.pp/stay: ***'t server $16.pp/stay; stateroom host $25.pp/stay All were worth every penny and then some more

Bingo -- we played often and won some but it is pricey. A family pack (6 cards per sheet 5 sheets per session) was $35. An additional jackpot card of 6 cards per sheet was $15. The final jackpot was $5,500. and I was left waiting for N36. The emcee called N35 and the girl behind me cried BINGO! So close yet so far!

The spa: Rainforest is $15 for a full day pass (8am -10pm) and there is a special of $50 for length of cruise. Treat yourself to at least one Rainforest.



Pack some detergent from home and bring plenty of dollar bills or quarters in case you have to run laundry. (I didn't expect to until the day of the fruit punch spill -- no one was spared except the spiller!) The ship is cash free -- except the washers, dryers and detergent machines!

Make the most of the pools -- they were great, the hot tubs spacious, too!

Souveniers for little ones at home -- bring the pillowcases and leave them at guest services for character signatures! We brought home several and they were a tremendous hit! SOme of DS friends gave us their pillowcases as well. Guest services is probably thinking that I had a tribe of children in my stateroom. Cost of souvenier = price of pillowcase plus a few minutes of your time at guest services.

ENJOY YOUR CRUISE!

Kathy