Signing up for tastings

[Luckymommatoo]

We are sailing on the Wonder in July, and I have questions about the tastings (on a previous Navigator, I see a chocolate and liquor one, and a beer one, for instance). Where do we sign up? Can I sign up multiple members of my family if they aren't in my cabin? Are they free? Do they fill up quickly?

If you have any recommendations for can't-miss ones, I'd love to hear. Thanks!

 

[Dug720]

The time and place to sign up will be listed in the Navigator you will get when you check in at the port. You *can* also do it at Guest Services, but the listed location will have a list with the tastings and times you can see for yourself.

As long as you have their cabin number, I think you can sign others up - just be courteous and step to the side if deciding involves a phone call or phone calls (the bartender handling the sign ups on the Fantasy a couple of years ago had to ask someone to do that as she was there making multiple calls for over 5 minutes).

They are NOT free. They usually range from $25/person up depending on the tasting.

I really enjoyed the champagne tasting. And the mixology I did - but that was as much because it was a super small group so we got to make all our own drinks AND the bartender doing the class gave out the full-sized drinks she made to each of us.

 

[cmph]

When we sailed on the Wonder over NYE, the primary sign up spot was the bar in the Promenade lounge. You could sign up for all of them there, although they couldn't tell you, say, what beers Crown and Fin would have for the tasting. However, later on I determined that that was really not something any of the CMs in charge of the tastings themselves actually know at that point, so it makes very little difference. DH and I did mixology and tequila/margarita, kind of spacing on the CM's name who did both (Rodolfo?), and he said he figures out what to do at mixology like day of or the day before. Same with the beer tasting - my dad did that, and Lawrence told him he didn't decide what to serve until just about the day of. DH also did the bourbon tasting. And yes - I signed everyone up, including the ones I wasn't participating in. It wasn't an issue at all. Our cabin was linked with my parents, but I doubt that mattered at all. You just need to know their names and stateroom number, really. The tequila/margarita one was spur-of-the-moment actually, since we enjoyed mixology so much - it was full but they told us to go anyway and see if they had space for walk-ins.

So, in terms of reviews - DH and I really loved mixology, and since that changes up a bit each time, we'd for sure do that again. I liked the tequila/margarita one ok, DH probably more, and it taught me that good tequila or not, I'm just not someone who likes straight-up hard liquor. If you like sipping tequila, you'll like it; it was fun, with sugar, cinnamon sticks, etc to try with it. My dad loved the beer tasting, loved loved loved it. His favorite part of the vacation; he's going to be inconsolable if Lawrence isn't working Crown and Fin next summer. DH liked the bourbon tasting for the most part, but the fun factor was diminished b/c some participants spent a chunk of it arguing bourbon history with the CM in charge. We sailed out of Galveston, so we were heavy on southerners who apparently know a lot about bourbon.

I think mixology might have been the only one offered multiple times? not positive. I would have liked to do the mojitos tasting but it was offered only once, during late seating, and I didn't want to skip whatever restaurant we were in to go to that alone. So go into this knowing it may not be possible to do every tasting you want.

 

[Luckymommatoo]

Thanks so much for the detailed information! I'm with you, cmph, straight-up tequila tasting wouldn't be my thing. But mixology sounds great! And OMG, pretty funny about the bourbon "experts" on the ship! I've seen the mojitos one on the ALaska Navigators, and that one definitely seems like it's worth trying.

And Dug720, I didn't realize the cost was that high -- at $50/session for DH and me, that could add up, so we'll have to choose carefully.

 

[Dug720]

Thanks so much for the detailed information! I'm with you, cmph, straight-up tequila tasting wouldn't be my thing. But mixology sounds great! And OMG, pretty funny about the bourbon "experts" on the ship! I've seen the mojitos one on the ALaska Navigators, and that one definitely seems like it's worth trying.

And Dug720, I didn't realize the cost was that high -- at $50/session for DH and me, that could add up, so we'll have to choose carefully.

Different ones have different prices. I seem to remember Champagne and Cognac being in the higher cost. Mixology I think is usually one of the lower cost ones.

 

[bcwife76]

We are sailing to Alaska on the Wonder at the end of August. One of the families in our group posted this (she is sailing concierge so the concierge hosts gave her this info) for the tastings available on our sailing:

Beverage Tastings for our cruise (Aug 28-Sept 4 2017)
Beer - 9/1 at 345pm - 20.00 per person
Martini - 9/3 at 2pm - 20.00 pp
Mixology - 8/30 at 4pm - 20.00 pp
Rum - 9/2 at 10pm - 25.00 pp
Whiskey - 8/31 at 10pm - 25.00 pp
Wine - 8/29 at 1215pm - 20.00 pp

 

[Anisum]

And the mixology I did - but that was as much because it was a super small group so we got to make all our own drinks AND the bartender doing the class gave out the full-sized drinks she made to each of us.

I had a similar experience with Mixology last year and we had a wonderful time. We even had the opportunity to make our own layered shots.

 

[Dug720]

I had a similar experience with Mixology last year and we had a wonderful time. We even had the opportunity to make our own layered shots.

Yep. We closed with B52s.

 

[oakleycat]

Mixology has always been great for us, and different every time. The others (beer, wine, whisky, tequila) have varied in quality based on the selections and the skill of the CM presenting. But we always have fun and the $20 is usually well worth it for the product you get.

 

[Luckymommatoo]

We are sailing to Alaska on the Wonder at the end of August. One of the families in our group posted this (she is sailing concierge so the concierge hosts gave her this info) for the tastings available on our sailing:

Beverage Tastings for our cruise (Aug 28-Sept 4 2017)
Beer - 9/1 at 345pm - 20.00 per person
Martini - 9/3 at 2pm - 20.00 pp
Mixology - 8/30 at 4pm - 20.00 pp
Rum - 9/2 at 10pm - 25.00 pp
Whiskey - 8/31 at 10pm - 25.00 pp
Wine - 8/29 at 1215pm - 20.00 pp

Thanks for this! We are sailing July 10th, but this gives me a great idea of what to expect. I appreciate it!

 

[kiford]

straight-up tequila tasting wouldn't be my thing

I never drank tequila nor was I interested in it. My reaction was "eww, yuck, gross". A few years ago we were unable to get into the wine tasting but there was a tequila tasting available. We thought "why not - it's a vacation" and it wasn't too expensive. I learned the difference between good and not good tequila (and that most of what my friends drank in university was very, very, very low end). I have now got an appreciation for tequila and love to drink it straight. There truly is a massive difference between low end and high end and that is true of most spirits.

Since then, we've done whiskey and cognac tastings and I'm now an avowed Irish whiskey drinker as well as brandy and cognac drinker. Something I never thought I would be because I thought I didn't like any kind of spirit straight up. You may find that what you didn't like (any spirit) was the quality. The tastings are 4-5 glasses of different grades and types so you really get to see the difference and try various brands. You can't go wrong for the price because you'd never get what you get in the tasting at a bar for that price and you'd probably never risk just picking something you didn't know. But the tastings are designed specifically for that purpose. So maybe take a step out of your comfort zone and try one that you don't think you like - you never know. And even if you decide you don't like it, they're very informative and interesting and can be a lot of fun.

In all we've done: wine (twice), beer, tequila (twice), champagne, mixology (twice), martini, chocolate & liquor, cognac, whiskey. We've never been able to fit in the rum one and also on the list now is high-end cognac and high-end whiskey (not available on all cruises). I can't say that there was one that wasn't worth the time and money. My only problem is that, afterwards I started off drinking good stuff at a moderate price levels but have continued to move up in price as I discovered better and better brands now that I know what I really like and what the difference is.

 

[cmph]

I never drank tequila nor was I interested in it. My reaction was "eww, yuck, gross". A few years ago we were unable to get into the wine tasting but there was a tequila tasting available. We thought "why not - it's a vacation" and it wasn't too expensive. I learned the difference between good and not good tequila (and that most of what my friends drank in university was very, very, very low end). I have now got an appreciation for tequila and love to drink it straight. There truly is a massive difference between low end and high end and that is true of most spirits.

Since then, we've done whiskey and cognac tastings and I'm now an avowed Irish whiskey drinker as well as brandy and cognac drinker. Something I never thought I would be because I thought I didn't like any kind of spirit straight up. You may find that what you didn't like (any spirit) was the quality. The tastings are 4-5 glasses of different grades and types so you really get to see the difference and try various brands. You can't go wrong for the price because you'd never get what you get in the tasting at a bar for that price and you'd probably never risk just picking something you didn't know. But the tastings are designed specifically for that purpose. So maybe take a step out of your comfort zone and try one that you don't think you like - you never know. And even if you decide you don't like it, they're very informative and interesting and can be a lot of fun.

In all we've done: wine (twice), beer, tequila (twice), champagne, mixology (twice), martini, chocolate & liquor, cognac, whiskey. We've never been able to fit in the rum one and also on the list now is high-end cognac and high-end whiskey (not available on all cruises). I can't say that there was one that wasn't worth the time and money. My only problem is that, afterwards I started off drinking good stuff at a moderate price levels but have continued to move up in price as I discovered better and better brands now that I know what I really like and what the difference is.

While I learned via our tasting that good or not, I'm not a tequila person, I like your approach! I hope to do chocolate and liquor next time, and maybe I should try the cognac tasting as well b/c I know zero about it.

 

[soniam]

I saw on a Fantasy Personal Navigator that they had an Amari tasting, Italian liquor. That would be awesome. It's not often that you get to even see more than one variety in a shop or restaurant. We would like to do more this time, maybe the cognac, whiskey, tequila, or chocolate & liquor.

 

[My_Pooh]

Thanks so much for the detailed information! I'm with you, cmph, straight-up tequila tasting wouldn't be my thing. But mixology sounds great! And OMG, pretty funny about the bourbon "experts" on the ship! I've seen the mojitos one on the ALaska Navigators, and that one definitely seems like it's worth trying.

And Dug720, I didn't realize the cost was that high -- at $50/session for DH and me, that could add up, so we'll have to choose carefully.

On our last cruise which was on the Fantasy in Nov 16 we really wanted to do anything but the tequila tasting (bad memories from college) but it was the only one that fit in our schedule due to Remy and Palo, etc. However, we had a blast! The bartender (I forget his name but I'm pretty sure he was from India) was Fantastic... he made us all 3 margaritas (chocolate, pomegranate and a regular) and he gave us 3 shots of higher end tequila- Patron (sliver, gold and I forget the last) and provided awesome info on tequila, how to buy it, where it comes from, how they make it. We were totally impressed and we still talk about it. I get it if you hate tequila but if you like margaritas it was awesome!

 

[Luckymommatoo]

Here's my follow-up: we had no trouble signing up for tastings at Customer Service the first night (apparently we missed the window to sign up at the actual locations). CS also had a list of ALL tastings on the cruise, which was really helpful.

My parents and brother and SIL did a wine tasting which apparently was only okay. They thought the sommelier talked way too much and made them wait a very long time to taste anything, plus they all agreed one of the whites was just BAD.

We did a cognac tasting, which is not what I would have picked, but was the only thing that worked with our schedule. It was fantastic! Laurence from the UK was our bartender, and we were in a great location (up the spiral staircase in Cove Cafe on the Wonder). My brother and SIL came with us and were able to sign up on the spot, making 8 of us total. We had a really fun time. I'm still not a huge fan of cognac, but we it was memorable and different and we learned a lot. I'd do a tasting again for sure!

 

[cmph]

We did a cognac tasting, which is not what I would have picked, but was the only thing that worked with our schedule. It was fantastic! Laurence from the UK was our bartender, and we were in a great location (up the spiral staircase in Cove Cafe on the Wonder). My brother and SIL came with us and were able to sign up on the spot, making 8 of us total. We had a really fun time. I'm still not a huge fan of cognac, but we it was memorable and different and we learned a lot. I'd do a tasting again for sure!

My dad's favorite CM is apparently a good one for whatever tastings he puts on! I'll have to make a note of the cognac one for next year, I guess!! Glad you guys enjoyed that. Too bad about the wine one, sounds like it was aimed at people who knew zero about wine. That's one category that would make sense to have a couple types of tastings aimed at different crowds.

 

[socaintexas]

As of 7/13/17 you can sign up for these online under the onboard activities tab.