So - We need to bring our own cups?

[ThePedersonFamily]

On our last cruise, which was a 14 night TA cruise, I gave insulated cups with lids and straws as my FE gift. I personalized them for each person in the cabin and put a Mickey head on it. I made 157 cups. I will say that we saw well over a hundred of those cups in use consistantly. We loved ours as well. So those stats should tell you that if you have one you will use it...it truly is convenient. The cups I bought were inexpensive and were meant to be used for the cruise and discarded...no hauling those back home!! So for me...I say Yes!! Bring 'em!!!

 

[my2boys2disney]

as far as tervis goes, i have to say i bought into it. i, like the opp, kept reading everyones comments on how they are a must. you just can not live without one. since i had not seen them around my area i made a great issue out of finding one when i went on vacation. i did find them at bed bath and beyond, lots of them to choose from. my eyes glassed over and i picked out my cup, then my lid, then the straws that i just had to have or how could my cup function properly? the friend who was with me could not believe how focused i was on this quest and as she had no want of the product she left me to my task. well i got my tervis, took a long time, there are a gizillion designs and colour choices. went to the cash and gave the cashier my $40 for all my parts to this wonderful cup.

when i got home i quickly took out my prized new item and filled it full of water. didn't taste at all like $40 water, in fact it tasted like water. maybe i need a hot drink to get that 'specialness'……nope, that didn't work either. very slowly i realized i bought into 'hype'. sadly, i wish i had my $40 back.
my point is tervis is not cheap. its also only a cup.

some argue the merits of the tervis cup and i get that but you need to know going in the cups run anywhere from 15 to 25 plus there are lids you can purchase and cup holders and straws, it just goes on and on. having said all this (and it was meant to be tongue in cheek) i did buy the small cup on the cruise but it was because we had money left from our obc and it was the last day of our cruise. i like to look at it but it is to small to use constantly, it sits on a shelf in my cupboard until the day i need the room for something else and i give it to goodwill.

LOL, you are my sister from another mister. This is so me.

 

[madelyn]

Just back from a New Year's eve cruise on the Wonder. My guess is that the cups at the refillable station are about 12 oz size but you don't fill it to the very top so you might get 10 oz of liquid in there. We brought along some of the Tervis style cups but with a straw top that we got at the Disney Store. I also brought a Contigo stainless travel mug (completely spillproof). We used the disposable cups but would use the straw cups (often leaving them in the room) to keep drinks brought back to the room cold. I like to drink a lot of water so would keep my Contigo filled with water. It was useful for me to take medication in the morning in the cabin.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

My DH is a coffee snob and is threatening to bring his own Bodum coffee press if I don't find out where the "good" coffee is. Please share.

As far as I know, all of the free coffee onboard is Nescafe. The one exception is the coffee/espresso available in the concierge lounge, but one could argue that that coffee isn't "free" either!

There are several places I'm aware of to get good espresso drinks on the Dream & Fantasy, but all of them charge:

Cove Café
Vista Café
Espresso bar at Cabanas (far aft)
Palo
Remy
Meridian

If you or someone in your family is a fan of espresso drinks, make sure you ask for a "Café fanatic" card. For every 5 specialty drinks purchased, you get one for free! I know it is honored at both Cove Café and Cabanas. I'm not sure about the other locations as I haven't tried to use it there. I filled one card and part of another last spring on the Fantasy, and I plan to take the partially filled with me card for our cruise in April.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

On our last cruise, which was a 14 night TA cruise, I gave insulated cups with lids and straws as my FE gift. I personalized them for each person in the cabin and put a Mickey head on it. I made 157 cups. I will say that we saw well over a hundred of those cups in use consistantly. We loved ours as well. So those stats should tell you that if you have one you will use it...it truly is convenient. The cups I bought were inexpensive and were meant to be used for the cruise and discarded...no hauling those back home!! So for me...I say Yes!! Bring 'em!!!

WOW! When are you cruising again because I want to be in your FE group!

 

[Luv2Diz]

We bring our 24 oz Tervis tumblers along. The cups at the drink station are very small. I hate wasting several of them to get a decent beverage serving. I also can't carry a bunch of them back to the cabin! Three 24 oz Tervis do the trick for our group. They keep cold beverages cold for hours, hot beverages hot, and they are made in the USA.

 

[tinkerone]

I didn't think they were $40 at the BBB, but then I didn't look closely, we were there for other things. I do agree though that I didn't see anything particularly special about them, Just a brand name. If you want to have your own good drink mug, I'd think that any insulated cup would do just fine.

i should clarify. first you bought the mug, then you purchased the lid, then the straws, then the handle. everything was separate, which while a little more expensive than i've since seen, you could pick your own colours.

so while one piece didn't seem like it would break the bank, by the time you bought it all and paid the taxes you were very well near the $40 mark and scratching your head.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

All the Tervis Tumblers we've purchased came with a lid and, depending on the type of lid, a straw. The only "extra" I've ever purchased is a handle -- and I've never even used it! We purchased two 16-oz Tumblers with travel lids as gifts over the holidays, and they were $19 each at a Hallmark store. I'm guessing they would have been cheaper at BB&B with a 20% off coupon. We own three of the 24-oz Tumblers, and I think the price (with lid and straw) was around $25 each. I'm not saying that's cheap, but definitely considerably less than $40!

ETA: I just went on the Tervis site and I see that they no longer have the flat lids with holes for straws! Apparently you're expected to use a travel lid for all sizes of Tumblers, with or without a straw. That makes no sense to me. Hopefully DCL still has the "old" version of the 24-oz Tumblers, complete with lid and straw.

 

[Iris1974]

I have chronic dry mouth from medication I take and have to have something to drink with me at all times. I can't even swallow something at dinner without sipping something. There are things I can eat without something to drink, but that list is very small. I would buy a Tervis Cup and use it all day on a cruise. I've looked at them online the cups are $19 and with the cover, handle and 4 or 5 straws come to $33. If you come on message boards after going on the Tervis site you'll get an ad that gives a free shipping code. I looked all over Amazon and found nothing similar I liked. I don't drive so getting to stores is hard for me and I buy a lot of stuff online. So I'm used to carrying around something to drink. At my volunteer job I usually put a bottle of water in my pocket and take sips out of that over the time I'm there. I even carry one to go shopping. So a insulated mug is a necessity to me.

Shauna

 

[Seamama]

I think there are 2 types of travelers- nothing wrong with either kind -

there's the people who try to recreate all the comfort and convienance of home -those with their cups, over the door shoe hanger full of stuff, three surge protectors, 5 pairs of shoes, and that pillow from home they love. You will never see these people anxiously running through a gift shop looking for something, begging strangers for a quick charge of their phone, but you also might see them gliding around the terminal weighed down by 300 lbs of luggage.

then there's the people who treat travel as an adventure into the unknown - those that maybe show up without toothpaste and have "funky butt" because they have to wear a wet swim suit on the second day. they are forced to try to make a fuller pillow by bunching up a dirty sweatshirt under their pillow. These people make the best of everything and laugh off the fact that their black shoes don't match their brown pants and okay yes their son is wearing dad's belt but whatev, it's good. These people glide off the plane with just their carry on and an intact lower back.

There's no in between- if you don't know which one you are, pick the one you don't want to be and that's probably you.

Some people LOVE the cups and hate having to go back to the drink station, some people wouldn't remember the cup even if they wanted it and will just grab two cups of soda when they're at the drink station. You by no means need one at all, but if you want one there's no harm in bringing it.

(This was suppose to be a funny, just in case it didn't come across like that)

I totally got the tongue-ine-cheek tone of this and also found it... uncannily accurate! I am in the first category for sure, which is why I spent WAY too much time on these boards ;-)

 

[Seamama]

The signs by the drink stations specifically say to use a new cup for refills... Has anyone ever been told by a cm not to use their own cup? Or are you using the Disney provided cups to fill your cup brought from home?

We used the Disney cups to fill cups from home... one dinky Disney cup to fill 4 water bottles. If I were getting soda, I'd use one cup to fill all the sodas into our larger cups, too. That way we're only "wasting" one cup and still following the rules, which really are important for sanitary reasons.

 

[nolacindy]

We take our 24 oz Tervis. The main reason is that we bring along our own rum, whiskey, etc. and like to sit on the verandah at night. It would get very aggravating having to run back up to the drink station ever time we wanted another drink.

Also I don't like wasting all of the little cups. We were on the Magic about 4 weeks ago and the cast members said nothing to us about filling our cups from the fountain. You sit your cup down and push the button. It is not close to where the soda comes out.

I use these glasses everyday, it keeps my coffee hot for a long time!

 

[wrighter]

As far as I know, all of the free coffee onboard is Nescafe. The one exception is the coffee/espresso available in the concierge lounge, but one could argue that that coffee isn't "free" either!

There are several places I'm aware of to get good espresso drinks on the Dream & Fantasy, but all of them charge:

Cove Café
Vista Café
Espresso bar at Cabanas (far aft)
Palo
Remy
Meridian

If you or someone in your family is a fan of espresso drinks, make sure you ask for a "Café fanatic" card. For every 5 specialty drinks purchased, you get one for free! I know it is honored at both Cove Café and Cabanas. I'm not sure about the other locations as I haven't tried to use it there. I filled one card and part of another last spring on the Fantasy, and I plan to take the partially filled with me card for our cruise in April.

Oh no! Oh no, no, no! Somewhere along the way I must have misunderstood! Do I now understand correctly that the only way to get non-nescafe is to pay for it? Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I thought you could get "good" stuff, you just had to trudge upstairs for it. The only way to get "good" stuff is to pay for it? Guess I'd better adjust the budget! Or learn how to use a press? Sigh.

 

[JohnDS]

Oh no! Oh no, no, no! Somewhere along the way I must have misunderstood! Do I now understand correctly that the only way to get non-nescafe is to pay for it? Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I thought you could get "good" stuff, you just had to trudge upstairs for it. The only way to get "good" stuff is to pay for it? Guess I'd better adjust the budget! Or learn how to use a press? Sigh.

Using a press is simple, makes much better coffee than the drip.

 

[disney1990]

I don't bring my own cup, but I did buy one drink and then used my DCL cup the entire time. I just liked carrying it around! You are supposed to fill the disposable cup into your cup for hygiene purposes.

I know this is slightly off subject, but wanted to ask anyway. If you are supposed to fill your own mug with a disposable cup for hygiene purposes on the cruise ship, why is is OK to not do the same thing when visiting Disney Resorts and using a refillable mug. Just a thought.

 

[wrighter]

Using a press is simple, makes much better coffee than the drip.

Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find some tutorials online. From what I'm seeing, though, it seems that for a press you need a larger grind than what I prefer. Much research to do.

 

[Ofinn]

We bring alcohol, and we bring cups to drink it from.

 

[TornadoNut]

I brought a couple of water bottles. I'm not a pop or coffee drinker, but I drink water quite a bit. Never got talked to, and it was nice to have ice water with it being so hot outside!

 

[sharksfinatic17]

I bought a 24 oz Tervis tumbler on the Fantasy last summer because I wanted a souvenir, and we also make our own beverages. During the day I would take it to the drink station and fill it (using one of their cups) with soda. The ice didn't seem to melt as quickly in the Tervis cups. I also liked the fact that it didn't sweat in the humidity. Now at home when I use it, I get to remember our great vacation

 

[gritz]

I must be in the minority because I brought my own cups but never once used them. The ones they had worked just fine for us.