Sodas: Cans, 2 Liter Bottles, or Disney Mug?

[wishiwasgolfing]

Hey Gottaluvdisney, you may be right. I'm not 100% sure that other cruise ships have free soda but my brother sailed on Royal Carribean a couple of years ago and when I told him that disney was charging for soda (except at dinner,etc...) he looked at me in disbelief. So it seemed to me that maybe they didnt have to pay for it. But I appologize if I am wrong. I should not have posted that without knowing for sure.

I will now go stand in the corner and say 1000 times:

"I will never post false statements again"
"I will never post false statements again"

And I will have my wife spank me 35 times (price of the soda mug)

 

[taswira]

On RCI, complimentary beverages are regular and decaf coffee, assorted teas, iced tea and lemonade in the dining room at DINING TIMES ONLY.

A Soda Fountain Package for kids and adults has to be purchased if you don't want to pay each time for soft drinks.

 

[imamoose]

just got back from the 3/2 Magic cruise and then a week at the Grand Floridian...no coolers on board...I tried...stopped and got a few bottles of wine and a few of alcohol...bought a styrofoam cooler at the store to put them in...had them all neatly packed and was stopped at the bottom of the escalator...no coolers...could have packed whatever I wanted in my suitcases..they picked those up and loaded them right where the limo dropped us off...no checking of anything....but once inside they tried to only let me bring on one bottle per person...so if at all possible pack what you want for the first 3 days in your luggage...on Tuesday in St. Maarten you can just shop in town for what you want..and as far as I could tell they will let you bring back on board whatever you want...we brought back about 15 bottles of different wines and liquors and they didn't say a thing..same as in St. Martins....also for those of you who ride... I greatly suggest renting the 100cc scooters in St. Martins and touring the Island...wow what a hoot...see all kinds of things others don't...Coral World...bars on the beaches..well...those of you who choose to do it will understand...I have been on many cruises..so the different planned group... do as everyone else does excursions don't excite me much....but weaving thru traffic at my own pace...going where I want to...yeah that's the ticket.....

 

[Sauunders]

How much are the beer mugs on board?! How do they work? Can you fill it up ANYTIME, just like the soda mug?

 

[trishy]

So, do they not allow any soft-sided coolers either? That's how we brought our soda and water on board last year. It worked perfect, because our stateroom guy, Eric, would fill that thing with ice every morning and in the evening. Gosh, I hope that didn't change. Guess I could pack the flattened cooler in luggage with the soda and water, but what an inconvenience taking the extra luggage. We'll do what we have to do. We did the mugs too and that worked fine when we were out and about. It's nice to have the drinks available in the room, though.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Yes, you can pack a soft-sided cooler in your luggage.

The beer mug costs about $10. It holds 22 ounces of beer. You can get it filled with 22 ounces of draft beer for the price of the 16 ounces you'd get if you ordered a beer in a cup.

 

[Sauunders]

OK, wait, just my personal opinion... i thought the soda mug was an incredible idea. 35 dollars for a 7 day cruise seems pretty good to me. Me and my best friend Jena, each bought a mug..and it was sooo incredibly awesome! we would be out by the pool, and be in the mood for a sprite, we'd fill up our mug, go spend 15 minutes in the pool, we'd come back and our drinks were water- logged.. all we had to do was pour out our drink and fill up again. If we would have bought as many single sodas as we did filling up our mug..it really would have added up. Now, we were really big soda drinkers...probably 7 a day...(not full mugs..we would drink some then pour it out), So, we found the mug a lot cheaper. The only bad thing is you have to buy smoothies too, aside from your mug. But, oh well..it was great anyway.

 

[aprilgail2]

I would NOT bother bringing soda again....I would just spend the money for the mug. It was to much bother lugging all that soda around!!

 

[NCRedding]

I brought on cans of Pepsi and bought one mug for me for a souvenier--ended up using it quite a bit--especially since the bars would put rum, vodka, tequilla, etc. in the mug with the coke for $2.99. Next trip, I just plan on taking a few cans with me.

 

[albiats]

Just for further clarification -

You can get soda drinks during meal times for free, provided it is served from a soda fountain.

My DW prefers diet sprite and it was not available from the fountain on our last cruise in January. Our only option for that particular drink was to get it in a can, at a cost of $1.50 (plus the auto gratuity of 15%), even if it was at a meal in a restaurant.

I also prefer to drink Diet Coke, but from a can. I can drink it from the soda fountains, but not for a full week, so I end up buying it a few times also.

hope that helps

 

[AgentMommy]

We brought cans and found them very convenient. We purchased them at Port Canaveral, right next to the Radison, so we did not have to travel too far with them. I have to say though, that people looked absolutely ridiculous at dinner, especially formal nights, lugging around their mugs. While soda is free at dinner, plenty of people carried these mugs around like the crown jewels. I guess they wanted soda before dinner, or after.

 

[queenvic]

If you opt not to buy the refillable mug, do they have a similar type mug in the gift shop to purchase as a souvenir? I always buy the insulated mugs at WDW and I'd like to get one on the curise as well.

 

[westjones]

We have been debating about the mugs too. We did the 3 day and the 4 day cruises and I took my own soda. But for 7 days, my DH doesn't want to have to carry that much soda on board.

So I think we might do the mug this time. Not for sure yet, but we are leaning that way. I had thought that since our first stop is at Key West, we could always buys pop there and bring it back on board with us that day. But again, I am just not sure yet.

I have enjoyed this thread, it has given me some things to think about!

BTW, do they have lids on the mugs so the kids don't spill as easily?
Thanks!
DJ

 

[trishy]

Yes, the mugs have lids with a place for straw (or you can sip from the lid if desired). I sometimes had the kids bring theirs with us to dinner in case we were rushing to the theatre right after. The servers would fill them up before we left - they didn't seem to mind at all. However, I wouldn't have done that on the formal nights - wouldn't look very nice in the portrait . I didn't see them for sale in the shops.

 

[wovenwonder]

YES they did have a similar mug for sale in the gift shop. I believe it cost right around $5.00 --- ofcourse, this was styled a little different and would not include refills.

 

[joellen2]

Just as an update since I first started this thread in March, we were on the Magic 4/27/02, and we decided to go with the cans. We packed a twelve pack of coke in our luggage (no problem since we drove). I had ordered two baskets from The Perfect Gift that had my husband and son's favorite drinks, so we didn't need to pack as much. We then got some more drinks at the Havensight Mall at St. Thomas. We used the room cooler, and we also had a refrigerator in the room (at no charge) since my son's asthma medicine needed to be refrigerated. It was nice to carry a soda with us in the shows, and not have to drag the mug all over the place. This was the right decision for us, and we saved a lot of money.

 

[Otisp]

Really truly out of curiosity, which asthma medicine appreciates refridgeration?

 

[joellen2]

We took my son's oral steroid, Orapred, which needs to be refrigerated. This was a request by my son's allergist/immunologist in case his asthma flared out of control. (Note, my son also has hypogammaglobulinaemia, a low immune system, which requires monthly infusions of gammaglobulin).) He has been hospitalized ten times starting at 3 months old. I guess technically it is not "asthma" medicine, but my son frequently needs it to help him breathe. Fortunately, we did not need it.

 

[DiznyMagic]

Can you put the cans of pop in the coolers w/wheels and just roll that on to the ship using it as a carry on?

 

[Fawn]

Joellen

Thank Goodness your son had a healthy trip! I'm sure that was a blessing for all of you!