Thank you!!
JWelch62 - we've done the Chocolate and Liquor as well as mixology previously and loved both but I thought I had heard that with mixology they don't have you make the drinks any longer, is that correct? Have you done all of these previously? I was looking at Stem to Stern, the rum tasting or the mojito but not sure. Any insight you can share on these?
Thank you! I was wondering about the wine selections. Good info!
I appreciate this. I never knew that! Crazy isn't it! Thank you.
For those interested in more about the wine tasting experience: I’ve completed 19 DCL cruises and done the wine tasting about half the time. The typical experience has changed a bit since the first few times (used to always wrap up with an “extra”, usually a pretty decent champagne), but tasting three whites followed by three reds has been the usual pattern. One of the on-board sommeliers usually conducts the tasting and will have selected the wines. The wines include selections available in the main dining rooms and Palo, but not many of the higher quality/cost wines from Remy (on the Dream class ships) in my experience (but we have sailed mostly on the classic ships, so my experience in this regard is more limited). Whites will usually include one less dry selection (perhaps a Riesling), one dry selection (perhaps a Chardonnay or pinot grigio) and a third selection. Reds frequently include an Italian red, a new world wine (from North or South America, New Zealand, or Australia), and a third selection. Half or more of the wines tasted have been available as part of either the classic or premium wine packages. Even though I’ve repeated the experience many times, I still enjoy it. Most times the wines are tasted “blind” and I’ve learned enough to distinguish at least the grape variety/country of origin about 2/3rds of the time, can now distinguish between old world and new world wines pretty reliably, and am more confident about my own likes and dislikes when discussing a wine selection with a sommelier or server when we do special-occasion dining at home. I would think that the experience would be wasted on an oenophile with extensive tasting experience, since it appears to be targeted at someone who enjoys drinking wine with their dinner but has more limited tasting experience.
Thank you for that synopsis. Great info.
On The Wonder we were allowed to make some shots, but no actual cocktails. A lot of this has to due with health regs. It seems that either there was a change at some point, or more enforcement. I recall pouring my own cocktails on both The Fantasy and The Wonder previoulsy.
Last time for us was 2015 on The Fantasy and 5 or 6 of us went behind the bar and made 5 or 6 servings of one drink each (so there'd be enough for every participant). Then the next group of people would go behind the bar and do the same with a different cocktail - super fun! I don't think that's the case any more right?
