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We always love a good drink while cruising, but at $8 or $9 bucks a pop those poolside pina coladas will add up before you know it. Since we are traveling long term, we must be very careful with costs that add up like this, as splurging every night on expensive drinks will break the bank and send us back home before you can say margarita. If we wanted to still enjoy some beverages during our voyage, we d need to get creative. So during our recent 14-day san francisco discount rental cars sailing on the Celebrity Eclipse, we managed to keep our bar tab under $200 for the two people (that s less than $7 per person per day) and we still drank quite well …and a lot. So how is this possible?
Most cruise lines will offer a happy hour at certain bars at certain times, providing reduced priced drinks. Sometimes these happy hours are planned and stated in the daily newsletter or on the bar menus themselves. But often these drink deals are only subtly advertised, so be observant and seek them out. They may be different from bar to bar too. The Eclipse had $3 draft beers and $4 wine pours at a few bars, while their martini san francisco discount rental cars bar had an entirely different san francisco discount rental cars happy hour with select martinis at half price. Also, many cruises will have two happy hour periods, one before dinner and another into the late night. If you can time your drinks right, you ll be sipping on cocktails for about the same price as your local watering hole.
And while most happy hours are planned, some lines such as Carnival have been known to just announce them spontaneously on a big dance party night. Listen up and you may hear the DJ announce $1 beers. If that s the case, maybe even consider ordering a round of unopened beers to take back to your cabin s fridge, only to enjoy poolside on the following day.
Wine, cocktail, martini, or even beer tastings can be some of the best drink deals at sea, and personally our favorite of these ten suggestions. For example, martini tastings may cost anywhere from $10-$25 per person and often will include at least 5 or more full-sized martinis. san francisco discount rental cars If you were to purchase those same martinis from the bar, it would cost over $50, so these events can be incredible booze bargains. Plus you get to try a variety of different drinks you otherwise probably wouldn t order. They re a lot of fun too and a great way to make friends on the ship. We ve learned some incredible cocktail and martini recipes that we use back home. Keep an eye out for these in the daily itineraries. When you see them, jump on it and you may just discover your favorite new libation all while being mindful of your drink budget.
Are you heading to the pool and want to kick back a few? Buy a bucket of five beers, which most cruises usually offer for the cost of four. Its a win-win san francisco discount rental cars by saving your server a few trips while saving you a few bucks.
If wine is more your style, never order by the glass, which ends up being more expensive than the bottle in the long run. Even if you re only looking to have one (or maybe two) glasses of wine with dinner, this is still your best bet. Here s why: if you don t finish that bottle, your server will gladly recork it for you so that you can enjoy the rest the next night. Or most ships even permit san francisco discount rental cars the server to send what s left of the bottle to another bar or your stateroom.
Also look into wine packages, where you commit to a certain number of bottles san francisco discount rental cars throughout your sailing, at a reduced price. Typically the more bottles you commit san francisco discount rental cars to, the greater the price reduction. So try to estimate how much wine you ll go through on the front end of the cruise which will be easier to your onboard account by departure day.
If you have an extra hour or two to burn while in port, skip the sugary overpriced drinks at Senior Frog’s and Fat Tuesday’s. Instead find a cozy local bar a little further away from the port to throw back a few. Not only will you have a more authentic experience and get some local flavor but you also may find local prices.
Some lines have recently been starting to offer all-you-can-drink packages. These can seem pricey on the surface, but ultimately these  drink packages san francisco discount rental cars can be terrific value. Its a relatively new trend in the cruising industry but now Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean, most Norwegian ships, and many Carnival ships offer some sort of alcoholic drink package.
For example, Celebrity san francisco discount rental cars Cruises promotes a regular beverage package for $44 per day and a premium package for $54 when purchased in advance (excluding gratuities). san francisco discount rental cars If you think you may enjoy at least 6 drinks or so each day, packages like these can really san francisco discount rental cars save you a ton. Plus it also includes specialty coffees, soft drinks, and other nonalcoholic drinks to help you recover the next day. Other cruise lines package san francisco discount rental cars differ from this, so check the details before san francisco discount rental cars buying. These packages can pay for themselves even if you re just having a few cocktails by the pool and a couple of glasses san francisco discount rental cars of wine with dinner. And if cruising is just one big party to you, the investment of a beverage package will pay dividends. Just drink responsibly and stay afloat!
Many cruise lines have a specialty “drink of the day” outlined in the daily schedule which will usually save you $1-$3 off the regular price. An additional bonus to the daily specials is that you may even get a souvenir cup which can entail even further discounts when getting a refill. Waking up to find out the daily drink happens to be your poison-of-choice can be like a Christmas morning surprise.
At some point during your cruise, make your way to the duty free liquor store onboard and buy a bottle or two. Unfortunately they will not allow you to take those bottles back to your cabin …that is, until the last night, when they are delivered right to your stateroom. You ll have a delightful little package just waiting for you the night before disembarkation. So on your last night, have a party in your cabin and enjoy!
Most cruise lines offer 1 liter bottles of liquor that they ll send to your room and kindly set up with glasses and ice to use throughout your trip. The price of these bottles range around $50-$60, depending on cruise line and your liquor preference. While this may seem costly san francisco discount rental cars and much more than you’d pay at your local liquor store, it still comes out much less expensive then you would pay at the bar. Consider that $50 may only buy you about 6 or so drinks at the bar while a liter of liquor will yield over 20 drinks using the same 1.5 oz. pour those bartenders are using. Additionally you are permitted to bring your own soda on board which you can use as a mixer.
Most cruise lines actually permit you to bring your own wine and champagne aboard the ship. Usually the allowance is two bottles per stateroom or per adult. Check your ship’s alcohol policy before embarking.
A few cruise lines even permit you to bring beer. Our recent sailing san francisco discount rental cars with Celebrity only permitted wine and champagne but we brought aboard one corked wine-like bottle of aged craft beer as one of our permissible wines, which they thankfully allowed. Really these no-beer-allowed policies aren t aimed at specialty craft beers and rather are more in place to prevent people from bringing cases of Bud Light and Corona aboard the ship. As self-proclaimed beer geeks, we d personally love to see cruise lines officially change their policies to treat a bottle of craft beer the same way they would wine or champagne. Until that happens, san francisco discount rental cars you ll likely be fine to bring that Belgian Triple you ve been saving, but its currently a bit of a grey area.
Also, know that you’ll san francisco discount rental cars be charged a corkage fee if you’re pouring wine in the dining room, but you can enjoy it from your cabin at no charge. Or you can also pour in your cabin and enjoy elsewhere on the ship.
Passengers have been known to sneak their own booze aboard. We like to play by the rules, but would be remiss not mention this as a drink-for-cheap san francisco discount rental cars strategy. We’ve heard of hijinks like putting liquor in mouthwash containers and using green food coloring san francisco discount rental cars or purchasing specialty containers to hide alcohol. If caught, typically security will just remove the liquor and may even hold it until the end of the cruise. Others have reported they will confiscate it completely. san francisco discount rental cars Really the biggest risk you run is receiving your bags late on the first night and having to do the walk of shame to get the “issue” straightened san francisco discount rental cars out with Guest Relations.  With all these other great permissible ways to drink for cheap, it seems silly to go through the trouble san francisco discount rental cars of smuggling booze aboard and run the risk just to save a few bucks. But, hey, people do it.
What’s better than inexpensive drinks on a cruise ship? It’s drinking for free! Our next post will show you how to drink for free on your next cruise. Be sure you’re following us on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when it’s posted.
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san francisco discount rental cars John and Heather are roaming around the world one adventure, one meal, and one drink at a time. They enjoy jumping off and on the beaten path and like to mix roughing it with affordable luxury. Read More…