Tips for Buying Drinks on a Cruise

Here are a few things that I noticed about buying drinks on the cruise, and I've made it into a Buy! Don't Buy! type of list to make it easy!



Don't Buy!


Domestic Beers
Go against all of your instincts here and get the imported.  They are overall cheaper than the domestic beers.  I would highly recommend getting Foster's... it comes in a massive 750 ml can and is still in the same price range as the rest of the beers.

Fruity Drinks
Unless you're talking about a martini.  All of the fruity, frozen drinks didn't do anything for me except taste wonderful.  They're available in virgin form for much cheaper and will get you the same amount of tipsy (e.g. none, unless you're a little bit more of a lightweight).  They are also much more expensive.

Buckets of Beer
Unless you're making sure you split them up with your friends.  I heard too many stories at the end of the trip where one guy got stuck with buying a lot of them because when they got drunk, they got overly generous with their money.

Do Buy!


Your Regular!
I highly regret not going with my regular Jack & Pibb (or Dr. P) throughout the cruise.  They did not charge extra for the soda they put in it, and it did much more for me than any of their fruity drinks much faster.  Rather than buying three or four, I was only buying one "double it up" or something that they called it.  My Jack and Pibb cost around $5.75, and a double cost me $9 (of course, I got the most expensive regular whiskey).

Morning Specials!
Bellini's are omg delicious.  I have never had them before, and now want them all the time.  They are champagne with peach shnapps and puree.  And they're only $4 in the morning... so drink up!  Bloody Mary's also are on special in the mornings (before noon).

Four mini-martini's for $17!

This may not sound like a perfect deal, but it's a great way to try out new martinis.  I went with the most unique sounding ones that I would otherwise not have gotten and ended up loving them the most.  There was a Pineapple Chipotle one (that was absolutely delicious) and a Jack Daniel's based one (which well, tasted like Jack Daniel's... which was fine by me!).  They had the typical martinis as well if you're a wuss.  That's right, I called you a wuss.

Drinks in the Duty Free Shops!


Buy them on the boat!  It's much easier, and surprisingly, on land they turned out to be the same price or just barely cheaper unless you really got into the heart of the town.  The ones in the cruise port areas were much more expensive than the bottles on the boats.  Remember, you can't actually drink these (until the last night) but you'll save a lot of money!

I bought 2 liters of Jack Daniel's for $40 on the boat... plus it came with a t-shirt and a free grill set.  Can't beat that.

Be Aware!


Even if you select the option of gratuities ahead of time, bartenders are NOT included in this! This means that you will still be paying extra for each drink!  Always add a little bit to the price you see.

Conclusion!


Get drinks, but be smart about it.  My boyfriend and I ended up with a relatively small drink bill at the end in comparison to others... but just the fact that we could spend $150 each on drinks on the cruise ship during the week while trying to be frugal says a lot!