I have what might be a silly question. My extended family is going on a HAL cruise in April. The cruise itself is being paid for, but we will need to cover the cost of our drinks. My husband and I are social drinkers--wine with dinner, a frilly drink by the pool. How much should we expect to spend for a 7 day cruise? Thank you for your help.

Not sure about HAL, but just got off the Star Princess. On my cruise most people had drinks constantly. I was shocked at how many drinks the average person was putting down. Not judging anybody, as I didn't see oodles of drunken behavior and they were on vacation, but honestly did see a couple of incidents and heard one loud drunken tirade at night while I was in my cabin.

On this cruise I actually skipped any dinner drinking. Just too much food/ sauces etc. Even to taste each course and eat less than 1/2, still too much for me. Pop cards cost $25.00 for the entire cruise, per cruiser card. I do not drink soda/pop at all. The bottled water was about $2.99 for a liter size. I had brought some aboard with me, and bought several also.

Wine was different prices by the glass and/or by the bottle- as on any varying wine list. Ran about $4.00 to $7.50 a glass. You could buy a bottle and they would serve it to you several nights by recorking and putting in storage with your room #. I didn't drink beer, but that was cheaper than $4.00 a bottle for Becks, I believe. Mixed drinks of the day were often two for one on Princess. They were not superior. Mixes were poor. One day everybody on the entire ship seemed to have a bloody Mary and one day a Strawberry Daquiri almost constantly. I think they ran about $4.00 to $5.00 each, except for these 2 for 1 specials. Good liquor with choice martini etc. ran much more.At the theatre nearly everyone had a glass of something and most were drinking mixed drinks. You could bring your own wine and they would serve you that at dinner for a $10 corkage fee.

We spent very, very little on alcohol. I brought two bottles of good wine for the balcony times and never got to drink one of them. Ended up giving it to our steward.

Oh yes, coffee was excellent and free at all times. You could get coffee (decaf. & reg.) tea, dispenser machined water, and iced teas out of our Horizon court machines (3 locations or more)and also ice and all the "fixins" etc. The coffee was brewed constantly and was excellent. You had a lighter type mug that you could carry back to your room. There was 24 hour on this as on all snacks near these dispenser areas. HAL may be different.

Excellent is certainly a subjective term. I've yet to meet anyone who ever called the Princess coffee excellent. It is not brewed constantly - it is reconstituted from a liquid syrup and it is among the foulest coffee I've ever tasted. Princess cruisers are well known for bringing their own coffee makers and keeping them in their rooms. If you visit the Patisserie or some of the bars that sell fancy coffee drinks you can get real brewed coffee from grounds. But certainly not in the dining room or Horizon court.

But to each his/her own. Good thing deirdres is going on HAL - the coffee has to be better than Princess. IMHO.

Not sure about HAL but RCCL runs a "specialty" drink of the day. They are generally a fruity drink. Pina Colada, Bahama Mamma. They are generally $3.50 with a tip included. A glass of wine can vary on what you like. A bottle of wine is better but of course there is an additional "storage" charge so whatever the cost of the bottle you can add another $10.00. We prefer the specialty drinks every day. A few of those and that is fine. I didn't find them to be very strong at all.

Thank you all for your info! One more silly question--do we leave a credit card and everything will be charged--or are items charged to the room? Just curious as we aren't paying for the rooms...not sure how to handle our expenses.

Someone must register a credit card with the cruiseline to cover all your onboard charges. You will have a room-key card which serves as your onboard credit card. As you are not paying for your rooms, whether they were a gift, or prize, or whatever - somebody must put up a credit card to cover all your onboard expenses. Then everytime you buy something in the shops, or pay for a cocktail, you will just essentially "charge it to your room" as in a hotel, and it goes on the credit card before you leave. Some lines automatically charge you for tips, on some lines you pay them in cash the last night. Not sure aboout HAL.

I was with many, many people who drank the coffee, decaf. especially- and not one person complained about the coffee. Plus it was pipping HOT. If you think that is bad, you should try what they have in most institutions, colleges or school systems. Jaismine. If there was anyone bringing a coffee pot on that ship, I certainly never saw evidence of it. There was one lady who poured the coffee in her thermos and iced it for Princess Cay. I did see that.

You can have all expenses put on your cruiser card directly. They will give you that card, which also opens your stateroom. The credit card number you apply it to does not need to be the one the cruise was bought on. On Princess the people who did not put there expenses directly to a credit card but paid by traveler check or cash, were standing in a Purser line that was LONG all day the last day of the cruise. Directly to a credit card was called express check out. The detailed statement regardless, should be sent to your stateroom mailbox on the last day.

JJ5:

That's funny--once again, my Princess experience was completely different. While I loved the food--the best I've had--and the service was excellent, the coffee on the Dawn Princess was awful--weak and tasteless.

I have yet to be on a cruise where I thought the coffee was very good. Then again I suppose we get use to whatever we are use to at home. I have noticed RC has put on a private coffee company like Starbucks. It was Seattle ----(forgot the name.) They have your specialty coffee drinks and they seemed quite popular. Of course they were not free.

diann, you are thinking of Seattle's Best, I think. Yes, we are used to what we have at home, and I'm spoiled by a husband who grinds beans and makes me fresh coffee. Matter of fact, if you are a coffee lover and a cruiser, pick up some beans next time you are in the Caribbean, especially Costa Rica, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

JJ, I'd certainly never want to spoil my cruise complaining about the coffee (just do it here for grins), but rather than comparing the coffee to institional coffee, I think with what we all pay for cruises, it should compare with good restaurant coffee: geez, even McDonalds has better coffee than Princess. I guess we all have some things we are choosey about - and coffee is mine gt

Oh yes that was it Seattle's Best. What really annoys (me but not enough to ruin my vacation,) is the beautiful dining rooms, serveing MILK with the coffee. Not sure if anyone else is this way, but I need cream, or at least half and half. This is what makes all the difference in the world. I am a coffee junkie, and of course to complain about it we all might as well stay home and drink our home coffee if we complain to much. (NOT!) I found a shot of Baileys in the coffee helps get over the fact it is not quite up to par.(smile.) Makes me forget about he absence of half and half.

This cruise novice really appreciates all the input (I'm particularly enjoying the coffee discussion).

deirdres, let me suggest that you go to www.cruisecritics.com - they have a large and very active message board dedicated almost exclusively to crusing. You may well find roll-calls for your particular cruise and may want to talk with others who are going on that cruise. If not, you can start one if you wish; at least you can visit the HAL section and learn more about your particular ship and the ins and outs of what to expect on that specific line and ship. There are also message boards for most of the ports of call, you can get some firsthand info on what's worth seeing at each port. Really a wonderful reference source. I spend way too much time over there on the Princess and Carnival boards.

That reminds me--the espresso in the dining room (yes, we were charged for it) was very, very good. Of course, that may just have been by comparison...

Hmm, maybe that's why they keep the coffee so bad.

But you do find lousy coffee in unexpected strange places--the Bellagio in Vegas has some of the worst...

The link Jasmine mentioned is www.cruisecritic.com, instead of cruisecritics.com. The "s" on the end makes all the difference.