Not a decent free beverage in dining rooms

[Randall]

I'm sick of the lemonade and crappy un-sweetened tea!

[Donna]

Randall,
I find the lemonaide and iced tea to be just fine....You can always just pay for a soda if you don't care for the comp. drinks. There is also water, the tap water is also fine....Now, the coffee, well, its not the best but it will do as well :-)

[Trip]

The soda is a big business on ships, so, since you don't care for the cost free selections, check out the soda cards. If you really are a soda lover, this can be a good option.

[Henry43]

I personally almost never drink soda .Therefore the iced tea would be a delight for me .

[Securityman]

If you do not like the taste just add one of the sweeteners that are handy

[7x57]

Bless yer heart.

[alswagg]

The problem I have is that the cruise line already has charged you. Why is this not an all inclusive. Drinks should be included or you should be able to bring your own. Al

[Trip]

It's like going to a restaurant, where Ripple is free.... You want the top shelf stuff, you pay, extra.

If you want all inclusive, try Seabourn, Regent, or Crystal. For the lower prices we pay now, vs years ago, the line has to make money somewhere. I don't begrudge them these charges.....

[Nothin but blue skies]

It's not like they don't offer anything to drink (free). You do have the lemonade, iced tea, and coffee. You can even get a cappacino with dinner. The fact that a lot of us order more than one entree at dinner or extra appetizers, desserts, etc., should more than make up for the limited choice of free beverage.

Most of the time when I dine out, I order water with lemon, so that's fine with me, but I also take a few of the individual packs of Crysal Light in case I want something different. We also bring a bottle or two of wine onboard and have that at dinner each night.

Enjoy!

[Mike M]

I do agree that the iced tea and lemonade aren't the "best" I've ever had. Basically taste like powdered drink mixes but they are tolerable. I actually miss the fruit punches. They were basically Kool-aid but drinkable.

BTW: Crystal, while being luxury, is not all-inclusive. You pay for your beverages and tips.

Take care,
Mike

[nlb1050]

The iced tea is terrbile powdered stuff and I have yet to find anything that will help it. I can't drink lemonade, allergic, and can only drink just so much coffee. Sometimes will get a soda card but if I drink too much soda in a day I find that my feet and hands swell too much, So I pretty much drink water but do take it easy as I do know that it does contain more sodium than I am used too.

For Carnival, John heald has seen a lot of complaints about the iced tea and so he said on his blog that he had let the uppers know of the complaints, of course he did not promise that anything would be done but he did pass the problem on.

[Phil&Liz]

Originally Posted by 7x57

Bless yer heart.

A southerner !!

[jacdenv24]

I don't know what the iced tea is like on Carnival but what I usually do is mix 2/3 ice tea with 1/3 lemonade. Voila! Iced lemon tea! Surprisingly good

[Snoozeman]

Water is available. That's the best drink with food.

[johnthed0g]

Never noticed any free cold soft drinks at all on P&O, reconstituted or powdered "Fruit" juices at breakfast but that's it I think.

[Skipper's Mom]

Originally Posted by Snoozeman

Water is available. That's the best drink with food.

Elixer of the Gods!

[Dannyboy]

Originally Posted by Randall

I'm sick of the lemonade and crappy un-sweetened tea!

Most of the Cruise Lines I have traveled offer Milk & Hot Tea free of charge.

[katlady]

Originally Posted by Trip

It's like going to a restaurant, where Ripple is free.... You want the top shelf stuff, you pay, extra.

If you want all inclusive, try Seabourn, Regent, or Crystal. For the lower prices we pay now, vs years ago, the line has to make money somewhere. I don't begrudge them these charges.....

The First cruise I took in 1994 sodas were included in the price. The next cruise 2003 no more free sodas. I'm a party girl and Seabourn, Regent, or Crystal would not suit me. Plus way out of my price range. I'm so broke it's sad. I don't need all all-inclusive I just need the price bumped up a slight bit to include the cost of sodas. Soda cards are about $6.50 per day per person on Carnival. Kids are cheaper for some unknown reason (kids drink more soda so I find that strange). Anyway bump the price of a 7 day cruise by $50 and let me have my sodas for "free". It would be much less pain in the bass then that stupid soda card. Plus cruise lines your customers won't feel like you are nickel and dimeing them to death. Just my 2 cents opinion. Okay with inflation maybe it's a 10 cent opinion.

[katlady]

Originally Posted by Snoozeman

Water is available. That's the best drink with food.

Originally Posted by Skipper's Mom

Elixer of the Gods!

I think I will stick with Soda.
The Dangers of Tap Water
According to the EPA, tap water contains more than seven hundred organic chemicals that are suspected cancer causing agents. Other common pollutants in our tap water are:
Lead
Petrochemicals
Organo-phosphate residues
Cyanide
Strontium
Uranium
Vanadium
Arsenic
Lead
Copper
Nitrates
Phosphates
Radon

[TruckerD]

Ships at sea don't use tap water. They make their own fresh water through desalination. Its actually pretty good, because it doesn't have all that crap in it.

[Truck Cruiser]

I agree and the coffee isn't that good either, though I will say Carnival coffee beats Princess coffee hands down.

How about some good old southern sweet tea on the cruises!!!

[Parrot Mom]

The secret seems to be mixing the iced tea with a bit of lemonade..There is always tea, including herbals, hot ccocoa and milk. In the Aqua Spa areas of Celebrity there are large glass containers of favored water (orange and lemon) which make for a nice change.

[Donna]

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to try the mix with iced tea and the lemonaide, bet it is good.

[Snoozeman]

Believe it or not, they had very good iced tea on the MSC Poesia. I wouldn't have thought that an Italian line would get it right. It was freshly brewed. They also charge for it except at dinner. Not enough ice for me, but the tea was great!

[DayvidB]

I'm just amazed that anyone see's anything being for "nothing" or "free" on today’s cruise ships, it don’t happen,,so have why the expectation?

Yes, they will give you free tea and coffee at the station that churns out that muck 24x7, but if you want something that tastes good and is like what you have at home then the option is go to the onboard ship specialist, and your paying your money up front to the line for the product, i.e. Costa that can sell the reality to you at $5 plus for each shot or hit..mmm.

The real reason that they give things for nothing on a ship is they know they taste like crap, they are crap and they hope by doing so that you will be directed to the place that sells the decent stuff that they sold to a franchise operator, ie Costa for a lot of money. That tiny 8x4 place on the ship that carries another brands name they paid millions for,,so no way the ship or line is going to give you something for nothing that can compete

A meal, a bed, some poor shows, ie Broadway like, not Broadway quality. That is really all your contract with the line and expectation outwith this is, either fantasy, delusion of ship experience or over expectation of what today’s bulk cruise ships and lines can deliver for a couple of hundred bucks per head for nearly a week’s cruising!!!! Get real....

[Henry43]

Free beverages on my recent cruise:

Water ,coffee ,tea ,hot chocolate ,cappucino

[Bruce Chafkin1]

All the ships offer (free) all the hot water you might want, all the ice you might want, all the tea bags you might want, and plenty of clean empty glasses.
Unless your arms are broken, why couldn't you make as much fresh brewed ice tea as you can drink??

There is an endless supply of sugar and artificial sweeteners in the same location.
There are always slices of lemon available.

Are people so dumb or lazy that they cannot manage something like this?

[Paul Motter]

Originally Posted by Bruce Chafkin1

All the ships offer (free) all the hot water you might want, all the ice you might want, all the tea bags you might want, and plenty of clean empty glasses.
Unless your arms are broken, why couldn't you make as much fresh brewed ice tea as you can drink??

Great Idea - I was wondering what you drink when I saw your first post.

Of course you need a pitcher, or else make it one glass at a time.

I am odd, but I don't really care that much how the coffee or tea tastes as long as it has caffeine. Especially coffee. I would put instant coffee in cold water if that was all I had and just swill it down. And honestly,. I don't find bitter Italian esperesso that much more appetizing than the coffee syrup they give us for free. So, I won't spend $5 for a latte (I actually think it is usually closer to $2.50 than $5.00)

Truck made a GREAT POINT about ship's water, too. It is made by desalinization. My wife brought a water tester onboard a ship and we found the particulates were close to zero - like pure dustilled water - especially the stuff they ise to make ice.

I generally make sure I have ice, and I spike it with a dash of tap water to start it melting, and I drnk the runoff for most of the cruise.

Another good trick I have seen to avoid having to buy drinking water on ships is to bring along a thermal cup - you can go to the buffet and fill it with whatever you want (hot water and tea bags) and drink it all day.

[DayvidB]

"My wife brought a water tester onboard a ship and we found the particulates were close to zero - like pure dustilled water - especially the stuff they ise to make ice".

Sorry Paul, but why would you do that? You dont go onto are ship or into a hotel with "testers" thats amazing to me. Okay so its your thing,,, so what would you have done if the "tester" had given a result you did not want to see,,,walk off? Sure as hell you aint gonna change what the ship has to offer!!

What are we proving here, folks have to out faith in the quality of water the ship gives them, it will really all break down if all the passengers are testing water, food and all with "testers".

Jeez, the buffet Q's are bad enough without passengers doing forensics on every dish presented or the water they have touched or that they want to drink is "acceptable"

[Paul Motter]

David, I am scientist and trusted member of the cruise media hierarchy. It is my duty as a professional to go on a ship and test everything I possibly can.

I check the toilet paper rolls in every public bathroom to make sure the "squares" have all broken off evenly. I check the batteries in the smoke detectors with my Fluke MM-60 voltmeter. I keep a meat thermometer in my jacket pocket to test my steak when it arrives.

I fill my bathtub and try to sink my life jacket. I test for chlorine in the hot tub and I check the men's locker room steam rooms just to make sure there isn't any hanky panky going on in there.

This is my calling in life and I take it very very seriously.

Actually, the truth is my wife and I like a special kind of process done to our water before we drink it - we "charge" it electromagnetically. I can't tell you why it makes a difference but it really does. The water tester just happened to come with the device which we usually take with us, and so she just tested the ship water to see how it was.