Weddingbee boards

FH and I have never been on a cruise before but we are considering one for our honeymoon. The only thing holding us back is the alcohol. Have you been and what was your tab? I guess we are heavy drinkers (in real life no, but on vacation, yes!) . I don't see myself turning down the margaritas they are walking around with trying to sell :)

We just cruised for the first time for our honeymoon on Royal Caribbean--I don't know what our alcohol tab was because there was other stuff added in...but the drinks on the cruise were no more expensive than what you would pay at a bar...beers were about $4, and mixed drinks were between $6-10 a piece. The mixed drinks were of good quality too, meaning they weren't weak or watered down. Sodas were $2.25 a piece. Bottled Evian was $4.25, they also had Perrier but I don't know how much that was. I can't comment on wine, but I know from the others sitting at my table that it was worth it to buy the wine package if you were going to drink wine vs paying per glass. I think we drank 1-3 drinks a piece per day, so I would say $20-$30 per day on alcohol. We got two tips from veteran cruisers that really helped us:

1. Plan to spend 1/2 what you paid for the cruise in excursions, drinks, etc. Our cruise was $2000 for 9 days and we spent about $800 for all of the "extras" which included a couples massage and an excursion in every port.

2. Bring cash to pay down your balance before they charge your card. We linked our room to our credit card, at the end of the cruise we got a "bill", we chose to pay for more than 1/2 of it in cash at customer relations desk with money that we got from the wedding...the rest of it went on the credit card...when the bill came last week, I was much happier to see a $400 balance vs an $800 balance.

Hope that helps! HAVE FUN =)

Thanks for the tips. We were reading about all the ways to sneak alcohol on board :) 

I wouldn't mind $1000 in drinks because really the cruise is cheaper so $1000 plus $2,000 is the same as an all inclusive resort. I imagine we will drink everyday, starting around lunch, maybe taking a break here and there but we mostly find ourselves enjoying drinks daily. I just wish I could buy a drink package!

PitBullLover--I would avoid the listerine bottles, I would try something that doesn't have a bottle form to it--like a bladder -- think the inside of a Camelback or the inside of a coffee box from Dunkin Donuts. I saw lots of alcohol being confiscated at the check in, however I will not confirm or deny that the bladder worked for a certain couple traveled on our cruise ;-)

Does anyone know what the wine card is?

@marylandnurse: was your alcohol tab super high? Do you know what a wine card is? Thanks!

if you are going Carnival- they have an option to pre-purchase bar and soad coupons for much cheaper than on board:

http://www.carnival.com/BonVoyage/AddToCart.aspx?cat=Specialty+Items&pid=BAR

http://www.carnival.com/BonVoyage/AddToCart.aspx?cat=Specialty+Items&pid=500

also most places have a soft drink card that will be cheaper in the end if you even get one soda per day. And if you buy a plastic bottle, then you can sneak almost anything onto the ship. Don't forget about bottled water.

When we snuck alcohol on a cruise we just put it in water bottles... no one gave us any problems.  

I found mixed drinks on the cruise to be fairly weak and had a hard time getting buzzed.  I guess this is for the best though since walking was hard enough for me with the ships motion!

We went on a 4 night cruse (or maybe it was a 5 night....) anyways, as well as our drinks, we charged 1 excursion and two bottles of liquor that was purchased on the boat to our room - our total was around $450 - This does not include tips.  Make sure you bring cash for the tips.  I know there are websites out there that tell you how much per day you should tip.

Our total tab was abour $1000, but that includes all of our extras. I'd guess that about $500 of that was drinks. About halfway through the trip, SO got so annoyed with buying expensive drinks that when we got off on our next port, he purchased a handle of rum and used tape to holster it around his inner thigh. He walked a little funny but he got on no problem and we had that the rest of the trip, haha. 

@linzeelou: which cruise did you guys do?

I hid little airplane bottles in my makeup bag on the last cruise I went on.  In an x-ray, the bottles might just mix in with the other items in there.  It honestly just wasn't the same though... sneaking away and making your own drinks in your cabin.  I feel more festive getting them from the bar.. but as you've read here, that comes with a price.

Also, to keep your room charge from adding up, I would look into the service charge that they tack on per person, per day.  I like to tip cash to the people I interact with (room steward, bartenders, servers) instead of get the general charge put on my bill that goes to everyone even if they don't work with you personally.  You can get it taken off upon request but you have to do it before the final bill comes.

Has anyone had an insane bill for drinking? I don't want to ave to worry to much bout the dins, but I don't want a $2000 bill either?

@KristenGotMarried:I haven't seen a drink package, what cruise and cruise line was that on?

@KristenGotMarried:That is awesome, we are definitely looking into it! What kind of crowd on the celebrity cruise?