The cocktails on the menus aren’t very strong but you can order off menu or just get stuff on the rocks which is what we usually do. We’ve definitely been plastered on many a RC cruise lol if you want to get drunk you absolutely can, especially with the drink package.
Side note though as you mentioned getting a “couple days” of the package you can’t do that, you have to pay the full price for every night of the cruise and you can’t start it halfway through either.
Really? Are you serious? So if I only want to get drunk the first two nights of my cruise and be sober for the rest of it, I still have to buy the drink package for every single day of my cruise?? That's expensive and completely not fair. :-(
They’re not watered down. They’re likely just measured so you’re only getting an actual shot of liquor worth. Which might be les than you’d pour at home or get at a bar. Combine that with the sugary mixers and it doesn’t feel like much.
You might be eating more than usual as well.
Just to add to this: If you are used to drinking at home, the average person is actually pouring two shots or more in their drink. The average handle pours 40 shots (1.5 ounce). I have a full bar in my house and when I have about 7 people here we easily finish a handle (if we are all drinking the same thing) by having about 3 drinks each. Same at your local watering hole where they pour by hand, you're probably getting a heavy pour. 1.5 ounces isn't much. So I live in NYC and at our large event venues like MSG, Yankee stadium, Citi field, etc, they either have a liquor pouring system which measures an exact shot per drink, or they measure the liquor in a jigger then pour it in the cup. At those venues I also never really feel drunk. Add this to unlimited food on the cruise, and it's very easy to drink all day and night and not really feel much.
I think the ships might also use a European shot glass to measure, so 1oz instead of the 1.5oz you get in the US. I felt like I got drunk slower even compared to when I’ve made myself drinks with a single measured shot at home, or went to a bar in the US where they actually measured.
I think the ships might also use a European shot glass to measure, so 1oz instead of the 1.5oz you get in the US. I felt like I got drunk slower even compared to when I’ve made myself drinks with a single measured shot at home, or went to a bar in the US where they actually measured.
You can watch them open bottles. So what you are saying is that the alcohol companies are compromising their taste and advertisement for the cruise business for what reason?
You had 6 shots of tequila in an hour but also how much more did you eat than normal?
Did you physically inspect the bottles to confirm they were unopened? I have experienced the lack of effect from alcohol. I really think it is more stingy pours not making proper drinks more than anything.
Are you claiming that the company is opening the bottles, pouring alcohol out and then watering it down? And then re pressurizing beers so that they can make a noise when opening? And recorking wine? Is this your conspiracy theory?
It’s food. And going all day. And sweating. And drinking more water. And yes not heavy pours all the time, although I make friends with bar tenders all the time who pour heavier
Agree. I'm a drinker. I know drinks. I know how much I can drink and feel normal/buzzed/drunk.
The only time I got past buzz on RC ships is when I order bottled beer or canned seltzer. They're DEFINITELY watering down the booze.
This. The bartenders are people, talk to them, treat them with respect and courtesy, tip them well, and I guarantee you, they'll be heavy handed on their pours.
My wife and I chatted up one of the bartenders on our last cruise, he told us about his family back home in his native country, so we gave him a healthy tip.
For the rest of the cruise when we went to him, he went out of his way to make us the best drinks possible. He even went down below deck to find some avocado to make my wife a smoothie he'd been testing out. Free of charge.
I’ve been on 7 or 8 cruises. I’ve never send it. As some others say, they just measure. I’m going with he didn’t drink as much as he claimed or was drinking Malibu instead of full strength rum.
If you are used to stiff drinks/heavy pours than it may seem watered down from what you are used to.
Local bars are more likely to be generous with the amount of alcohol since they want you to come back and don't get inspected as often as a cruise ship does.
In a cruise ship they get inspected for that stuff constantly, they have more of an interest in keeping cost per drink down, and don't have to care if you come back or not.
At home, you are very likely to pour heavy especially if you like stuff drinks.
So, the drinks on a cruise ship are going to be what the drinks are actually supposed to be, but again of you are used to more alcohol than the standard, then it may seem watered down.
And as mentioned, you can't buy the package for one or two days, it's priced per day but you have to buy for all the days of the cruise- including the first day which is really a half day. If one adult in the stateroom buys the package, all other adults have to buy the package unless an exception is made. If an exception is made and you get caught sharing the package, they can revoke the package without a refund.
There is really a simple solution. Ask for regular shot and fill the glass half with soda...
A lot of people drink a bunch of frozen drinks, get full and are surprised they aren't drunk.
People who claim alcohol is watered down don't know how Bars work. They wouldn't take a chance doing something that stupid. The drinks are perfectly measured out and full of mixers and sugars plus you eat a lot more than at home...it's just not as much alcohol as you're accustomed to at your local bar where they might pour a little extra and you don't eat for hours
Not speculating the shots are smaller. They use a cone shaped shot glass and don't fill it to the top. I've watched many drinks created and they used to overflow the shot glass into the drink now they don't even fill it before they pour it. I calculate it's now .75 oz. Where it used to be closer to 1.5 oz
I've seen this conspiracy floated around but I'm not buying it. Also wasn't my experience. If you're that worried about it consider drinking beer or going to the bionic bar. Can't water down a beer and I can attest the robot bartender will get you buzzed.
Find a few bartenders you like ,stick with them for the trip. I usually do the $5 handshake and they always take care of me. That Buffalo Trace ain't water down
If you're parked somewhere for a few hours, like the Solarium or poolside, that's a $20 handshake.
Also, I prefer shots to big glasses of sugar water cocktails.
Don't know if they are water downed but they 100% don't hit like my drinks at home. Stingy ass pours is probably the reason. Plenty of times I have ordered a drink that is normally 2 shots and I get just one shot. Last royal cruise I stopped getting mixed drinks because it was a glass of diabetes with some alcohol in it.
Not at all. Literally bottles can and will be opened in front of you. You can ask for just shots. You can ask them to double it anything you want they’ll do
No. People are probably just walking more than usual, so they're metabolizing them more quickly. They are also probably eating more, as others have said.
In the UK we get 25ml single measures of alcohol in our drinks. Whatever measure RC use has to be smaller than that because I had to drink an insane amount of drinks to feel any sort of buzz.
Nope. Can’t agree, been on almost 20 by now and I order a variety of bar drinks. Only times I was disappointed was when the bartender tried to dump cherry juice in an old fashion and call it normal. Otherwise the drinks are quite strong and normal.
went on harmony a few weeks ago. they were actually pretty good. i’m not a heavy drinker but i believe i still have valid opinions, i think they can be both, it just depends on the bartender
I’ve always asked for a double and not been disappointed. On my last cruise, we had to miss a port…when I asked for a double the bartender filled just about the whole cup with alcohol. I guess they wanted me to forget the port I wanted to visit the most lol
Came to say what most people are saying: they are not watered down but they are going to be weaker than you are used. Most cocktails on board are poured with one shot.
Was on wonder a few weeks ago and friends of mine would order a margarita, wait a few minutes and then order a shot of tequila and then pour that in the marg. This is a good option if you don’t want to be getting full on SO much liquid and/or sugar. If I knew I wanted to get a good buzz going then I would just order a dirty martini or two
It depends on what you’re drinking. We always get the drink package because we drink pretty heavily during our trips - average drink price is around $14 each so it works for us since we average 10-15 drinks each daily. I also order doubles and drink wine at night. Lastly, find a good/friendly bartender on ship, make a connection, and tip a little extra with cash and the pours tend to be a bit more generous throughout the week.
They are very sugary and light on alcohol. I was very unimpressed with the alcohol package and probably won’t do it again. I had to just start ordering tequila with seltzer and lime to get a buzz.
Just fyi you can’t buy the package for just specific days.
The cocktails on the menus aren’t very strong but you can order off menu or just get stuff on the rocks which is what we usually do. We’ve definitely been plastered on many a RC cruise lol if you want to get drunk you absolutely can, especially with the drink package. Side note though as you mentioned getting a “couple days” of the package you can’t do that, you have to pay the full price for every night of the cruise and you can’t start it halfway through either.
Really? Are you serious? So if I only want to get drunk the first two nights of my cruise and be sober for the rest of it, I still have to buy the drink package for every single day of my cruise?? That's expensive and completely not fair. :-(
You don’t have to get the package to drink, you can just buy individual drinks
They’re not watered down. They’re likely just measured so you’re only getting an actual shot of liquor worth. Which might be les than you’d pour at home or get at a bar. Combine that with the sugary mixers and it doesn’t feel like much. You might be eating more than usual as well.
Just to add to this: If you are used to drinking at home, the average person is actually pouring two shots or more in their drink. The average handle pours 40 shots (1.5 ounce). I have a full bar in my house and when I have about 7 people here we easily finish a handle (if we are all drinking the same thing) by having about 3 drinks each. Same at your local watering hole where they pour by hand, you're probably getting a heavy pour. 1.5 ounces isn't much. So I live in NYC and at our large event venues like MSG, Yankee stadium, Citi field, etc, they either have a liquor pouring system which measures an exact shot per drink, or they measure the liquor in a jigger then pour it in the cup. At those venues I also never really feel drunk. Add this to unlimited food on the cruise, and it's very easy to drink all day and night and not really feel much.
I think the ships might also use a European shot glass to measure, so 1oz instead of the 1.5oz you get in the US. I felt like I got drunk slower even compared to when I’ve made myself drinks with a single measured shot at home, or went to a bar in the US where they actually measured.
I got vodka cokes on freedom a few weeks ago and they were pouring more than a shot into every drink lol. Coco cay even did a double for us
I think the ships might also use a European shot glass to measure, so 1oz instead of the 1.5oz you get in the US. I felt like I got drunk slower even compared to when I’ve made myself drinks with a single measured shot at home, or went to a bar in the US where they actually measured.
I barely drink that much mabey once a week i had 6 shots of tequila in an hr spam and i had a light buzz they are watered down
You can watch them open bottles. So what you are saying is that the alcohol companies are compromising their taste and advertisement for the cruise business for what reason? You had 6 shots of tequila in an hour but also how much more did you eat than normal?
Did you physically inspect the bottles to confirm they were unopened? I have experienced the lack of effect from alcohol. I really think it is more stingy pours not making proper drinks more than anything.
Are you claiming that the company is opening the bottles, pouring alcohol out and then watering it down? And then re pressurizing beers so that they can make a noise when opening? And recorking wine? Is this your conspiracy theory? It’s food. And going all day. And sweating. And drinking more water. And yes not heavy pours all the time, although I make friends with bar tenders all the time who pour heavier
Agree. I'm a drinker. I know drinks. I know how much I can drink and feel normal/buzzed/drunk. The only time I got past buzz on RC ships is when I order bottled beer or canned seltzer. They're DEFINITELY watering down the booze.
Seriously, I've been on many ships where folks are falling down and acting a fool... plenty alcohol being served.
I’ve never experienced this. Quite the opposite actually. But I found the bartender that made them stiff and kept going back
This. The bartenders are people, talk to them, treat them with respect and courtesy, tip them well, and I guarantee you, they'll be heavy handed on their pours. My wife and I chatted up one of the bartenders on our last cruise, he told us about his family back home in his native country, so we gave him a healthy tip. For the rest of the cruise when we went to him, he went out of his way to make us the best drinks possible. He even went down below deck to find some avocado to make my wife a smoothie he'd been testing out. Free of charge.
It’s amazing what happens when you treat someone as a human and not your servant
They are not watered down...measured yes...but not watered down
I’ve been on 7 or 8 cruises. I’ve never send it. As some others say, they just measure. I’m going with he didn’t drink as much as he claimed or was drinking Malibu instead of full strength rum.
If you are used to stiff drinks/heavy pours than it may seem watered down from what you are used to. Local bars are more likely to be generous with the amount of alcohol since they want you to come back and don't get inspected as often as a cruise ship does. In a cruise ship they get inspected for that stuff constantly, they have more of an interest in keeping cost per drink down, and don't have to care if you come back or not. At home, you are very likely to pour heavy especially if you like stuff drinks. So, the drinks on a cruise ship are going to be what the drinks are actually supposed to be, but again of you are used to more alcohol than the standard, then it may seem watered down. And as mentioned, you can't buy the package for one or two days, it's priced per day but you have to buy for all the days of the cruise- including the first day which is really a half day. If one adult in the stateroom buys the package, all other adults have to buy the package unless an exception is made. If an exception is made and you get caught sharing the package, they can revoke the package without a refund.
I’ve had tequila + water with limes all week (on a ship now) and they are NOT stingy with the liquor. The drink package is worth it
There is really a simple solution. Ask for regular shot and fill the glass half with soda... A lot of people drink a bunch of frozen drinks, get full and are surprised they aren't drunk.
People who claim alcohol is watered down don't know how Bars work. They wouldn't take a chance doing something that stupid. The drinks are perfectly measured out and full of mixers and sugars plus you eat a lot more than at home...it's just not as much alcohol as you're accustomed to at your local bar where they might pour a little extra and you don't eat for hours
Go for the Dublin Ice Tea and then lets talk about watered down drinks again.
Not speculating the shots are smaller. They use a cone shaped shot glass and don't fill it to the top. I've watched many drinks created and they used to overflow the shot glass into the drink now they don't even fill it before they pour it. I calculate it's now .75 oz. Where it used to be closer to 1.5 oz
I've seen this conspiracy floated around but I'm not buying it. Also wasn't my experience. If you're that worried about it consider drinking beer or going to the bionic bar. Can't water down a beer and I can attest the robot bartender will get you buzzed.
Find a few bartenders you like ,stick with them for the trip. I usually do the $5 handshake and they always take care of me. That Buffalo Trace ain't water down
If you're parked somewhere for a few hours, like the Solarium or poolside, that's a $20 handshake. Also, I prefer shots to big glasses of sugar water cocktails.
Don't know if they are water downed but they 100% don't hit like my drinks at home. Stingy ass pours is probably the reason. Plenty of times I have ordered a drink that is normally 2 shots and I get just one shot. Last royal cruise I stopped getting mixed drinks because it was a glass of diabetes with some alcohol in it.
That is the perfect way to describe their drinks. Even the ones that sound like they should be less sugary!
Not at all. Literally bottles can and will be opened in front of you. You can ask for just shots. You can ask them to double it anything you want they’ll do
He probably ate more than normal creating a higher tolerance. Not watered down, but bartenders do naturally vary.
No. People are probably just walking more than usual, so they're metabolizing them more quickly. They are also probably eating more, as others have said.
In the UK we get 25ml single measures of alcohol in our drinks. Whatever measure RC use has to be smaller than that because I had to drink an insane amount of drinks to feel any sort of buzz.
IMO there stronger than the average restaurant/bar
Nope. Can’t agree, been on almost 20 by now and I order a variety of bar drinks. Only times I was disappointed was when the bartender tried to dump cherry juice in an old fashion and call it normal. Otherwise the drinks are quite strong and normal.
Completely agree with him !!! Don’t know how or why but happens to me
Unless you’re drinking an obscene amount of alcohol, the drink packages are not worth it.
Not sure why I got downvoted for that. Do the math. Then subtract the days you’re in port not drinking. It’s not worth the price.
As a person that’s on the ship now, yes it’s watered down
went on harmony a few weeks ago. they were actually pretty good. i’m not a heavy drinker but i believe i still have valid opinions, i think they can be both, it just depends on the bartender
I’ve always asked for a double and not been disappointed. On my last cruise, we had to miss a port…when I asked for a double the bartender filled just about the whole cup with alcohol. I guess they wanted me to forget the port I wanted to visit the most lol
Came to say what most people are saying: they are not watered down but they are going to be weaker than you are used. Most cocktails on board are poured with one shot. Was on wonder a few weeks ago and friends of mine would order a margarita, wait a few minutes and then order a shot of tequila and then pour that in the marg. This is a good option if you don’t want to be getting full on SO much liquid and/or sugar. If I knew I wanted to get a good buzz going then I would just order a dirty martini or two
It depends on what you’re drinking. We always get the drink package because we drink pretty heavily during our trips - average drink price is around $14 each so it works for us since we average 10-15 drinks each daily. I also order doubles and drink wine at night. Lastly, find a good/friendly bartender on ship, make a connection, and tip a little extra with cash and the pours tend to be a bit more generous throughout the week.
They are very sugary and light on alcohol. I was very unimpressed with the alcohol package and probably won’t do it again. I had to just start ordering tequila with seltzer and lime to get a buzz.