Tastings. What Did You Like/Dislike?

Is the chocolate/liquor ever offered on the shorter cruises? It wasn't available on our 3 night on the Dream last year and I only see it on navigators for the longer sailings.

Maybe not. I think it's only offered on the second sea day on 7 night cruises.
 
Maybe not. I think it's only offered on the second sea day on 7 night cruises.

It's on the 5-night Double Dip on the Dream. Sadly, it is on the sea day and interferes with Palo Brunch, leaving you with the choice of Chocolate and Liquor Tasting on the Sea Day and Palo Brunch on the second Castaway Day or Palo Brunch on the Sea Day and no Chocolate and Liquor Tasting. :( I know this from personal experience booking activities for my upcoming cruise. I refuse to give up Castaway time, so no tasting for me. :(

(And their response to my emailed query as to why they were offering Palo Brunch on the second Castaway Day when the whole point of a Double Dip is two days at Castaway was "So that our guests who wish to can experience Nassau." Well, that doesn't explain why they offer it Nassau Day on a 3-night...in fact, it contradicts it. Definitely something that's going on my "glows and grows" post-cruise email.)
 
We've done mixology several times; have done Mojito and caipirinha on Castaway Cay, we did a wine tasting, champagne, liquor and chocolate (my favourite I think!) and martini's. DH has also done rum without me. The only one I didn't like was the martini tasting. Husband ended up drinking a LOT of my drinks, I HATE gin. Why did I sign up for that tasting?? :sad2:
 
How much was the Premium tasting? Curious if they change up the pours as well. Other than the Crown and possibly the Glenmorangie the other two aren’t my favorite pours. I love bourbons, just don’t see woodford as a premium pour, and my single malt tastes are Glenlivet and Lagavulin, I know opposite ends of the flavor spectrum. I did just have a Glenmorangie sampler pack recently and three of the four were very good pours.

$35 last summer, IIRC. I've only done it once so not sure about variety.

Agree on the Woodford, it's fine but there's nothing "premium" about it. The Crown Royal XR is $100 at Total Wine, never would buy the bottle or a shot, so I guess it wasn't bad as a taste. I hadn't had Johnnie Blue in years (don't care much for blends) and found it a bit odd (this was done as a "blind" tasting, and I wasn't sure what the heck it even was initially, although did manage to settle on blended scotch in the end)--not bad, but unusual.

The Signet clinched the gold medal for me, though. That is a legit $200 bottle that my favorite steakhouse sells at an (outrageous) $51/shot. I've had that Glenmorangie sampler pack, which is good, but this is a different level of quality. They could have served me dishwater for the other three pours and I would have considered it a decent value.
 


I’ve done mixology, wine, champagne, tequila and martini tastings. My favorites are mixology and wine. The others are fun to be at but I rarely drink more than a sip or two, especially the gin martini...ugh. Mixology is fun if you have a good bartender who makes interesting drinks. I got chosen once to make up a drink using anything behind the bar. I can’t even remember what I used but the other people liked it.
 
we used to do mixology, martini, wine, and champagne. We stopped going mixology & martini b/c the drinks were too sweet for us. Out tastes have changed over the years so now we just do wine & champagne. Absolutely love the champagne tastings!
 
At the Amari tasting, we asked about the style and selection of the tastings. Our bartender told us that at times, it is up to the bartenders to volunteer to do them - thus the unusual Amari tasting. He had a passion for these drinks. It showed, it was one of the most informative and taste altering of these events that I have attended. (Never would have tried some of these prior). That might explain the change, style, and timing of the tastings and why some are offered and others are not. It goes along with the bartenders' view of their individual competency and time.
 


Thank you for this thread! My boyfriend and I are beer drinkers and the beer tasting was on my list of "must-dos" for our upcoming cruise. Thanks to this thread, I think I can sign up for something else...
 
Thank you for this thread! My boyfriend and I are beer drinkers and the beer tasting was on my list of "must-dos" for our upcoming cruise. Thanks to this thread, I think I can sign up for something else...

I definitely recommend signing up for something you might not normally drink. The prices are incredibly reasonable for the number of drinks you get. You'd probably never pay to buy just one of those drinks if it's not something you know you'll like and with a tasting you get a chance to try 4-5. We only did tequila the first time because the wine was fully booked. Neither of us liked tequila but we figured for $20 (or whatever it was at the time) it was no great loss if we didn't like it. We are now confirmed tequila drinkers because we know what's good and what's not. We bought a bottle from duty free on that cruise and brought it home for our friends to try. They said they didn't like tequila but are now also confirmed tequila drinkers. Turns out we all had tried cheap and not good tequilas in the past so didn't know what we really should be drinking. We also learned a lot. The same has been true of martinis, whiskey and cognac. I know now what's good and what I like. Doing a tasting for something you like (for me - champagne) is fun but trying something different for a price that is about what you'd pay for 1-2 drinks but are getting to try 4-5 is even more fun.
 
We're signed up for the rum tasting on the Fantasy in June. Admittedly, we are definitely mixers kind of people (rum and coke being the favorite), so I'm hoping we like the sipping rums that it sounds like most people get in the rum tasting. Couple questions- how do you tip your bartender? Cash? Also, if we don't finish can we take one of them with us to our veranda or to sit out on deck and leisurely finish it?
 
I almost had a panic attack after reading this thread. I just picked up an August 3-night cruise and was happy to find a martini tasting open one day. I can’t take heat, especially in August, and alcohol REALLY overheats me. I was terrified I scheduled it for our CC day and it would be on the island. But, whew! I’m safe! It’s Nassau day.

Does everyone normally tip the bartenders for this? How much is customary? It’s our first one, so I’m clueless.
 
I almost had a panic attack after reading this thread. I just picked up an August 3-night cruise and was happy to find a martini tasting open one day. I can’t take heat, especially in August, and alcohol REALLY overheats me. I was terrified I scheduled it for our CC day and it would be on the island. But, whew! I’m safe! It’s Nassau day.

Does everyone normally tip the bartenders for this? How much is customary? It’s our first one, so I’m clueless.

I honestly can't remember if I have tipped or not. The quantities have always been plentiful for me, maybe too plentiful:drinking1I may not have, if I wasn't carrying cash:(
 
We discovered the chocolate and liquor pairing a few cruises ago and now we do it each time. One previous poster misspoke... there is a liquor, in fact, it’s a $35-per-ounce whiskey, which is the cost of the class, and therefore worth it! It’s a Glenmorangie that is soooo smooth. You also try a port, a champagne and another wine, along with a couple of types of chocolates and some cheese.
 
We discovered the chocolate and liquor pairing a few cruises ago and now we do it each time. One previous poster misspoke... there is a liquor, in fact, it’s a $35-per-ounce whiskey, which is the cost of the class, and therefore worth it! It’s a Glenmorangie that is soooo smooth. You also try a port, a champagne and another wine, along with a couple of types of chocolates and some cheese.

That's one of our favorites too. Making me smile just thinking about it.
 
Is the chocolate/liquor ever offered on the shorter cruises? It wasn't available on our 3 night on the Dream last year and I only see it on navigators for the longer sailings.
It was offered on the 4-Night Bahamian cruise out of Miami in January.
 
For the tastings and Mixology, what have you tried? What did you like/dislike?

For us, we love Mixology.

We did the cognac tasting last time. Didn't really like it, but I have discovered, unless it's the most expensive bottle they have on the ship, then it's not my thing:rotfl2:I believe we did taste one of the most expensive they have. The information was very interesting though.

We also did the chocolate and liquor tasting. We love chocolate, and they give you very high quality samples. I can't remember all of the liquors. I know there was a port, a pretty good one at that, which we love. I think there was red and white wine and probably champagne. I can't remember if there was an actual liquor though. There was also whiskey, which was very interesting with the chocolate.

We are thinking of trying the Tequila & Margarita, Mojito & Caipirinha, or the Martini, in addition to Mixology. Rum might be interesting, but only if they are unique and/or long aged rums.


The only ones that ever interested me were the Wine Tasting and the Beer Tasting. I enjoyed both but don't need to do either one again. I think it was ~$15-20 for each when I did them. It became apparent to me that most of the people in attendance were there because they saw it as a cheap way to get 5 glasses of wine/beer. There was one table of women at the wine tasting that got louder and louder as the event progressed. Below is a photo of the beer tasting, taken on the Wonder during our Alaskan Cruise.


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We discovered the chocolate and liquor pairing a few cruises ago and now we do it each time. One previous poster misspoke... there is a liquor, in fact, it’s a $35-per-ounce whiskey, which is the cost of the class, and therefore worth it! It’s a Glenmorangie that is soooo smooth. You also try a port, a champagne and another wine, along with a couple of types of chocolates and some cheese.

I really want to do this one - but as a first timer, it is obviously filled up. I will ask embarkation day (right after trying to get Palo brunch ;) ) if there are any spots open. :)
 
I really want to do this one - but as a first timer, it is obviously filled up. I will ask embarkation day (right after trying to get Palo brunch ;) ) if there are any spots open. :)

There have been no-shows every time we did it... you might be able to get on a call list.
 
I really want to do this one - but as a first timer, it is obviously filled up. I will ask embarkation day (right after trying to get Palo brunch ;) ) if there are any spots open. :)

Definitely check on the first day. They have way more available than online.
 
We did the rum tasting and for me it was among the worst tasting class I've done (and we've done most - including tequila which I am not a big fan). The rum tasting is typically a late night tasting and is all shots of different rums - no mixers offered, no slices of lime to pair, nothing but the shots. Started with a straight shot of Bacardi and it's not really something I want to be tasting straight. Can't remember where we went from there but knew by shot # 3 that I was wishing I had stopped at the drink station for a big cup of coke to mix with what was being served. I don't know if they usually end with a shot of Rumchata or if the leader was taking some sympathy on me but it was the only one I could drink.

I'm cautious of anything that starts with a shot of Bacardi! :D
 

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