noobie cruise questions...

[rodi]

I'm leaving on a 6 day cruise in 2 days. I have some questions.....

Can I bring my *empty* thermoflask water bottle and refill it with water periodically somewhere (for free) on the ship? Will they confiscate it? I like water. I drink a lot of water. I don't want to have to pay for bottled water. (cheapskate here).

I know you have to pay for a soda package or a booze package - (which we're skipping) - but can you get a cup of coffee periodically without having to pay? I see the cruiseline has a coffee bar for latte's and fancy stuff.... I'm looking for just boring old brewed coffee with a splash of milk... Need to keep the caffeine headaches at bay.

If it matters - cruise line is carnival. Seems like they want to charge extra for a lot of basics....

(We're bringing the legal/allowed bottle of wine per person with us, so that should cover our libation needs.)

I won't see any answers in 2 days... so answer promptly. LOL. We're too cheap for the wifi package, also.

 

[Nemo2]

Every ship I've been on, water is free and freely available.

 

[cathy63]

Yes, you can bring an empty water bottle.

On Princess you can get coffee in the buffet at any time of day. Some people complain because on some ships it's made from syrup rather than brewed from grounds. I don't drink coffee so I don't know if it's really that bad or not, and unfortunately I don't know anything about Carnival's coffee, but they're sister lines, so probably similar.

If it matters - cruise line is carnival. Seems like they want to charge extra for a lot of basics....

Welcome to mass-market cruising!

Depending where you're going and what your cell plan is, you might have cellular data in port. I usually check email on my phone while we're sitting on deck in the afternoon waiting to set sail.

 

[Lewis Clark]

1) Yes, you can bring an empty water bottle.

2) I've never sailed on Carnival, but most ships have a buffet restaurant where you should be able to get coffee. Try calling the cruise line and asking them directly.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Plain drip style coffee always at the buffet and in the dining riom upon request. You can and should bring a water bottle for the room and port visits and pool. Get water frim the buffet.

 

[rodi]

Thanks all!!!!

Also figured out how to do call forwarding on my cell - so all calls to me will go to google voice.... I'll turn off roaming when on the boat and any messages will be waiting for me when I re-enable in port. It looks like t-mobile has good coverage in Cabo and Ensenada.

 

[Souschef]

Rodi, do the math: each bottle is 23 ounces, 2 bottles are 46 ounces, divided by 12 (6 days x 2 people), That equates to less than 4 ounces per person per day.
On longer cruises, we put a 5 liter box in our baggage. Never had a problem .
As far as water, we just use tap water. I have seen people bring cases of water on board. Most of it is purified the same way shipboard water is.

 

[geeky_grrl]

I may be a coffee snob but I found the free coffee on Princess to be pretty horrible - way worse than diner or gas station coffee. I ended up getting the coffee card after a day.

 

[Bamaman]

The quality of coffee on ships varies. It's available most all the time, however, and so is "lemonade" and often "iced tea".

At the price charged for Cokes, I often just drink a few on any cruise. We do often take our own insulated water bottles and little envelopes of iced tea mixes from Walmart for that size bottle.

Have a great time. We've been on dozens of cruises throughout the years and mainly now go on repositioning cruises between U.S. and Europe.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Haven't cruised on Carnival (only RCI, X, HAL, and Norwegian) so consider the following with caution, tho, it's pretty similar to what others have said:

We've brought empty plastic bottles aboard to fill with water and haven't had any issues. Have not tried with a thermoflask but I can't see that being an issue. We've room tagged a small case/six pack(?) of gatorade during boarding and had it delivered to our room, similar to what souschef mentioned but I read about cruiselines somewhat cracking down on this in varying degrees so YMMV.
Water from your bathroom sink is potable but we'll get water from the drink/water machine in the buffet. Note, they may not want you to fill your water bottle/flask directly from the drink machine to prevent "germs" spreading so you may need to use their plastic drink cups as a bit of a go-between. You should be able to get basic coffee there too.

You might be able to buy a drink package mid-cruise for the remaining days of the cruise if you don't want to buy one for the entire cruise.

 

[Aiming_4_55]

Water and ice should be available at the buffet dining areas. Most Carnival cruises have multiple food areas, so explore. Also, I believe ice tea and lemonade are available for free most times too.

If others in your party prefer soda, I believe each person is allow 1 12 pack of can soda as carry on, no bottles.

Have fun!

https://www.carnival.com/help excerpt
Bringing Liquor and Beverages On Board - Embarkation

Guests are prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages that are packaged in glass or plastic bottles.

On embarkation day, a small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, energy drinks, juice, and milk), packaged in cans or cartons, may be brought on board and must be in the guest's carry-on luggage. A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less, per person.

Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board with the following exception - at the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day only, guests (21 years of age and older) may bring one 750 ml bottle of sealed/unopened wine or champagne, per person, in their carry-on luggage. Outside this exception, all liquor, beer, other forms of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited in both carry-on and checked luggage and such items will be confiscated and discarded and no compensation will be provided.

Guests sailing with us on back-to-back cruises are entitled to bring the same quantity as stated in this policy, per cruise. The additional quantities will be stored for safekeeping at the start of the first cruise and will be given to the guest as each following cruise begins.

 

[PandaBear]

I’ve sailed with Carnival, Princess, RCCL and HAL. I’ve brought a water bottle on all the ships. Generally you are asked to use a fresh glass and fill your bottle from it. Very easy.

 

[rodi]

Rodi, do the math: each bottle is 23 ounces, 2 bottles are 46 ounces, divided by 12 (6 days x 2 people), That equates to less than 4 ounces per person per day.
On longer cruises, we put a 5 liter box in our baggage. Never had a problem .
As far as water, we just use tap water. I have seen people bring cases of water on board. Most of it is purified the same way shipboard water is.

I did the math. We're not heavy drinkers and can supplement with the occasional purchased drink. The unlimited booze charge is too expensive for what we'd actually consume. The wine offsets that cost. As someone quoted, the website for carnival is clear that a box of wine would not be allowed.

I'm not a soda drinker so that package is completely watered in me and dh.

 

[cathy63]

Thanks all!!!!

Also figured out how to do call forwarding on my cell - so all calls to me will go to google voice.... I'll turn off roaming when on the boat and any messages will be waiting for me when I re-enable in port. It looks like t-mobile has good coverage in Cabo and Ensenada.

I realized last night that my advice above was bad, or at least incomplete. Since you have a phone that's capable of connecting to a Cellular at Sea tower, you should put your phone in airplane mode when on board the ship instead of just turning off data roaming. It's expensive to use shipboard cellular if you get texts or if a call does come through.

 

[FIYes]

I have cruised on Carnival and other cruise lines. Yes, definitely bring an empty water bottle. The water onboard is filtered and equivalent to the overpriced filtered bottled water that you can buy.

Coffee, water, lemonade, and iced tea are available at pretty much all times. I haven’t looked for coffee at three a.m. but I have always found it at anytime I wanted it. The coffee is basic brewed coffee. If you want Starbucks type coffee that will be extra...and carry a Starbucks type charge. I enjoy a basic decaf with my dessert at dinner...that is included. If you order a special coffee or Irish type coffee that is extra

Carnival attracts a younger clientele and has more of a party atmosphere especially on a shorter cruise. Longer cruises and other cruise lines have less partying. My preference is the transatlantic repositioning cruises.

We don’t drink sodas and don’t drink enough for the drink package to be worth it for us. If you like a glass of wine with dinner do not bring the bottle to the dining room...you will be charged a corkage fee. However if you bring a glass of wine from your cabin it will not be questioned.

 

[FIYes]

Also, a limited room service menu is available in the mornings with no additional charge. As someone who wants coffee before getting dressed, I appreciate this.

 

[audreyh1]

So no coffee makers or kettles for tea in the rooms?

 

[FIYes]

So no coffee makers or kettles for tea in the rooms?

Cruise ships are justifiably concerned about fire. No coffee makers or kettles.

 

[braumeister]

We had a kettle, tea and coffee in our cabin on our Antarctic trip. So it's available on some ships.

 

[cathy63]

Cruise ships are justifiably concerned about fire. No coffee makers or kettles.

Princess has them on some ships that sail UK and Asian itineraries, but they remove them from the cabins when the same ship moves to another part of the world.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Do the cruise lines really check your luggage? I stashed a 1.75L bottle of rum in my luggage decades ago on our first cruise (trying to LBOM), and they never noticed. Now we prefer all-inclusive, but I'd probably still bring a flask of one of my better scotches to enjoy on the balcony a time or two, because I doubt they would stock them. (Not that they don't have good scotch, but some of the ones I have are discontinued or not as popular.)
And there's always these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0023GKHIO/

 

[Souschef]

Do the cruise lines really check your luggage? I stashed a 1.75L bottle of rum in my luggage decades ago on our first cruise (trying to LBOM), and they never noticed. Now we prefer all-inclusive, but I'd probably still bring a flask of one of my better scotches to enjoy on the balcony a time or two, because I doubt they would stock them. (Not that they don't have good scotch, but some of the ones I have are discontinued or not as popular.)
And there's always these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0023GKHIO/

Oh NO! not another Rum Runner! Cruise critic had so many threads on these I have lost track LOL.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Oh NO! not another Rum Runner! Cruise critic had so many threads on these I have lost track LOL.

Oh, I'm sure -- I was on CC for a while in the 90s and 00s, but the signal to noise ratio is much higher there. I was hoping for a more succinct summary, especially recent experiences on Carnival that might help Rodi. I'm skimming some threads now and it's sad how many comments are just one word, or so very few. One comment, in its entirety: "No".

 

[mpeirce]

Do the cruise lines really check your luggage?

Always check the cruise line's policy.

On the two ocean cruise lines we've cruised on you certainly could bring liquor onboard. It wasn't the important really as Viking supplied wine and beer, while Seabourn included bear, wine, and spirits - all in the basic price.

When we did our Atlantic crossing on Viking we picked up some local Porto Rican Rum in San Juan and enjoyed it over a few nights watching the sunset from our balcony.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I'm under the impression they check your luggage, not only for alcohol but for prohibited items that might be a fire hazard.
This is more obvious but I bought a duty free bottle of something in a port of call and forgot about it in my daypack when coming back onto the ship. They saw it on the xray machine and held it until the last day.