where to get "classic" cocktails on the Magic & also your non fruity favorites

[Dive Bar Casanova]

We discovered on the off-season DCL cruises their will be a $5 drink of the day, and $5 Bloody Marys, Screwdrivers, Mimosas and a 16oz IPA special. Tip included no tax. We tip extra in cash anyway:

$5 drink specials below. Bartender Craig taught us a third language. If you spoke only Jamaican and no English, or English and no Jamaican this fast and easy to learn third language is understood by both and easy to converse. Fascinating experience. I think Craig mentioned he'll be on the Treasure:

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Our kids set out to find an African crew member to teach them the handshake with the finger snap.
They were thrilled when they came across a crew that taught them all the crazy handshakes.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Not a fan of the fruity drinks. Just ask. Classic drinks can be found anywhere on the ship. The key, as mentioned, is to find the bartender that makes your drinks just the way you like. I find almost all of them eager to please.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

Following! We go on the Fantasy in 3 weeks. Although I like the taste of fruity alcohol, it gives me an almost instant stomachache. I enjoy a Mojito or Classic Margarita and am interested in suggestions for similar.

Premium booze in DCL bars wells and usually fresh ingredients rarely mix. Ya can't go wrong.
Bartenders have classes weekly in drinks mixing and most of all,,,, finesse'.

Poison Apple:

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

I haven't but that one was on my short list also. It's a little sweeter than I normally like but I do like cosmos (with cranberry juice.) Just not the utter sugar bombs that is basically boozy tropical punch.

Mickey Mouse Martini might be to your taste:

 

[Lisa F]

Mickey Mouse Martini might be to your taste:

lol, what's in it? just a regular martini? my partner likes dirty martinis but he always asks for 3 olives because supposedly odd numbers are good luck? that would totally ruin the effect!

 

[Lisa F]

Premium booze in DCL bars wells and usually fresh ingredients rarely mix. Ya can't go wrong.
Bartenders have classes weekly in drinks mixing and most of all,,,, finesse'.

Poison Apple:

that the heck is that thing? lol. I think that's just a glow cube though, which I adore, I still have some from past trips!

 

[Lisa F]

I had a Cape Cod for the price of the daily drink (some peach schnapps concoction). Just asked to leave out an ingredient or two, top it with lime. Since it was at adult trivia and the bar was not hopping, I wasn’t slowing down service.

The beauty of the ship is you can walk up to a bar, ask if they can make your request - if no, move on to one that can.

And the Soul Cat (formerly Promenade) often seemed empty, might be a good place to try.

Thanks! Good tip to look at the drink of the day and see what might be transformed. that said for what I am spending on this cruise I'm not going to worry too much about $5 vs $10 vs $15 for a drink. I only have a couple a day. I may have seemed like much more of a lush by asking! Plus we are doing 3 tastings in 5 days, so I may be done with the booze before I even start! But I do like a cocktail before dinner!

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

lol, what's in it? just a regular martini? my partner likes dirty martinis but he always asks for 3 olives because supposedly odd numbers are good luck? that would totally ruin the effect!

They'll serve the extra Olives on the side, no sweat.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

Thanks! Good tip to look at the drink of the day and see what might be transformed. that said for what I am spending on this cruise I'm not going to worry too much about $5 vs $10 vs $15 for a drink.

As long as the subject is drinks at a DCL bars I post this for the 1000+ others that are viewing this thread as well and find it interesting.

We were in town and talking to others a shot of Patron' on Carnival was $26. DCL was $8.
Some people on other cruises have huge bar bills is my point.
Hard to do that on DCL.

We spend very little beyond the cost of the cabin and the wifie doesn't drink at all. Cruising DCL isn't as expensive as people may think.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

that the heck is that thing? lol. I think that's just a glow cube though, which I adore, I still have some from past trips!

They had 600 glow cubes when the ship set sail and sold out of the Poison Apple in under one day at $17 a pop. Bar manager told us 1/3 of the Poison apples sold were non-alcohol. The glow dealio was apple shaped and collecting those kinda things is a really big deal to many Diz fans.

 

[Lisa F]

They'll serve the extra Olives on the side, no sweat.

Brilliant. Now I know why you are the dive bar cassanova!

 

[laurelew]

Thanks! Good tip to look at the drink of the day and see what might be transformed. that said for what I am spending on this cruise I'm not going to worry too much about $5 vs $10 vs $15 for a drink. I only have a couple a day. I may have seemed like much more of a lush by asking! Plus we are doing 3 tastings in 5 days, so I may be done with the booze before I even start! But I do like a cocktail before dinner!

Exciting that you were able to get 3 tastings! Which ones will you be doing? I'm going on the Fantasy in April 2025 as part of an extended family trip. My husband and I both really enjoy whiskey and bourbon drinks. I'm only a silver CC status so not getting my hopes up for drinking tasting availability but would definitely sign up for one if the opportunity arises.

 

[Lisa F]

Exciting that you were able to get 3 tastings! Which ones will you be doing? I'm going on the Fantasy in April 2025 as part of an extended family trip. My husband and I both really enjoy whiskey and bourbon drinks. I'm only a silver CC status so not getting my hopes up for drinking tasting availability but would definitely sign up for one if the opportunity arises.

Well the one I have done before and REALLY wanted to do again was the chocolate and liquor so I got that one first (I am cc gold and given that our itinerary is boring and on an old ship up against the Fantasy's first official trip to lighthouse point, I am guessing we are going to be light on higher cc levels.) I did that one myself while sailing with my kiddo and it was a lot of fun and much easier as a single.

I also have done mixology before so I have that booked and I'm not 100% sure I will keep it. I did that solo and felt way more like a fifth wheel in that one than in the chocolate one. I am cruising with my partner and not my kiddo this time so I think it would be a lot more fun to do together and also not worrying about how my kiddo is doing.

The third is the mojito/caipirinha tasting on CC day (which is also my 50th birthday) which I have never done, but we LOVE mojitos and drink them all summer (they are also a great virgin drink for those who don't indulge.) I bought a dozen quart jars meant for those jarred salads that were in a while back but all I've ever used them for is mojitos they take a little work so I like to make one big one and sip on it all afternoon rather than two small ones.

We would have liked to do a martini tasting but they didn't actually have that one that I saw.

I don't really love straight booze though I have done a bunch of whiskey tastings and they are fun. I do like mixed drinks just not the ones that are like super high volume sugar bombs. We use sugar free simple syrup at home to try to keep the calories down but I won't worry as much on vacation. But I don't need to be drinking a half gallon of fruit punch with my booze.

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[Lisa F]

As long as the subject is drinks at a DCL bars I post this for the 1000+ others that are viewing this thread as well and find it interesting.

We were in town and talking to others a shot of Patron' on Carnival was $26. DCL was $8.
Some people on other cruises have huge bar bills is my point.
Hard to do that on DCL.

We spend very little beyond the cost of the cabin and the wifie doesn't drink at all. Cruising DCL isn't as expensive as people may think.

I live in an expensive touristy area so cocktails are at a minimum $15 and sometimes more in the low $20's for nicer ones at nicer places. needless to say we drink at home a lot. Also I am a lightweight, 1-2 drinks is really all I can handle - I just like to get a light buzz and keep it for a while and not be blotto off my butt for hours at a time.

The only drink price that took me aback was the $25 old fashioned at Keys. I would generally not pay that much for a drink, but we live in the northeast and a whistle pig tasting in quechee is what turned me onto whiskey in general and I discovered that I have a very strong preference for rye over other types of grains and that I can actually tell the difference (and prefer) things that have been aged longer. So also I WANT.

Also I drink anything appropriate for an old fashioned glass in the glass Simon Pearce designed in conjunction with Whistle Pig for sipping whiskey (they have two sizes so I got the larger, which I use for old fashioned, negronis, whiskey sours and even mocktails when I feel like celebrating without the booze, we do flavors and seltzers and bitters sometimes for kicks.)

Also we use whistle pig bourbon barrel smoked maple syrup (just a touch) in our buffalo wing sauce. As you can see we are big fans of whistle pig.

The oldest rye I've had is their 6 year piggyback and the small batch they reference is aged for 10 years, so I imagine it is a lot more for that bottle than what I usually buy.

But long story short I adore whistle pig and will probably at the very least get myself a $25 old fashioned (even though probably the 6 year old rye would be just fine once you mix maple syrup and bitters into it!) on my 50th birthday. But hell I may drink 2 of them a day and just raid my kid's college fund. Mama needs a vacation!

The rest of the drink prices seem reasonable compared to what I'm used to. I guess if I were having half a dozen every day it would add up but I am literally not going to worry about spending $10-20 more than "drink of the day" prices on alcohol on my child-free half century birthday cruise extravaganza after everything else I've spent.

 

[auntlynne]

Whistle Pig in Quechee - I had to look up that mouthful for today’s alcohol and geography lesson.

 

[Lisa F]

They had 600 glow cubes when the ship set sail and sold out of the Poison Apple in under one day at $17 a pop. Bar manager told us 1/3 of the Poison apples sold were non-alcohol. The glow dealio was apple shaped and collecting those kinda things is a really big deal to many Diz fans.

ok so what is a poison apple? was it a one time thing? i am not opposed to an occasional sugar bomb with a toy in it

 

[Punjabi_Express]

On the Wonder last summer we were able to walk into Palo and sit at the bar. The bartender there was great. My wife and I love boozy drinks without much sugar and he was on point.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

ok so what is a poison apple? was it a one time thing? i am not opposed to an occasional sugar bomb with a toy in it

Apple schnaps
Cranberry
Vodka
,,,,, and a few encouraging words!

 

[Ronneeaght]

The trick is finding the right bar tender - on our cruise last week we found two folks that stood out on the classic cocktail front - Natalija was up in Signals, and Ospie down in Keys.

I’ll second the recommendation for finding Natalija. On my last cruise on the Magic in 2022 I called her out on the comment card because she was great. She’s good at matching you up with the right drink.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

Baileys and coffee in the morning on the Fantail at sea: