Coffee Question

[mrtoffee]

We have just booked our first Disney cruise and I had a question about coffee or more specifically the cost. We have never been on a cruise ship so I am sure I will have lots of other silly questions to come.

Anyway my question is this, on the Disney Cruise Line website is says soft drinks, tea and coffee are free, but they also say that if you get soft drinks the bars or lounges you have to pay for them. Is this the same for coffee if you get it from the Cove Cafe (we are sailing on the Magic)? I am really struggling to get my head around what is free and what we have to pay for drink wise.

Thank you in advance for the help

 

[llqool]

Coffee (and other non-alcoholic, non-specialty drinks) are free if you get them at the drink station or in the dining rooms. The coffee (unless they've very recently changed it) is pretty sub-par. It's a coffee concentrate syrup. In order to get "real", brewed coffee you have to go to the Cove Cafe or pay to get an espresso/latte etc from one of the main dining rooms or Palo. We actually bring Starbucks Via packets with us and get hot water on Deck 9 to make our own coffee (we also sometimes order a carafe of hot water from room service). We do also go to the Cove Cafe for coffee drinks (and espresso martinis!), but it can get pricey. They do have a punch card where if you buy a certain number of coffee drinks you get one free.

Instead of getting a soft drink in the lounges, I would just go up on deck and get it for free and bring it with me

 

[mrtoffee]

Thank you so much, great shout on getting hot water and adding our own coffee, I think we will have to stock up lol. So much to learn before we go, but as it's not till next May I have plenty of time to ask silly questions

 

[over50visits]

Coffee, tea, and soft drink are free (well, included in your fare!) at these places: drink stations near the pools, during meals in any dining room or Cabanas, food buffet at Castaway Cay.

Coffee and tea are free with room service.

Otherwise (bars, lounges, night clubs, coffee shop, theater, room service soft drinks, drink servers walking around, Castaway Cay bars and beach drink servers) you'll pay.

 

[MillauFr]

Yes we brought a French press and made our own coffee. Much better than the nasty coffee they have on the ship.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

I just discovered I must have terrible taste in coffee because I've never realized it was so bad on the ship. LOL Maybe it's all the cream I add!

 

[cheermom2four]

Speaking of coffee.....when you order a specialty one, do they have the sugar free or fat free options (like Starbucks)? Just I love my special coffee but dang the calories and fat add up on those if I dont order lower sugar and fat free milk options

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

Speaking of coffee.....when you order a specialty one, do they have the sugar free or fat free options (like Starbucks)? Just I love my special coffee but dang the calories and fat add up on those if I dont order lower sugar and fat free milk options

I believe I remember that at least Cove Cafe did have nonfat, sugar free options.

 

[cheermom2four]

believe I remember that at least Cove Cafe did have nonfat, sugar free options

Thanks!!!

 

[bethy]

I will definitely be bringing Via! We take it anytime we travel anywhere Disney

 

[Uncleromulus]

Let me rain on the bad coffee parade by saying that I find the coffee at the beverage station on Deck 11 to be just fine.

Mind you I drink coffee only in the AM as a "wake me up" and I have usually at least 2 cups. If I were a coffee fancier perhaps I might look at it differently.

But for a morning get started beverage, deck 11 coffee is fine.

 

[mumto2]

I like coffee from our local coffee house, where they roast their own (Fair Trade, Organic - you get the picture) beans and grind them fresh for your order. That being said, I had no problem with the room service coffee, or the coffee in the MDRs. I have tried Via packs at home, and found them to be just like the Taster's Choice instant I remember from my mom, so for me, the ship coffee was better than instant. I did frequent Cove and the Vista (coffee vendor on Deck 4, not in adult-only area) and on day one got a buy 5 get one free card (I believe it was 5+1, if not, close to it). DD and I used that for an afternoon latte or iced coffee. While it wasn't quite as good as home, it was as good as Starbucks, and the prices were as reasonable.

My favorite coffee related DIS tip: order a carafe of coffee just before bed so that you can have it as soon as you wake up in the morning. I am an early riser, unlike the rest of my crew, and sitting on the verandah communing with my thoughts and the sea while drinking coffee in my PJs was hands down the most relaxing experience of the entire, wonderful cruise!

 

[Jsoenning]

I never thought about bringing instant coffee - great tip!

Used to coffee was better on cruises and my wife and I would order it to the room every day for breakfast and in the afternoon / sit on the balcony. Now I guess all lines have gone cheap so we stopped our afternoon ritual.

Hot water and quality coffee here we come!!

 

[rhinodadz]

See the article below - Joffrey's coffee is now used on DCL instead of that gawdawful Nescafe. When we last cruised in Oct it was a noticeable improvement.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2014/06/joffreys-coffee-replacing-nescafe-at-sea/

 

[hubbard53]

I like coffee from our local coffee house, where they roast their own (Fair Trade, Organic - you get the picture) beans and grind them fresh for your order. That being said, I had no problem with the room service coffee, or the coffee in the MDRs.

Im with you. I buy my coffee from the local roaster on the day they roast it, grind it myself, brew it at the right temp, etc. I thought I was a coffee dive, but apparently not, b/c I too have no problem whatsoever with the free coffee.

 

[TinkRose]

The coffee on board has changed recently, about a year ago, to Joffrey Coffee from the awful Nescafe syrup they had so opinions about the taste or quality of the included coffee would be different depending on when the last cruise the poster took. Joffrey Coffee has been in the Disney properties since 2013 but it didn't get to the cruise lines until mid 2014. Joffrey Coffee is better than the Nescafe syrup but if you are a real coffee snob it would still not be great. Last time we took some of the mini International Delight flavored creamers, no refrigeration needed, and it improved the taste a lot.

 

[Julylady]

Cove also has a card orogram. I think it's buy five and get sixth one free. They have a couple of sugar free options. We also take a box of the flavored small creamers.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I get a latte almost every morning in the cove cafe when I'm on the ship. I still have a drink card that wasn't full so I will bring it when we go on the magic to norway in a few weeks and use it there. They never expire. I've used my drink card across ships. After so many drinks you get a free one. They have nonfat milk. And the cost is about the same as Starbucks. You can get pastries in the cove too...no cost for those. And there is a small lending library in there. People leave books and pick up others. There are also tvs with headphones If you want to watch the news channels and some up to date magazines aling with a daily New York Times summary newsletter.

 

[EdmondD]

Count us among the Via packers.

 

[bumbershoot]

See the article below - Joffrey's coffee is now used on DCL instead of that gawdawful Nescafe. When we last cruised in Oct it was a noticeable improvement.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2014/06/joffreys-coffee-replacing-nescafe-at-sea/

The supplier changed but it still might be a concentrate syrup that Joffrey's makes. We'd have to watch the CMs like a hawk to see if they use ground beans or not.


I'll put up a "gofundme" account so you guys can send me on this research mission.