Regal Princess- ‘Mocktails’ Are a Fun Part of Princess Soft Drink Package on the Regal Princess

Here’s Day Six in a series of blogs from our friend Jackie about her recent Regal Princess experience! Enjoy!

Regal Princess- ‘Mocktails’ Are a Fun Part of Princess Soft Drink Package on the Regal Princess

The motto of Princess Cruises is “Come Back New.” The pleasure of “mocktails” is something new that will be coming back home with me.

I had never had a mocktail until my Regal Princess cruise. As the name implies, the drink is a cocktail but without alcohol. And it was part of my soft drink package on Regal Princess.

Cruise ships that charge inflated fees for soft drinks is a pet peeve of mine. My caffeine of choice is cola, Pepsi preferably, which most cruise ships don’t carry. It irks me to pay almost $3 for a small can of Coke or to buy a cruise-long soft drink package at a hefty charge.

But the beverage deal on the Regal Princess isn’t bad. In fact, I like the extras that come with the Unlimited Soda & More Package. The “more” seem to make it worthwhile.

When passengers board many big cruise ships, they will notice tables set up at visible spots selling beverage deals for the length of the cruise. If you are much of a drinker, the unlimited booze deals might be worth it but not for me.

On the Regal Princess, for example, passengers can buy an All-Inclusive Beverage Package. For a fee of $49 per person per day, plus a 15 percent gratuity, a passenger can enjoy any alcoholic-beverage costing up to $12 on the bar menu, including cocktails, wine and beer. The deal also includes bottled water, tea, sodas and specialty coffees.

If you plan to enjoy several cocktails, beer or wine during the day and evening, this might be a good deal. Plus, that bottled water is a nice addition. It’s always good to take water when going ashore and to keep it around to remind yourself to stay hydrated on a cruise.

What I picked was the Unlimited Soda & More Package which totaled $56.35 for my weeklong cruise. So, I drink a Coke for breakfast and one for lunch. How can that be a worthwhile package? On most ships, it isn’t.

However, this Unlimited Soda & More Package really does offer more for your buck. The package includes fountain sodas, mocktails, fruit smoothies and hot chocolate, plus a large insulated plastic Princess glass with a sturdy lid and straw.

Because of the program’s popularity, the ship on our cruise ran out of the insulated glasses so we received two large bottles of water instead ($3.95 each). Fine with me. I have so many insulated glasses at home that I don’t need another one. The complimentary water I put in my cabin fridge to drink throughout the cruise.

If passengers didn’t like not getting the insulated cup, they could cancel the Unlimited Soda & More Package. I didn’t hear that anyone had picked that option.

Mocktails are cocktails without alcohol

It’s the mocktails that were a surprise and I am sure I will order quite a few on this cruise. Maybe they sound yucky – a cocktail without liquor? – but they are quite good.

My first night, I found my favorite early evening spot on the second deck in the Piazza, listened to the band and ordered a mocktail mojito. Very minty and refreshing. Later I tried a mocktail margarita. Also delicious. The next evening I had a mocktail pina colada. All were surprisingly tasty and they look pretty. The bartender said he can turn any cocktail into a mocktail so I’ll see what he can do during my cruise.

I thought the bartenders might just dump a few fruit juices and some kind of seltzer in those mocktails. They don’t. What you get looks like the real thing with the little garnishes and tastes just as good to me.

As for the Piazza, it is really a hopping place. So far, the beautiful three-deck tall Piazza has hosted line dancing classes, a piano player, band, singer, comedian, classical musicians, games and more. The dance floor is quite popular for couples dancing in the evening.

I don’t know if anyone else is drinking mocktails on this cruise. But, then again, I don’t think anyone knows that the cold drink in front of me is all fluff and no alcohol. Fun drinks I have never had before.

Story and photos by Jackie Sheckler Finch.