Mixology/Wine classes?

PolynesianPrincess

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
When we did the mixology in February, it was only my mom, my sister and myself in the class. That was at 2pm on our Nassau day. The 4pm class had 20+ people. I liked the smaller class because we got to make all the drinks. Plus we got the bartenders demonstration drink each time she made one. We left there pretty tipsy! ;) lol We made 4 drinks (Tequila Sunrise, Mojito, B52 shot and a chocolate martini) then our instructor told us we ould make anything we wanted. I think we made 2 other drinks after that.

In November, I want to do the champagne tasting and the chocolate and liquor tasting.
 
lostpro9het

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
derelicte19 said:
...That was at 2pm on our Nassau day. The 4pm class had 20+ people. I liked the smaller class because we got to make all the drinks. Plus we got the bartenders demonstration drink each time she made one. We left there pretty tipsy! ;) lol....
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Sweet, so the 2pm Nassau experience it is! We have zero interest in Getting off there so this works well for us I hope.
 
NMBC1993

NMBC1993

Well-Known Member
I tried Mixology on my last cruise in April. It was a decent sized crowd, maybe 15 people at 3 p.m. on Nassau Day. Personally I'm glad I tried it once, it was fun and I met a lot of people but the whole thing felt too rushed for me. I had a hard time keeping track of how much goes in what, meanwhile there were 5 of us and two bartenders behind the bar at a time so there wasn't much elbow room. Also, I'm not sure if it was me, but it seemed like the CMs teaching the class acted annoyed when someone couldn't remember the recipe (that they recited once, with no visual reference). I saw one bartender just take a girl's drink and finished making it for her. As far as the price goes, you definitely get your money's worth in drinks, but in the future I'd rather just practice drink recipes in my home where I can take my time and not feel rushed. With that extra time, I'll just use my Nassau Day for more rides on the Aquaduck and enjoy some Choco-Banana Ice Cream :)
 
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Tiggerish

Tiggerish

Resident Redhead
Premium Member
Tiggerfanatic said:
The bartender picks the drinks and everyone that is mixing that particular drink all mix the same one. It's more showing you different techniques - we made a mojito which involved muddling the mint leaves, then I think it was the Cosmopolitans that we had to mix and strain. There was another fruity one that ended up in colorful layers, and B-52s that had the foamy head, if I remember correctly.

Since we were such a large group, the bartender worked with 5 people at a time and each of us made 5 of the same drink and everyone got to taste it. Then 5 more people went up. We didn't really do anything fancy with blenders or anything, like I said it was really more of demonstrating different mixing techniques. But it was a whole lot if fun. I may or may not of had a few extras since not everybody in our group drank, and I couldn't let all that learning go to waste! Right, @sweetpee_1993?;)
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The Sunken Treasure! That's the one my shift made. 1 oz each orange juice, pineapple juice and coconut rum, shaken together with ice and poured into the glass, then topped with a half-ounce of Blue Curacao which floats on top!

Let's just say we made sure the bartenders didn't have a whole lot of leftover beverages to dump out. :D
 
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Tiggerish said:
The Sunken Treasure! That's the one my shift made. 1 oz each orange juice, pineapple juice and coconut rum, shaken together with ice and poured into the glass, then topped with a half-ounce of Blue Curacao which floats on top!
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Yesssss! That was my shift, too! :D Tip of the day...when concocting a Sunken Treasure, pour slowly if you want the drink to come out correctly.

Correct ones have the layers (oh hey there @Tiggerish @plaz10 @PartOfYourWorld @derelicte19 !!)
13-09_CruiseEdit_566.jpg


Yours truly holding up a drink that is not correct...
13-09_CruiseEdit_565.jpg

(Note that the incorrect-looking drink was still deeeeelicious!)
Tiggerish said:
Let's just say we made sure the bartenders didn't have a whole lot of leftover beverages to dump out. :D
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So true. Wouldn't want to be wasteful! :D

ETA: Oh yeah, OP - book Mixology. It's fun! :)
 
sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Ariel484 said:
Yesssss! That was my shift, too! :D Tip of the day...when concocting a Sunken Treasure, pour slowly if you want the drink to come out correctly.

Correct ones have the layers (oh hey there @Tiggerish @plaz10 @PartOfYourWorld @derelicte19 !!)
13-09_CruiseEdit_566.jpg


Yours truly holding up a drink that is not correct...
13-09_CruiseEdit_565.jpg

(Note that the incorrect-looking drink was still deeeeelicious!)

So true. Wouldn't want to be wasteful! :D

ETA: Oh yeah, OP - book Mixology. It's fun! :)
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Same for the layered shot. Pour slow & gentle for good layering. We taught Chandler to do it the right way, too. ;)
 
B

Bolna

Well-Known Member
NMBC1993 said:
I tried Mixology on my last cruise in April. It was a decent sized crowd, maybe 15 people at 3 p.m. on Nassau Day. Personally I'm glad I tried it once, it was fun and I met a lot of people but the whole thing felt too rushed for me. I had a hard time keeping track of how much goes in what, meanwhile there were 5 of us and two bartenders behind the bar at a time so there wasn't much elbow room. Also, I'm not sure if it was me, but it seemed like the CMs teaching the class acted annoyed when someone couldn't remember the recipe (that they recited once, with no visual reference). I saw one bartender just take a girl's drink and finished making it for her. As far as the price goes, you definitely get your money's worth in drinks, but in the future I'd rather just practice drink recipes in my home where I can take my time and not feel rushed. With that extra time, I'll just use my Nassau Day for more rides on the Aquaduck and enjoy some Choco-Banana Ice Cream :)
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Thanks for your review! It is interesting to hear from someone who did not like it that much and the reasons for it! I can very much see your point and think I might feel the same.
 
sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
NMBC1993 said:
I tried Mixology on my last cruise in April. It was a decent sized crowd, maybe 15 people at 3 p.m. on Nassau Day. Personally I'm glad I tried it once, it was fun and I met a lot of people but the whole thing felt too rushed for me. I had a hard time keeping track of how much goes in what, meanwhile there were 5 of us and two bartenders behind the bar at a time so there wasn't much elbow room. Also, I'm not sure if it was me, but it seemed like the CMs teaching the class acted annoyed when someone couldn't remember the recipe (that they recited once, with no visual reference). I saw one bartender just take a girl's drink and finished making it for her. As far as the price goes, you definitely get your money's worth in drinks, but in the future I'd rather just practice drink recipes in my home where I can take my time and not feel rushed. With that extra time, I'll just use my Nassau Day for more rides on the Aquaduck and enjoy some Choco-Banana Ice Cream :)
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Which ship? Do you recall your bartender's name? I'm curious. I've not had an experience like this in all the times we did mixology. I guess maybe the tastings with the demonstration format vs. hands-on might have the advantage in this situation.

One thing I thought of recently: the first time we did mixology on the Dream (when it was just DH, me, & another couple) is the only time we had a bartender that was really adamant with the hand washing. Each time we crossed behind the bar first thing was wash hands. Not that I've touched the contents of any glasses or anything in any of the classes. But when you think about it, maybe they should do hand sanitizer or the wipes or something each time people get behind the bar. I'm not a germophobe or anything. It's just something I remembered being different that one time out of....6? 7?
 
wilkeliza

wilkeliza

Well-Known Member
Last cruise dbf and I did one that I didn't really care for. It was set up by our cruise date facebook group. There were far too many people for the bar we were in so it was uncomfortable for me.

Maybe we will try again this time just going to one of the classes since there will be 6 of us instead of 2 so we can make our own fun.
 
sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
wilkeliza said:
Last cruise dbf and I did one that I didn't really care for. It was set up by our cruise date facebook group. There were far too many people for the bar we were in so it was uncomfortable for me.

Maybe we will try again this time just going to one of the classes since there will be 6 of us instead of 2 so we can make our own fun.
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Yeah, I've seen the cruise groups form large private classes. When we did it with last year's girls cruise group we had 27. It was fun because we all knew each other and I loved the extra effort with the non-alcoholic versions for the non-drinkers who paid to play just to have the group fun. That's not the norm at all but they went the extra mile for us. It has been my experience that the smaller the class the more fun it is, tho. With the exception of the girls cruise group anyway.
 
wilkeliza

wilkeliza

Well-Known Member
sweetpee_1993 said:
Yeah, I've seen the cruise groups form large private classes. When we did it with last year's girls cruise group we had 27. It was fun because we all knew each other and I loved the extra effort with the non-alcoholic versions for the non-drinkers who paid to play just to have the group fun. That's not the norm at all but they went the extra mile for us. It has been my experience that the smaller the class the more fun it is, tho. With the exception of the girls cruise group anyway.
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Our group was probably that big and the people who had kids never really bonded with those who didn't no matter how much we tried to fit in. We later found a few couples closer to our experiences (not necessarily age just couples traveling with out kids) and then just went and did the passport with them a few nights to experience a few new drinks. That was much more our speed.
 
NMBC1993

NMBC1993

Well-Known Member
sweetpee_1993 said:
Which ship? Do you recall your bartender's name? I'm curious. I've not had an experience like this in all the times we did mixology. I guess maybe the tastings with the demonstration format vs. hands-on might have the advantage in this situation.

One thing I thought of recently: the first time we did mixology on the Dream (when it was just DH, me, & another couple) is the only time we had a bartender that was really adamant with the hand washing. Each time we crossed behind the bar first thing was wash hands. Not that I've touched the contents of any glasses or anything in any of the classes. But when you think about it, maybe they should do hand sanitizer or the wipes or something each time people get behind the bar. I'm not a germophobe or anything. It's just something I remembered being different that one time out of....6? 7?
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It was on the Dream in the Skyline Lounge. I couldn't begin to tell you the name of the bartender, the reason for that was because we had a total of 5 bartenders working on that one class (one was earning her ears though). It could have been the same crew you had as ours were big on hand washing as well. Part of the problem could have been me as well, I have ADHD so I'm not good with just a single set of instructions, let alone one that was done verbally. It just felt like everything was moving too fast for me to enjoy myself. Like I said I couldn't remember which end of the measuring cup to use, which bottles we use for that particular drink, etc. It felt like I was doing an exercise workout. Make the drink, sit down, barely finish the last drink, get back up, we're onto the next drink (and was becoming more confusing with every drink I had before that one;)) I think you are right that maybe I would have preferred the traditional tastings rather than the mixology. I'm not saying I had a horrible experience, I just felt like I was at WDW, running around trying to get something done rather than being on a cruise ship relaxing. Also, I think it would be very helpful if they had some sort of instructions listed somewhere when making the drinks, so if someone forgets, they can just look at the chart for reference.
 
sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
NMBC1993 said:
It was on the Dream in the Skyline Lounge. I couldn't begin to tell you the name of the bartender, the reason for that was because we had a total of 5 bartenders working on that one class (one was earning her ears though). It could have been the same crew you had as ours were big on hand washing as well. Part of the problem could have been me as well, I have ADHD so I'm not good with just a single set of instructions, let alone one that was done verbally. It just felt like everything was moving too fast for me to enjoy myself. Like I said I couldn't remember which end of the measuring cup to use, which bottles we use for that particular drink, etc. It felt like I was doing an exercise workout. Make the drink, sit down, barely finish the last drink, get back up, we're onto the next drink (and was becoming more confusing with every drink I had before that one;)) I think you are right that maybe I would have preferred the traditional tastings rather than the mixology. I'm not saying I had a horrible experience, I just felt like I was at WDW, running around trying to get something done rather than being on a cruise ship relaxing. Also, I think it would be very helpful if they had some sort of instructions listed somewhere when making the drinks, so if someone forgets, they can just look at the chart for reference.
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I gotcha. I wonder why you had so many bartenders in attendance. I've never had so many. I bet that was terribly distracting. Typically I see the 1 main bartender who does the talking and demonstrating with an assistant who kinda acts as support (getting things needed, help setting up, help cleaning up). Even tgd biggest least hands-on mixology I did, the meh one, was the 1 main bartender with several assistants abuz supporting that guy. Different.

I've long since thought it'd be wonderful if they handed out a sheet with the drink recipes listed out. That'd be a huge help in recreating the drinks at home. For the most part they stick to a standard set of drinks. I've seen some variations but not many. It's not like every mixology I've done us the exact same drinks nor are they all new. There's always more than 1 repeat. So even if they did a little leaflet with all the recipes that'd work. Ya know?
 
NMBC1993

NMBC1993

Well-Known Member
sweetpee_1993 said:
I gotcha. I wonder why you had so many bartenders in attendance. I've never had so many. I bet that was terribly distracting. Typically I see the 1 main bartender who does the talking and demonstrating with an assistant who kinda acts as support (getting things needed, help setting up, help cleaning up). Even tgd biggest least hands-on mixology I did, the meh one, was the 1 main bartender with several assistants abuz supporting that guy. Different.

I've long since thought it'd be wonderful if they handed out a sheet with the drink recipes listed out. That'd be a huge help in recreating the drinks at home. For the most part they stick to a standard set of drinks. I've seen some variations but not many. It's not like every mixology I've done us the exact same drinks nor are they all new. There's always more than 1 repeat. So even if they did a little leaflet with all the recipes that'd work. Ya know?
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To be fair, it did start out with just three bartenders, two plus the trainee. Then about half way through the session, two other people came in who I assumed had finished their demonstration and came to assist, one on the side and one behind the bar. I think in the end, there were just too many people at the bar. Everyone just stood around the bar while waiting for their next drink turn.
 

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