Cruise drinks often get popular because they catch people’s eye. Many passengers come onboard looking to find something new, but end up ordering cruise line favorites like pina coladas, mojitos, daiquiris, and other standards.
A drink can become an onboard sensation, however, if it’s colorful enough. That actually happened in a sort of bad way on the Celebrity Reflection cruise over the 4th of July holiday.
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The drink of the day on the 4th was a “Red, White, and Blue.” That’s a colorful drink meant to turn heads, except one passenger ordered it frozen and others saw it and decided to do the same thing. That caused a production nightmare because each color in the drink had to be mixed in a separate blender.
Since the pool bar only has two blenders, the incredible staff quickly got backed up trying to keep up with demand.
Our Drink of the Week is a head-turner that should become an onboard viral sensation without crushing the bar.
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Meet the Jamaican Paradise
Come Cruise With Me’s travel agent partner, Dennis Post of Postcard Travel Planning, worked with Aria, a bartender from Indonesia to show how to make the Jamaican Paradise. He starts by mixing Jose Cuervo Tequila, Bacardi Rum, Malibu Coconut Rum, and Midori in a metal cocktail mixer.
Aria then adds ice to the mixture and tops it with sour mix before shaking it. He then puts fresh ice in a tall glass before straining the drink over it. As a final touch, he adds Blue Curacao into a fresh cocktail mixer which he lightly shakes over ice before pouring into the serving glass.
The Blue Curacao cascades down the glass creating a pretty blue and yellow beverage that is garnished with a lime wheel.
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Jamacian Paradise recipe:
1 ounce Malibu Rum 1/2 ounce Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila 1/2 ounce Midori 1/2 ounce Malibu Coconut Rum1 ounce Blue Curacao 3 ounces sour mix
Aria made this version of the Jamaican Paradise, which varies mildly from the one made famous by Chili’s, in the Atrium Bar on MSC Seashore during her naming sailing.
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