Is this an industry wide ban so cruise lines can squeeze a few more bucks from their customers...

What do you think...

Naturally, cruise ships want you to buy their beer and spirits. They are a business after all. As far as I'm aware all cruise lines have a policy of not allowing you to bring alcohol aboard. Some cruise lines carry out searches, some turn a blind eye.

I must admit that I too find it odd that people want to smuggle alcohol onto a cruise ship? I wonder if they smuggle beer into bars and food into restaurants, too? I'm not rich, I just drink in moderation, if the prices are too high.

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Originally posted by Green:
That you have a bottle in your cabin does not mean that you spend no money in the lounges.

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Beer is a high-volume, high-weight element of booze. I can see bringing in a bottle or gin or scotch, and have done it w/o reprimand.

But, I asume a CASE of beer is heavy and takes up a lot of room in not-large cabins. And beers do not cost too much at the bar, it not like a prohibition or something.

Pete...you DO mean a case and not a keg??

And please, do not throw the empties overboard, particularly in Alakan waters!!

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

Green, I think the cruise lines would prefer all of your money!

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I'm sure they would!

As HAL loyals we've never had a problem bringing our 2 bottles on board......and because SchweppesTonic is not available, we bring some of that too! Lemon/Lime twists are easiy available from any lounge or the Lido......and the ice bucket is filled at least twice a day, more often if you ask.

Oh, by the way, we're not beer drinkers!

We do always take a box of wine with us for the cabin, but not for the purpose of saving money. We have a glass while getting ready to eat in the evening. If we didn't take our own, we wouldn't be buying it either then, so makes no difference to the cruiseline one way or the other. We still have wine with the meal.

If someone was going to search my bags and remove the box of wine, I would be very 'anti' and not buy any alcohol for the duration. We also take a couple of bottles of coke, purely for the convenience of having it there and then without having to order or go and find a drink for the children. I couldn't be bothered to go rushing back to the cabin to use our own supplies to save money, but I have known some do that.

Pam

Last December cruising on Princess we ordered 4 liters of varied alcohol to be delivered to our cabins as "bon voyage" gifts. I felt the price was very good and it was nice to be able to have a drink whenever we wanted in our room (we get a larger balcony and spend quite a bit of time there). We still bought wine with dinner and cocktails when we were in the public areas. It was a win-win situation. The point here is that I found the price reasonable

Carnival in January was different. Only wine could be ordered ahead. We looked to see if we could order a bottle and a set-up for the room, but it wasn't available. They did allow us to bring wine purchased off ship and just charged a 'corkage' fee when we had it in the dining room or one of the lounges. Quite fair in my opinion considering that Carnival is still trying to get over the reputation of being a 'party boat' which discourages many older adults from cruising Carnival.

I like to think in part that it is not only the money they are concerned about, but also the ability to 'cut-off' someone who has gone over their personal limit and may be causing problems.

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Originally posted by PamM:

We do always take a box of wine...........
Pam

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Pam, how much does a box contain - 1, 2,3 + bottles?

Flying from Canada to join our cruise, we have a problem - with the rules today, I fear that our 2 bottles per person will put us over the limit for carry-on baggage (20lbs. per person).

As for the cost of drinks on board, I agree they are about the same as in Toronto restaurants - trouble for us is that on board all drinks are priced in US$ - we're Canadian!. Spending CA$ makes a big difference....checking today, pleased to see that we're now only paying about CA$1.61 for US$1.00 - do the math! We feel lucky - last year it was CA$1.65+ for US$1.00!

Pam, how much does a box contain - 1, 2,3 + bottles?

We take a 3 litre size. I just wrap it inside a few plastic bags, supermarket type, and stick it in the suitcase. They are 'bendy and waxy' not stiff, and won't come to any harm unless someone stuck a spear/knife in it. I doubt any baggage handler could cause it damage unless the whole case was wrecked.

[ 03-12-2002: Message edited by: bjp ]