Celebrity announces a New Alcohol Policy

JoeyandDavid · August 29, 2006

Thank you Cheryl

JoeyandDavid · December 28, 2006

UPDATE**

I don't know if you guys are aware but the ban has been Lifted we got a reprive... I would like to think we made a difference

Alcohol Policy date 11/09/2006

Joanandjoe · December 28, 2006

That's not much of a lift, just a peek under the tent. No beer or booze, wine limited to two bottles at the beginning of a cruise (and those two bottles will cost your $25 each in corkage), no wine purchased in a port, presumably even if bought at a X excursion that includes a visit to a winery. Still a very harsh policy that makes no sense in Europe. Imagine being at a port in Ireland or Germany without being able to bring beer onboard, or a port in Italy, France or Spain without being able to bring wine onboard? Ludicrous!

DaCruzNut · December 29, 2006

In all honesty, I fail to understand this entire discussion.

Try taking alcoholic beverages into you local stadium during a football, or baseball game, or an arena during a hockey, or basketball game. No way! Not because you might get drunk, and fall overboard....

Why, you can't even take harmless candy into the theater when you go to a movie!

A business has the right to dictate, within reason, what you may bring and has the right to ban anything which they sell on their premises.

Thechnically, you could NEVER bring booze onto a ship you were sailing on. I remember that rule from 1989, when I first began to cruise. However, the cruiise lines, sometimes, made the mistake of looking the other way, setting a bad precedent, so when they started to enforce the rules, the passengers got all 'up in arms.'

The cruise lines rely on 'onboard revenue,' especially alcohol sales, and including photos, shore excursions, gift shops, casino, etc; to keep fares low. What you pay for in booze, you save on the fares. If everyone brought their alcohol aboard, the fares would go up. It's interesting to note that I pay, now, almost the same fares I paid 16 years ago!

I may have a different slant on this, because I'm not a big drinker. In fact, on my recent 3-day Regal Empress cruise I had two drinks; one each night at the piano bar. So, the rules don't really effect me one way or the other....

JoeyandDavid · December 31, 2006

Jeff That could be the reason you don't get the concerns..

Let me see if I can explain our concerns..

Example: You like wine and you are cruising the Mediterranean or some other extended voyage ( i am am not talking a 3 night get away)and your visit takes you great wine producing areas we feel it would be nice to take a bottle or two back to the comforts of the stateroom to enjoy or in the dining room.. it would be impossible for any line to have a fully stocked cellar.

It has been our position, As long as the wine is of not the vintage and vineyard of on board stock wines , we should have they right within limits...to bring private selections aboard...

Now would I take Bacardi or Absolute or any other liquor on-board? Probably not, as we too aren't heavy consumers.. plus the fact that the products we like are already onboard.. but wine .. is a beverage unto itself..

DaCruzNut · January 1, 2007

Joey-

I understand the wine aspect, and, honestly, don't know the answer. I still liken it to the local movie theater. I like Chuckles, and most theaters don't have them. Still, I can't use that as an excuse at the theater. No candy means no candy, period, even if they don't carry the kind you like. You can't bring a bottle of your favorite soda to a restaurant besause they don't serve it.

Now, I do know a Mexican restaurant that doesn't have a liquor license, and they invite you to bring beer for your dinner. But, that's different.

The 'no liquor' rules have been in effect since I began cruising, but most lines 'looked the other way.' Now that fuel costs have more than doubled (the single biggest expense the cruise lines face), and other costs risen, the lines are tightening up.

I also undertand the other point of view. A Somalier on a cruise once told me that it's a waste to order a good wine on a ship! The things a wine needs to keep are the proper temperature, lack of light and to be kept still. Motion for a bottle of wine is fatal! The sediment keeps sifting through a bottle of wine in motion; and. try keeping wine still on a moving, rolling, pitching ship. He told me to always order the cheapest bottle....