ICV Condemns Unlimited Drinking Policy of Cruise Lines. Do You?

Jason · January 29, 2013

The International Cruise Victims Association, Inc. (ICV) is a not-for-profit corporation formed by victims and families of victims of cruise ship crime.

The issue of trying to get the cruise lines to improve safety seems to be an ongoing one. On January 17, 2013, Travel Weekly put out an article concerning Carnival Cruise Lines offering unlimited alcoholic drink packages to their passengers.

This article, entitled “Carnival Puts 15-drink Daily Cap on Alcohol Package,” indicates the following, “The package, which is now being offered on 13 Carnival ships, lets passengers pay for all beverages on a cruise in a single payment. A Carnival spokesman said the cruise line recently 'formalized' the limit on how many alcoholic drinks guests will be served within a 24-hour period running from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. the following day.”

ICV strongly condemns this action. Kendall Carver, Chairman of ICV, indicates that "when cruise lines not only offer but actively promote unlimited drinks for one price, the issue of many inebriated people in a confined space adds exponentially to the likelihood of a crime occurring. Limiting passengers to 15 drinks a day is a joke." Also, he feels that "anyone having consumed that much alcohol would be so incapacitated that they would not know where to go in an emergency or how to man a life boat or which language to communicate in.

"Adding to this is an issue ICV has long sought to correct: the absence of a thoroughly trained, independent law enforcement presence. This means there are no police to protect the passengers other than those employed by the cruise line itself on the high seas. Unfortunately, most passengers are unaware that often their only protection comes from the laws of the country where the ship is flagged.

"In addition, the cruise lines take the legal position that it is not their legal duty to investigate and determine whether or not a crime has been committed. In other words, they are promoting excessive drinking with no independent police and no legal duty to investigate crimes. Clearly, this means any unsuspecting and unaware passenger is at risk while on what should be a fun vacation."

ICV believes it is time for this industry to take action to improve safety by eliminating such alcohol packages.

Source: Fort Mill Times

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Sarge6870 · January 29, 2013

IMHO, I do not feel it's ANYBODY'S business what I do on MY cruise. I worked for it. I paid for it. Using excuses like "anyone having consumed that much alcohol would be so incapacitated that they would not know where to go in an emergency or how to man a life boat or which language to communicate in." So should we close all local drinking establishments? If there was a fire in a bar, couldn't you use the same excuse? Having 15 drinks over a 24 hour period would not leave a person as inebriated as the ICV wants you to believe. ESPECIALLY when consuming food over that same time period. And, are they singling out any specific type of alcohol? There is a BIG difference between 15 shots of alcohol and 15 beers and how it would affect someone over a 24 hour period!! You also have to consider the weight of a person. An overweight person will react differently over a 12beer/24 hour period as compared to an underweight person. I have enough restrictions placed on me by my own government. I do NOT need more put on me by my "fellow" cruisers that seem to have a vendetta against the cruise industry because their family member was the victim of a crime on a cruiseship!!! Again, just MY opinion!!

DebbieandJerry · January 29, 2013

I have mixed feelings.

I understand the ship's reasons for trying to generate more revenue. And I understand the underlying message of the article - that we are promoting unlimited alcohol.

My hope is that we don't see the negative of unlimited alcohol, because that is what the media will focus on. Certainly not the responsible cruiser!

WeCruiseToo · January 30, 2013

It seems like ICV is focusing on the phrase “unlimited drinks” (even though it isn’t really unlimited) and not looking at any other aspect of the program. One important point is the price – this could easily be described as cost prohibitive. Our friends who are most excited about this are the ones who can rack up a thousand-dollar bar bill in a week anyway – if anything, this could help ‘em drink less!

And Debbie’s right: if something (anything) happens, the media will likely focus on the drink package regardless of the fact that the passenger probably would drink the same without the package.