Drinking Age Policy in non US based cruises

We have recently being looking at some great Windstar cruise options in Asia and the Pacific and generally travel with our adult offspring and in our part of the world and Europe this is 18+ .To our great disappointment Windstar do not have any flexibility in relation to the dinking age policy for cruises that do not operate from non US ports. Considering some of the great destinations Windstar travel to in Asia and Oceania that appeal to both the young and young at heart maybe they need to re-visit the policy as it is costing them business .The Australian representative for Windstar who contacted us admitted that is was an ongoing issue and was costing them bookings from Australia and Europe .Perhaps the could adopt the Azamara policy which has an exemption clause for cruises that do not commence or operate in US waters.

It's the same for most cruise lines. We were just on Seabourn and the age is 21. Same with Regent. Here in Canada legal drinking age is 19 in most provinces (used to be 18) Silly that the US drinking age seems to guide international waters for cruise lines that aren't even registered there. I would think it would be an additional source of revenue and they could adopt a policy of anyone over 19 and under 21 needs to be supervised by an adult/parent.

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We recently sailed with Azamara in Asia and their policy was basically along these lines and it was user friendly the 21 year age restriction has basically meant we have stopped cruising at the moment and as we normally book top end suites and look for interesting destinations it has meant we have spent our funds elsewhere .The Australian agents for Windstar did pursue the matter without success .

It's the same for most cruise lines. We were just on Seabourn and the age is 21. Same with Regent. Here in Canada legal drinking age is 19 in most provinces (used to be 18) Silly that the US drinking age seems to guide international waters for cruise lines that aren't even registered there. I would think it would be an additional source of revenue and they could adopt a policy of anyone over 19 and under 21 needs to be supervised by an adult/parent.

 

 

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I would be surprised if this policy is actually costing Windstar a significant number of bookings. There usually aren't even that many passengers in this age group sailing Windstar. And, as already stated, the majority of cruise lines have this policy.