RCI not allowing passengers to bring wine onboard?

[island lady]

Sue, I'm actually thinking of writing a letter to Richard Williams (that is the CEO's name, isn't it? Guess I'd best confirm that first) with a few suggestions of how to shore up the bottom line without adding on the nickel & dime charges that aggravate so many people on these boards.

 

One thing I was thinking of was, in addition to allowing passengers to bring on the booze (just to keep with the theme of this thread), is to start requiring full payment sooner. It could still be refundable until the current number of days before the cruise, but I'll bet that if you had to pay 100 days out instead of 75, fewer than 1% of the passengers would cancel and the line would have 99% of the other peoples' money to invest for another 25 days. Then they wouldn't have to charge for everything but the cabin and basic meals and the aggravation factor would be further reduced, thereby making people more inclined to book while onboard. Many online TAs require payment in full at the time you book a cruise, and I'm sure they only send the deposit on to the cruiseline. No reason RCI couldn't have that money.

Just a thought...

 

Good idea!! My final payment was not due for another 3 weeks, but I just paid mine off early.

If it would help, I am all for it!!

Cheers!!

[Overtyme]

Typically, they won't let you bring alcohol back to your stateroom, but they'll deliver it at the end of your cruise. I did find, however, that if you tell them that it's for dinner tonight, they'll let you bring it yourself so that the waiter can chill it and un-cork it later on for you.

What you do from there, is on you:D

[critterchick]

Overtyme, I think the problem is that everybody has a different "typical" experience, so nobody knows what to expect. Stating in the contract that RCI "reserves the right to limit the amount of alcohol brought onboard" tells me that MAYBE I can brink a bottle of wine onboard, whether for inroom or dining room consumption and MAYBE I can't. The fact that they say on the website (which not everybody will read because it's not a part of the cruise contract and not everybody owns a computer) that you can't bring ANY alcohol on board and then turn around and say in the contract, well, maybe you can is bad customer relations.

 

They need a policy - yes or no. If it's no, we can go back to sharing smuggling ideas.:D

 

Richard Fain (CEO) + Jack Williams (COO) = Richard Williams. Glad I checked!

[bUU]

Jean, while your last sentence may have been humor, it is really the crux of the issue for the cruise line. They're in business to make profit. Perhaps their best interests are served by "reserving the right" rather than imposing a definitive policy, whether that policy be draconian or laissez faire. I suspect that their current stance on the issue serves them well: It discourages rampant "smuggling" and gives them the right to react to any it detects, while not forcing them to risk customer dissatisfaction for customers who don't abuse their leniency.

[beachchick]

Good heaven's bicker--I agree with your statement. "Reserving the right" to limit is the best way to do it, IMO. I don't want to bring on 3 cases of wine, just enough to take to dinner or have on the balcony in the evening. I don't mind paying the corkage fee; I would pay one in a restaurant, so it's no big deal unless they raise it to something ridiculous like $30.

 

(Although now that I think about it, when I wrote almost the exact same thing about "the right to limit" and the fact that not all cruisers have access to or use the internet, you jumped all over me. So, how about admitting that maybe I had a point?)

 

beachchick

[xpcdoojk]

Good heaven's bicker--I agree with your statement. "Reserving the right" to limit is the best way to do it, IMO. I don't want to bring on 3 cases of wine, just enough to take to dinner or have on the balcony in the evening. I don't mind paying the corkage fee; I would pay one in a restaurant, so it's no big deal unless they raise it to something ridiculous like $30.

 

(Although now that I think about it, when I wrote almost the exact same thing about "the right to limit" and the fact that not all cruisers have access to or use the internet, you jumped all over me. So, how about admitting that maybe I had a point?)

 

beachchick

 

I will admit you have a point. :D But then I thought you did then, too!:D

 

jc

[wwinfl91]

I still think that RCI should have the same rules as the other cruise lines and that is to let you bring on wine, soda and bottled water (although I'm never sure why people do that since the water from the tap on the ship is distilled water). Then if you take the wine to the dining room you pay the corkage fee or if you want to drink it in your room you can.

 

Gald to see how long this thread has remained on the first couple of pages.

 

Thanks to everyone who has participated in the poll.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[critterchick]

Bicker, I think "reserves the right" is just legalese (you're a lawyer, yes? I am) for "we'll do what we feel like when we feel like it," and I don't think it serves anybody well. Why not just say each passenger can bring on xx numbers of bottles of wine (I'm thinking 2)? Then you KNOW what's "allowed" - if you want to try to bring on a case and see if they confiscate it, well, at least you knew the rules and you know you're taking a risk. Under the current policy, you don't have any idea until you're going through security. You try to bring on that one special bottle for your anniversary, they take it away because the "reserved the right" to do so, and you're going to be annoyed before you get on board.

 

I just think squishy policies are bad policy in a business where profitability is so closely linked to customer satisfaction (unlike, say, cable, where each company has a monopoly on the service unless you're looking at a dish as an alternative).

[FinelyCruising]

Well, I'd like to delve deeper then into the purpose or reserving the right. Under what circumstances would they need to refuse the admission. Quantity, type, open bottle? If I understood that I might be able to follow the intent of the potential refusal to allow someone taking alcohol on board....along with everyone else.

[wwinfl91]

Cruise Critic has an interesting article on it's front page about the various cruise line's liquor policies. It details out what each cruise line allows or should I say doesn't allow.

Here is the link to it.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=46

 

Just looking at a few cruise lines it looks like I may actually look at a Carnival cruise at some point as they seem to have the most liberal policy.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[bUU]

I don't think it serves anybody well. ...

I just think squishy policies are bad policy in a business where profitability is so closely linked to customer satisfaction

Why do you think it doesn't serve the cruise line well? It seems to me that it gives them the ability to apply the policy specifically in the direction of what's best for profitability, whether influenced by customer satisfaction, revenue generation or whatever.

[FinelyCruising]

Bicker...I think unless we are aware of the intent, we are just keeping this whole conoundrum going. Let's find out what the intent is and then we can really have some fun picking it apart. ;)

 

Now....How can we find out?

[bUU]

Smart companies don't necessarily discuss such strategy in public -- especially when dealing with a consumer market, it often defeats the purpose of the strategy. Folks may or may not find it fun to pick part stuff like that. I love the speculation, as do you, but it seems to me that some people in these threads do NOT find it fun, but rather find it frustrating to read our bickering about it, probably for this very reason: We don't know what their strategy actually is; we don't know what they know about the market through their research; we don't know what their professional experience says about the impact of various approaches to achieve their strategy.

 

I'm sanguine about our inability as consumers to evaluate companies' internal business strategies. We're not really entitled to know everyone else's business -- not even the companies we do business with, and not even the companies we own stock in. For anything that is important enough to know, we can pass laws to force the companies to reveal that information. For the rest, the best we can do is accept that professionals know how to manage their business.

[FinelyCruising]

I think this particular aspect of boarding is confusing at best. Even the cruiseline appears to be at cross purposes with it's own policy on this topic, and I don't necessarily think that if the cruise line were to clarify the intent they would be letting out a big secret since it appears to most of us there really is no strategy, ergo all the confusion and questions about what is the policy and the fact that nothing is reported taken away.

 

In many instances when something this ambiguous is clarified, most can follow what the intent is, understand it, and adjust to it.

[wwinfl91]

I also find it totally unfair that RCI can decide in a random fashion who gets their wine taken away and who gets to take it onboard. I understand that they have always controlled bringing on hard liquor and I have always respected that rule. But wine should be allowed as long as you aren't bringing in onboard to sell.

 

By the way keeping this post on the front page of the board may bring it to the attention of RCI execs who may decide that they are making their customers unhappy and decide to change the policy. I don't expect that to happen but I can try.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[dc-snoopy]

I also find it totally unfair that RCI can decide in a random fashion who gets their wine taken away and who gets to take it onboard. I understand that they have always controlled bringing on hard liquor and I have always respected that rule. But wine should be allowed as long as you aren't bringing in onboard to sell.

 

Why? RCI will do what they can to ensure the best bottom line profit for their shareholders and owners as possible. The majority who bring alcohol on-board are doing it to save money...and that means a lower profit margin to the company. The policy is unequivocal: no alcoholic beverages may be brought on board. How they choose to enforce the rule is up to them. If you choose to bring alcohol on-board, then you should consider yourself lucky if they do not confiscate it. If they do, then, oh well, that's the price you pay for breaking the rule. There are exceptions (I believe they have adjusted the rule to exclude champagnes and wines that they do not serve on-board) but otherwise, violators do so at their own risk. Besides, they will return the confiscated items the last nigh of the cruise so they are not taking it away, but they are reserving their right to make a profit off of alcohol. You can choose to purchase from them, purchase in the shops on-board (so they get their profit margin) and pay the corkage fee, or choose a different line. And if your choice of poison is so important to you that it would make you choose a different line, to my way of thinking, you place far too high a premium on alcohol. RCI has enough business that this one policy will not prevent their cruises from filling up. It may change which passengers cruise, but it will not change the number...or their bottom line.

[beachchick]

You can't purchase wine in the onboard liquor store. They don't sell it (and they certainly don't sell ANY wine at the duty-free rate, as they do with hard liquor). Their markup on wine is anywhere from 300% to 600%--that's a bit much, IMO. There is NO comparing bringing wine onboard to bringing hard liquor onboard. You can buy hard liquor in the onboard store, pay the consumption fee, and STILL be paying less than at your liquor store back home. You CANNOT do that with wine.

 

beachchick

[Mabers]

I am just off the Sovereign and like most others in this thread, wasn't quite sure what to do re taking (or not taking) wine/liquor on board.

 

So here's what I did.......took 3 750s of a wine that RCCL doesn't serve. We opened the first one in the cabin the first night. By the 3rd day I still had 2 full bottles and a heel of the first one, so it was obvious we were not going to finish all of them.

 

I called room service (the prescribed method) and told them I had 2 bottles of wine for the dining room. They came and picked them up and we enjoyed one that evening for dinner, and the other one the next. They only charged me corking fee on one.

 

One of our friends did the same thing (1 bottle) and she was not charged the corking fee. We were both more than willing to pay it had it been levied.

 

Re hard liquor.....if bought in the duty free, it can be consumed on board for a $12 corking fee, otherwise it is delivered to your room on the last day to take home unopened.

 

I would likely do the same on another cruise, and if it were longer than 4 days, enjoy one of the bottles of hard stuff too while on board.

[Freesia32]

Hi! We leave in 1 WEEK :) on the Serenade out of San Juan. With regard to the discussion about wine, has anyone purchased the Wine & Dine Package? My booklet says that it's at a 25% savings from the regular cost on ship and can be consumed anytime. It's purchased the day of departure only. Any thoughts on this?

P.S. We are so excited to go! :)

[Merion_Mom]

You can't purchase wine in the onboard liquor store. They don't sell it (and they certainly don't sell ANY wine at the duty-free rate, as they do with hard liquor). Their markup on wine is anywhere from 300% to 600%--that's a bit much, IMO. There is NO comparing bringing wine onboard to bringing hard liquor onboard. You can buy hard liquor in the onboard store, pay the consumption fee, and STILL be paying less than at your liquor store back home. You CANNOT do that with wine.

 

beachchick

AMEN!

[island lady]

I hope my champagne does not get too warm as I smuggle that in under my armpits!! :D

 

Cheers!

[wwinfl91]

There was a good post on this board about the wine package several days ago that listed the wines that were available and had lots of good information. If I can find the thread I will post it here. The only disadvantage with most of the packages is that the usually limit the wines you can pick rather than letting you pick from their whole selection.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[ricsue]

We always bring wines & champagnes that they do not serve aboard the ship. We have always gladly paid the imposed corkage fee on each bottle consumed in the dining room. I like my wines & champagnes not stirred or shaken as the bottles on board do for long periods of time.

 

We would like to see RCI & Celebrity keep the policy that has been in place for so many years, allowing their guests to bring the wine & champagne of their choosing to enjoy with meals on their vacation, and impose the corkage fee consistantly so that all passengers are paying the fees.

 

As a shareholder, I am concerned about RCI bottom line, they could lose a segment of their repeat cruiser population over this, when the other competitive lines are not imposing such a policy.

[wwinfl91]

I knew I could find it if the boards decided to behave today. Check out this link for information on the wine packages and what is offered.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=142507&highlight=wine

 

Have a great next cruise.

[FinelyCruising]

Thanks for the link. I remember reading this list. Perhaps there are many who don't really drink wine and are treating themselves so the selections are suitable while on board.

 

For those who enjoy wine and have developed tastes, then these slections are not close to those one would expect to find in a fine dining venue.

 

So if the cruise line wants to MAKE MORE MONEY, then they might want to think about greatly improving their wine selections and include more people rather than exclude them by just about forcing them bring their own.

 

People who have the money to cruise, even on RC which isn't the wow crowd for luxury lines can afford a bit more as many of us here on this thread are a testimony to, so catering to the $10.00 bottle of wines that they charge $25.00 for isn't going to get me to buy one. I'll happily pay the $12.00 corkage fee all cruise long to enjoy my creature comforts, which are part of everyday lifestyle as well as my cruise experience.