New alcohol plan loophole?

[SW.FloridaPhil]

Yes I can . the drinks I get mostly are ice and in small alcohol proportion to mixer and on a hot day if I get a drink and 15 minutes later want another one and they say it has to be 45 minutes in between I can be upset .

 

 

OF COURSE I understand they have the right to not serve someone over intoxicated .

People will always have individual thoughts on rules, decorum etc. We all know that a large portion of cruise line profits come from alcohol sales. Other lines sell bottles for cabin consumption. The cost is high, but cheaper than buying by the drink. The passenger saves money, has convenience, and the cruise line still makes money. Who looses?

 

Oh, by the way, see you in 5 days on the IOS!!

[Paulxyz2004]

It is not a "loophole". A loophole is something in a rule or law that allows a person to circumvent the rule or law without breaking it. The package is for one person not one person to supply all of their friends. If someone wants to do that and if they get away with it that's up to them. Not for me though. Calling it a loophole is like taking something from a store and saying that its a loophole that you didn't get caught.

 

 

Spot on !!!

[crookedhalo]

Call me selfish, but I sure as heck don't want to waste precious vacation time sneaking around getting drinks for other passengers, even if they share the cost. It's just too much bother. Maybe other folks don't feel that way. Seems like a big time waster to me.

 

 

This is exactly why I do not bother smuggling alcohol on a boat ;), who want's to have to go back to their stateroom to get the booze for their fruit punch or coke? Not me - prefer to have a waiter bring me what I want wherever I am:p.

[Clagmeister]

Yep.

 

This kind of question is why they've held back on packages.

It's also why the soda card costs so much.

 

If your friends only want one drink or so per day, they'd be better off paying cash for it rather than getting a package.

 

I've said it before: What I'd really like to have is a punch card good for 10 drinks or so. Or a coupon book good for 10 drinks. It'd be a good product for a person who likes to pay for everything "up front", and it'd prevent cheating. 10 drinks is 10 drinks, regardless of who consumes them. The cruise line could only profit from such a program.

 

Not sure I would want a punch card or more coupons as a replacement for loading these options on a seapass. :rolleyes:

[TomCat32174]

 

I've said it before: What I'd really like to have is a punch card good for 10 drinks or so. Or a coupon book good for 10 drinks. It'd be a good product for a person who likes to pay for everything "up front", and it'd prevent cheating. 10 drinks is 10 drinks, regardless of who consumes them. The cruise line could only profit from such a program.

 

When I first started cruising on RCCL there was a drink card. 12 drinks per card so I did not matter if you shared as the server would punch the card for each drink. About 2 years latter, they discontinued the program.

[Mark_K]

I'm just curious as to what keeps 4 people in 2 different staterooms from sharing the costs of the new alcohol packages. I know both people in one room have to pay for the package so it would cost around 100 bucks a day but they could just go get drinks and hand them to their friends away from the point of purchase. Seems like an easy loophole to me.

Well, for starters, under most jurisdictions that would be considered theft by conversion and subject you to prosecution in addition to possibly being kicked off the ship.

[Big_G]

Well, for starters, under most jurisdictions that would be considered theft by conversion and subject you to prosecution in addition to possibly being kicked off the ship.

 

Bingo!!! It's not 'gaming' or a 'loophole'. It's theft and when committed by those that can afford to cruise, it's ignorant.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mark290]

Well, for starters, under most jurisdictions that would be considered theft by conversion and subject you to prosecution in addition to possibly being kicked off the ship.

 

Right, that is so likely to happen. I'm sure there will be pages of threads about all the people being kicked off for theft conversion.

[ticktoneer]

Call me selfish, but I sure as heck don't want to waste precious vacation time sneaking around getting drinks for other passengers, even if they share the cost. It's just too much bother. Maybe other folks don't feel that way. Seems like a big time waster to me.

I agree !!!

[spookwife]

now if I am going to pay bookoo bucks for drink card (and using it just for me, playing by the rules )and they tell me I cant have a second drink because not enough time has passed between. I would be furious

 

:Dthinking of the time at the all inclusive when I saw my up there in age mom with a pina colada in one hand and a strawberry dariquri in the other coyly saying. I couldnt decide which I wanted.

 

so you are saying you can slam down an umbrella drink in 2 minutes and immediately go grab another? well by that token the bartender SHOULD deny you for being at risk of severe intoxication. I have no idea WHAT the 'suggested' time frame between serving is, we do not but the packages as there is no way in hell we can justify the cost. but just going by myself and how long it takes me to sip a glass of wine.. 15, 20 minutes minimum is not an unreasonable lag between drinks.

 

I have no desire to spend all night feeling like crap plus half the next day feeling worse.

[reney313]

This is not the company's first foray into the AI drink concept. i'm sure they have learned quite a bit from Celebrity's program (and other industry programs) and have set their price appropriately because of people that do this periodically...

 

That being said, I do consider this theft as well (even if it is baked into the price we all pay) and if more people do this than their estimates, then the $$ will go up for everyone. I don't want to spend my cruise stressed that someone would "catch" me giving a couple drinks away to friends/family or determining logistics of which bar to get drinks from for my friends, etc. Too much wasted time and stress on a vacation.

[webecruzin2]

Could always book a Celebrity cruise and get them for free over the next 14months if you book your cruise by the 27th of January :D

 

Just sayn

 

Brian J :eek:

 

What?!! What have I missed here, please? Haven't heard about this but I'll book one today if someone can explain what this is about on X.:D

 

Well, just found it on the X forum and now booking on X website for next year, yippee! Thanks for mentioning that, I probably would have found out about that too late.

[waterbug123]

From what i have read, they will only give you one drink each time. Unless you "ran" from bar to bar..:p

 

If they do it like Celebrity has, there is a waiting time before you can get a drink...even though you don't pay, they do swipe your Seapass (or whatever Celebrity calls it, I can't remember) and if you just got a drink from another bar 5 minutes ago, they won't give you another one until something like 15 minutes have passed.

[waterbug123]

now if I am going to pay bookoo bucks for drink card (and using it just for me, playing by the rules )and they tell me I cant have a second drink because not enough time has passed between. I would be furious

 

Unless you are planning on doing shots, it wouldn't be an issue.

 

Yes I can . the drinks I get mostly are ice and in small alcohol proportion to mixer and on a hot day if I get a drink and 15 minutes later want another one and they say it has to be 45 minutes in between I can be upset .

 

 

Relax. As I mentioned before, on Celebrity I think the wait time is something liek 15 minutes, which seems perfectly reasonable to me. I doubt RC is going to make you wait 45 minutes between beers.

[cruisnseas]

Now I haven't used it on Royal yet but I did on Celebrity and they swiped my card for each drink. A couple at our table was sharing their package with their friends and they got busted for doing this exact same thing (bar hopping to get drinks for everyone). They had trigger points that showed they were getting drinks more often than would be expected and so bar staff were alerted to monitor them (and remember, if they don't see it in person - that ship is COVERED in cameras). And they got shut off of the package.

 

Sure you might get away with it for awhile but don't think Royal won't be watching for this.

 

Plus, it is theft. There is that, too.

[eldolko]

I guess some people won't be truly happy until all cabins are $800 more expensive for a 7 night cruise and cocktails are "included" in the cruise fare. :mad:

 

I don't drink that much and rather see RCI keep the cruise fare down.

[tneah]

I'm just curious as to what keeps 4 people in 2 different staterooms from sharing the costs of the new alcohol packages. I know both people in one room have to pay for the package so it would cost around 100 bucks a day but they could just go get drinks and hand them to their friends away from the point of purchase. Seems like an easy loophole to me.

 

Sure, but that is a lot of time wasted on your vacation running back and forth to bars to get drinks for your friends. We all drink at different rates. If you order through one of the bartenders walking around, I'm sure they would see what's going on, right? They would keep a close eye on you. How much fun is his going to be by the second day?

 

I am sure RCI thought about this package and all the ways people could get around it. I figure if they start seeing excessive ordering let's say in an hours time. Perhaps they might start monitoring you to see if you are really the one consuming the products or handing them out. I would think if you got caught that you'd get a warning or be prevented from using your package for the duration of the cruise.

[CruisinDawn]

Call me selfish, but I sure as heck don't want to waste precious vacation time sneaking around getting drinks for other passengers, even if they share the cost. It's just too much bother. Maybe other folks don't feel that way. Seems like a big time waster to me.

I agree!!

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[VillaHappy]

EVERY system, from taxes to drink packages and in between, has loopholes.

[BecciBoo]

Yep.

 

 

I've said it before: What I'd really like to have is a punch card good for 10 drinks or so. Or a coupon book good for 10 drinks. .

 

Perfect...at a slight discount to make it worth while and then you could buy as many cards as you need.

I typically only consume maybe 3 to 4 a day and port days less. So two of these or maybe even a $20, $30 and $40 denominations amounts would work great for us. But then again, I guess that is actually what your sea pass card does right now.....

[TravelerThom]

On a related [alcohol] topic. Why does RCI continue the alcohol smuggling games? I think if they wanted to, RCI could do away with 99% of alcohol smuggling attempts in two weeks or less. Require that at check-in passenger sign a statement that they are aware that no liquor is allowed to be carried on-board, allow you at that point to confess to your rum-runners, and make it clear that if you are then found in violation you will be denied boarding with no refund, and then enforce it. Sure, they may only catch half the smugglers, but how many people are going to take a 50/50 risk of being thrown off the ship for one bottle of booze? The current penalty of RCI will hold your liquor for you and return it at the end of the cruise is a joke. RCI should either enforce their rules or do away with them. And no, I'm not holding my breath until that happens.:rolleyes:

[Havingfun2010]

A loop hole is when something is found to legally bypass a law (or rule) without getting into trouble.

 

Sailing with a group of friends and only some people buying the package and letting others use it, is not a loophole. It is being dishonest, and could be considered by many as stealing. Which is different than a loophole, because you are taking something and not paying for it. Personnally, I wouldn't want to get kicked off a ship for the sake of a few beers.

 

Yes people do it all the time and will continue to do it all the time.

[tneah]

On a related [alcohol] topic. Why does RCI continue the alcohol smuggling games? I think if they wanted to, RCI could do away with 99% of alcohol smuggling attempts in two weeks or less. Require that at check-in passenger sign a statement that they are aware that no liquor is allowed to be carried on-board, allow you at that point to confess to your rum-runners, and make it clear that if you are then found in violation you will be denied boarding with no refund, and then enforce it. Sure, they may only catch half the smugglers, but how many people are going to take a 50/50 risk of being thrown off the ship for one bottle of booze? The current penalty of RCI will hold your liquor for you and return it at the end of the cruise is a joke. RCI should either enforce their rules or do away with them. And no, I'm not holding my breath until that happens.:rolleyes:

 

I think they will have more to lose ($$$$$) if smuggling guest were really denied boarding. Afterall, if their booze is taken, the guests now are forced to buy drinks.:p

[MagentaandRiffRaff]

It is being done. :o:p

 

And apparently it works well despite the "timing" of drinks. ;)

[Mark_K]

Right, that is so likely to happen. I'm sure there will be pages of threads about all the people being kicked off for theft conversion.

More likely for a first offense you would just lose your free drink privileges, but one never knows for sure. If you're being particularly egregious abut it, they might decide to make an example of you.