Drinks in Cabin

[koromo1]

Was on the Dream for two weeks from 21 September. on the front page of the Cruise News we received on the Friday night for the middle Saturday in Palma was:

 

Gangway Alcohol Policy

'you can only drink the alcohol that staff sell you on board. Thanks for your cooperation'

 

I promptly locked up my bottles in our suitcase only to be removed to drink then locked back up again after the last time they did this in the Caribbean. Our supply was not removed it was only drunk in the cabin. I don't know if anyone had any removed or stopped from bringing it on board that Saturday.

[Langtoncouple]

I wonder why they have gone back to this rule. Maybe people were abusing it and were taking their own drinks to public places on the ship. But this rule is in line with what most shipping companies enforce.

[Little Nell]

It is good that it is still permissible to drink duty free in your cabin. I can understand why Thomson don't want people to bring drink onboard when they sell it duty free.

[jaceyar]

Yes but in the Caribbean they wouldn't let you take duty free you had bought in their shop - it was kept til the last night of your holiday.

On Princess they allow you to take onboard one bottle of wine each and then any extra, you pay corkage. But on Ruby they never checked our carryons and we also bought extra at some ports. We only drank a glass whilst getting ready and the occasional bottle of fizz on the balcony!

 

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[geomagot]

yes...last year on dream (in caribbean) my duty free was confiscated at the gangway and returned to me at the end of the cruise (so was a cup of rum punch from the rum runner which I had to down atthe gangway!)

 

I severely hope they are not re-introducing this policy?:(

[Jakanne1]

Wasn't this a trial for a month which actually only lasted 2 weeks?

[Huddersfieldtourist]

What next - only cigarettes bought on the ship in the shop can be smoked - what if they do not sell your favourite brand. You could say I like a Bordeaux Claret in my cabin but if you can not buy it on board tthen what happens ?

 

Very bad idea in my opinion.

 

Need to allow people to drink and infact eat ( if they buy something ashore such as a bar of chocolate etc ) in their own cabin.

 

If it is a policy it should be notified in advance of people booking too.

 

How many hotels ban you from buying things at the supermarket for use in your own bedroom ?

[campolady]

How many hotels ban you from buying things at the supermarket for use in your own bedroom ?

 

Unbelievably, a hotel friends of ours stayed at in Turkey searched every guests bags for bottles of Water each time they returned to the hotel. Bottles of Water were immediately confiscated and returned on checking-out so guests could only buy the hotels supply of water.

[Huddersfieldtourist]

How many hotels ban you from buying things at the supermarket for use in your own bedroom ?

 

Unbelievably, a hotel friends of ours stayed at in Turkey searched every guests bags for bottles of Water each time they returned to the hotel. Bottles of Water were immediately confiscated and returned on checking-out so guests could only buy the hotels supply of water.

 

Unbelievably - yes ! And a hotel in a very small minority I would assume.

 

And I wonder if your friends will go again to that hotel and moreover what impact it has had on Repeat bookings ?

 

Taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut is the wrong policy.

[jingles29]

We have just returned from The Spirit and we had a bottle of wine in our cabin ( which we ended up not drinking ) which we brought on board and there was no problem with this i think it becomes a problem when people bring their own drinks to the restaurant etc. Unbelievably we saw a women opening her own small bottle of wine at the dinner table in the MDR and we saw her do the same on a few occasions in the show lounge :eek:

[Julessmiles]

We have just returned from The Spirit, Unbelievably we saw a women opening her own small bottle of wine at the dinner table in the MDR and we saw her do the same on a few occasions in the show lounge :eek:

 

 

What a bloomin cheek - she should have been made to walk the plank!

[koromo1]

You can't buy alcohol on the Dream in the Med from the shops as it is in the EU. They do not sell it.

[BaggersCruising]

Yes but in the Caribbean they wouldn't let you take duty free you had bought in their shop - it was kept til the last night of your holiday.

On Princess they allow you to take onboard one bottle of wine each and then any extra, you pay corkage. But on Ruby they never checked our carryons and we also bought extra at some ports. We only drank a glass whilst getting ready and the occasional bottle of fizz on the balcony!

 

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On the Dream last year in the Caribbean (Feb 2012), we didn't have the AI package they were open about purchasing duty free from the onboard shop and drinking it in our cabin.

 

We even purchased some fizzy drinks on shore and brought them back on for consumption in the cabin, again with no problems.

 

Here's hoping they haven't changed that policy when we go back on the Dream next month!

 

Baggers

[jaceyar]

The new (experimental) alcohol policy was started the day we arrived in Barbados (24/03/13) on boarding the ship. It also suddenly changed things for people about to start their 2nd week.

 

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[geomagot]

yep....we were in our 2nd week (dream, caribbean, march) when this policy started.....no probs in the 1st week

 

soft drinks were ok....all alcohol was taken off you at the gangway and bottles purchased from the duty free shop were held until the last day

 

they would literally unwrap your shopping at the gangway and confiscate any alcohol:(

 

we were told it was a trial...it lasted about 2 weeks, after that there were no more reports of this happening again....until now??

[BaggersCruising]

yep....we were in our 2nd week (dream, caribbean, march) when this policy started.....no probs in the 1st week

 

soft drinks were ok....all alcohol was taken off you at the gangway and bottles purchased from the duty free shop were held until the last day

 

they would literally unwrap your shopping at the gangway and confiscate any alcohol:(

 

we were told it was a trial...it lasted about 2 weeks, after that there were no more reports of this happening again....until now??

 

Well fingers crossed it hasn't started again. I know they need to try these things sometimes but it is incredibly harsh on the people who happened to be on the boat at the time!

 

We did a ship visit with P&O recently and our tour guide mentioned, that whilst P&O's official policy is that no alcohol is to be brought onboard, they're quite happy for you to buy alcohol on shore to drink in your cabin, but any purchased from the onboard shops would be held until the end of the cruise. At least Thomson make (or at least made) money out of people by allowing onboard purchases to be consumed in the cabin (makes much more sense!)

 

Baggers

[geomagot]

tbh If they prevent people from drinking their items purchased from the on board duty free shop in their cabins....I cant see that shop selling too many bottles?

 

especially in caribbean

 

much easier to just purchase your duty free on the aircraft....saves having to pack the bottles in your hold luggage and risk having them smashed up by baggage handlers?

 

if I owned that on board shop concession I wouldn’t be a happy bunny?

 

We were told last year (in a letter from thoms) that this policy was implemented to align thomsons with other cruise lines policy’s

 

Okay thoms……if you are going to align yourselves with other cruise lines….we require: free cabin selection, free select your seat, free safes and balconies…oh and free room service and fluffy bathrobes & slippers in deluxe cabins too

 

and……

 

a loyalty scheme

Edited October 19, 2013 by geomagot

[BaggersCruising]

Okay thoms……if you are going to align yourselves with other cruise lines….we require: free cabin selection, free select your seat, free safes and balconies…oh and free room service and fluffy bathrobes & slippers in deluxe cabins too

 

and……

 

a loyalty scheme

 

Haha, nicely put! And.....some much newer ships!!!

 

Baggers

[Huddersfieldtourist]

The shop is not open all the time and from memory it does not even sell wine or various other drinks/mixers if you want some for your cabin.

 

So if they stop you from bringing it on board then they need to stock a much,much wider choice than they currently do in the shop.

 

Failing that you will only be able to get what you want from the bar when it is open and carry the glass back there without spilling it on the carpets on the way.

 

I think they need to leave it as it was in the past until they can either sort out a workable alternative or just carry on as before.

 

There will always be a handful of passengers who sneek a small bottle of something in to a theatre or even the MDR possibly but out of 1400 passengers it is not worth the effort to police at the moment coupled with the ill feeling it creates for the 1350+ passengers that stick to the rules.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Huddersfieldtourist

[kruzseeka]

tbh If they prevent people from drinking their items purchased from the on board duty free shop in their cabins....I cant see that shop selling too many bottles?

 

especially in caribbean

 

much easier to just purchase your duty free on the aircraft....saves having to pack the bottles in your hold luggage and risk having them smashed up by baggage handlers?

 

if I owned that on board shop concession I wouldn’t be a happy bunny?

 

We were told last year (in a letter from thoms) that this policy was implemented to align thomsons with other cruise lines policy’s

 

Okay thoms……if you are going to align yourselves with other cruise lines….we require: free cabin selection, free select your seat, free safes and balconies…oh and free room service and fluffy bathrobes & slippers in deluxe cabins too

 

and……

 

a loyalty scheme

 

Excellent points geo - as usual! ;)

 

Also the prices in the duty free in Barbados airport are very good - we got some bottles of Mount Gay rum @ about 11US$ for 1L bottles on our way home. We were well chuffed as we'd decided we hadn't got room in our cases to secrete a couple of bottles - able to pay by credit card too.

[geomagot]

yes....and you can use up all your leftover barbados dollars too:cool::cool:

[grab1]

yep....we were in our 2nd week (dream, caribbean, march) when this policy started.....no probs in the 1st week

 

soft drinks were ok....all alcohol was taken off you at the gangway and bottles purchased from the duty free shop were held until the last day

 

they would literally unwrap your shopping at the gangway and confiscate any alcohol:(

 

we were told it was a trial...it lasted about 2 weeks, after that there were no more reports of this happening again....until now??

 

Hi Geo I didn't know you were on the same week we were!

Couldn't miss me looking every where for pino Grigio :)

[Jakanne1]

Hi Geo I didn't know you were on the same week we were!

Couldn't miss me looking every where for pino Grigio :)

 

And you are on my second week, I notice. Not long now! :)

[grab1]

And you are on my second week, I notice. Not long now! :)

 

We most certainly are :) and looking forward to a bit of sunshine and getting away from this wet country for 2 weeks :eek:

[lovecruise22]

Have they re introduced this does anyone know? Hubbie likes w whiskey in the cabin while I'm getting ready as I take too long apparently :)

 

 

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