underage designation on Costa Cruises

[misshaley]

Does Costa designate somehow that a passenger is underage. I will be traveling with 3 teenage boys on the Magica... 18, 18, and 20. I light of the events in January I am assuming they are making some kind of designation on their card (hopefully) Our cabins are on a different deck and opposite sides of the ship from each other and i am just a little worried. The temptaion might just be too great to drink if the alcohol is available freely.

[joetrizeo]

on the magica on 2/26-3/5 i hung out with a lot of 17-20 year olds (they were cool) there was no designation as to 'underages vs of-age' to drink...HOWEVER... They were VERY vigilant and very strict about carding people and checking id's (atleast in the disco where the younger ones hang out.) they kept checking my brother's and my id's and asking us 'who are these drinks for' when i would buy for my brother or friend. then they asked 'how old are they'

i even witnessed some 19 and 20 year olds come into the disco with beers. the waitress asked them for thier id's and they didnt have them so she took the beers away.

 

so to answer your question no, but are they inforcing the 21 and over requirement?, yes, heavily. Could they drink if they really wanted to? if there's a will there's a way. Best way to protect your children is through education. Plus alcohol isnt 'free' so somewhere on some costa card (either you're or thiers) the charge for every drink or item they buy has to show up.

 

-Jim

[snowbear24]

the cards are coded,on the back there will be 2 stars after the name if you are under 21...they also ask for i.d. when in doubt. we were just on the Med. and they inforced it. only way would be if they found someone willing to buy drinks for them. good luck and happy crusing:)

[shortytv]

I was on the magica 3/5-3/12 and we were with a group that ranged from 20-26. Those under 21 had two astericks beside their name on their card, however for some reason there was a mix up and it wasn't included on all cause one girl didn't have it and she was 20. They did however ask us for ID for every alcohol purchase. So unless they have someone buying it for them it would be hard to get drinks.

[skolega]

Yes, the under age group has 2 stars beside their names. Somehow, they are getting the alcohol though. My 15 year old son was in the disco almost every night and he said there were many drunk teenagers. On one night, 2 of them threw up right in the disco from too much alcohol. One girl asked my friend to buy her a drink.

[joetrizeo]

I retract my comment about no designation, i am human, i error. sorry. (wish i could edit my post, but its past the 20 min limit)

[luv2trvl1]

Just back from the Costa Med...

 

On this cruise they punched holes in the Costa cards of those who were underage, like my 14yr old daughter. This was a very easy way for the bartenders to see who was "legal" and who was not.

 

I felt that Costa did a very good job of keeping on top of who they sold drinks to. In fact, I met a woman who turned 21 on this cruise and it took almost 2days for them to change her card and paperwork to allow her to order a drink from the bar... she wasn't happy with how strick their system was.

 

An earlier post reported seeing some drunk teens, but my guess is that smuggled booze from one of the ports stops were more a cause of that than anything Costa sold them.