Wine/ other alcohol on ships: changes?

[mirkymirk]

Hello all & thanks in advance for your answers.

 

I have been reading some of the posts related to bringing alcohol on board. My parents have cruised twice with the same line (Princess) and have brought wine on board (a couple of bottles) and not been requested to pay any fee. Their cruises were in 2005 & 2006.

 

However, I have been reading and it seems that lines are tightening up on this? Are there certain cruise operators that DO NOT allow wine/ other alcohol while some have not yet changed their policy? I know about the corkage fee as well but there seems to be a variety of answers on the boards related to this whole thing...and I don't want to get into smuggling it on board and all that entails.

 

Carnival? NCL? Princess? RC? Holland America? Celebrity? Others?

[Liz54]

I cruised Princess March 10-17. We each brought a couple of bottles of wine on board. we dis not "hide" them, just put them in our carry on. There was no problem. We had some in our room, and took some to the dining room. The waier charged us a $15.00 corkage fee for each bottle in the Dining Room. He then stored our unused wine and it was waiting at the table each night when we sat down.

Wine ordered in the dining room from Princess wine list was from $29.00 and up, so we saved money, but not a huge amount.

Hope this helps.

 

As for other lines, I had the same experience at Royal Caribbean, but that was 2004 so things may have changed!

[mirkymirk]

Thanks for that answer, specifically in regards to Princess cruises. I'll be interested to learn more, especially as my 2nd cruise this year is with NCL.

[chasetf]

.......Carnival? NCL? Princess? RC? Holland America? Celebrity? Others?

The cruise line web sites will specify their policy. For instance, Carnival has pretty much a total ban on any drinks (alcholoic or not) (even water).

 

That is what their site says. How a cruise line may implement it or carry it out at the dock during boarding may differ from their stated policy. There are lots of testimonials from folks that will tell you they smuggled it in their checked bag, put a luggage tag on a case at the dock for delivery to their room, drug a duffle bag or a cooler as they boarded the ship.

 

Guess it is "pay your money and take your chance" if it is important to you to have your Propel water, Pepsi, special label beer not available on board, or wine for dinner.

[mirkymirk]

I'll have to do some research into NCL after my upcoming Princess cruise (that I now find out does allow "wine & champagne" to be brought on board). We're sailing NCL's Star in September but haven't received any documentation yet. If anyone has any experience - post away! (Thanks)

[kitty9]

All lines, including NCL are getting stingy with bringing any kind of alcohol on board ships. NCL has a policy of charging $15 for corkage when you bring your own wine into the dining room. When people bring their own stuff on board, it cuts into their profits, so they are taking away bottles of liquor when they find them. They say you can bring a reasonable amount of wine on board, usually 2 to 4 bottles, but not anything else.