Lets boycott RCCL's new alcohol purchase policy

Just off the Monarch and found out that RCCL has again changed the alcohol purchase policy in their quest to get a few more $$ out of cruisers.

They are no longer delivering purchases to staterooms on the last day of the cruise. They are now requiring passengers to pick up their purchases between 7 and 9 am on their way off the ship.

This policy also applies to purchases that were made at a port and held when returning to the ship and to purchases made late the last day when you used to be able to just take it back with you.

The pickup point for port purchases was in one place (I think the theater) and the pickup point for onboard purchases was at the store.

After finding out about this change we opted to skip the purchase because it is too much of a hassle to go and retrieve the purchases in the morning and I like to have it packed in my suitcase the night before.

We need to send a message to RCCL that this is unacceptable. I am urging anyone who normally purchases alcohol at the ship's duty free to skip that and instead purchase the alcohol at one of the ports. You will still have to go through the hassle of picking up your purchases, but at least RCCL will not be benefiting from your purchases.

Oh wow Carnival tried this and it failed big time. They are back to delivering it to the cabins

NCL does this. We had to claim our liquor on the sky back in April.

I always have to bring Sugar Cane Brandy back from the islands for my mom because she can't buy it here.

In all honesty it was not a big deal for us. Maybe on a HUGE ship it might be a little more frustrating.

On the only NCL cruise we have taken this is how it was handled.

We no longer buy any due to flying but if we ever get a chance to drive again I will buy it onboard and get my double points.

I don't understand how this will "fly".. literally.

We drive to the port so it not a big deal but on the ports that we have to fly to, I can not imagine having to pick up the alcohol, go find my luggage and then having to repack it in the luggage before going to the airport since TSA will not allow you to carry it onboard.

I don't understand how this will "fly".. literally.

 

We drive to the port so it not a big deal but on the ports that we have to fly to, I can not imagine having to pick up the alcohol, go find my luggage and then having to repack it in the luggage before going to the airport since TSA will not allow you to carry it onboard.

What is so hard about opening a suitcase, put the box in the middle and reclose the suitcase? Really doesn't seem to be a big deal.

We claim our booze at the local ABC store:D Heck with carting all that liquid around through airports,etc..

Just off Liberty a week ago today and it wasn't like that.

What is so hard about opening a suitcase, put the box in the middle and reclose the suitcase? Really doesn't seem to be a big deal.

Gotta agree with you on this. If you want to purchase it just leave some room in a suitcase and stick it in. Easy enough.

Just out of curiosity, how does this get RCCL more money from the cruisers? Whether you wait at the store or at another location, you are still waiting. Perhaps the cruiseline got wind of the fact that many crusiers were posting about their "last night" parties with alchohol purchased onboard?

I say go ahead with the boycott if you wish. You can all wait in the longer lines at the theatre. That will be fewer passengers waiting to pick up their purchases with me at the store.

Just got off the Oasis Saturday 11/26/2011...They delivered to our room our purchases from St Thomas and on the last day we were able to buy from the port store and bring it back to the room.

Gotta agree with you on this. If you want to purchase it just leave some room in a suitcase and stick it in. Easy enough.

Don't make it too easy or they won't have anything to boycott!!! (After all, isn't it just the opposite of how they smuggled it onboard?)

Just got off the Oasis Saturday 11/26/2011...They delivered to our room our purchases from St Thomas and on the last day we were able to buy from the port store and bring it back to the room.

I really don't think that this is a new thing. At least with the Monarch it isn't. The last two times I have sailed Monarch we have had to pick up our purchases the morning of. Maybe the shorter cruises don't give the staff the time they need to deliver. I really don't know. To specify, however, both of the cruises where we had to pick up the alchohol were 3 nighters.

I am sure some bean counter calculated that they could sell another 300-500 drinks @ $8 a pop on the last day if they hold the alcohol so no one can make a drink with it.

That is an extra $8,000 a week on the 3/4 night sailing. This would be about half or $4k on a 7 night cruise which is perhaps why I have only heard about it on Monarch 3/4 days and Jewel 4/5 days.

Just out of curiosity, how does this get RCCL more money from the cruisers? Whether you wait at the store or at another location, you are still waiting. Perhaps the cruiseline got wind of the fact that many crusiers were posting about their "last night" parties with alchohol purchased onboard?

 

I say go ahead with the boycott if you wish. You can all wait in the longer lines at the theatre. That will be fewer passengers waiting to pick up their purchases with me at the store.

Did RCI actually say this was a fleet wide policy change?

We were on the Mariner a few years ago and they made us collect our liquor on the last day too, but have not seen it again.

This may have been a logistics issue for this sailing?

I have a feeling that it is not a fleetwide policy that has come from corporate, but a policy put in place by the revenue director onboard the ship which is why we are not seeing a uniform policy between ships.

There is a huge about of competition between ships revenue directors so if one starts doing it and another hears that it is increasing revenue you can be sure they will try it too.

Did RCI actually say this was a fleet wide policy change?

We were on the Mariner a few years ago and they made us collect our liquor on the last day too, but have not seen it again.

This may have been a logistics issue for this sailing?

Not that big a deal. Yes, I too have heard of excessive last night at sea parties....as a result of the earlier purchased booze.

If it makes more money for RCI, good for them during this lousy economy. Making a "profit" is not a dirty word. I, for one, hope their profits are rock solid so I can continue to cruise on one of my favorite cruise lines.

We all make our own decisions on how to spend our $$$$.....so I see nothing wrong with your point of view, I just happen to have a differing point of view.

I really don't think that this is a new thing. At least with the Monarch it isn't. The last two times I have sailed Monarch we have had to pick up our purchases the morning of. Maybe the shorter cruises don't give the staff the time they need to deliver. I really don't know. To specify, however, both of the cruises where we had to pick up the alchohol were 3 nighters.

This was the policy on Monarch when she sailed from LA, so nothing new there. I do think that you could take your purchases directly to your cabin if you bought after something like 9:00 pm.

It would be a big deal for somebody using the luggage valet service, since you don't see your checked bags until you're at your home airport.

I am sure some bean counter calculated that they could sell another 300-500 drinks @ $8 a pop on the last day if they hold the alcohol so no one can make a drink with it.

 

That is an extra $8,000 a week on the 3/4 night sailing. This would be about half or $4k on a 7 night cruise which is perhaps why I have only heard about it on Monarch 3/4 days and Jewel 4/5 days.

You seem to understand the reason why they are doing it on the Monarch and from a business standpoint it makes sense to do this. A 3 or 4 day cruise to the Bahamas on an older ship is what used to be known as a booze cruise. They don't charge much for the cruise itself but make it up selling drinks. Why should they be expected to give up a full night of selling drinks on a 3 night cruise?

I am also going to take a guess here and say that the 3 and 4 day Monarch cruisers are probably primarily people who drive to the port and can easily take their liquor (even if the bottle is open) home with them. So maybe on the Monarch there is a disproportionate number of people buying liquor on board than on 7 or longer night cruises on the newer ships which will tend to have more people who are flying in to port.

By the way, if you really want to boycott or punish the cruise line then you shouldn't buy any drinks on board that last night either.

Ok, count me in. Maybe it's time to use the Rum Runners at every port and stop buying all drinks on board.

It was like that on the Radiance out of san diego MR cruise, but not on any other RCCl cruise I have been on. It wasnt that big of a deal.

If it is just on the Monarch why not cruise on another ship?

I edited to corrrect my error on ships

It was like that on the Mariner out of LA but not on any other RCCl cruise I have been on. It wasnt that big of a deal. If it is just on the Monarch why not cruise on another ship?

We did a number of cruises on the Mariner from LA (we could drive)and never had to pick up our liquor purchases.

Gotta agree with you on this. If you want to purchase it just leave some room in a suitcase and stick it in. Easy enough.

We have not purchased liquor for years - however this would not work for the luggage valet program - and they really seem to be pushing this (it's an excellent program).

With luggage valet program you pack your bag, put it outside your cabin the night before, and don't see it again until your "home" airport carousel of luggage.

We did a number of cruises on the Mariner from LA (we could drive)and never had to pick up our liquor purchases.

OOPS:o your right it was the Radiance 9 night out of San Diego

The Mariner we had the bomb scare in PV and we walked our booze right to our cabin and than the captain gave us free drinks for an hour:D

Gotta agree with you on this. If you want to purchase it just leave some room in a suitcase and stick it in. Easy enough.

Not that simple really... we had to split up the 5 bottles into different suit cases so they had to be re-packed carefully on the last cruise. Otherwise we would have been over our weight limits on the luggage.

Also, what happens if you were going to use the luggage delivery program?