RCI have bon voyage liquor?

[tizza2]

Carnival had liquor that one could buy from bon voyage, but you had to call and order it-like bacardi, etc.

 

Does RCI have this too? I suppose that I could just call and ask, but thought that I'd ask here first!

[andrzej5914]

You can order wine through their "gifts and ?" section on their website. It will be waiting for you in the stateroom. No hard stuff....

[kyriecat]

RC quit selling liquor by the bottle in late 2005/early 2006. You have to buy your liquor by the glass now. You can order by the glass through room service, but the actual service is hit or miss. I've had it take over an hour to get a drink delivered. I think the least amount of time that I've had to wait has been around 30 minutes. It's usually easier to run to the bar and get it yourself.

[CupKayke]

Hubby paid $14 for a double shot of vodka ~ not even nearly HALF a glass ~ one year ago exactly. We couldn't sneak the liquor onboard, we couldn't bring the liquor back from ports, and we couldn't buy liquor pre-cruise like Carnival allows, and it would be a ridiculous waste of money to buy real liquor on the ship... and therefore, very very sadly, we will not be sailing Royal Caribbean again... and I REALLY want to see Oasis of the Seas.

 

I can't understand why they don't allow you to at least purchase a bottle of something ~ even at increased prices ~ it would be available for those who want it and it would be a profit for them.

[BroncosFan2010]

I don't know of any cruise lines that let you bring bottles of hard alcohol aboard. Celebrity will do a bar set-up in the room where you can choose bottles of alcohol and mixers.

[CupKayke]

Princess and Carnival both allow you to pre-purchase liquor. It is in your stateroom when you arrive. This saves a ton of money when you are taking long cruises ~ 8/9 days or more. I've yet to see about Norwegian but they have some good routes and a ship I'd like to see, too!

 

Anyway, I'm not bashing Royal Caribbean overall ~ they had a wonderful ship, fantastic room service, lots to do, etc.

[RoofingPrincess]

Hubby paid $14 for a double shot of vodka ~ not even nearly HALF a glass

A shot of liquor is 1.5 fl oz, so a double would be 3 oz - no, that wouldn't be nearly half a glass, unless the glass is a 6 oz juice glass.

I've purchased Irish whiskey and cognac straight up, no ice or mixers, and never felt I wasn't getting my money's worth.

[Merion_Mom]

Hubby paid $14 for a double shot of vodka ~ not even nearly HALF a glass ~ one year ago exactly. We couldn't sneak the liquor onboard, we couldn't bring the liquor back from ports, and we couldn't buy liquor pre-cruise like Carnival allows, and it would be a ridiculous waste of money to buy real liquor on the ship... and therefore, very very sadly, we will not be sailing Royal Caribbean again... and I REALLY want to see Oasis of the Seas.

 

I can't understand why they don't allow you to at least purchase a bottle of something ~ even at increased prices ~ it would be available for those who want it and it would be a profit for them.

 

A shot of liquor is 1.5 fl oz, so a double would be 3 oz - no, that wouldn't be nearly half a glass, unless the glass is a 6 oz juice glass.

I've purchased Irish whiskey and cognac straight up, no ice or mixers, and never felt I wasn't getting my money's worth.

 

I, too, consider RC's liquor bar prices reasonable. Cake & Tea: did your husband specify a brand? Some brands cost more than others.

 

Here's an example:

 

Jack Daniels is $5.50 for a VERY generous pour.

Courvoisier is $5.50 for a VERY generous pour.

 

Seriously, is that overpriced? Unreasonable? I don't think so.

 

Oh, and one more thing:

 

Princess and Carnival both allow you to pre-purchase liquor. It is in your stateroom when you arrive. This saves a ton of money when you are taking long cruises ~ 8/9 days or more. I've yet to see about Norwegian but they have some good routes and a ship I'd like to see, too!

That may be your goal, but it is NOT the cruiseline's! If they can't make a profit from your trip, they will go out of business.

[kyriecat]

. . . That may be your goal, but it is NOT the cruiseline's! If they can't make a profit from your trip, they will go out of business.

Actually the cruiselines that offer liquor set-ups are still making money. For example, my husband prefers Grey Goose vodka. We can buy a 1 litre bottle at our local liquor store for about $35. Holland America sells 1 litre bottles for $69 for in-cabin consumption. I assume they buy liquor at wholesale prices so it's around 100% mark-up. A screwdriver with Goose costs $7-$7.50 on both RC and HAL. Assuming my husband drinks 2 screwdrivers a night on a 10-night cruise, we'd spend $140 and not consume a whole litre of vodka.

 

We bring a small bottle the we fill with orange juice at breakfast then keep in the cabin fridge. While I'm getting ready for dinner, hubby can make himself a drink or two and relax. He's happy because he doesn't have to run to a bar to get a drink and HAL is happy because they are still making a profit on the bottle. We didn't drink the entire 1 litre bottle on our last HAL cruise - a 14-night.

 

We don't brink our in-cabin liquor to the dining room or other public areas on the ship. Duing dinner or shows, if we want drinks, we purchase them from a bar server.

 

RC had a similar policy that allowed you to buy liquor for in-cabin use prior to 2006. I'm not sure exactly why they stopped. There are rumors that it's because of the Smith incident, not enough profit, and kids getting hold of their parent's liquor but I never saw anything "official" from RC.

[Merion_Mom]

Actually the cruiselines that offer liquor set-ups are still making money. For example, my husband prefers Grey Goose vodka. We can buy a 1 litre bottle at our local liquor store for about $35. Holland America sells 1 litre bottles for $69 for in-cabin consumption. I assume they buy liquor at wholesale prices so it's around 100% mark-up. A screwdriver with Goose costs $7-$7.50 on both RC and HAL. Assuming my husband drinks 2 screwdrivers a night on a 10-night cruise, we'd spend $140 and not consume a whole litre of vodka.

 

We bring a small bottle the we fill with orange juice at breakfast then keep in the cabin fridge. While I'm getting ready for dinner, hubby can make himself a drink or two and relax. He's happy because he doesn't have to run to a bar to get a drink and HAL is happy because they are still making a profit on the bottle. We didn't drink the entire 1 litre bottle on our last HAL cruise - a 14-night.

 

We don't brink our in-cabin liquor to the dining room or other public areas on the ship. Duing dinner or shows, if we want drinks, we purchase them from a bar server.

 

RC had a similar policy that allowed you to buy liquor for in-cabin use prior to 2006. I'm not sure exactly why they stopped. There are rumors that it's because of the Smith incident, not enough profit, and kids getting hold of their parent's liquor but I never saw anything "official" from RC.

 

kyriecat, do you believe that RC would eliminate smuggling if it sold Grey Goose for $69 in-cabin?

 

I don't.

 

Many people would claim that THAT is a rip-off, and they are going to bring their own.

 

I hate to say it...........different cruiselines, different clienteles.

[kyriecat]

kyriecat, do you believe that RC would eliminate smuggling if it sold Grey Goose for $69 in-cabin?

 

I don't.

 

Many people would claim that THAT is a rip-off, and they are going to bring their own.

 

I hate to say it...........different cruiselines, different clienteles.

I wasn't addressing smuggling. There are threads on the Princess and HAL boards about how to smuggle even though they sell bottles of liquor. There aren't as many as on the RC boards, but the threads exist. I don't care enough about saving money to bother with smuggling. I was addressing your comment to Cake & Tea that allowing passengers to purchase bottles was not profitable to the cruiselines. I believe that it is profitable to the ones that allow it. When I sail on a cruiseline that allows bottles of liquor to be purchased for the cabin, then I buy it, if they have something that we drink. It's a convenience thing for me not a money saver.

 

When RC allowed purchasing of liquor for the cabin, we bought a bottle or two from them. Since RC doesn't allow bottled liquor anymore, our liquor bills are actually lower. While we enjoy drinks when returning from port or getting ready for dinner, drinking isn't important enough to us to run to a bar to get one. We've tried room service, but waiting 45+ minutes for a drink is too long. On RC cruises we wait until dinner to get a drink, although lately it's been nearly impossible to find a bar server. Last cruise, I only had drinks during 3 of 7 nights onboard because the bar service was so slow. I had to find the bar server a couple times to cancel my order and get my SeaPass card back because the drink that I ordered before dinner hadn't arrived in time for dessert.

[Merion_Mom]

I am just talking about how a cruiseline can make money.

 

Royal Caribbean has made a decision to strictly enforce a policy of no one bringing any alcohol of any kind on board. I believe that while it is partly a decision based on legal matters, I believe that it is mostly an economic decision.

 

They have weighed how much they make when they sell bottles, and how much they make at the bars, and have decided that a no-bottles-sales policy works for them.

 

I don't have to like it; I used to bring on my own, buy it the first night, have a gift basket delivered. But now I just patronize the bars. Just not worth the hassle.

 

Tips, bar bills, excursions, casino - these are all expenses that I budget for when planning a cruise. If the cruise fare along with these other numbers doesn't compute, then I don't take that cruise at that time.

 

Some people have airfare; some don't. Some have very expensive airfare; some can find bargain fares.

 

It's all part of an adult decision-making algorithm.

 

For me, Royal Caribbean is still worth it.

 

For this coming spring, I looked VERY hard at a Regent cruise. Yes, it is much more expensive than one on RC. So I tried to compute the cost of the things that Regent includes: gratuities, alcohol, excursions, airfare - all are included in your Regent fare.

 

If you consider that the cabin size is about equal to a JS on Royal Caribbean, it isn't an outlandish comparison. It's still higher, but that wasn't the deciding factor.

 

I don't think that I'm ready to be on a Regent ship for 10 nights. And I know for sure that my young adult offspring are not!

 

So, for now, it's Royal Caribbean for us, with its repressive and restrictive alcohol policies.

 

And I am quite happy with my choice!

 

:)

[American Bear]

Actually if you are a casino club member, you get to drink for free while you are gambling on a RCL cruise!

When I'm not in the Casino, I tip the server a little extra when I order which means the server checks on me frequently, and my drink, usually a double vodka with a glass of tonic on the side, is a generous pour! If it isn't, I tell hem why I'm leaving to find another bar, there are plenty of them on the ship!

It also helps to pick bars not as busy so the servers remember you're the tipper they should take care of!

And to the posters who think they don't sneak as much on RCL as they do Carnival, sorry I don't believe that! The extra money it costs to cruise RCL leads me to believe it happens just as much, maybe more then Carnival!

[Merion_Mom]

Actually if you are a casino club member, you get to drink for free while you are gambling on a RCL cruise!

When I'm not in the Casino, I tip the server a little extra when I order which means the server checks on me frequently, and my drink, usually a double vodka with a glass of tonic on the side, is a generous pour! If it isn't, I tell hem why I'm leaving to find another bar, there are plenty of them on the ship!

It also helps to pick bars not as busy so the servers remember you're the tipper they should take care of!

And to the posters who think they don't sneak as much on RCL as they do Carnival, sorry I don't believe that! The extra money it costs to cruise RCL leads me to believe it happens just as much, maybe more then Carnival!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

[Thetrail]

Hubby paid $14 for a double shot of vodka ~ not even nearly HALF a glass ~ one year ago exactly. We couldn't sneak the liquor onboard, we couldn't bring the liquor back from ports, and we couldn't buy liquor pre-cruise like Carnival allows, and it would be a ridiculous waste of money to buy real liquor on the ship... and therefore, very very sadly, we will not be sailing Royal Caribbean again... and I REALLY want to see Oasis of the Seas.

 

I can't understand why they don't allow you to at least purchase a bottle of something ~ even at increased prices ~ it would be available for those who want it and it would be a profit for them.

You'll be denying yourself a cruise on one of the most amazing ships afloat, have fun on carnival...:rolleyes: