Carnival Spirit Embarkation Alcohol Policy

[Debsta]

Just posted by Carnival Cruise Lines Australia today on their facebook page:

 

If you are on cruises departing Sydney on 20th & 28th October, 8th, 16th & 27th November, 6th December, you are in luck.

We’ve actually just reconsidered our policy on wine and will not be allowing any alcohol at all to be brought on board on day of embarkation. The change brings us in line with P&O and is consistent with the kind of experience we want to provide on board. We realize some of you cruising in the next few weeks may have seen our previous position on this and we will go ahead and allow one bottle of up to 750 ml (for guest 18 years and older) to be brought on board in your hand luggage at embarkation though the December 13, 2012 sailing.

[fishtaco]

Lol what a money grab:D if this statment doesnt convince OZ cruisers just how much we are being blatently ripped of then nothing will:)

 

"consistent with the kind of experience we want to provide on board." lol

 

Paying ships inflated prices in substitute for the One per adult bottle of wine or fizzy you are normally allowed to bring on Carnival is good for us and stops all that alcohol abuse and rowdy unsocial behavior lol.

 

Den

[fishtaco]

Let the smuggling threads begin:) I have some beauties that have worked and am sure will still work but I am not going to let on given the cruise lines read these threads;)

 

Den

[Tejas57]

Glad I'm booked on 16/11. You can guarantee we will have our bottles.

[lizzy77]

AND..... they strictly enforce it too. We were on a cruise out of Honoulu and lots of folks had their wine and all their duty free confiscated....never to be seen again. Yes no naughty room for it to be locked up and returned at the end of the cruise... gone!!!!

[MMDown Under]

AND..... they strictly enforce it too. We were on a cruise out of Honoulu and lots of folks had their wine and all their duty free confiscated....never to be seen again. Yes no naughty room for it to be locked up and returned at the end of the cruise... gone!!!!

 

Moral of the story - Make sure you get a receipt for any confiscated wine/duty free. I got a receipt for mine, which I bought as a souvenir to take home.

[kaseyoz]

Bear in mind these cruises could be "schoolies" cruises are they are the only cruise line allowing under 21 to book without a 21 year old chaperone.

Could turn nasty if they all took booze with them. I am sure it is just retricting the schoolies timeframe cruises not all of them.

I agree with that.

[kaseyoz]

Just re read Deb's [post and it looks like the opposite of what I thought. They are allowing booze to be taken on up until December.

Hope we do not get too much bad press.

[Big Budgie]

I assume they mean wine and not spirits?

[Aus Traveller]

If they still let passengers take on a limited amount of wine each, I don't think the schoolies could have much of a party with a bottle each. If they are inclined to smuggle spirits, they will still try to get away with it.

 

Confiscating alcohol and not returning it at the end of the cruise is not good. :(

[10greenbottles]

Wonder if we can purchase a bottle of wine onboard? Do we get room service and be charged for the delivery and corkage. Was looking forward to a glass of wine on balcony before dinner...it seems a "funny decision and unfair decision (being some can before a date and others can't after a date) to me" as if one bottle of wine over a 13 day cruise would cause "misery" to any other passengers experiences...just saying!

[fishtaco]

Wonder if we can purchase a bottle of wine onboard? Do we get room service and be charged for the delivery and corkage. Was looking forward to a glass of wine on balcony before dinner...it seems a "funny decision and unfair decision (being some can before a date and others can't after a date) to me" as if one bottle of wine over a 13 day cruise would cause "misery" to any other passengers experiences...just saying!

 

Its not because it will cause any misery to any cruises at all its to keep inline with Australian cruisers "Overall Experience we are used to" lol

 

On Carnival USA We Were allowed to buy any type of booze by the bottle from any bar and take it back to the cabin to be consumed because bar bottle prices were worked out at ships shot prices and wine by the bottle was also inflated (but cheap enough)

 

We bought the carnival USA" Bon Voyage shop booze" that can only be purchased before embarkation on their web site and was allowed to drink it freely anywhere on the ship except in MRD,we had two 1 lt bottles of vodka waiting in our cabin for us when we arrived:) They cost around $50 each which USA cruisers think exorbitant prices (well it is when you see how cheap booze is in USA).

 

Two bottles of bring aboard wine and the 2 bottles of vodka gave us a $ return on our small amount of OBC via a Carnival cheque waiting on the bed last night with no onboard spend owing:D

 

I would have expected Carnival Australia to allow you to pre buy booze as in USA but it looks like they want to maximize their profits on booze because P&O can?

 

Den

[NSWP]

Just posted by Carnival Cruise Lines Australia today on their facebook page:

 

If you are on cruises departing Sydney on 20th & 28th October, 8th, 16th & 27th November, 6th December, you are in luck.

We’ve actually just reconsidered our policy on wine and will not be allowing any alcohol at all to be brought on board on day of embarkation. The change brings us in line with P&O and is consistent with the kind of experience we want to provide on board. We realize some of you cruising in the next few weeks may have seen our previous position on this and we will go ahead and allow one bottle of up to 750 ml (for guest 18 years and older) to be brought on board in your hand luggage at embarkation though the December 13, 2012 sailing.

All about having to buy their $40 bottles of $10 vino on board. Ridiculous, Carnival Cruise Lines pax in the US of A would not stand for it. We were on Carnival Spirit in 2005 doing Honolulu - Vancouver - Alaska. You could just about bring on what booze you wanted, why? Because 95% of the pax were Americans, the customer base.

 

I will stick with Princess (*The American Variety only* NOT Dawn/Sun/Sea Princesses) and P&O UK, both of those lines treat their pax like responsible adults re alcohol.

[Aus Traveller]

All about having to buy their $40 bottles of $10 vino on board. Ridiculous, Carnival Cruise Lines pax in the US of A would not stand for it. We were on Carnival Spirit in 2005 doing Honolulu - Vancouver - Alaska. You could just about bring on what booze you wanted, why? Because 95% of the pax were Americans, the customer base.

 

I will stick with Princess (*The American Variety only* NOT Dawn/Sun/Sea Princesses) and P&O UK, both of those lines treat their pax like responsible adults re alcohol.

Les,

Princess Australia have the same alcohol policy as Princess USA - passengers can take wine on board but not spirits. There was a temporary glitch on one ship only (Dawn Princess) where one staff member seemed to be enforcing his own version of the rules. We went on the Dawn Princess in April (Hawaii/Tahiti) and we took wine on board at several ports, as did other passengers. We didn't hide the wine and a few times Security made the comment "Oh, that's wine. That's OK." even though it was more than the oft-quoted 1 litre per person.

[10greenbottles]

I don't understand this statement "Overall Experience we are used to" am certainly not used to this experience at all - Maybe past guests will receive a complimentary bottle:) Don't know what I was thinking as I based the Carnival Spirit cruise on my "overall experience I am used to"

[Mum81]

The more I read about Carnival Spirit, the more disappointed I am getting :(.

 

We decided to book this cruise as we wanted to try something different to P & O, something with a bit more to offer, and frankly, something a bit more American. We were under the impression (apparently a misguided one) that being Carnival, this ship would offer all the same facilities as are offered on US ships.

 

We also spend a lot of time in our room/on our balcony and were really looking forward to purchasing our "bon voyage liquor package" to enjoy. The suite we have booked comes with a bar (glasses, ice etc), what are we supposed to do with it?

 

I don't expect to get the same prices for onobard facilities as they do in the US, I just expect to get the same facilities.

 

So far I have found the following will not be available to Aus passengers to purchase:

 

1. Bon Voyage Liquor

2. Bon Voyage Gifts

3. The option to pre-purchase "fun dollars"

4. The option to pre purchase soft drink packages

5. The option to pre purchase speciality restaurants

 

Are there any other things anyone else has noticed that will not be offered to us here in Aus?

[Big Budgie]

Well said.

[lizzy77]

Mum81 I totally agree with you so perhaps you should voice your opinions to Carnival in both Aus and the US. Unfortunately Carnival seem to think that we Aussies are ill informed and don't know the difference between cruising on Aussie ships and US based ones:mad:

 

However we have been on the Spirit and I am sure that you will enjoy it. The decor is very American, and it would have to be sooooo much better than P&O. Enjoy:D

[fishtaco]

Quote mum81"The suite we have booked comes with a bar (glasses, ice etc), what are we supposed to do with it?"

 

Now that would be for use with your smuggled booze of course:D

 

I do feel sorry for you though as I bought heaps of stuff from Bon Voyage before we sailed on Splendor not just the vodka,I cant understand why they wont sell Bon Voyage Alcohol on Australian based cruises?

 

It may have to do with Duty Free prices charged in Australia? our BV Vodka was around $50 per bottle and in Splendors duty free shop the same vodka was around $19 for 2 bottles so they made a very handsome profit.

 

There is no way the duty free shop on an Aussie based ship would sell two 1 lt bottles of vodka for $19,it would be more than double so Aussie BV prices would have to be double.

 

What i am trying to say (confused myself now lol) Carnival made 400% profit on my BV booze compared to Duty free price onboard.

 

On Australian ships you can get 2 bottles Duty free for around $40 double the American duty free price, so to get the same profit percentage between Australian Duty free price and BV, the OZ BV vodka would have to cost $100 per bottle. so BV prices itself out of the Carnival Australias market:p

 

Den

[h & m]

The more I read about Carnival Spirit, the more disappointed I am getting :(.

 

We decided to book this cruise as we wanted to try something different to P & O, something with a bit more to offer, and frankly, something a bit more American. We were under the impression (apparently a misguided one) that being Carnival, this ship would offer all the same facilities as are offered on US ships.

 

We also spend a lot of time in our room/on our balcony and were really looking forward to purchasing our "bon voyage liquor package" to enjoy. The suite we have booked comes with a bar (glasses, ice etc), what are we supposed to do with it?

 

I don't expect to get the same prices for onobard facilities as they do in the US, I just expect to get the same facilities.

 

So far I have found the following will not be available to Aus passengers to purchase:

 

1. Bon Voyage Liquor

2. Bon Voyage Gifts

3. The option to pre-purchase "fun dollars"

4. The option to pre purchase soft drink packages

5. The option to pre purchase speciality restaurants

 

Are there any other things anyone else has noticed that will not be offered to us here in Aus?

 

 

We are also becoming concerned about the emerging differences between Carnival US and here. Carnival Spirit does not appear on any US sites or the European one we use to check cabin availability.

 

I spoke to a customer service rep yesterday, although our cruise is not until August, at the time of booking 2 bottles of wine were still allowed, and we should be able to bring them on board, but could not get anywhere with this.

 

Even more concerning, no offence to people who enjoy P & O, if that is their standard, maybe even more will be different from Carnival US.

 

Perhaps the glasses will be the next thing to disappear, since we are not to be trusted with 2 bottles of wine per cabin :p

 

Our 13 year old grandson is coming with us, and is looking forward to riding green thunder, otherwise we would be seriously reconsidering this cruise.

 

 

Hilary

[Mum81]

We are also becoming concerned about the emerging differences between Carnival US and here. Carnival Spirit does not appear on any US sites or the European one we use to check cabin availability.

 

I spoke to a customer service rep yesterday, although our cruise is not until August, at the time of booking 2 bottles of wine were still allowed, and we should be able to bring them on board, but could not get anywhere with this.

 

Even more concerning, no offence to people who enjoy P & O, if that is their standard, maybe even more will be different from Carnival US.

 

Perhaps the glasses will be the next thing to disappear, since we are not to be trusted with 2 bottles of wine per cabin :p

 

Our 13 year old grandson is coming with us, and is looking forward to riding green thunder, otherwise we would be seriously reconsidering this cruise.

 

 

Hilary

 

I am glad that other people feel the same way as I do, I was starting to wonder if I was just acting spoilt?

 

But seriously, in light of the fact that they seem to be going out of their way to be just like P & O (if I wanted P & O, I would have booked P & O), we too are re-thinking our cruise in April.

 

If it was just the two of us we would have cancelled already, but my 5 year old is so excited about the water park.

 

I also talked my parents into booking on the same cruise, telling them about this great ship coming from the US and how different it would be from P & O. My Mum already has envisioned ordering drinks and canapes from bon voyage to enjoy on their balcony. I better break the news to her soon, that it's not going to be like Carnival in the US :o

 

I have been trying to find a similar itinerary with Royal Caribbean, but we have to travel in the school holidays, and the only ship sailing at a suitable time/destination is Rhapsody of the Seas. It doesn't seem to have much for children.

 

What would other members do? Stick with Carnival and just accept that all the extras are not coming with it or cancel and book with Royal?

[Mum81]

Mum81 I totally agree with you so perhaps you should voice your opinions to Carnival in both Aus and the US. Unfortunately Carnival seem to think that we Aussies are ill informed and don't know the difference between cruising on Aussie ships and US based ones:mad:

 

Ok, this whole thing got the better of me and I called Carnival Australia this morning to give my feedback.

 

The reply to my concerns was met with:

 

1. "We have australianised the ship."

 

2. "This ship is nothing to do with Carnival in America, it is seperate."

 

3. "We are working under the P & O Banner."

 

4. "We are making the ship like P & O, because this is what Australians want."

 

5. "The experience is coming in line with P & O."

 

Sounds to me like the Spirit is another P & O Ship with a different logo painted on it. Oh and to top that off....drum roll............THEY HAVE A NO ALCOHOL IN STATEROOM POLICY!!!

 

And they call it the "fun ship".:mad:

[h & m]

Mum81 I totally agree with you so perhaps you should voice your opinions to Carnival in both Aus and the US. Unfortunately Carnival seem to think that we Aussies are ill informed and don't know the difference between cruising on Aussie ships and US based ones:mad:

 

Ok, this whole thing got the better of me and I called Carnival Australia this morning to give my feedback.

 

The reply to my concerns was met with:

 

1. "We have australianised the ship."

 

2. "This ship is nothing to do with Carnival in America, it is seperate."

 

3. "We are working under the P & O Banner."

 

4. "We are making the ship like P & O, because this is what Australians want."

 

5. "The experience is coming in line with P & O."

 

Sounds to me like the Spirit is another P & O Ship with a different logo painted on it. Oh and to top that off....drum roll............THEY HAVE A NO ALCOHOL IN STATEROOM POLICY!!!

 

And they call it the "fun ship".:mad:

 

 

Great, I can see us now, sitting on our rather expensive balcony at sailaway , enjoying a glass of water :rolleyes:

 

I'm so mad because we booked early, in the absence of information on the Aussie website, we were directed to the US one for terms and conditions, which are now changing. Have just written a letter to Director of Carnival Australia expressing my disappointment, but will wait a few hours before printing and posting. This is not starting out well, but it would be hard to convince our grandson to give up green thunder, so we will stick with the booking at this stage. It will be very interesting to get feedback from the pax on the first few cruises out of Sydney.

[Tejas57]

I'm booked on 16/11. We booked carnival for something different to p&o. If we wanted p&o service we would have sailed from brisbane instead of flying with our 18 month old to Sydney. I'm not that happy to be honest. Since final payments have been due the cost for my cruise has dropped $1600. Carnival have told me tough. Not happy jan

[rkmw]

Mum81 I totally agree with you so perhaps you should voice your opinions to Carnival in both Aus and the US. Unfortunately Carnival seem to think that we Aussies are ill informed and don't know the difference between cruising on Aussie ships and US based ones:mad:

 

Ok, this whole thing got the better of me and I called Carnival Australia this morning to give my feedback.

 

The reply to my concerns was met with:

 

1. "We have australianised the ship."

 

2. "This ship is nothing to do with Carnival in America, it is seperate."

 

3. "We are working under the P & O Banner."

 

4. "We are making the ship like P & O, because this is what Australians want."

 

5. "The experience is coming in line with P & O."

 

Sounds to me like the Spirit is another P & O Ship with a different logo painted on it. Oh and to top that off....drum roll............THEY HAVE A NO ALCOHOL IN STATEROOM POLICY!!!

 

And they call it the "fun ship".:mad:

 

 

We are working under the P & O Banner......but can you use the p&o Future Cruise Credits and get the conditions that go with that