Wine Permitted to Carry Onboard Now

[jessicalorene]

So what stops people from doing things like buying the package and getting drinks for people in other rooms?

[Starry Eyes]

Yes, the "bring two bottles of wine" and "all you can drink" threads (and probably some others) were combined. It does make it confusing when people that don't quote the posts they were responding to or realize that the liquor thread is now in with this one too.

 

It's kind of an odd combination of threads...

 

I am sad that the threads were combined. While both involve alcoholic beverages, bring two bottle aboard and buying a drink package are completely different topics. And somebody scanning titles will never guess the drink package info is merged here on the carry on wine thread.:(

[smoosh21]

I leave for the Allure next weekend and I'd be interested to know what people's experiences have been with the new alcohol packages? Any details are appreciated.

 

OK, just got off the Allure, here is what I will say. My partner got the package, I did not. While most bartenders were making both passengers in the cabin buy the package, some were not.

 

There was mass confusion around the ship. The POS system was not yet ready to handle the packages. the bar staff had to punch things in specially as Per Diem to get them to ring up zero. Many did not bother to ring things in. Some bars were refusing to allow certain alcohols, claiming only the low end ones were allowed.

 

The specialty restaurants all screwed things up. Not one was able to handle the package. Each one claimed that the package didnt count there and refused to ring the drinks up for free. (Giovannis, Park 150, and Samba). Some became rather rude about it too. (Samba)

 

My partner eventually went down and spoke to Beverage manager Jon Jon who went through the invoice and took off all of the drinks. He also gave his direct line in case my partner had any more trouble at any bar the rest of the week.

 

I think Royal rolled it out poorly. I think that they need to do a soft launch on each ship and maybe offer to Suite passengers or Diamond and up passengers first and try to work out the kinks.

 

With all the hassle my partner went through, I am not sure that he would do it again until Royal works out the kinks. Whoever rolled it out on the Celebrity side of the house needs to come over and help Royal get it straightened out

The $55 per day seemed to include the tip as the total price was $385.

[smoosh21]

I have to agree with you.

 

 

X's packages are much much better.......and ironically cheaper.

 

 

I agree. Celebrity knows how to do it. Their Corporate Beverage manager needs to come over and work with Royal to get things straightened up. I think this can work on Royal, but they do need to get the kinks worked out

[critterchick]

I'm sure someone will prove me wrong here but I have never seen someone refused drink service on a ship (and I've been on over 25 cruises). And believe me I have seen some people hammered in the nightclubs, on deck and even in the CL.

 

I have seen more than one bartender refuse to serve a passenger who had overconsumed to the point of being unintelligible. But one has to be extremely drunk to be cut off. I've never seen it happen in a CL/DL/DE.

[BekkaW]

I was on the Oasis last week and didn't even hear about the package until the last sea day, randomly, from a bartender. He said, "I've seen you two at all the bars on the ship! How come you didn't buy the package??" To which I said, "after seeing my bar tab, you have to be kidding me..." We had been to every bar a couple of times on the ship and not once did we see or hear about this. The concierge didn't mention it either. We had a suite this cruise, so we did take advantage of the CL and the free drink happy hour a good amount, but if we had purchased the package we wouldn't have been in there nearly as much. Oh well - hope others hear about it earlier than we did! X's package still seems MUCH better.

 

We never saw this advertised or heard about it at all until getting off the ship! Oh well, RCI threw it in for free when we booked our TA so i'll make full use of it then :)

[librayacht]

We have just completed a 4 day cruise on Liberty and discovered that the alchohol package does not extend to cruises below 7 days.

[nubeetom]

We have just completed a 4 day cruise on Liberty and discovered that the alchohol package does not extend to cruises below 7 days.

 

I will be on the Jewel for a 5 nighter in march, I hope this isn't true

[mets550]

I am sad that the threads were combined. While both involve alcoholic beverages, bring two bottle aboard and buying a drink package are completely different topics. And somebody scanning titles will never guess the drink package info is merged here on the carry on wine thread.:(

 

I agree. Why would they do that? These are completely different topics.

[Katey3]

OK, just got off the Allure, here is what I will say. My partner got the package, I did not. While most bartenders were making both passengers in the cabin buy the package, some were not.

 

There was mass confusion around the ship. The POS system was not yet ready to handle the packages. the bar staff had to punch things in specially as Per Diem to get them to ring up zero. Many did not bother to ring things in. Some bars were refusing to allow certain alcohols, claiming only the low end ones were allowed.

 

The specialty restaurants all screwed things up. Not one was able to handle the package. Each one claimed that the package didnt count there and refused to ring the drinks up for free. (Giovannis, Park 150, and Samba). Some became rather rude about it too. (Samba)

 

My partner eventually went down and spoke to Beverage manager Jon Jon who went through the invoice and took off all of the drinks. He also gave his direct line in case my partner had any more trouble at any bar the rest of the week.

 

I think Royal rolled it out poorly. I think that they need to do a soft launch on each ship and maybe offer to Suite passengers or Diamond and up passengers first and try to work out the kinks.

 

With all the hassle my partner went through, I am not sure that he would do it again until Royal works out the kinks. Whoever rolled it out on the Celebrity side of the house needs to come over and help Royal get it straightened out

The $55 per day seemed to include the tip as the total price was $385.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience! Has anyone else used the package?

[topnole]

I have seen more than one bartender refuse to serve a passenger who had overconsumed to the point of being unintelligible. But one has to be extremely drunk to be cut off. I've never seen it happen in a CL/DL/DE.

 

I've only seen it once. It was my GF and she was at most just a bit tipsy. The guy was kind of a jerk about it. She had maybe 4 drinks in her the whole night. It was a little slow in that bar and I think he just wanted us out of there. It was annoying and we just went to a bar down the way and got drinks there. LOL.

[Merion_Mom]

By reading the responses on this thread from passengers who have had or personally seen the liquor package, the answers to your questions are:

 

A couple of questions for the few that have tried the unlimited package so far..

 

1. Does this include private Islands like Labadee, I would assume so?

2. Would this package work for the beer bags if still offered or could you only get 1 or 2 drinks at a time?

3. I assume somehow the waiters get tipped but you can still add on additional tip?

4. Will this work with the Freestyle Coke machines? I have seen bartender coke's only but want to verify with someone that has used this package..

 

We travel on Allure in May & I guess most issues will be worked out by then..

Thanks for any answers.. :)

 

1. Yes.

2. 1 at a time

3. yes, they do and yes, you can

4. no machine - go to bar and get it off the fountain hose

[dz9yvr]

I was on the Oasis last week and didn't even hear about the package until the last sea day, randomly, from a bartender. He said, "I've seen you two at all the bars on the ship! How come you didn't buy the package??" To which I said, "after seeing my bar tab, you have to be kidding me..." We had been to every bar a couple of times on the ship and not once did we see or hear about this. The concierge didn't mention it either. We had a suite this cruise, so we did take advantage of the CL and the free drink happy hour a good amount, but if we had purchased the package we wouldn't have been in there nearly as much. Oh well - hope others hear about it earlier than we did! X's package still seems MUCH better.

 

 

So your Bar Bill was more than $855 for two people? That's they only way the package makes sense.

[chellecruise12]

Thx Merion Mom.. :)

[DespyMic]

I don't know about other people, but for me it's about what I drink. When they start selling sweet tea vodka onboard I will never have to smuggle another drop. I will gladly bring my own bottles and hand them to RCCL and buy them back from them 1 drink at a time. I don't care how much more RCCL makes or what it costs me (within reason). I want to drink what I like and they don't offer it.

 

I'm in the same boat you are. I like to drink rye and ginger, though am very particular about the rye I drink. I like Weisers - not CC, not Crown Royal, not 40 Creek, etc. They don't even offer any Canadian Whiskeys from what I've read. I'm on my vacation, I want to relax with the beverage of my choice. I'll still be forking over plenty of coin on coffees, waters, wine, and other alcoholic beverages (do they offer Caesers or just Bloody Marys?), so they can still exploit me, no doubt.

[akcruz]

So what stops people from doing things like buying the package and getting drinks for people in other rooms?

 

This is supposedly why all 21 and older in a cabin need to purchase the package.

 

I have seen more than one bartender refuse to serve a passenger who had overconsumed to the point of being unintelligible. But one has to be extremely drunk to be cut off. I've never seen it happen in a CL/DL/DE.

 

I've only once seen a bartender cut someone off. Unfortunately if he didn't she would have been on the floor. It has to be pretty bad to get cut off on the ship.

[caribill]

It will be interesting to hear how this is handled. Now what kind of wine to bring....hmmmmm.

 

As reported by a poster on another thread:

 

As of November this year, RCI is now allowing 2 bottles of wine per cabin. I went on a cruise a few weeks ago with them. What a pain in the rear. We carried on 2 bottles of wine. After going through security, we were led to a another table (with a line) to declare the wine. We had to wait there and then the lady took our seapass info. down and we had to "sign" to bring the wine onboard. I also had to then take the bottles out of my carry on to show them (i have no idea why since I just went through security). That seemed a little outrageous. My other family had put their bottles into their checked luggage. They made each one of them go to the naughtly room, pull out the wine bottle, then sign the same form. At that point, they had to wheel their luggage back to their room with the wine. What a PITA!

[Oshawapilot]

Boy, this thread sure got jumbled with a weird merge. :confused:

 

There seems to be a crapton of different experiences with regards to the wine situation. This is the first I've heard of people being routed to tables to sign forms, declare, sign more forms etc etc.

 

The fact this story was from a "couple of weeks ago" (when the wine policy just went into place and confusion reigned supreme) makes me wonder if this situation was isolated. We really need some more recent stories from those who have embarked within the last 1-2 weeks.

[poolboyclay]

You were able to purchase the package just for yourself and not for your cabinmate? Did you have to give a reason why your cabinmate could not drink, or did they simply ring up the package just for you? If the package could be purchased individually and not on a two-per-cabin basis I would definitely do this!

 

They changed/updated this policy while on my cruise. Everyone over 21 has to purchase the package going forward this week on Freedom and I suspect ALL PCL ships that offer it.

 

I only bought one package which is all I needed. I wouldn't do it again I think. I can't drink enough alcohol to cover it and I spend a lot on coffee as well, I had a guest who doesn't drink at all and is over 21, plus my wife who drinks a couple cocktails a day. That would have been 3 packages at 385 dollars each. The really need to do this like Celebrity.

 

Clay

[PH8]

I have seen more than one bartender refuse to serve a passenger who had overconsumed to the point of being unintelligible. But one has to be extremely drunk to be cut off. I've never seen it happen in a CL/DL/DE.

Happened in the CL on the JW while I was there.......and no,it wasnt me:p

[Russ Lomas]

I agree. Celebrity knows how to do it. Their Corporate Beverage manager needs to come over and work with Royal to get things straightened up. I think this can work on Royal, but they do need to get the kinks worked out

 

I fully agree that RCCL needs to look at how Celebrity administers their program and take some pointers from them. It is very clear that half of the people who post here who were considering the package have changed their minds since beverages like bottled water, juices, and specialty coffees are not included -- plus only house wine.

 

We are traveling on the Oasis in March, and RCCL has made my decision to not get the package easy (unless it is altered by then). On the flipside, we will be traveling on Celebrity next December for the first time and I think I will be trying out their package.

 

Two other issues...

1 - You mean I pay $55 per day plus tips and I cannot use the Coke Freestyle machines? I have to pay another $30 for that?!? I thought that it sounded like a neat concept that I have never seen before to try to new flavours. So you mean to tell me that I can pay upwards of $100 per day if I wanted the alcohol package and to use the Coke Freestyle machine...and you still are going to charge me even more for a bottle of water. Someone clearly needs to re-think this one!

 

2 - I have read on the Celebrity board that some people have decided part way through the cruise to get the beverage package and were only charged for the dates that they used it (the day they signed up til the last day of the trip). I was wondering if anyone has tried doing this on RCCL and what the response was.

[poolboyclay]

Happened in the CL on the JW while I was there.......and no,it wasnt me:p

 

I also saw this on Celebrity. Woman kept asking for more drinks and the bartender kept putting water in front to her. They eventually removed her to her cabin because she got irritated and loud.

 

Clay

[poolboyclay]

I fully agree that RCCL needs to look at how Celebrity administers their program and take some pointers from them. It is very clear that half of the people who post here who were considering the package have changed their minds since beverages like bottled water, juices, and specialty coffees are not included -- plus only house wine.

 

AGREED!!!

 

 

2 - I have read on the Celebrity board that some people have decided part way through the cruise to get the beverage package and were only charged for the dates that they used it (the day they signed up til the last day of the trip). I was wondering if anyone has tried doing this on RCCL and what the response was.

 

I tried and they absolutely refused. It's really odd too, because I informed them that I was coming back the next week and would purchase another week if they did. They did NOT however force me to buy packages for everyone in the cabin.. Go figure.

[mets550]

AGREED!!!

 

 

 

 

I tried and they absolutely refused. It's really odd too, because I informed them that I was coming back the next week and would purchase another week if they did. They did NOT however force me to buy packages for everyone in the cabin.. Go figure.

 

So you were able to buy just for yourself and not for the other people/person in your cabin?

[reney313]

Boy, this thread sure got jumbled with a weird merge. :confused:

 

There seems to be a crapton of different experiences with regards to the wine situation. This is the first I've heard of people being routed to tables to sign forms, declare, sign more forms etc etc.

 

The fact this story was from a "couple of weeks ago" (when the wine policy just went into place and confusion reigned supreme) makes me wonder if this situation was isolated. We really need some more recent stories from those who have embarked within the last 1-2 weeks.

 

This jumble of two different topics is driving me crazy too!

 

However, the experience that you quoted was mine. We boarded 11/25 in Galveston port. This was their 2nd US boarding (first being the Thanksgiving week) after returning from Europe. I'm not sure if that is relevant, but wanted to point it out as they may not have had time to really figure out what they were doing yet vs. some of the year round ships or those that have been back since the policy went into effect.

 

Here is more of a summary:

1. Many of you have read the thread around how terrible this embarkation was so I won't re-hash that. I was among the first to enter the building. As it relates to the wine....I had mine in my back pack for carry on. Security verified I had wine in the bag. They they then sent me to a separate table. I had to pull my bottles out of my bag (although I could have had more because she never looked in it). This was after security, before check-in. I then had to provide her my sea pass info. She took down my cabin #, what I "had" (the two bottles of wine), and then had me sign a line saying I was bringing this on.

 

2. My sister and family went through the line about 1 hour after me (or more). She had her wine in her carry on as well. Her Mother in Law did too. The security screener did "ask" them if they had wine, they said "yes". He did not direct them to the "table". I am guessing it was because of how backed up the embarkation was at that point that they decided that was just causing more delay. I don't know if they will continue to try and do that or not. I obviously was onboard so did not witness this. Maybe she just didn't hear them.

 

3. My dad had 1 bottle of wine in his checked suit case. His ended up in the naughty room. I went with him to retrieve it because I was curious (and he thought I got him in trouble by putting a bottle of wine in his luggage. lol). Anyway, many of the people picking up luggage had wine as well. He simply had to open his suit case and pull out the bottle. They then did the same thing they did with me at the desk after security. They took down his cabin #, noted he had 1 bottle of wine, and then had him sign on the paper. He then put the bottle of wine back in his suit case and wheeled it to his room.

 

I don't know the purpose of their record keeping. I don't know if it is to somehow cross reference with the carry on? But it's not computerized so how could they possibly do this? Data entry later to match it all up? Come to my room later and tell me I had 2 bottles at carry on and now 2 bottles in my checked luggage? What if I drank it all already (alright, I know, I wouldn't) or gave it to friends? Seems like a waste of resources.

 

I was excited with the new policy but it almost seems like more annoyance than I intended. Maybe that is their purpose, I don't know. I guess if I understood "why", I would feel better. To my knowledge, celebrity does not do this? I have taken wine onboard Princess legally--and it definitely was not anything like this. I expected it to be similar.

 

Maybe they are just working the kinks out and will determine later if this inconvenience to their passengers coupled with the extra work by their staff is really worth it or not. I hope that's the case. Like any new policy, it can take a little while for the efficient path to be determined.