Alcohol now being destroyed

[Dudleydog73]

A couple of other points:

 

As far as selection, there is no way a ship can carry every possible option that drinkers want. I am certain they did some form of analysis to identify the most popular brands overall.

 

 

Loonbeam, thank you for your well written post. As to your point I quoted, I have no problem at all accepting the decision to stock only bottom to mid shelf "popular" brands, but charging the same price for it as a top shelf brand is beyond ridiculous. They should keep it real and charge accordingly.

[Opua Kiwi]

Thank you for the heads up antsp...gather from all this that we can carry one bottle of wine each in our hand luggage, but nothing in the suitcases. At least we know now and appreciate you taking the time to let us know.

[uktxgirl]

Hope you ended up enjoying your cruise despite the unfortunate start. We just returned from the Ruby Princess March 10th Eastern Caribbean cruise. Our first cruise and we absolutely loved it! We've definitely been bitten by the cruising bug, and we were all really impressed with Princess - our ages range from 22 to 56.

We each carried one bottle of wine on board with us. Two of the bottles were liter size Chardonnay. We asked room service for 6 wine glasses and after enjoying a glass in our staterooms we refilled the glasses and took them with us to the main dining room on three occasions. We were not charged corkage and no-one even asked where they had come from. This was not particularly an attempt to save money on our part, although it did save a little, because we all paid for plenty of alcoholic drinks in the various bars and restaurants all over the ship during the week! We also bought two bottles of rum in St. Thomas and carried them back onto the ship and took them to our cabins! They were gifts to bring back home, but we could have gone ahead and drank them on the ship.

[PunkiC]

Thank you for the heads up antsp...gather from all this that we can carry one bottle of wine each in our hand luggage, but nothing in the suitcases. At least we know now and appreciate you taking the time to let us know.

 

This is not true. According to Julie Benson Princess VP of Public Relations in an interview yesterday, it doesn't matter if you have you wine/champagne in your carry-ons or in you checked bags.

 

loonbeam writes:

 

How does this relate to Princess? The situations are very similar. I am 100 percent certain that Princess analyzed thepolicy change and projected that it would not negatively impact revenue, or if it were to do so there was a compelling reason that would override the revenue drop. Some people will change their route (new line), some will drive slowe (not carry on hard liquor), some may stop driving (land vacations) and some may continue to speed (sneak liquor).

 

Whoops, you forgot the best option. People will continue to openly bring wine on board as they always have and pay the $15 fine per bottle. Since the new policy clearly eliminates all restrictions on quantity, we will probably start bringing more wine on board and stop buying the overpriced stuff in the dining room and bars.

[beg3yrs]

Looks like I'll be in Loonbeam's category that will follow the new speed limit.

 

I suppose the benefit is that I'll remember more of the cruise ... ;)

[sun&sea]

This is not true. According to Julie Benson Princess VP of Public Relations in an interview yesterday, it doesn't matter if you have you wine/champagne in your carry-ons or in you checked bags.

 

Where can I find where Julie Benson Said anything about the wine policy? Thanks!

 

janet

[Cruise Junky]

Where can I find where Julie Benson Said anything about the wine policy? Thanks!

 

janet

 

There's a link in this thread and I think in CC's News Stories

[PunkiC]

Here is a link to the interview:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5291

[Cauzneffct]

Whoops, you forgot the best option. People will continue to openly bring wine on board as they always have and pay the $15 fine per bottle. Since the new policy clearly eliminates all restrictions on quantity, we will probably start bringing more wine on board and stop buying the overpriced stuff in the dining room and bars.

 

Whoops, Loonbeam is clearly talking about liquor (hence the references to liquor in the post). The discussion has been about hard alcohol, not wine.

 

The OP lost vodka and champagne. The champagne seems to have been a mistake, but there's been much discussion in the thread concerning the seeming enforcement of the no outside hard liquor rule.

[PunkiC]

It appears you are correct. Since always and very openly brought lots of wine on board, I wasn't thinking much about liquor.

 

On our first cruise I sent my husband a bottle of scotch as a gift, but then they switch to the little bottles and didn't change the price so that was the end of that. I might even consider buying a bottle again if it were reasonably priced, but not at the crazy Princess mark-up.

[Whitewings2]

Just got off the Star on Tuesday. Before leaving we read that only two bottles of wine per cabin were now allowed at embarkation and none could be bought on at port stops, so we purchased two bottles in Valparaiso, Chile and put them in our hand baggage - no problem, we could probably have bought half a dozen on.

At our first port of call we found dozens of fellow shipmates in the wine aisle of a local supermarket, they were all taking wine back to the ship. We ourselves bought 4 bottles and again had no problem even though these bottles were just in plastic supermarket bags.

We have always taken wine onboard and would miss this option if it's stopped on all Princess ships.

[ONT-CA]

PAM in CA sparked an interesting analysis of value attributed to Cruise Ships and Hotels. So I thought I would run through this.

A Hotel, which booked for the two of us, charges $139. per night. That is $69.50 for each occupant. For this they will hold and look after my car for two weeks. They give us a room with two queen-sized beds of total luxury. They supply a full size bathroom equipped with spacious shower, sometimes Jacuzzi tub. We will be welcomed to prepare our own alcoholic beverages for which an ice machine is available 24 hours a day. They supply us with Wi Fi and computer usage with no charge. In the morning there will be a local newspaper at the door. A coffee machine is available in the room but breakfast is ready in the lobby when ready. No tipping charges are applied, it being left to the occupants to reward the efforts of those who help. And when ready, the Hotel will drive you to your point of departure free of charge. All this for $69.50 per person per day.

Our upcoming-booked cruise, granted with balcony, will be $ 211. per person per night. There will be no Internet without charges no coffee machine and the items of beds, shower etc., I will leave to your full knowledge and experience. Apart from the total lack of equation, the difference in charges, interestingly enough, $69.50 per person per day is to transport and feed us the other two meals complete with some sort of mass entertainment. Is it any wonder we feel that this inhospitable policy of search and seizure goes too far?

[Roses2]

What an amazingly emotional thread about the enforcement of a policy of virtually every major cruise line.

 

Thus far posts have ranged from misquoting CCL stock value to equating Princess Management actions to those of Hitler in 1932 Germany.

 

Certainly civil discourse would dictate that differences of opinion could be expressed with less venom.

 

We returned last week from a 14 day Hawaiian cruise that departed and returned from San Pedro and, at least for that cruise, experienced no difference in the enforcement of the wine, champagne, or spirits policies.

 

Our experience may only be an indication of differences between and among ships and crews or it may indicate that changes in enforcement of long stated policies did not affect our sailing.

 

On our cruise we brought a bottle of wine each on board with us, and bought one bottle of wine at 3 of the port stops to drink in our cabin and openly declared the wine at security when boarding. Security checked the wine and allowed us to bring it aboard with no charges. Again, that was our experience and may not be indicative of the experiences of others.

 

Perhaps it might be prudent to see how this policy change plays out (if it truly is a policy change) before such strident arguments. If this is a fleet wide change in enforcement of the long openly published policies, then it brings Princess in line with virtually all other cruise lines. It will be a change that we will not welcome, but probably will understand.

 

We also believe that rather than plotting methods to circumvent the restrictions, it might be more prudent (and adult) to suggest – as a few have done – means by which spirits might be purchased aboard for use in one’s cabin. This would meet the needs of the passenger and provide a revenue source for Princess.

 

Just our opinion.

 

P&J

[Cruise Junky]

What an amazingly emotional thread about the enforcement of a policy of virtually every major cruise line.

 

Thus far posts have ranged from misquoting CCL stock value to equating Princess Management actions to those of Hitler in 1932 Germany.

 

Certainly civil discourse would dictate that differences of opinion could be expressed with less venom.

 

We returned last week from a 14 day Hawaiian cruise that departed and returned from San Pedro and, at least for that cruise, experienced no difference in the enforcement of the wine, champagne, or spirits policies.

 

Our experience may only be an indication of differences between and among ships and crews or it may indicate that changes in enforcement of long stated policies did not affect our sailing.

 

On our cruise we brought a bottle of wine each on board with us, and bought one bottle of wine at 3 of the port stops to drink in our cabin and openly declared the wine at security when boarding. Security checked the wine and allowed us to bring it aboard with no charges. Again, that was our experience and may not be indicative of the experiences of others.

 

Perhaps it might be prudent to see how this policy change plays out (if it truly is a policy change) before such strident arguments. If this is a fleet wide change in enforcement of the long openly published policies, then it brings Princess in line with virtually all other cruise lines. It will be a change that we will not welcome, but probably will understand.

 

We also believe that rather than plotting methods to circumvent the restrictions, it might be more prudent (and adult) to suggest – as a few have done – means by which spirits might be purchased aboard for use in one’s cabin. This would meet the needs of the passenger and provide a revenue source for Princess.

 

Just our opinion.

 

P&J

 

Princess confirmed Golden is the first and it will be fleet wide by June.

 

I think for us it's just another in a long line of cutbacks...food isn't what it used to be, itineraries are lacking and they're cutting back on ports and the same ships do the same itinerary over and over and over again, drinks in the Elite Lounge have gone up making the perk useless. And for all this they want much higher prices. I'm not saying we're walking away from Princess, but they won't be the first place I look anymore for our vacation.

[PescadoAmarillo]

PAM in CA sparked an interesting analysis of value attributed to Cruise Ships and Hotels. So I thought I would run through this.

 

A Hotel, which booked for the two of us, charges $139. per night. That is $69.50 for each occupant. For this they will hold and look after my car for two weeks. They give us a room with two queen-sized beds of total luxury. They supply a full size bathroom equipped with spacious shower, sometimes Jacuzzi tub. We will be welcomed to prepare our own alcoholic beverages for which an ice machine is available 24 hours a day. They supply us with Wi Fi and computer usage with no charge. In the morning there will be a local newspaper at the door. A coffee machine is available in the room but breakfast is ready in the lobby when ready. No tipping charges are applied, it being left to the occupants to reward the efforts of those who help. And when ready, the Hotel will drive you to your point of departure free of charge. All this for $69.50 per person per day.

 

Our upcoming-booked cruise, granted with balcony, will be $ 211. per person per night. There will be no Internet without charges no coffee machine and the items of beds, shower etc., I will leave to your full knowledge and experience. Apart from the total lack of equation, the difference in charges, interestingly enough, $69.50 per person per day is to transport and feed us the other two meals complete with some sort of mass entertainment. Is it any wonder we feel that this inhospitable policy of search and seizure goes too far?

 

This is just silly. I bet that hotel that gave you "all that" for $69.50 per person per day also offered you a lovely view of a parking lot that would never change as long as you stayed there. If that's all my vacation is going to be, I might as well stay at home.

 

A ship provides a 24/7 view of the water. Sure, sometimes that water is surrounded by a freight dock, but still, it's water. Location, location, location.

 

And, speaking of location, on a ship it changes every day.

 

But, if all you want to do is park your car, stay in your hotel room and drink all day, I think that $69.50 per person per day is exactly what you should spend on your vacation. And that parking lot view is exactly what you should get.

[Love.II.Cruise]

We always bring liquor with us on our trips. We use some in our hotel room before our cruise and then carry the rest on board. However, the last two cruises we did this (Oceania and Windstar), we purchased their beverage package and took the alcohol we brought on board home since we didn't drink it.

 

It was really nice having a beverage package. Plus you can easily get samples of drinks without buying each one individually. We liked the drink packages and hope Princess tries it.

 

I can understand people wanting to bring on a particular type of wine or liquor. I will say that Oceania and Windstar are good about requests made in advance (for beers and liquors - not sure on wine). Not being able to bring your favorite wine on board would be a bummer.

 

On another note... wonder if they will be selling as many wine excursions if you can't consume the wine you bought on board?

[Cruise Junky]

We always bring liquor with us on our trips. We use some in our hotel room before our cruise and then carry the rest on board. However, the last two cruises we did this (Oceania and Windstar), we purchased their beverage package and took the alcohol we brought on board home since we didn't drink it.

 

It was really nice having a beverage package. Plus you can easily get samples of drinks without buying each one individually. We liked the drink packages and hope Princess tries it.

 

I can understand people wanting to bring on a particular type of wine or liquor. I will say that Oceania and Windstar are good about requests made in advance (for beers and liquors - not sure on wine). Not being able to bring your favorite wine on board would be a bummer.

 

On another note... wonder if they will be selling as many wine excursions if you can't consume the wine you bought on board?

 

You can consume the wine, you just have to pay $15 a bottle to bring it on board.

[LH25]

A Hotel, which booked for the two of us, charges $139. per night. That is $69.50 for each occupant. For this they will hold and look after my car for two weeks. They give us a room with two queen-sized beds of total luxury. They supply a full size bathroom equipped with spacious shower, sometimes Jacuzzi tub. We will be welcomed to prepare our own alcoholic beverages for which an ice machine is available 24 hours a day. They supply us with Wi Fi and computer usage with no charge. In the morning there will be a local newspaper at the door. A coffee machine is available in the room but breakfast is ready in the lobby when ready. No tipping charges are applied, it being left to the occupants to reward the efforts of those who help. And when ready, the Hotel will drive you to your point of departure free of charge. All this for $69.50 per person per day.

 

Our upcoming-booked cruise, granted with balcony, will be $ 211. per person per night. There will be no Internet without charges no coffee machine and the items of beds, shower etc., I will leave to your full knowledge and experience. Apart from the total lack of equation, the difference in charges, interestingly enough, $69.50 per person per day is to transport and feed us the other two meals complete with some sort of mass entertainment. Is it any wonder we feel that this inhospitable policy of search and seizure goes too far?

 

There are expenses on a cruise ship though outside of just feeding and moving us, and the moving us isn't inconsequential. They have to feed and house their entire staff, hotels generally don't for example.

 

As far as how we all feel about the policy, it really does seem to vary. I don't think it goes too far, but clearly other people here do. We all need to 1)tell them how we feel and then 2)decide where to spend our vacation money.

[AKman2495]

So........................and your point is???

 

It was an observation use it as you like....

[Love.II.Cruise]

You can consume the wine, you just have to pay $15 a bottle to bring it on board.

 

Not from ports... according to their passage contract.

 

"You agree to surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship’s gift shop, or at ports of call, to Carrier, which will be delivered to Your stateroom on the last night of the voyage."

[Cruise Junky]

Not from ports... according to their passenger contract.

 

"You agree to surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship’s gift shop, or at ports of call, to Carrier, which will be delivered to Your stateroom on the last night of the voyage."

 

Cruise contract hasn't been updated with the new liquor policy yet. New policy is you can take on as much wine as you like, first 750ml bottle per person is free, everything above that is $15 and you can consume it anywhere after paying the $15. Applies to wine bought in ports too.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Cruise contract hasn't been updated with the new liquor policy yet. New policy is you can take on as much wine as you like, first 750ml bottle per person is free, everything above that is $15 and you can consume it anywhere after paying the $15. Applies to wine bought in ports too.

 

Not sure I follow. What I quoted came directly from the Passage Contract on the Princess Website. I meant Passage not passenger.

[Cruise Junky]

Not sure I follow. What I quoted came directly from the Passage Contract on the Princess Website. I meant Passage not passenger.

 

Yes, an outdated Passage Contract (Sept. 12). It hasn't been updated... here's the new policy:

 

As provided in the Passage Contract, passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind onboard for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles are welcome, but will incur a $15 corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Liquor, spirits or beers are not permitted. Please remember that luggage will be scanned and alcohol outside of our policy will be removed and discarded

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/onboard/experience.jsp

[laceynae]

I kinda figure that if you can afford to cruise you can afford the booze. We've been saving for a year for our first cruise. If we need to save extra for our cocktails and wine so be it.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Yes, an outdated Passage Contract (Sept. 12). It hasn't been updated... here's the new policy:

 

As provided in the Passage Contract, passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind onboard for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles are welcome, but will incur a $15 corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Liquor, spirits or beers are not permitted. Please remember that luggage will be scanned and alcohol outside of our policy will be removed and discarded

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/onboard/experience.jsp

 

 

You are correct, what I posted is from 9/12. I guess I never realized the OLD one stated what I bolded. I wouldn't have thought that would be the case for wine.

 

"Passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind on board for consumption except one bottle of wine or champagne per person of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage only in his/her carry-on luggage. A corkage fee of $15.00 U.S.D. per bottle (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to wine and champagne brought aboard by You and consumed in the ship’s public areas. Any wine(s) or champagne(s) supplied by the Carrier to You as a gift are not subject to a corkage fee. At embarkation, all luggage will be scanned for suspected alcohol in excess of the one bottle policy as provided herein. Your luggage will undergo a secondary inspection by a security team operating under CCTV (closed circuit surveillance) or in the event Your luggage is locked, You will be notified and are required to attend the secondary inspection where any alcohol found in violation of the one bottle policy will be removed and discarded. Carrier shall not be responsible for any loss, cost, disappointment or damage of any kind as a result of any alcoholic beverages removed in violation of the one bottle policy. You agree to surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship’s gift shop, or at ports of call, to Carrier, which will be delivered to Your stateroom on the last night of the voyage."