Alcohol now being destroyed

[tanzer22pilot]

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 ... ;)

 

Or for some the airplane ride.

 

The "speeders" seem to enjoy the the trill of the smuggling adventure.

[Cuizer2]

WELL BELIEVE IT. its just happened, i dont lie, i wouldnt waste my elite minutes making stuff up. Yellow tag on cabin door telling me where to get our bags back. Told to open bag in front off staff, asked to remove bottles by your self. Placed in large grey bin in front of us. Massive arguments going on. Security brought empty bottle back to cabin about 30 mins later. If you dont believe this please do not comment on this thread because its put a little sour taste on the start to the cruise. My bil is with us in another cabin happened to them too, made a pact not discuss it again. Everyone is a bit wound up

 

Come on, you knew the rules before you tried to smuggle the alcohol on, you got caught and you lost. Just chalk it up to, oh well - we tried, and move on. It should not put a sour taste on the start of the cruise.

[OhioDogLover]

It appears that Princess has decided to enforce its policy. Assuming that to be true, then passengers will have to either conform or choose other vacation options. The prices of drinks are high on cruises, and, based upon my experience, vary in quality from bartender to bartender.

My thought is that if people want more options for the purchase of alcohol by the bottle, they/we need to tell Princess what we want. It seems to me that if enough passengers let them know what they want, Princess will have more incentive to supply the higher quality alcohol options. The same is true for drinks packages like those available on Celebrity. If Princess doesn't choose to do that, there are plenty of cruise options available. There are also land based vacations.

We cruise because it is an easy and relatively inexpensive vacation option. If it ceases to be that, we can always vote with our feet.

Ohiodoglover

[IECalCruiser]

Yes, an outdated Passage Contract (Sept. 12).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

Unfortunately, the Passage Contract is THE governing document. Until that is changed, any ship can enforce the provisions of the Passage Contract with no recourse on your part.

 

That is part of the problem with the botched implementation of the new policy by Princess.

[Cuizer2]

How. , if you are flying , do you transport wine or liquor in carry-on? The Airline takes it away and you never get it back. I guess a stop at the wine store is required.

 

Or, after you get you luggage you move the bottles from the checked luggage to the carry-on luggage.

[Cruise Junky]

Unfortunately, the Passage Contract is THE governing document. Until that is changed, any ship can enforce the provisions of the Passage Contract with no recourse on your part.

 

That is part of the problem with the botched implementation of the new policy by Princess.

 

I'm so not even going there. The cruise contract has been out of sync with their booze policy for so long.

[Cuizer2]

Princess makes plenty of money from me. For every drink I have in the cabin, I buy three or four at the bars. I do not bring liquor on to circumvent buying it on board; I just like to have a drink in my cabin while dressing for dinner or as a nightcap.

 

You can rationalize it all you want. However, you can also bring purchased drinks back to your cabin, so in fact you are attempting to circumvent the rules.

[Cuizer2]

It is amazing... how many folks here see themselves as the cruise police. My, my... I do not understand why anyone really cares whether someone brings on alcohol or not... all I really care about is what I do.

 

It is not that someone is bringing alcohol on board, it is that someone is knowingly breaking the rule. The same can be said for chair hogs, line cutters, and other rules.

 

If you don't like the rule, don't cruise.

[IECalCruiser]

I'm so not even going there. The cruise contract has been out of sync with their booze policy for so long.

Not true. Until the revision in September of last year, the Passage Contract had no limit on the amount of wine that could be brought on board or where it was brought on board. That was the same as the actual Princess enforcement policy for wine so I would say that it was in sync.

[Cuizer2]

Check out our news article on this topic - http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5291.

 

Wow, we seem to have two sides to this story ...

 

Benson also contested antsp's allegation that Champagne was being confiscated.

 

"Passengers are allowed one bottle of wine or champagne (champagne is NOT [Princess' emphasis] being confiscated as alleged) for free, and then they can bring on as many bottles of wine or champagne as they would like for a $15 per bottle corkage fee."

 

Other alcohol is not allowed to be brought onboard and will be confiscated. It won't be returned because the logistics of storing the contraband, then returning it to passengers is too challenging, she added.

 

Antsp insisted the Champagne was indeed taken and some posters pondered whether the fact that the Champagne was in checked luggage made a difference.

 

Benson said no, the same rule applies to checked and hand-carried baggage.

[Cruise Junky]

Not true. Until the revision in September of last year, the Passage Contract had no limit on the amount of wine that could be brought on board or where it was brought on board. That was the same as the actual Princess enforcement policy for wine so I would say that it was in sync.

 

It was the same as their enforcement but it wasn't the same as their FAQs. Princess has been pretty darn clear about their new policy, both here, on Facebook and on numerous private e:mails. It's also been enforced on AU sailings where passengers have paid the $15 per bottle over and above the limit. It's the new policy, the cruise contract just needs to catch up. And unlike the unlimited policy before, waiving the cruise contract at them would be ridiculous seeing as its more restrictive than their new policy.

[Cuizer2]

There are two big differences. Passengers are only on a flight for a limited number of hours - not days or weeks. On a plane, passengers cannot have a drink in the privacy of their own quarters - not on the planes we travel on any way;).

 

However, in BOTH cases, one can purchase alcohol if that is what one wants. Or, go to one of the luxury lines where all the drinks are included.

[Cuizer2]

As an aside, I find it interesting that some people find the selection of beer/wine/alcohol to be so appalling that they will either sneak their preferred brand/quantity on, or if caught/prevented, will cruise other lines. Everyone is entitled to do with their money what they wish, but I, personally, find that the alcohol selection ranks fairly low on my list of priorities.

 

Just ahead of whether it is fresh or salt water in the toilet. :)

[Cuizer2]

Did you read this thread? There are 100's of post here all relating to how princess is dumping the liquor people would bring on board to consume in their room.

 

That doesn't stop one from having a drink on the balcony, since you can buy drinks and take them back to the cabin or order room service. In fact there is no rule against having a drink on your balcony.

[Cuizer2]

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

 

janet

 

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

[caribill]

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.

 

Seems to apply for wine bought in ports even if you intend to take it home unopened.

[pablo222]

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.

 

The silly part is that ont-ca wants others to believe his analysis.

 

Yet, if he believed it, he would have chose the parking lot over the cruise.

 

Clearly, his actions demonstrate his true opinion.

[Cruise Junky]

Seems to apply for wine bought in ports even if you intend to take it home unopened.

 

Yes, I think you and I talked about that earlier. Will be interesting to see if they'll store it for you like hard liquor brought on from ports.

[Cruise Junky]

The silly part is that ont-ca wants others to believe his analysis.

 

Yet, if he believed it, he would have chose the parking lot over the cruise.

 

Clearly, his actions demonstrate his true opinion.

 

But it's not always a parking lot view, I can get a condo in Hawaii, Provence, Tuscany, Paris for around the same rate

[Colo Cruiser]

Someones on a roll. :eek:

[IECalCruiser]

A couple of year's ago we took a Princess shore excursion to a winery in Uruguay. We purchased a couple of bottles to have on the ship and a bottle of a port type wine to take home. That wine is not imported into the US. Under the new policy we would need to pay $15 for the "privilege" to take this bottle home with us. I wouldn't necessarily mind the $15 corkage for wine consumed on board but this bottle was never opened on board.

[PunkiC]

Yes, they really do need to establish a policy for special wines and spirits that are purchased in ports to be held for their customers until disembarkation. My understanding is that that is pretty common throughout the industry.

 

Just one of the many particulars that should have been considered and resolved before they jumped the gun

 

I wonder how the genius who thought that launching a new policy by printing sketchy information on the boarding passes is fairing these days. :p Wouldn't be in line for promotion if he/she worked for me.

[Redwing55]

I think a lot of people are questioning why the champagne was dumped, which was totally within the rules to bring onboard

Yeah, you may be right on that. But the OP did violate the rules anyway (vodka). How does one enforce this thing if such actions aren't taken? If one keeps giving people a pass, people will continue the behavior.

[Redwing55]

FYI We had a bottle in our checked in luggage last month on Celebrity (San Diego)and I was called to the naughty room. They kept the bottle which was my intention to take it home anyway and returned to me at the end of the cruise. THEY DID NOT THROW IT OUT.

Hopefully when I take my Canadian Club in the carryon they will do the same. Ontario Cruiser

I might understand this approach, but what's the downside of people bringing these onboard then? So you get caught and just get it when you leave? And the line has to store it too? A rule is a rule, IMO. You did say that you intended to bring it home anyway. But, how are they to know that?

[cruzsnooze]

First of all, Celebrity has two drink packages, one at $44 a day and one at $54 a day...no idea where you're getting $70 from. Second point, no both parties do not have to buy a package, that's RCL's rule, not Celebrity's and thirdly, they give free drinks every night to their Elite guests in the lounge for two hours .. EVERY DAY! not just one time mini bar set up.

Celebrity requires both people in a double occupancy cabin buy the package to prevent cheating. I saw they do indeed have a cheaper packages besides the $70 one. The complimentary lounge is worthless to early diners and those that do go for a drink are not allowed to take it to their cabin to enjoy on their balcony or where ever they want. I prefer the mini bar from Princess.