Question about drinking on Carnival

[MMOMOM]

Please see below.

 

 

 

The "must drink as much as my liver can handle" drinkers ARE loud and obnoxious and have a negative impact on the down time I enjoy while cruising. It's hard to ignore the foul language and raucous behavior exhibited by drunks. But, being as drunk as they are, they're unaware of their surroundings and more intent on their own good time and to heck with anyone else's good time.

 

Fortunately, I have a balcony and can get away from the Pickled Liver Brigade.

 

I hear you on that one, but have to tell you, I get that in my own neighborhood!! All around us are the 'party people' that drink all the time. We live in a warm climate so the outdoors seems to invite it sometimes. Sometimes it bothers me, sometimes not so much. It's a tough call, but my personal opinion is a lot of people drink way too much a lot of the time and I've just learned to deal with it. But, like I said, it's a big ship ... there are always other places to go and that's pretty much what we do. :)

[T. Advisor King]

I hear you on that one, but have to tell you, I get that in my own neighborhood!! All around us are the 'party people' that drink all the time. We live in a warm climate so the outdoors seems to invite it sometimes. Sometimes it bothers me, sometimes not so much. It's a tough call, but my personal opinion is a lot of people drink way too much a lot of the time and I've just learned to deal with it. But, like I said, it's a big ship ... there are always other places to go and that's pretty much what we do. :)

 

I can't say I've ever seen my neighbors sitting around on the front lawn drinking for 4 hours straight. Maybe it is a weather issue, since we have 6 months of rain and really only 2-3 weeks a year when it is warm enough to sit outside at night. But it's not like I see it, say, on a Saturday afternoon. And even if my neighbors 2 houses over were sitting in their front lawn, they're far enough away that I probably wouldn't hear them. Now imagine that a party of people decides to camp out on your front lawn and get plasterd. That is more similar in proximity to what it's like by the pool when one of those groups really gets going.

[adira]

For every "drunk" I have seen who has over indulged THEIR liver and S&S, I have seen 1,000 who needed to walk away from the buffet. Since none are my concern, eat, drink and be merry...

 

Agreed.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I agree with those who said the shorter the cruise the more drinking you'll see. I drink very little and do notice when people around me are very drunk. I haven't seen a lot of that on the longer cruises. And, honestly, I saw more drinking on the one Princess cruise we went on than I've seen on any of our 7+-day Carnival cruises.

 

 

Maybe it is a weather issue, since we have 6 months of rain and really only 2-3 weeks a year when it is warm enough to sit outside at night.

 

Wow, I'm glad I don't live in your neck of the PNW! We have weeks on end where it's plenty warm to sit outside in the evenings. :D And, thankfully, not six months of rain either. Our area averages about 154 days with measurable precipitation each year as compared to 144 days of sun. :D

[larkz]

I'm a non-drinker, and I despise obnoxious drunken behavior. Too many of my relatives are alcoholics, and so by the time I reached my teens, I'd had enough of it.

 

That said, I haven't witness much of that on any of my cruises. Each ship has its share of bars, and I'm sure if anyone spends the whole cruise in drinking areas they may witness (or take part in) some heavy partying here or there. But it isn't deck upon deck of drunken slobs. If that were the case, I certainly wouldn't go back again.

 

I consider it a family friendly environment, overall.

[irishnyc]

Wow.

 

Please. What you're "wowing" is no different than saying "Pickled Liver Brigade", judgypants.

[NAUGHTYCA]

For every "drunk" I have seen who has over indulged THEIR liver and S&S, I have seen 1,000 who needed to walk away from the buffet. Since none are my concern, eat, drink and be merry...

 

Hahaha I agree

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

[luddite]

On a seven-day or longer cruise, it's pretty much a wash.

Shorter that that, ...... assume a LOT of drinking with associated behavior.

[quikin]

I'm about to take my 11th Carnival cruise. I can truthfully say that I have never witnessed anybody obnoxiously drunk on board with the exception of my own sister who came back to the cabin plastered.

We have seen some pretty happy people coming back in from Cozumel. We sit on our balcony and watch it like a sport. I've never actually seen these people on the ship.

Now, I can tell you that we are in our 40's. We don't do much drinking ourselves. We don't hang out at the clubs. We rarely make it past 10 o'clock before we crash. The combination of the rocking of the ship and the good food and running all over the ship and the ports all day and we are wiped...and HAPPY!

It's easy to avoid drunks. Don't hang out in the bars. There are plenty of other things to do. Have a blast!

[T. Advisor King]

 

Wow, I'm glad I don't live in your neck of the PNW! We have weeks on end where it's plenty warm to sit outside in the evenings. :D And, thankfully, not six months of rain either. Our area averages about 154 days with measurable precipitation each year as compared to 144 days of sun. :D

 

It's the mountains. We have more than 160 rainy days per year and our precipitation is about double that of Portland. I saw something that said that from November through February the sky is cloudy 70% of the time. Add to that October and March, which are better, but not great, and there's your six months with 20-25 days of rain each.

[kybluecruiser]

You will see the same amount of drinking on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise lines. They all have the same type of waiters walking arround lido deck with drinks and taking bar orders. You will see alcohol flowing all day on all cruise lines. In all my cruises I've never seen anyone staggering drunk. The closest I've seen was two guys pretty lit up during the white hot party on my only ncl cruise.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

It's the mountains. We have more than 160 rainy days per year and our precipitation is about double that of Portland. I saw something that said that from November through February the sky is cloudy 70% of the time. Add to that October and March, which are better, but not great, and there's your six months with 20-25 days of rain each.

 

 

Oh, now that makes sense. I figured you didn't live near us! LOL. :D

[larkz]

I'm about to take my 11th Carnival cruise. I can truthfully say that I have never witnessed anybody obnoxiously drunk on board with the exception of my own sister who came back to the cabin plastered.

We have seen some pretty happy people coming back in from Cozumel. We sit on our balcony and watch it like a sport. I've never actually seen these people on the ship.

Now, I can tell you that we are in our 40's. We don't do much drinking ourselves. We don't hang out at the clubs. We rarely make it past 10 o'clock before we crash. The combination of the rocking of the ship and the good food and running all over the ship and the ports all day and we are wiped...and HAPPY!

It's easy to avoid drunks. Don't hang out in the bars. There are plenty of other things to do. Have a blast!

 

Exactly.

[wmowan8485]

Experienced more drunken, bad behavior on a Celebrity cruise than I have a Carnival cruise. Of course this was back in 1998 and people would bring as many bottles of liquor onboard as they wanted. :)

[Elaine5715]

Obnoxious, black-out, in-your-face drunks are worlds apart from someone in line at a buffet. Care to defend your position? I didn't think so.

 

Please share how you can identity someone in a blackout episode?

[irishnyc]

Obnoxious, black-out, in-your-face drunks are worlds apart from someone in line at a buffet. Care to defend your position? I didn't think so.

 

I'm not defending drunks or buffet pigs, just pointing out you wowing someone pointing out that neither are your concern.

 

And similar to Elaine, I'd love to know how someone can be both in your face and blacked out drunk.

[twinkle toes]

THANK YOU for all the replies! I should clarify that when I said we were not drinkers, I meant big party drinkers. My DH doesn't drink at all, but I do occasionally, and more when I am on a cruise. Their cruise was a 7 day caribbean cruise and they stuck by the pool a majority of the time, so I guess that must be why they saw lots of drinking and possibly got the wrong impression about the boat as a whole. You have convinced me that Carnival won't be any different in that regard than the other cruises we have been on, so now I'm getting excited!! Thanks again.

[Rockee4055]

I think on all of our cruises we only saw 4 or 5 people who were way over the limit. The funny thing about that...none of them were on Carnival.

[bobsfamily]

The worst "drunks" are usually during college spring break, mid March mostly, and are on almost all 3-4 day cruises, all lines.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1470

 

All the lines that offer an "all you can drink" package and the differences...

[kathy884]

I've only done three Carnival cruises before, but have a seven day scheduled over DS 17s spring break week, March of 2014. On the other three -- spring break in 82 out of Miami (7 day), spring break 2007 out of Fort Lauderdale (6 day), and August 2010 (shorter -- just five day up to Canada), I didn't run across any people who came across as having had too much to drink, but I certainly saw lots of people ordering drinks/drinking and figure this must be a huge money maker for Carnival (probably one of the reasons cruising base prices see so inexpensive). I've never had an alcoholic drink on a cruise (calories and money not worth it to me -- much more into food for an occasional splurge.) Plus alcohol (except for the occasional one glass of wine or Asti) for some reason makes me tired (I know alcohol is considered to be a depressant and mixed drinks have enough alcohol that even one drink knock me out / makes me want to go take a nap). It never even occurred to me, though, that I'd see people overindulging and wasn't something I even thought about when we booked our next cruise which will be out of San Juan.

 

But OMG, a 15 drink a day deal sounds absolutely insane to me. Hopefully this policy, and people's behavior won't make my next cruise my last one.

[bobsfamily]

But OMG, a 15 drink a day deal sounds absolutely insane to me. Hopefully this policy, and people's behavior won't make my next cruise my last one.

 

If you did not notice them before you won't this time unless you obsess about it and go looking for drunks. Most of the people who do the cheers program were drinking 15 drinks a day already. Yes that seems like a lot but when eating all the time, walking everywhere, in the pool, etc. it does not add up to going to your local bar and ordering 15 shots.... which many a college kid has done... PLUS those fruity drinks, "funship" specials, etc are very watered down. So just relax and be more concerned about the some of the awful reviews about passengers on ships departing from San Juan.

[winddawn]

Please no flames, this is an honest question I would like people to answer.:o Our friends just got back from their first Carnival cruise, and they were very surprised at how much drinking was going on on the cruise. I know people have labeled Carnival lines as the "party" cruiseline, but I was wondering if that is true or not. We are planning on going on a Carnival cruise after the new year, but we are not drinkers, so wanted to know (from people who have been on Carnival AS WELL as other cruiselines) if there really is more drunkeness on Carnival that other lines.

I have cruised on most of the mainstream U.S. cruise brands (see the list in my signature). I have not noticed any difference in the numbers of passengers drinking alcohol, or in the amount of alcohol others seem to be consuming. You will see plenty of drinkers and non-drinkers on most cruises. Cruising attracts people from all walks of life. I would suggest that if you prefer a quieter cruise experience, that you try Holland America. Different cruise lines do have a different atmosphere, but IMO, that is not due to the amount of alcohol consumed or the number of passengers who drink alcohol.

 

I hope you find a cruise line that fits your style, and that you have a great cruise. :-)

[Bookbug53]

I disagree with both these points. I have never regularly seen people drinking more in a vacation setting than on Carnival ships. Perhaps that's because on regular vacations, I'm not inclined to spend 8 hours a day sitting in a chair in a bar.

 

On sea days, there are plenty of groups who will, almost literally, sit around and drink all day. They order beers by the bucket (or whatever) and it doesn't stop. There are plenty of CC members who have posted (boasted?) about the size of their bar bills. Do the math.

 

Does drinking buckets of beer make them falling-down drunk by dinner time? I don't know. But I do know that lound, boisterous drunks are considerably more annoying when you're not drinking much yourself. If you're an in-between drinker, I'd suggest drinking more than less. The compulsive drinkers will seem less annoying if you've had a couple yourself.

 

Otherwise, the loud, obnoxious way that drinkers carry on will almost certainly affect you (by having a negative effect), regardless whether you want it to or not.

 

Again, not my problem. It is their bar bill and certainly does not effect me.

 

I don't spend time sitting at a bar all day and if they want to so be it.

I won't be there watching them nor listening to them. The ship has too much to

offer and too many things for me to do and I certainly will not drink more in order to

lessen their impact on me. And I certainly do not think encouraging people to drink more helps your point. :rolleyes:

[Bookbug53]

I was on Oasis last May and Disney Dream in December. Neither had this policy.

I don't mind drinking on a Cruise Ship. However, encouraging everyone in a room to have to sign up for an all inclusive alcohol policy can have an effect on other passengers.

Someone asked for information about excessive drinking on Carnival Ships. For the first time in my 24 cruises I saw a policy which had a real negative impact on the conduct of numerous passengers.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2012/12/13/royal-caribbean-alcohol-drinks-package/1766711/

 

Disney may not have a drink package but they certainly do sell alcohol.

If people want to get drunk they will. It won't matter if there is a

drink package or not. At least Carnival has some restrictions in place

and when the limit is reached they are supposed to be stopped for the day.

Enforcement might be an issue. However that is true of any drunk, anywhere.

[joeyancho]

As a veteran of 28 cruises, here is my experience. Carnival attracts a younger demographic, so that equals more drinking overall. The weekender cruises definately attract the party crowd. Some folks try to get in all the booze they can in the short time they are on the ship. They are even at the bar while waiting to debark. The longer cruises, especially when school is in session attracts a more civil crowd. Royal Caribbean definately attracts a high class, older crowd, so definately less wild partying. These are just generalizations, your experience may vary.