Liquor pickup

[debwats]

I am waiting in line to pick up the liquor I purchased in the Fun Shop on board the Breeze. The line is incredibly long. I have been waiting for at least 45 minutes and am not even close. Debarkation is about to begin. I could swear liquor purchases were delivered to the cabin in the past. Am I correct? Has anyone else had an issue? I have FTTF but it is useless considering my situation.

 

 

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[TrinaLC]

It used to be delivered to cabin last night.

 

I guess they thought people were drinking it and so they changed to morning pick up.

 

We no longer buy for this reason. First and last time took over an HOUR. Last thing we need on debarkation day is more stress.

[E&B]

Have read many posts here about this for probably six months or more. Many don't buy alcohol on board or in ports anymore for that reason.

 

 

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[mibarron]

Really?? Ugh! I had no idea they changed the process. Guess we won't be buying any liquor onboard either. Thanks for the heads up!

 

 

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[Micahs Grandad]

When they changed their policy on delivering liquor we decided to try and help keep the lines down by not buying any.

[sparks1093]

Have read many posts here about this for probably six months or more. Many don't buy alcohol on board or in ports anymore for that reason.

 

 

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We're not likely to buy it on board because of it.

[kids1stcruise]

Last year I did not have a problem

I went later instead of the earliest time for pickup

[Micahs Grandad]

We look to get off the ship early as we have a long ride home and last thing we are going to do is waste time on line for liquor pickup.

 

Hoping enough people will feel the same way and they will reverse their policy. If not oh well we will buy our liquor elsewhere.

[sjcruiser]

Our cruise last November was when they first started this (I believe). They started at 5:30am handing out the liquor, and there were no lines then. We had family members who wanted to make it apart of the debarkation process (of sort) by clearing out their room, grabbing the liquor, heading to breakfast and getting off the ship. They were in line a good hour, or so, which was around 7:30am.

[smarks]

We used to buy 4 to 8 bottles on every cruise but haven't bought any since they changed to debarkation day pickup. Like others, we have a long drive and are not willing to stand in line to pick up liquor.

[Micahs Grandad]

We used to buy 4 to 8 bottles on every cruise but haven't bought any since they changed to debarkation day pickup. Like others, we have a long drive and are not willing to stand in line to pick up liquor.

 

Hopefully they will lose a lot of business due to this and reverse this policy.

[Wheatie59]

I bought four bottles on Splendor. Its not worth it. The savings was, maybe, $3 a bottle vs. local prices. Yeah, no tax, which adds another $1.50 on a $20 bottle of booze. You can only bring back one bottle per person, duty free and if they make you pay (they did not), that pretty much wipes out any savings. Add in the hassle of picking it up on the ship and getting it home on the plane and I see no point in duty free liquor. Maybe something local from a port, but not what they sell on the ship.

[drolltroll]

The only type I buy is Crown Royal and I was concerned that having to pick it up would be a headache but I have done it twice I can remeber, maybe 3 times since they started not delivering it and have had zero problems. Maybe it was the time I showed up but it never took more than 10 minutes.

As far as savings goes, it has been substantial versus buying it locally, every time, every cruise. There again, I only buy Crown so your mileage may vary.

I always declare what I have but have never had to pay duty.

The Valor last August ran a Crown special buy, you had to pay $122 I think it was and you walked away with 6 liters. That Crown locally would have cost me $280.00. The 750 Ml bottle here is about $36 the last time I bought it. Even if the ship had the smaller size, like here locally, it would still be worth it.

I am in NC so maybe our tax difference is why it is imperative that I buy it on a ship when I go cruising.

Edited June 27, 2016 by drolltroll

[springs741]

Hopefully they will lose a lot of business due to this and reverse this policy.

 

You do know it started well over a year ago, right? I had to retrieve my souvenir bottles from Curacao in February of 2015. I am guessing if it had that much impact it would have already changed. (JMO). Pickup lines do vary. Freedom line in Feb 2015 almost 45 minutes. Freedom line in December 2015, 15 minutes. I picked up on the Splendor earlier this month at 6:30. NO line.

[JenTX4NYC]

I'm so glad this thread was posted. We normally buy liquor on cruises, but we definitely won't be after reading this!

 

Is it only liquor that has this issue, or all duty free?

[sparks1093]

I'm so glad this thread was posted. We normally buy liquor on cruises, but we definitely won't be after reading this!

 

Is it only liquor that has this issue, or all duty free?

 

AFAIK it only applies to liquor (and this includes any liquor that you buy ashore and turn in to the ship).

[RuthlessBoss]

Buying booze is an optional thing whether it's from the ship or from a port. It was a convenience to be delivered, but with ships now being huge, the manpower to deliver the booze door to door is time consuming and takes away manpower hours to do something else. A drop in sales is not a big deal to the cruise line. It has nothing to do with people thinking it's because of fear of drinking it up the night before as people are pretty well boozed out by cruise end, it's simple economics.

[JenTX4NYC]

AFAIK it only applies to liquor (and this includes any liquor that you buy ashore and turn in to the ship).

 

Thanks! I may want to hit up some of the duty free beauty.

[tandemcruzr]

We haven't bought any liquor on the ship or in ports since they changed delivery method. Never drank any liquor when it was delivered on the last night either.

[Micahs Grandad]

You do know it started well over a year ago, right? I had to retrieve my souvenir bottles from Curacao in February of 2015. I am guessing if it had that much impact it would have already changed. (JMO). Pickup lines do vary. Freedom line in Feb 2015 almost 45 minutes. Freedom line in December 2015, 15 minutes. I picked up on the Splendor earlier this month at 6:30. NO line.

 

Yes I know it has been in effect for some time but see no reason to accept this policy and put up with it.

 

What others do is their business.

[Micahs Grandad]

Buying booze is an optional thing whether it's from the ship or from a port. It was a convenience to be delivered, but with ships now being huge, the manpower to deliver the booze door to door is time consuming and takes away manpower hours to do something else. A drop in sales is not a big deal to the cruise line. It has nothing to do with people thinking it's because of fear of drinking it up the night before as people are pretty well boozed out by cruise end, it's simple economics.

 

My guess is that the room stewards were responsible for picking it up and delivering it to their cabins and was just another part of their job description.

 

Was delivered on the Glory 10 years ago when we went on her for the first time and would not have been delivered on the Glory last cruise end of 2015.

 

The bottom line to me is that it is not worth my time to have to pick it up the last morning.

[ryano]

On Magic we picked our liquor up as we were leaving the ship around 9am. Zero line or wait. In fact, no guests were in there at all but on the other the other hand, there didnt seem like a lot of liquor to be picked up. I dont think we will buy any on the next cruise though. The savings are no longer there really and it was just another floor we had to get off on during crowded elevator time before leaving the ship.

 

I imagine their revenue has dropped significantly since going to this morning of business. While I understand that CC and even John Heald followers on FB are a very small minority of cruisers, Ive read way too many complaints from both places of people saying they no longer buy duty free liquor anymore from the ship or the ports.

Edited June 27, 2016 by ryano

[martinchem]

Maybe Carnival should consider letting Diamond, Platinum and FTTF get their liquor the evening before debarking so as to pack everything that night without sorting and repacking in the morning.

[debwats]

I completely understand why room delivery may not be practical, but the current process could be refined, it seems. We heard from people ahead of us in line that orders were filled incorrectly, so the CC folks started slitting the tape on the boxes so everyone could check their bottles. That really slowed the process. It seems like a fairly easy fix, given their track record of excellent service and logistics.

 

 

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[ryano]

I completely understand why room delivery may not be practical, but the current process could be refined, it seems. We heard from people ahead of us in line that orders were filled incorrectly, so the CC folks started slitting the tape on the boxes so everyone could check their bottles. That really slowed the process. It seems like a fairly easy fix, given their track record of excellent service and logistics.

 

 

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They got our order wrong for sure :( We came out to the better though as far as $$$ goes.

 

I bought my stepdad the two bottle special of Absolut vodka and one bottle of Gentlemans Jack for my friend than kept my dog while I was gone. Once we got home, we had only one bottle of Absolut and two bottles of Gentlemans Jack :eek: Like I said, we came out for the better in the deal but I specifically wanted two bottles of Absolut vodka.

 

IF I do ever buy liquor onboard again, I will be opening the boxes to check the items.

Edited June 27, 2016 by ryano