Liquor pickup

[topspin1267]

We have never waited more than 10 minutes for pickup. The lines move quickly usually. On the Dream this month was the first time I saw them have separate lounges (side by side) for ship purchases and shore purchases. At 8 am no line at all for ship purchased liquor and only 5 min for shore purchased.

 

I heard (key word heard) the change was not due to people drinking but people were cleaning they had more bottles than what was delivered or claiming they received the wrong bottles. Whether that's true or not I can believe people would try it.

 

 

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[debwats]

Hubby called Carnival today and was told the delivery procedure was changed about six months ago because too many people were getting drunk and obnoxious that last night. He was also told this is the number one complaint since the policy was changed, so I have faith that Carnival will come up with a more streamlined procedure for pick-up!

[kctwinmommy]

So I asked my husband how it was when he picked his up last November. I just know he was back in less than 20-30 minutes! He went with our friend, since they ordered a case of something, and it was being split between the 2 rooms. So, he got there and yes, there was a long line. But then he asked someone and it turns out they have the line actually split. Like A-L and M-Z, or something like that. Everyone was just waiting in one line, not knowing there were actually 2 check-ins. So they walked right up, got their bottles and came back to the room. They even split the order up for us, although they did it wrongly and ended up giving us 2 extra bottles! :D

 

Just giving others our experience in case this gives others hope for it not being that bad.

[maldenmusic]

Last year we were told to pick up our liquor the morning of debark but it was in the cabin the night before

[RuthlessBoss]

Last year we were told to pick up our liquor the morning of debark but it was in the cabin the night before

 

But that was a year ago. When did this new pick up thing start?

[WAHMto5]

Our last two cruises we had no wait to pick it up, in and out no problem;)

[crusinpsychRN]

Comment about this on your survey. How many staff were there to distribute it?

[Micahs Grandad]

Our last two cruises we had no wait to pick it up, in and out no problem;)

 

Perhaps it was because many people including ourselves stopped buying it to help reduce the line.:)

[rtap23]

Not a big deal for me. I have picked it up twice already since last year and will again in 10 days on the Valor

[bigbro501]

I don't buy it on the ship but sometimes in the ports. So I will have to pick it up the morning we leave the ship? I find that absolutely ridiculous. There has to be some reason other then people getting really drunk the night before debarkation. That sounds like a crock to me. There has to be some kind of bottom line cost cutting measure here. Like maybe the cabins being only attended once a day?

[Wheatie59]

I don't buy it on the ship but sometimes in the ports. So I will have to pick it up the morning we leave the ship?

 

Yes, you will. They will take it when you board the ship and you pick it up the morning of the last day.

[Sparky2]

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

 

Ditto

 

Enough stress without waiting for the liquor, carrying off ship, and getting down on floor to open suitcase & wrap & put safely inside for our flight. Not worth it.

 

I'm a stockholder, but I hope Carnival is losing its shirt on alcohol sales. Also it probably is affecting sales in the ports if the cruiser knows about this restriction.

[rtap23]

When this all started over a year ago all these threads started popping up on this topic and at that time I had been through the process only once and I had stated that it was a fairly easy process for us and did not think it was a big deal. I got flamed pretty bad on here. Now after doing it several times and going to be purchasing liquor again on the Valor in 10 days I still don't see what all the whining is about. I do understand that some people have special needs and it could be difficult and Carnival should do something for those families traveling with someone with disabilities but for most it's very simple. In my experiences it has taken less than 10 minutes with very long lines. When I get to the airport I just unzip my bag, shive it in and rezip. Not very diificult. Some people will complain about everything.

Edited June 28, 2016 by rtap23

[Micahs Grandad]

When this all started over a year ago all these threads started popping up on this topic and at that time I had been through the process only once and I had stated that it was a fairly easy process for us and did not think it was a big deal. I got flamed pretty bad on here. Now after doing it several times and going to be purchasing liquor again on the Valor in 10 days I still don't see what all the whining is about. I do understand that some people have special needs and it could be difficult and Carnival should do something for those families traveling with someone with disabilities but for most it's very simple. In my experiences it has taken less than 10 minutes with very long lines. When I get to the airport I just unzip my bag, shive it in and rezip. Not very diificult. Some people will complain about everything.

 

We are in a hurry to get off the ship the last day and do not need to add picking up licquor which for years they would deliver.

 

If you wish to pickup be my guest but was your last comment really necessary?

[originalgeek]

what might one expect to pay for bottles of tequila in Cozumel or Rum in Roatan? (or anything else anywhere in the western Caribbean?) I mean specifically liquor native to the country and that I couldn't get in the US. Is liquor in port cities (or nearby) often cheaper and unique or is it all just touristy stuff anyway?

 

I'd love to bring back a bottle or two of something special and I don't mind the wait in line as we are late risers anyway and don't have that far a drive to get home.

 

I can certainly understand what a PITA that would be for people trying to catch a plane or that have a long drive and I hope for their sakes they get a policy change.

 

maybe they could offer night-before delivery as a perk to experienced cruisers. Or make it a first come/first served option for x number of passengers (x being determined by however many they think they can efficiently get delivered the night before).

[topspin1267]

We are in a hurry to get off the ship the last day and do not need to add picking up licquor which for years they would deliver.

 

If you wish to pickup be my guest but was your last comment really necessary?

 

On the Dream they started letting people pick up liquor a full 2 hrs before they even started self assist debark. When we picked ours up almost all of it had been picked up and it was still 30 min before they let anyone off the ship.

 

As far as it hurting liquor sales, I can only comment on our cruises on Dream and Valor this year. The ship sold out of most of the favorites by day 6. So unless theyre stocking less it seems to still be selling well.

[topspin1267]

what might one expect to pay for bottles of tequila in Cozumel or Rum in Roatan? (or anything else anywhere in the western Caribbean?) I mean specifically liquor native to the country and that I couldn't get in the US. Is liquor in port cities (or nearby) often cheaper and unique or is it all just touristy stuff anyway?

 

I'd love to bring back a bottle or two of something special and I don't mind the wait in line as we are late risers anyway and don't have that far a drive to get home.

 

I can certainly understand what a PITA that would be for people trying to catch a plane or that have a long drive and I hope for their sakes they get a policy change.

 

maybe they could offer night-before delivery as a perk to experienced cruisers. Or make it a first come/first served option for x number of passengers (x being determined by however many they think they can efficiently get delivered the night before).

 

A lot of the local beers are cheap and some tequilas. In Roatan or Belize there is cashew wine.

 

We save the most $ on Vodka and Crown Royal. Roatan is cheaper than Coz as of last week. 6 liters of Grey Goose runs about $150, here its about $40 per liter. Crown Royal was 4 liters for $65 here its about $28 a liter.

[originalgeek]

A lot of the local beers are cheap and some tequilas. In Roatan or Belize there is cashew wine.

 

We save the most $ on Vodka and Crown Royal. Roatan is cheaper than Coz as of last week. 6 liters of Grey Goose runs about $150, here its about $40 per liter. Crown Royal was 4 liters for $65 here its about $28 a liter.

 

Cool, thanks! We've booked a driver for Roatan (Bodden private tour) and I imagine they'll know the good places to shop.

 

 

Cashew wine sounds weird but I gotta try it now that I know it exists lol.

[debwats]

When this all started over a year ago all these threads started popping up on this topic and at that time I had been through the process only once and I had stated that it was a fairly easy process for us and did not think it was a big deal. I got flamed pretty bad on here. Now after doing it several times and going to be purchasing liquor again on the Valor in 10 days I still don't see what all the whining is about. I do understand that some people have special needs and it could be difficult and Carnival should do something for those families traveling with someone with disabilities but for most it's very simple. In my experiences it has taken less than 10 minutes with very long lines. When I get to the airport I just unzip my bag, shive it in and rezip. Not very diificult. Some people will complain about everything.

 

The "whining" is about waiting in line for 90+ minutes, which is what happened on the Breeze last Sunday. We were told to pick up liquor purchases between 6-8 a.m. Those who showed up at 6:00 waited 90 minutes. I showed up at 6:30 and waited 90+ minutes. The line was just as long at 8:00 as it was at 6:30. If I only had to wait 10 minutes, it would not be an issue. Apparently, this has been a problem for others as well. I don't mind picking up the liquor the morning of departure, but the distribution system was very unorganized, and many purchases were not fulfilled correctly. Hope you have your fire extinguisher handy to put out the flames I fear are coming your way.:)

[Rh2458]

We have never waited more than 10 minutes for pickup. The lines move quickly usually. On the Dream this month was the first time I saw them have separate lounges (side by side) for ship purchases and shore purchases. At 8 am no line at all for ship purchased liquor and only 5 min for shore purchased.

 

I heard (key word heard) the change was not due to people drinking but people were cleaning they had more bottles than what was delivered or claiming they received the wrong bottles. Whether that's true or not I can believe people would try it.

 

 

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I also had heard it was something to do with liquor being delivered to staterooms that had minors in them and the minors were drinking illegally on the ship the last night. Of course the parents shouldn't be held responsible for that not happening.....right?

[Rh2458]

I don't buy it on the ship but sometimes in the ports. So I will have to pick it up the morning we leave the ship? I find that absolutely ridiculous. There has to be some reason other then people getting really drunk the night before debarkation. That sounds like a crock to me. There has to be some kind of bottom line cost cutting measure here. Like maybe the cabins being only attended once a day?

But the cabins being attended to once a day is a giant rumor. If people want it twice a day, they can have it twice a day....All you have to do is ASK if you don't get a comfort card asking your preference. Your room steward will absolutely be more than accommodating and do it like you want!

[rtap23]

The "whining" is about waiting in line for 90+ minutes, which is what happened on the Breeze last Sunday. We were told to pick up liquor purchases between 6-8 a.m. Those who showed up at 6:00 waited 90 minutes. I showed up at 6:30 and waited 90+ minutes. The line was just as long at 8:00 as it was at 6:30. If I only had to wait 10 minutes, it would not be an issue. Apparently, this has been a problem for others as well. I don't mind picking up the liquor the morning of departure, but the distribution system was very unorganized, and many purchases were not fulfilled correctly. Hope you have your fire extinguisher handy to put out the flames I fear are coming your way.:)

 

I could just go by my experiences and maybe 10 minutes max. Hard to believe 90 minutes.

[dmdiver]

I don't know how long it actually took us on Freedom this year, but I don't think it was more than 15-20 minutes. They had one line for liquor purchased on board & another one for liquor purchased in port. While that was fine for us, I would have hated to have to stand in 2 separate lines to pick up liquor if I had bought both places.

[kpatrick74]

We were on Magic last week and when we were walking through the liquor store they were trying to push liquor on my hubby since he was checking out prices. I told him about the new pickup policy and he passed. I also told the clerk that they would sell more if they would go back to delivering the night before and I will never buy another bottle with the new pickup policy. The price savings isn't that great for me to wait in a never ending line.

 

 

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Edited June 29, 2016 by kpatrick74

[cdamion]

Every cruise (and land-based trip) I have purchased a couple bottles of alcohol I can not buy in the U.S. I won't be doing it now with this asinine policy in place. The last thing I want to do the morning I debark is wait in another line.