$20 corkage fee?! Celebrity's (New?) Alcohol Policy

[sensasianl]

I just read my email and the latest edition of the Cruise Critic e-letter, which has a link to an article about the evolving alcohol policies on cruise lines over the last few years. Click here for the article. The link in the article to the Celebrity policy stated that both liquor and wine/champagne are not allowed "except for rare instances in which special permission has been granted beforehand by Fleet Operations; corkage fee of $20 applies in any of the restaurants." This sounds new to me, especially no wine or champagne, and the substantial corkage fee. Does anyone have first-hand knowledge/experience of this?

 

Celebrity Galaxy 3/04

 

  till Sapphire Princess

[Princess-of-Quite-alot]

On our May 8 cruise, the corkage was $15 and we brought plenty of bottles of wine and champagne aboard! No One was around to look or ask!

 

Celebrity Century 5/8/04 -Western Caribbean

Carnival Ecstasy 2/04 - Baja

Tahitian Princess 2/03- French Polynesia

Sea Princess 7/02 - Alaska

Carnival Ecstasy 5/02 - Baja

Royal Caribbean Monarch 10/00 - Southern Caribbean

Carnival Elation 10/99 - Mexican Riviera

Royal Caribbean Monarch 1/97 - Southern Caribbean

 

<a href="mailto:PrincessOfQAL1@aol.com"> Click here to email me

 

<a href="http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/princessofqal1">Celebrity Century pics

[Dorothy]

I hope this is not true. I was going to bring some champagne for a special occasion.

 

Sailing next week on Mercury.

[rocktheboat]

We paid a $12.00 corkage fee on the Century in Dec.

[JNLROSE]

I have answered this so many times, but for those that don't know, it bears printing again!

 

In Feb 2004, we carried a complete roll-on case full of Vodka, Gin & wine! Not to mention we also purchased a 24 pack of bottled water & a 12 pack of coke to take on board!

 

Rosie

E-mail me <a href="mailto:JNLROSE@AOL.COM">here</a href>

 

Look out MERCURY Here we come!!!

 

September 19, 2005--"Millie in the Med"--We're there!

[JoePDX]

This is directly from Celebrity's website -

 

Is there a corkage fee in the main restaurant?

 

Wines not bought from the onboard wine list will constitute a corkage fee. The corkage fee for the main and casual dining room is $12 per bottle; for the specialty restaurant, $15 per bottle.

 

To see - go to Prepare to Sail --> FAQs --> Food and Beverage

 

To further confuse - this is also on Celebrity's site, also in Food and Beverage section:

 

What is Celebrity's liquor and alcohol policy?

 

 

No alcoholic beverages may be purchased ashore for consumption onboard.

 

Onboard purchases from the gift shop of any bottle of liquor will be held until the last night of the cruise when it will be delivered to the stateroom.

 

Celebrity Cruises will not serve alcoholic beverages while a vessel is at sea to guests under 18 years of age. In port, the minimum drinking age is 18 or 21, in accordance with local legal age limits.

 

 

 

So if you can't purchase ashore for consumption on board - why would there be a corkage fee???

Joe

 

Constellation Transatlantic 09-07-2004

[Princess-of-Quite-alot]

The corkage fee is for bottles brought on board at embarkation. When we arrived at the pier for the Century sailing, the porters took our bags to our room, and no one asked or cared what was inside them. Even if I carried them on, no one was checking our stuff. I would not worry...bring the bottles...just don't make a spectacle of yourself when boarding!

 

Celebrity Century 5/8/04 -Western Caribbean

Carnival Ecstasy 2/04 - Baja

Tahitian Princess 2/03- French Polynesia

Sea Princess 7/02 - Alaska

Carnival Ecstasy 5/02 - Baja

Royal Caribbean Monarch 10/00 - Southern Caribbean

Carnival Elation 10/99 - Mexican Riviera

Royal Caribbean Monarch 1/97 - Southern Caribbean

 

<a href="mailto:PrincessOfQAL1@aol.com"> Click here to email me

 

<a href="http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/princessofqal1">Celebrity Century pics

[lougee1043]

along these lines we bought a bottle of mescal on our last cruise (HAL)in march and it was picked up at the xray machine when we reboarded --the bottle was picked up on the hand baggage x ray machine and the bottle was taken from us --we were given a receipt and the bottle was delived to our cabin on the last day of the cruise

 

lougee1043

 

 

Since we last sailed on the Oosterdam

<img src=http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&prgb=2325FF&cdt=2004;03;28;08;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800>

 

til our next cruise on the Galaxy

<img src=http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&prgb=2325FF&cdt=2005;03;21;18;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800>

 

9/87 HAL - Noordham

10/92 HAL - Westerdam

4/01 HAL - Zaandam

5/02 HAL - Maasdam

8/02 HAL - Zaandam

3/03 HAL -Statendam

cancelled due to surgeries

12/03 HAL - Statendam replacement cruise

3/04 HAL Oosterdam

3/05 Celebrity Galaxy

[thedrunkrock]

I love it, people cant folow rules, but they are the 1st ones to gripe when they get caught. THey act like there are no rules to be found. Just funny how everyone else can find them. Just to lazy to read the docs they get sent or the ones that claim they have no internet to find it on the website, or have it and can't find it but can manage to find the last time a post was made to see the reactions here lol. You people have been on cruises b4, dont act like thse things are that new, and if you get caught...laugh about it and say "I had to try, oh well, lets have a good cruise."!

[bellasorella]

As a multiple (Celebrity and Princess) cruiser and avid wine drinker, I would be curious to hear recent experiences (last three months) on Celebrity. Our last cruises were Princss in Dec 03 and Celebrity July 03 -- in both cases no difficulty bringing wine on board, and none taking wine to the regular restaurant for dinner. We are, of course, aware of the corkage fee (which was $6 on Princess and $12 on Celebrity) and willing to pay it. The "policy" listed in the cruise critic email (thanks for the link -- I would have never beleived it if I didn't see it) is contrary to everything we have experienced on Celebrity. Has it really changed so radically in the past several months?? Yes, coming back on board fromports they are very strict now, and no problem with that either. But embarkation from home port was another story, and certainly wine on board for dinner was fine. Again, would appreciate first hand recent experiences so we can plan for our Bermuda cruise on X in two weeks.

 

Coral Princess 12/23/03

Galaxy 7/11/03

Coral Princess 12/24/02 Cancelled

Galaxy 12/23/02

Zenith 6/02

Grand Princess 12/28/01

Horizon 6/01

Ocean Princess December 2000

Zenith 9/00

 

[babylene]

My husband and I enjoy wine....but, we are far from experts. My question is: when you add the corkage fee to the price of the bottle, the total should buy you a decent wine on board. Unless you are bringing on very expensive bottles, I don't see the point. All that shlepping.....I would rather try something new that the ship has to offer. Just my thoughts.

[HockeyDAD73]

I think a coomon sense observation applies here. If you have to worry about a $12 - $15 corkage fee, then maybe you should not be cruising and should stay at home and pay your utility bill that will not get paid because you drank it away.

 

Until Summit Leaves For the Panama Canal

 

[babylene]

Hockey Dad..not nice, not nice.

 

FYI...on cruise addict, someone actually researched and compared prices of a variety of wines...buying on board vs. bringing your own and paying the corkage. Very good info for those who are interested.

[dabear]

on the TP wine permitted to be brought aboard but there was a $10 corkage fee in the restaurants. Liquor bought asore or in ship's duty free shop were given to you on the last day. On HAL, they permitted alcahol to be brought aboard. The last time we were on Celebrity, they permitted bringing stuff on board and their duty free shop let let us take our purchase to our cabin (those rules apparently changed). ps Celebrity charges the most of these lines for drinks on board.

 

1/05 Constellation

2004 Tahitian Princess

2002 zuiderdam

2001 millenium

1993 regent sea

1986 emerald sea

1981 sun viking

1971 jason

1969 carla c

[nywritestuff]

Just to add another perspective here. I was on the 4/3 sailing of the Connie. We bought several bottles of rum in Barbados, and as soon as we boarded, they were taken and we were given a receipt. Same thing happened in St. Thomas. The bottles were returned to us on the last day.

 

Other PAX had no problems at all, and they were able to bring their liquor on board without having it taken away.

So despite some previous snarky responses, it does seem that Celebrity doesn't have a standard procedure that applies to everyone, which is why this issue causes so much confusion.

 

If you're lucky, you can bring alcohol on board without questions. If you're not, well, you'll get all of the alcohol back on the last night.

 

I really do wish cruise lines would have a standard procedure and follow it. That way, everyone would know right off and there wouldn't be so many questions.

[mamayer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bellasorella:

As a multiple (Celebrity and Princess) cruiser and avid wine drinker, I would be curious to hear recent experiences (last three months) on Celebrity. Our last cruises were Princss in Dec 03 and Celebrity July 03 -- in both cases no difficulty bringing wine on board, and none taking wine to the regular restaurant for dinner. We are, of course, aware of the corkage fee (which was $6 on Princess and $12 on Celebrity) and willing to pay it. The "policy" listed in the cruise critic email (thanks for the link -- I would have never beleived it if I didn't see it) is contrary to everything we have experienced on Celebrity. Has it really changed so radically in the past several months?? Yes, coming back on board fromports they are very strict now, and no problem with that either. But embarkation from home port was another story, and certainly wine on board for dinner was fine. Again, would appreciate first hand recent experiences so we can plan for our Bermuda cruise on X in two weeks.

 

Coral Princess 12/23/03

Galaxy 7/11/03

Coral Princess 12/24/02 Cancelled

Galaxy 12/23/02

Zenith 6/02

Grand Princess 12/28/01

Horizon 6/01

Ocean Princess December 2000

Zenith 9/00

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>We were on the May 19 cruise to Bermuda from Norfolk. We brought wine on when we embarked. no problem. We did not bring it to the dining room. our steward brought us red and white wine glasses each day.

[rocktheboat]

Ta sent us bottles of wine, had to pay corkage fee. I would think corkage fee is for bottles sent to pass. not bottles you sneak on.

If you can break the rules and bring alcohol does that mean I can wear short in the dining room. One broken rule is just as good as the next.

Someone said Celebrity charges the most for drinks, maybe thats because of all the alcohol thats being brought on board.

So, the honest people(who don't bring alcohol) pay the price for the dishonest.

[Princess-of-Quite-alot]

It's not a matter of being dishonest. I had called Celebrity and they said I could bring wine and champagne aboard for special occasions. And cruising is a special occasion!!

 

Celebrity Century 5/8/04 -Western Caribbean

Carnival Ecstasy 2/04 - Baja

Tahitian Princess 2/03- French Polynesia

Sea Princess 7/02 - Alaska

Carnival Ecstasy 5/02 - Baja

Royal Caribbean Monarch 10/00 - Southern Caribbean

Carnival Elation 10/99 - Mexican Riviera

Royal Caribbean Monarch 1/97 - Southern Caribbean

 

<a href="mailto:PrincessOfQAL1@aol.com"> Click here to email me

 

<a href="http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/princessofqal1">Celebrity Century pics

[zurmolly]

Dishonest, oh brother! Time to close this thread.

[Nancyquilts]

Hmmm - corkage fees on my Two-Buck-Chuck would run me??????????

[Gypsy509]

Just returned from the Infinity to Alaska.

We each brought 6 bottlews of wine onboard in our carryon and no questions were asked. We had them brought to the dining room for $12 corkage fee. In port some of our companions carried vodka onboard and went thru the security with no problems. They will not let you buy in the ship store for in room consumption though. The clerk stated that they are still working on a policy which might change.

 

NCL Sunward 1983

Carnival 1995

Regal 1998

Explorer of the Seas 2001

Infinity May 2004

 

 

I Love it when we're Cruisin together!!

 

[cruising with marti]

Zurmolly is right, Dishonest??? geeze, we cruise 2 to 3 times a year and it is not rocket science on how to enjoy the beverages of your choice, and as another poster said if the cost of booze while on a cruise is a concern, maybe the cruiser should stay home and pay the light bill.

 

Phil

 

galaxy trans Atlantic

 

mercury

[jschutz]

Some of these replies are really getting tedious. My wife & I each bring a 5th of vodka and scotch on every 7-10 day cruise, more on a longer cruise, simply for a cocktail or two on a daily basis in our cabin. We also often invite guests in our cabin for pre-dinner cocktails and canapes'.

 

Now don't think for a minute the cruise line is getting shorted - for our last bar bill on a recent 17 day cruise was over $2,000. This bill did not include excursions or anything else, just cocktails and fine wine at the resturants, so I don't think we are screwing the cruise line by having a couple of drinks in our cabin each day.We just want the convenience of being able to have a quick and quiet cocktail in our room without going through the hastle of ordering and waiting for room service.

 

We don't bring wine on board, but if we did it would just be for our cabin, not for consumption (i.e. corkage fees) in any of the resturants. I would only do this if we had a special wine not available on the ship for a special occasion.

 

I don't know why this is such a "hot" topic on this board. Almost any cruise line will allow alcohol to be brought in in your check baggage and consumed in your cabin, as long as your are somewhat "discreet" about it.

 

03/03 Carnival Spirit/Panama Canal/17 days

03/04 Norweigan Dream Transatlantic/Europe/17 nights

07/04 Celebrity/ Century/Caribbean/7 nights

09/04 Celebrity Summit/Alaska/14 nights

12/04 Celebrity Mercury/Mexico/10 nights

[cruising with marti]

jschutz

 

Well said, end of discussion.

 

Phil, another scotch drinker

 

galaxy trans Atlantic

 

mercury

[ArtM]

When I was working, a favorite topic for "ask the boss," or whatever it was called, revolved around the fact that various employees seemed to seemed to benefit from that fact that not all rules were stringently enforced.

 

Said the boss to the complainers, "We can really enforce all the rules, but you aren't going to like it."

 

So it is with bringing alcohol on-board. If enough people complain about how the rule is, or is not, being enforced, I'm sure that Celebrity can be persuaded to take a hard line approach.

 

So, do what you want, but just keep in mind that if someone, somewhere, causes a problem with alcohol brought on board, Celebrity has a rule in place that could be enforced if they so choose.

 

Art