Drinking age on RCL sailing out of Puerto Rico?

[vacationgirli]

I know this question has come up a few times, but I can’t seem to find the answer in this particular situation. My family and I are sailing out of PR early 2019 on freedom. We are wondering if our 18 year-old will be able to drink on the ship? Puerto Rico and every port we stop at has a legal drinking age of 18, so we know he can drink in port. In talking with RCL agents I know we can’t purchase an alcohol beverage package as prior to cruising it is processed in the US and must be 21. I am aware that if we are sailing from the US proper he must be 21 to consume alcohol on board. Just wondering if anyone has an answer to this from their past experiences?

[BND]

No. Drinking age on the ship is 21. Puerto Rico is also a US territory.

[billslowsky]

No. Drinking age on the ship is 21. Puerto Rico is also a US territory.

 

The legal drinking age in Puerto Rico is 18.

[BND]

The legal drinking age in Puerto Rico is 18.

 

I never said it wasn't. I said that Puerto Rico is ALSO a US territory, not that the drinking age was the same. But, I also answered the OP's question.

[vacationgirli]

:confused: RCL agents don’t have an easy answer to this question, with drinking age being 18 in Puerto Rico, ships registry is Bahamas (also legally 18), agents I have spoken to think it would be allowed once on the ship but nothing can be purchased ahead (which in fine by me we are thinking a nice glass of wine with dinner and the odd drink at the pool, not enough to necessitate a package) I am just wondering if anyone has sailed with an 18-20 year old out of PR with RCL and what was their experience with regards to this matter.

[BND]

:confused: RCL agents don’t have an easy answer to this question, with drinking age being 18 in Puerto Rico, ships registry is Bahamas (also legally 18), agents I have spoken to think it would be allowed once on the ship but nothing can be purchased ahead (which in fine by me we are thinking a nice glass of wine with dinner and the odd drink at the pool, not enough to necessitate a package) I am just wondering if anyone has sailed with an 18-20 year old out of PR with RCL and what was their experience with regards to this matter.

 

It's 21 for all ships that sail in the Caribbean. You'll learn that the RCI "agents" don't even work at RCI and are contracted to answer phones, etc. Most have no clue what actually goes on onboard a ship.

[BND]

From RCI's site:

 

 

What is the legal drinking age onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship?

 

A

 

Effective immediatly on all sailings, the minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on all Royal Caribbean International is as follows.

• The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in North America is twenty-one (21).
  
• The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is eighteen (18).
  
• The minimum age to consume alcohol at all private destinations remains twenty-one (21) without regard to where the sailing originated.
  

The Company retains the right, on rare occasions, to raise the minimum age of alcohol consumption on any sailing when local laws require or permit such a modification.

[vacationgirli]

From RCI's site:

 

 

What is the legal drinking age onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship?

 

A

 

Effective immediatly on all sailings, the minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on all Royal Caribbean International is as follows.

• The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in North America is twenty-one (21).
  
• The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is eighteen (18).
  
• The minimum age to consume alcohol at all private destinations remains twenty-one (21) without regard to where the sailing originated.
  

The Company retains the right, on rare occasions, to raise the minimum age of alcohol consumption on any sailing when local laws require or permit such a modification.

So here is my dilemma on the website Puerto Rico is listed under South America heading even though it is a US territory

[billslowsky]

I never said it wasn't. I said that Puerto Rico is ALSO a US territory, not that the drinking age was the same. But, I also answered the OP's question.

 

What was the purpose of bringing that up in the first place?

 

How helpful, she never would have known Puerto Rico was part of the US without your crack investigation. Keep up the good work.

[not-enough-cruising]

I can tell you from very recent personal experience, your under 21 year old child will NOT be able to drink onboard.

 

 

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[Desert Cruizers]

The way I look at this, it is not where your cruising from but the rule of the cruise lines. If the cruise lines set the drinking age, then that is the rule.

[BND]

What was the purpose of bringing that up in the first place?

 

How helpful, she never would have known Puerto Rico was part of the US without your crack investigation. Keep up the good work.

 

Now that we've established I answered the question correctly in my very first post, this thread could have been a lot shorter. Why does it bother you so much? It was informative, period. Your post borders on rude. Sailings out of the US are all the same when it comes to drinking age. She was asking the question like Puerto Rico wasn't.

[BND]

From RCI's site:

 

 

What is the legal drinking age onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship?

 

A

 

Effective immediatly on all sailings, the minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on all Royal Caribbean International is as follows.

• The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in North America is twenty-one (21).
  
• The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is eighteen (18).
  
• The minimum age to consume alcohol at all private destinations remains twenty-one (21) without regard to where the sailing originated.
  

The Company retains the right, on rare occasions, to raise the minimum age of alcohol consumption on any sailing when local laws require or permit such a modification.

So here is my dilemma on the website Puerto Rico is listed under South America heading even though it is a US territory

 

Where is Puerto Rico listed under "South America" heading?

[vacationgirli]

When you start your search for a cruise and you pick the port to sail out of, it is listed under South America heading

[BND]

When you start your search for a cruise and you pick the port to sail out of, it is listed under South America heading

 

Not really. It's under "South America and Caribbean". It's the Caribbean part of that heading, not South America.

[davekathy]

When you start your search for a cruise and you pick the port to sail out of, it is listed under South America heading

Actually San Juan is listed under the heading "South America and Caribbean". I agree with all those that posted 21 years old in the drinking age on RC ships sailing out of San Juan.

[billslowsky]

Now that we've established I answered the question correctly in my very first post, this thread could have been a lot shorter. Why does it bother you so much? It was informative, period. Your post borders on rude. Sailings out of the US are all the same when it comes to drinking age. She was asking the question like Puerto Rico wasn't.

 

Yours doesn't border.

[vacationgirli]

From RCI's site:

 

 

What is the legal drinking age onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship?

 

A

 

Effective immediatly on all sailings, the minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on all Royal Caribbean International is as follows.

• The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in North America is twenty-one (21).
  
• The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is eighteen (18).
  
• The minimum age to consume alcohol at all private destinations remains twenty-one (21) without regard to where the sailing originated.
  

The Company retains the right, on rare occasions, to raise the minimum age of alcohol consumption on any sailing when local laws require or permit such a modification.

It does states South America and Caribbean under heading on website but their specific rules as listed above fall under either North or South America, hence the confusion. This is why I have asked for experience based Answers instead of debating semantics

[davekathy]

...

It does states South America and Caribbean under heading on website but their specific rules as listed above fall under either North or South America, hence the confusion. This is why I have asked for experience based Answers instead of debating semantics

Is your 18 year old planning on purchasing the BP? Why not wait and once you're onboard have your 18 year old go up to one of the bars and order a drink. That way you'll find out for yourself. I'm going with he will be denied on both purchasing the BP and getting served at the bars. Poster #10 based their answer on experience.

[vacationgirli]

Is your 18 year old planning on purchasing the BP? Why not wait and once you're onboard have your 18 year old go up to one of the bars and order a drink. That way you'll find out for yourself. I'm going with he will be denied on both purchasing the BP and getting served at the bars. Poster #10 based their answer on experience.

Our plan is to “just wing it”. I had just thrown out the question to see if anyone had experienced this situation out of Puerto Rico before and with so many conflicting facts on RCL (agents and web) I was curious if anyone had come across the same query. But this thread became more an opinion based conversation as opposed to fact based information. It won’t make or break our cruise, just fishing for info :)

[Ourusualbeach]

Our plan is to “just wing it”. I had just thrown out the question to see if anyone had experienced this situation out of Puerto Rico before and with so many conflicting facts on RCL (agents and web) I was curious if anyone had come across the same query. But this thread became more an opinion based conversation as opposed to fact based information. It won’t make or break our cruise, just fishing for info :)

 

The drinking age is 21.

 

As an FYI as this is a similar situation, Royal also sails from Quebec (drinking age 18) and British Columbia (drinking age 19) and on the ships the drinking age is 21.

[BND]

Is your 18 year old planning on purchasing the BP? Why not wait and once you're onboard have your 18 year old go up to one of the bars and order a drink. That way you'll find out for yourself. I'm going with he will be denied on both purchasing the BP and getting served at the bars. Poster #10 based their answer on experience.

 

I think you meant to quote the OP?

[BND]

Yours doesn't border.

 

Oh ouch. lol Why are you so invested in a thread where you really didn't answer the question?

[awestover89]

Our plan is to “just wing it”. I had just thrown out the question to see if anyone had experienced this situation out of Puerto Rico before and with so many conflicting facts on RCL (agents and web) I was curious if anyone had come across the same query. But this thread became more an opinion based conversation as opposed to fact based information. It won’t make or break our cruise, just fishing for info :)

 

It's really not opinion based though. You've gotten the answer several times, the drinking age for all NA and Caribbean cruises is 21.

[BND]

Our plan is to “just wing it”. I had just thrown out the question to see if anyone had experienced this situation out of Puerto Rico before and with so many conflicting facts on RCL (agents and web) I was curious if anyone had come across the same query. But this thread became more an opinion based conversation as opposed to fact based information. It won’t make or break our cruise, just fishing for info :)

 

The answers aren't "opinion based". They have actual info from the RCI website, which if the "agents" you called had bothered to search, they would have found it. Also, having been on these boards for more than 10 years, I've seen this before. But, be sure to come back and let us know how it works out for you.