if you have drink package and go to Half moon Cay (carnival owned island)

[lrk]

and buy drinks via your sail and sign, bc that is the only way they trade.  Do those drinks you pay for count toward your 15 drinks when you get back on the ship?

[sparks1093]

No, they don't.

[ProgRockCruiser]

I wanted to check the wording of the "15 drink limit" that applies to both Cheers! and just a la carte ordering (that's one expensive "carte"), and for the life of me I cannot find it.

 

All I can find is the statement about 15 drink limit on Cheers, and after that you cannot even buy a drink "off-package".

 

And I cannot find any verbiage that states whether the drinks you purchase on the private islands (which are not included in the Cheers! package - I did find that) are counted towards that 15 drink limit.

 

Can anyone provide some useful links?  My search-fu is broken this morning...

[we b cruzin]

I don't know about Half Moon Cay, but it is my understanding that Carnival puts a 15 drink limit even if you buy a la carte. It is not only on Cheers.

[ProgRockCruiser]

11 minutes ago, we b cruzin said:

I don't know about Half Moon Cay, but it is my understanding that Carnival puts a 15 drink limit even if you buy a la carte. It is not only on Cheers.

That's my understanding too, I just can't find it written down as such on their website.

[we b cruzin]

23 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

That's my understanding too, I just can't find it written down as such on their website.

 

I did a copy and paste from my cruise documents:

 

 

 

 

LIQUOR & BEVERAGE POLICY For safety reasons, guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board with the following exception: At the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day, guests (21 years of age and older) may carry on in their hand luggage, one 750ml bottle of sealed/unopened wine or champagne per person. A $15 USD corkage fee, per 750 ml bottle, will be charged should guests wish to consume their wine or champagne in the main dining room, specialty restaurant or bar. A corkage fee is a charge assessed at time of service at a restaurant for every bottle served that is not bought on the premises. Guests are also prohibited from bringing water, soda and other non-alcoholic beverages on board that are packaged in bottles. A small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, milk) packaged in cans or cartons may be brought on board on embarkation day, only if carried on in guests' hand luggage (not in checked luggage). A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person. Any hard liquor, beer, other forms of alcoholic beverage, and non-alcoholic beverages, outside of the exceptions referenced above, are strictly prohibited (in both carry-on and checked luggage) and such items will be confiscated and discarded and no compensation will be provided. Alcoholic beverages will not be sold or served to anyone under the age of 21. Guests will be limited to purchasing a maximum of 15 alcoholic beverages, per person, per day while on board. We reserve the right to refuse the sale of alcoholic beverages to anyone. Alcoholic beverages purchased in the ship’s gift shops or in ports of call will be retained by Carnival until the morning of debarkation.

[hapytobehr]

This is from their website:

 

What is EXCLUDED in the Cheers package:

 

• Beverages promoted and sold in souvenir glasses
• Bottles of liquor
• Beverages offered at the gangway
• Beverages offered through room service and/or other in-stateroom beverage programs

• Beverages purchased off the ship at any port of call, including Princess
Cays and Half Moon Cay
• Sharing cocktails, floaters, pitchers, tubes and buckets
• Beverages offered through enomatic wine machines
• Freshly squeezed orange juice served in the Havana Bar
• All other beverage-related programs including merchandise, cigars and cigarettes
• Food items

[hard_eight]

41 minutes ago, we b cruzin said:

 

while on board. 

On the island isn't on board.😉

 

I'd have a rum runner in a beach bag...

[pohlerbear]

When we have Cheers and go to HMC, we bring a small funnel and order shots while still on ship, and bring to the island in a water bottle. Use the free lemonade or ice tea mixer on the island.  Or you could always bring the bottle of wine you are permitted to bring on board to the island. 

[sparks1093]

18 minutes ago, pohlerbear said:

When we have Cheers and go to HMC, we bring a small funnel and order shots while still on ship, and bring to the island in a water bottle. Use the free lemonade or ice tea mixer on the island.  Or you could always bring the bottle of wine you are permitted to bring on board to the island. 

Or if you are a beer drinker you can order one unopened and bring them with you (and get a bucket of ice once on the island).

[sparks1093]

2 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

That's my understanding too, I just can't find it written down as such on their website.

Since drinks purchased on HMC aren't covered by Cheers they don't count toward the daily total, just as pitchers of drinks and buckets don't count.

1 hour ago, hapytobehr said:

This is from their website:

 

What is EXCLUDED in the Cheers package:

 

• Beverages promoted and sold in souvenir glasses
• Bottles of liquor
• Beverages offered at the gangway
• Beverages offered through room service and/or other in-stateroom beverage programs

• Beverages purchased off the ship at any port of call, including Princess
Cays and Half Moon Cay
• Sharing cocktails, floaters, pitchers, tubes and buckets
• Beverages offered through enomatic wine machines
• Freshly squeezed orange juice served in the Havana Bar
• All other beverage-related programs including merchandise, cigars and cigarettes
• Food items

 

[sparks1093]

And one can expect that Carnival is not going to trumpet loopholes to their rules on their website. 

[lrk]

Thanks for all the info guys!  For those who have been there, are the drinks at the bars on HMC the same as on the ship?  ie, are the prices just as hefty?

[sparks1093]

6 minutes ago, lrk said:

Thanks for all the info guys!  For those who have been there, are the drinks at the bars on HMC the same as on the ship?  ie, are the prices just as hefty?

As I recall the menu is the same as are the prices, but it's been some time since I've been.

[edrussell]

I went looking for an answer to this question a little while ago, I started a thread about it and never did get a factual answer from Carnival that I could find.  Lots of people had opinions one way or another but nothing specific that mentions HMC counting towards the daily 15.  We are headed there in Oct on Venezia and will have Cheers so I will report back.

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, edrussell said:

I went looking for an answer to this question a little while ago, I started a thread about it and never did get a factual answer from Carnival that I could find.  Lots of people had opinions one way or another but nothing specific that mentions HMC counting towards the daily 15.  We are headed there in Oct on Venezia and will have Cheers so I will report back.

Many others have reported back and drinks purchased on HMC do not count toward the daily count. 

[BlerkOne]

22 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

Many others have reported back and drinks purchased on HMC do not count toward the daily count. 

It could be the count isn't real time on HMC and it is too late by the time it gets posted.

[nc762shooter]

On 7/24/2024 at 10:25 AM, we b cruzin said:

Guests will be limited to purchasing a maximum of 15 alcoholic beverages, per person, per day while on board.

This is the first time I've seen this in writing pertaining to purchasing in general and not only with Cheers. It's been a long time since I've cruised but I know for a fact 7-10 years ago you could get more than 15 drinks in a day while on Cheers if you bought a bucket of beers as a "round for you and friends", bottles of wine at dinner, or the shots they bring around in the souvenir glasses etc. Same with any drinks purchased on HMC, they were in addition to the 15 Cheers drinks you got onboard. I imagine that is still the case for HMC and unlikely to change any time soon. Per the liquor and beverage policy statement above it does seem they will apply the 15 drink limit to everyone now, whether that will impact the above "loopholes" will remain to be seen until someone tries them onboard. 

 

It's also possible that statement was added as more of a CYA they can point to as proof they are being responsible in not overserving guests even though in practice I doubt it makes a difference. I imagine it's exceedingly rare these days that anyone who is purchasing that many drinks in a day does not have Cheers. I would also think that the vast majority of guests they have to stop serving for behavior/intoxication reasons occurs before they reach 15 drinks anyway.

 

Edit: I just checked the liquor and beverage policy on Carnival's website in the FAQs and it makes no mention of restricting purchases to 15 alcoholic drinks while on board yet in the actual cruise documents quoted above it does, interesting...

Edited July 25 by nc762shooter

[BETSY DOLL]

No drink package on the island! You pay independent.

[sparks1093]

15 hours ago, nc762shooter said:

This is the first time I've seen this in writing pertaining to purchasing in general and not only with Cheers. It's been a long time since I've cruised but I know for a fact 7-10 years ago you could get more than 15 drinks in a day while on Cheers if you bought a bucket of beers as a "round for you and friends", bottles of wine at dinner, or the shots they bring around in the souvenir glasses etc. Same with any drinks purchased on HMC, they were in addition to the 15 Cheers drinks you got onboard. I imagine that is still the case for HMC and unlikely to change any time soon. Per the liquor and beverage policy statement above it does seem they will apply the 15 drink limit to everyone now, whether that will impact the above "loopholes" will remain to be seen until someone tries them onboard. 

 

It's also possible that statement was added as more of a CYA they can point to as proof they are being responsible in not overserving guests even though in practice I doubt it makes a difference. I imagine it's exceedingly rare these days that anyone who is purchasing that many drinks in a day does not have Cheers. I would also think that the vast majority of guests they have to stop serving for behavior/intoxication reasons occurs before they reach 15 drinks anyway.

 

Edit: I just checked the liquor and beverage policy on Carnival's website in the FAQs and it makes no mention of restricting purchases to 15 alcoholic drinks while on board yet in the actual cruise documents quoted above it does, interesting...

Drinks that are multiples (i.e. those not covered under Cheers) do not count against the 15 per day limit. Of course Carnival is not going to emphasis this in writing or otherwise. I have seen bartenders override this in the POS system, so it is my belief that the 15 day limit gives them an out if a passenger does become too intoxicated (much easier to convince even a drunk that they can't be served because of system limitations). I know some people who drink heavily enough that 15 in a day is nothing, but I also know people who can have one drink and be falling all over the place. It does pay to read all available documentation, because it's the actual contract that is controlling, not the FAQ.

[ProgRockCruiser]

On 7/25/2024 at 2:25 PM, nc762shooter said:

This is the first time I've seen this in writing pertaining to purchasing in general and not only with Cheers. It's been a long time since I've cruised but I know for a fact 7-10 years ago you could get more than 15 drinks in a day while on Cheers if you bought a bucket of beers as a "round for you and friends", bottles of wine at dinner, or the shots they bring around in the souvenir glasses etc.

IIRC (and don't count on this), the policy changed about 2 or 3 years ago to limit even non-Cheers drinkers to 15 max "while on board".  

 

Of course, anyone who got to 15 (or beyond) when not on the drink package either limited their big-drinking days/nights to one or two per cruise, or didn't care about the cost.  Because 15 drinks outside the package is over double the package cost, on average.  If you drink only the cheapest beers then you might only be at a factor of 1.5.

[Sgwscruiser]

On 7/24/2024 at 7:55 AM, ProgRockCruiser said:

I wanted to check the wording of the "15 drink limit" that applies to both Cheers! and just a la carte ordering (that's one expensive "carte"), and for the life of me I cannot find it.

 

All I can find is the statement about 15 drink limit on Cheers, and after that you cannot even buy a drink "off-package".

 

And I cannot find any verbiage that states whether the drinks you purchase on the private islands (which are not included in the Cheers! package - I did find that) are counted towards that 15 drink limit.

 

Can anyone provide some useful links?  My search-fu is broken this morning...

Private island drinks are NOT included in cheers.  15 Drink Limit is for Cheers and Non Cheers 

[ProgRockCruiser]

20 hours ago, Sgwscruiser said:

Private island drinks are NOT included in cheers.

Yes, I noted that in my post.

 

20 hours ago, Sgwscruiser said:

15 Drink Limit is for Cheers and Non Cheers 

I can find the verbiage saying that Cheers has a 15 drink limit, as I noted.

 

I cannot find the verbiage on the website that non-Cheers drinkers have any kind of limit.  But someone else posted that the wording is included in your cruise contract.

[PlanoTim]

21 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Yes, I noted that in my post.

 

I can find the verbiage saying that Cheers has a 15 drink limit, as I noted.

 

I cannot find the verbiage on the website that non-Cheers drinkers have any kind of limit.  But someone else posted that the wording is included in your cruise contract.

In the Liquor & Beverage Policy section of the cruise General Information document (that was available for download for our cruise last April) it says:

 

Any hard liquor, beer, other forms of alcoholic beverage, and non-alcoholic beverages, outside of the exceptions referenced above, are strictly prohibited (in both carry-on and checked luggage) and such items will be confiscated and discarded and no compensation will be provided.
Alcoholic beverages will not be sold or served to anyone under the age of 21. Guests will be limited to purchasing a maximum of 15 alcoholic beverages, per person, per day while on board. We reserve the right to refuse the sale of alcoholic beverages to anyone. Alcoholic beverages purchased in the ship’s gift shops or in ports of call will be retained by Carnival until the morning of debarkation.

[nc762shooter]

6 minutes ago, PlanoTim said:

In the Liquor & Beverage Policy section of the cruise General Information document (that was available for download for our cruise last April) it says:

 

Any hard liquor, beer, other forms of alcoholic beverage, and non-alcoholic beverages, outside of the exceptions referenced above, are strictly prohibited (in both carry-on and checked luggage) and such items will be confiscated and discarded and no compensation will be provided.
Alcoholic beverages will not be sold or served to anyone under the age of 21. Guests will be limited to purchasing a maximum of 15 alcoholic beverages, per person, per day while on board. We reserve the right to refuse the sale of alcoholic beverages to anyone. Alcoholic beverages purchased in the ship’s gift shops or in ports of call will be retained by Carnival until the morning of debarkation.

Sounds like they should update the liquor and beverage policy on the website to reflect this and clear up confusion. Although rare, some people might find it nice to know this info before they go through with booking as I have known some in the past talk about not getting Cheers so they aren't limited to 15 drinks.