Inside Edition - Story on Cruise Ship Drinking

[Cruising89143]

[quote name='christineann']Ditto to dh01498.

We had our first cruise in June 2003 and did not see any bad behavior - the kids on board were very well behaved. We are going again this June, and I can only hope that all this bad publicity will prompt RCI to put the skids on the bartenders if the parents are incapable of setting ground rules for their kids. If not, I will complain also.[/quote]

Just from what I have read here on CC, it depends on who the Captain of the ship is at the time. Some follow the rules and will keep things in order including sending passengers home at the next port of call and others turn their head the other way and just ignore it. They are the ones that are not keeping their end of the bargain up. I think that all it would take is for the Captain to put one family off of the ship and word would get out to the other little hellions and their families to straighten up or hit the road. Also if folks are not writing letters to RCI about this then nothing will be done.

[Cruising89143]

[quote name='pinkrosesdeb']Why is it always somebody else's fault? Whatever happened to personal responsibility? We all have the right to say no if we don't want to overdo it. When did it become the cruiseline's responsibility? I thought you had to have an adult cruising with anyone under 21. Where are the parents? I saw family members supplying the booze and yet they are blaming the ship for not stopping it? Get a grip and take control of your own lives. I agree that they should do something if the behavior becomes destructive and I have heard of them putting people off the ship. When we were growing up we were taught that only WE were responsible for bad choices. What happened?[/quote]

What happened? Times have changed. Many parents today do not want to be parents in the sense of the word. When they go on vacation they also go on vacaton from being a parent. Now I understand that many parents out there are caring and loving mom's and dad's and they do in fact watch their children but it seems that some do not and that is what's causing the problems today and giving parents a bad name.

Second the cruise lines really need to set an example early on in the cruise that this type of garbage is not going to be tolerated. I know that I learned my lesson several years ago when cruising on a Carnival ship for spring break. Never again. It wasn't the college age kids that were the hellions. It was the teenage group from 10-17 year old groug that were the problems. Also the cruise lines should be setting examples for any crew member caught serving alcohol to underage kids. Start carding everyone that looks 30 and under. That way no one can use mom and dad's cards. There are answers but the cruise lines have to help in this and many of the problems can be eliminated.

[MrsPete]

[quote name='hobbit81']Ever seen a 19 year old grounded??? He thought I was crazy. I know I can't keep him from drinking but if I catch him driving UI I will ground him. He tested me once. He got grounded. He was miserable. My house, my rules, I'm the one who has to sit up and worry. And yes, my name is on his truck too. I can sell it.[/quote]Grounding is WAY TOO SOFT a punishment for drinking/driving. I'd have sold the truck and cancelled his insurance.

[MrsPete]

[quote name='cruisingator2']Many parents today do not want to be parents in the sense of the word. When they go on vacation they also go on vacaton from being a parent.[/quote]There's nothing wrong with a break from parenting. When my children were small and still had lots of physical needs, I NEEDED that occasional break to regain my sanity.

However, if you want a break from parenting, you should leave the kids at grandma's; they don't ever need a break from parental supervision.

[HurricaneSally]

Kids haven't changed, parents have changed. They don't want to parent they want to be friends to their kids. Kids are overindulged today because their parents make too much money and want to give them everything. We are doing the wrong thing by our kids. We are raising a generation of drugged and alcohol induced brats who know that when they do the wrong thing we will stick up for them.

Aren't we proud of ourselves?

[Cruising89143]

[quote name='MrsPete']There's nothing wrong with a break from parenting. When my children were small and still had lots of physical needs, I NEEDED that occasional break to regain my sanity.

However, if you want a break from parenting, you should leave the kids at grandma's; they don't ever need a break from parental supervision.[/quote]

I'm speaking of parents who bring their kids on vacation and turn them loose without knowing what is going on while they themselves enjoy their own vacation without a care in the world.

[LindaandJeff]

[quote name='cruisinMike']I.

What needs to happen is that we as customers insist that the cruiselines follow the laws and their own standards. I do not believe RCI standards include allowing their bartenders to serve drinks to minors.[/quote]

Nice thought ---but call me jaded ---we can't even get them to follow their own rules about deck chairs, kids in the solarium, dress codes, smoking, and other rules that don't directly impact their revenue. How are we ever going to get them to cut off kids off from drinking, if it impacts their bottom line? I wish we could, unfortunately, I just don't think it's going to happen.

[cruising couple nyc]

Thought you all might find this interesting: I'm a 23 y/o female, and I do admit, I look much younger than I am. (I'm a High School Guidance Counselor and I still get mistaken for a student.) Many of you would probably assume I was drinking underage if you saw me on a cruise. So for the interesting part: I was actually i.d'ed on both Carnival and Royal Carribbean :eek:

[sbwhite2]

On one of our first cruises several years ago, while getting back on the ship in Cozumel, a lady in front of us was yelling at a crew member because her 13 yo son had gotten drunk at Carlos and Charlies. The crew member was trying to explain to her that it was not the cruise ships responsibility to watch her child while the ship was in port. She just was not getting it.
Foreign country.... young child....no supervision.....and we wonder why children disappear

[dh01498]

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=royalblue][quote name='Merion_Mom']Deb, whatever you do, PLEASE do not take matters into your own (or your DH's) hands. There was a very recent report (don't ask me which sailing of which ship, but it was reported here) of a VERY obnoxious girl. She apparently was REPEATEDLY unpleasant, rude and completely out of line. Finally, another passenger was SO fed up with her behavior, she lashed out at her, yelling at her to stop behaving so badly.[/quote][/COLOR][/FONT][quote name='Merion_Mom']

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=royalblue]They put off the family with the brat at the next port. [/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=royalblue]But they put off the aggrieved passenger as well![/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=royalblue]Call Security, go the the Purser's Desk as often as you have to, but do NOT try to deal with such behavior yourselves head on.[/COLOR][/FONT][/quote]

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=black]Thanks for the heads up. ;) No we would not cause a confrontation.B[/COLOR][/FONT][FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=black]y no means will we start a fight with any teens.. doing that is acting just as juvenile as they are. [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium]But we WILL most definitely report them immediately instead of walking away and shaking our heads to ourselves as we did last time.[/FONT]

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][/FONT]
[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=black][/COLOR][/FONT]

[Disneycruisers]

[quote name='HurricaneSally']Kids haven't changed, parents have changed. They don't want to parent they want to be friends to their kids. Kids are overindulged today because their parents make too much money and want to give them everything. We are doing the wrong thing by our kids. We are raising a generation of drugged and alcohol induced brats who know that when they do the wrong thing we will stick up for them.

Aren't we proud of ourselves?[/QUOTE]

So true.

My DD's 5th-grade teacher is planning to retire earlier than she'd wished, because she can't get most parents to side with her anymore. Most of them get defensive..'How dare you say my little Johnnie (or Susie) is causing trouble in your class!'

Cruisin Mike, I grew up in the 60's too. (grade school.) I haven't experienced raising a teenager yet (Lord, help me!) and can't imagine how hard it must've been to have raised THREE during those 'teens wanting to be cool' years, LOL!

[spbflseas]

I was on Grandeur this past week, so I do have some perspective on a couple of pieces. From a management perspective, I do not think a single manager in the F & B Department (shipboard or corporately) supports serving underage guests. We had the chance to interact with the Bar Manager on many occasions (he was on vacation until recently, so I don't think he was on board when this happened). He is a true professional with vast experience in landside F & B Operations. He shared with us that much of the frustration of his position is the impact of Parents who purchase alcohol for kids, kids who are given Parent's sea passes, passengers (but especially kids) who smuggle liquor on board and the availabilty of alcohol shoreside (he said in some ports, there are actually bars that advertise that ID is not necessary). I have sailed on cruises since I was 9 years old. Are there bartenders who see the buck and for enough money (i.e tip) will intentionally ignore the rules? YES. However, there are FAR more kids getting alcohol from their parents (directly or indirectly), bringing it onboard, purchasing it in port and putting it in water bottles and guests purchasing the alcohol for kids. Cruise ships and other vacation destinations are made out to be utopias that are free of the problems that plaque any society. However, when you pluck a random sampling of 2500+ people from a society, there is a good chance they are going to bring society's problems with them.

As a side note, while sailing the Grandeur this past week, I personally witnessed security guards identify several people using pot and escorted them from the lounge and took them away. Not sure what happened to the guests, but their reaction underscores that it is in cruiselines' best interests to preserve as "clean" of shipboard environment as possible. The financial "gains" made by "secretly" supporting underage drinking are far outweighed by the negative press and legal liability of doing so.

[spbflseas]

After showing this post to my wife and looking at the pictures from the Inside Edition web site, a couple of additional notes:

1) Based on both of our recollections, the picture with the "barf bags" is not a picture of the stairwell coming from Viking Crown Lounge (the disco on this ship) as suggested by the caption. The reason we do not believe this is the stairwell coming from the Viking Crown down to deck 10 is that the direction of the stairwell does not match the direction of the stair sets going from deck 10 to the Viking Crown.

2) Even if this were the stairs from the Viking Crown, it seems irresponsible to conclude that Royal Caribbean placed these bags in this location. As previously mentioned, the hidden camera footage was taken at about the same time as the Norwalk virus was an issue on this vessel. How can one conclude that Royal Caribbean placed the bags at that location and they were not placed there by another guest or even the Inside Edition people.

It is frustrating to see the media making news instead of reporting on news.

[tlund]

Just watched an Inside Edition story about a cruise on the Liberty of the Seas. I was disgusted at how they made the story to appear as if the only reason people cruise is to over consume alcohol and put themselves in danger. They started out the story talking about the travesty that people start drinking as soon as they get on the ship, and the cruise line starts pushing the "drink of the day" right away. They were appalled that people would consider drinking before muster considering the Costa Concordia. They also talked about how people not only over indulge on the ship but at the port as well (Cozumel).

Now, they probably took a cruise during spring break on a 4 day cruise. Most of us stay away from those cruises, but they made it sound as if this happens on every cruise and that the cruise line should be responsible for these people. They showed kids that couldn't stand up themselves or were passed out around the ship. At the end, they showed some kid that was drinking late at the bar, ended up on the outside promenade and jumped over the railing to his death. Now, tell me why the cruise line should be responsible for that.

I was so upset about the story since this is not what happens on the typical cruise. I might consider starting my vacation with a drink. How can that be such a travesty. It happens on land and sea. People will drink too much. The people that over indulge should be responsible for their own actions. Thus, the term "drink responsibly".

Sorry, wanted to post the link but it isn't on the website yet. Probably available in the next couple of days.

[Puffinater]

While I may agree some of the story is probably not quite accurate I have yet to be on a cruise where the drink of the day is not heavily pushed. The WJ and pool to name just two areas is full of servers pushing them.

[ryano]

[quote name='tlund']Just watched an Inside Edition story about a cruise on the Liberty of the Seas. I was disgusted at how they made the story to appear as if the only reason people cruise is to over consume alcohol and put themselves in danger. They started out the story talking about the travesty that people start drinking as soon as they get on the ship, and the cruise line starts pushing the "drink of the day" right away. They were appalled that people would consider drinking before muster considering the Costa Concordia. They also talked about how people not only over indulge on the ship but at the port as well (Cozumel).

Now, they probably took a cruise during spring break on a 4 day cruise. Most of us stay away from those cruises, but they made it sound as if this happens on every cruise and that the cruise line should be responsible for these people. They showed kids that couldn't stand up themselves or were passed out around the ship. At the end, they showed some kid that was drinking late at the bar, ended up on the outside promenade and jumped over the railing to his death. Now, tell me why the cruise line should be responsible for that.

I was so upset about the story since this is not what happens on the typical cruise. I might consider starting my vacation with a drink. How can that be such a travesty. It happens on land and sea. People will drink too much. The people that over indulge should be responsible for their own actions. Thus, the term "drink responsibly".

Sorry, wanted to post the link but it isn't on the website yet. Probably available in the next couple of days.[/quote]

Sounds much like the over sensationalized garbage ABC had on tv after the Costa Concordia accident. Not surprised in the least.

[tlund]

[quote name='Puffinater']While I may agree some of the story is probably not quite accurate I have yet to be on a cruise where the drink of the day is not heavily pushed. The WJ and pool to name just two areas is full of servers pushing them.[/QUOTE]

True, but nobody is making you drink it.

[tlund]

[quote name='ryano']Sounds much like the over sensationalized garbage ABC had on tv after the Costa Concordia accident. Not surprised in the least.[/QUOTE]

I was just flipping the channel and the story caught my interest. I can't stand the media these days. Gotta find a story somewhere even if they have to create it.

[ryano]

[quote name='tlund'] Gotta find a story somewhere even if they have to create it.[/quote]

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" is their motto :)

[emelvee]

[quote name='tlund']I was just flipping the channel and the story caught my interest. I can't stand the media these days. [B]Gotta find a story somewhere even if they have to create it[/B].[/QUOTE]Not just "these days." That was the crux of my argument for a paper I wrote in high school...that would have been about 30 years ago. Of course, older people probably would laugh if I claimed that it only started being a problem 30 years ago.

[Puffinater]

True, but nobody is making you drink it.

 

Very true and I doubt the story said that the cruiselines were making people drink them. I was simply stating that the DOD is everywhere and that is really not an untrue part of the report.

[tanelicus]

that has a captive audience. Vegas on the water.

 

People tend to unwind and leave their worries at the door.

 

I don't get crazy, but I do enjoy a fun atmosphere.

 

Its all in the way one portrays it. Look at these idiots acting like heathens or look at these people having a great time.

 

Of course, there are a few examples of people going too far and having fights, and those are the incidents that make the news.

 

With thousands of cruises going on a year, the problems are far and few between.

 

I tell everybody is the best vacation option around. Its a resort that takes you places, and has world class accomodations with the food and entertainment included. Really how can anybody find fault with that.

[praline3001]

This is a difficult topic to debate. On the one hand I totally agree with the cruise lines not at fault as it is the person's responsibility to drink maturely.

 

On the other hand if everyone practiced personal responsibility there would be no need for laws, police, the court system... you get the idea.

 

In most states there are laws concerning bartenders who serve people who are obviously intoxicated. Each state has a different law but the bar and bartender can be charged for serving a drunk person. However cruise ships are a country on their own when out to sea. I don't see how the US can enforce the drinking regulations on a non American ship in International waters. Its not going to happen.

 

They do push the drinks too hard. They do have way more bars then any other type of entertainment. Most of the evening entertainment revolves around booze .. the trivia games, dances, parties, the wine tasting, the speak easy prohibition party.. if you want to do any of these things you will be bombarded by the booze servers.

 

I do drink and have no problem with booze. However there have been times/events I chose not to drink as I am not a big drinker. I have had servers show up to me every 2-3 minutes since my hand was empty during Quest or the Sexy legs contest or karaoke. I find it offensive and embarrassing to have to tell each server NO 3 or 4 times before they get the idea I do not want to drink at that event. I have a pretty strong personality but there are those who have trouble saying no that many times. It becomes too much of a temptation.

 

So I do agree with personal responsibility but also think there should be regulations that they can not overly push the booze on ship. How do you do that? Its impossible and won't happen due to the ships in International waters. It comes down to this debate being a moot point as there is zero way to fix the problem drinkers.

[ChipLondon]

People are encouraged to enjoy the Drink of the day, this is very evident on boarding day, but nobody is forced to drink. It is also possible to have a virgin version of any cocktail.

However any person serving alcohol does have a responsibility to ensure they are serving with responsibility, and should not be serving anyone at any age that has clearly consumed too much. The results of which can be dangerous, because of the risk of a fall, or in the worse case people being under the impression that they can do things, they would not norally consider without having had too many.

Very often so called news stories are not actually news, but simply highlighting the actions of a few, such actions have been passed forward from generation to generation, we all ( most of us ) think getting drunk is cool, when we were young. However most also have a different view as we age, I certainly apologised to my parents, when i realised what a **** I had been in the past. Thank fully my father appreciated my apology, and told me of the time he aplogised to his parents.

[tanelicus]

act responsibility.