Any possibility the cruise lines will start banning drunken spring breakers????

[jclif429]

I think it would be totally unfair to ban all passengers under 25. There are many people in their early 20's who are responsible adults. My husband and I were 23 when we got married. We cruised for our honeymoon... There were many other honeymooners our age on the cruise, too. None of us were causing problems.

 

We wouldn't have been too happy if our age prevented us from going on a cruise for our honeymoon.

 

They would lose a lot of money by banning those under 25... and it would be a rediculous idea.:p

[vowsatsea]

I vote for making the age 25. Having it be 21 is just asking for trouble. That's when you can legally drink. Do they think they're going to get a bunch of reponsible 21-year olds on Spring Break? You're 21 in your senior year of college, you can finally have a legal drink, and you're most likely there without your parents.

 

And it's not just older people that come down hard on the young people. I'm 21, and my boyfriend is 24. I can't stand people my age that think they're cool and get drunk off their ass.

 

When they swipe your onboard key card to charge the drink to your account, there should be a limit per day otherwise your card gets rejected.

[karen sharpe]

Tick Tock ...Insurance risks and rates increase and rules and limitations follow!

[nickt41]

 

Nope, we booked a wedding cruise on Carnival and there is suppose to be someone 25 or older in each cabin.....

You cannot have two 21 year olds in one cabin.

Now I know people will switch once they are on board.......

They changed the age to 25 years ago because of the problems they were having with college kids....

I don't think this applies if you are traveling alone. I believe that age is 21

 

I really hope you are wrong. I have a cruise booked for the summer for myself and my girlfriend, both 24. When I booked it they asked my age and her age, etc. and never said anything about us not being old enough. I checked the FAQ on the Carnival website and it says this...

 

"Guests are required to be 21 years old (on embarkation day) to travel. Guests under the age of 21 must be accompanied in the same stateroom by a parent or guardian 25 or older."

 

They either have the FAQ wrong (or worded wrong) or they changed the rules since you booked your wedding cruise.

[MitzSea]

The cruise lines could pass a law when ever your sea pass shows more than three drinks you must put a life jacket on if you want any additional drinks for the day, then if you choose to "Jump"....... go for it, float around the rest of your cruise, see what next port is for you.

[Kurbanfan]

 

I really hope you are wrong. I have a cruise booked for the summer for myself and my girlfriend, both 24. When I booked it they asked my age and her age, etc. and never said anything about us not being old enough. I checked the FAQ on the Carnival website and it says this...

 

"Guests are required to be 21 years old (on embarkation day) to travel. Guests under the age of 21 must be accompanied in the same stateroom by a parent or guardian 25 or older."

 

They either have the FAQ wrong (or worded wrong) or they changed the rules since you booked your wedding cruise.

 

Nope you are correct.....they have changed the policy since we did this cruise.....

Anyone under 21 now......you will be fine....

Thanks for updating me:)

[BruceMuzz]

Greatam raised an interesting fallacy about drinking on cruises. This one fools even the most seasoned Beverage Managers in the Cruise Industry.

 

When people go on cruises, they drink plenty of wine at dinner every night, right? After all, they are on holiday, taking a cruise of a lifetime, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, they are not driving home - or anywhere else, and they don't have to get up and go to work in the morning.

 

Last year, about 13 million people went on a cruise.

Last year, the entire cruise industry sold 11.5 million bottles of wine aboard all their ships. A quick calculation tells us that the average cruiser drinks less than 1 bottle of wine on an entire cruise!! Remember that these numbers also include all the free bottles and glasses that are sent to cabins and served at freebie parties. But one would think that the average person would drink more than one bottle of wine in an entire week even when he is home - and not on a fabulous cruise vacation.

 

And it gets worse. Seventy five percent of all bottles of wine sold on cruise ships last year were priced between $26 and $34 per bottle.

 

On the positive side, the company's cost of sales is substantially higher on wines than on beer or spirits. Wine costs typically run over 35% (65% gross profit), whereas beer and spirits costs are usually just above 10% (80% - 90% gross profit). So slow wine sales may actually be a benefit to the profitibility of the cruise lines (assuming that the difference is made up in beer and spirits sales).

 

It is abundantly clear that the beer and cocktail drinkers are driving the alcohol profits on cruise ships. So whoever is consuming all that beer and spirits onboard cruise ships is the target market for the cruise lines.

 

Anybody have any ideas on the demopgraphics of those heavy beer and spirits drinkers? In most cases, it's not your grandmother.

[greatam]

Greatam raised an interesting fallacy about drinking on cruises. This one fools even the most seasoned Beverage Managers in the Cruise Industry.

 

 

I would have never guessed. I don't drink wine at all and the only wine I have ever bought was cheap, cheap, cheap. But as an ex bar owner, I sure made the profits on the drinks, NOT the beer (except draft beer).

 

The more I think about it, the legal liability will do more to contain the paaartying spring breakers than any age limit or amount of revenue gained or lost.

[BruceMuzz]

Greatam,

You have just brought up another strange fallacy about alcohol on ships.

Draft beer is lower cost, right?? You are buyiing in bulk, without bottles or cans, in returnable, refillable containers. So there should be a price break when selling it, and higher profits due to the lower cost.

On land it is the case that the cost of draft beer is generally much lower than beer in bottles or cans. Even though there is more spillage/wastage with draft beer, the cost per serving is generally much lower.

However, due to the rather bizarre alcohol laws in America, a foreign flag cruise ship pays a much higher price for draft beer than for bottles or cans. The actual cost for a serving of draft is nearly double that of cans or bottles.

 

So now you know why it is often quite difficult to find good draft beer on cruise ships. They just cannot afford to serve it at competitive prices.

[Livin4Real]

It is abundantly clear that the beer and cocktail drinkers are driving the alcohol profits on cruise ships. So whoever is consuming all that beer and spirits onboard cruise ships is the target market for the cruise lines.

 

Anybody have any ideas on the demopgraphics of those heavy beer and spirits drinkers? In most cases, it's not your grandmother.

 

 

You obviously never met my grandmother :p

[AZPam]

Well, I certainly don't have the answer to this, but I do wish something were to be done.

 

We recently returned from the Diamond Princess out of LA March 10-17. We knew going in that this would be a spring break crowd but as we had our own 20 somethings along with us that was okay. What wasn't okay was how the herds of drunk college students took over every pool on the ship every day. Some of them were falling down drunk, had glass bottles of beer in the pools, games of beer pong going on everywhere, fights broke out, I am sure you get the idea and that was just by the pools. Lets not forget the screaming they felt it was necessary to do in the shows, dining rooms, elevators and tenders. Or how about the one mass bump and grind session in the disco every night that would sometimes turn in to public sex in the corners. Couldn't they at least make it back to their rooms?

 

Needless to say we were very disappointed in the way that Princess did nothing about any of this. We did hear 6 were put off in Mazatlan but who knows if that was true or just rumor? You can be sure our comment card was very full too. We will cruise again next year during spring break so our kids can come but think we will be looking for a different cruise line and maybe a more exotic trip that maybe some of the college kids won't be able to so easily afford.

 

I don't mind them having a good time, but at least keep some thought to the other passengers. I enjoyed watching them have a good time at the pool and in the disco but it always seemed to go too far. And I don't even consider myself a prude! I'm not that old after all. But you know it's bad when my own kids at that age were disgusted at some of the stuff that went on.

[pms4104]

Wow ... AZPam's cruise sounds like it was a pretty intense week! What a nightmare that week must have been!

 

Never been on Princess ... but surprised that security didn't get more involved in some of the buffoonery on board. Maybe during Break season, lines should be more aggressive in disembarking unrulies at foreign ports or possibly denying them re-boarding if they're acting up at the pier. And, oh yes, no refunds for those left on their own!

 

Or perhaps the minimum pax age during Spring Break could be something like 30 ... and one ship per Break week could be dedicated to those under 30. After Break season is over, the line could overhaul and clean the ship stem to stern before returning it to regular service.

 

Okay, so maybe my comments seem sarcastic ... but it doesn't make sense that regular cruisers should be victimized by annual pax who rough-house one week a year ... guessing those kids brings aboard their own liquor and the line makes little money off them. Then again, I suppose it's all about heads in beds and filling the cabins ... even if it means losing pax who would return and spend more money than the Breakers over their entire cruising life. Methinks that's a pretty short-sighted business plan.

[pms4104]

If I might add ... maybe it's all about too much time, too much money, too little respect for self and others on the part of the Breakers.

 

Don't think there are any clear answers ... but wouldn't it be nice if the lines beefed up security for Spring Break season. If cruiseships were perceived to be hostile environments for Breakers, they could take their show elsewhere ... not that anyone anywhere wants to spend their own holiday being victimized by rowdies.

[vacationingdiva]

I'll be honest, I wouldn't pay to go on a cruise during high school/college spring breaks OR right after graduation.

 

The last cruise I went on was the last week in April 2002 and it was perfect. There were younger kids (less than 12). There were very few college kids and newly legal drinkers.

 

. . . I guess we had no excuse for the rowdiness. . . adults can get a little wild too!

[BruceMuzz]

Many will be surprised to learn that Spring Break cruises have some of the highest revenues of the year - especially in the bars.

Cruise Lines would have a hard time turning away free-spending college students in favor of more conservative spenders.

 

There are some easy solutions to this dilemma. We all know that Spring Break party animals:

1. Generally cruise the two weeks before and the two weeks after Easter Sunday.

2. They almost exclusively take 7-day cruises.

3. They almost exclusively take cruises from US Ports.

4. They have limited funds and choose the cheaper cruises so they can dedicate their money to partying.

 

Since they are so predictable, the rest of us who want to avoid them should plan to be somewhere else during that period.

 

Suggestions:

1. Avoid cruises around Easter.

2. Cruise at Easter on a cruise longer than 7 days.

3. Cruise at Easter on a more exotic (read expensive) itinerary.

4. Cruise at Easter on a more upscale line.

 

Problem solved.

[Krunu15]

I don't think it would be fair to ban people under 25 unless cruising with someone over 25. People between 21 and 25 are legally considered adults and should be treated as such. Yes, many college students will go on Spring Break trips however if you don't want to be around them, don't book at that time. I feel that it is a minority of young adults that tarnish the reputation of the group. Young people who do drink responsibly should not be punished for this. Most undergrads (the bulk of college students notorious for spring break) are under 21 anyway. Not all people aged 21 to 25 are college students, usually when they are they are in graduate or professional programs. You have a lot of people in this group that are already married and have children. Personally, I would be extremely angry if I were unable to cruise just because I am under 25 and would not be attending with anyone over 25...I am 21 and I am an undergrad, have been in two different schools and the great majority of students are not there for the sole purpose of partying, quite a few swear off of it completely. That being said I also know some people over 25 who get intoxicated often...should they be allowed while responsible young adults are not?

[snelsonbrown]

Good morning

My name is Shirley and live & work here in Cape Canaveral but also born and raised in Key West.

Anyhow this past weekend at Port Canaveral, when we went to make ship deliveries we were informed that over 500 bottles, can etc of beer, wine or hard liquor were confiscated due to all of the problems of over drinking and having accidents. Now I understand that anyone that had the drinks taken, they could claim it once it returned. I also understand they are trying to make it a permanent situation but don't know how that will be taken as well.

Will post if I hear anything

Always

Shirley

[gillianrose]

I don't know how they would accomplish this ban, I mean it would seriously eat into corporate profits and I'm sure they don't want to do that.

 

It's a trade-off, I suppose. The flip side of it is that some of us who would love to book a cruise during spring break season (often an "extra cruise") don't for the very reason that we expect "spring breakers" onboard. We also wouldn't book a cruise that was immediately after a spring break cruise because we don't like substandard service from exhausted crews.