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tiger belle
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the unlimited beverage package on carnival cruises leaving out of ports in Texas and New York does not apply to the first day on board? you can still purchase drinks on boarding day but the unlimited beverage package doesn't work until the first day at sea...I am told this is not a Carnival rule but something to do with the laws in Texas and New York--anyone know what the legal obstruction is?:confused:

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the unlimited beverage package on carnival cruises leaving out of ports in Texas and New York does not apply to the first day on board? you can still purchase drinks on boarding day but the unlimited beverage package doesn't work until the first day at sea...I am told this is not a Carnival rule but something to do with the laws in Texas and New York--anyone know what the legal obstruction is?:confused:

This is all about the liquor laws in this states. You will pay outright for your drinks on Day 1, and your Cheers package starts on Day 2. No big deal.

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the unlimited beverage package on carnival cruises leaving out of ports in Texas and New York does not apply to the first day on board? you can still purchase drinks on boarding day but the unlimited beverage package doesn't work until the first day at sea...I am told this is not a Carnival rule but something to do with the laws in Texas and New York--anyone know what the legal obstruction is?:confused:

 

Just note that Cheers is not "unlimited" when it comes to alcoholic drinks. You get 15 alcoholic drinks per day. You do however get unlimited bottled water, soda, milkshakes, specialty coffee, etc.

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It must just be a Cheers thing. Because we’ve done bottomless bubbles out of Texas and it started the first day.

 

No, it's a Texas thing and a New York thing. Bottomless bubbles is just soda. Texas and New York have laws forbidding alcohol "packages" so they have to wait until they are out of their waters to sale them.

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Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I thought TX had some weird law regarding price/tax regarding alcohol sold in state (day one) that the cruise line had to follow. I had thought I heard that the prices for a-la-cart drinks were different also until the second day. I could be totally wrong, so please correct or clarify if I am.

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They also have something weird about the beer being sold on ship the first day. My DH is always mad that the list of beers available on embarkation day is half what it is later. I don't know if that is Carnival, or if it is part of the Cheers issue... he doesn't do Cheers as I don't drink. Texas has some weird laws, regardless.

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In those states it's illegal to sell an unlimited or undetermined quantity of alcoholic drinks for a fixed price. Thus Cheers isn't sold until day 2, when the ship is in international waters.

 

Sent from my SM-J727P using Forums mobile app

 

I have sailed multiple times out of NYC with NCL, unlimited drink package was available the moment you stepped on the ship....

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the unlimited beverage package on carnival cruises leaving out of ports in Texas and New York does not apply to the first day on board? you can still purchase drinks on boarding day but the unlimited beverage package doesn't work until the first day at sea...I am told this is not a Carnival rule but something to do with the laws in Texas and New York--anyone know what the legal obstruction is?:confused:

 

This article explains it pretty well.

 

https://www.cruzely.com/answered-first-day-drink-packages-and-alcohol-on-galveston-cruises/

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I have sailed multiple times out of NYC with NCL, unlimited drink package was available the moment you stepped on the ship....
http://www.sla.ny.gov/unlimited-drink-specials:

 

"The [New York] ABC Law prohibits from selling, serving, delivering or offering* to patrons an unlimited number of drinks during any set period of time for a fixed price. ... The statute also prohibits licensees from creating drink specials which, in the judgment of the Authority, are attempts to circumvent the law. This includes offerings of free drinks, or multiple drinks for free or for the price of a single drink, or for a low initial price followed by a price increment per hour or other period of time."

 

Why NCL but not Carnival? Their interpretations of the law and risk tolerances for breaking the law vary.

 

Sent from my SM-J727P using Forums mobile app

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the unlimited beverage package on carnival cruises leaving out of ports in Texas and New York does not apply to the first day on board? you can still purchase drinks on boarding day but the unlimited beverage package doesn't work until the first day at sea...I am told this is not a Carnival rule but something to do with the laws in Texas and New York--anyone know what the legal obstruction is?:confused:

 

There are liquor laws in Texas that require that any liquor sold there has to have Texas taxes paid and a Texas liquor stamp on each bottle. The ships have to swap out the bar stocks to accommodate this requirement. There is are reduced number of liquor kinds and brands sold while the ships are in port to manage costs and work. They also have state officials in the terminals whose job is to collect state taxes on any liquor brought off the ships and into Texas. That is why people want to pack their buys in their checked luggage since it is easier to lie about it rather than be carrying it in a bag. I do not know if all of this is true for New York, but I am sure that some of it applies.

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I wonder how recent the Texas law is. I remember lots of brunch places in Houston and Austin had "Bottomless Mimosas" back in the aughts.

 

The distributor thing is such a stupid law. It's a relic of a long ago need that was questionable at best then and outright parasitic now, surviving only on inertia and campaign donations.

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From the article ... If you sail on Royal Caribbean (Liberty of the Seas), then you can use a drink package from the moment you step on the ship. There is no waiting period to start using the package.

 

So it is a Carnival rule and not a Texas rule

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