Booze Cruise

[rugbypopsie]

I just got off the Radiance Sydney to Sydney 2 nighter. I did this cruise last year so I knew that there would be a lot of celebrating, hens nights, bucks nights etc...however. It was the worst example of out of control drunkeness I have ever seen. So many passengers beyond drunk, half dressed, drinking in the swimming pools, foul language everywhere, screaming out obscenities during the safety briefing was just some of the issues. Lack of security very evident, smell of drugs very common...come on RCL. I took two brand new to cruising friends to show them why I love cruising...what a debacle...still like the ship but this cruise was a disgrace. RCL may have made a fortune on alcohol sales but anybody else would have been really turned off sailing with them again.

 

In the event of a real emergency I hate to think what would happen..there has to be some accountability for continuing to serve alcohol to those who obviously had enough...more than enough.

 

Sue

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[The_Big_M]

Waiting for the press release: "RCL welcomes the Aussie mass market"

[Aussieflyer]

We were on this cruise as well, and whilst it was obvious that there was going to be a lot of drinking going on, with minor exceptions, we did not run into any of the out of control drunkards. We do not hang around the pool so missed that, though we heard that there were problems there. The cold weather made it worse as many were inside on the second day making the ship a bit noisy. We did not eat in the MDR or buffet so that may have helped. The chef at Chef's Table did say that they had provisioned the same amount of alcohol for the 2 nighter as they had for the previous cruise which had been 18 days (from memory but may have been slightly shorter). We were astounded at the free-pour spirits in the bar we went to - drinks were easily twice as strong, suspect that the young ones who drank rum or whiskey and coke for example would have been on their ear pretty easily. One other thing we noticed was that people ordered from the bar in lounges and there were few wait staff to take orders. This was quite different from other ships we have been on but maybe it's an Australian thing. People also queued to buy coffee in Latte-tudes.

There were also a lot of families with young children on the cruise - which we did not see on a Princess short cruise we did earlier this year.

Maybe if we had been to the shows, pool or MDR we would have had more of a problem but we stayed away from these areas.

[timtam2]

Uh oh. The 1 nighter this week is shaping up well then. And they sold lots of the cabins on one those coupon sites. I'm just going to check out the ship not booze to the eyeballs. :eek:

[NSWP]

Aussie yobbos, discredit us again. RCL would not care, they sold heaps of booze.

 

Not for me those very short cruises to no where. I went on a Melbourne Cup cruise once on a P&O Australia ship, never again, first and last cruise on a P&O Australia ship. Drunken orgy just like ROS, appears to have been.

[mikeyg0]

Yep.. I saw a punch up near the pool on night one, and on the second night in the night club they stopped all the music and turned on the lights to get every one off the dance floor so they could clean up broken glass/spilt drinks everywhere! A whole group of ladies ignored them though and security had to physically drag them off the dance floor. :O The 1 nighter on Friday is going to be interesting :D

[Aussieflyer]

Glad we missed that then! We were there to look at the ship which w

[rugbypopsie]

I found some places to escape the...for reference..the movies, the production show, aft of the buffet, the relaxation room forward of the spa, the english pub, breakfast or lunch in the dining room, and your own cabin!...LOL

 

I am a proud Aussie...but really it was embarassing. Some people seemed to have their drinks super glued to their hands.

 

I also do shorties to check out ships or just have a couple of days at sea...but I have found the ones that go Sydney to Melbourne or Brisbane are not as boozy.

 

Yes there were families onboard, I am glad I hadn't decided to take my grand daughter.

 

Did I have a good time...yes I did despite the yobbos best efforts..after its a SHIP.

 

Sue

[Aussieflyer]

I found some places to escape the...for reference..the movies, the production show, aft of the buffet, the relaxation room forward of the spa, the english pub, breakfast or lunch in the dining room, and your own cabin!...LOL

 

I am a proud Aussie...but really it was embarassing. Some people seemed to have their drinks super glued to their hands.

 

I also do shorties to check out ships or just have a couple of days at sea...but I have found the ones that go Sydney to Melbourne or Brisbane are not as boozy.

 

Yes there were families onboard, I am glad I hadn't decided to take my grand daughter.

 

Did I have a good time...yes I did despite the yobbos best efforts..after its a SHIP.

 

Sue

I obviously need training wheels for my iPhone (though I have had it for quite a while)! I keep "sending" when not finished.

I was saying - we took the cruise to check out the ship. On that score, we did like the cabins and the specialty restaurants were excellent. I would be quite happy to do a longer cruise on the ship (and thereby not having the "yobbo" problem). I think the large number of people in groups also contributed to the "ambience" or rather lack thereof. Big groups IMO tend to booze up more than others and are louder/dare I say more annoying than people in smaller groups or singles/couples. (My brother likes to travel in a pack of friends - cannot stand it myself)

 

Did we have a good time? - yes, was it fantastic? - no. There were a lot of first time cruisers too that we met in the lifts etc - wonder what they thought.

[Debsta]

I had fun :D

[GandM-nq]

You could maybe call my first ever cruise (in '85) a 'booze cruise'. At least I kind of knew what it was going to be like BEFORE I booked (and it's why I booked). The age restriction (18-35) was a giveaway.

 

If 'drink till you drop' is going to be the prevailing trend on these super short, same port cruises, why don't the Cruise Lines do similar to my first cruise? - age restrict. I will guess the cruise will fill up anyways (probably faster) and atleast that way unsuspecting families won't get caught out.

[lizzy77]

That is just such a shame as so many people would have been on the 2 nighter to see what cruising is all about. We have often said to friends who have never tried cruising that a short 2 nighter would be the best way to try it. Obviously not!!

 

We love a drink as much as many but Royal Caribbean should definitely have taken a much harder line on the "responsible drinking". I bet the press would just love to get a hold on that story:rolleyes:

[NSWP]

I had fun :D

We know YOU had fun Debsta, thou art the original party animal, LOL.

 

Can you tell us ordinary folk what your bar bill was for the two nighter? heh, heh.

[timtam2]

Hopefully they'll be a bit more on the ball security wise now for Friday. It would not be a good look f their pride and joy Voyager makes the papers for all the wrong reasons at the weekend!

[GandM-nq]

on the second night in the night club they stopped all the music and turned on the lights to get every one off the dance floor so they could clean up broken glass/spilt drinks everywhere! A whole group of ladies ignored them though and security had to physically drag them off the dance floor.

 

I had fun :D

 

:eek:

[rugbypopsie]

I hope the Voyager single night goes well too. There might be money in it for someone...Iphones at the ready...video the idiots sell the story to the media...why didn't I think of that...probably because I love cruising and these idiots are NOT representative.

 

Debsta you could give lessons on how to have a ball without a single drink!:)

 

If RCL are going to host unrestrained booze ups they should advertise the fact.

 

Sue

[Gail360]

I wonder if there were a lot of Schoolies on this Cruise ?

[rugbypopsie]

It wasn't teenagers I saw being clowns...but that raises the question there were teenagers...what happened to the no drink under 21 on the US ships?

 

Sue

[timtam2]

LOL Sue - I had thought of that too! I can just see Tracey Grimshaw tut tutting in disapproval

[Debsta]

On the second night in the casino the crapiers (yes I spelt that right :p) were asking for ID because on the previous evening a rather inebriated 16 yo was playing the tables.

 

I did a quick whirl of the nightclub but it was too insane, even for me :eek:

 

My bar bill for the 2 days was a grand total of $21.00 and it was that huge because I shouted a friend a cocktail :p

 

My coffee bill was $4.60 and it was that large because the queue to buy coffee was always loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong. My pet gripe with RCL, only one small coffee shop (Latte-tudes) to support all the caffeine addicts at peak coffee time......ridiculous! :mad:

 

Ohhh I have video of the butt cheeks pressed up against the glass lifts in the atrium.....and faces LOL Youtube????!!!!

[Debsta]

Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again - short cruises are not a good way to see what a true cruise is like - well maybe Princess with all their wheely walkers and dead nightclub :p

[Aussieflyer]

It wasn't teenagers I saw being clowns...but that raises the question there were teenagers...what happened to the no drink under 21 on the US ships?

 

Sue

 

I thought I read that RCI had a drinking age of 18 for itineraries departing Australia and other places with the drinking age lower than 21.

[gbenjo]

It wasn't teenagers I saw being clowns...but that raises the question there were teenagers...what happened to the no drink under 21 on the US ships?

 

Sue

 

Eighteen year olds were always allowed to drink on US ships cruising from Australia provided parent signed the drink waiver but this year no waiver required as drinking age has been lowered to eighteen.( sailing from Aussie ports )

[rugbypopsie]

Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again - short cruises are not a good way to see what a true cruise is like - well maybe Princess with all their wheely walkers and dead nightclub :p

 

Dem's fighting words Debs...ha. I like the wheely walkers...makes me a teenager onboard I'm a junior senior! Actually you only get the older crowd on the really long ones...keen to try Celebrity though.

 

Short ones are a good way to catch up with cruisie mates (that is if they stand still long enough..huh huh?) and a good way to check out a new ship..but true they are not like a real cruise.

 

Sue

[Aussieflyer]

Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again - short cruises are not a good way to see what a true cruise is like - well maybe Princess with all their wheely walkers and dead nightclub :p

 

I some ways I agree but if you know beforehand that short cruises do attract a different passenger type and plan to avoid some places on the ship, they are OK.

We would have been very annoyed had we not taken a short Princess cruise and rather had booked a 14 night one. We did not find Dawn Princess at all to our liking (and many of the common Princess aspects as well). If we had spent $8000+ on a full itinerary we would have been very disappointed.

This time when we saw other passengers in the queue it confirmed our view that it would be a heavy drinking/partying cruise. We were impressed with the cabin and general feel of the ship (minus the drinkers) and were pleased we did take the short cruise.

Someone who is not aware of the differences between short and longer cruises though may have had a very different view.