Alcohol now being destroyed

[baldercash]

For instance, last March we were given a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label as an apology for service issue on an international first-class flight. Certainly not something one would chug in the parking lot. :p

You are correct it needs too be sipped but with big enough paper cups and lots of ice and friends it can be drunk in a parking lot in a very short time.

[PunkiC]

You are correct it needs too be sipped but with big enough paper cups and lots of ice and friends it can be drunk in a parking lot in a very short time.

 

In Lufthansa first-class they serve it neat, at room temperature, in very nice glasses. A lovely treat to follow the caviar serving. I love it when there are people in first who don't like caviar. Then I can have it for both my appetizer and my main course. ;) Oh, yum, yum, yum.

[jagoffee]

 

I'm surprised there hasn't been a class action lawsuit about this in the USA ... yet.

 

Even in the US you shouldn't be too surprised. The OP's post on 3/27 was the first report of pouring out and the cruise is still in progress. (Actually I suspect the OP asked for it to be poured out, so he could have his collector's bottle) Give them at least a day or so after the cruise to file a silly lawsuit.

 

I know nothing about UK laws and little about US laws, but I would be surprised with all the cruise contract wording that a cruise line would be required to store and return all illegal items that a passenger would attempt to smuggle on board. Being required to return guns, bombs, etc.? That would be really strange. I am just responding to the idea that not returning items is theft and not comparing alcohol to a bomb, so please do not "flame" me.

[baldercash]

In Lufthansa first-class they serve it neat, at room temperature, in very nice glasses. A lovely treat to follow the caviar serving. I love it when there are people in first who don't like caviar. Then I can have it for both my appetizer and my main course. ;) Oh, yum, yum, yum.

Correct again, one should always drinks scotch at room temp though Blue is a blend. But if one wants to encourage consumption on the rocks expedites matters even more so when in a paper cup! i

[baldercash]

Even in the US you shouldn't be too surprised. The OP's post on 3/27 was the first report of pouring out and the cruise is still in progress. (Actually I suspect the OP asked for it to be poured out, so he could have his collector's bottle) Give them at least a day or so after the cruise to file a silly lawsuit.

 

I know nothing about UK laws and little about US laws, but I would be surprised with all the cruise contract wording that a cruise line would be required to store and return all illegal items that a passenger would attempt to smuggle on board. Being required to return guns, bombs, etc.? That would be really strange. I am just responding to the idea that not returning items is theft and not comparing alcohol to a bomb, so please do not "flame" me.

At the Canadian boarder crossing from the US they have what is called " the sink of tears" which the Customs officers pour all your contraband alcohol in front of you.

[JimmyVWine]

I would be more prone to buy $25.00 bottles that the ship would sell for $80.00 or more and go top shelf. So $400.00 for $800.00+ ship board value but Princess only gets $150.00 on my $250.00.

I have an issue paying $15.00 to open a $5.00 bottle of wine. Just my head set.

 

Except that Princess doesn't charge $80 for $25 wines. Take a look at the wine list posted in the other thread. The two Super Tuscans, one of which is on the list for $79, are priced at or around retail. Good luck finding a bottle of Ornellaia for much less than $140. And the $79 Luce sells for around $70 at retail. So even if you bring on board $25 bottles and pay the $15 corkage, you are going to be close to, if not above the price of comparable wines on their list. The real savings to BYO is actually at the lower priced wines that sell at retail for $10 and are on the list for $33. But as you go up in price, the markup goes down. Bringing on wine that you prefer that aren't on the list makes sense, especially if you already own them, making them "free" in a sense. But if you go to a wine shop to load up on wine before boarding with the expectation of paying $15 per bottle more in corkage, I don't think you'll save too much. Not when they sell Ornellaia and Luce at retail prices.

[2 drift woods]

26 pages of this, wow i read them all, i must be drunk.......:confused:

[JimmyVWine]

26 pages of this, wow i read them all, i must be drunk.......:confused:

 

You can re-set your viewing preferences so that there are twice as many posts per page. That way, the thread will only be 13 pages long!

[WarEagle76]

So let’s say on the first day of the cruise, I board with my allotment of one bottle of wine in my carry on. Two days later at a port stop, I take a Princess tour of a winery, and at the winery I purchase a bottle of wine. The next day at a different port, I stop at a grocery on my way back to the ship and purchase another bottle of wine. Will there be tracking involved based upon the fact I used my Princess allotment on the first day I boarded the ship, and will subsequent purchases of wine made at ports during the cruise (limited to one bottle per port) be subject to the $15 corkage fee?

 

Hello op back. Just got back on board at Hilo. Well the new policy and how it works gets clearer. All wine is taken from you as you board the ship, a receipt is issued and its delivered to your cabin later today, its then checked to see if you have already brought wine on board, if so a charge of $15 is charged to your room, if not its countrd as your free 1 per person.

 

Let the thread continue, me i up to deck 14 for sailaway*

 

Ps landside securitymwhere dealing with all this, 1st time they have done it.*

 

So if we spend $258 for a Princess tour to the Carneros region of Sonoma and return with a purchase of one bottle of wine per person sounds like they are going to charge us the $15pp corkage fee (based upon the fact we will bring on one bottle pp during embarkation in San Pedro). Will be interesting to see how this situation is handled in a few weeks.

[Loonbeam]

The 15% gratuity has to be added in when doing the math, but your logic still holds.

 

Except that Princess doesn't charge $80 for $25 wines. Take a look at the wine list posted in the other thread. The two Super Tuscans, one of which is on the list for $79, are priced at or around retail. Good luck finding a bottle of Ornellaia for much less than $140. And the $79 Luce sells for around $70 at retail. So even if you bring on board $25 bottles and pay the $15 corkage, you are going to be close to, if not above the price of comparable wines on their list. The real savings to BYO is actually at the lower priced wines that sell at retail for $10 and are on the list for $33. But as you go up in price, the markup goes down. Bringing on wine that you prefer that aren't on the list makes sense, especially if you already own them, making them "free" in a sense. But if you go to a wine shop to load up on wine before boarding with the expectation of paying $15 per bottle more in corkage, I don't think you'll save too much. Not when they sell Ornellaia and Luce at retail prices.

[bigeagle12]

Gee the other thread disappeared :eek::D:rolleyes:

[Baileybasset]

So if we spend $258 for a Princess tour to the Carneros region of Sonoma and return with a purchase of one bottle of wine per person sounds like they are going to charge us the $15pp corkage fee (based upon the fact we will bring on one bottle pp during embarkation in San Pedro). Will be interesting to see how this situation is handled in a few weeks.

 

This is what I am wondering too. Even if I pay the $15/bottle corkage fee for the shore excursion purchased bottle, will I be able to drink it that day on the ship, or is it held until the cruise ends?

[YYC F/A]

Yes, they really do need to establish a policy for special wines and spirits that are purchased in ports to be held for their customers until disembarkation. My understanding is that that is pretty common throughout the industry.

 

Just one of the many particulars that should have been considered and resolved before they jumped the gun

 

I wonder how the genius who thought that launching a new policy by printing sketchy information on the boarding passes is fairing these days. :p Wouldn't be in line for promotion if he/she worked for me.

 

So to be clear, when you get off at <name any port> in the Caribbean and buy a bottle or two of duty free alcohol to take home with you - from the ship sponsored duty free stores nonetheless - Princess will then promptly "destroy it" because per Julie Benson "it's too logistically challenging" to check it and give it back at end of cruise?

 

And just to be clear, if you do an excursion on say, a British Isles cruise to a Whisky Distillery - and purchase a special bottle of Malt to take home with you - it will be destroyed because Princess finds it "too logistically challenging"?

 

Out in Europe and want to buy a bottle of Limoncello, Grappa, <insert local liquer> to take home with you? Not if you're on Princess?

 

This would be an industry first - every other cruise line allows you to check liquor until cruise end - and such a hardline inflexible and consumer unfriendly policy would take Princess' to a new low.

 

This is truly quite astounding.

[Cauzneffct]

So to be clear, when you get off at <name any port> in the Caribbean and buy a bottle or two of duty free alcohol to take home with you - from the ship sponsored duty free stores nonetheless - Princess will then promptly "destroy it" because per Julie Benson "it's too logistically challenging" to check it and give it back at end of cruise?

 

And just to be clear, if you do an excursion on say, a British Isles cruise to a Whisky Distillery - and purchase a special bottle of Malt to take home with you - it will be destroyed because Princess finds it "too logistically challenging"?

 

Out in Europe and want to buy a bottle of Limoncello, Grappa, <insert local liquer> to take home with you? Not if you're on Princess?

 

This would be an industry first - every other cruise line allows you to check liquor until cruise end - and such a hardline inflexible and consumer unfriendly policy would take Princess' to a new low.

 

This is truly quite astounding.

 

 

I don't think that's how it will play out, or at least I hope not. I think the destruction of alcohol pertains to that which has been "smuggled" on board at embarkation. I'm assuming that if you present alcohol or wine for storage rather than consumption on board either at embarkation or at port, they would do so.

[YYC F/A]

I know nothing of UK law. Could the cruise line give you the choice of being denied boarding for trying to board with contraband, or letting you throw away the contraband items? You pick.

 

Why is bringing home a bottle of fine whisky or a special bottle of spirits that you picked up on your travels automatically "contraband". They should allow it to be checked until end of cruise (as is the long established practice with pretty much every other cruiseline in the world).

 

Airlines don't allow you to consume your own liquor onboard. But they don't tell you you can't buy duty free or pack it in your checked luggage. :confused:

[Cauzneffct]

This is what I am wondering too. Even if I pay the $15/bottle corkage fee for the shore excursion purchased bottle, will I be able to drink it that day on the ship, or is it held until the cruise ends?

 

It would seem that if you pay the corkage fee, you can consume it "immediately" on board. I would think that if you instead wish them to store it until the end of the trip they would do that.

[bdjam]

Now you can say that adding the words from the PAX contract to the boarding pass and luggage tags was notice, but I disagree. They apparently never announced the "practice' of allowing alcohol to board at embarkation was changing. Given the numerous opportunities with social media, use of their Facebook site and/or at least an email to passengers notifying them of the change would seem to have been in order. In short, they wound up angering customers.

 

But where do you draw the line on notification? Must Princess go as far as to send a representative to the door of every passenger to tell them personally? I would think that since each passenger normally prints a luggage tag, it would be a good place to notify them of a new practice. Facebook, other social media, emails - all can be missed if the potential passenger doesn't seem them. As far as practice vs. policy, the policy supersedes. I seriously wonder why people are outraged when they've finally been called after years of violating policy? If anything they should be thankful that they got away with it until now.

[YYC F/A]

I don't think that's how it will play out, or at least I hope not. I think the destruction of alcohol pertains to that which has been "smuggled" on board at embarkation. I'm assuming that if you present alcohol or wine for storage rather than consumption on board either at embarkation or at port, they would do so.

 

Not according to Julie Benson and the official press release:

 

"Other alcohol is not allowed to be brought onboard and will be confiscated. It won't be returned because the logistics of storing the contraband, then returning it to passengers is too challenging, she added."

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5291

[PunkiC]

As I had previously stated in the deleted thread (I wonder if Princess influenced that deletion), they seriously botched this new policy implementation.

 

Very bad form, Princess. :(

[Cauzneffct]

Not according to Julie Benson and the official press release:

 

"Other alcohol is not allowed to be brought onboard and will be confiscated. It won't be returned because the logistics of storing the contraband, then returning it to passengers is too challenging, she added."

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5291

 

Right. I was reading that as a continuation of the previous discussion of smuggling alcohol on at embarkation, but she didnt specifically limit the comment to that. In any event, i dont see how her statement, if it relates to alcohol willingly surrendered at port, makes any sense since the old policy was to do just that: catalog and store the alcohol and return it at the end of the trip.

 

Here's the language under the FAQ, Onboard Experience, which seems to be current considering it discusses the $15 charge for additional wine:

 

As provided in the Passage Contract, passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind onboard for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles are welcome, but will incur a $15 corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Liquor, spirits or beers are not permitted. Please remember that luggage will be scanned and alcohol outside of our policy will be removed and discarded.*

Alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at ports of call, will be collected for safekeeping and delivered to the passenger's stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist passengers with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist passengers with shipboard alcoholic purchases..

[Northender]

As I had previously stated in the deleted thread (I wonder if Princess influenced that deletion), they seriously botched this new policy implementation.

 

Very bad form, Princess. :(

 

Oh my...do you think that this thread will now disappear?:D:D

[Iamcruzin]

But where do you draw the line on notification? Must Princess go as far as to send a representative to the door of every passenger to tell them personally? I would think that since each passenger normally prints a luggage tag, it would be a good place to notify them of a new practice. Facebook, other social media, emails - all can be missed if the potential passenger doesn't seem them. As far as practice vs. policy, the policy supersedes. I seriously wonder why people are outraged when they've finally been called after years of violating policy? If anything they should be thankful that they got away with it until now.

 

Princess could call, send a representative to the door, send a registered letter and someone will still claim they weren't home, didn't receive the call, or never signed for the letter. There is no excuse for anyone on this message board, with some posting thousands of times and or elite to be surprised that they are not permitted to bring alcohol on board. It should be common knowledge and I agree they should just be thankful they got away with it as long as they did. I am very thankful that I was able to bring on more wine than allowed as well as alcohol in my carry on for the handful of cruises I sailed on. I always knew that it would come to an end so maybe that’s why I am able to accept it without a problem.

[billco]

Oh my...do you think that this thread will now disappear?:D:D

Let's hope so.

[paul929207]

Oh my...do you think that this thread will now disappear?:D:D

We can only dream

[Roses2]

Let's hope it does soon.

BUT, if it does someone will try to find a way to smuggle in another post!