Alcohol now being destroyed

[Colo Cruiser]

I don't bother trying to 'sneak' liquor onboard. I prefer Mojitos and I am certainly not going to try and also sneak on mint and limes to complete the recipe.

 

 

Don't forget the mortar and pestle.

[monakayk]

BUMMER! I hate to think how the enforcement for bringing on Wine will be in Nov when we go on our next cruise. Guess I better start saving my $$$ to buy 'whatever' PCL has on the ship. Which in the past...I wasn't too crazy about.:(:mad:

[Loonbeam]

I made a few calls. The Golden is the first ship to get the new procedures, they will be refined there and rolled out to the rest of the fleet with a target date of June 1 or so.

 

Ostensibly, there are a couple of reasons for the change in enforcement (again, important note, this is not a policy change). NOT IN ANY ORDER. 1 is profit, 2 is an issue with overconsumption (you can get wasted on wine, but in general it takes a lot more, 3 is a small increase in issues with minors getting their hands on hard liquor and 4 is insurance related. I can't get any details on the last 2.

 

While no one at Princess will say it officially, its many people's impression that the boasting on CC and elsewhere did have an effect on impressing on executives the amount of lost potential revenue.

 

Finally, the reason Princess is not storing hard liquor is they do not have a secured, audited location to do so. The duty free purchases are handled by the retail contractor and they have their own area.

[bhopal21]

It would be great if Princess would go back to selling the larger bottles like they did years ago. I would always order a bottle for our cabin.

 

We like having a drink on our balcony before dinner or after returning at the end of the night and our bar bill is always on the higher side.

 

I'm sorry to see that Princess is going along these lines.

 

I could not agree with you more!

 

It was nice to pick up the phone and call room service and order a 1L bottle of spirits (which was not cheap by the way) to be delivered to your cabin.

 

Mike:)

[gertz]

Sorry. I find this almost impossible to believe. Removing stuff from people's bags, destroying liquor (even though its against policy). That would create way more negative towards Princess and therefore lost revenue than they would ever lose in lost liquor sales. They are way smarter than that.

 

Because it wasnt in a carry on.

 

Clarify please. Is it just carry on bags or is it checked luggage also. Or maybe April Fool's a couple of days early?

 

In any case over the top. There is always Disney World.

[Dudleydog73]

There is a wine package, but not all voyages and all ships have them.

 

So.... there isn't a wine package, for the most part, is what you are saying.

[Thrak]

So are they charging a corkage fee as you board the ship? Royal just started allowing the wine, and while they may have a corkage fee, it is not charged in your room, at least it wasnt back in December.

 

I understand paying the corkage fee at any restaurant onboard, but it does seem a bit silly to pay if you drink in your room.

 

I am surprised to see from that list that Disney seems to have one of the most relaxed policies of all.

 

I don't bother trying to 'sneak' liquor onboard. I prefer Mojitos and I am certainly not going to try and also sneak on mint and limes to complete the recipe.

 

No need to "sneak" limes onboard. I took bottles of tonic water and fresh limes last time. I sometimes like to have an "and tonic" (gin and tonic minus the gin) and there was no problem with that. Now if I had tried to take a bottle of gin as well I can see where that likely would have gotten a little "iffy" considering I knew in advance it wasn't allowed.

[bhopal21]

How do we go about expressing our displeasure with the policy? Do we email? Post on the Princess Facebook page?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

 

Post on Facebook, that seems to get their attention more.

 

Mike:)

[Thrak]

I've heard mention of purchasing a bottle at the bar that can be taken back to your cabin. Is this, in fact, something that can be done? If so, does anybody know what kind of pricing structure is in place for a 750ml bottle of "average" quality liquor?

[cantwaitfornextcruise]

Sorry please don't attack me but I think

rules are rules, we all know the rules, alcohol smuggling, pool chair hogging, stopping the tips, theatre seat saving, observation of dress code the list goes on. Why do some think they are above the rules?

We all know the rules so why are some surprised when mother sends them to the naughty step, come on think about it, are we saying we only stick by the rules we agree with - that’s not very adult is it. Oh and yes we carry on wine and buy a gin and a soda package to drink on our balcony.

[Cauzneffct]

I too would like to see a more comprehensive wine/beer/liquor package available on Princess.

 

I think the main problem with offering better packages and "better" selection in general is that what may be "better" may not be what is "popular" and something that can/would be sold in sufficient volume to make it worth the while I think the Princess beer selection is pretty weak, but they do carry "popular" beers which are popular because a lot of people like or at least will drink them. Same for the liquor. For every person on here who would pay for top notch scotch, there are probably several people who don't care or who are fine with JW Red or who wouldn't pay lots of $ for top quality.

 

Now whether or not the above is an endorsement for allowing people to bring whatever (beer/wine/liquor) they want (subject to corkage, of course) is open for debate. But I certainly don't fault Princess for carrying what they do.

[azbirdmom]

I hope they do uniformly have the wine package available on all ships when they begin enforcing this fleetwide. The average wine prices on their package list compared to store-bought wine + the $15 per bottle corkage price seem to be similar, at least for the type of wine we consume.

[ONT-CA]

I am afraid you misquoted the price of CCL it closed at $34.30 up almost 2% today.

 

I did not quote a price, such as when it was $52. what I said was WHEN it hits $19.50 !!!! Then watch the CCL loyalists scream for this inept California blood.

[azbirdmom]

Sorry please don't attack me but I think

rules are rules, we all know the rules, alcohol smuggling, pool chair hogging, stopping the tips, theatre seat saving, observation of dress code the list goes on. Why do some think they are above the rules?

We all know the rules so why are some surprised when mother sends them to the naughty step, come on think about it, are we saying we only stick by the rules we agree with - that’s not very adult is it. Oh and yes we carry on wine and buy a gin and a soda package to drink on our balcony.

 

You're right, Cynth. Rules are rules and it is their right to make them, but they sometimes do change if the yelling is loud enough. On this one, they probably won't relent as the $$ at stake is too high. We will probably still continue to carry wine on and pay the price. I guess it is up to each person to decide if they want to abide by the Princess rules and if they don't like them, to find a cruise line that is more in line with their tastes.

[Coral]

I made a few calls. The Golden is the first ship to get the new procedures, they will be refined there and rolled out to the rest of the fleet with a target date of June 1 or so.

 

Ostensibly, there are a couple of reasons for the change in enforcement (again, important note, this is not a policy change). NOT IN ANY ORDER. 1 is profit, 2 is an issue with overconsumption (you can get wasted on wine, but in general it takes a lot more, 3 is a small increase in issues with minors getting their hands on hard liquor and 4 is insurance related. I can't get any details on the last 2.

 

While no one at Princess will say it officially, its many people's impression that the boasting on CC and elsewhere did have an effect on impressing on executives the amount of lost potential revenue.

 

Finally, the reason Princess is not storing hard liquor is they do not have a secured, audited location to do so. The duty free purchases are handled by the retail contractor and they have their own area.

 

Thanks for calling and getting the info from your friends!

[pms4104]

To me "as of today" means there are no guarantees that HAL won't change their policy tomorrow to be like Princess. When I book a cruise it's the complete experience that I consider & not any one particular thing. Up until recently the long standing Princess policy for bringing wine on the ship was valid & it could just as easily be changed with HAL.

 

I book months in advance & Princess still provides me with a cruise I enjoy more than on HAL even if the new Princess policy is enforced.

Yes, I've heard rumors that HAL is re-assessing its liberal wine/champagne policey ... and may well be making some changes in the near future. and, indeed, for us it's the total package ... and that's why we've moved over from HAL to Princess, regardless of any wine policy.

[TERESAh]

I think more people would buy more of Princess' drinks, if they actually put a full shot in the drinks. Last year we paid extra for a double shot as the drinks were so weak. We watched the bartender put in about 1/2 a shot; we called him on it and he did then add the other shot. As much as they charge for drinks they should put the full amount of alcohol in the drinks. I am not a big drinker but would like to get what I pay for.

[NSWP]

Just borded the golden, any alcohol in your luggage is now being removed and destroyed. Its just happened to me. Major arguments going on down on deck 4. The new alcohol policy is now in full force. Be warned.

The policy has been enforced on the 'Australian Princess ships' - Sun/Dawn/Sea for sometime now. Looks like enforcement has gone fleet wide. Of course we know why - Princess want you to buy their overpriced wines. A lot of unhappy people.

[Aus Traveller]

The policy has been enforced on the 'Australian Princess ships' - Sun/Dawn/Sea for sometime now. Looks like enforcement has gone fleet wide. Of course we know why - Princess want you to buy their overpriced wines. A lot of unhappy people.

 

That is not correct. This policy was enforced for six months only on the Dawn Princess from late 2011 to early April 2012. I believe it was for the length of one person's contract and I am not sure if that was the Hotel Director or someone in security. When we boarded the Dawn Princess on 13th April 2012 there were no restrictions and haven't been since then.

 

Someone has mentioned that this policy was enforced just on the last couple of weeks on one of the Australian ships, but that would be the 'new policy'.

[Bushycomm]

No one seems to worry any more that airlines do not allow you to BYO booze to drink on board a flight.

What is the difference here? The prices posted in a recent thread don't seem to be a great deal different to those in any decent restaurant, although I do think that $24 for a half bottle of Johnny Walker Red is a bit steep.

We think Australian prices are high but I only pay about $33 for s full bottle here.

[Aus Traveller]

No one seems to worry any more that airlines do not allow you to BYO booze to drink on board a flight.

What is the difference here?

 

There are two big differences. Passengers are only on a flight for a limited number of hours - not days or weeks. On a plane, passengers cannot have a drink in the privacy of their own quarters - not on the planes we travel on any way;).

[Pia1913]

So.... there isn't a wine package, for the most part, is what you are saying.

 

What I'm saying is that some of the ships have them on certain voyages. Since I'm not interested in their wines, I haven't been paying attention. What I do know is that the short cruises won't have it. I saw it last on the 12 day CB cruise last June and I believe they had it on the Star on the 15 day Hawaii cruise in October. I cruise a lot and only see what interests me.

[Dudleydog73]

What I'm saying is that some of the ships have them on certain voyages. Since I'm not interested in their wines, I haven't been paying attention. What I do know is that the short cruises won't have it. I saw it last on the 12 day CB cruise last June and I believe they had it on the Star on the 15 day Hawaii cruise in October. I cruise a lot and only see what interests me.

 

Pia, with all due respect, until something is offered on a consistent basis I don't consider it available. Even Princess can't seem to define the terms and conditions for when a wine package will be available on any particular voyage per recent posts.

 

It seems they are saying it will be available on voyages of 10 days or longer**

 

**Wine package availability up to the whim of the particular cruise staff and we will not tell you until you get onboard whether or not your particular cruise will have said package available

 

I guess we will agree to disagree on your definition of a wine package being available.

[Amuse Bouche]

No one seems to worry any more that airlines do not allow you to BYO booze to drink on board a flight.

.

 

I take 3-4 one ounce bottles...the same that they sell you...on flights all the time. If it's small enough to get past the liquid restrictions at security, no big deal.

I don't do it because I'm cheap. I do it because I fly coach and even on a long flight, you only get two drink services. That, and because I don't want my credit or debit card ran for a measly $5 each time.

[melody hounddog]

No one seems to worry any more that airlines do not allow you to BYO booze to drink on board a flight.

What is the difference here? The prices posted in a recent thread don't seem to be a great deal different to those in any decent restaurant, although I do think that $24 for a half bottle of Johnny Walker Red is a bit steep.

We think Australian prices are high but I only pay about $33 for s full bottle here.

 

Actually, you can bring booze on an airplane. My friend does it all the time. As long as it is under 3oz and sealed, its legal.