Princess’ new (?) alcohol policy

[islandwoman]

I am on the Golden Princess for 20 days from LA to Auckland. At our first port of call, Honolulu, this appeared in the Princess Patter: “During the ports of call, alcoholic regional bottles, purchased during the course of the voyage will be stored by the vessel and returned to the guests of the final evening of the voyage. Any other forms of alcohol outside these parameters will be confiscated at the gangway and destroyed, including open bottles.”

 

Apparently it isn’t allowed to bring wine onboard in a port of call even by paying the $15 corkage fee, unless it’s local to the port of call and then it will be stored until the end of the cruise. Who know in what conditions it would be stored?

 

Princess sells a $60 + 15% tip per day unlimited drink package.

The least expensive wine by the glass is $9 + 15% tip.

The least expensive bottle of wine in the dining room is $35 + 15% tip.

THERE IS NO MULTI-BOTTLE WINE PACKAGE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.

 

This is what I found today on princess.com:

As provided in the Passage Contract, guests 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 guest's stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist guests with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist guests with shipboard alcoholic purchases

[antsp]

This is not new in any way, it has been this way for about 4 years

[Griller]

On Regal last month I asked the security guys about it and they said

oh just one bottle is OK.,and they said just take it through onboard

they didn't even specify about the type of booze. I had a bottle of brandy.which I was quite happy for them to look after if they wanted to.

 

now that was those guys on that ship and that cruise, but I take it as guidance of the practical application of the rule.

 

YMMV

[fishywood]

Nothing in that excerpt from the Patter contradicts the language in the Passage Contract (or vice-versa).

 

Any sealed bottles you turn in will be returned to you at the end of the cruise. Pretty standard stuff.

 

Yes lots of reports are that Princess is often very lax in enforcement, especially if only wine rather than hard spirits.

 

Though that blurb in the Patter could be pushback from above due to the complaints that the ship is currently a bit short on wine selection (as reported on the concurrent live-from thread). A case of "mess with the bull, you get the horns"

[floridalover5623]

My only question is have they increased the security check when boarding?

If not then nothing much has changed.

[Aus Traveller]

The OP (Islandwoman) makes a good point. The note in the Patter contradicts the Passage Contract. I would think that the Passage Contract would trump the notice in the Patter. I would be upset if I brought a couple of bottles of wine on board expecting to pay $15 corkage, only to have them confiscated.

[nukesubsailor]

I am on the Golden Princess for 20 days from LA to Auckland. At our first port of call, Honolulu, this appeared in the Princess Patter: “During the ports of call, alcoholic regional bottles, purchased during the course of the voyage will be stored by the vessel and returned to the guests of the final evening of the voyage. Any other forms of alcohol outside these parameters will be confiscated at the gangway and destroyed, including open bottles.”

 

Apparently it isn’t allowed to bring wine onboard in a port of call even by paying the $15 corkage fee, unless it’s local to the port of call and then it will be stored until the end of the cruise. Who know in what conditions it would be stored?

 

Princess sells a $60 + 15% tip per day unlimited drink package.

The least expensive wine by the glass is $9 + 15% tip.

The least expensive bottle of wine in the dining room is $35 + 15% tip.

THERE IS NO MULTI-BOTTLE WINE PACKAGE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.

 

This is what I found today on princess.com:

As provided in the Passage Contract, guests 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 guest's stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist guests with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist guests with shipboard alcoholic purchases

 

Per Voyage. So much for a free bottle for the cabin purchased ashore in each port.

[chamima]

I am on the Golden Princess for 20 days from LA to Auckland. At our first port of call, Honolulu, this appeared in the Princess Patter: “During the ports of call, alcoholic regional bottles, purchased during the course of the voyage will be stored by the vessel and returned to the guests of the final evening of the voyage. Any other forms of alcohol outside these parameters will be confiscated at the gangway and destroyed, including open bottles.”

 

Apparently it isn’t allowed to bring wine onboard in a port of call even by paying the $15 corkage fee, unless it’s local to the port of call and then it will be stored until the end of the cruise. Who know in what conditions it would be stored?

 

Princess sells a $60 + 15% tip per day unlimited drink package.

The least expensive wine by the glass is $9 + 15% tip.

The least expensive bottle of wine in the dining room is $35 + 15% tip.

THERE IS NO MULTI-BOTTLE WINE PACKAGE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.

 

This is what I found today on princess.com:

As provided in the Passage Contract, guests 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 guest's stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist guests with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist guests with shipboard alcoholic purchases

 

 

Maybe I'm reading this wrong (I'm referring to the highlighted red portion) but it sounds like if I purchased a bottle of , say, Scotch in Honolulu it would be destroyed , NOT kept for me until the end of the cruise.

If that's the case it is a BIG change in policy!

The old policy is in purple.

[Aus Traveller]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong (I'm referring to the highlighted red portion) but it sounds like if I purchased a bottle of , say, Scotch in Honolulu it would be destroyed , NOT kept for me until the end of the cruise.

If that's the case it is a BIG change in policy!

The old policy is in purple.

The official policy is shown (in the last quoted post) in purple. The part quoted in red is what was in the Patter on one particular cruise. Was it put in the Patter in error? We may never know. Wait and see if it keeps occurring.

[geoherb]

The least expensive bottle of wine in the dining room is $35 + 15% tip.

THERE IS NO MULTI-BOTTLE WINE PACKAGE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.

On the Royal Princess earlier this month, there were several bottles on the wine list under $35. We had the Silver wine package, which let us choose any bottle up to $31. If we chose one above that price, we had to pay the difference. The wine packages were not widely advertised. I asked our waiter about it since I had read that they usually had them for longer cruises.

[Colo Cruiser]

Been that way for years.

[caribill]

The OP (Islandwoman) makes a good point. The note in the Patter contradicts the Passage Contract. I would think that the Passage Contract would trump the notice in the Patter.

 

The Passage Contract also says:

"You must at all times obey all the rules, regulations and orders of the ship, Carrier and the Captain."

So, yes, ship rules, regulations and orders can trump the Passage Contract. Says so right in the contract.

[satxdiver]

Once again confusion reigns at Princess. As we all know alcohol rules on Princess wave in the wind and depending on the way the wind blows is how they enforce their alcohol policy. So what else is new?

[Knickearth]

when we cruised to Barcelona the last time,. we arrived the day of the Spanish Wine Festival. right next to the ship they had set up a couple of 100 booths from the different wineries in Spain. We purchased tasting tickets and you could taste the wines. We ended up buying five bottles in port and took them on the ship. Only paid corkage when we took them to the dining room.

 

Recently travelled to Ireland and visited one of the whisky makers. Purchased a bottle while touring and everyone was allowed to actually bring the bottle to our cabin. That surprised me.

 

Lastly,. we do a lot of back to backs. After the first leg,. whatever alcohol or cigarettes you purchased are brought to your room the night before the first leg ends. You can keep it and use it for the second leg.

 

I know each ship is different. Some are stricter with the regulations than others.

[Geoffa30]

We bought six large 750ml bottles of beer in Bruges on our recent cruise on the Sapphire. We were fully expecting to have them stored until the end of the cruise. However when we put the through the scanner, the person checking the scans commented to their colleague who shrugged and didn’t say anything. There was no table to check the alcohol in at so we just took it back to our room. We had a similar experience in Mexico with a bottle of Tequila.

[floridalover5623]

We bought six large 750ml bottles of beer in Bruges on our recent cruise on the Sapphire. We were fully expecting to have them stored until the end of the cruise. However when we put the through the scanner, the person checking the scans commented to their colleague who shrugged and didn’t say anything. There was no table to check the alcohol in at so we just took it back to our room. We had a similar experience in Mexico with a bottle of Tequila.

Your experience is very typical of the security check concerning any alcohol.

[Grego]

I wonder if they priced the drinks at a more reasonable level and brought back the two happy hours BOGO for $1, allowed the bringing aboard a bottle of wine each at every port without corkage fee that the ship would still make money and there wouldn't be the issue with a policy. Just thinkin'.

[Griller]

I wonder if they priced the drinks at a more reasonable level and brought back the two happy hours BOGO for $1, allowed the bringing aboard a bottle of wine each at every port without corkage fee that the ship would still make money and there wouldn't be the issue with a policy. Just thinkin'.

 

I think they would make more money with the BOGO for $1 than without it

 

We were just on Regal for 25 days and did not buy one drink other than the 12 bottle wine package.at dinner.

 

While we used to be enthusiastic customers during Happy Hour.

 

Same with the P/E lounge - when they had decent drinks at a reasonable cost we used to have 2 or 3 an evening. Not now, we never even went in there in the whole 25 days.l

 

What does a bottle of liquor cost Princess? Not much. They cannot possible do other than make heaps of money with promotions like they used to have.

[GRAYTech]

I wonder if they priced the drinks at a more reasonable level and brought back the two happy hours BOGO for $1, allowed the bringing aboard a bottle of wine each at every port without corkage fee that the ship would still make money and there wouldn't be the issue with a policy. Just thinkin'.

 

This will never happen, it makes WAY to much sense.

[louden]

"Lastly,. we do a lot of back to backs. After the first leg,. whatever alcohol or cigarettes you purchased are brought to your room the night before the first leg ends. You can keep it and use it for the second leg.

 

I know each ship is different. Some are stricter with the regulations than others. "

 

 

In our experience they have checked our account and when they see we are on the next cruise they only deliver on the last night of the second cruise. As you say things are not always the same ship to ship.

 

 

Louden

[ONT-CA]

"Lastly,. we do a lot of back to backs. After the first leg,. whatever alcohol or cigarettes you purchased are brought to your room the night before the first leg ends. You can keep it and use it for the second leg.

 

I know each ship is different. Some are stricter with the regulations than others. "

 

In our experience they have checked our account and when they see we are on the next cruise they only deliver on the last night of the second cruise. As you say things are not always the same ship to ship.

 

Louden

 

That is why we find kindred spirts aboard who are disembarking after the first segment of the cruise to then purchase our requirements on our behalf and transfer them to our room before leaving.

[floridalover5623]

I wonder if they priced the drinks at a more reasonable level and brought back the two happy hours BOGO for $1, allowed the bringing aboard a bottle of wine each at every port without corkage fee that the ship would still make money and there wouldn't be the issue with a policy. Just thinkin'.

We bring all our wine & alcohol with us each cruise & in the past still used to buy a couple of drinks with the BOGO for $1, but no longer.

They've priced themselves out of range as far as we're concerned although many people still believe the drinks to be a bargain compared to drinks at any land based bar.

I guess we just don't get out that much. ;)

[ExDean]

Have always found the "alcohol table" at FLL to be a casual affair. Not any policing with passengers pouring through security screening. If they "see" a bottle or two they say go to the Princess table. But how many just bypass the table and continue to check-in?

 

Our last cruise we each had a backpack - one with one bottle of wine and the other with three bottles. Security asked to check my wife's and told her to take her one bottle to the alcohol table. Of course they just said you're OK. However, the backpack with the three bottles passed through without question!

 

Just another adventure of cruising.

[brt49]

If possible, I always try and pick up a few local beers in Port. I put them in my bag, sometimes in the mesh drink holders on the end. I have only had one instance where I was questioned about a 750ml bottle of beer. I pulled it out of the bag, showed him it was beer and was told to please drink in my cabin.

 

Sent from my 2PYB2 using Forums mobile app

[Griller]

"Lastly,. we do a lot of back to backs. After the first leg,. whatever alcohol or cigarettes you purchased are brought to your room the night before the first leg ends. You can keep it and use it for the second leg.

 

I know each ship is different. Some are stricter with the regulations than others. "

 

 

In our experience they have checked our account and when they see we are on the next cruise they only deliver on the last night of the second cruise. As you say things are not always the same ship to ship.

 

 

Louden

 

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, best thing to do is find another Elite passenger who gets 10% discount and who is debarking the first cruise, ask them to buy for you and give them the $$$.

Just don't make it obvious.

 

Our problem with drinks bought at any bar is that at home we have become accustomed to at least 2 x double measures per drink and that is not going to happen on board without a bar bill bigger than the original cruise cost.