Princess’ new (?) alcohol policy

[beg3yrs]

...

Finally, they promote a program that everyone is sure to love and that is the ultimate, unlimited drink package at a price that you'll love......yeah, sure. For about $60 a day you can drink almost as much as you want within the limits of the program and variety of brand as long as everyone in the cabin is buying the program....

 

The text in red was true only for the first few months of the original program. It has not been the case for a couple of year now.

[memoak]

Only those who want the beverage package have to pay for it but no sharing of the package is permitted.

[floridalover5623]

Only those who want the beverage package have to pay for it but no sharing of the package is permitted.

True, sharing is not officially allowed but if I happen to leave my unfinished drink on the table & my wife happens to pick it up by mistake..... accidents do happen. ;);)

[Mademypoint]

First off, Princess has priced their drinks much more reasonably than other lines. And don't you think they would have the data, that if it showed that they made more money with the BOGO, they'd still have it? If it was making more money than not having it, why would they get rid of it?

 

They have also made their drinks weaker. Just about every drink (even martinis) has so much mix (and sugar) and so little alcohol that you would probably achieve the same effect by eating raw sugar cubes. It's not cost effective either using 10 ounces of mix in every pint glass so with BOGO that would literally be 3 ounces of alcohol and 20 ounces of mix.

[pablo222]

They did away with the opportunity to purchase free bottles of alcohol in their store and take them back to the cabin during the voyage

 

To my recollection, princess never had this.

 

Some other cruise lines do.

 

On princess, you can order 375ml bottles from room service.

 

People post that they smuggle because those bottles are too expensive.

[Griller]

They have also made their drinks weaker. Just about every drink (even martinis) has so much mix (and sugar) and so little alcohol that you would probably achieve the same effect by eating raw sugar cubes. It's not cost effective either using 10 ounces of mix in every pint glass so with BOGO that would literally be 3 ounces of alcohol and 20 ounces of mix.

 

Totally agree with you, as a diabetic that's no good for me at all, quite apart from the fact they don't taste good.

 

Best drink I used to buy was the Chairman of the Board, no sugar laden mix,

just

Grey Goose Vodka,

Cointreau (bit sugary but still not too bad)

and Bombay Gin.

 

And they deleted it from the P/E Lounge specials list. So we don't go there anymore. Just had 25 days on Regal and didn't buy a drink from the bar.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Griller

[Host CJSKIDS]

To my recollection, princess never had this.

 

Some other cruise lines do.

 

On princess, you can order 375ml bottles from room service.

 

People post that they smuggle because those bottles are too expensive.

 

You were able to purchase a bottle of liquor from their bars if I remember correctly. And they used to sell larger bottles than the 375ml bottle prior to boarding because we used to do that. Last time I remember doing that was back on the Star in 2006. I brought a martini shaker, olives and blue cheese and enjoyed martinis out on the suite balcony on Caribe deck. They must have laughed when they saw a martini shaker on the list of lost items from that sailing!

 

Friends just got off the Partial Canal cruise last Friday. They purchased some regional rum at one port to bring back to England and were allowed to bring it back to their cabin they said.

[happy cruzer]

Princess (as well as most businesses) is not trying to please those of us who monitor in detail their prices and offerings with the changes. We are fairly low profit cruisers. They are marketing to the new and infrequent cruisers who spend much more per day because they are doing a "once in a lifetime" trip. The rest of us will do the math and pick a line that is closest to our desires. It seems to work at least in the short term - prices are up and ships are full. JMHO.

[Missouri travel girl]

So....not everyone in the cabin has to buy drink package anymore? That is a good thing!

[Colo Cruiser]

So....not everyone in the cabin has to buy drink package anymore? That is a good thing!

 

 

 

That didn’t last long after the PBP started.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Mademypoint]

So....not everyone in the cabin has to buy drink package anymore? That is a good thing!

 

Well since it's not truly unlimited it's probably not that big of a deal when someone uses all 15 per day, plus I wouldn't want to be getting a drink for me and then waiting 20 minutes to get a drink for my cabin mate. It's more hassle than it's worth :halo:

[Grego]

To my recollection, princess never had this.

 

Some other cruise lines do.

 

On princess, you can order 375ml bottles from room service.

 

People post that they smuggle because those bottles are too expensive.

 

 

My recollection might be over a longer period. There was actually a time there was a duty-free store just outside the ship where you could purchase and then you picked it up after the ship left the dock.

 

I know about the 375ml purchases on the ship, but they don't save any money over the bar purchase, it just makes it more convenient.

[Mademypoint]

My recollection might be over a longer period. There was actually a time there was a duty-free store just outside the ship where you could purchase and then you picked it up after the ship left the dock.

 

I know about the 375ml purchases on the ship, but they don't save any money over the bar purchase, it just makes it more convenient.

 

Our first Princess cruise was 2006 on Caribbean Princess and we were able to have two bottles of champagne and four bottles of wine brought on for a "celebration". We had the bottles sent from a local liquor store to the hotel we stayed at the night before and handed it to the porters along with our luggage. They were in an "open" box so there was no doubt what was in it. We drank all but one in the cabin and the one we didn't and had no problem paying a corkage fee.

[Grammyluvs]

Can you carry non-Alcohol beer on board?

[floridalover5623]

Can you carry non-Alcohol beer on board?

I don't see why not since it's not alcohol.

[caribill]

I don't see why not since it's not alcohol.

 

It may still have some alcohol in it. Whether it is enough to not allow it to brought onto the ship I do not know.

 

from https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/alcoholic-drinks-units/alcoholic-and-non-alcoholic-beers/

 

Put simply the main difference between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer is the amount of alcohol they contain. Alcoholic beers have some alcohol in them. Non-alcoholic beers contain a very little alcohol.

 

By UK law ‘alcohol-free’ or no-alcohol beer can contain a very small amount of alcohol (less than 0.05%)

The amount of alcohol in a drink is shown as a percentage of the whole drink. On all alcoholic drinks you’ll see the Alcohol by Volume (ABV). Beer that says 5% ABV on its label contains 5% pure alcohol.

There are four types; alcohol-free, de-alcoholised, low-alcohol and alcoholic beer.

These are defined by:

Alcohol-free beer = no more than 0.05% ABV

De-alcoholised beer = no more than 0.5% ABV

Low-alcohol beer = no more than 1.2% ABV

Alcoholic beer = contains more than 1.2% ABV

 

Is non-alcoholic beer alcohol-free?

‘Alcohol-free’ or non-alcohol beer does contain a small amount of alcohol (up to 0.05% ABV). This is because some alcohol naturally forms as part of the brewing process.

[Griller]

It may still have some alcohol in it. Whether it is enough to not allow it to brought onto the ship I do not know.

 

from https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/alcoholic-drinks-units/alcoholic-and-non-alcoholic-beers/

 

Put simply the main difference between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer is the amount of alcohol they contain. Alcoholic beers have some alcohol in them. Non-alcoholic beers contain a very little alcohol.

 

By UK law ‘alcohol-free’ or no-alcohol beer can contain a very small amount of alcohol (less than 0.05%)

The amount of alcohol in a drink is shown as a percentage of the whole drink. On all alcoholic drinks you’ll see the Alcohol by Volume (ABV). Beer that says 5% ABV on its label contains 5% pure alcohol.

There are four types; alcohol-free, de-alcoholised, low-alcohol and alcoholic beer.

These are defined by:

Alcohol-free beer = no more than 0.05% ABV

De-alcoholised beer = no more than 0.5% ABV

Low-alcohol beer = no more than 1.2% ABV

Alcoholic beer = contains more than 1.2% ABV

 

Is non-alcoholic beer alcohol-free?

‘Alcohol-free’ or non-alcohol beer does contain a small amount of alcohol (up to 0.05% ABV). This is because some alcohol naturally forms as part of the brewing process.

 

Seems to me like not allowing it to be taken on board would be nitpicking.

 

Orange Juice typically has 0.09% alcohol

So it has nearly double the alcohol content of non-alcoholic beer.

 

So that can't be taken on the ship?

 

Diet 7 Up - 0.075%

 

And then the Dominos Pizza Crust Edge - 0.088%

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/13681148_Ethanol_Content_of_Various_Foods_and_Soft_Drinks_and_their_Potential_for_Interference_with_a_Breath-Alcohol_Test

[floridalover5623]

It may still have some alcohol in it. Whether it is enough to not allow it to brought onto the ship I do not know.

 

from https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/alcoholic-drinks-units/alcoholic-and-non-alcoholic-beers/

 

Put simply the main difference between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer is the amount of alcohol they contain. Alcoholic beers have some alcohol in them. Non-alcoholic beers contain a very little alcohol.

 

By UK law ‘alcohol-free’ or no-alcohol beer can contain a very small amount of alcohol (less than 0.05%)

The amount of alcohol in a drink is shown as a percentage of the whole drink. On all alcoholic drinks you’ll see the Alcohol by Volume (ABV). Beer that says 5% ABV on its label contains 5% pure alcohol.

There are four types; alcohol-free, de-alcoholised, low-alcohol and alcoholic beer.

These are defined by:

Alcohol-free beer = no more than 0.05% ABV

De-alcoholised beer = no more than 0.5% ABV

Low-alcohol beer = no more than 1.2% ABV

Alcoholic beer = contains more than 1.2% ABV

 

Is non-alcoholic beer alcohol-free?

‘Alcohol-free’ or non-alcohol beer does contain a small amount of alcohol (up to 0.05% ABV). This is because some alcohol naturally forms as part of the brewing process.

Interesting.

I like the real thing & if found would probably be rejected on the spot.

[Grego]

On 10/3/2018 at 10:35 AM, floridalover5623 said:

That one so called benefit I could never understand. ??

The hours that that they were opened were never convenient for a lot of people who ate early.

Due to both my wife & myself, we do eat earlier than most others & by the time we're finished eating the main show is about to begin. This pretty much limits us from going even if they still had the drink specials.

In all our years of sailing we might have been there 2 or 3 times when the show was one we've seen too many times prior.

We faced the same dilemma when there was a show we wanted to see, so we did the lounge then the show and had a dinner afterward.  Punched all the cards that way. 

[tailspintom]

On 10/7/2018 at 7:07 AM, Griller said:

 

Seems to me like not allowing it to be taken on board would be nitpicking.

 

Orange Juice typically has 0.09% alcohol

So it has nearly double the alcohol content of non-alcoholic beer.

 

So that can't be taken on the ship?

 

Diet 7 Up - 0.075%

 

And then the Dominos Pizza Crust Edge - 0.088%

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/13681148_Ethanol_Content_of_Various_Foods_and_Soft_Drinks_and_their_Potential_for_Interference_with_a_Breath-Alcohol_Test

And then there is Aqua Velva. And in a pinch, mouthwash.

[floridalover5623]

6 hours ago, Grego said:

We faced the same dilemma when there was a show we wanted to see, so we did the lounge then the show and had a dinner afterward.  Punched all the cards that way. 

I might try that approach next B2B cruise since we've seen all the production shows many times over so we wouldn't miss a thing. 

First the lounge, then the show if it looks interesting, then the buffet. 

[JSandage]

We last cruised with Princess in 2004. We used to order a few beers from room service to have while getting ready for dinner etc. My hubby may want to have a bottle of vodka in our stateroom and we used to order that from room service too, is that no longer allowed? 

[satxdiver]

18 minutes ago, JSandage said:

We last cruised with Princess in 2004. We used to order a few beers from room service to have while getting ready for dinner etc. My hubby may want to have a bottle of vodka in our stateroom and we used to order that from room service too, is that no longer allowed? 

 

You can order alcohol from room service.  The vodka will be in a 375 ml bottle.  Some beers can be bought in a bucket of 5 for the price of 4.  There is a limited number of beer varieties available through room service and you may want to get your beer from a bar.  Not all bars carry the same kinds of beer so you may want to look around.  

[islandwoman]

Since we arrived in New Zealand (and went on to Australia) I have not seen the threatening notice in the Princess Patter.  Nor have I seen an alcohol confiscation table in ports of call.