Allowed medical exemption to both having to buy Drink Package - consequences if exempted person drinks anyway?

[Sandman799]

My wife takes a lot of heavy duty medication, so she generally does not drink alcohol, other than very rarely a single drink in an entire day, or a glass of wine with dinner.  For our Symphony of the Seas cruise this fall, I called Royal Caribbean and told them that for medical reasons, my wife could not drink, so based on that they allowed me to purchase the Deluxe drink package for myself, and the Refreshment package for her.  It was probably an over-exaggeration to say she cannot drink as she can have a single drink, such as a drink with dinner with no ill effect.  I really have thought about just buying a separate package for her, but at a minimum cost of $61/per day (Black Friday sale) to current price of $65/per day, it's just a waste of money when she would only have one or at the very most, two drinks per day.  I know we can bring two bottles of wine on board, but we're not big wine drinkers.  

 

I have no intention of sharing my drink package because I personally believe that's stealing, so if she wants a drink with dinner I plan to pay separately for it.  I just wonder what would happen the first time we attempted to buy her an alcoholic drink.   Would the computer flag that as a violation of the basis for her being given the exemption which allowed her to buy the Refreshment package instead?  Would we then be charged for another Deluxe drink package?  If that would happen from buying a drink with her SeaPass card, I could always just use my card and tell the bartenders that it's for someone else and to ring it up separately from my package, then pass it off to her, but don't want to have to be sneaky about it.  If I'm sitting at a bar and she is able to have a single drink, I'd like to be able to buy that separately without any issues and without having to sneak off somewhere to give it to her.  We're not trying to cheat the system, as we'd be paying full price for those drinks, but at the same time, it's a bit of a gray area when we were allowed this exemption, saving the cost of a second drink package, but would nevertheless like to order an occasional drink for her, even if paid for separately (again, no more than one or two per day).

 

I just don't know what the policy is for those who for medical reasons are given this exemption - does that mean they cannot drink at all, even a single drink, and if they do, would they then have to buy the full Deluxe drink package?  If anyone else has been given this same exemption, please let me know what happened if you then ordered a drink for the person to whom the exemption was granted.  Thanks!

Edited February 2, 2020 by Sandman799

[arlodog]

There are too many people on a ship to keep track of all the nuances of each booking.  As long as you are not sharing they will not care. 

[jamestown478]

We were on the symphony this January. Due to medical reasons my wife didn't get the deluxe package but I still did. She bought probably 4 drinks during the cruise and didn't have any issues doing so.

[taglovestocruise]

24 minutes ago, arlodog said:

There are too many people on a ship to keep track of all the nuances of each booking.  As long as you are not sharing they will not care. 

Not really true. There was a post a month or so ago from someone who had a package and a refreshment package. The person with the refreshment package bought a drink at one of the bars, later that night they checked their account on the tv and found that a refund had been given for the refreshment package and a new bill for a full UBP package.  May be rare but exemption  from the package is because one can not drink. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

This thread has the potential to get interesting. 

[Sandman799]

4 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Not really true. There was a post a month or so ago from someone who had a package and a refreshment package. The person with the refreshment package bought a drink at one of the bars, later that night they checked their account on the tv and found that a refund had been given for the refreshment package and a new bill for a full UBP package.  May be rare but exemption  from the package is because one can not drink. 

This is what I was concerned about.  While there are a lot of people on board to monitor, the computers could easily flag such a conflict if programmed to do so.  This sort of thing only encourages people to share the drink package rather than be honest and pay for the other drink separately.  There needs to be a middle ground somewhere for those who really only will drink a handful of drinks throughout the entire cruise.

[Ourusualbeach]

You are overthinking this.  

 

If your wife wants a drink then you go to the bar and get yourself a drink and also pay for one.  No way they know who you are buying it for.

[Sandman799]

29 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If your wife wants a drink then you go to the bar and get yourself a drink and also pay for one.  No way they know who you are buying it for.

 

True, that is an option, but as stated in the OP, we'd prefer to not have to be sneaky about it.  Who needs the stress of worrying about getting caught doing something wrong while on vacation?  I thought they may be OK with us paying full price separately if we really only bought a few drinks for her.  I could keep all purchases on my card to be on the safe side, but what if anyone took note of the fact that the drinks were given to her, and she was given the exemption?  Not sure they'd go to that amount of trouble, but wanted to at least know how this has worked for others.

[Ourusualbeach]

10 minutes ago, Sandman799 said:

 

True, that is an option, but as stated in the OP, we'd prefer to not have to be sneaky about it.  Who needs the stress of worrying about getting caught doing something wrong while on vacation?  I thought they may be OK with us paying full price separately if we really only bought a few drinks for her.  I could keep all purchases on my card to be on the safe side, but what if anyone took note of the fact that the drinks were given to her, and she was given the exemption?  Not sure they'd go to that amount of trouble, but wanted to at least know how this has worked for others.

To be honest I’ve only ever heard of that one case that was mentioned earlier and tha5 was because the person with the refreshment package bought a drink.  There have been many more reports of the opposite and people having no issues. I cannot imagine them seeing you buy a drink and then giving it to your wife and then checking to see the kind of package that she had.

 

Many couples whether travelling with kids or friends arrange their cabins in such a way that only one person has to bu5 the package. 

 

I think you are being honest about what you are doing in wanting to pay for the drink.  Sneaky would be getting a drink on your package and giving it to your wife. 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[icsys]

Your card or her card, it goes on the same folio number doesn't it?

What I find totally bizarre is why someone who has purchased a refreshment package cannot then purchase an alcoholic drink!

 

[gatour]

I agree with usualbeach.  Buy your wife the drink with your card paying full price.  The cruise line has no way to know, if you were buying a drink for someone onboard, or a friend or relative in another cabin.

 

I think this is not being sneaky.  Royal Caribbean is getting their full revenue.

 

Now if you were ordering a "free" drink for you wife, using your package, then I would say don't do it as you are cheating the system. 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, icsys said:

Your card or her card, it goes on the same folio number doesn't it?

What I find totally bizarre is why someone who has purchased a refreshment package cannot then purchase an alcoholic drink!

 

Depends on how you set up your on board account.

 

no rules against a person with a drink package buying another person a paid for drink. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

Cancel your packages and drink À la cart. No worries. 
 

In my opinion 

[Another_Critic]

6 minutes ago, gatour said:

I think this is not being sneaky.  Royal Caribbean is getting their full revenue.

 

First, I don't necessarily agree with requiring an everyone or no one DP policy.  However, the OP was "sneaky" telling them his wife could not drink to save money on the 2nd DP.

 

Yes, they are getting more revenue than no DP at all, but revenue from DP + RP + a couple drinks is < DP * 2.

 

And I second the opinion of Milwaukee Eight.  Either that or buy the 2nd DP.

[icsys]

If Royal didn't charge so damned much for their packages in the first place no one would have these issues!

[Another_Critic]

Just now, icsys said:

If Royal didn't charge so damned much for their packages in the first place no one would have these issues!

 

I agree.  But, it's not Royal driving the price, it's the passengers that are paying the ridiculous prices.  No one has to buy a drink package.

 

Of course if no one buys a package, they'll just raise the pay per drink prices.  🙄

[Milwaukee Eight]

12 minutes ago, icsys said:

If Royal didn't charge so damned much for their packages in the first place no one would have these issues!

I agree the prices are too high. I would like to see them lower. But, this is no excuse. Rules are 1 package, everyone a package. Exceptions made for medical reasons. That is for NON Drinking. 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Milwaukee Eight

[KALCJ1]

Your wife should have no trouble purchasing a drink if she should choose to.  I have clients in the same situation and I called and spoke to a Royal Caribbean representative and was told they will allow just 1 to purchase even if you just say it's a "personal choice".  It does not have to be a medical reason. 

[Doug S]

Buying a drink should not trigger the 'upgrade' to the full package. As others have said, I can buy a drink for anyone I like. Staff watching you sit there and drink it (and possibly many others) is a different story. And if they see her drink one of your package drinks, you can expect at least an unwelcome upgrade as well. I tend to wonder what the full story behind the upgraded package charge is. I'd think it would have to be more than a drink charged to that card being automatically caught by the system. 

 

Before Royal required all parties to buy, and it was just an honor system that you didn't share a package a lot of people were really stupid. I sat at a bar and chatted with the bartender. He knew all the sharers, and they all thought they were being so sneaky. Drinkers don't typically swap from a Gin and tonic to a fru-fru drink every other round. The young couple that walked back and forth between 2 bars to do it just made it more obvious. Most of the sharers were also bad/non-tippers, which didn't exactly encourage bar staff to look the other way...  

 

None of this is aimed at the OP. I get where you are coming from, but the discussion has devolved somewhat.  

[flamingos]

We have done this twice, and had no issue with me buying the occasional drink.   It's been a year since then, and now neither one of us gets the deluxe package because we simply don't drink $60 per day for 7 days, and it's not worth it.

[klfrodo]

There goes Medical Exemption.

Its obvious people are using this exemption outside the spirit and/intent of the exemption.

Then they come on a public forum and boast

[rukkian]

Unless something has changed recently, there are several reasons you can use, one being I prefer not to.  I bought refreshment for me online last year on allure, and then called in and bought deluxe for my wife, just saying I wasn't interested.  I did purchase 2 drunks during the week and had no issues.

[voyager70]

2 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

This thread has the potential to get interesting. 

 

I lost interest after the second paragraph.

[MaryL31]

OP, thanks for asking this question. I am in the same situation. Have not been tolerating alcohol well lately, and just a week ago was prescribed new medication that cannot be used with alcohol. My husband, in the other hand, gets his money’s worth out of his beverage package. Not sure what to do. This will be our first cruise as Diamond, so I know we can get drinks in the early evening on our card or in the Diamond Lounge. No more than 2 a day for me. Figure I can v

bring a bottle of wine on board with me. No big deal if I don’t drink it. Still better than buying a beverage package. But DH will not be happy without the package. 😞

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DisgruntledRCcruiser2]

If buying the non alcohol package might as well pay the extra an cut something else