New Wine Allotment - 1 Bottle per Adult

[Starry Eyes]

28 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

We have been cruising since the 1980s and many started cruising well prior. We’ve seen a lot. What happened in 2014 may indeed be considered recent to many. 
m

That’s nice.  My history with Royal Caribbean does not go back that far.  Plus sailing multiple lines over the years, I am struggling remember which cruiseline had which rules a decade or more ago.  Perhaps because, in terms of vacations, a decade is not recent.

[icsys]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Now that we are getting a wine discount without having to buy a dining pkg, let's hope they are well stocked on bottles of wine.    Might be best to buy what you like early on.  😇

 

Let's also hope they don't hike the per-bottle price of wine to offset the discounts  😇

[czez]

Question: Sailing on Celebrity in May. Can we check-in and then go back on land and purchase our allotted wine and bring on board?? Don't want to risk breakage in checked bag.

[dunrobbin]

11 hours ago, Longford said:

Just one more bad decision - for passengers.  I traveled solo in November 2022 and brought aboard 2 bottles of wine.  However, there are ways to circumvent the policy ... which I will not discuss here.  😁

It is just one more attempt to make back the losses they had through Covid.  Less food choices of lower quality.  Less staff, less cabin cleaning.  Next we will need to take turns hoising the sails, or cleaning the  toilets LOL

[HappyTexan44]

That is a question.   Are you allowed to leave after you check-in?    For example, what if you forgot something in your car?   

Like that other bottle of wine  : )   

With my friend's allotment, I'll still get four bottles which should be plenty of a 5 night cruise.  But if I could not bother them, that would be nice.  

Edited March 2, 2023 by HappyTexan44

[Biker19]

Just now, HappyTexan44 said:

Are you allowed to leave after you check-in?

If you have time, usually, yes.

[Mum2Mercury]

16 hours ago, topnole said:

... If you are paying double, a few glasses of wine is not much relative to the cost of the entire trip, so not really that big of a deal ... 

Nonsensical argument.  What I paid for the cruise ticket has nothing to do with what /whether I pay for expensive drinks onboard.  Each is a separate transaction, a separate choice.  

13 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

No, a couple sharing a stateroom is allowed 2 bottles of wine and 12 sodas ... 

Clarification:  Doesn't have to be soda (though it usually is) ... can be any non-alcoholic beverage:  Bottled water, Snapple, etc.  

 

A question just sprang to mind:  We'll be cruising with a toddler soon ... are we allowed to bring juice boxes for him?  Most of you know that when a toddler wants a drink, he wants it NOW, so it'd be handy to have them in the room.  Does this count against the 12-drink allowance, or is this like babies whose formula "doesn't count" towards the stateroom's drinks?  

13 hours ago, jcg said:

Would be nice if there could be one bottle per person for a seven to eight day cruise, and two bottles for over 12 nights or so ...

Agree... when we took a 3-day in December, we commented to one another that it really wasn't fair we were allowed to bring the same amount of wine that we brought for our 8-day.  

6 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

That is a question.   Are you allowed to leave after you check-in?    For example, what if you forgot something in your car?   ... 

Assuming you drove and had a car out in the parking deck, you could do this ... but I wouldn't:  

- Realistically, you're waiting in line a while to enter, and if you didn't think of your left-behind item in all that time, you probably don't need it too badly. 

- Leaving the ship, waiting in line again, and boarding a second time would eat up the better part of an hour.  Though it would totally work, I personally wouldn't do that to bring another bottle of wine on board.  The effort-to-reward ratio just doesn't seem to be in the passenger's favor.

[little britain]

That duty free shop after security and checkin in Barcelona is going to see increased profits!!! 😉 

Edited March 2, 2023 by little britain

[czez]

We are flying into Honolulu and shuttle to pier. Staying in port for 2 days. Want to check in and then buy our wine to bring on board. I know there will be extra wait time in line. Just want to know if that's allowed. Does security indicate when you bring your allotted wine on board?  

[Starry Eyes]

14 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

 

15 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Can a couple still bring 2 bottles of wine and 2- twelve pack(cases) of soda?

No, a couple sharing a stateroom is allowed 2 bottles of wine and 12 sodas.  I don’t know if they will carefully enforce that limit, but that is the rule.

 

”Guests may also bring non-alcoholic beverages as carry-on items on boarding day. Non-alcoholic beverages may not exceed 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom.”

 

 

27 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

14 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

No, a couple sharing a stateroom is allowed 2 bottles of wine and 12 sodas ... 

Clarification:  Doesn't have to be soda (though it usually is) ... can be any non-alcoholic beverage:  Bottled water, Snapple, etc.  

 

A question just sprang to mind:  We'll be cruising with a toddler soon ... are we allowed to bring juice boxes for him?  Most of you know that when a toddler wants a drink, he wants it NOW, so it'd be handy to have them in the room.  Does this count against the 12-drink allowance, or is this like babies whose formula "doesn't count" towards the stateroom's drinks?  

M2M, part of my post seems to have been inadvertently omitted.  I have included it so you will no longer need that clarification.  Jimbo specifically asked about soda, so I answered about soda and also quoted the RCI policy which includes the blanket statement about nonalcoholic beverages
 

Here is more of that RCI policy for you: “Guests may also bring non-alcoholic beverages as carry-on items on boarding day. Non-alcoholic beverages may not exceed 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom. Milk and distilled water brought on for infant, medical, or dietary use are permitted.”

 
Per policy juice boxes would count as small cartons of non-alcoholic beverage and should count toward the allowance of 12 per stateroom.  Obviously juice boxes are not milk or water so they do not fit within that exception.  Though 12 is technically the limit, just as I said to Jimbo, I’m not sure how vigorously they might enforce that limit….YMMV.  Even if others have carried on lots of juice boxes, you might get the gung-ho person who enforces the limit, though I would hope not.  16-17 oz bottles of juice (to be dispensed into a sippy cup) would go further if your little one might find that acceptable 

[Longford]

I wasn't clear in an earlier post about 2 bottles per stateroom of wine going down to 1 bottle - when boarding the first day.  Here's what I'm reading which more negatively impacts solo travelers such as me: Starting March 3rd, the new wine and champaign allowance for RCCL will be (1) 750ml bottle, per adult of drinking age, per sailing.  Previously it was 2 bottles per room, no matter the number of adult occupants.

 

Source:  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-alcohol-guest-policy

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Longford

[seba1]

Thanks for the post. I had no idea. We are on a sailing out of Barcelona this summer and have an 18 year old with us. Since the drinking age in Spain is 18, does that me one bottle could count toward him (not that he will drink it, but it would allow us 3 bottles). 

 

Stephanie

[sjinnj]

18 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Two thoughts: 

- Right now the rule is 2 bottles per cabin.  This change means 1 bottle per adult.  For most cabins /2 people, this is the same thing.  

- For cabins with more than two adults, this allows more alcohol.  

Yes, but if you have two adults in separate rooms, instead of 4 bottles, now they can only bring 2.

[HappyTexan44]

For toddler juices, couldn't you bring some for the first day and then take some juice back to your room from breakfast every day?    
Then you could just bring some toddler cups.  

[icsys]

14 minutes ago, seba1 said:

Thanks for the post. I had no idea. We are on a sailing out of Barcelona this summer and have an 18 year old with us. Since the drinking age in Spain is 18, does that me one bottle could count toward him (not that he will drink it, but it would allow us 3 bottles). 

 

Stephanie

 

Yes it does 👍

[topnole]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Nonsensical argument.  What I paid for the cruise ticket has nothing to do with what /whether I pay for expensive drinks onboard.  Each is a separate transaction, a separate choice.  

Clarification:  Doesn't have to be soda (though it usually is) ... can be any non-alcoholic beverage:  Bottled water, Snapple, etc.  

 

A question just sprang to mind:  We'll be cruising with a toddler soon ... are we allowed to bring juice boxes for him?  Most of you know that when a toddler wants a drink, he wants it NOW, so it'd be handy to have them in the room.  Does this count against the 12-drink allowance, or is this like babies whose formula "doesn't count" towards the stateroom's drinks?  

Agree... when we took a 3-day in December, we commented to one another that it really wasn't fair we were allowed to bring the same amount of wine that we brought for our 8-day.  

Assuming you drove and had a car out in the parking deck, you could do this ... but I wouldn't:  

- Realistically, you're waiting in line a while to enter, and if you didn't think of your left-behind item in all that time, you probably don't need it too badly. 

- Leaving the ship, waiting in line again, and boarding a second time would eat up the better part of an hour.  Though it would totally work, I personally wouldn't do that to bring another bottle of wine on board.  The effort-to-reward ratio just doesn't seem to be in the passenger's favor.

Nonsensical argument?  Really?  
 

I doubt anyone’s make or break decision on a a cruise or cabin accommodations is based on the ability to bring one versus two bottles of their own wine.  
 

So my argument stands, this isn’t a big deal (to almost everyone) because it is trivial relative to the overall coat

of the vacation.  
 

And by your logic, what you paid for your cabin is a completely different transaction and not related to what you spend on other things.  If so, then why does the cost of the cabin matter with regards to the wine policy in the first place.  The context of my comment was in reply to someone saying those paying double for a solo cabin are now losing out.  If your argument is that the cost of the cabin is completely unrelated to what one spends elsewhere or onboard, you just supported my argument that this policy change is no big deal and it shouldn’t matter what one spends for a solo cabin.  So your reply to me is actually nonsensical in logic. 

 

Now with that said, your logic is also nonsensical in that many have a budget and spending in one place does

impact spending elsewhere.  If we all had unlimited funds and it didn’t matter, we wouldn’t care about the wine policy.  Many people do have budgets, and spending on the cabin will impact what they spend elsewhere.  Not everyone, but probably most.  
 

But I still assert that the level of money involved in the policy is trivial, so not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.  If I spend $1500 on a single cabin, I’m not going to worry about one bottle of

wine.   This isn’t nonsensical.  It’s rational thought.  

[parrotfeathers]

19 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

If you have someone question you about your two bottles of wine, just turn and point at some random person and say: "I'm with that person".

AND I get his lobster too!

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

Nonsensical argument?  Really?  
 

I doubt anyone’s make or break decision on a a cruise or cabin accommodations is based on the ability to bring one versus two bottles of their own wine.  
 

So my argument stands, this isn’t a big deal (to almost everyone) because it is trivial relative to the overall coat

of the vacation.  
 

And by your logic, what you paid for your cabin is a completely different transaction and not related to what you spend on other things.  If so, then why does the cost of the cabin matter with regards to the wine policy in the first place.  The context of my comment was in reply to someone saying those paying double for a solo cabin are now losing out.  If your argument is that the cost of the cabin is completely unrelated to what one spends elsewhere or onboard, you just supported my argument that this policy change is no big deal and it shouldn’t matter what one spends for a solo cabin.  So your reply to me is actually nonsensical in logic. 

 

Now with that said, your logic is also nonsensical in that many have a budget and spending in one place does

impact spending elsewhere.  If we all had unlimited funds and it didn’t matter, we wouldn’t care about the wine policy.  Many people do have budgets, and spending on the cabin will impact what they spend elsewhere.  Not everyone, but probably most.  
 

But I still assert that the level of money involved in the policy is trivial, so not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.  If I spend $1500 on a single cabin, I’m not going to worry about one bottle of

wine.   This isn’t nonsensical.  It’s rational thought.  

Agreed!

 

For General Consumption:

 

Also, I don't believe the new policy has anything to do with how much you pay for a cabin.  It's about the possible loss of alcohol revenue per person.  Just because someone is a solo and pays for a double, that doesn't have anything to do with alcohol consumption.  It's all about consumption and revenue per person, not price per cabin, IMHO.  Alcohol and Gambling revenue is a major source of revenue for the Cruise Industry (Excluding Disney (gambling, that is))  I'm no cheerleader for any corporate entity, not even Royal Caribbean. However, I feel (that means it's my opinion) that the more people try and do circumvent the policy(ies) the more the corporate talking heads will come up with ways to try to circumvent the circumvention(s), and the more it's going to cost us all to cruise and the talking heads don't need any more excuses to cost us more money.  I personally feel that the policy of one bottle per "of age" person is a fair policy.  We can all come up with how a policy(ies) can affect us in a way that not everybody else will be affected and we feel we are being screwed because of it.  There is no such thing as a perfect anything, policies included. 

 

Heck, I know a guy that has a re-corking and sealing machine at home that re-corks and seals his wine bottle(s) with Vodka or other liquor and takes the alcohol/liquor on the ship.  

 

The above is my feelings, and my opinions, they don't have to be yours.

 

 

[rockmom]

5 hours ago, czez said:

Question: Sailing on Celebrity in May. Can we check-in and then go back on land and purchase our allotted wine and bring on board?? Don't want to risk breakage in checked bag.

first of all, you might want to ask on the Celebrity board in case things are a little different than Royal.  Secondly, are you asking about flying with wine in your checked bag?  Because if so, there are things you can buy to 'catch the mess' if it breaks while in the cargo hold of the plane--search Amazon.  If you're talking about checked bags on the ship--wine must be hand carried on, NOT in a checked bag.  

[BirdTravels]

22 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Two thoughts: 

- Right now the rule is 2 bottles per cabin.  This change means 1 bottle per adult.  For most cabins /2 people, this is the same thing.  

- For cabins with more than two adults, this allows more alcohol.  

Yeah,,, but it has never really been two per cabin. It has been 2 per person and 4 for a double occupancy cabin. There was zero ability for the rent-a-cops to associate bottles with cabins. 

[Mum2Mercury]

4 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

 ... Per policy juice boxes would count as small cartons of non-alcoholic beverage and should count toward the allowance of 12 per stateroom.  Obviously juice boxes are not milk or water so they do not fit within that exception.  Though 12 is technically the limit, just as I said to Jimbo, I’m not sure how vigorously they might enforce that limit….YMMV.  Even if others have carried on lots of juice boxes, you might get the gung-ho person who enforces the limit, though I would hope not.  16-17 oz bottles of juice (to be dispensed into a sippy cup) would go further if your little one might find that acceptable 

4 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

For toddler juices, couldn't you bring some for the first day and then take some juice back to your room from breakfast every day?    
Then you could just bring some toddler cups.  

So officially juice boxes would be part of the 12. 

Sure, we could get juice from the Windjammer -- but I'm investigating the options.  

3 hours ago, topnole said:

Nonsensical argument?  Really?  
 

I doubt anyone’s make or break decision on a a cruise or cabin accommodations is based on the ability to bring one versus two bottles of their own wine.  
 

So my argument stands, this isn’t a big deal (to almost everyone) because it is trivial relative to the overall coat

of the vacation.  
 

And by your logic, what you paid for your cabin is a completely different transaction and not related to what you spend on other things.  If so, then why does the cost of the cabin matter with regards to the wine policy in the first place.  The context of my comment was in reply to someone saying those paying double for a solo cabin are now losing out.  If your argument is that the cost of the cabin is completely unrelated to what one spends elsewhere or onboard, you just supported my argument that this policy change is no big deal and it shouldn’t matter what one spends for a solo cabin.  So your reply to me is actually nonsensical in logic. 

 

Now with that said, your logic is also nonsensical in that many have a budget and spending in one place does

impact spending elsewhere.  If we all had unlimited funds and it didn’t matter, we wouldn’t care about the wine policy.  Many people do have budgets, and spending on the cabin will impact what they spend elsewhere.  Not everyone, but probably most.  
 

But I still assert that the level of money involved in the policy is trivial, so not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.  If I spend $1500 on a single cabin, I’m not going to worry about one bottle of

wine.   This isn’t nonsensical.  It’s rational thought.  

You're rambling and justifying.  

1. I reserve a cabin.  That cost -- whether large or small -- is now done, spent, finished. 

2. I decide what drinks to bring /buy onboard.  This is a separate item.  Just because I spent $$$ on the cruise doesn't mean I don't want to be frugal with drinks.  

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Yeah,,, but it has never really been two per cabin. It has been 2 per person and 4 for a double occupancy cabin. There was zero ability for the rent-a-cops to associate bottles with cabins. 

True, but there's the rule and there's what's actually done.  Sounds like they're trying to force what actually happens to match the rule. 

[Paula B]

We have only cruised once with RC but, with the line we were going on before they had a wine only pkgs. we could buy. We didn't like a lot of the more expensive wines and liked our local winery so we could check our 2 bottles in and bring extra bottles and just got charged a $25 corking fee for each one at check-in. So I guess the question is do they have a wine pkg of approx 4-6 bottles and are you charged for bringing your wine to the dining room?

[icsys]

There used to be a Wine and Dine package - for pre-purchase of 5, 7, 10 & 12 bottles of wine to enjoy at the dining venues - but that has long since been discontinued.

 

There is a $15 corkage fee although I believe it is infrequently enforced. YMMV

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

5 hours ago, Paula B said:

We have only cruised once with RC but, with the line we were going on before they had a wine only pkgs. we could buy. We didn't like a lot of the more expensive wines and liked our local winery so we could check our 2 bottles in and bring extra bottles and just got charged a $25 corking fee for each one at check-in. So I guess the question is do they have a wine pkg of approx 4-6 bottles and are you charged for bringing your wine to the dining room?

 

I have never seen this on Royal in the past 10 years, though I would welcome it.  I have bought it on another line, along with buckets of beer bottles which worked out to be a savings.

 

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yeah,,, but it has never really been two per cabin. It has been 2 per person and 4 for a double occupancy cabin. There was zero ability for the rent-a-cops to associate bottles with cabins. 

 

This may still be true between bottles in checked bags with the trip to the naughty room versus those in a carry-on.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Steeler Nation At Sea