Pre Cruise Spirits Purchase

[MN Syrup Cruiser]

Hello.  We are sailing on the Royal Princess in April, 2024.  It is a 21 day cruise embarking in Sydney, Australia and ending in Yokohama, Japan.  We normally like to pre purchase a couple of the 375 ml bottles of spirits to have in the room.  When I attempt to buy, the following appears:

Princess Wine & Spirits

Sorry, we encountered an error while retrieving your Princess Wine & Spirits shopping list.
Trying again later may resolve the issue, but please note that in some circumstances the item(s) you selected may no longer be available for purchase on this cruise.

 

Is this normal for cruises with this itinerary?  I've been "trying again later" for several months.  There are not any wines or spirits available for purchase.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Any insight is greatly appreciated.  I am in the U.S., not Australia.  The cruise account folio is in AUD.  Does that make any difference?  Does Australia have rules or regulations that do not allow for such purchases?  Thanks.

[yarramar]

17 hours ago, MN Syrup Cruiser said:

Hello.  We are sailing on the Royal Princess in April, 2024.  It is a 21 day cruise embarking in Sydney, Australia and ending in Yokohama, Japan.  We normally like to pre purchase a couple of the 375 ml bottles of spirits to have in the room.  When I attempt to buy, the following appears:

Princess Wine & Spirits

Sorry, we encountered an error while retrieving your Princess Wine & Spirits shopping list.
Trying again later may resolve the issue, but please note that in some circumstances the item(s) you selected may no longer be available for purchase on this cruise.

 

Is this normal for cruises with this itinerary?  I've been "trying again later" for several months.  There are not any wines or spirits available for purchase.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Any insight is greatly appreciated.  I am in the U.S., not Australia.  The cruise account folio is in AUD.  Does that make any difference?  Does Australia have rules or regulations that do not allow for such purchases?  Thanks.

Not a recommendation, but have you considered rum runners?

[OzKiwiJJ]

18 hours ago, MN Syrup Cruiser said:

Hello.  We are sailing on the Royal Princess in April, 2024.  It is a 21 day cruise embarking in Sydney, Australia and ending in Yokohama, Japan.  We normally like to pre purchase a couple of the 375 ml bottles of spirits to have in the room.  When I attempt to buy, the following appears:

Princess Wine & Spirits

Sorry, we encountered an error while retrieving your Princess Wine & Spirits shopping list.
Trying again later may resolve the issue, but please note that in some circumstances the item(s) you selected may no longer be available for purchase on this cruise.

 

Is this normal for cruises with this itinerary?  I've been "trying again later" for several months.  There are not any wines or spirits available for purchase.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Any insight is greatly appreciated.  I am in the U.S., not Australia.  The cruise account folio is in AUD.  Does that make any difference?  Does Australia have rules or regulations that do not allow for such purchases?  Thanks.

Interesting! I tried it for a cruise we're doing out of Japan late October and it showed me the drinks list but when I tried it for an Australian departure cruise I got the same error. Maybe they aren't offering that service on Australian departure cruises. Very strange.

[Belmont Babe]

I am on that cruise, too, and I've just checked - I'm getting that message too. Perhaps they no longer offer - now they are pushing hard the alcohol packages.

 

[MN Syrup Cruiser]

Thanks, all, for the replies.  Interestingly, I departed Sydney on March 31, 2023 for a 29 day cruise.  I was successfully able to pre purchase spirits for that cruise.  

[MicCanberra]

I have only seen those offers to pre purchase bottles of spirits and such on overseas cruises, not Australian ones.

[dillpickle48]

Seen them on Holland America local cruises.