Drinking Age on Fantasy

[drparoo]

Originally Posted by ShellyLynn3630

Do any of the other cruise lines let you drink at age 18?

Some of them allow 18-20 year olds to drink when the ship is in international waters with written permission of their parents. I'll see if I can find where I read that......

[Amanda132]

A few allow 18-20 year olds to drink if the ship is in international waters, with permission from the parents like the PP said. Others allow them to drink when departing from a country where the legal drinking age is below 21. Others have the drinking age at 21 period. It depends on the line. A full list is here:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=46

[IknowDoYou?]

Originally Posted by drparoo

Some of them allow 18-20 year olds to drink when the ship is in international waters with written permission of their parents. I'll see if I can find where I read that......

That seems odd, seeing that you're an "adult" at 18, or at least you are from a legal standpoint. I can only imagine a recently married 18 year-old couple asking for their parent's permission to drink.

My feeling is that if the laws of the United States no longer apply (because you are in international waters, and you are on a ship registered in the Bahamas), they no longer apply. With that said, the cruise lines are free to set whatever rules they wish, but it still seems like an odd line to draw.

[Aoi_Bara]

Originally Posted by IknowDoYou?

That seems odd, seeing that you're an "adult" at 18, or at least you are from a legal standpoint. I can only imagine a recently married 18 year-old couple asking for their parent's permission to drink.

My feeling is that if the laws of the United States no longer apply (because you are in international waters, and you are on a ship registered in the Bahamas), they no longer apply. With that said, the cruise lines are free to set whatever rules they wish, but it still seems like an odd line to draw.

I agree.

[Makayna]

Originally Posted by IknowDoYou?

That seems odd, seeing that you're an "adult" at 18, or at least you are from a legal standpoint. I can only imagine a recently married 18 year-old couple asking for their parent's permission to drink.

My feeling is that if the laws of the United States no longer apply (because you are in international waters, and you are on a ship registered in the Bahamas), they no longer apply. With that said, the cruise lines are free to set whatever rules they wish, but it still seems like an odd line to draw.

On some cruise lines, married couples are exempt from some of their rules. For instance, on Carnival, if you're under 21, then you must cruise with someone 25 or older in the same cabin. BUT, married couples are excluded. You have to read the fine print (which, I haven't done about the drinking age thing), but some cruise lines *might* make the same exception if you're married. Maybe not, but since they do on some accounts, they *might* also do it on others.

[tvguy]

Originally Posted by ShellyLynn3630

Do any of the other cruise lines let you drink at age 18?

My first cruise was on the French cruise line Paquet, about 90% of the passengers were from France, and there was absolutely no drinking age. But that is the French custom. And this back in 1980, when the Love Boat was hot, and as I recall there were like 3 passengers under age 21 on board.
I should also mention that wine was included at no extra cost with lunch and dinner, they had bottles sitting on all the tables, so there was absolutely no control over who was drinking.

[tvguy]

Originally Posted by IknowDoYou?

That seems odd, seeing that you're an "adult" at 18, or at least you are from a legal standpoint. I can only imagine a recently married 18 year-old couple asking for their parent's permission to drink.

My feeling is that if the laws of the United States no longer apply (because you are in international waters, and you are on a ship registered in the Bahamas), they no longer apply. With that said, the cruise lines are free to set whatever rules they wish, but it still seems like an odd line to draw.

Yup, the cruise lines can do whatever they want, with the exception of international cruise ship safety laws.
And it really can be tricky because we all bring our own views on what should be done regarding drinking age, smoking policy, handicapped access, etc.

[Who's your Mickey?]

Originally Posted by ShellyLynn3630

Do any of the other cruise lines let you drink at age 18?

Most cruise lines operate their ships as if they were an extension of that ship's home port. If the drinking age in Florida is 21, it is 21 onboard as well... If a port of call has a lower drinking age (like Nassau), you have to leave the ship to drink... Private islands are operated as though you are still on the ship...

Also, if I remember correctly, US Customs will not allow you to bring duty-free alcohol back to the US if you are underage.

[kcashner]

Originally Posted by dunnhorn

I read what all of you are saying, but the bottom line is that it's ultimately up to the server. On castaway cay, I totally saw bartenders serve kids who were totally not 21. If the KTW card is coded, then I'm sure you can pay with cash, whatever. There are ways around it - the bartenders by and large are looking to make the sale, so if you look the part, well you just might get by.

Pls don't flame me - just talking reality. I would think they would be more strict on the ship than they would castaway....

LA

No a flame, but a clarification. On Castaway Cay, everything except the post office and tipping operates on the KTTW system--no cash. So there is no way someone could purchase a drink without showing a KTTW card. It is possible (and has happened) for a bartender to supply a beverage without charging for it--obviously they are fired for this if caught. They are also fired for selling alcohol to someone under 21.

The crew on the island are from the ship (yes, I know about the 60 or so people who live on the island, but they are not servers or bartenders while we are on land). The exact same rules are supposed to apply whether on the ship or the island.

[darkwing818]

Originally Posted by Who's your Mickey?

Most cruise lines operate their ships as if they were an extension of that ship's home port. If the drinking age in Florida is 21, it is 21 onboard as well... If a port of call has a lower drinking age (like Nassau), you have to leave the ship to drink... Private islands are operated as though you are still on the ship...

Also, if I remember correctly, US Customs will not allow you to bring duty-free alcohol back to the US if you are underage.

I agree completely, makes things less confusing, if the ship is an extension of the the home port.

[Who's your Mickey?]

Originally Posted by darkwing818

I agree completely, makes things less confusing, if the ship is an extension of the the home port.

It's also another reason to make sure you have a watch with you when you cruise. Ships don't adjust the clock when they cross to a new time zone.

Several years ago, we were docked in Cozumel on RCI's Voyager OTS directly across from RCI's Freedom OTS. Voyager had sailed from Galveston and I believe that Freedom was out of Miami at the time. We were sitting on our balcony "talking" (OK, yelling) across the dock to a couple on Freedom who were having drinks on their balcony before they ran off to dinner. We had the same seating, but because Freedom was on EST they were rushing and we still had an hour to relax as Voyager was on CST.

We once encountered some people at the dock in St. Thomas who lost track of time and ended up asking a local and arrived back to the dock just in time to see their ship head off to its next port of call.

[com_op_2000]

Originally Posted by Who's your Mickey?

It's also another reason to make sure you have a watch with you when you cruise. Ships don't adjust the clock when they cross to a new time zone.

The Magic adjusts the time on Western sailings out of PC. I took this back in Feb the day of Cozumel we adjusted backwards one hour and the next day we adjusted forward one hour.

[Aoi_Bara]

If I am allowed to drink when the ship is at port with the exception of Castaway Cay...which would be the best port to get a fruity drink at like what the drink of the day is on the ship?