Teen dies on a winter break cruise...

[TammyAlphabet]

I have a son who is 21 now, and although he has many problems, alcohol has not been his drug of choice so to speak. However, he cruised with me on several different cruise lines over several years including Disney. He told me that the alcohol was slightly harder to get on Disney, but the teens did get it nonetheless. The other cruise lines, it was no problem at all. This is what he told me. I am sharing this because I want parents of other teens to be aware that drugs and alcohol are EVERYWHERE! This is scary, but reality.

On another note, other drugs such as pills and marijuana are also easily available on cruises including Disney. Usually it is brought onboard by another teen or obtained ashore. Once again. Just sharing what I have been told.

[ilovetexas]

I feel awful for the parents and the brother; how does a 14 year old recover from that experience? We all know that alcohol is available everywhere; kids have never had a problem getting their hands on it.

I've had servers try to sell drinks to my VERY underage daughter on two different cruise lines. Had they taken her stateroom card, that would have ended the transaction as all lines have some way of identifying underage passengers. However, on one when I went to the bar for a drink (DD was standing next to me), they asked if I wanted two and pointed to her. Luckily for me, she isn't interested....whether I'm there or not. She's always amused when it happens; I'm not. I'm just lucky it's her and not her brother who may not make as good a choice as she does.

I don't think there's a good answer for this one. Of course we should be educating our children, but there are TONS of adults who understand the risks and still make bad decisions about drinking. On a cruise ship, you can keep an eye on your kids....on land, good luck with that.

[thedonduck]

Originally Posted by Lorelei Lee

Some of the cruise lines allow the 18 to 21 crowd to order alcohol on board with their parents' permission. I know Carnival does not.

Even so, the legal age to purchase alcohol in many places is lower than 21, so young adults can purchase it legally while in port.

When we cruised on RCL in 2004 (I was 19 at the time) all my parents had to do was sign a paper that said we could drink. They purchased a beverage package that included beer so at any point I could get some. My parents did not need to be with me. I just got a special sticker placed on my key card and my cup. I literally could have drank all day if I wanted. Luckily (for myself and my parents) I did not like beer then, so I really just stuck with soda.

[justmestace]

Originally Posted by thedonduck

When we cruised on RCL in 2004 (I was 19 at the time) all my parents had to do was sign a paper that said we could drink. They purchased a beverage package that included beer so at any point I could get some. My parents did not need to be with me. I just got a special sticker placed on my key card and my cup. I literally could have drank all day if I wanted. Luckily (for myself and my parents) I did not like beer then, so I really just stuck with soda.

I wonder if they have the same policy now? We've not been on RCCL.
I do know that Carnival and NCL don't do this.

But what TammyAlphabet said above is true. If they want it, they'll get it.

[ilovetexas]

Originally Posted by justmestace

I wonder if they have the same policy now? We've not been on RCCL.
I do know that Carnival and NCL don't do this.

But what TammyAlphabet said above is true. If they want it, they'll get it.

This is in RCCL FAQs:

ALCOHOL POLICY
Effective immediatly on all sailings, the minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on all Royal Caribbean International is as follows.
The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in North America is twenty-one (21).
The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is eighteen (18). The minimum age to consume alcohol at all private destinations remains twenty-one (21) without regard to where the sailing originated. The Company retains the right, on rare occasions, to raise the minimum age of alcohol consumption on any sailing when local laws require or permit such a modification.

[manateesmom]

On the "booze culture" on cruise ships, obviously there's a lot of profit and tips for the servers in alcohol, so it's not surprising that it's pushed everywhere. My experience, I sailed while pregnant and just starting to show, although a belly doesn't necessarily scream pregnancy at that point. But I told pretty much every server on the ship, including our table servers, and STILL got repeatedly pestered. I was like, "nope, still pregnant," and they'd still come back around.

[DMMarla07860]

I will say if your teen looks young for their age, it will be hard to get a drink unless other teens get it. I'm 24 and look young and get carded( use to it so not a big deal)

[bats]

Originally Posted by justmestace

I was told that the young adults, ages 18-20, were only allowed to be given drinks by their parents on the Med cruises because of the lower legal age in Europe....so as not to alienate the European passengers. It won't be allowed on any other cruises, so that's at least one less worry. Unless they sneak it.

On the Med cruises, the parents had to sign a waiver to allow the 18-20 year olds to buy alcohol.
It will be the same on this years Med cruises too I imagine. A lot of the clientele was Spanish last year and they have their children drinking wine with dinner real young. My uncle is Spanish and I remember being given wine with my dinner aged about 10. It was no big deal .. I drank it or I didn't, nobody made a big deal about it. To this day, I can take it or leave it and I think that's because it wasn't made to be a big deal when I was younger.

[justmestace]

Originally Posted by manateesmom

On the "booze culture" on cruise ships, obviously there's a lot of profit and tips for the servers in alcohol, so it's not surprising that it's pushed everywhere. My experience, I sailed while pregnant and just starting to show, although a belly doesn't necessarily scream pregnancy at that point. But I told pretty much every server on the ship, including our table servers, and STILL got repeatedly pestered. I was like, "nope, still pregnant," and they'd still come back around.

But at least when they would have to order a drink and pay for it with the key card, they'd get stopped because they aren't of age, and that's either printed on the card (Disney) or encoded.

It doesn't bother me to keep saying "No thanks".....I know it does some people, just like the vendors in some of the ports can get annoying, that doesn't bother me either, but it really irritates some people.

[Chelley00]

Originally Posted by ilovetexas

This is in RCCL FAQs:

ALCOHOL POLICY
Effective immediatly on all sailings, the minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on all Royal Caribbean International is as follows.
The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in North America is twenty-one (21).
The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is eighteen (18). The minimum age to consume alcohol at all private destinations remains twenty-one (21) without regard to where the sailing originated. The Company retains the right, on rare occasions, to raise the minimum age of alcohol consumption on any sailing when local laws require or permit such a modification.

We sailed RCL with our 18 year old. One of the kids he met said that when they cruised out of Europe he could drink all he wanted and he was mad he couldn't drink at all going out of NYC.

So, his older brother bought him drinks and he offered to buy them for the other 18 year olds that hung around the basketball court.

It's not limited to cruising either. The same thing could happen at a party at home where you have older people supplying alcohol to minors.

On RCL, they use a special hole punch on your card if you are old enough to drink. No stamp, no drink.