DCL carry-on alcohol policy changing Sept. 30 2015

[CaliKT]

This is really disheartening and lowers the appeal of our upcoming cruise. We cruised with DCL last year despite our misgivings that we weren't really a cruise family. However, we enjoyed it so much that we booked a repeat cruise this December. We bought a wine package with dinner, and we bought cocktails whenever we went to hang out in the lounges at night, so we definitely spent money on alcohol on the cruise. However, we bought one bottle of rum in Nassau and enjoyed having mixed drinks in our room on the veranda. We were never, ever drunk, but there was something delightful about drinking a Pomegranate Lemonade with rum in our rooms without having a worry about a bar tab at the end of the trip. It honestly was a little mental perk that truly made my husband happy -- "Hey, look at all this money I'm saving." DCL is more expensive than other cruises, and there's no way that we came even close to breaking even with the money we saved on the costs of our mixed drinks to what we would have paid on another line. But just the illusion of the value we were able to get from that $15 bottle of rum made us more likely to open our wallets and spend plenty of money elsewhere on the cruise -- excursions, alcohol in public areas, etc. I think the $25 corkage fee is ridiculous, too.

 

[tinkerone]

so i wonder how this will affect b2b cruisers. this is our favourite thing to do.
if we purchase in port and then have to pick up on the last night then it goes to reason that we would have it for the second part of our b2b, correct?
before i get flamed, i'm not looking to figure out how to beat the system and any liquor i pick up in ports are for my sister who keeps my dog and house safe. i'm just wondering what happens in that case.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

i think Dcl should instate a mandatory bed time/lights out. That way, it's no big deal that pools and hot tubs close early and no big deal that you can't have liquor in your stateroom. Who needs liquor when you have to be tucked into bed and lights out by midnight?

They pretty much do that already. Virtually any activity that requires you to be vertical while participating ends long before midnight

 

[goofymom74]

I guess I better save some extra drink $$$ for our upcoming cruise. We just booked with Princess for 2016 - free Sip N Sail for the duration of the 7 day cruise! Guess will be using the $$ we saved on that for our Disney cruise. Glad my kids are getting older and are starting to not enjoy standing in line for character meet & greets. We will probably look into other cruise lines, like Princess, who offer better deals - like kids sail free, or free drinks. I hope this isn't the big announcement rumor we were hearing about from D23! Cuz this sucks! I love Disney cruises! We are not big drunks (usually), but this is a disappointment! Just my 2 cents, but I think that Disney will lose business because of this policy change.

 

[Jareds_mommy]

so i wonder how this will affect b2b cruisers. this is our favourite thing to do.
if we purchase in port and then have to pick up on the last night then it goes to reason that we would have it for the second part of our b2b, correct?
before i get flamed, i'm not looking to figure out how to beat the system and any liquor i pick up in ports are for my sister who keeps my dog and house safe. i'm just wondering what happens in that case.

that's what I was wondering how will this work if you buy from the on baord duty free, for a back to back if you buy it the first cruise

 

[eskimoinparadise]

so i wonder how this will affect b2b cruisers. this is our favourite thing to do.
if we purchase in port and then have to pick up on the last night then it goes to reason that we would have it for the second part of our b2b, correct?
before i get flamed, i'm not looking to figure out how to beat the system and any liquor i pick up in ports are for my sister who keeps my dog and house safe. i'm just wondering what happens in that case.

Unless they do a better job of it than the other lines we've been on, you are correct. We've been on cruises with people who were on their second leg of a B2B, and drinks flowed freely in their cabin because their purchases were dutifully delivered to them on the last evening of their first leg

 

[Hamitchell]

so i wonder how this will affect b2b cruisers. this is our favourite thing to do.
if we purchase in port and then have to pick up on the last night then it goes to reason that we would have it for the second part of our b2b, correct?
before i get flamed, i'm not looking to figure out how to beat the system and any liquor i pick up in ports are for my sister who keeps my dog and house safe. i'm just wondering what happens in that case.

We are b2b for our next cruise--2 weeks on Fantasy. I hadn't considered this. Only get 1 week of your rum IF you can do this.

 

[Hamitchell]

I guess I better save some extra drink $$$ for our upcoming cruise. We just booked with Princess for 2016 - free Sip N Sail for the duration of the 7 day cruise! Guess will be using the $$ we saved on that for our Disney cruise. Glad my kids are getting older and are starting to not enjoy standing in line for character meet & greets. We will probably look into other cruise lines, like Princess, who offer better deals - like kids sail free, or free drinks. I hope this isn't the big announcement rumor we were hearing about from D23! Cuz this sucks! I love Disney cruises! We are not big drunks (usually), but this is a disappointment! Just my 2 cents, but I think that Disney will lose business because of this policy change.

We had a great partial Panama Canal cruise with Princess. I'll have to take a look at them again, too.

 

[2-pointdoe]

Well if DH and I are on a 14 day cruise and consume 2 drinks each per day. That is 56 drinks. If they are $10 then the total cost is $560. 2 cases of beer (48 beers) would cost less than $50. That could be some justification.

Boy some of you must drink a lot if the DCL carry-on policy was how you justified the higher cost of the cruise.

 

[squirrel]

Well this may be the last cruise my mom and I do. I will still do a place hold for Alaska 2017, but may cancel if we can find a better deal. I don't drink but my mom likes her rum and water. Unfortunately most places don't have dark rum that she enjoys so this may be a deal breaker for her.

 

[El Cid 94]

Here we go again. I think this lasted a day or two in 2011. I was surprised they caved in to the pressure last time. Doubt they will this time... one more reason to investigate other options.

 

[Ravenne]

So how would it work if say you want to buy some Mexican Tequila or Caribbean Rum? Would they not allow that, or do you have to turn it in upon re-boarding the ship from port? If they take the liquor away, do they store it on the ship and you have to claim it upon disembarkation?

 

[Dug720]

I will be interested to see what other options you find that let you bring liquor aboard - I don't think any of the major cruise lines do...

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So how would it work if say you want to buy some Mexican Tequila or Caribbean Rum? Would they not allow that, or do you have to turn it in upon re-boarding the ship from port? If they take the liquor away, do they store it on the ship and you have to claim it upon disembarkation? Otherwise, how would you get it back if you weren't on a close loop cruise?

I don't know if that's been address (by DCL) yet. But, the feeling seems to be they will go the way most other cruise lines do - you turn in the hard liquor when reboarding the ship to be tagged. And then it will either be delivered to you the last night of the cruise, or you pick it up on debarkation morning to be carried through customs at the end of your cruise.

 

[scm]

I called to clarify if purchases conforming to the new guidelines and purchased in ports of call could be consumed in cabin. Yes, you may drink it during the remainder of the cruise.

 

[bcwife76]

Good while it lasted. I am sure it's a combo of sales and abuse of the generous policy. Glad my cruise sails on the 12th!

Agree 100%! Definitely a combo of both. Our first cruise sets sail September 27th so we are *just* squeaking in under the wire ;-)

 

[Hamitchell]

I called to clarify if purchases conforming to the new guidelines and purchased in ports of call could be consumed in cabin. Yes, you may drink it during the remainder of the cruise.

That would be wine and beer only. Not liquor.

 

[kathi]

I will be interested to see what other options you find that let you bring liquor aboard - I don't think any of the major cruise lines do...

You are missing the point. The other cruises are 1/2 the price so it doesn't matter if you have to buy liquor on board. Honestly, for me, it's not even so much about the booze or the cost but more about costs continuing to go up and perks continuing to go down. The alcohol perk was a big one because it let adults enjoy drinks in their cabins while their kids were sleeping. Win/Win

 

[scm]

That would be wine and beer only. Not liquor.

correct

 

[over50visits]

You are allowed to bring two bottles of wine or champagne onboard and if those wine bottles happened to contain another beverage of choice, how would they know? Of course you'd have to make it seem like your wine bottles were still sealed, but that's easily accomplished with shrink caps you can buy. Really hard to tell the difference between them and a factory seal.

http://morewinemaking.com/products/...ariant=W493A&gclid=CJWKjoPfsMcCFQLJtAodPfAFTw

http://www.amazon.com/Bronze-PVC-Shrink-Capsules-Per/dp/B009ZUSSBE/ref=pd_bxgy_79_img_y

Not like.