Alcohol Policy Change?

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When does Disney intend to tell the folks traveling? Theoretically we have seen posts of emails and I know they are true, but the lion's share of cruisers are not on here - so they have no idea!
 
The stated reasons about breakage are, as others have said, a rationalization at best. The decision is clearly about increasing profits by making liquor a larger profit center like it is on other cruise lines. The policy is not more generous than other cruise lines, as many other lines allow you to bring at least one bottle of wine on-board. Discarding confiscated liquor is definitely more harsh than other lines.

My wife and I do not like the sweet drinks, which tend to be the selections for drinks of the day, so that is not going to be an option for us. The price in the bars for mixed drinks is good to ok, the price for beer acceptable, the price for wine, high (and we live in NY). However, as others have said, we take wine and liquor on-board because we prefer our own selections to what Disney offers. On the classic ships, for example, the wine list leans heavily to Italian (probably because of Palo) and we prefer California meritage blends. I prefer a brand of bourbon which is not offered on-board.

As others have said, making a decision on which cruise line to take involves looking at the pluses and minuses for each line. The change in the alcohol policy took away a plus for some people on Disney. Will that be enough to substantially change DCL income? Hard to say at this time. I can only offer my own experience in talking with people about DCL and that many only considered DCL seriously when they heard the alcohol policy. The other unknown, as others have said, is what other perks will also change in the future. DCL has now opened that discussion by making this change with three weeks notice, introducing increased uncertainty when people make their assessment of the pluses and minuses for taking DCL.
 
WOW!!! people think they found a company that gives them all those extra perks for the extra money they pay and they listen to their clients and makes them happy only to find out later on down the line they only care about the almighty dollar and we are just money in the bank to them!!! This is ridiculous, this is our last and final cruise with DCL!!! I can only imagine when they will take out the free drink stations and the free coffee in the morning with room service (which we love).

Well this just set it in stone for us, all inclusives for us and Royal Caribbean all the way at least we know they won't change their policies on us...they're already in place.

:mad: :sad2: :guilty:
 
WOW!!! people think they found a company that gives them all those extra perks for the extra money they pay and they listen to their clients and makes them happy only to find out later on down the line they only care about the almighty dollar and we are just money in the bank to them!!! This is ridiculous, this is our last and final cruise with DCL!!! I can only imagine when they will take out the free drink stations and the free coffee in the morning with room service (which we love).

Well this just set it in stone for us, all inclusives for us and Royal Caribbean all the way at least we know they won't change their policies on us...they're already in place.

:mad: :sad2: :guilty:

and at least on RC they have 2 for 1 drink specials all the time...never seen that on a Disney cruise.
 

DISNEY CRUISE NEWS

Disney Cruise Alcohol Allowance
BY CAPTAIN MICKEY ⋅ AUGUST 30, 2011 ⋅ POST A COMMENT
FILED UNDER DISNEY CRUISE
Beginning September 19, 2011, a change is being implemented regarding the amount and types of alcohol that can be brought onboard on embarkation day. The change is as follows:

On embarkation day, guests (21 years of age and older) may bring on board one unopened bottle (750ml) of wine or champagne, or six bottles/cans (12 oz.) of beer per person, and it must be hand-carried in a day bag and/or carry-on luggage. Carry-on luggage dimensions cannot exceed 22″ wide, 14″ high and 9″ deep.

A $20 corkage fee per bottle will be charged should you wish to consume this wine/champagne in one of the main dining rooms, Palo or Remy. A corkage fee is a charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle served that was not bought on the premises. Guests may not bring their personal beverages into any other venue, including public decks.

Any alcohol packed in checked luggage will be confiscated and discarded without notice or compensation. All beer/wine/champagne, over the allowable 1-bottle per guest (21 years of age and older) limit in carry-on luggage will also be confiscated and discarded without compensation.

Please be advised: Disney Cruise Line reserves the right to remove fragile items (including beverages) from checked luggage. In such cases, any alcohol will be discarded with no remuneration offered. Beverage containers are considered fragile and have previously caused damage in checked luggage. All fragile items must be transported inside carry-on luggage.

Please note on cruises prior to September 19, 2011, there is no limit to the amount of alcohol you bring onboard with you.
 
Count me in as EXTREMELY dissapointed with this news. We are not big drinkers by any stretch of the imagination ,but ONE bottle of wine or SIX beers.. really.. thats so little for a 7 night cruise. One of the ways we justify the higher cost of Disney compared to other lines is the little things like being able to bring our own alcohol, not paying for pop , and the larger room sizes ( oh wait , that ones already been downgraded as far as the new ship goes ).
A MAJOR selling point to us was to be able to sit on our balcony with a drink , watch the ocean go by and not have to worry about driving anywhere as that happens so rarely at home , we always have to drop off or pick the kids up from somewhere. What if we want to bring something other than beer or wine ? I guess we are out of luck.
Just waiting for the next announcement now tht the pop station will only activate when we swipe our pre paid pop cards and that the signed pillowcases etc cost 50 bucks each.
I am so so dissapointed in this news, when we pay the premium to sail with Disney purchasing on board alcohol is just not in the budget. We have sailed a number of times since 2005 and ( putting my triple layer flame suit on now ) have noticed that each time the quality has dropped a little, dont get me wrong we still love sailing with Disney and will sail again as planned next year but all these things add up and it makes us more inclined to seriously look at alternative cruise lines.

No flames here. I have also noticed the quality dropping. Yet prices continue to increase and perks are taken away. This is why this is so upsetting. DCL used to be take pride in its customer service. Now it is all about $$$.
 
after such a loose policy this seems a bit extreme we have not been on our first cruise yet so we would not know any different but i feel like this is a little miserly of them especialy depending on the length of your cruise.
 
I asked about water and was told, "You can still bring a six pack of water"... I guess that would be the amount of water a person would reasonably drink.

I don't think it's the passengers who are rolling on their alcohol, which is what we do. She stated that they have had an increase in checked luggage being damaged....both that passenger's luggage as well as other passengers' luggage due to bottle breaking. To make it "fair" they came up with a "reasonable" amount that could be brought aboard in carry on luggage.

I didn't ask about soft drinks.

This sounds like such BS(coming from them).
How does limiting what can be carried on prevent people from SMUGGLING booze in their carry on? If anything, it will only increase these instances.

I think their explanation is more aggravating than the actual policy, since they are not even being truth. If they came out and just admitted it was a 'revenue' issue, I would respect it more.
 
The checked luggage thing is totally a sham. People who follow the rules brought on liquor in their carry ons, as allowed. People who break the rules did whatever they wanted.

Do they think this new policy will stop the people who didn't follow the rules before from continuing to put booze in their checked luggage? NO - IT WILL MAKE MORE PEOPLE PUT BOOZE IN THEIR CHECKED LUGGAGE.

There is no logic in their statement at all.


ITA- their explanation has actually really annoyed me. I think it's deceitful.
 
Man if you justify the cost of a Disney cruise by the amount of liquor you can bring on board, some of you must have some large carry-ons to bring that much liquor.
 
We are part of a family reunion cruise in April. Our total group is 18 people across 7 cabins and we are now exploring other options. DH and I never bring any alcohol onboard simply because we prefer to pay for them and enjoy them in a bar. However, that is not the case for all our family members. Many of them use a reduced a bar tab as one of the justifications for the additional cost of DCL. I sent this info out to them this morning, and the group unanimously decided to look at our other options for those dates. I'm not sure if we will ultimately decide to change our trip, since the bar tab is just one factor, but we are now re-evaluating our trip. I think DCL may have underestimated the impact of this decision.
 
I just talked to a lovely lady at DCL.. she suggested that I e mail dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com to voice my dissapointment at this new rule. This way they can monitor customer feedback and make changes if they feel necessary. They have not as yet received many calls regarding this matter so lets let them know how we feel.
 
The checked luggage thing is totally a sham. People who follow the rules brought on liquor in their carry ons, as allowed. People who break the rules did whatever they wanted.

Do they think this new policy will stop the people who didn't follow the rules before from continuing to put booze in their checked luggage? NO - IT WILL MAKE MORE PEOPLE PUT BOOZE IN THEIR CHECKED LUGGAGE.

There is no logic in their statement at all.

I asked her if the scan my carry on bag and see an extra bottle of beer, would it be confiscated. She answered yes.

Boy -- those check in lines at Security are going to be slower than ever.....

I wonder if we show up after boarding if we can stock up on discarded alcohol?

Now my mind is going to bad places..... can I bring a book and have a few cocktails from the confiscated booze prior to boarding? A little pre-boarding DIS party anybody?? ;)
 
And who is to say this won't then extend to bringing other things on board like bottled water on board, your favorite brand of soda, prepackaged candy bars, etc. . . I don't bring any of this home with me but other people do. Would you that think we people are "lushes or obsessing about their ruined vacation" feel the same way if it was amenities like this that you couldn't bring or were limited. Lets say you could only carry 1 bottle of water per person or a 6-pack of soda.
From DCL website:
"Coolers filled with personal items (e.g. soda, chips, candy, etc.) may not be brought on board."

If they're enforcing the alcohol limit, they may start enforcing the soda being brought on as well. If this is truly about damage, exploding soda cans can damage just as much. Hey, then they could start charging for soda too! $$;)! Glad I don't drink soda.:)
 
We are part of a family reunion cruise in April. Our total group is 18 people across 7 cabins and we are now exploring other options. DH and I never bring any alcohol onboard simply because we prefer to pay for them and enjoy them in a bar. However, that is not the case for all our family members. Many of them use a reduced a bar tab as one of the justifications for the additional cost of DCL. I sent this info out to them this morning, and the group unanimously decided to look at our other options for those dates. I'm not sure if we will ultimately decide to change our trip, since the bar tab is just one factor, but we are now re-evaluating our trip. I think DCL may have underestimated the impact of this decision.


Seriously, how much liquor was your family planning on bringing aboard?
 
Man if you justify the cost of a Disney cruise by the amount of liquor you can bring on board, some of you must have some large carry-ons to bring that much liquor.

We do. It's a rolling luggage cart (the kind that folds). It holds our beer and wine coolers just fine. The rolling cooler handles the bottle of Crown Royal without any problem.

It's not how we justify the cost, but it certainly helps.
 
I just talked to a lovely lady at DCL.. she suggested that I e mail dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com to voice my dissapointment at this new rule. This way they can monitor customer feedback and make changes if they feel necessary. They have not as yet received many calls regarding this matter so lets let them know how we feel.

The cast member I spoke to yesterday had received three calls before me. The manager I spoke to today had received several calls (she didn't provide a number).

I wonder if the complaints are being reported? Or just treated as customer service inquiries?

An email sounds like a great idea!!
 
DISNEY CRUISE NEWS

Disney Cruise Alcohol Allowance
BY CAPTAIN MICKEY ⋅ AUGUST 30, 2011 ⋅ POST A COMMENT
FILED UNDER DISNEY CRUISE
Beginning September 19, 2011, a change is being implemented regarding the amount and types of alcohol that can be brought onboard on embarkation day. The change is as follows:

On embarkation day, guests (21 years of age and older) may bring on board one unopened bottle (750ml) of wine or champagne, or six bottles/cans (12 oz.) of beer per person, and it must be hand-carried in a day bag and/or carry-on luggage. Carry-on luggage dimensions cannot exceed 22″ wide, 14″ high and 9″ deep.

A $20 corkage fee per bottle will be charged should you wish to consume this wine/champagne in one of the main dining rooms, Palo or Remy. A corkage fee is a charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle served that was not bought on the premises. Guests may not bring their personal beverages into any other venue, including public decks.

Any alcohol packed in checked luggage will be confiscated and discarded without notice or compensation. All beer/wine/champagne, over the allowable 1-bottle per guest (21 years of age and older) limit in carry-on luggage will also be confiscated and discarded without compensation.

Please be advised: Disney Cruise Line reserves the right to remove fragile items (including beverages) from checked luggage. In such cases, any alcohol will be discarded with no remuneration offered. Beverage containers are considered fragile and have previously caused damage in checked luggage. All fragile items must be transported inside carry-on luggage.

Please note on cruises prior to September 19, 2011, there is no limit to the amount of alcohol you bring onboard with you.

may I point out that this says on embarkation day, this doesn't seem to prevent anyone from buying and bringing on board purchases that have been made at a port of call.
 
. . . Well this just set it in stone for us, all inclusives for us and Royal Caribbean all the way at least we know they won't change their policies on us...they're already in place.
If you sail with RCCL, be sure to sign up for it's Crown & Anchor society. It's a prior guest program, like DCL's Castaway Club.

When you reach RCCL's "Diamond" level, you get nightly access to the Diamond Lounge, where RCCL serves free wine and champagne.

YMMV

Woody
 
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