Carnival Cruise Line clarifies key alcohol rule
The reasoning behind this contested cruise rule is rooted in tradition.
Cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean have fairly strict rules when it comes to alcohol.
Of course, passengers must be of legal drinking age to consume alcohol on board. For Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruises departing from the U.S., that means passengers must be 21 years of age or older to drink alcohol at sea.
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Cruise lines make a significant portion of their onboard revenue from beverage sales; therefore, most cruise lines don’t allow passengers to bring their own alcohol on board. They do make an exception for one specific alcoholic beverage, however.
Although passengers aren’t allowed to bring their own beer or liquor on board most cruise lines’ ships, they are usually permitted to bring at least one sealed 750-ml bottle of wine or champagne per person.
Certain cruise lines permit passengers to bring multiple bottles of wine, but for Carnival Cruise Line, the limit is firmly set at one bottle per passenger, regardless of your cruise length.
Some passengers say this policy doesn’t make sense; they want the cruise line to allow multiple bottles on longer cruises. There is some logic behind this policy, however, which Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald recently explained on his popular Facebook page after receiving a message from a frustrated passenger.
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Carnival brand ambassador clarifies policy for bringing wine on board
“Perhaps you can explain the lunacy behind Carnival’s rule to only allow one bottle of wine on a 12-day cruise? This is the same as a four day,” the unidentified passenger wrote. “Platinum cruiser too so makes even less sense why we are being punished this way! We should be able to bring on two or three bottles without also having to pay the cork fee.”
As he shared the passenger’s message in post on his Facebook page, Heald pointed out that the policy stems from a tradition that began long before Carnival Cruise Line was even founded.
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“It is important to remember the history from where this comes from,” Heald began. “In the days of the grand old ocean liner, passengers were allowed to bring on a bottle of champagne or wine to celebrate the Sailaway.”
Carnival Cruise Line wants to keep this tradition alive by allowing passengers to bring one bottle of wine, champagne, sparkling wine, or non-alcoholic wine. No flavored wines or fortified wines are allowed.
Wine brought on board is intended for the Sailaway Party
The bottle of wine is meant to be enjoyed during the ship’s sailaway, the official start of the voyage as the ship departs from port, which only happens once per cruise.
“Regardless of the cruise length, it is one bottle. Regardless of how many cruises you have been on with us, it is one bottle per person,” Heald explained. “Regardless of the length, [a cruise] only has one sailaway, which is where this tradition comes from. So even if it is a 12 day cruise, you only have one sailaway thus you can only bring on board one bottle.”
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The brand ambassador also addressed the issue of the cruise line’s corkage fee, which applies when passengers consume their wine or champagne in a main dining room, specialty restaurant or bar.
“I know a guest recently who was a diamond guest went to the guest services desk demanding the $15 corkage fee she was charged in the dining room be removed,” Heald wrote. “Never think that we do not appreciate your loyalty, but regardless of whether you have a blue card or a diamond card, if you bring a bottle of wine that has not been purchased on board the ship to the dining room there is a corkage fee.”
As some passengers pointed out in the comments on the post, there’s an easy solution to avoid the corkage fee no matter your status in the cruise line’s loyalty club — just open the bottle in your cabin, pour a glass of wine and take it with you to dinner.
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