For many cruise passengers, drinks can cost as much as the price they paid for their cabin.
If you buy the Royal Caribbean Deluxe Beverage Package (DBP) you may end up paying between $65 and $100 per day. That’s a steep price to pay, but with cocktails and glasses of decent wine costing $14 each, you can get good value from the all-you-can-drink package relatively easily.
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Royal Caribbean (RCL) has strict rules when it comes to beverages. If you have the DBP or get free drinks in the casino for being Prime or higher. They don’t want passengers sharing the drinks they get as part of either of those two offers.
The only case where the cruise line allows drink sharing is the 4, 5, or 6 free drinks each day passengers get for being Diamond, Diamond Plus, or Pinnacle. Those beverage vouchers can be shared with other passengers and, of course, there’s no rule against buying someone else a drink.
Royal Caribbean, however, has recently taken some steps to make sure passengers don’t use their DBP or free casino drinks to share with other passengers. Those rules, however, do not sit well with some passengers who are being punished, they say, for crimes they did not commit.
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Royal Caribbean changed a beverage policy
Royal Caribbean recently made a change to its beverage policy that Bill Peterson (and other passengers) are not happy about.
“You need to reconsider your decision on not being able to bring an unopened drink back to my cabin. Being a Diamond Plus, I like to have a few beers in my room at the end of the night, and I should not be told when I should be drinking them,” he wrote on Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley’s Facebook page.
Royal Caribbean used to offer passengers unopened beers if they asked for them that way. That allowed them to bring them back to their room to enjoy at their leisure.
Of course, once a beer or other alcoholic beverage leaves the bar area, it becomes impossible for the cruise line to know who is drinking it.
“Having to open my beers at the bar is ridiculous. We worked hard and paid a lot of money to become Diamond Plus, And I should be able to make the choice when to drink the complimentary drinks I pay dearly for. Think hard about your decisions. I know a lot of cruisers are upset about this,” he added.
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Royal Caribbean makes its policy clear
Jan Hauber Erickson agreed with Peterson but actually got the new rule wrong.
“I agree 100%. I don’t drink alcohol, but I do drink canned Diet Coke , no fountain beverages for me, and water. I am Diamond Plus, so I do stop by the bar and pick up a couple of Diet Cokes or water to take back to the room to have before I go to bed or first thing in the AM for the caffeine,” he shared.
Erickson does not think the cruise line should force him to open his soda cans.
“I can’t imagine how awful that morning soda would be if it had been opened by the bartender the day before…talk about no carbonation! This new rule has to go. Facebook is full of people complaining about this new rule on every RCCL Facebook page. We really want to be Loyal to Royal….I think the Royal needs to be Loyal to us, too, and quit taking away all the perks we’ve worked so hard to accumulate,” he shared righteously.
The problem is that Erickson is angry about something that’s not happening.
“We’re sorry for any confusion. Kindly note that this policy does not apply to non-alcoholic beverages, such as canned sodas and bottled water. Only alcoholic drinks,” Royal Caribbean International shared on Facebook.
Some passengers, however, believe that opening beers at the bar is wrong as well.
“It still is not right. I should be able to use my Pinnacle vouchers any way I want and get unopened beers to take to my cabin to enjoy. New policy makes absolutely no sense at all,” Karen Ahr wrote.
Justin Revell points out that Royal Caribbean has likely enacted this policy because too many people with the DBP or free drinks in the casino were cheating the system and sharing their drinks.
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“If I were a betting man, this would all come from people cheating the system. Closed drinks can easily be passed onto people without packages. With so many people blatantly saying they are doing it, it’s not a surprise,” he wrote.
Revell is not happy with the cruise line or his fellow passengers.
“What annoys me is the ones who are abiding by the rules are being penalized, but that’s always the way. We are Diamond, 1 point off DP, always buy a drinks package despite the free drinks, and constantly see people just cheating the system! The few ruin it for the masses, is the problem,” he added.
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