Carnival Cruises broke the hearts of spring breakers (and a handful of folks long graduated from college) worldwide yesterday when it announced that it would no longer allow guests to carry on bottled beverages, including water effective July 9th. The exception to this is you may still bring on one bottle of wine or champagne per passenger. In exchange, Carnival is lowering the price of bottled water purchased on board to $2.99 per 12 pack if reserved in advance or $4.99 on board.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com.
You can expect the usual course of complaining about this being a revenue enhancing ploy but I do not agree. Does it reduce the likelihood that anyone will be smuggling booze on board in empty water bottles? Absolutely. But if you really just wanted water, that $2.99 price point is not bad….and frankly worth it to avoid the hassle of needing to lug a pack of water on board in my opinion.
In the end, I’m indifferent to the change. I’ve become a fan of beverage packages that include bottled water for one, and given that I usually have to fly to a port, it’s just not convenient to lug a pack of water on board for me. Fellow cruisers, how do you feel about this change?
-MJ, June 10, 2015
Best way to get scotch in a wine bottle? Anyone?
I have a friend who bottles his own wine….right down to capping the cork with wax. A wine bottle with scotch in it looks a lot like a wine bottle with wine in it. Just sayin’. đŸ™‚
My problem is with this is they don’t carry anything I like to drink all day. For example, I prefer a diet, no caffeine drink (that isn’t water). I carried on diet ginger ale and sprite zero – are they going to expand their drinks to ensure they have these options available.
What’s wrong with tap? Bloody Americans…
@Danin Than YOU don’t have to carry it if you don’t want that hassle. I don’t want to be forced by such a policy when I may just want one or two a day, I don’t drink enough for any package to be worth it by far.
Won’t stop the diehard booze smugglers. And that’s who this new policy is targetting.
As long as they keep the wine policy, I’ve got no complaints. I agree with you, I’ve had the beverage package on a few cruises now & I really like it. I’m happy to see this trend of giving it free as a booking incentive expand.
I totally agree with your take. It’s a hassle to lug water and soda on-board. I would imagine it slows down the boarding and security screenings. I also have to fly into most ports so it’s not a big deal to me. I like that they will still allow that special bottle of wine.