Drinking | TheIntelligentCruiser.com Cruise Blog

Am I allowed to bring alcohol onboard the cruise ship?

This has to be one of the most asked questions in all of Cruisedom. Additionally it is one of the most difficult questions to answer. The problem is most cruise lines aren’t consistent in their enforcement of the rules. These inconsistencies lead to stories being passed around about how Joe Cruiser carried two kegs of beer onboard a ship while security held the door for him. While some of these stories are true, many are false, and most lie somewhere in between.

There are obvious dangers to allowing consumption of alcohol by passengers to go unchecked. These dangers range from simple acts of carelessness such as tripping and falling to more serious acts such as falling overboard. Even without anything major happening over consumption of alcohol often leads to poor judgment which in turn leads to infringing on the rights of others to enjoy their vacations.

While I will admit safety may be one of the major motivation to implementing an alcohol policy, one would have to be braindead to ignore the financial implications of restricting what a passenger can bring on board. The truth is almost all cruise lines would prefer you buy their booze instead of bringing your own. The question is how much do they actually care. During this weeklong look into the Alcohol Policies of six of the largest cruise lines, we will take a look at what the cruise line alcohol policies really say. Over the course of “The Intelligent Cruiser” will examine the alcohol polices of:

Fanmail Friday: November 14th Edition

Here in the first edition of “Fanmail Friday”. Today I answer questions on ship design, alcohol legalities and what you call a cruise that doesn’t stop at any ports.

What is the deal with the funnel on Carnival cruise ships?

The patented red, white and blue Carnival funnel isn’t just for decorative purposes. The “Whale tail” actually functions as a giant smoke stack. Cruise ships take an immense amount of power to operate and a byproduct of the massive engines and generators that power the cruise ship is a large amount of exhaust. The funnel functions as a gigantic exhaust pipe. You will also notice wings on the side of the funnel. These wings are designed to help the exhaust fumes flow away flow over the aft deck and away from the ship.

What is the legal drinking age on a cruise?

In order to drink on a cruise ship you must be 21 years of age. In fact, even if you are docked at a foreign port or sailing in international waters (where the drinking age may be less than 21), you still have to be 21 years old in order to drink on the ship. However, if you are on a cruise departing from a European port you may be able to follow their laws as long as your parents sign a waiver. Your best bet would be to research the alcohol and drinking policies of your individual cruise.

What is a cruise to nowhere?

If you take it literally, a cruise to nowhere would be boarding a cruise ship that never leaves the dock. Personally I don’t think that would be much fun, so thankfully that isn’t the real answer. A cruise to nowhere is actually a cruise that leaves the dock but visits no ports. The cruise will either anchor or idle far enough off shore that the casino and shops can be opened. Usually after a night, at sea it returns to the port of departure for disembarkation.

I hope you found the first edition of Fan Mail Friday useful. It was fun to interact with you guys and hopefully help you all learn a little bit more about cruising. If you have any more questions, comments or concerns feel free to email me at TIC@cruiserfaqs.com.