Cruise lines must combine treating their passengers with respect and following their rules. In some cases, those rules have to do with safety.
No cruise line wants to have to search your luggage for candles, irons, coffee makers, power strips with surge protectors, and other items that are flammable. They look for those items and others on the prohibited list because they need to put the safety of the ship first.
Related: Carnival Cruise Passenger Angry Over Long List of Price Cuts and Increases
In other cases, they must enforce federal laws. Cruise lines probably don't care if you bring CBD edibles or pills on board, but they have to be very strict about enforcing federal law. That's also the case with the cruise line protecting passengers from themselves.
If you bring cannabis or even CBD into some countries, you can end up arrested. No cruise line wants its passengers to end up in a foreign prison, nor does it want to have to deal with other people on board complaining about the smell of marijuana.
However, when it comes to alcohol policies, cruise lines are protecting both the health of their passengers and their bottom lines. The cruise line wants to be able to control guests' alcohol consumption for health and safety reasons, but it also wants to sell more alcohol.
That's why Carnival Cruise Line doesn't allow something its main rival, Royal Caribbean, does.
Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter to save money on your next (or first) cruise.
Image source: Carnaval Corp.
Carnival does not offer an exception like Royal Caribbean
Most cruise lines that sell beverage packages have some version of the rule that if a passenger over 21 in a cabin purchases an adult beverage package, everyone in the cabin must purchase one. This is clearly a rule designed to prevent people from purchasing a pack and then illicitly sharing drinks with someone who doesn't have one.
Royal Caribbean requires that if one person in a cabin purchases their Deluxe Beverage Package (DBP), everyone else staying there must also purchase it. The cruise line, however, offers a clear exception.
If you call, you can have people who don't want the DBP buy the snack package, which is a package that includes all drinks except alcohol.
Carnival Cruise Line does not offer a beverage package that includes everything but alcohol. Brand ambassador John Heald has repeatedly said there is no cost-effective way to do this.
Since Carnival recently raised the price of its Cheers unlimited beverage package, many angry passengers are calling for a change.
Carnival remains strict with drink packages
Kristin Montoya was clearly angry with Heald and shared a lengthy response to one of his posts on her facebook page.
“I saw your response to Cheers increase. No, it's not affordable when it costs as much or more than the cruise,” he wrote.
Heald had previously noted that with the price increase for Cheers, even if you only drank the 15 included alcoholic drinks, the cost per drink would be less than $6 each. That's a value when a mixed drink and most glasses of wine cost $14.
Montoya also highlighted two other points that Carnival passengers have been raising about the Cheers price increase, which was enacted without any prior notice.
“What bothers people is that there was no warning. Between my parents and I, we have four cruises booked through 2026. We've always been supporters of the Cheers show, but God, it's crazy when it happens without warning. You should report to The Beards that there needs to be a change to this program if it's going to cost this much. There needs to be an option if someone in your cabin doesn't drink alcohol and can opt out. I get it, people break. the rules, but come on,” wrote.
READ ALSO: Top travel agents share how to get the best price on your cruise
Heald was sympathetic but made the cruise line's position very clear.
“Thank you. Well, we tried when we first started the program, and it was abused, pure and simple abused. The only way we can control the program fairly now is to do it like this and require that everyone over 21 “I realize it's not something everyone can do, so I apologize for that, but at the moment we have no plans to change anything at all,” he shared.
Are you taking a cruise or thinking about one? Visit our Come Cruise With Me website to get answers to all your questions.
