I'm guilty of bringing an occasional bottle of Crown so I can have a drink in the room on the balcony. Even still, if you look at the situation , bringing your own booze is the equivalent of packing your own lunch and then sitting in a restaurant to eat it. The cruise lines need to make a profit. Those ships have enormous overhead to cover week in and week out. Trust me, cruising is cheaper than buying your own boat!
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The thing with those who sneak (note the correct spelling) booze aboard a ship is that all they are doing is adding to the causes which raise drink prices. I am not talking about the person who brings a bottle of single malt scotch (or crown) aboard so he can have a glass while getting ready for dinner. Those who think they are beating the system by smuggling LOTS of booze aboard just ruin it for everyone in the long term. The cruise lines are protecting their bottom line by enforcing the rules about bringing personal liquor aboard - and they have every right to do so. I personally don't bring booze with me. I buy my drinks from the ship. When those drink prices creep upwards I am going to blame the smugglers as much as everyone else involved.
As tn noted - it is like bringing your own lunch to a restaurant. If I own a restaurant and allow people to bring their own food, how long before I start charging more for the food bought by the customers? I have lots of costs to cover, and yes, I am in business to make a profit. Just like the cruise lines.
I wonder if my city will start charging extra for all the bottled water brought home? Of course they are a "not for profit" business, so I should be safe.
It seems strange to me that people do not seem to understand a business who is trying to make a profit. Are these the same ones who make copies at work and don't pay for them? Pens, notepads pirated software? I am afraid this is where we are in our society. People expect something for nothing and are blind to the someone or the something who has to cover their costs in providing the services.
You drop a couple thousand to get your cruise and than try to "stick it to the man" with nickels and dimes. Instead they stick it to their fellow cruisers in the long run as Dave points out.
The thing is that many people think they have a right to define how much profit a business is "entitled" to make. "Well, they charge too much for drinks so I'll just bring my own. After all, they are still making money from everyone else so they shouldn't miss my bar tab money."
And of course we have the rationalization of this by saying "but I'll spend that money somewhere else on the ship, so it is okay!" Well, this is all a cop out to me and it is unacceptable to me as well.
I started that thread about bringing my own steaks aboard the ship to illustrate absurdity by being absurd. I fear it fell on many deaf ears.
Originally posted by Dan in Winnipeg:
I'm going on the Dream Feb 2 2007 and had no idea that they were so **** about the booze thing. What hotel or all-iclusive wouldn't let you have your own bev's in your room?....This is my first cruise and I'm getting a bad feeling about the whole thing before I've even left.
Don't go then, you might make it more fun for someone else by not going if this is how you approach your first cruise experience. If you can get over the entitlement issue you may have a great time. If booze is required for you to have a good time, there is plenty on board!
The all-inclusive is the food, the lodging, the shows, the pools, the transportation from one port to another and they even take you back to where you started from!
I wonder why thousands of people cruise two and three times a year? Do you think maybe there might be something "out there?"
Hey Chef...take a breather little man. I only mentioned that I was surprised that the policy was a little harsh. Telling me "don't go then, you might make it more fun for someone else by not going" sounds like someone is having a bit of a bad life. I'll bet your the guy in the dining room with a table all to himself.
Dan in Winnipeg
I believe what Chef Ken is trying to get at is your comment about having a bad feeling before you even leave. Often people that set out with negative feelings are already setting themselves up to have a bad cruise. They will look for and complain about every little thing. Thus making everyone's cruise experience unpleasant. So I hope you will think positive and have a great cruise.
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