Buying Bottle of liquor onboard?

[Mary Jane 711]

I have heard that you can buy whole bottles of alcohol onboard Princess ships. Is this true? If so, it will sure make my life a whole lot easier. My husband and I like to have a drink (or 2) in our cabin from time to time. One cruise we spent over $400 on liquor at the bars and dinner. And that was a 4 day cruise..Oh my God..don't laugh or cringe. Just being honest here...Any input greatly appreciated Thanks

 

[Snowblower]

You can buy on the ship but it is duty free and can't have it until the end of the cruise. Won't help you much for drinking it on the ship. Bring your own with you if you want to save $$$. Just make sure you wrap it good (like in bubble wrap) if you put it in your main luggage. You can also put it in a carry-on and hand-carry onto the ship (what we do). Baggage handlers stack luggage like bricks in steel bins to load on the ship. I have heard stories from others about broken bottles in luggage and the people having to spend their first day on the cruise washing all their clothes. My wife takes wine aboard for the dining room. Sometimes they charge a corkage fee, sometimes don't. Really has depended on the head waiter. Discovered on the last cruise the corkage fee is the same no matter what size of bottle so take big ones!!!!! The price for hard alcohol in Mexico and the Caribbean is less than most areas in the U.S. Might want to take enough to get you by for the first couple of days and then purchase while on shore if you are going one of those areas and don't want to carry in your luggage.

Don't feel bad about the $400 bar bill, I had two friends (both women) come back from a seven day Alaska trip on HAL and their bar bill was $1,300!!!! I still wonder if they actually saw anything beyond the bathroom!!!!!

 

[larsenb]

Mary Jane -

YES you can buy bottles of liquor for cabin use on Princess ships. There is a section in the leather bound book you will find in your cabin that lists many selections that can be ordered from room service. The prices are very good and when delivered they come with glasses and a bowl of nuts. The only added cost is the tip. You can even order them prior to boarding the ship by sending yourself a gift. Go to http://www.princess.com/onboard/sendagift/liquor.html The prices show there are about (if not the same) as the in cabin prices. Sure beats running up a bar tab or trying to smuggle booze on in your luggage.

The liquor snowblower was referring to is the 'duty free' stuff and is not for in-room consumption.

 

[Mary Jane 711]

Thanks so much..now I don't have convince my husband NOT to smuggle booze on board..what a relief! I don't like the added anxiety. We did it last cruise ..smuggled Rum in Listerine bottle. Then it tasted mouthwashy...yuck. That was on Carnival..They frown on bringing booze on board even from ports.

 

[marclaw]

I am sailing on Princess in 3 weeks. The literature that came with the documents shows price lists for bottles to buy for on board use. I thought the prices were a bit high. about 2x the duty free costs

 

[aedepatie]

My husband and I are sailing on the Sappahire 1/14/06. We also like to be able to have a cocktail before dinner on our balcony. This is the first time I have sailed Princess but have sailed Disney, Carnival, RCL, and NCL. All these cruiselines tell you ahead of time that you cannot bring your own liquor on board with you. We accomplished bringing ours on on all cruises except onthe NCL Dawn. The first night we didn't receive our luggage and found a note under our door saying to retreive our luggage in one of the conference rooms. When we arrived there, there were about 20 other people. We had to open our luggage infront of a security guard and remove our 2 small bottles of rum and have them put in a big dumpster. Then we had to bring our own luggage to our room. I never was soooo embarrassed in my life. So, now I am very worried about bringing on our own liquor. Are you sure they don't bother you? I know when you board after a port they also check to see if you are bringing on your own liquor. Snowblower are you sure they don't bother you? Please anyone who has had experience with this let me know. Thanks

 

[Cruise cutie]

the thing is..yopu have 2 choices that ARE allowed with their blessing..
!. you can order yourself a gift of liquor by going to http://Princess.com and going to the gift section on the bottom of the page....and it will be delivered to your room at the date requested..
or...
2. you can bring wine and champagne on board.which Princess allows with their blessing......and I'd then advise bringing a corkscrew for your room to drink in as we do...and pack it in your luggage....we have a glass of wine before dinner, here or there...we bring plastic from party store wine glasses too..should you want to bring your carried from home wine TO dinner..they charge a corkage fee of around $10-12.00 to open it...

or 3. "smuggle it in, pray the booze goons do not confiscate it..and break it..and then have it in your cabin...Good luck enjoy your Princess cruise..:cheers......Joanne

 

[Terrimcc]

We were so happy to see the section for liquor in your cabin on the Princess website. RCCL just stopped this practice, and my husband was very angry. We like to have a drink out on our balcony as we watch the sun go down and on our cruise last month, we had to frist go to the bar to get a drink, not to mention the large bar bill when the cruise was over. I think we just might like cruising on Princess.
Terri


Sovereign of the Seas 4/2002
Majesty of the Seas 11/2002
Grandeur of the Seas 3/2003
Sovereign of the Seas 12/2003
Splendour of the Seas 04/2004
Empress of the Seas 01/17/2005
Empress of the Seas 08/15/2005
Tahitian Princess 08/2006

 

[Curise Mackel]

We put the booze in water bottles , you know the bottled water kind,and carry on broad in a carryon. We have done this on 5 cruise with no problems.