Why do you bring alcohol?

[Laughfreely]

I understand bringing something that is not available on the ship. Otherwise, how much are you really saving with the limit of 2 bottles of wine or a 6 pack of beer? I'm wondering if the savings are worth the effort of lugging it around on your carry-on.

 

[apathetic]

I don't carry on alcohol, but I can see why people do. As a beer drinker, I can tell you most beers are going to be $7-10 at the bars. That is over $40 for a 6pack. You can carry on 6 for less than $10. On top of that, you get a better selection. Beer selection on the ship can be described as tolerable, though the Wonder has gotten a lot better. Why pay $40+ for something you are settling for when you can bring 6 of exactly what you want? I assume wine is the same way.

 

[kamik86]

We didn't do disney but honestly if we did cruise with them I could see my husband bringing on beer. He isn't a huge fan of the selection on most lines most of the beers he drinks are more local ones, or not the plain normal type of more popular lines.

I mostly drink cider at home and that is even more limited on ships. But since I'm also happy with a margarita or pina colada I can generally find something good.

 

[lizzyb]

We bring some on to enjoy a drink in our room without it costing an arm and a leg and we also have exactly what we want.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

If we brought on 1 bottle of wine each (there's 3 adults), we would have a zero bar bill at the end of the cruise (and probably end up gifting the room steward a bottle or two). We're not really drinkers so a bottle of strawberry, cranberry or blueberry wine with some sprite zero for spritzers would easily cover us for the week. We can get the wine for around $12 CDN per bottle, it would save us from about a $60-$75 USD bar bill for the week.

 

[ludari]

I don't do it all the time but I did bring a few bottles of sangria on both of my WBTA cruises. I enjoyed having a drink or two while getting ready for dinner or filling up my water bottle and sipping it while relaxing on deck on those wonderful sea days.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I bring one or two bottles of wine on with me depending on the length of the cruise. I like having a glass either in the afternoon with the All Hands on Deck platter from room service or in the evening while sitting on the veranda. It's nice to be able to pour that class in the stateroom and not have to order it from room service or carry it back to the room from one of the bars. I find DCL's drink prices to be pretty reasonable but bringing on the wine does save me money.

Not so much for me, but I know a lot of people carry on beer or wine so they can have ones they prefer. Craft beer drinkers especially find the selection on the ship to be limited. And I've heard complaints about the wine selection being limited, although I've always been able to find wines I enjoy to order off the wine menu.

 

[Dug720]

I bring on 2 bottles of wine because as a solo traveler those could last me for pretty much the whole cruise. And that IS a savings for me. Even if I have to buy a glass here or there to supplement, that is not much and is a choice.

 

[cgolf]

We used to bring alcohol before they shut that down, and I really minimized what we bought because I hate paying the insane markup (we buy the same amount on board whether we brought alcohol or not). I used to work for a beer distributor, and since then I rarely get a drink when we are out knowing that I can save a ton of money drinking at home instead.

 

[mousefan73]

Have you seen how much alcohol costs on baord ?!? Self explanatory. Carrying 2 bottles of wine is no big deal to save around a 100 bucks or so. I buy wine on sale. Around 6-8 a bottle. Figure glass of wine with tip 12 bucks. 2 bottles inget 8-10 glasses.

Same with beer. You basically pay for a sixpack yourself what one bottle on board costs.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

I'm looking forward to having a beer on my verandah and as others have said....the selection is limited.

I used to enjoy the $50 drink credit with the Disney Visa card but Disney killed it a few years ago so I bring my own. It comes down to savings and just being able to bring your favorite bottle of wine or maybe you like to drink Red Stripe but you won't find it on the cruise.

 

[tigerchic89]

to save money and for the convenience of having a drink in the room while getting ready for dinner

 

[scottb8888]

To save $... and why not?

 

[starvenger]

I'm basically echoing what everyone else is saying. You pay a lot for a cruise, Disney or otherwise. And if the cruise line is offering you a perk which helps you realize some level of savings, then you should at least consider taking advantage of it. If you're a non-drinker, then fine, the ability to bring wine/beer on board is useless. Otherwise, you'll probably have a couple of Adult Beverages at some point. If you drink beer, getting a six pack works out to maybe one or two beers bought on board.

If you drink wine, two bottles will cost you far less than one bottle from DCL. DCL's wine package is... actually not bad. Still not BYOB cheap (assuming you dodge the $25 corking fee), but it did reduce the markup level enough that it was within my price tolerance.

As to whether it's worth "lugging" it on your carry on, YMMV. If you've got a lot of carry-on (i.e. tonnes of infant stuff), then maybe it's not worth the extra weight. Otherwise, I think it is worth it.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

And remember, if you are a larger drinker, that limit is 2 bottles/1 6-pack PER PERSON and PER PORT, so that can really add up over the course of a cruise. 2 adults, 4 ports (including the initial boarding), can be 8, 6-packs or 16 bottles of wine on a 7-day cruise, if you were a big drinker, that can save you hundreds of dollars.

Personally, I did it FOR the convenience. I didn't find it difficult at all to carry on. (We stopped at a store on the way to the port. It was fun to shop for what we wanted. Picked up some of our favorite soda/seltzer too.) Then, in the room we could have a glass of wine while getting ready for dinner, or a beer on the veranda in the evening, or whatever we wanted. The room steward brought us glasses (four at a time) and took the ones we used each night and replenished them as needed. We brought our own cork screw. Sure we still drank some in the bars (especially liked the Skyline!) but it was nice to have another option. Great with the free room service too!

 

[MUN]

I understand bringing something that is not available on the ship. Otherwise, how much are you really saving with the limit of 2 bottles of wine or a 6 pack of beer? I'm wondering if the savings are worth the effort of lugging it around on your carry-on.

To quote myself: "It's all incremental". MUN

 

[lovingeire]

For us it's likely the same as others, but I enjoy having a glass of wine on the verandah in the afternoon/evening and while getting ready for dinner. On my first cruise, a shorter one, I'd skip wine at dinner since I can have a glass or two in the room prior. On next cruise, a 7n, we'll be cruising with my parents and we all enjoy wine with dinner so once we're closer to the cruise I'll discuss with my parents if we want to include a wine package, but I still plan to carry wine on board.

 

[Laughfreely]

Thanks for the replies! I didn't realize the mark up was so big. Before your replies I was trying to figure out why people lugged it on board to save maybe $20. I can understand the convience of having it in your room also. Might have to add alcohol to my packing list

 

[scgustafson]

If we brought on 1 bottle of wine each (there's 3 adults), we would have a zero bar bill at the end of the cruise (and probably end up gifting the room steward a bottle or two). We're not really drinkers so a bottle of strawberry, cranberry or blueberry wine with some sprite zero for spritzers would easily cover us for the week. We can get the wine for around $12 CDN per bottle, it would save us from about a $60-$75 USD bar bill for the week.

Just realize that even if you directly hand the unopened bottles of wine to your cabin host(ess), they cannot accept them. They will most likely say thank you to spare your feelings, but they are required to open them and dump them. Same is true for any alcohol left in the cabin when you disembark, whether sealed or open.

 

[phinz]

It's not just the markup. The beer on board is pretty much junk, and the wines outside of the adult restaurants aren't all that either. When you do finally get up to the good stuff, then the markup really starts to be an issue.

We were told by our Concierge hosts that they are allowed to accept unopened wine as a gift but could not accept liquor when we offered them both (unopened) before we disembarked. YMMV.