The baffling rules that govern drinking on cruise ships

We break down the strange idiosyncrasies of drinking on the high seas

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Off on a cruise? Looking forward to relaxing with a drink? Not so fast.
If you happen to be of legal age to drink in the UK, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you’ll be able to order your favourite tipple overseas. Meanwhile, be careful about ordering a bottle of wine with your meal, even if you’ve paid for a drinks package. And if you’re in Texas, you’d best not get thirsty.
These are just a few of the confusing, occasionally downright baffling rules which govern drinking on cruise ships. Sometimes it’s just common sense. A 15-drink limit in 24 hours should be enough for anyone – after all, who wants to be in the same space as someone rolling around drunk, singing Vindaloo at the top of their lungs and picking fights? There are, after all, enough embarrassing cruising stereotypes already to sink a ship. So fill your boots, not your glass, with these extreme, eccentric and excellent drinking rules and regulations.
If you’re sailing in international waters, as long as you’re aged over 18 the chances are you’re not going to have any problems. In America, however, you need to be 21 or over to be saved a drink, though American-owned cruise lines (including Princess and Celebrity Cruises) will serve drinks to over-18s if you are sailing from South America, Europe, Asia and New Zealand. Some cruise lines – NCL, for example – allow over-18s to drink in US waters if they have parental/guardian consent and sign an Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver. 
Other cruise lines, such as P&O Cruises, are even more lenient, allowing passengers aged over 16 “modest amounts of beer, cider or wine to drink with a meal in the restaurants when accompanied by a parent or legal guardian”. 
It’s also legal to drink onboard cruise ships visiting the UAE, despite strict laws prohibiting alcohol on land in many Muslim-majority countries and other communities.
Here’s the bad news if you like an alcoholic drink – “included” may only mean drinks that accompany welcome and sail-away parties or meals, and will be limited by the serving staff. Once your glass has been topped up a couple of times, that’s likely to be your quota for the meal. If, on the other hand, your all-inclusive states that you can drink at any time, you’ll be able to order non-branded spirits, beers and wines as often as you wish, but staff are trained to keep an eye on anybody drinking to excess. As with drinks packages (details below), once you’ve hit a limit, which varies but is now often capped at 15 drinks (bar staff will usually warn you when you hit 10), you will be charged for extras and staff may refuse to serve you. 
As far as ultra-luxury, six-star cruise lines such as Crystal and SeaDream Yacht Club are concerned, their “all-inclusive” really does mean that everything is included as part of your fare. Champagne for breakfast anyone?
Fancy a piña colada to get the holiday started, or perhaps a glass of fizz? Beware, non-included drinks can be eye-wateringly expensive. And not just alcoholic drinks – speciality coffees, sparkling water and, in some cases, branded fizzy drinks may not be included in your fare, so purchasing a drinks package can make financial sense. Costs vary significantly according to your cruise line, but in most cases, this allows you to order 15 drinks per day, and will cost between £30-£100 per day. The package applies strictly to the person who has paid for it: the allocation cannot be shared with anyone or carried over to the following day. Don’t even try to get round the system: crews are trained to be savvy – and they’ve seen it all. 
When you check in onboard, you will be issued with a swipe card, wristband, medallion, or some other personal device. This acts as your cabin key, but will also include details of your ID and onboard account. When you order non-inclusive drinks, your card/medallion is scanned and your account is adjusted accordingly. Be warned, though, even if you have paid for a drinks package, most cruise lines only include drinks ordered by the glass, not by the bottle.
Much like any drinking establishment, if you appear to be very drunk, staff are at liberty to refuse to serve you. In more extreme circumstances, particularly in the case of severe intoxication and threatening behaviour, a passenger can be asked to leave a ship or be detained in a holding cell (in cruise terms, this is called a brig). How long they remain there, and if police are involved, is down to the individual cruise line.
Once again this varies greatly. On MSC Cruises, for example, passengers are not permitted to bring any drinks onboard to consume during the voyage, whereas Holland America, Princess and other lines allow passengers to bring one bottle of wine per stateroom. For Virgin Voyages and Celebrity, it’s two. Some cruise lines require alcohol purchased in port to be stored by the crew until the end of the cruise.
If you happen to be sailing in Texas, the regular rule book doesn’t apply. Texas has its own set of laws which limit the alcohol offered on your ship while you are in port and for the first hour or so of your cruise. In simple terms, this means that drinks packages don’t kick in until you are in international waters, and unless the cruise line buys their drinks from a local distributor, they cannot sell them in Texas waters.
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