A man died on a cruise ship after 33 drinks – should drinks packages have daily limits?

Cruise Passenger readers always have plenty to say about what’s going on in Australian cruise, and in the broader cruise community. In Your Say, Cruise Passenger looks at the issues our readers are writing to us about on our blogs, posts and newsletters. 

Royal Caribbean is being sued for the death of a passenger who died onboard after consuming 33 alcohol drinks in one day. The lawsuit alleges that Royal Caribbean overserved the man, which contributed to his death and therefore should be considered a homicide. 

The details of the case are a bit muddled, the lawsuit alleges that all of these drinks were consumed in between the time that the passenger embarked and was waiting for his stateroom to be ready. This amount of time is only a couple of hours, meaning 33 drinks would mean he was served a drink literally every couple of minutes. 

The man was filmed acting distressed as he walked around the cruise ship, unable to locate his room due to his state of intoxication. He then suffered respiratory failure and soon passed away.

The details of the case will be examined and scrutinised in court, at this point it is not confirmed that the man was truly served 33 drinks, but it does bring up some interesting questions over the difference in how Royal Caribbean’s drinks package is structured, compared to Carnival’s for example. 

Carnival’s drinks package is not unlimited, it comes with a limit of 15 drinks per day, meaning that even in circumstances where someone moves around to different bars, their drinks package will automatically stop after 15 drinks.

It is a case of arguing whether an irresponsible few ruin it for the majority and making package limits necessary, or if 15 drinks per day is more than enough and anything else would be excessive. 

Some cruisers feel like drink limits create complications and takes away from the convenience factor of drinks packages. For example, here’s what MSC Cruisers on Reddit had to say after MSC instituted a 15-drink per day limit on their package.

“Yesterday aboard the MSc Divina in the dining room, we were offered wine as part of package. Each glass was taken from our 15 drink limit. An extra glass was charged to our balance. We also believe this happened on the first night as we were out of our allowance and were very surprised. We went to guest services after 45 mins and after many calls they corrected the error. It now means we are recording our drinks to keep the balance. Errors are being made and not in the guests favour”

Another cruiser believes that anything more than 15 drinks would be far too much.

“If we need more than 15 alcoholic drinks in a day, I think we have issues. I’ve met people who go over 12 drink limits on other cruise lines and they are usually making a fool of themselves and being an annoyance to others. I’m a guy who loves to have fun and is usually one of the last to awake at night. Maybe I’m being overly judgmental here but I don’t see a problem with a hard 15 drink limit. It’s best for all concerned unless you are an exception to the rule and can behave past that point.”

Others agreed with this point of view: “I drank a lot in my 20’s, but if 15 drinks a day isn’t enough, well…”

While 15 drinks would seem like a lot, it is common to see people upset about hitting their limit. One user recounts: “You’re capped at 15 alcoholic drinks per day whether you have the Cheers package or not. You will see a where you are at towards that 15 at the bottom of the receipt you sign for the drinks. And be aware that it doesn’t reset until 6:00 am. So once you start drinking, set your pace accordingly. Every cruise we’re on I witness people getting mad at the bartenders for not giving them that 16th drink because “it’s after midnight, it’s a new day”.”

Others have experienced different systems of drinks packages and preferred those, such as on Margaritaville.

“I don’t know if they still do it, but when we sailed on Margaritaville, I got a 10 drink package. They gave me a bracelet which the bartenders would scan. They didn’t care how many drinks I was purchasing at a time or if all the drinks were for me.

“It worked out great. I paced myself and watched how many drinks I was consuming so that I wouldn’t run out before the cruise was over, and it also allowed me to purchase multiple drinks at once if I was having a drink with someone else in my party.”

Cruise Passenger readers had plenty to comment on whether Carnival Splendor or Carnival Adventure is the superior ship.

Cory Bartlett said: “Adventure is the better ship layout for me, but Splendor wins for better food options, especially late night.”

Heather Maree commented: “I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, they are different ships, it all depends on what you are looking for. I would happily go on either of them.”

Cruisers also had plenty to say about whether vapers and smokers should be treated equally onboard cruise ships.

Mark Halsey said: “Just off royal caribbean, the amount of people vaping outside of the smoking area is a joke. I saw teenagers vaping in the elevators and all over the place. What a joke!”

Karen O’Bree said: “Treat them  the same as smokers, it is still polluting the air that others breathe – people make a choice to smoke/vape, but don’t push this on others that choose not to smoke or vape if they want to breathe clean air.

Please keep those comments coming!

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