Carnival Bans Bringing Aboard Nonalcoholic Drinks

Carnival moved this week to ban passengers from bringing nonalcoholic drinks onboard.

"What we've been told by our embarkation vice president is that there was abuse of the previous policy," says Carnival's Vance Gulliksen. "That's why the new policy is more restrictive." No additional details were available about the nature of the abuse.

This means that water, juice and soda are as off-limits as vodka, gin and beer.

Folks who require special beverages for medical reasons must bring a note from the doctor in order to bring their drinks onboard.

Carnival's not even the first line to implement such a restriction. In a little noticed policy shift, Royal Caribbean already prohibits bringing nonalcoholic beverages onboard.

This began in the early 2000's when cruise lines, following Royal Caribbean's move to prohibit folks from bringing liquor onboard, began tightening their rules. While the change at that time was clearly made with an eye toward forcing folks to buy their liquor onboard, a positive trend emerged: It also cut down on ridiculous and dangerous consumption -- at least to some degree.

For more information on cruise line beverage policies, contact us at 1-800-788-2545 or visit our web site at www.CruiseCafe.com.