Drinking on a Cruise

Whether or not to BYOB (Bring Your Own Beverages) is a hot cruise passenger topic. Many cruise lines look the other way at soft drinks and bottled water toted by embarking passengers, but they are increasingly intolerant of allowing them to bring alcoholic beverages on board. For those of you who enjoy a little wine or beer with dinner or night cap before going to bed, drinking on board the ship can be an expensive proposition.

Whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic, drinks are expensive. But, there are ways to save some money if you take heed of our "10 Tips for Drinking on a Cruise."

1. A bottle of wine or champagne for a special occasion is usually okay, but don't even think of carting on a case of beer. If you must BYOB to save money, stick to soft drinks.
2. DO NOT accept the umbrella drink of the day as you board. If you are a newbie, you think this is a nice gesture on the part of the cruise line. And then they ask for your stateroom number so they can post the $8-$9 charge.
3. Send yourself a cost-effective bon voyage gift of your favorite spirits to be delivered to your stateroom, either from the cruise line or an independent service. Since it’s a gift, they probably won’t restrict the possession of it in your cabin! There are many places online that will put these together for you at a reasonable cost.
4. Wine by the bottle is a more economical choice at dinner than ordering it by the glass. Any wine you don't finish will be kept for you for the next night. Gifts of wine or champagne ordered from the cruise line (either by you, a friend, or your travel agent) can be taken to the dining room. Wine from any other source will incur a "corkage" fee of approximately $8-10 per bottle.
5. If you’re a beer drinker, order up the buckets that give you 5 beers for $10. By far, this is a huge savings over the $5 apiece most of the bars charge.
6. In lounges, order the less expensive "bar brand" mixed drinks or the reduced price drink-of-the-day. There will be one every day usually listed in the nightly newsletter.
7. Keep in mind, unless you really want a souvenir glass to take home, order your umbrella drinks in regular glasses—you will pay extra for the keepsake glass.
8. On some ships discounted "beverage cards" for unlimited fountain soft drinks and/or a set number of mixed drinks are available. You should, however, wait until you set sail before buying these drink cards as you’ll avoid the taxes and save a little cash!
9. Be sure to attend the Captain's Welcome Aboard party where complimentary drinks are served and, if you are a repeat passenger, don't miss the repeaters' get together for the same reason. The art auctions often offer free champagne on certain nights, so attend these for the free booze.
10. Naturally, tap water is always plentiful and free. But, if you want something ore flavorful, but don't want to pay for the sodas, consider bringing along a powdered drink mix such as Crystal Light to add to your water. An insulated cup or mug makes it easy to prepare and keep chilled. Or, order up a pitcher of fruit juice from room service. Juices are complimentary beverages and a healthy choice.

Synonyms:  ruise, criuse, cruse, crusie, rcuise, cuise, curise, crise, cruie, cruies, and cruis are typos for "cruise."