There are those who say the practice is despicable – that cruise lines enact rules and guidelines for a reason and they should be followed. Any talk of circumventing these rules will often lead to questions pertaining to the offender’s moral character (an informal survey on CruiseCritic found 4% of travelers are hard-line rule followers, and another 15% say the rules are fair).

Then there are those who believe that the cruise line’s rules are well-intentioned, but choose to bring illicit alcohol on board for a number of reasons. These may include on-board alcohol prices, convenience, or even selection of alcohol offered on-board (the same survey found that 80% of travelers said the policies on alcohol were annoying or needed to change).

In fact – the only subject that brings more controversy when talking about cruise ship guest rights are the smoking policies, but that is a discussion for another day.

So for the moment, we’ll assume that if you’ve never even considered bootlegging booze onto a ship, you might be curious as to the techniques and their success rates.

By far the most popular and talked-about method of taking alcohol onto a cruise ship as of late is the use of small, strong, plastic bladders or bags. One brand in particular, Rum Runner Flasks, is the most widely-known brand for such products – and they even make a Rum Runner Cruise Kit and a Spring Break Cruise Kit. Both kits cost around $25 and shipping is reasonable.

For research purposes, we purchased the Cruise Kit, which comes with three large and three small flasks.

We filled the flasks with various types of liquor and distributed them throughout our checked bags that would be screened by security and then placed outside our staterooms.

One large flask was placed in with other large toiletry liquids, the other large flask was packed completely out in the open around some clothes. The smaller flasks were placed in several places around a garment bag.

The wait for our bags seemed endless – and every time we heard the rustle of the bags being delivered we’d open the door hoping ours would be there. Eventually our bags arrived (truthfully no later than anyone else’s, it just seemed that way) and the results were in.

All of the flasks had made it through without being confiscated. However, it wouldn’t be fair to say they weren’t detected.

Some fellow guests had also brought alcohol in their checked luggage – and made no attempt to hide it – other than putting the large (original) bottle of Knob Creek in some bubble-wrap and a kids-size life preserver, but that was mainly to protect the glass from breaking.

What we’ve found is that the season, time of year, and overall cruise clientele/age have more to predicting whether or not your alcohol makes it passed security rather than the vessel containing it.

You’ll notice that no cruise line’s alcohol policy mentions profitability of the cruise, even though alcohol sales can play a large role in profitability. Lines typically say their policies exist for purposes of controlling over-consumption which can lead to individuals being disruptive to other guests. Our research has shown that it looks like they’re telling the truth.

We’ve found the enforcement of the alcohol policies gets stricter during peak seasons for college spring breaks and even summer cruises. Enforcement will also be stepped up for theme cruises, such as a popular music act that may attract a rowdier-than-usual crowd.

So, if you’re going to try to bring alcohol onto a ship, using something like the Rum Runner Flasks hidden with similar-sized liquid toiletries is probably your best bet – but it’s not a guarantee – especially during ‘high enforcement’ cruises. Typically the worst thing that happens is it gets confiscated and you never see your booze or your flasks again, which depending on what you bring, could be a sizable gamble.

Other Methods

These are some of the other methods we’ve heard of people using – some crazier than others.

Poor-man’s Rum Runner Can’t afford a rum-runner and want a couple liters of wine? Grab a box of wine and remove the box – Bingo! A bag-o-wine that’s designed to take a beating.

Fill a Listerine bottle with clear alcohol, add food coloring. This will get your booze on board, but no matter how much you wash it, the bottle will still impart the taste of mouthwash to your liquor. There are only so many drinks you can make with mint vodka.

Wine-bottle switcheroo Most cruise lines allow you to bring some wine in your carry-on bags. Not a wine drinker? Find an empty wine bottle, fill it with your favorite liquor, re-cork it (you can cut off the top if you can’t get it all the way), then buy some heat-shrink-foil tops to reseal the top and give it the appearance it hasn’t been opened. People brew their own wine, so these can be found online or in some liquor stores (Google shopping search: wine heat shrink capsules). This is probably the most guaranteed way as it gives the appearance of something the cruise lines condone, but may also require the most preparation and forethought.

Water-bottle switcheroo This used to be a decent method, but lately cruise lines have been known to shake the water bottles to see if they bubble or not. This approach is more often attempted (and failed) when getting back on the ship after a day in port.

Iced-Tea Sitcheroo This is one step up from the water-bottle switcherro – since ice tea bubbles when shaken, and dark liquors often give the appearance of tea, the line would have to conduct a smell-test, which we’ve never seen. Getting the plastic bottles to appear like they’ve never been opened is much trickier on these bottles.

Old-school flask/Traveler Bottle They’ve made plastic flasks for a long time, and traveler liquor bottles are made from plastic to be lighter weight. You can carry either on your person through security as metal detectors won’t uncover them. This method has long been perfected by in the concert and sports arena world, and includes sticking them in cargo shorts to actually taping them to your person. This method is actually where the term ‘bootlegging’ originated during prohibition.

If we missed one – let us know in the comments section!

We’ve included the newest alcohol policies (as of 2012) from some of the major cruise lines after the jump

Cruise Line Alcohol Policies 2012

Carnival Cruise Line Alcohol Policy (from Carnival.com)

A liquor and beverage consumption policy was created in order for Carnival to be able to control the liquor consumption of minors and the quantities consumed that lead to the disruptive behavior of others on board.

Liquor and Beverage Policy

Bringing Alcohol On Board – Embarkation Day:

Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board. However, at the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day, guests (21 years of age and older) may bring on board one bottle (750ml) of wine or champagne, per person, only in their carry-on luggage. A $10 corkage fee per bottle will be charged should you wish to consume this wine in the main dining room; $14 corkage fee per bottle in the steakhouse. (A corkage fee is a charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle of liquor served that was not bought on the premises)

On embarkation day, each guest may bring a small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages on board and only in their carry-on luggage. A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 bottles and/or cans, 20 ounces each or less.

All alcohol/hard liquor/beer (sealed, unopened bottles/cans), wine/champagne over the allowable 1-bottle per guest (sealed, unopened bottles) or excessive quantities of non-alcoholic beverages (over 12 per person, sealed, unopened bottles/cans) will be confiscated and stored for safekeeping until the end of the voyage. The retained item(s) will be available for collection onboard in a designated location on the morning of debarkation. Unsealed liquids that are prohibited will be discarded, as well as any unclaimed items left after the voyage, and no compensation will be given in either case.

Large cooler restrictions:

Carnival Cruise Lines does not allow guests to bring large coolers on board its ships. However small, personal-sized coolers, no larger than 12”H x 12”L x 12”W for the purpose of housing small quantities of non-alcoholic beverages and/or medications are permitted as carry-on luggage. Screening and movement of large coolers through embarkation is an impediment to the boarding and security screening process. Therefore, large coolers are not permitted as carry-on or checked luggage.

Ports-of-Call:

Alcoholic beverages of any kind purchased in any Port-of-Call will be retained at the gangway, stored on board and held by Carnival until the end of the voyage.

Gift Shops On Board:

Alcoholic beverages of any kind purchased in the ship’s gift shop will be stored on board and be retained by Carnival until the end of the voyage.

Drinking Alcohol On Board:

The minimum age for the purchase and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages in the bars, lounges and gift shops is 21 years of age. In the event that Bar/Restaurant/Gift Shop staff are in question that a guest is less than 21 years old, they shall request picture identification, prior to serving the drink or selling the bottle of liquor.
Carnival reserves the right to refuse the sale of alcoholic beverages to anyone.

Royal Caribbean Alcohol Policy (From royalcaribbean.com code of conduct)

Royal Caribbean International guests are expected to be responsible for their
actions at all times, including during transfers to and from ships, inside terminals,
while onboard, at our ports-of-call, during shore excursions and at our private
destinations. Consuming alcohol to excess impairs one’s judgment and reduces
one’s ability to recognize and avoid potentially dangerous situations. Guests who
choose to consume alcohol must do so responsibly. The ship’s staff may refuse
to serve alcoholic beverages to any guest who does not consume alcohol
responsibly. Ship’s personnel may request verification of a guest’s age to verify
they are of age to consume alcohol pursuant to this policy. Any guest that
violates this alcohol policy, will be considered for disciplinary action pursuant to
the “Consequences Section” of this Guest Conduct Policy, and may lose their
privileges to use the disco or other areas or facilities of the ship.

Guests are not permitted to bring alcoholic beverages onboard and Security may
inspect containers (water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, luggage, etc.) at any
time. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased from onboard shops or in ports-ofcall (which must be presented to security upon re-boarding), will be secured by
ship’s personnel and delivered to the guest’s stateroom just prior to the
conclusion of their cruise vacation. Guests who are under the permitted drinking
age will not have alcohol returned to them.

The minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on Royal Caribbean
International ships is 21. In certain circumstances, where local laws permit or
require, Royal Caribbean International may modify this policy to permit the
minimum drinking age on a ship to be less than age 21, but never less than age
18. Pursuant to such a modification, Royal Caribbean International may also
require parent/guardian request/authorization. A decision to modify policy and permit guests below the age of 21 to consume
alcohol onboard during a sailing will be made by Royal Caribbean International at
the corporate level (and not by an individual ship). Such a decision will be
communicated to the ship prior to guest boarding. Guests may contact Guest
Services or refer to the Cruise Compass for specific minimum drinking age
information on their cruise vacation.

For purposes of complying with the minimum drinking age requirements, a
guest’s age is established upon boarding at the beginning of the cruise vacation.
If a guest celebrates their birthday during the cruise vacation, and thereby
becomes of age to consume alcohol, the guest may thereafter ask the Guest
Services Manager to modify ship’s records to permit their consumption of alcohol
during the remainder of the vacation. The guest will be required to appear at
Guest Services to present a government issued form of identification to permit
verification of their age.

In certain situations, Royal Caribbean International may permit a parent or
guardian who is sailing with his or her 18 to 20 year old young adult son or
daughter, (or other young adult under their legal supervision) to sign a waiver
allowing the young adult to consume alcoholic beverages onboard. In such
situations, the authorizing parent or guardian and the young adult must agree to
be responsible for ensuring the young adult will consume alcohol responsibly and
otherwise comply with the Guest Conduct Policy, including among other things,
not providing alcoholic beverages to any other person, regardless of age.
On cruise vacations boarding in a country where the legal drinking age is lower
than 21 and where a young adult (age 18, 19 or 20) is not traveling with a parent
or legal guardian, they will generally not be permitted to consume alcohol. There
may be exceptions made to this restriction in areas of the world where local laws
require and Royal Caribbean International concurs. Details on such exceptions
can be obtained from Guest Services.

No guest under age 18 may possess or consume alcohol at any time, while
onboard or at our private destinations. No guest under age 21 may possess or
consume alcohol at our private destinations. Any guest who goes ashore and
consumes alcohol (whether under the supervision of a parent/guardian or not, is
responsible for ensuring they consume responsibly and retain their ability to
recognize and avoid potentially dangerous situations when they return to the
ship. Parents/guardians are reminded they are responsible for the actions of
their child/young adult at all times while on a Royal Caribbean International
cruise vacation.

Guests who violate any alcohol policy, including but not limited to underage
drinking; providing alcohol to minors or young adults; possessing, concealing or
attempting to conceal alcoholic items in their luggage, when boarding, or while
onboard; engaging in alcohol drinking games; or failing to consume alcohol
responsibly, will be considered for discipline under the provisions of this policy.

Norwegian Cruise Line Alcohol Policy (from ncl.com)

Please note that with the exception of Wine and Champagne, all guests are prohibited from bringing alcohol on board our ships. If you purchase any alcohol at one of our ports-of-call or in our onboard shops, we will safely store your purchase(s) and on the final night of the cruise it will be available for pick up in a designated area.

Wine & Champagne Policy
Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below.

750 ml Bottle: $15.00
1,500 ml Magnum: $30.00

Wine or champagne sent directly to the ship by travel agents, friends, family, etc. or from another retail source, are subject to the same fees. Box wines are not allowed on board.

The river cruise line will offer cabins that are around 200 square feet – which is nearly double from what solo passengers find on ocean-going cruise ships such as the Norwegian Epic (the only major cruise-line to offer solo-traveler cabins).

The new vessel is called the Queen of the Mississippi and will be the newest overnight passenger paddle-wheeler on the river in over 20 years. It is schedule to be debut August 11th.

Interested more about solo-travel on cruise ships? Check out CruiseShipForum.com’s mention in the latest issue of ASTANetork Magazine (page 45-46).

Source: USAToday

Normally when we hear of cruise ships running aground, becoming half submerged, it’s typically an old, small ship from a non-leading company. That changed overnight when the Costa Concordia, a roughly $700 million ship put into service in 2006, ran aground off Tuscany Italy and forcing over 4,200 on board to evacuate in a panic.

As of this morning, nearly 70 people are unaccounted for and three have been confirmed dead, though local officials believe some of the missing are likely taking shelter in private residences on small island of Giglio where the ship made contact with large under-water rocks (as seen in the picture gallery below). Passengers who escaped the horror described the experience like a scene from the movie “Titanic,” with plates crashing and climbing around hallways that had been turned on their side.

Costa Cruise Lines is owned by Carnival Corporation, whose 10 cruise lines makeup nearly 50% of the world’s cruise market share. Costa is second in Carnival Corp’s book of business to Carnival Cruise Line, and closely followed by Princess, AIDA, and Holland America lines. Costa is also Europe’s #1 cruise line. In comparison, Royal Caribbean’s various lines (including Celebrity) only makeup about 24% of the world cruise market.

Costa and Carnival are so closely related, that the ship that just ran aground has a sister-ship in the Carnival Cruise Lineup – the Carnival Splendor. The Splendor is actually considered part of the “Concordia Class Ships,” but is a slightly smaller version.

To those who have cruised from the United States, you know that a safety drill is required at the very start of the cruise – but for some reason (whether it not be a priority or a breach in policy)- the safety drill was schedule for later in the day. Some of the U.S. passengers on-board joked, “what if something happened today?” What if.

We hope that the remaining missing passengers are safe and sound – since in this day and age, the largest cruise company in the world with a ship a little over 5 years old shouldn’t be running into islands.

Carnival Cruise Line announced plans to upgrade the on-board entertainment and dining options on several of its ships, in a new program the cruise line is calling “Funship 2.0.” The new changes are expected to run through 2015, and are expected to first be seen on the Carnival Liberty which will re-enter service this month.

Food

Guy’s Burger Joint – a custom burger place that will offer pool-side service, hand-cut fries, and burgers created by Food Network’s Guy Fieri.

Blue Iguana Cantina – offering guests freshly-made tacos and burritos built to their liking. Homemade tortillas, chips, and salsa will also be available.

Entertainment:

George Lopez – Carnval has named Lopez the ‘curator of comedy’ – which means he’ll oversee which comedians getting hired and will also star in videos shown to introduce the commedians and welcome guests to the comedy club. We only hope George has read our article on the comedy clubs, since it doesn’t matter how great the comedian is if passengers can’t see the show because the venue is too small.

Hasbro The Game Show We’re assuming this will take the place of the ‘newlywed game’ and ‘minute to win it’ or whatever the lawyers make Carnival call it these days (the marriage game/60 seconds to win).

Playlist Productions This really sounds like a new name on an old standard in Carnival cruising. These are the productions that involve singers and dancers in the largest lounge. They’ve been doing musical reviews for years, and now they’ll be doing them with themes like Latin Nights, Motor City, The Brits, and Divas. Unfortunately, the stage shows will will pale in comparison to other lines that have Blue Man Group (Norwegian Cruise Line) or Broadway shows like Chicago/Hairspray (Royal Caribbean).

Carnival has clearly stepped up their comedy game, which was already very strong, and faltered failed to bring any sort of competition to the big-stage productions. PREDICTION: Carnival will realize that its Comedy shows are so successful, that they will start bringing those shows into the biggest lounges, replacing or moving musical review programs to a lounge more more consistent with the turnout. The biggest question is how long this will take.

DJ Irie I had no idea that the Miami Heat had an official DJ other than the guy clicking the play on the jock-jams CD at games, but now he’s the official DJ of Carnival Cruise Lines as well. He will oversee play lists in the clubs.

Drinking/Boozing

EA Sports Bar If you don’t know EA Sports, your kids probably do – they’re behind some of the most popular sports video games ever like Madden and NCAA Football. They will help in creating the design of the new sports bars – which – may or may not be able to pipe in your game from anywhere in the world (i.e. good luck watching the NFL if you’re on a Euro cruise).

BlueIguana Tequila Bar These are your basic pool bars re-branded with some cool signs and an influx of frozen tequila drinks and Mexican beers. I’m guessing they will still have daily drink specials served in ridiculous vessels like a giant blow fish that my wife will insist on buying. Yours will too.

RedFrog Rum Bar Carnival saw with its ThirstyFrog Red beer that it’s great to not only be the server of the drink, but also the manufacturer of the drink too – especially if it tastes good and people buy it. Now they’ll be expanding that branding and ale-availability poolside. This is a welcome change, since on our last cruise, the ThirstyFrog Red was only available in the Sports Bar which never seemed to be open, so I never got to try it.

Alchemy Bar This looks like a classy place to grab a drink, not unlike the bars in the specialty restaurants on-board. Carnival may have taken it a little too far for me though when they said the bartenders will be wearing lab-coats in the ‘vintage-themed pharmacy.’

Library Bar The Library bar sounds like my kind of place. Self-serve wine dispensers or bartenders for a mixed drink all wrapped up in a quiet & relaxed atmosphere.

Overview

None of the above changes is drastic, but put them all together and it’s a solid revamp for a cruise line that (save from a few new ships) seems to be stuck in entertainment and style of 10 years ago. Instead of having a pool bar, you’ll have the Cantina or Rum Bar, which is basically the same thing with some branding behind it.

The upgraded entertainment is a nice touch, though it still seems to fall short in execution and when compared to other cruise lines.

We’re excited about the new changes Carnival put forth, but to tout them for anything more than re-branding and re-modeling of what they already have would be irresponsible.

On all of our past sailings with Carnival, we’ve always opted for dining in the late seating to ensure everyone in our group would be able to dine together – regardless of shore excursions, on-board activities, etc. that may run into the late afternoon making it difficult to herd everyone together for the early seating. Since the summer of 2010, Carnival has offered “Your Time Dining” on its entire fleet, and we decided to try it on our last cruise.

When booking, one has the option of early seating (6pm), late seating (8:15pm), or your time dining. Carnival’s literature indicates that your time dining is available from 5:45pm to 9:30pm, though from experience, the preferred time is between 6 and 9. On the first day, when our cabin stewardess introduced herself and reminded us about our dining choice, she indicated the best time was between 6 and 9 because of how the kitchen works. We’re not sure if she has friends in the kitchen that just prefer this, but this advice would likely serve you well in any land-restaurant, too. If you go in 10 minutes before close and spend two hours having dinner with five appetizers and two entrees (you know who you are), the staff may have some choice words for you – but they’ll still serve you with a smile.

Carnival’s dining options guide also says you may have to wait up to 20 minutes for a table. It was our experience, eating anywhere between 6:45 and 7:45 with a party of 7, we never had to wait longer than 5 minutes, and most night the longest wait was just getting everyone’s cabin number entered into their system (you can’t just walk in and say you’d like a table for 7, each guest must provide their cabin number before being seated).

The hostesses (assistant maître ‘ds?) can even take special requests – such as where you’d like to sit and if you prefer a specific waiter or waitress. We enjoyed sitting in the atrium area of the dining room, but we also requested a specific waiter a few times that we had on our first night who knew us by name. Even with special requests, the wait-time was minimal or non-existent.
We were very happy with the implementation and flexibility of Carnival’s your time dining. We rarely had any kind of wait, special requests were always accommodated with speed, and the flexibility was priceless – especially when traveling with a larger party.

A little over a year ago, Carnival Cruise Lines saw how popular its comedy shows were and decided to repurpose lounges so that each ship would have a dedicated “Punchliner Comedy Club.” On the surface, this sounds like a great idea – if something is really popular – why not have a spot dedicated to it on the ship? The problem arises when you take a popular program out of a 1400 seat theater and put it in a 400 seat theater.

In general, Carnival has activities and programs in venues that make sense. Trivia isn’t that popular (maybe 20 people out of 3700 will show up) so it’s held in a small seating area adjacent to the faux-Starbucks on the promenade. However, we attempted several times to attend the comedy shows in the new dedicated lounge, but were unable to find a seat – even with arriving 10 minutes early.

Now, we could have gotten there 30 minutes early and gotten great seats – but that still doesn’t help the next 300 people who wanted to see the show but couldn’t find a seat. Not everyone turned around and left, though – there were probably 60 people standing along the walls and another 25 standing OUTSIDE the venue. On the Conquest, the Degas lounge (AKA Punchliner Comedy Club) has a wall of windows into the lobby where many just stood and tried to listen through the open door.

The comedy shows often coincide with the main entertainment in the large lounge which holds about three and a half times that of the comedy club, but there were times when nothing was happening in the 1400-person theater at the same time.

Carnival knows that its comedy shows are extremely popular – and in some cases – even more popular than the shows being performed in the main-lounge at the same time.
If the comedy shows are so popular that many people are turned away and 100 are willing to stand in the back and outside – why would they be moved to a theater a fraction of the size of where they were held just over a year ago?

Starting June 15th, smoking was restricted to staterooms, balconies, dance clubs, jazz clubs, open decks on the starboard side, and certain areas of the casino and casino bar. Starting December 1st, 2011, smokers will not be allowed to light up in their staterooms (or risk a fine), but the balcony will still be fair game as with the above-mentioned areas.

For those of us that really dislike the smell of cigarette smoke – the new rules made it much easier to avoid the fumes and have minimal impact on our cruise. When walking across the open deck on the way to breakfast or lunch on the Lido, we would always steer ourselves to the port-side (smoke-free side) to avoid the smoking area on the Starboard side. Sometimes we found ourselves on the wrong side – which is immediately apparent since all the smokers have been condensed into a smaller area – but we’ll take the blame for that.

The Casino, though there were ‘non-smoking’ areas, still had an overpowering smoke smell coming from it – especially in the evening hours. The design of the ‘smoking sections’ was a little troubling, though. The table games were setup in a “U” shape – and the smoking tables were intermixed with non-smoking tables. This design doesn’t seem to make sense, since you could have a non-smoking table and still be surrounded by smokers on all sides. I’m not sure if it was just the right time of day or coincidence – but the designated smoking tables were typically less full or even empty when it was hard to find a seat at a non-smoking table. Surely Carnival will be tracking gaming behavior more closely than our casual observation, though.

We were lucky that we only had light smokers as neighbors on our balcony – and only once or twice did we notice the smell of smoke when using our balcony – and we used it a lot. We were on the port side, though – and it may be possible that cruisers are choosing to be closer to the starboard-side smoking areas. Prediction: The next smoking policy changes will limit smoking to starboard balconies only, and following that will be all balconies. That is probably a few years away, though, so don’t hold your breath (Sorry…I’ll stop with the puns).

The only time we encountered the smell of smoke in interior areas of the ship was in the hallway to our stateroom. There were some folks who seemed to be trying to smoke everything they could in their stateroom before the rule changes in December. Luckily it seems like Carnival has really figured out how to de-smoke a room for the next guest, at least in most cases.

Overall we’re happy with the changes – and fully expect that over the next few years smoking will eventually be phased out completely. It will only take one of the major lines to make the first move, but the rest will follow. Until then, we applaud the efforts of Carnival and others who have made the smoking policy less restrictive – as were able to more easily avoid the smoking areas and enjoy elements of the ship (like the piano bar) that were previously too smoky to enjoy.

Carnival Conquest and Liberty make an unexpected stop in Cozumel Mexico after Hurricane Irene changes 24 itineraries

On-Ship Announcement

I was on the Carnival Conquest which set sail from Galveston, TX on the 21st for a seven day itinerary to the Bahamas and Key West – an Eastern Caribbean itinerary I had not experienced. The vast majority of sailings from Galveston, which is the closest port to our home in Austin, TX, are only to islands we refer to as the Holy Trinity of Western Caribbean cruises: Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.
Upon boarding, we were told by the captain that they were keeping a keen eye on the weather in our scheduled ports, but that no changes had been made. Since every forecast model had Irene blasting through the Bahamas in just a few days, we suspect the determination had been made to not proceed to the Bahamas and that representatives in the home office were scrambling to find ports that were both available and out-of-dodge from Irene.

It was no doubt a busy time for Carnival, as we were only one of eleven ships that required an itinerary change. In all, over 24 ships from Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity, and Holland America had itinerary changes.

About mid-day through our first day at sea, the captain announced that we would not be sailing to any of our original ports of call, and that we would instead be visiting three ports in Mexico: Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Progreso.

Reaction

We were on deck near the shops when the announcement was made, and there was a huge array of emotions among the other passengers. Several were excited about the new ports, and some were disgusted. “I’ve already been there!” “Progreso is a dump – don’t get off the ship!”

Admittedly, we were a little bummed that we would not be sailing on our original itinerary – but those are the chances you take when taking a cruise during hurricane season. And considering, at that point, Jamaica and Grand Cayman could potentially be affected, staying on the other side of the Gulf was the only reasonable decision both for the safety of everyone on board – and being able to enjoy ports of call that weren’t experiencing 115 sustained wind speeds.

Benefits of Booking a Cruise during Hurricane Season (Wave Season)

The biggest benefit to booking a cruise during hurricane season is the price discount – the same itineraries in peak months can run several times higher than those in late summer and early fall. The price is lower, but the guarantee of sticking to your original itinerary diminishes significantly.

Not far behind is the oft forgot benefit of mobility. If you had planned a normal vacation to the Bahamas (flight, rental car/taxi, several nights at Atlantis), you most likely would have had to cancel your trip and received minimal money-back unless you had purchased some form of travel insurance. Even if you got all your money back, timing a vacation between two jobs and kids’ school can be anything but easy – so rebooking something else in the last minute can be daunting at best.

Cruises have the benefit of just turning and going somewhere else – your itinerary may have changed, but you don’t have to re-pack, look for available last-minute lodging and travel arrangements, etc.

Cruise Excursions

Booking excursions through the ship is always a safe bet – but as with any safe option – the price is always a little higher. We’re fans of booking outside the cruise lines to save a little money, but you may want to re-think during hurricane season.

For those who booked excursions through Carnival on the original itinerary, cancelations were immediate and credits to the ship account followed. For those booking outside – many were left paying high on-ship telephone or internet rates to make cancelations for trips they had booked themselves. The deposit/refund policy is different for every private vendor – but undoubtedly some folks lost a few bucks by going on their own.

We had one excursion planned (Horseback riding in Freeport), though they only take cash on the day you leave – so no money had exchanged hands. Once we returned home, we had an email from the vendor letting us know horseback riding wouldn’t be available during the hurricane.

I normally spend quite a bit of time searching and reading about excursions prior to booking outside of Carnival, but when the itinerary changes mid-cruise, you are nearly entirely at the will of the cruise’s excursion desk. In Carnival’s case, excursions can be viewed and booked from the TV in the stateroom – and we found that clicking through this was a quicker way to spend $600 than even the Casino. The only problem was availability – since so many choose to book on their own, and with everyone on-board forced to go through Carnival for excursions, many were quickly sold out and lots of people who waited to sign up were left with nothing to do.

Overall Experience

We would have loved to go on our original itinerary to the Bahamas and Key West – but we gambled when booking during hurricane season and lost. In the end we weren’t surprised, but pleased that even though our plans were changed we could still relax on warm sandy beaches, enjoy quality excursions in each port we went to, and enjoy the on-board activities and dining with our family – which was ultimately our main goal.

Via: Cruiselog

Carnival Cruise Line announced changes to it’s smoking policy in June, and NCL’s changes seem to be similar. After January 1st, smoking will only be allowed on balconies (excluding cigar and pipe smoking), certain cigar bars, and in the casino aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet.

Interestingly, after Carnival announced their changes, many nicotine-raged cruisers vowed to start sailing with Norwegian. It looks like they still have a little time.