The Inebriation of the Seas: Part 2.

With Princess Cruises latest announcement in mind and following on from my recent blog regarding young people booking cruises to take advantage of cheap alcohol, I thought it reasonable to discuss cruise lines alcohol packages in general.

Princess Cruises have decided to trial all inclusive alcohol packages on two of their ships, the Star and the Sapphire, with a view to rolling out the concept fleet wide from Spring 2014 pending the results of the trial.

I’m not sure what constitutes a successful trial mind you, do a certain percentage of the passengers have to be beyond paralytic, or is a successful trial measured by how many people can destroy your favourite tune on Karaoke night?

Anyway, it does seem the all inclusive drinks package is definitely the way forward for cruise lines with Azamara, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Costa, MSC, Oceania and NCL all offering, to varying degrees, some form of all inclusive alcohol package.

While not in all individual cases will this prove economically viable for the cruise line, as there will always be people who can drink twice their body weight in shots, I do believe however it may be viewed as a loss leader with the aim of providing more choice for potential clients and therefore increasing their potential target audience. I’m sure some of those who usually book an all inclusive resort holiday may now be thinking of cruising as an alternative.

Now of course no-one wants to devalue the cruising product by turning all cruises into roaring booze binges at sea but personally I can’t see this being an issue, lets be honest drinking establishments selling large quantities of alcohol have always had to deal with people consuming err….. large quantities of alcohol and bars on cruise ships are no different. Those who’s idea of a great night is to get blind drunk, collapse and suffer from total memory loss in the morning will do so regardless of how ‘all inclusive’ the drinks are. After all who goes on holiday to save money right?

I know this is a divisive issue but I do believe more options and greater choice when it comes to your potential cruise experience can only be a good thing. It also helps considerably when budgeting for your holiday, which in these times of austerity can only be a bonus.

I’d love to know what you think, do you believe drinks packages will encourage unbecoming behaviour or can we trust people to just behave sensible and appropriately?

Let me know.