What is the real deal on 18-20 year olds drinking and gambling aboard a celebrity century cruise that goes from miami to key west, cozumel and back to miami - I am getting conflicting answers. (I'm not talking about what the "official policy" states.
My daughter was 19 last year when we went on a cruise. She could not get a drink by herself. I would buy two drinks and give her one. They turn their heads to that. Although, when we would go to the parties, no one ever carded her and she drank freely.
If you're under 21, you get a pass card that is a different color (our son's was dark blue, ours were white). Obviously you can't use the "under 21" card to buy a cocktail. At dinner, the staff would ask his age before serving wine, etc. If we said he was 21, nobody asked for ID.
gpeters
Posts: 22 | Location: Chicago, IL | Registered: January 10, 2008
Casinos are very tightly controlled. Case in point: on many ships you have to walk through the casino to get someplace else. That is fine as long as the minors keep walking. My son was with me once and I stopped to put a quarter in a slot on our way through to a show. Before the slot machine stopped spinning I was approached by an employee and reminded that minors were not allowed.
The bar staff can lose their jobs by serving minors and all it takes is one violation. They have always been quite strict in my observations.
Great post Dave. It's obvoiusly none of my business if some here want their under 21 children to be able to consume alcahol on a cruise. As Dave points out, it is the business of the crew and they have rules and consequence for the staff. At many ports of call the drinking age is 18. That would be the best place to allow them a drink or two with you if you feel you need to allow them to drink with you.
Honestly, what is the big deal about a 19 year old young man having wine at a dinner that includes his parents? It is hardly about violating some taboo - certainly nothing he would brag about to his friends.
Posts: 22 | Location: Chicago, IL | Registered: January 10, 2008
Originally posted by gpeters: Honestly, what is the big deal about a 19 year old young man having wine at a dinner that includes his parents? It is hardly about violating some taboo - certainly nothing he would brag about to his friends.
It's not a big deal at all when the 19 year old and his parents are at the dinner table of their home. Persanally, anybody old enough to go and serve their country in the military is old enough by my standards to have a glass of wine and a beer. The only factor is the cruiselines rules for drinking age. I'll list for you the gambling and drinking age requirements for lines below.
Consumption of Alcohol
Once you've left port, the minimum age for the consumption of alcohol varies by cruise line.
Cruise lines that require passengers to be 18 and older to consume any type of alcoholic beverage:
Fred. Olsen Cruise Line GAP Adventures Oceania Regent (Radisson)
Cruise lines that require passengers to be 21 and older to consume any type of alcohol, except for cruises departing from European and South American countries (a parent who is sailing with a passenger who is between the ages of 18 to 20 may sign a waiver allowing him/her to consume alcohol onboard):
Celebrity Royal Caribbean
Cruise lines that require passengers to be 21 and older to consume any type of alcohol:
Carnival Clipper Costa Cruise West Crystal Cunard Delta Queen Voyages of Discovery Disney Great American River Journeys Holland America Majestic America Line MSC Cruises Norwegian Orient Peter Deilmann Princess Seabourn SeaDream Silversea Star Clippers Uniworld Viking River Cruises Windstar
Gambling Onboard
Gambling, a popular form of entertainment on cruise ships, also has age restrictions which differ between cruise lines.
Cruise lines that require passengers to be 18 and older to gamble:
Carnival Fred. Olsen Cruise Line Holland America Norwegian Oceania Orient Regent (Radisson) SeaDream
Cruise lines that require passengers to be 21 and older to gamble on Alaska cruises and 18 and older to gamble on all other cruises:
Celebrity Royal Caribbean
Cruise lines that require passengers to be 21 and older to gamble:
No, it is in most cases violating the cruise line rules and local law, taboos notwithstanding.
I appreciate the need to have respect for laws and regulations, but tell me honestly - do you really want your cruise ship to strictly enforce every law and regulation without the exercise of discretion? Once word got out, nobody would book that cruise. Nor should they. No law or rule can be so perfectly written that it can be strictly enforced without doing injustice.
Posts: 22 | Location: Chicago, IL | Registered: January 10, 2008
Discretion is not something you exercise when it comes to an absolute such as the legal age to drink or gamble. Cruise ship employees shouldn't be expected to make case-by-case decisions on who gets served and who doesn't. A lack of consistency would ensue, which would lead to a collapse of the rules.
So say Mom and Dad are allowed to let Junior drink wine with them at dinner, and later that night Junior falls down a flight of stairs and is injured because he was feeling the effects of the alcohol. Any bets as to who Mom and Dad will be holding responsible in their lawsuit? Do you think the jury will buy the cruise line explanation of "well, we were using discretion"?
Up until last summer Royal Caribbean allowed 18 year old passengers to drink beer with parental approval (provided they were at sea or in a port that allowed 18 year olds to drink). However after too many incidents they stopped this practice.
As an administrator of this forum I will not endorse any behaviors that do not comply with the rules and laws. To me it is unethical to do so, and I also don't want people running around saying "well, the guy on cruise-chat said it was okay to ignore yada yada yada...".
