Question regarding legal drinking age on RCL shore excursions

[Ian T]

Sorry, but I am full of questions today...

We are looking at booking a RCL shore excursion during our December 2021 sailing and two of the group will be in their late teens (18 and 19).

One of the excursion notes states that guests must be of legal drinking age in order to consume alcohol. This in itself is of course no surprise; however is this the legal drinking age in Antigua (16) or, given that the excursion is arranged through RCL, does the US legal drinking age apply as it does on board?

Given that they can legally consume alcohol here in the UK and know they will need to abstain whilst on board they are, unsurprisingly, hoping that as RCL is effectively merely acting as the booking agent for an excursion with a local provider, the law of the land in Antigua applies; however I would love to be able put their minds at rest (or alternatively give them fair warning!)

 

[gabeb848]

I believe it depends on which country/countries waters you are in. @WAAAYTOOO @twangster, correct me if I'm wrong.

[twangster]

In my experience if the price of the Royal excursion includes alcohol while on the excursion they implement their standard ship policy.  My guess is they don't want hyper overreacting parents outraged at them for getting their kid drunk and falling down.    Meanwhile if the same kids walk into a bar on the same island and gets drunk that's okay.  

I know it seems a double standard but you can thank all the social justice warriors for attacking the cruise line.  

If you pull out your wallet and buy them drinks, or they purchase their own drinks that's another matter.  Royal didn't participate in the transaction that put alcohol into them so that tends to be okay.  It's not like the local tour guide is going to run into the frame and stop the bartender from accepting your money.  

Excursions on sailing catamarans sometimes include beer or wine.  On these excursions I am confident the tour operators were told not to allow under ship age drinking but it's possible the local tour operators may not enforce that with the same zeal that Royal does on the ship.  YMMV.    

[twangster]

Royal ship policy tends to be derived from where the ship departs and they use the age on day 1 of the cruise for the whole cruise even if someone turns drinking age mid-cruise.  Any ship departing from the US will use 21 as the drinking age.  A ship departing Southampton will use UK laws.  I should have asked when I last sailed from Quebec or Vancouver in Canada but never thought to.  

[Ian T]

22 minutes ago, gabeb848 said:

I believe it depends on which country/countries waters you are in. @WAAAYTOOO @twangster, correct me if I'm wrong.

I thought the same; however as this does not apply to the ship itself whilst docked it got me wondering.

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

In my experience if the price of the Royal excursion includes alcohol while on the excursion they implement their standard ship policy.  My guess is they don't want hyper overreacting parents outraged at them for getting their kid drunk and falling down.    Meanwhile if the same kids walk into a bar on the same island and gets drunk that's okay.  

I know it seems a double standard but you can thank all the social justice warriors for attacking the cruise line.  

If you pull out your wallet and buy them drinks, or they purchase their own drinks that's another matter.  Royal didn't participate in the transaction that put alcohol into them so that tends to be okay.  It's not like the local tour guide is going to run into the frame and stop the bartender from accepting your money.  

Excursions on sailing catamarans sometimes include beer or wine.  On these excursions I am confident the tour operators were told not to allow under ship age drinking but it's possible the local tour operators may not enforce that with the same zeal that Royal does on the ship.  YMMV.    

Many thanks... not what they will want to hear of course, but certainly makes sense.

[twangster]

5 minutes ago, Ian T said:

Many thanks... not what they will want to hear of course, but certainly makes sense.

The good news is ... if they are in your cabin and you buy the drink package they are not required to also buy the drink package since they are not of ship drinking age.  

Normally everyone of drinking age in the same cabin must buy the drink package if anyone in the cabin does.  

That worked out well for me sailing with a 20 year old.  Now that she is over 21 it's gotten more expensive every time we go to dinner at home.

[Ian T]

3 hours ago, twangster said:

Royal ship policy tends to be derived from where the ship departs and they use the age on day 1 of the cruise for the whole cruise even if someone turns drinking age mid-cruise.  Any ship departing from the US will use 21 as the drinking age.  A ship departing Southampton will use UK laws.  I should have asked when I last sailed from Quebec or Vancouver in Canada but never thought to.  

No doubt it's only a matter of time before they point out that had I done my homework I could have booked Grandeur out of Barbados instead!

[HeWhoWaits]

17 hours ago, twangster said:

Royal ship policy tends to be derived from where the ship departs and they use the age on day 1 of the cruise for the whole cruise even if someone turns drinking age mid-cruise.  

Which is why we planned a family cruise to depart a few days AFTER our son turned 21 rather than the week that included both his birthday and our anniversary (he was born on our 4th anniversary).

[JLMoran]

17 hours ago, twangster said:

Royal ship policy tends to be derived from where the ship departs and they use the age on day 1 of the cruise for the whole cruise even if someone turns drinking age mid-cruise.  Any ship departing from the US will use 21 as the drinking age.  A ship departing Southampton will use UK laws.  I should have asked when I last sailed from Quebec or Vancouver in Canada but never thought to.  

Not just Royal. Carnival / Princess does the same. For European sailings, their documentation says passengers 18+ are of legal age.

Both of my girls will be 18+ by the time we do our Mediterranean sailing on the Love Boat line. And our booking includes the drink package in the price. And the kids' cabin is 2 decks above ours, because we agreed they're adults and can make their own decisions.

But my God are my wife and I going to be hoping we don't get a call from ship security one night because they ended up overindulging at the pool bar.

[Kelslovestocruise]

For excursions I have booked when I was 18-20 and my sister was the same age we were able to drink on royal excursions. I remember doing this in Cozumel and roatan specifically. We are Canadian and from a province where the legal drinking age is 18 so it was weird going on cruises when you were used to drinking where you are from.  

[Kelslovestocruise]

I should add that I am 24 now so its been a couple years since I was 18-20 and my sister is 21 but on our last cruise we did not book any royal excursions when she was 20, so for reference its been 3 years since we have used this.

[teddy]

Our youngest and I were in Cozumel in Jan 2020 when he was 19.  We did the atv/cenote swim excursion through Royal, and after we got back from riding, he had a couple shots of the tequila they sample.  It wasn't an issue......actually, no one seemed to care one way or the other that he was over 18.

I wasn't with him when he went up either, so it wasn't like they saw he was with a parent.  I don't drink anymore and have no interest in learning about the different types of tequila available in Mexico.....Jose Cuervo and I stopped talking a couple decades ago.

[HBCcruiser]

We are booked on the Adventure July 17, 2021 cruise out of Nassau. The drinking age in the Bahamas is 18. My 19 year old daughter was able to purchase the Deluxe Beverage Package which appears to state 18+ (See Photo). Also, on the all-inclusive beach day excursion it states that guests must be 18 to drink. My guess is that because the ship’s home port is now Nassau, they can follow the laws there.

[twangster]

9 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

We are booked on the Adventure July 17, 2021 cruise out of Nassau. The drinking age in the Bahamas is 18. My 19 year old daughter was able to purchase the Deluxe Beverage Package which appears to state 18+ (See Photo). Also, on the all-inclusive beach day excursion it states that guests must be 18 to drink. My guess is that because the ship’s home port is now Nassau, they can follow the laws there.

I never thought of this.  That would be a bummer if the plan was to divide parents between two cabins so only one had to buy the DX only to find out now the cabin with an 18-20 y.o. has to buy it for them too.  

[HBCcruiser]

30 minutes ago, twangster said:

I never thought of this.  That would be a bummer if the plan was to divide parents between two cabins so only one had to buy the DX only to find out now the cabin with an 18-20 y.o. has to buy it for them too.  

Right. Normally it would automatically default to one of the other packages if the child is under the legal drinking age. 

[twangster]

26 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Right. Normally it would automatically default to one of the other packages if the child is under the legal drinking age. 

Normally they don't require anyone under the DX age to buy any package. 

It's only when a second person is of age but applies for a DX exemption that they require a refreshment package be purchased for them. 

I've sailed with a 20 y.o. before from the U.S. and I was able to buy only one DX for me, no package for them.

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

27 minutes ago, twangster said:

Normally they don't require anyone under the DX age to buy any package. 

It's only when a second person is of age but applies for a DX exemption that they require a refreshment package be purchased for them. 

I've sailed with a 20 y.o. before from the U.S. and I was able to buy only one DX for me, no package for them.

 

 

Are you saying the RCI system will allow you to purchase a DX if the person is under the legal drinking age? I’m a little confused. On other cruise lines it won’t allow you to. It “asks” if you want to purchase one of the other packages for them. Thanks for clarifying.

[twangster]

7 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Are you saying the RCI system will allow you to purchase a DX if the person is under the legal drinking age? I’m a little confused. On other cruise lines it won’t allow you to. It “asks” if you want to purchase one of the other packages for them. Thanks for clarifying.

Opposite.

In my example of sailing with a 20 y.o. I was able to buy the DX and no package for the 20 y.o.  I wasn't required to buy the 20 y.o. any package at all (soda or refreshment).

Had we sailed from Nassau I would have had to buy the DX for both of us.  That would have added ~$400 to the cost of the cruise.  

If anyone is sailing from Nassau with their 18 - 20 y.o. kids they may not have thought about having to buy the DX for their kids if the adults want it.  

[HBCcruiser]

13 hours ago, twangster said:

Opposite.

In my example of sailing with a 20 y.o. I was able to buy the DX and no package for the 20 y.o.  I wasn't required to buy the 20 y.o. any package at all (soda or refreshment).

Had we sailed from Nassau I would have had to buy the DX for both of us.  That would have added ~$400 to the cost of the cruise.  

If anyone is sailing from Nassau with their 18 - 20 y.o. kids they may not have thought about having to buy the DX for their kids if the adults want it.  

Got it, thanks! Good point. 

[smokeybandit]

My first cruise I was 20 and was able to drink back when ship drinking age was 18.  It was great.

 

Now that many years later, I'm not a fan of 18 yr olds drinking on ship. Then again I have nothing against 18 yr old drinking per se, but I hope it doesn't become amateur hour on board.

 

Then again plenty age 21+ turn their drink packages into amateur hour, too.

[alamode123]

On 4/24/2021 at 7:52 PM, twangster said:

I never thought of this.  That would be a bummer if the plan was to divide parents between two cabins so only one had to buy the DX only to find out now the cabin with an 18-20 y.o. has to buy it for them too.  

The drink package would be the least of my worries if I had to share a room with my 18 year old twin daughters.

[twangster]

17 minutes ago, alamode123 said:

The drink package would be the least of my worries if I had to share a room with my 18 year old twin daughters.

Ironic since the drink package might be the only thing that saves such a cruise.  

[alamode123]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Ironic since the drink package might be the only thing that saves such a cruise.  

For me it would be essential.

[KWong]

On 4/25/2021 at 2:09 PM, smokeybandit said:

My first cruise I was 20 and was able to drink back when ship drinking age was 18.  It was great.

 

Now that many years later, I'm not a fan of 18 yr olds drinking on ship. Then again I have nothing against 18 yr old drinking per se, but I hope it doesn't become amateur hour on board.

 

Then again plenty age 21+ turn their drink packages into amateur hour, too.

There's always people that treat the drink package like a sprint instead of a marathon on Day 1. You generally don't see them again until late into Day 2.

I've never bought the package on the ship but I've certainly done my share of "sprints", so I somewhat sympathize with those "amateurs"...

[Heymarco]

Pretty sure most Carribean excursion operators don’t know or care about ship’s policy. If you look of age, they will offer you rum punch, etc. Even onboard was able to get a drink or two with someone else’s sea pass card a time or two back in the day.