Taking Your Own Drinks Onboard a Cruise Ship: A Complete Guide to Cruise Line Policies - Journey into Darkness

Thinking about taking your own drinks onboard a cruise ship? Understanding what beverages you can bring onboard is crucial for budgeting and ensuring a smooth embarkation process.

While most cruise lines have strict policies regarding alcoholic beverages, many allow certain amounts of wine and non-alcoholic drinks. Here’s everything you need to know about taking your own drinks onboard different cruise lines.

General Rules for Bringing Drinks Onboard

Is taking your own drinks onboard a cruise ship permitted? The answer is (generally) yes, but with significant restrictions. Alcoholic drinks are generally banned across all major cruise lines, with most allowing only limited wine or champagne. The primary reason for these restrictions is revenue protection, as beverage sales represent a substantial income source for cruise operators. If you take your own booze, you won’t buy a drinks package…

Any alcoholic beverages detected in your luggage during security screening will likely be confiscated and stored until disembarkation. This applies not only to drinks you attempt to bring onboard initially, but also to any alcoholic beverages purchased during intermediate port stops or from onboard duty-free stores.

Drinks Policies at a Glance

Note: Bottled water is typically permitted for those with a specific, documented medical need. Contact your cruise line direct for further guidance.

Royal Caribbean International

Can you take drinks onboard Royal Caribbean? Royal Caribbean allows guests to bring one sealed 750ml bottle of wine or champagne per person of drinking age on embarkation day. Boxed wine and other containers are prohibited.

For non-alcoholic beverages, guests may bring up to 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles, or cartons per stateroom as carry-on items. Milk and distilled water for infant, medical, or dietary use are also permitted.

More info on Royal Caribbean alcohol rules can be found here.

Royal Caribbean beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: 1 bottle 🍾
Soft drink: 12 cans 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises offers the most generous wine policy among major cruise lines. Travellers can bring as much wine and champagne as they want onboard. However, there’s a catch: after the first complimentary bottle, they charge a USD $20 corkage fee for each additional bottle consumed in public areas.

Beer and spirits are forbidden however.

Top tip: Read Princess Cruises Drinks Packages: Your Complete Guide to Plus and Premier Options to discover why investing in a Princess Cruises drinks package makes perfect sense.

Bonus tip: Check out The Ultimate Guide: How To Get Free Drinks On A Princess Cruise

More info about Princess Cruises alcohol rules can be found here.

Princess beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: 1 bottle 🍾
Soft drink: 12 cans 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival permits one bottle of wine per passenger. For non-alcoholic beverages, guests can bring up to 12 cans of soda, but bottles are not allowed.

More info about Carnival’s alcohol rules can be found here.

Carnival beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: 1 bottle 🍾
Soft drink: 12 cans 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

P&O Cruises

Can I take drinks onboard P&O? P&O Cruises allows each guest aged 18 and older to bring up to one litre of wine or champagne onboard when first embarking. Can you take soft drink on P&O cruises UK? Yes, guests can bring 6 cans of soda onboard.

Can you take soft drinks on P&O cruises UK? The answer is yes – P&O permits passengers to bring up to 6 cans of soft drinks per person when boarding. If wine is consumed in dining rooms, bars, restaurants, or lounge areas, it’s subject to a £20 corkage fee per bottle.

More info about P&O Cruise Line’s rules can be found here.

P&O beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: 1 bottle 🍾
Soft drink: 12 cans 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises has one of the strictest policies. Both alcoholic and soft drinks are prohibited from being brought onboard. However, their Guest Conduct Policy contains ambiguous language stating guests are “prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board” unless “otherwise permitted by our security personnel or crew”, which could theoretically allow exceptions.

Check out the MSC Guest Conduct Policy for more information.

MSC beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: ❌
Soft drink: ❌

Cunard Line

Cunard permits one bottle of wine per passenger onboard, but it attracts a corkage fee if consumed outside your stateroom. As a premium line focused on traditional luxury cruising, Cunard maintains stricter beverage service standards.

The Cunard rules can be found here.

Cunard beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: 1 bottle 🍾
Soft drink: 12 cans 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

Ambassador Cruise Line

Can you take soft drinks on Ambassador cruises? Ambassador has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol, allowing no alcoholic beverages onboard. However, guests can bring 12 cans of soda per person. This makes Ambassador one of the more restrictive lines for alcohol but accommodating for non-alcoholic beverages.

To be fair to Ambassador, they appear to have one of the most keenly priced drinks menus at sea, so their no BYOB policy may not be as bad as you think. Especially if you have onboard credit with your booking (see below ⬇️).

Read our Complete Guide to Ambassador Cruises Drinks Packages to learn more

Check out the Ambassador Terms of Carriage for more info.

Ambassador beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: ❌
Soft drink: 12 cans 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)

Norwegian Cruise Line permits guests aged 21 and over to bring one sealed 750ml bottle of wine or champagne onboard on embarkation day. However, unlike many other cruise lines, NCL charges a corkage fee of $15 USD for a standard bottle (or $30 USD for a 1,500ml magnum) even if the wine is consumed in your stateroom. The only exception to this corkage fee is if you have purchased a qualifying NCL beverage package or have one included as part of their Free at Sea promotion.

Effective from July 2016, Norwegian has implemented one of the strictest soft drink policies in the industry – all non-alcoholic beverages including water, soda, and juices are banned from being brought onboard. This policy applies to both carry-on and checked luggage. The only exceptions are factory-sealed purified or distilled water for medical devices or infant formula preparation.

Check out the NCL Prohibited Items list.

NCL beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: 1 bottle 🍾
Soft drink: ❌

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises allows each guest of legal drinking age to bring one sealed 750ml bottle of wine or champagne onboard on embarkation day at no additional charge. This wine can be consumed in your stateroom without any corkage fees.

For non-alcoholic beverages, Celebrity permits up to 12 standard cans or bottles of soft drinks per stateroom. These must be carried in hand luggage and are subject to security screening.

Check out the Celebrity Cruises Guest Health & Safety Conduct Policy for more.

Celebrity beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: 1 bottle 🍾
Soft drink: 12 cans 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

Virgin Voyages

Virgin Voyages allows passengers to bring two 750ml bottles of wine per cabin, but these must be carried in hand luggage only. If you choose to consume your wine outside of your stateroom in public areas, corkage fees may apply.

For soft drinks, Virgin permits a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans or cartons (12 ounces each or less) per person in hand luggage. Importantly, bottles of any kind – whether glass or plastic – are not permitted. Only cans and cartons are allowed for non-alcoholic beverages.

Read the full Virgin Voyages Prohibited Items List.

Virgin Voyages beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: 1 bottle 🍾
Soft drink: 12 cans 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

Marella Cruising

Marella Cruising operates a complete ban on bringing any alcoholic beverages onboard. All alcohol must be purchased and served by Marella crew members only.

During embarkation, they reserve the right to search luggage and confiscate any alcohol not purchased on your flight (you must retain proof of purchase for duty-free alcohol). Any confiscated alcohol will be returned upon departure.

Take a look at the Marella Cruises FAQs.

Marella beverage allowances at a glance:
Wine: ❌
Soft drink: ❌

Fred Olsen Cruises

Fred Olsen Cruises maintains a strict no-alcohol policy for guest-brought beverages. Guests cannot bring their own alcohol onboard for consumption under any circumstances. Any alcohol purchased during shore excursions must be handed to security staff for storage and will only be returned at the end of the cruise.

Fred Olsen does offer onboard ordering services through room service or room shopping forms if you wish to purchase wine, champagne, or spirits for consumption during your cruise.

What Happens to Confiscated Beverages?

Any alcoholic drinks detected during security screening will be removed from luggage and held in storage until disembarkation. This includes alcoholic beverages purchased during port stops or from onboard duty-free stores, which must be declared at the gangway and will be stored until the cruise ends.

The security screening process at cruise terminals is similar to airport security, with the exception that there are no liquid restrictions for hand luggage on cruise-only holidays. Annoyingly, this means you may still be asked to remove and scan your shoes.

Taking your own drink onboard a cruise ship – and ignoring the cruise line’s rules – will see your alcohol/soda being removed. Worse still, your cruise line may dump your drinks entirely, rather than impounding them.

Important Considerations

When taking your own drinks onboard a cruise ship, remember that policies can vary based on the specific itinerary and ports of call. Some lines may have different restrictions for different regions or flag states.

Most cruise lines offer extensive beverage packages that may provide better value than bringing your own drinks, especially if you plan to consume multiple alcoholic beverages daily. These packages typically include a wide selection of wines, beers, cocktails, and non-alcoholic beverages.

Understanding these policies before you travel will help ensure a smooth embarkation process and prevent disappointment at the terminal. Always check with your specific cruise line for the most current policies, as these can change and may vary by ship or itinerary.

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