Being one of the elite members of Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor loyalty program comes with many benefits – one of which is a daily voucher for a certain number of free drinks.
The top tier Pinnacle members get six free drinks per day (valued up to $14 each), with Diamond Plus members getting five and Diamond members getting four.
Many elite loyalty members like this perk because they can pick up unopened soft drinks or beer to enjoy in their staterooms later – which is unfortunately changing.
As of December 6, 2024, guests on Freedom of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas were surprised when they went to pick up their free drinks and found that the crew members had to open them at the bar – meaning they couldn’t be saved for later.
Guests were not happy about this – seeing it as disrespectful because of the amount of money they had paid to the cruise line to become elite loyalty members or as a way to force cruisers into purchasing a drink package.
“As of Friday 12/6, any drink other than water must be opened if you are using one of your loyalty drink vouchers…However if you were to get a drink using cash or charge to your room, this policy does not apply,” one loyalty member wrote on Facebook.
“Honestly, if I want a drink to take back to my room to enjoy, I think I should be able to. To me seems like another money grab and not a “free” drink. One may believe even discriminatory as policies don’t apply if you spend more of your hard earned cash,” the frequent cruiser continued.
Initially, this practice was being applied to both soft drinks and alcoholic beverages – which has since been rolled back to just include alcohol.
It’s also unclear if this is a policy change that’s being tested on a selection of Royal Caribbean ships or if this rule is now applied to all ships fleet-wide.
Policy Change Only Impacts Alcoholic Beverages
Perhaps due to confusion among the crew when the new policy was first rolled out, loyalty guests were initially denied both unopened soft drinks and alcoholic beverages.
But as of December 8, 2024, the policy change had been rolled back to only include alcoholic beverages – so loyalty members can once again enjoy their free soda in their cabins later.
One elite loyalty member emailed the office of Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley, and shared the reply on Facebook – which confirms the actual policy.
“Please know that our beverage policies are in place to ensure that all guests are able to enjoy their drinks safely and responsibly. Recently, we have updated this policy to include the following: Any canned or bottled alcoholic beverages ordered at our bars must be opened before leaving the venue,” reads the reply, which was sent by Geno Bell-Floyd, Executive Office Escalations.
“Kindly note, this policy does not apply to non-alcoholic beverages, such as canned sodas and bottled water, unless ordered through a Deluxe Beverage Package. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes and appreciate your understanding and cooperation with helping us to maintain a safe and enjoyable time onboard,” continued the email.
Read Also: When Is the Best Time to Buy a Royal Caribbean Drink Package?
Royal Caribbean did not give a specific reason for the change beyond safety concerns, and guests reported conflicting answers from crew members onboard. However, it’s possible that this change has been made as a means of more closely monitoring alcohol consumption – which can tie into safety.
One of Royal’s main competitors, Carnival Cruise Line, recently made headlines for how it monitors alcohol consumption via a combined effort from the bar staff, waiters, and the security team.
Royal Caribbean likely has a similar protocol in place – with crew members monitoring the amount of alcohol that is served and looking out for behavior that may suggest a guest is too intoxicated.
If there is extra alcohol in cruise cabins that crew members don’t know about, they may not have an accurate picture of how much passengers are drinking, and as a result, if they are being safe.
