Royal Caribbean changes amount of wine you can bring on a cruise ship

In:
01 Mar 2023
By: 
Matt Hochberg

The amount of wine you can bring on a Royal Caribbean is changing somewhat.

Wine being poured

Passengers are not allowed to bring beer or liquor on their cruise, but wine is permitted in small quantities.

Up until now, Royal Caribbean has allowed guests to bring up to 2 bottles (750 ml) of wine per stateroom on the first day of the cruise.

In an update to travel agents, the amount you can bring will depend on how many adults are in the cabin. The same policy was also updated on Royal Caribbean's website.

Wine at Giovanni's

Starting on March 3rd, 2023, the new wine and champagne allowance for Royal Caribbean will be one (1) 750 mL bottle, per adult of drinking age, per sailing.

This change means staterooms with more than 2 adults in the cabin could now enjoy more wine than before, such as in a Royal Caribbean suite.

The potential downside to this change is someone cruising solo in a cabin, or booked with only kids in their room will now be limited to one bottle per sailing.

Anthem of the Seas in Port Canaveral

The cruise line still wants the wine to be brought via hand luggage/carry on and not in checked luggage. Moreover, Royal Caribbean recommends each guest bring their bottle in their respective carry-on bag for security purposes.

No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard for consumption. Boxed wine and other containers are prohibited. Guests may only bring the wine onboard on embarkation day.

Wine brought onboard

If guests wish to enjoy their wine or champagne in our dining or bar venues, there will be a corkage fee applied.

While it's Royal Caribbean's policy to charge a corking fee when opening a bottle of wine a guest brought onboard, in practice it is rarely enforced.

Back-to-back cruise wine policy

Allure of the Seas in Galveston cruise terminal

For consecutive sailings, guests of drinking age are allowed to bring one (1) 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne for each individual sailing.

Additional bottles will be stored by the ship and delivered, one bottle at a time, to the stateroom on the first day of each new voyage. Guests bringing more than one bottle at the start of the first sailing should have documentation for any consecutive sailings available to share with security.

Advantage of bringing your own wine

Wine at Vintages

Being able to bring your own wine on a Royal Caribbean cruise has long been one of the best cruise tips for saving money on a cruise vacation.

Bringing wine onboard can be a great idea for those looking to cut costs while still enjoying all the good things that come with cruising. By bringing your own wine from home, you'll be able to choose from among a wide variety of wines, some of which may not be available in the ship’s bar or restaurant.

Plus, you can store it in your room, or take it anywhere else on board with you — perfect for sipping while watching the sunset!

Main dining room table

But if you don’t finish the bottle in one night, what do you do?

The answer is simpler than you think: simply store it! Royal Caribbean offers wine storage services in order to allow passengers to save their unfinished bottles for later.

This makes it possible for guests to enjoy their favorite wines throughout the entire cruise without having the pressure of “using it or losing it”.

Wine on dining room table

If you choose to enjoy dinner at a specialty restaurant or the main dining room instead of on your own stateroom, all you need to do is tell your new waiter that there's a bottle stored for you. Your waiter will ask for your stateroom number and within minutes your wine will appear at your table.

Cruise ship wine storage services are an excellent way for passengers to indulge in some extra luxury during their vacation without having to worry about finishing their bottles too quickly. 


Matt started Royal Caribbean Blog in 2010 as a place to share his passion for all things Royal Caribbean with readers. He oversees all the writers at Royal Caribbean Blog, and writes a great deal of content on a daily basis.  He has become one of the foremost experts on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Over the years, he has reached Pinnacle Club status with Royal Caribbean's customer loyalty program.

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