Disney Cruise Line – Can You Really Take Alcohol Onboard?

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Disney Cruise Line has a relatively liberal policy that allows guests to bring a limited amount of alcohol onboard their ships.

It used to be even more flexible. Up until September 2015, there was no limit on how much alcohol you could bring on a Disney cruise.

It isn’t quite that generous now, but the Disney Cruise Line Alcohol Policy is still pretty generous compared to other major cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line.

Disney Cruise Line Alcohol Policy

However, those days are long gone and you need to be aware of the Disney cruise line rules about bringing alcohol on board the ship.

Most cruise lines do not allow this as of course, they want to sell you their, usually highly-priced, alcohol.

Many cruise lines will confiscate any alcohol found in your bags at embarkation.

What is the Disney Cruise Alcohol Policy?

Disney Cruise Line Guests 21 years and older may bring a maximum of 2 bottles of unopened wine or champagne (no larger than 750 ml) or 6 beers (no larger than 12 ounces) on board at the beginning of the voyage.

For cruises from Australia and New Zealand guests aged 18 and over also have this allowance. This means that the 18 to 20 years olds can also take advantage of the allowance.

You can also bring on the same amount at each port-of-call for a Disney Cruise.

This means that you can bring more than the initial 2 bottles that you are allowed to carry on to the ship on embarkation day as you can also bring your allowance at each port of call.

What Kind of Alcohol is Allowed?

The wording of the Disney policy specifies only wine, champagne, or beer.

The previous rules allowed you to bring any type of alcohol. However, you certainly aren’t going to be able to sneak a bottle of hard liquor on board these days!

If you are caught trying to do this, and you will be caught, it will be confiscated and given back to you at the end of the cruise.

However, in practice, there is some leeway with the “beer” that you are allowed to bring. So there is no problem bringing cider, for instance.

If the alcohol that you are trying to bring in place of beer has a similar alcohol content to beer then it is likely to be allowed – although this is up to the discretion of the particular security officer involved at the time.

There won’t be a problem either if you bring sparkling wine instead of a bottle of champagne. No one is going to check the vintage!

Everything has to be in its unopened original container. This doesn’t mean that you can’t mix and match beers. You can do that. All the bottles or cans have to be unopened but it doesn’t matter if you don’t carry the in the original 6 pack box.

Some guests were bringing their own alcohol as mixers. According to the new rules, this now won’t be allowed.

How Do I Carry the Alcohol?

All alcohol must be packed in your carry-on baggage.

Any alcohol found in checked baggage will be removed and confiscated. You will not get it back at the end of the cruise.

Don’t think that you can sneak alcohol onto a cruise.

They will find it! And you will lose it.

Carry-on luggage and checked luggage go through an x-ray machine and it will be found.

The main reason that Disney doesn’t want you to put alcohol in checked baggage is that bottles can break and ruin not only your luggage but other passengers’ luggage. These are fragile items and this is why they should only be packed in carry-on luggage.

If you are traveling by air to your Disney cruise port you may not have time to pick up some bottles of wine. If you want to bring wine you will have to put it in checked luggage on the airplane.

These Wine Bottle Protector Sleeves

are great for keeping wine safe in your suitcase and carry-on bag.

Just remember to get them out and put them in hand luggage when you board your Disney cruise.

Can I Bring Non-Alcoholic Drinks on Board?

Yes.

You can bring as many soft drinks, water bottles, and non-alcoholic beverages as many as you can carry.

But always put it in carry-on luggage. If it is found in your checked luggage it will be confiscated.

Remember that your staterooms will not be ready until 1.30 pm so you will have to carry around whatever you bring in carry-on luggage – so don’t overload yourself too much!

Where Can I Drink What I Have Brought With Me?

The rules have always said that you can only consume alcohol you bring onto a Disney cruise yourself in your stateroom.

This will not change.

There always have been, and probably always will be those who take alcohol into bars and restaurants.

If you want to drink wine or champagne that they have brought on board in one of the dining rooms will be charged a corking fee of $27.00 per bottle. This corkage fee has recently increased from $25.

A Disney cruise just doesn’t have the emphasis on drinking that some other cruise lines have.

We have sailed on many Disney cruises and can’t remember having ever seen anyone intoxicated. The same cannot be said of other cruise lines we have sailed with!

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Is There a Drinks Package?

Disney Cruise Line does not have a “conventional” drinks package like many of the other cruise lines do.

Many guests, including myself, really don’t want Disney to introduce a drinks package of the type that others have.

I know this is a controversial subject but I am just not a fan of all the all-inclusive alcohol drinks packages on some cruise lines.

This can create an all-you-can-drink mentality that you don’t want on a Disney cruise.

Disney does have:

• A Wine Package
• A 5 for 6 Beers Package
• A Beer Mug Token System

The Wine Package allows you to buy several wine bottles, between 3 and 7 for you to enjoy in the main dining room or adult only restaurants on your cruise.

There are two wine packages that you can purchase – The Classic and the Premium Package.

Each night you can choose as many bottles as you want from either the Classic or if you have paid the extra, the Premium Package.

If you do not drink the whole bottle in an evening then it will be saved for you and brought to your table for the next evening.

If you have any unopened bottles at the end of your cruise you can carry them off with you (subject to local customs allowances).

If you prefer beer then you may be interested in the souvenir beer mug. For $16.95 you can buy a 22 oz. Disney Cruise Line. souvenir glass beer mug. This will be filled with the beer of your choice.

The usual glass sizes are 16 oz, so if you get a refill you are getting an extra 6 oz each time at no extra cost. You don’t have to keep using the same glass. Just ask your bartender for a beer mug token and you can exchange this every time for clean glass.

You can also take the beer glass home with you at the end of your cruise as a souvenir.

Note that the beer glass is not transferable from one cruise to another. If you sail again, you will have to buy a new beer glass.

Related: Disney Cruise Wine Package – Is it Worth it?

Disney Cruise Line Alcohol Policy – Duty-Free On Board And Alcohol Purchased In Port

If you buy alcohol on a shore excursion Disney will also allow you to bring this on board, but only beer and wine subject to the general rules.

If you want to search out 2 bottles of wine or some beer on your port time then it doesn’t seem like Disney wants to stop you.

You can also buy other alcohol on shore, but it will be held for you and given back at the end of the cruise.

If you buy alcohol in the duty-free store on board you will not be allowed to take it to your stateroom but it will be given to you on disembarkation.

Who Can Bring Alcohol Onboard?

There are different rules according to where in the world the Disney ship is sailing.

All of this applies only to guests aged over 21 if your cruise originates in a North American port.

All guests on the Disney Cruise Line must be aged 21 or over to be served alcohol.

The exception to this rule is on sailings that embark and disembark in a port in Europe, Australia or New Zealand.

On these sailings, you can be served alcohol if aged 18 and over, and a beverage consumption form was completed when you checked in.

What Alcoholic Drinks are Included on a Disney Cruise?

Never say nothing in life is free.

Well, it isn’t free as you have paid for your cruise but you will get free drinks at the Captain’s Reception held on a formal night on cruises of 7 nights and over (so most cruises are excluded).

Sometimes it is served at a Castaway Cay Club Members reception and Disney Vacation Club presentations.

However, on the recent DVC presentations, we have gone to this seems to be a thing of the past. Now you get a bottle of water and sometimes not even that!

Here is a guide to explain the availability of free drinks on a Disney Cruise.

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