Australians won’t have access
to several benefits currently
offered to passengers on
Carnival Cruise Lines ships.
IN its journey to become more Australian,
Carnival Spirit has shed a few American
features, including some good ones.
While many of the ship’s planned
enhancements are positive (such as
introducing Australian currency, power points,
food and drinks), other changes may be less
warmly welcomed by locals.
By the time Spirit moves to Sydney in two
weeks, it will no longer offer many of Carnival
Cruise Lines’ signature services.
Ditched benefits include permission to bring
onboard one bottle of wine on the day of
embarkation.
Every other CCL ship, including Carnival
Spirit until now, allows adult passengers to
pack a 750ml bottle of wine or Champagne in
their carry-on luggage to drink in their cabins
or in the restaurant during their cruise.
But for people boarding in Australia, no
alcohol can be taken aboard.
In addition, the line’s new all-you-can-drink
alcohol package, which was being trialled on
Spirit, will not be available in Australia.
The package, known as My Awesome Bar
Program, costs Americans US$42.95 per
person per day, plus an automatic 15% tip
($6.44), and includes glasses of selected
wines, beers, spirits and cocktails, as well as
non-alcoholic drinks.
However, the deal dries up when the ship
starts operations down under.
Other cancelled services include Bon Voyage
liquor, which allowed people to pre-order
bottles of spirits, wine and beer to be delivered
to their cabin, and Bon Voyage gifts, which is
used for buying presents for other passengers.
Australians are also unable to pre-purchase
soft drink packages, specialty restaurants and
“fun dollars” (CCL’s version of a gift certificate)
before their cruise.
When CW asked Carnival Cruise Lines to explain
why Australians would miss out on these
seven benefits, a company spokesperson replied:
“The back-of-house systems for the Australian
program are different to those in the US, so
we are not currently set up to offer a number
of the services you mention.
“As we launch our Australia program, we will
be conducting a continued analysis of what
may be of interest to our Aussie guests and
subsequently may roll out additional offerings
in the future.”
