Carnival Says It Watches Alcohol Consumption Of ALL Guests (And What To Do If Someone Has Too Much)

These days we’re all used to being tracked. Between our phones, cameras, internet browsers, and more, it seems like much of what we do is watched. Still, much of this tracking happens unobtrusively without us realizing it. That means it can be somewhat unnerving when that tracking is brought front and center.

That’s what caught our attention in a Facebook post shared by Carnival’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald.

Responding to reader comments about alcohol onboard (particularly with the CHEERS! Beverage Package), Heald shared a statement from the cruise line’s Chief Communications Officer Chris Chiames.

In that statement, it was shared that Carnival does in fact “monitor the alcohol consumption of all guests.” So whether you have one drink or 10, it’s being monitored.

“I’m going to post this once, and only once, and this is all I will have to say about this,” the statement said.

“We monitor the alcohol consumption of all guests. The actual consumption is combined with other monitoring tools where servers, bartenders and security are trained to look for behavioral signals that a guest has reached his/her limit of safe consumption.”

It shouldn’t be a big surprise that what you drink onboard is watched. After all, Carnival’s drink package is limited to 15 alcoholic beverages per day. That means there must be some sort of tracking system in place at least to count the number of drinks. As well, beverage purchases are tracked to be charged to onboard accounts.

Still, it is surprising to us to see a direct statement that what you drink is monitored by the cruise line.

And it’s not just tracking direct purchases by passengers. The cruise line showed it is aware that some people are able to get around this and still have too much.

“Guests who purchase alcohol ala carte have options like buying a bucket of beers for the table,” the statement continued.

“Or a bottle of wine that some guests may share, and another guest may consume entirely by themselves. There are also shared cocktails. That’s why we use a combination of factors to monitor consumption. Now some guests might be creative and figure out ways to drink and never or rarely interact with a server or bartender. That’s why the security team is also part of this plan.”

In other words, there are multiple ways that the cruise line is keeping tabs.

Even so, some cruise passengers have seen instances where someone’s behavior makes it clear they’ve been overserved.

So what should you do if you see someone onboard that’s had too much and might be a risk to themselves or others onboard?

According to the statement from Carnival, “if you ever have a concern about someone’s alcohol consumption, please quietly point that out to a member of the security team.”

You can see the full statement from Carnival’s Chief Communications Officer below:

If you’ve never sailed before, it might feel a little unnerving to know that the staff is monitoring the alcohol consumption of every guest. However, there are actually a number of ways your activities on any cruise ship are tracked. From cameras that monitor public spaces to the drinks you buy to the gambling you do in the casino, there’s a record of many things that you do around the ship.

Now, you likely aren’t being monitored in real time, but if there is a need to check up on things, there’s a record available.