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Royal Caribbean’s alcohol policy warns that its security team may inspect your water bottles, your soda bottles and your mouthwash.
Mouthwash. Nobody writes that into an official policy unless enough people have tried it.
So yes, the internet is full of “hacks” for sneaking booze onto a cruise ship. This guide skips them. It covers what you’re actually allowed to carry aboard, what happens to everything else, and the small print that Royal Caribbean’s own help pages can’t quite agree on.
Here’s the short answer. Yes, but only wine. On embarkation day, each Royal Caribbean guest of drinking age may bring one sealed 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne. Beer, hard seltzer and liquor are banned. Drink your wine in your cabin and it’s free; open it in a bar or restaurant and you pay a $15 corkage fee.
Can You Bring Alcohol on a Royal Caribbean Cruise?
A little, and only one kind. Royal Caribbean’s alcohol FAQ puts the allowance in one sentence: “On embarkation day, each guest of drinking age may bring one (1) sealed 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne.” Its Guest Health, Safety, and Conduct Policy says the same, and adds that apart from that bottle, guests “are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages onboard.”
Here’s what that means in practice:
- Allowed: one sealed 750 ml bottle of wine, sparkling wine or champagne per guest of drinking age, carried on at embarkation.
- Not allowed: beer, hard seltzer, liquor, boxed wine, and wine decanted into “other containers.”
- Per person, not per cabin: two adults in a balcony cabin can bring two bottles. A solo cruiser gets one.
- Back-to-back cruises: one bottle per sailing. Extra bottles are stored and delivered “one bottle at a time” on the first day of each new voyage, according to the consecutive-sailings FAQ. Bring your booking documents for the later sailings, because security may ask to see them.
It wasn’t always this way. Until early 2023, the limit was two bottles per stateroom. Cruise Hive and VinePair both reported the switch to one bottle per adult that March. Solo travelers lost a bottle. Cabins with three or four adults gained some. Cruise rules shift, and online guides don’t always keep up, so check the date on whatever you’re reading.
Carry the wine on. Don’t pack it in a checked bag. Royal Caribbean Blog explains that bottles on the luggage scanner can get a bag pulled for extra screening, because security has to confirm it isn’t liquor. Then you’re collecting that suitcase from security instead of from your cabin door.
What Happens If You Pack Beer or Liquor?
Security takes it. Whether you ever see it again depends on which Royal Caribbean page you read. This is the part most guides get wrong.
We compared three official Royal Caribbean documents, and they don’t agree on sealed beer or liquor taken at the terminal:
| Royal Caribbean document | What it says happens to seized beer, seltzer or liquor |
|---|---|
| “Am I allowed to bring alcohol onboard?” FAQ | “will be returned at the end of the voyage provided that they are in the original sealed package” |
| “What kind of food or drinks am I allowed to bring onboard?” FAQ | “seized on embarkation day will not be returned” |
| Guest Health, Safety, and Conduct Policy | Doesn’t address sealed bottles from home; alcohol “concealed” in other containers will be disposed of |
Two of the cruise line’s own help pages give opposite answers. So plan for the worse one: if you pack a bottle of rum, assume it’s gone.
All three documents agree on the part that really matters. Alcohol hidden in water bottles, soda bottles or mouthwash gets poured away, and hiding it can cost you the whole trip. The FAQ says guests who “attempt to conceal alcoholic items at security and or luggage check points or any other time” may be “disembarked or not allowed to board, at their own expense.” That’s the same list that covers overdrinking and giving alcohol to underage guests.
And they are looking. In March 2026, Royal Caribbean Blog named beer and liquor among the four items it most often sees confiscated at embarkation. The blog added that the line “has gotten more stringent with checking for these items because people try to sneak it onboard.” Whatever the latest TikTok smuggling trick promises, a cheap bottle of vodka isn’t worth losing your vacation over.
Does Royal Caribbean Charge a Corkage Fee?
Yes, but only in public areas. Royal Caribbean’s corkage FAQ says: “Guests who consume their personal wine and champagne in public areas, will incur a $15 corkage fee per bottle.”
In your stateroom, the fee doesn’t apply. Royal Caribbean Blog adds that your stateroom attendant will bring a wine opener for free if you ask.
For years, lots of cruisers never paid the fee because crew often didn’t charge it. That’s changing. In April 2025, Royal Caribbean Blog reported cruisers finding stickers on wine bottles showing whether the corkage fee had been waived. The same report noted that the fee applies to screw-top bottles too, because you’re paying for bringing your own wine, not for pulling a cork. By January 2026, the blog’s updated guide was telling readers to “expect to pay the $15 per bottle fee.”
Royal Caribbean Blog still reckons you’ll “probably come out ahead” bringing your own bottle, even with the fee, because onboard wine is marked up. A bottle opened in a restaurant can also be marked with your name and cabin number and stored for another night.
Can You Bring Alcohol Back From Port or the Onboard Shops?
You can buy it. You just can’t drink it until you’re home.
That bottle of Cozumel tequila or Nassau rum gets handed to security when you reboard. Under the conduct policy, alcohol bought in port or in onboard shops “must be presented to security upon re-boarding,” is held by the crew, and is “returned to guests just prior to the conclusion of their cruise vacation.” Guests under the drinking age don’t get theirs back at all.
Duty-free works the same way. Royal Caribbean’s duty-free FAQ says other duty-free buys can go straight to your cabin, but “duty free alcohol and in some areas cigarettes will be delivered on the final day or morning of your voyage.” Royal Caribbean Blog confirms that security holds port purchases and hands them back on the last day.
Pack a little room in your suitcase for the flight home, and check your airline’s and your home country’s customs allowances before you stock up.
How Does Royal Caribbean Compare With Other Cruise Lines?
Royal Caribbean sits in the middle of the pack. We checked each line’s own website in September 2026:
| Cruise line | Wine you can bring | Corkage fee | Beer or liquor from home? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Caribbean | 1 sealed 750 ml bottle per guest of drinking age | $15 per bottle in public areas; free in your cabin | No |
| Celebrity Cruises | 1 750 ml bottle per guest of drinking age | $35 per bottle in restaurants, bars and dining venues; waived with Classic or Premium drink package | Not in the allowance (wine only) |
| Carnival | 1 sealed 750 ml bottle per person 21+, in carry-on | $15 per bottle in the main dining room, steakhouse or bar | No; confiscated and discarded |
| Norwegian (NCL) | Bottles allowed; FAQ states no number | $15 per 750 ml, $30 per magnum, even in your stateroom; waived with a beverage package | No |
| Princess | 1 750 ml bottle per voyage free in your stateroom; extra bottles welcome | $20 per additional bottle, wherever you drink it | No; removed and discarded |
The one that surprises people is Celebrity. It’s Royal Caribbean’s sister brand, but its corkage fee is more than double at $35, although drink-package holders don’t pay it. Norwegian is the only line in the table that charges corkage in your own cabin. Princess lets you bring as many bottles as you like, but only the first is free.
What Is the Drinking Age on Royal Caribbean?
It depends on where your cruise starts. According to Royal Caribbean’s drinking age FAQ:
- 21 on cruises from North America, the Caribbean, and Dubai, and at Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, and Labadee.
- 18 on cruises from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
The same age decides who gets a wine allowance, so under-21s on a Caribbean sailing can’t bring a bottle.
Turning 21 halfway through the cruise? The conduct policy says your age is set at the start of the sailing. After your birthday, though, you can go to Guest Services with valid government-issued ID and ask them to update the ship’s records, which lets you drink for the rest of the trip.
Do Drink Packages Change the Rules?
They don’t change what you can bring, but they come with rules of their own. Royal Caribbean’s beverage package FAQ says “any guest wishing to purchase an alcoholic beverage package must do so for all guests of legal drinking age in the same stateroom.” You can’t buy one package and share it with your cabinmate. The package sharing FAQ also limits package holders to one drink per guest at a time.
That’s why bringing your own wine is so popular with light drinkers. A Cruise.Blog writer whose fiancée doesn’t drink explained that bringing wine, plus the free drinks from their loyalty status, let them skip a package that didn’t make sense for the two of them.
Bringing soft drinks instead? Royal Caribbean’s food and drink FAQ allows up to 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons of non-alcoholic drinks per stateroom. Milk and distilled water for infant, medical or dietary use don’t count toward the limit.
How to Bring Wine on Royal Caribbean Without Drama
- One sealed 750 ml bottle each, in your carry-on. No magnums, no boxed wine, no bottles rolled up in your checked bag.
- Pick your best bottle. You only get one, so make it something you can’t get onboard.
- Drink it in your cabin or on your balcony. That’s free. Carry it to dinner and budget $15.
- Leave the beer and liquor at home. Royal Caribbean’s own pages disagree on whether you’ll get it back, and hiding it risks being refused boarding at your own expense.
- Shop in port for home, not for tonight. Those bottles come back on the last day, so leave room in your luggage.
- Doing back-to-back cruises? Bring proof of every booking so security doesn’t hold your extra bottles.
- Do the drink package math for the whole cabin. If one adult buys the alcoholic package, every adult in the cabin has to buy it too.
Quick Answers
How many bottles of wine can you bring on Royal Caribbean?
One sealed 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne per guest of drinking age, on embarkation day only. On back-to-back cruises, you can bring one bottle per sailing, and the ship stores the extras.
Can you bring beer on a Royal Caribbean cruise?
No. Beer, hard seltzer and liquor are all prohibited. Security will take them at the terminal, and Royal Caribbean’s own FAQs disagree on whether sealed bottles are returned at the end of the cruise.
How much is the Royal Caribbean corkage fee?
$15 per bottle if you drink your own wine or champagne in a public area such as a bar or restaurant. There’s no fee if you drink it in your stateroom.
Can you drink alcohol you buy in port on Royal Caribbean?
Not onboard. Bottles bought in port or in the ship’s shops are held by security and returned just before the cruise ends, so you can take them home.
What is the drinking age on a Royal Caribbean cruise?
21 on cruises from North America, the Caribbean and Dubai, and at Royal Caribbean’s private destinations such as Perfect Day at CocoCay. It’s 18 on cruises from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The Bottom Line
Royal Caribbean isn’t a BYOB cruise line, but it isn’t a dry one either. You get one good bottle of wine each, free to enjoy on your balcony, and $15 to open anywhere else. Everything stronger stays at home or waits in a locker until the last night.
Leave the mouthwash bottle full of mouthwash. The ship has plenty of bars.
Coming up on Cruise Chaos: do you need a passport for a cruise to the Bahamas? We’ll untangle closed-loop cruises, birth certificates, and the moment a missing passport turns a small problem into a very expensive one.
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Keep Reading
- Cruise Packing Don’ts Every Traveler Should Know
- Cruising on a Budget: Smart Savings Guide
- The Step-by-Step Process of Boarding a Cruise Ship
Sources
- Royal Caribbean: Am I allowed to bring alcohol onboard a cruise ship?
- Royal Caribbean: What kind of food or drinks am I allowed to bring onboard?
- Royal Caribbean Group: Guest Health, Safety, and Conduct Policy
- Royal Caribbean: Does Royal Caribbean charge a corkage fee?
- Royal Caribbean: Can I bring additional bottles of wine on consecutive cruises?
- Royal Caribbean: Am I allowed to bring duty free products I purchased onboard?
- Royal Caribbean: What is the legal drinking age when cruising with Royal Caribbean?
- Royal Caribbean: What is a Royal Caribbean beverage drink package?
- Royal Caribbean: Can I order multiple drinks at a time with the all-inclusive beverage packages?
- Celebrity Cruises: On Board a Cruise FAQs
- Carnival Cruise Line: Liquor and Beverage Policy
- Norwegian Cruise Line: What is the alcohol and beverage policy?
- Princess Cruises: FAQs, Onboard Experience
- Cruise Hive: Royal Caribbean Makes a Wine Policy Change (March 2023)
- VinePair: Royal Caribbean Alcohol Policy Change (March 2023)
- Royal Caribbean Blog: Can You Bring Alcohol on a Royal Caribbean Cruise?
- Royal Caribbean Blog: Royal Caribbean Is Actually Enforcing a Rule About Bringing Wine on a Cruise
- Royal Caribbean Blog: I Saw People Get Stopped at Cruise Ship Embarkation for These 4 Items
- Cruise.Blog: Bringing Wine on a Cruise? Understanding the Royal Caribbean Alcohol Policy
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