Grand Cayman new law?

[SL6827]

So interesting. Never heard of such. I can see people staying on the ships, especially if it is a new one to the fleet.

 

[tigerchic89]

good gravy GC is getting a bit full of themselves. This "law" really pisses me off, trying to force me where to spend my drinking money!!! I'm on a DCL sailing that stops there soon. I think I will plan to drink my carry on and platinum gift champagne/prosecco on my verandah that afternoon instead on dropping any money on that island!!!!!

 

[SL6827]

good gravy GC is getting a bit full of themselves. This "law" really pisses me off, trying to force me where to spend my drinking money!!! I'm on a DCL sailing that stops there soon. I think I will plan to drink my carry on and platinum gift champagne/prosecco on my verandah that afternoon instead on dropping any money on that island!!!!!

I agree. And I very rarely drink.

 

[Mdub1021]

Keeping one bar open will limit sales, thus limiting the tax they must pay, if that is indeed the law. Highly doubt any cruise line enjoys this, but it seems many locations have similar rules.

 

[lanejudy]

It kind of reminds me of the rules about shopping, with the shops all closed until getting far enough out to sea. At least there is one location open to order drinks.

 

[kiford]

good gravy GC is getting a bit full of themselves. This "law" really pisses me off, trying to force me where to spend my drinking money!!! I'm on a DCL sailing that stops there soon. I think I will plan to drink my carry on and platinum gift champagne/prosecco on my verandah that afternoon instead on dropping any money on that island!!!!!

That's what I said. We usually don't bother to bring wine on board for various reasons but if we were going on a cruise that stops at GC, I will probably bring a bottle on board and plan to drink it on my verandah while docked there. We've been to GC a couple of times, seen everything I'm interested in, not interested in beaches at all, not interested in shopping. We prefer to stay on the ship and the fact that you have to tender in makes it less likely that I'm going to impulsively change my mind.

 

[soniam]

It's definitely weird. I love GC. The snorkeling is amazing! We usually don't drink on land; however, I thought I was buying enough rum cake to make up for that I guess not.

 

[Kwami]

Keeping one bar open will limit sales, thus limiting the tax they must pay, if that is indeed the law. Highly doubt any cruise line enjoys this, but it seems many locations have similar rules.

Why would Disney care, though? They're just going to collect the taxes from the passengers and then pass them along to the Cayman government. It doesn't matter how much money is collected and forwarded. None of it is Disney's money.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Here's a question. What happens if a ship is still in port when dinner comes? Do the people who've already paid (via a package) get to have their wine with dinner?

 

[hrhdhd]

Here's a question. What happens if a ship is still in port when dinner comes? Do the people who've already paid (via a package) get to have their wine with dinner?

People on Celebrity with (prepaid) drink packages are reporting no wine in the dining rooms at lunch.

 

[kiford]

It doesn't matter how much money is collected and forwarded. None of it is Disney's money.

Speaking as an operations/logistic person - it's a royal PITA and a lot of work to have to track and submit paperwork for what can be relatively minimal amounts. Costs you more than the actual submission. The person/people who have to do this could be doing so much more value-added work but nooooo.

 

[Kwami]

Speaking as an operations/logistic person - it's a royal PITA and a lot of work to have to track and submit paperwork for what can be relatively minimal amounts. Costs you more than the actual submission. The person/people who have to do this could be doing so much more value-added work but nooooo.

Well, sure. I guess that it's annoying to fill out the paperwork and so it's easier to do it for just one bar instead of doing it for each bar.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Wouldn't it be better to keep the bars open and collect the tax than to close the bars? Disney would still be making money on sales and the bartenders would still be collecting gratuities. Guests would surely prefer it that way, too, right? Closing the bars seems silly to me.

What a nightmare though to have to:
1) start the clock on drinking tax. I can see “Sorry, when you ordered your drink we were in international waters but your drink was made in Grand Cayman waters.”
2) you now have a person that can work the system to collect all the data from 1-10 stations to compile into documents for GC
3) you have to have a system to signal the point you are in and out of international waters down to a scientific point.
4)

Why would Disney care, though? They're just going to collect the taxes from the passengers and then pass them along to the Cayman government. It doesn't matter how much money is collected and forwarded. None of it is Disney's money.

Well, sure. I guess that it's annoying to fill out the paperwork and so it's easier to do it for just one bar instead of doing it for each bar.

JUST…we already fly to the Moon so JUST add more gas and we can go to Mars. Never as simple as just that though is it?
I am a JUST thinker myself. We are like twins in this way. Takes me a few minutes to think of all the “then if” problems and in short order I get pretty overwhelmed with the problem. And then say “That’s it! We are only serving tap water in GC now!” So let’s not put me in a position of authority, right?

So my thoughts are that GC wanted to make money from the untaxed booze cruise-boat industry and decided “why limit ourselves” and included the cruise-ship industry. Didn’t see any reason to limit the size in the law.

GC should just base a fee on the sales during the last time in port. Create one big fee for the first visit. Still would have to collect the taxes on drinks but assuming those fees would all go to cover the prepaid big fee upfront. Which in theory, would never be paid in full because it was larger than what a normal cruise would have cost in tax.

That’s my JUST idea with more holes than Swiss cheese. Not expected a job offer anytime soon.

 

[tvguy]

I guess I am really out of touch with my drinking. I mean, there are bars right there where the ships dock/tenders come in. You can walk to the bar, drink for all 7 hours they are there, and stumble back on board.

Same with Carnival's controversy over limiting guests to 15 alcoholic drinks a day. People drink 15 alcoholic beverages a day and live to tell about it?

 

[Snowwhyt]

I guess I am really out of touch with my drinking. I mean, there are bars right there where the ships dock/tenders come in. You can walk to the bar, drink for all 7 hours they are there, and stumble back on board.

Same with Carnival's controversy over limiting guests to 15 alcoholic drinks a day. People drink 15 alcoholic beverages a day and live to tell about it?

I get what you’re saying. But there’s always a small amount of people who don’t leave the ship. I didn’t even know that was a thing until I heard people complaining about one of the closer island stops here years ago.
Turns out now I have missed 10 of my last 15 ports. The ship made it, but my parents, ugh, can’t physically make it anymore. Then on my transatlantic trip I miss half of those ports because my daughter was sick(injured really).
Glad we had a few places to go on the ship.

 

[tvguy]

I get what you’re saying. But there’s always a small amount of people who don’t leave the ship. I didn’t even know that was a thing until I heard people complaining about one of the closer island stops here years ago.
Turns out now I have missed 10 of my last 15 ports. The ship made it, but my parents, ugh, can’t physically make it anymore. Then on my transatlantic trip I miss half of those ports because my daughter was sick(injured really).
Glad we had a few places to go on the ship.

You're right. And it seems the number of people who don't leave the ship is growing. I had an exchange with a YouTube Cruiser Vlogger. He says the ship is everything to him. He doesn't care about the ports. His priorities are the Casino, the shows and the Extra Cost dining. That explains why he didn't like Disney the one time he went, no casino.
I get it, we have been to St. Thomas that we no longer do excursions, and that day is our sleep in day. But we always get off the ship for a little while. And like I have posted before my mom took I think 10 cruises that included stops in Mexico. She would get off the ship in Santa Barbara, and Catalina and San Diego, but bragged she never got off the ship in Mexico.

 

[Mdub1021]

Why would Disney care, though? They're just going to collect the taxes from the passengers and then pass them along to the Cayman government. It doesn't matter how much money is collected and forwarded. None of it is Disney's money.

Since no one can quite find the law/rule, we don’t know exactly what the penalty to Disney is. It could be based on per drink purchased or hours of a bar being open, and each bar is counted separately. It could be more than what is typically taxed.

 

[tvguy]

Just poking around ... apparently the one bar per deck restriction rule is in effect when ships dock in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

 

[tvguy]

Since no one can quite find the law/rule, we don’t know exactly what the penalty to Disney is. It could be based on per drink purchased or hours of a bar being open, and each bar is counted separately. It could be more than what is typically taxed.

Well, haven't found the exact law but all the cruise lines that go to Grand Cayman have posted it. But I misunderstood.
As posted up thread, you can still get all the alcohol you want on board, but only bar will be open. How many bars currently are open when the ship is in port? I recall many being closed when the ship was in port.

 

[kiford]

And it seems the number of people who don't leave the ship is growing

I suspect that's a large part of the reason why the law was put into place. The fact that you have to tender at GC can be something of an incentive to stay on board ship if you don't have anything planned and/or you're not interested in beaches or shopping or that's just not enough of a draw to make you want to take the tender. So they need something to "encourage" you to leave the ship.