Booking a Cruise Sober
The fare looks right until you reach the screen for drink packages. Later you find a welcome bottle listed among the cabin perks. If you're booking a cruise sober, spend some time on those details while you can still compare sailings and cabin options.
Check what comes with the cabin
Read the fare details and the beverage package terms for your exact sailing. Ask whether a package is optional, whether everyone of legal drinking age in the cabin has to buy it if one person does, and what alternatives the line offers. For example, Royal Caribbean’s beverage package FAQ addresses this shared-cabin rule for its Deluxe Beverage Package. Check with your own cruise line before paying.
Ask about the minibar and welcome gifts while you can still change the reservation. Try, “Could you note that I’d like the minibar emptied of alcohol and any welcome wine removed before arrival? How can I confirm the request once I’m on board?” The wording in our hotel minibar request guide works in a cabin, too. Save the response where you can find it offline.
Talk to your cabin mate about what you want. If you'd like the cabin to stay alcohol-free, say so before either of you pays a deposit. A disagreement is easier to handle while you have time to choose different rooms or travel plans.
Read one sample day before you sail
Look at the ship’s daily activity schedule if the line makes it available. Pick one thing you’d enjoy in the evening and one quiet place you can go if a planned activity feels too focused on drinking. Check whether those places have seating and whether you need a reservation.
Plan how to reach a support person. Ask the cruise line what its internet packages support and what costs apply. Check ship time against your contact’s local time. Save a number and arrange one check-in you can make ashore if the ship connection doesn’t work. Our sober travel planning guide can help you write down that backup.
If you're hoping to join a meeting, confirm whether a gathering is actually on your sailing before relying on it. If you plan to call into a hybrid meeting back home, ask the group about its remote audio setup and choose a spot where others won’t hear the conversation.
Plan for time ashore and the return
Read the excursion description for drinks included, independent time and transportation. If a tour features a tasting you’d rather skip, find out whether you can choose another activity or return to the ship independently under the operator’s rules. Book around what you actually want to do.
Agree on a meeting point and time with your travel companion. Confirm whether the listed return time follows ship time or port time. Keep any details the operator provides somewhere accessible without internet.
If the people you're traveling with want an alcohol-free gathering, a simple lunch on shore can be easier to plan than a full-day activity. Our alcohol-free picnic guide has wording you can adapt to tell people what to bring and when they can drop in.
When you board, take a few minutes to find the places you picked out. The nearest quiet seating might be one deck above the cabin. Save its location and the meeting point with your travel companion so you can find both without relying on the ship app.
Medallions to consider
If a trip overlaps with a milestone you want to mark, decide whether you’d rather take a small reminder or celebrate when you get home.
The photos show sample years. Check the Sobriety Time selector for the milestone you want.
Common questions
Does a cruise ship always have an AA meeting?
Check the sailing’s current schedule or ask guest services. Set up a way to reach someone ashore even if the ship has a meeting listed.
How do I decline an included drink?
“Sparkling water for me, please” gives the server a clear order. Ask what is included and whether the alternative has a separate charge.
Keep reading
To compare designs for a milestone, browse Elite Medallions and Deluxe Coins.
