Alcohol limits on Cancun flight

We have just arrived off VS 93. The flight was basically fine, although we were stuck on a non-refurbed plane.

However, on this flight in economy they were very tight with the alcohol. They announced that they would only serve alcohol off the trolleys and that they would only serve soft drinks if you came to the galley. In addition, even when they had the trolleys out, if you tried to ask for an alcoholic drink on their way back they wouldn't serve you.

Even with the rationing, they had run out of all alcohol except for wine! It hardly seemed like a particularly boozy crowd. So I am wondering if they are also cutting down on how much alcohol the load on the flight

Is this a new policy? If so, is it to reduce drunkenness or to save money? Is it only for the routes out of Gatwick?

I am just glad I loaded up at the Clubhouse before I boarded

I do think you should have been advised of this as terms clearly state complementary drinks on board. Lets say you were flying with a charter airline with drinks at £4.00 5 drinks on a 10 hour flight @ £4.00 x 2 Pax £40.00 can I have a rebate please !!.

That sounds worse than the Vegas flights? Somebody will be able to expand upon, i'm sure.

Another one bites the dust :# :#

By the sounds of it they are restricting alcohol intake on the 'party' routes. Whilst from the consumer perspective it is a bad move, if they did not move to ration the supply they would run out for the return trips (as they are not able to restock at location) and they would also have a plane full of drunk people. Whilst most would be fine there is always the one or two that spoil it for the rest n( n(

Interesting that even with rationing they ran out ?| ?| Perhaps less was loaded now they are restricting intake... no doubt a weight issue so they can fit a few extra grams of cargo

What I do wonder is if PE and UC are under the same restrictions ?| Given there is no trolley going back and forth UC pax may not notice any restriction in service, not to mention the fully loaded bar - PE on the other hand..... Would assume the front galley is not stocked with an extra booze supply for PE to consume - is it?

I have only heard of this happening ex-LGW so far (assume ex-MAN would be the same) although if they came across alcohol fuelled businessmen wandering the plane on the ex-LHR routes I am sure they would cut me... I mean them ( ) off too :0 :0

Hope you enjoy your time in Cancun 8D

[preiffer]

Upper (on non-"party" routes as well as these) OFTEN runs out of wine after even the first meal service.

I've experienced it several times.

How many alcoholic drinks wre you offered? Normally there would be one drinks service and drinks with the meal. Did they do an extra drinks service later in the flight?
Yes the website says complimentary drinks which it still is. It doesn't say unlimited drinks until everyone is drunk.
Unfortunately due to the rise in drunk pax on board limiting the amount of alcohol served is the only way to keep a check on how much each of the 450 pax have drunk. In upper and premium they are smaller cabins so it is easier to keep a check of how much people are drinking. In economy it is very very hard to keep tabs on 380 pax especially when you have queues of people at the galleys getting rounds of drinks for them and their mates.
Personally I think three or four alcoholic drinks on a flight should be enough for anyone especially as the effects of alcohol are doubled in the air. Why people feel the need to get inebriated is beyond me they must feel rough as when they disembark. Sadly as stated the few irresponsible ones do ruin it for the majority but I'm sure most pax would prefer crew to prevent an air rage incident when you see so many being reported in the press at the moment.
Everything in moderation.

Personally I do not understand the whole thing about alcohol. I am not tee-total and I do sometimes imbibe (as per the evidence to the right), but whether or not a flight has alcohol on board, "free" or otherwise does not bother me. I don't much mind what other passengers do provided it does not impinge upon my safety and comfort.

Upper (on non-"party" routes as well as these) OFTEN runs out of wine after even the first meal service.

I've experienced it several times.

I've never totally run out of wine in UC, but I frequently find that the 'one' really drinkable red that they have (and in my experience there usually is only one, if that) always tends to go very quickly!

There is a balance required here, and it's a tricky one as VS needs to maintain control, but does not want come across as a total party pooper, especially when people are starting their holidays. But sounds like this particular flight was on the draconian side of rationing.

This is just a rambling off-topic observation, but on my last flight I did not touch a drop (and on the previous one I had but half a glass of wine) -- and the difference was utterly astonishing. I felt so much better afterwards.

So I don't really mind if they restrict it, but I do understand that others will feel differently.

When I read about the Las Vegas route I was pretty sure that cancun would be next : (
I understand the theory behind it - given that it is a ' party' route, but I would be pretty peeved if I was declined an alcoholic drink on my flight. I am not a lush but on my usual flight to cancun of approx 11 hours I would easily consum 2 or 3 baileys and the same amount of red wine and sit nice and quietly watching movies not turning into a raving drunk-and would be really cheesed off if I wasn't 'allowed' this on my flight.
Also what is the thinking in you having to go to the galley to get soft drinks ???? , if they want to limit the alcoholic consumption then why not soft drinks only trolley runs after the meals have been served.
Luckily I am flying upper class so ( hopefully) these draconian measures won't affect me otherwise I would be using an alternative carrier not because I am a raving alcoholic but because I think it's outrageous at the ripe old age of blah blah blah I am being told that I can't have more than a couple of alcoholic drinks in a 10 hour period in case I turn into a screeching banshee

[Decker]

*cough* http://brokensecrets.com/2010/05/19/altitude-does-not-increase-the-affect-of-alcohol/

*cough* http://brokensecrets.com/2010/05/19/altitude-does-not-increase-the-affect-of-alcohol/

Thank you for quoting that, I always listen to that take-off announcement and think poppycock.

Yes, specific drinks can run out in UC and often do, many are the tales of champagne running out even before take-off.

The problem for VS here is that it has a reputation as a fun airline, many of the leisure routes are exactly that, people going on holiday or for a special occasion ... and frankly there should be no harm in a few or more drinks (this is wholly different to business travel from such a perspective). Now controlling excessive drinking is not my forte however ii) . But if VS gets a reputation based on stories such as the OPs, then people will look to other airlines ... perhaps this particular lever has been swung to far in reverse?

What was interesting was that they announced the policy even before take off. I might have understood if they were running low mid flight and had to start rationing. I had heard about the occasional rationed LAS flight. However it is interesting that Cancun would be considered a party route and not the Caribbean flights.

We were offered a pre dinner drink, but no refills. We had drinks at dinner but again no refill. There was another mid-flight service but that's when all they had was wine.

I am curious if caspaton had the same experience since they flew out the week before

I had this on LGW-CUN but not CUN-LGW. Maybe they dont uplift extra in CUN and so the outward flight is limited to ensure enough for the return leg, or maybe with the return leg being a night flight, they always have plenty?

Outbound, I was in Premium Economy on the Upper Deck and all we got was wine with the meal (which I didn't drink), a Baileys after the meal (which my wife had) and then a can of Tiger Beer.

They did no further rounds with either alcohol or soft drinks. And when I asked for another told them I had not drank the wine (and offered to bring back my unopened bottle to prove it) I was begrudgingly given another can. Not great service!

With about 2 1/2 hours left of the flight, a passenger behind me asked for an alcoholic drink, and was told that all the bars had been counted and locked away for landing!

Return flight crew were better. We were told by the crew that they would not be bringing the bars around so as not to disturb anyone sleeping, but invited us to go to the galley if we wanted any drinks. True to their word, everytime we went to the galley, they were happy to serve us alcohol or juice.

Seems to me like an inconsistency of crew. But pretty poor show for such a long flight! I've been offered more refreshment on a Southampton-Aberdeen flight!

I don't know all the ins and out but is it possible there was (as Reggie Perrins brother-in-law would say) 'a cock up on the catering front' and a booze cart wasn't loaded and rather than delay the flight (which people would complain about) they sent it out anyway rather than waiting for a new cart resulting in the 'rationing' ?

We have probbaly all been on at least one flight in our lives when something or other hadn't been loaded - whether drinks, food, special meals, duty free or odds and sods like amenity kits.

I had a very mean alcohol service in Upper from SFO a few weeks ago (keep meaning to do the trip report), so its had an appearance in both upper and LHR flights too.

This sounds like bean counters playing the h&s card and imagine if all flights delved into a trend across all flights...
This topic could prove interesting.....

My opinion on this is quite simple.

If an increasing minority of passengers didn't get themselves so hammered as if it's some sort of ritual when flying (both long and short haul), then there would be very, very few issues with alcohol being denied on aircraft.

If you look back to the 'golden age' of flying in the 70's, 60's and before, people were able to enjoy copious amounts of food and alcohol during much longer flight times due to slower aircraft. The archives aren't littered with what we'd now call unruly or even "chavvy" behaviour.

As I said in my TR to CUN, the outbound service on drinks was minimal, we had the "alcohol can be refused due to consumption rather than behaviour" speech on boarding - the limited my consumption to 2 beers and a glass of sparkling upon boarding. Not sure who decides what is realistic consumption, but to me 2 small cans of Grolsch and 1 glass of sparkling on a 10 hour flights is way under excessive.

It left a slight bitter taste the way this was handled (we were upstairs in PE, Refurb plane) but this was completely different on return with the crew on an overnight flight being much more approachable an willing to serve.

I wonder if it's the new layout ? perhaps with EC and PE being split on the top deck, CC don't want to cause disquiet by serving PE more when EC can see ?

Either way, never had a restriction imposed on a BA flight !

Another one bites the dust :# :#



What I do wonder is if PE and UC are under the same restrictions ?| Given there is no trolley going back and forth UC pax may not notice any restriction in service, not to mention the fully loaded bar - PE on the other hand..... Would assume the front galley is not stocked with an extra booze supply for PE to consume - is it?

I was in UC on the LAS flight that was previously discussed (Wed 29/08/12). I did my usual lap of the plane and while it was busy (and tbh pretty grim) in EC, PE wasn't so busy (maybe 50% full downstairs) but there was no alcohol visible there so I guess it's from the same stock.

I can confirm that alcohol was still being served in UC (for the entire journey) and that the staff member travelling on a company ticket was very much worse for wear. I'm not saying they were a problem or anything of the sort, just well sozzled. Obviously in cabin of 14 it's a lot easier to manage but that's a different discussion...