Royal Caribbean seems to have found out what many of us already know: that many cruise lovers are also booze lovers.

Last month the company announced proudly that they were now offering a selection of drinks packages on three of their ships, including the Independence, which is based in Southampton. These packages offered passengers the chance to pay a fixed price per day and then enjoy as many drinks as they wanted.

To be honest, this did not mean free drinks. In fact the packages announced included specified drinks for a set price: $29 per day for beers and glasses of house wine, and $39 per day for beer, basic spirits and cocktails and wine. The premium package at $49 per day included more “exotic” drinks such as Johnnie Walker whisky and Bombay Sapphire gin. A two-week cruise could, therefore, set you back another £434 per person, or £868 per couple.

It seems that Royal Caribbean misjudged themselves with the drinking habits of some passengers embarking from Southampton. After only three weeks the packages were withdrawn from Independence, but, strangely enough, not from Legend of the Seas (Far East) or Grandeur of the Seas (Caribbean).

A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean was only prepared to say this "Royal Caribbean International is temporarily suspending its recently-introduced drinks packages, which the ship has been trialling in order to make some changes based on guest feedback to date.”

According to the company’s website, these packages will be re-introduced soon. Not without changes it seems – the prices will apparently be higher and according to the FAQ on their website "a package must be purchased by all eligible guests in a stateroom." From now on you will also need a photo ID to order drinks if you have purchased one of these packages.

If one reads between the lines, this infers that some people have signed up for a single package and then used their membership card to get hold of “free” drinks for their partners. Apparently some of them even passed their cards around to their friends so they could get free drinks as well!