The Bahamas will suspend alcohol sales on Tuesday, May 12, while the country holds elections, stopping shore-side liquor purchases from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. across every island in the country, including private islands run by cruise companies.
The Parliamentary Commissioner said the restriction applies while polls remain open, and Royal Caribbean said it covers its private island, CocoCay, where two ships, Oasis of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas, are scheduled to visit that day. Guests aboard those ships can still buy alcohol on board, but cruisers visiting Bahamian ports on May 12 will not be able to purchase it ashore. The temporary rule is tied to election day and is part of a recurring practice that comes around four times a year. For cruise lines, the practical effect is a day of reworking shore excursions and passenger expectations, as described in the related report Caribbean cruise lines reroute as Bahamas alcohol ban takes effect May 12 at
The ban leaves the odd split that often defines cruise travel in the Bahamas: what is off limits on land remains available at sea. That gap matters most at CocoCay, where a company-owned island falls under the same election-day restriction as the rest of the archipelago, even as service continues aboard ships nearby. The result is a short-lived but broad pause on shore sales, one that reaches from the capital to the private beaches marketed to vacationers.
The next question for travelers is not whether the ban applies — it does — but how smoothly cruise schedules and passenger plans can absorb it on a day when alcohol is available at sea and barred on shore. For one day, the rules change at the waterline.
