How to bring wine aboard?

[DENIE]

My wife and I sail on Oosterdam in March '09 from San Diego. I've seen posts about a pharmacy very near the port (walking distance, actually) that sells wine. What is the recommended way to bring wine aboard? We have several of the "6 pack" fabric containers with handles that Trader Joe's and grocery stores have. Should it be brought on board with you personally? Or can it be left with a porter (and a luggage tag)? Just curious. We are flying in and I plan to be dropped off at the store while wife goes and waits with our luggage. I will walk back, since the store is just a few blocks from the cruise terminal. Thanks! :)

[hylasgirl]

I bought a great little dolly type thing at Wal-Mart.com It's called a luggage cart I think... but it is steel and VERY well built. It folds down and can be placed in your luggage. We bought two cases at Total Wine in Florida last December and just wheeled them right onboard. We put them each on the security belt, and then put them back on our cart, and off we went. We had a few people (obviously not Cruise Critic people) that couldn't believe we "got away with it". I would have to tell them it's allowed.

I have recently seen this same luggage, dolly type card at Costco too.

[mechcc]

Unless those fabric containers can withstand being thrown around, I would carry them on board. When you check luggage it goes into the hands of stevedors who are hired by the port and NOT the cruiseline. As such they have no vested interest in ensuring your wine makes it to your cabin in one piece or even if it makes onto the ship. Nor do they care if they throw your wine and it breaks and ruins the luggage and contents of your fellow passengers.
Keep a small roll on bag with you that is empty and fill it with your wine purchases. You will be assured of your wine making it onboard in one piece

[kjw869]

I can agree with the Maggie regarding the safety of having wine in the hands of the porters. In May, we purchased four bottles of wine in Seattle and had at least 3-4 inches of bubble wrap around all the bottles in a small suitcase. The suitcase only had the four bottles and so much bubble wrap, it was tough to close. I saw them gently put it through security on the conveyor belt. When we finally got to our cabin, the suitcase was on a towel in the bathtub, soaked in red wine. The Front Desk called the next day and sent up a new bottle of wine and some chocolates--very nice touch, even it was not their fault.

I washed and dried the suitcase so we had room to bring back our purchases from an Alaska cruise.,

[mechcc]

I can agree with the Maggie regarding the safety of having wine in the hands of the porters. In May, we purchased four bottles of wine in Seattle and had at least 3-4 inches of bubble wrap around all the bottles in a small suitcase. The suitcase only had the four bottles and so much bubble wrap, it was tough to close. I saw them gently put it through security on the conveyor belt. When we finally got to our cabin, the suitcase was on a towel in the bathtub, soaked in red wine. The Front Desk called the next day and sent up a new bottle of wine and some chocolates--very nice touch, even it was not their fault.

I washed and dried the suitcase so we had room to bring back our purchases from an Alaska cruise.,

That was very nice to send you a new bottle of wine!

[bcirish]

My wife and I sail on Oosterdam in March '09 from San Diego. I've seen posts about a pharmacy very near the port (walking distance, actually) that sells wine. What is the recommended way to bring wine aboard? We have several of the "6 pack" fabric containers with handles that Trader Joe's and grocery stores have. Should it be brought on board with you personally? Or can it be left with a porter (and a luggage tag)? Just curious. We are flying in and I plan to be dropped off at the store while wife goes and waits with our luggage. I will walk back, since the store is just a few blocks from the cruise terminal. Thanks! :)

That short walk is from the wine store to the entrance to the port but it is a hefty walk once inside the port to get to the ship- I would not be walking from the Wine store to the port. You may want to consider going line and pre ordering your wine and having the taxi wait outside while you pick up the wine and then go on to the ship. We walked from the HOliday INn Express to the WIne store ( which is close ) but carrying wine back was not a pleasant experience- got heavy very fast. The hotel is at the entrance to the port but it has to be at least another 7 or more blocks to the ships - you may want to do some checking. Good luck

[serendipity1499]

That short walk is from the wine store to the entrance to the port but it is a hefty walk once inside the port to get to the ship- I would not be walking from the Wine store to the port. You may want to consider going line and pre ordering your wine and having the taxi wait outside while you pick up the wine and then go on to the ship. We walked from the HOliday INn Express to the WIne store ( which is close ) but carrying wine back was not a pleasant experience- got heavy very fast. The hotel is at the entrance to the port but it has to be at least another 7 or more blocks to the ships - you may want to do some checking. Good luck

[SIZE=3]Deleted as I did not realize you were boarding in San Diego...However I will state that the walk for us to get from the Entrance in San Diego to the ship was a long one..We had a layover in San Diego last month..Betty

[DENIE]

Thank you all for the replies and advice - this is very helpful! :)

I think we will fly with a small empty suitcase on wheels with which to purchase several bottles of wine (bubble wrapping of course!) from the pharmacy, and me taking a 2nd cab to the terminal. I agree with the comments about taking them on board with us rather then checking them, as we will not have that many.

I'm glad to see HAL has this policy regarding wine, and hope they continue.

My wife and I are new to cruising. Took a 2-night "cruise to nowhere" on NCL (Star) out of San Pedro in November to see if we would like cruising, and I think we are hooked! We are very excited about our first HAL cruise in March.

[zoncom]

My BF ordered a chrome plated luggage dolly from Sears on line, picked it up at Sears store for $30.for our non air cruises on HAL. Actually looks classy. DO NOT give any wine to porters. It may be broken or stolen.

[TahoeTraveler]

For our Panama Canal cruise in October, I got online and found a collapsible rolling cooler for about $50. We packed it in our suitcase for the flight, and once at the hotel in Ft Lauderdale, unpacked it and headed for the wine store. We packed 12 bottles in it, wrapped in bubble wrap we had also brought with us. We then rolled it back to the hotel, and then rolled it with us onto the ship the next day. It went through the x-ray belt at security with no problem (except for my husband having to hoist it up there!!).

Once onboard, we used the cooler as just that...a cooler. Our cabin steward would roll it down the hall every morning to fill it back up with ice, and that was more than enough to cool down our sodas, white wine, and water. The "refrigerator" onboard really doesn't keep drinks very cold, and bottles of wine won't fit into it, so the cooler was really, really helpful. My husband has already said we're packing it again for our Baltic cruise in August.

This might be another option to having an extra suitcase for the wine (which is what I initally planned to do myself, until I read some posts on CC referencing these collapsible rolling coolers).

[NextOne]

Denie - Welcome to the boards! As you can tell, there's a wealth of information available here and CC'ers love to share their knowledge! Enjoy your cruise!:)

[floralscent]

We packed our 6 bottles of wine in a Trader Joes tote and then put the tote in a backpack and just carried it on board. We used the tote to keep the bottles from moving around and from hitting each other. It was very easy to carry and not too heavy.

Enjoy your cruise!!

[garydm]

We have brought a case of wine onboard in San Diego a number of times. Each time we just checked it with our luggage and tipped the porter well. We have never had a bottle broken and we just check it in the cardboard wine box from the store.

An option would be to call World Market (619.236.1737) or Wine Bank in downtown San Diego and have them put a case together (if you want that much) and have it packaged and ready for you to stop and pick it up enroute to the ship. Probably add $5 to the cab ride.

Gary

[Typhoon1]

Buy as many cases as you like, leave them with the porters and have them deliver them to your cabin.

[jerseygirl3]

My wife and I sail on Oosterdam in March '09 from San Diego. I've seen posts about a pharmacy very near the port (walking distance, actually) that sells wine. What is the recommended way to bring wine aboard? We have several of the "6 pack" fabric containers with handles that Trader Joe's and grocery stores have. Should it be brought on board with you personally? Or can it be left with a porter (and a luggage tag)? Just curious. We are flying in and I plan to be dropped off at the store while wife goes and waits with our luggage. I will walk back, since the store is just a few blocks from the cruise terminal. Thanks! :)

We bought a small, lightweight handtruck and wheeled two cases onboard for our HAL cruise. It fit easily into our luggage because it collapsed, and we just brought it out after we arrived at our embarkation port, loaded the two cases of wine on it and wheeled it onboard. We got lots of envious remarks from people who didn't realize you could bring as much wine onboard as you wanted.

Jo-Ann

[jcrandle]

We bought a small, lightweight handtruck and wheeled two cases onboard for our HAL cruise. It fit easily into our luggage because it collapsed, and we just brought it out after we arrived at our embarkation port, loaded the two cases of wine on it and wheeled it onboard. We got lots of envious remarks from people who didn't realize you could bring as much wine onboard as you wanted.

Jo-Ann

The handtruck or luggage carrier is fine for a short cruise. If you are embarking on a longer than one week cruise, you probably need to hire a fork lift:D

[jerseygirl3]

The handtruck or luggage carrier is fine for a short cruise. If you are embarking on a longer than one week cruise, you probably need to hire a fork lift:D

True!LOL

[sail7seas]

The handtruck or luggage carrier is fine for a short cruise. If you are embarking on a longer than one week cruise, you probably need to hire a fork lift:D


Cracked me up !!! :D How much is enough? ;)

[Taxguy77]

Thank you all for the replies and advice - this is very helpful! :)


My wife and I are new to cruising. Took a 2-night "cruise to nowhere" on NCL (Star) out of San Pedro in November to see if we would like cruising, and I think we are hooked! We are very excited about our first HAL cruise in March.

2 days really is not enough time to decide, but if you liked that I'm sure you will REALLY be hooked after a regular cruise!:p
Enjoy!

[bohica]

I just returned from Zuiderdam, and thanks to checking CC before the trip - we came prepared with (nearly) a case of vino. We were going to taxi to total wine in FTL - but found that a simple inquiry to the manager of the publix across the street from our hotel yeilded a sturdy case, and we selected 8 bottles - plus a champagne for NYE. We put 8 of them in the case, with a seltzer water in each corner, taped it up, and tied it all off with some rope (brought from home) to which we attached a luggage tag. It arrived unscathed in our room, and helped tremendously in our enjoyment of the cruse. Kudos to HAL for allowing this - we've had to run bandit on other lines.

[wheels@sea]

Does this booze policy apply to the volendam when sailing from Sydney to NZ on 14 day cruise ?

cheers .. need all info i can get as 1st time Holland america line cruiser

[RuthC]

Does this booze policy apply to the volendam when sailing from Sydney to NZ on 14 day cruise ?
The "booze" policy is the same on every HAL ship, every itinerary.
You are allowed to bring aboard as much wine, champagne, water, soda, and juice, as you wish. That's both at initial embarkation, and subsequent ports.
Hard liquor and beer are not allowed.

[wheels@sea]

The "booze" policy is the same on every HAL ship, every itinerary.
You are allowed to bring aboard as much wine, champagne, water, soda, and juice, as you wish. That's both at initial embarkation, and subsequent ports.
Hard liquor and beer are not allowed.


cheers ruth, that great to know and much better than P&O whom dont allow any

[HWY 101]

http://sciencedude.freedomblogging.com/2010/01/02/sunday-temperatures-to-hit-80/75593/

happy sailings..:)