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You can not take any kind of food off a ship -- whether it be a box lunch prepared by the cruise line or just boxes of cereal from the buffet. These are regulations by the local authorities in nearly every port.

 

If you have booked a private all day tour - check with your venfor and wee what they have planned for stopping for lunch.

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Has anyone been able to obtain a box lunch from the ship for all day excursions? Even if it is a non HAL excursursion, I know I am pushing it.
Most countries do not allow ANY non-packaged food or fruit off the ship and are very strict about it. I've been to many ports where there were large bins next to disembarkation filled with food people have tried to get off the ship. In some ports I've been to, carry-ons were searched before you were allowed to leave the immediate area around the ship.

 

The ONLY place I've ever seen boxed lunches were in Manaus for a ship-sponsored tour.

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We have also had our back packs and purses checked when we left the ship in ports. And we have seen those big barrels full of food that people took off the ship ignoring the signs.

 

There will be notices in your daily program about not taking food off the ship. And many of the ships that we have been on also have reminders as you leave the ship.

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Last December on the Noordam we were on the catamaran shore excursion in St Lucia. The ship delivered about a half-dozen box lunches to the boat for some HAL passenegers. I remember being envious (and hungry!), since it was an all day excursion without any provision for food. Now I wished I had asked them how they were able to set that up.

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You can not take any kind of food off a ship -- whether it be a box lunch prepared by the cruise line or just boxes of cereal from the buffet. These are regulations by the local authorities in nearly every port.

 

.

 

I always thought that packaged food (like the small boxes of cereal pre-packaged from the buffet) were allowed in most ports :confused:. A very quick google search did not yeild an answer. Does anyone have a link to port authority sites listing specific food regulations (no reason other than pure curiosity)??

 

Cheryl :)

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Has anyone been able to obtain a box lunch from the ship for all day excursions? Even if it is a non HAL excursursion, I know I am pushing it.

THX:confused:

 

Yes, HAL does supply lunch boxes for some all-day ship-organized excursions, i.e. in Peenemunde, Germany (for Berlin) and in Alexandria, Egypt (for Cairo) and there might be more in other ports.

In those boxes, which are prepared and put together on the ship by staff, you will find among other things, a bottle of water, a granola bar, a small box of raisins, a Dutch raisin bread roll called a "krentenbroodje", but also a piece of fruit such as an apple.

 

It is also true that in some ports, i.e. in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the local authorities will inspect purses and bags for prohibited food items, immediately upon coming off the tender.

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In every port in Australia and New Zealand we were strickly warned not to take any food off the ship. There were little dogs there (beagles...very cute) to sniff your bags as you walked by. If they smelled anything...even the smallest crumbs....they would sit by your bag and it would then be totally inspected. Many people were stopped because they had previously had food in their bags and crumbs remained.

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In every port in Australia and New Zealand we were strickly warned not to take any food off the ship. There were little dogs there (beagles...very cute) to sniff your bags as you walked by. If they smelled anything...even the smallest crumbs....they would sit by your bag and it would then be totally inspected. Many people were stopped because they had previously had food in their bags and crumbs remained.

 

That sounds a bit more friendly than the armed military checking bags as I entered Cabo San Lucas a few weeks ago. They did allow packaged food to be brought in even though the daily patter said absolutely no food. The armed guard didn't have a problem with a box of cheerios that a woman on our tender brought, which is what prompted my question above. I think the 'pre-packaged' food rule might differ by port?

 

Cheryl :)

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In November in the Carribean we were told no unsealed food could be taken off. We did take sealed boxes of cereal and sealed crackers and they were OK. I think it depends on the country. On the Carnival board people talked of getting food from the buffet and taking it with them but not only will it probably be taken from them in some countries they could be arrested - at least that is what we were told onboard. DH wanted to take off some fruit but I convinced him it wasn't worth it to try.

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have only been to the West/East Caribbean but we travel with 4 kids (age 7M to 5 yr) and we've always taken off boxes of cereal, granola bars and fruit (apples, bananas) and have never been asked or questioned. Food is always for the kids since we don't know where we are going, when we can get food and what type.

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have only been to the West/East Caribbean but we travel with 4 kids (age 7M to 5 yr) and we've always taken off boxes of cereal, granola bars and fruit (apples, bananas) and have never been asked or questioned. Food is always for the kids since we don't know where we are going, when we can get food and what type.

Sealed, pre-packed items such as the cereal and granola bars generally are acceptable ... but fresh fruit and vegetables are a huge no-no in most if not all ports.

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In every port in Australia and New Zealand we were strickly warned not to take any food off the ship. There were little dogs there (beagles...very cute) to sniff your bags as you walked by. If they smelled anything...even the smallest crumbs....they would sit by your bag and it would then be totally inspected. Many people were stopped because they had previously had food in their bags and crumbs remained.
I've disembarked in Valparaiso twice and both times, it was the same: you were transferred to a departure hall via bus and told to line up on both sides of a section with all of your carry-ons on the floor. Once everyone was in place, two soldiers holding machine guns escorted a third soldier with a dog which sniffed every single carry-on/bag on the floor. There's no way I'd want to mess with that 'cause they looked very serious.

 

Sealed, pre-packed items such as the cereal and granola bars generally are acceptable ... but fresh fruit and vegetables are a huge no-no in most if not all ports.
I agree. You can always get pre-packaged and sealed items in the ship's shop for your kids but bringing fruit or anything that isn't pre-packaged is, as camp says, a huge no-no. Heck, I was once flying from Rome to Boston (where I used to live) and as I was waiting for my luggage at Logan, an FDA official with a dog was checking everyone waiting at baggage claim. The dog stopped at the woman next to me and she was asked if she had fruit in her carry-on. She said, "No." She was asked again, and again, she said, "No." She was then asked to take everything out of the bag and sure 'nuff, there was a banana she'd brought off the plane. They waited politely until she got her luggage and then she was escorted away.

 

Messing with another country's agricultural industry can get you into serious trouble and even if you can get away with it, why would you want to do that? To save a couple of $? Sounds incredibly selfish to me.

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You will read the signs - no food ashore- many times on the daily reports.

It is not just "other"countries where this rule applies.

When entering the USA at many airport you will see many dogs sniffing luggage of passengers. Not just for drugs, but many times they will find food or fruits.

Some countries are very strict and you will loose your food and/or will have to pay a fine.

When HAL gives lunchboxes to their passengers on tour it will be according the rules and because there will be little time for a (save) lunchstop.

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I always thought that packaged food (like the small boxes of cereal pre-packaged from the buffet) were allowed in most ports :confused:. A very quick google search did not yeild an answer. Does anyone have a link to port authority sites listing specific food regulations (no reason other than pure curiosity)??

 

Cheryl :)

 

Some of the ports are really tough -- not even pre-packaged anything.

Don't a list of the various ports and what is acceptible.

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I've disembarked in Valparaiso twice and both times, it was the same: you were transferred to a departure hall via bus and told to line up on both sides of a section with all of your carry-ons on the floor. Once everyone was in place, two soldiers holding machine guns escorted a third soldier with a dog which sniffed every single carry-on/bag on the floor. There's no way I'd want to mess with that 'cause they looked very serious.

 

Even when you're absolutely sure you aren't carrying anything you shouldn't, that sort of inspection is intimidating (which is probably part of the whole idea).

 

When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, a classmate's father came to talk to our class. He worked for the US Dept of Agriculture and he told us about how important it was to keep our crops safe from invading pests. A grad school course in plant pathology confirmed everything I remembered from that talk. The way crops are grown today, with acres and acres and acres of the same species, a plant disease can wipe out all or most of a crop.

 

"It's just one banana/apple/plant/whatever" doesn't matter. It can take just one infected item in the wrong place to start an epiphytotic (plant epidemic). Many countries (Chile, certainly) depend heavily on agriculture for income.

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To add to the above comments ... to show how seriously our gov't treats the possibility of invaasive species coming into the States, I understand that all trash from any inbound international flight that had any food/snack service onboard is off-loaded from the plane, loaded on semi trucks and hauled away for incineration. That is the process at Chicago O'Hare and, I surmise, all other international airports in the country.

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No sandwiches?

 

Sealed, pre-packed items such as the cereal and granola bars generally are acceptable ... but fresh fruit and vegetables are a huge no-no in most if not all ports.
In Naples (for the Amalfi Coast excursion) we got a 1/2 chicken-salad sandwich, water, an apple, and a candy bar.
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In Naples (for the Amalfi Coast excursion) we got a 1/2 chicken-salad sandwich, water, an apple, and a candy bar.

 

You got one also, huh John;) In both Germany and Egypt, we had a nice apple in that box going ashore. The night before Egypt, we saw staff putting together those boxes in the show lounge for the next morning's early assembly & departure

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