Two Bottles of Wine allowed on board ??

Two different reps on the Celebrity Reservations line have told me that we can take 2 bottles of wine on to the Solstice for our stateroom use. They also said we were NOT allowed to take any type of soda pop on board, which ticks me off a bit because I prefer Pepsi to the Coca Cola served on board.

 

Anyway, we're just wondering, what is the correct way to take the wine on board? Do we take it in our carry on and do they officially "register" that we have it? Or do we pack it in our luggage and the cabin steward records that we have brought it on board?

 

Any comments about the minibar beverage package? Do you get unlimited soft drinks and unlimited bottles of your favorite spirit?

We have never had a problem bringing our wine (or other liquid refreshment) in our carry on.

 

We have never used the "mini" bar.

Yep one bottle per person. We pack them in our checked bags. We are on the summit in April and we are considering trying to pack 1 in our checked bags and 1 each in our ship carry ons. We'll see if it works. We are wine snobs but do enjoy the celebrity wine list. Don't forget to ask your table waiter to bring you Reidle glasses each night for your wine. And you can bring your wine to the dining room. Cruise on! Donna

You should be able to bring soda on board; I have never heard of anybody being stopped from doing this. For the bar set up you receive one liter of liquor of your choice and one six pack of mixers of your choice; they are not replenished (unless you pay additional).

Two different reps on the Celebrity Reservations line have told me that we can take 2 bottles of wine on to the Solstice for our stateroom use. They also said we were NOT allowed to take any type of soda pop on board, which ticks me off a bit because I prefer Pepsi to the Coca Cola served on board.

 

Anyway, we're just wondering, what is the correct way to take the wine on board? Do we take it in our carry on and do they officially "register" that we have it? Or do we pack it in our luggage and the cabin steward records that we have brought it on board?

 

Any comments about the minibar beverage package? Do you get unlimited soft drinks and unlimited bottles of your favorite spirit?

 

We usually just carry our wine on board with our carry-on items - sometimes in a sack from the store.

 

I've never heard of any rules about bringing non-alcoholic beverages nor read any reports here on cruise cruise critic about anyone having an issue with this. I've carried 6 or 8 packs of 1 1/2 liter bottles of water on that I purchased at a port store, and I've read posts here which report people checking a case of soda pop with the luggage porters and having it delivered to their state room with no issues.

 

Minibar Beverage package? Never heard of this! In fact from what I know none of the beverage packages include anything from the mini bar. I have heard of a stateroom liquor setup package which includes a single bottle of spirits and a 6-pack of mixer - none of which get replenished. Is that what you're thinking of?

 

...And you can bring your wine to the dining room. Cruise on! Donna

 

There is a $25/bottle corkage fee for bringing your wine to the dining room. No extra charge for consuming it in your stateroom.

Re carrying wine in your carry on. Do you buy it at home and carry it on the plane or do you wait until you arrive and buy it near the port?

Re carrying wine in your carry on. Do you buy it at home and carry it on the plane or do you wait until you arrive and buy it near the port?

 

You can't carry it on the plane anymore unless you have cleared security and bought it at a duty free store. Caution, if you are changing planes later, you will be in big trouble.

 

If you are arriving the day before your cruise, buy it when you get there then carry it on the ship. No need to put it in your checked luggage and take the risk of breakage.

You can't carry it on the plane anymore unless you have cleared security and bought it at a duty free store. Caution, if you are changing planes later, you will be in big trouble.

 

If you are arriving the day before your cruise, buy it when you get there then carry it on the ship. No need to put it in your checked luggage and take the risk of breakage.

 

That's what I thought but I wanted to check. We fly into FLL mid morning the day of our cruise and we'll have our taxi stop at Total Wine on the way to port.

Re carrying wine in your carry on. Do you buy it at home and carry it on the plane or do you wait until you arrive and buy it near the port?

 

You can not carry wine on the plane because of TSA security and the 3 ounce rule. So if you are transporting it on the plane then you have to put it in your checked luggage. we've done that but we're always nervous it will break, although we've never had a problem. So we prefer to buy it at a store at the port city which is usually what we do.

That's what I thought but I wanted to check. We fly into FLL mid morning the day of our cruise and we'll have our taxi stop at Total Wine on the way to port.

 

I understand that they don't open up until 12:00pm on Sundays.

Thanks for those helpful replies, although a lot of what is being said is "second hand". For example, "I've never heard of anyone having a problem taking soda on board".

 

Has anyone had RECENT experience taking pop on board?

 

And during boarding, as they scan your carry on, do they comment about the bottle of wine in the bag ??

 

Thanks

...And during boarding, as they scan your carry on, do they comment about the bottle of wine in the bag ??...

 

No - never a word.

The Celebrity rules are two bottles of wine per SR, not one per person, and our friends took a case of pop with them on their last cruise in Nov 10, as have people taken bottled water.

 

So as far as direct knowledge of what has been done, you can take on soda cans/bottles and water, and two bottles of wine/champagne. we take ours on in our carry-on and get it at the port before departing.

 

I know we all have preferences between the Colas, but my experience is after taking my second or third drink of the 'other' cola, I don't notice the difference anymore..probably just my ignorant 'pallet'.

 

There is a Classic and Premium Stateroom bar Setup package you can order. Go to the Celebrity site and the Beverage Packages section (Onboard Experience).

 

Den

 

Den

This is very interesting, thank you for the information. I am still trying to decide if I want to get a beverage package or not and I think this might just be my answer to not get one.

Departing from Baltimore, MD: We packed two bottles of wine (1.5L) in our carry-on; it was scanned and no comment was made.

 

Our tablemate had a small travel iron in her checked luggage; it was confiscated and returned at the end of the trip. (Her room steward made her aware of that.)

Thanks for those helpful replies, although a lot of what is being said is "second hand". For example, "I've never heard of anyone having a problem taking soda on board".

 

Has anyone had RECENT experience taking pop on board?

 

And during boarding, as they scan your carry on, do they comment about the bottle of wine in the bag ??

 

Thanks

 

We brought pop and water on board the Eclipse October 2010 sailing out of Southampton. We have also brought many bottles of water on board several cruises since April 2009, all with no problems.

 

Linda

Ok it seems pretty clear that the official Celebrity rule is that two bottles of wine per stateroom can be brought on board by passengers. So, if one places two bottles in checked baggage and and also has two bottles in carry on baggage how exactly is Celebrity going to have any clue that you in fact have a total of four and are in violation of their rule? Also, if you have several checked bags each with a couple of bottles of wine does anyone think that Celebrity crew members maintain meticulous, coordinated counts of all bottles found during baggage scans by passenger cabin numbers? Does Celebrity in actuality send very bag that shows for bottles during scans down to the 'naughty room'? Or, does Celebrity merely do random checks, in which case should one of the several bags each with packed bottles be pulled out they are still only going to find two permitted bottles of wine anyway.

I apologize if I'm hijacking this thread but I do have a question kind of related to stratixman's post. We have friends who cruise mainly Princess, which I've heard allows you to bring unlimited wine on board and they always pack a box of wine in bottles -- maybe 6 or 8 bottles. They recently went on a Celebrity/Princess back to back, their first Celebrity cruise. They did their usual of packing a box with wine bottles, put a tag on it and tipped the porter. And had no problem bringing a box of wine in bottles on the Celebrity ship. I know this to be a fact because they're getting ready to go on another Celebrity cruise next week and have already prepared their box of wine in bottles. Has anyone ever done this on Celebrity?

There are the 'rules' and then there is the actual crew that do the 'checking'. If you get a zealous 'new man on the job' you may have an issue.

 

Last month we brought 2 bottles each in our carry-on-as did our travelling companions. No issue, in fact I believe that we could have doubled that with no problem. No one seemed to care.

 

I did buy a bottle of wine at a port stop and it was taken away. But...it was returned in the early afternoon of the last evening. So that bottle never made it off the ship!

 

Cannot comment on soft drinks...we never drink them.

Stratixman: The same question occured to me.....how could they actually tally all the bottles in various pieces of checked/carry-on luggage. I am very interested to hear different points of view.

We each brought 2 bottles of wine each in our carry on luggage for a total of 4 bottles on our November 2010 cruise. We went through security together and nobody said a thing. We also brought a flat of diet Coke, water and Red bull. No problems what so ever!

Stratixman: The same question occured to me.....how could they actually tally all the bottles in various pieces of checked/carry-on luggage. I am very interested to hear different points of view.

I have NEVER heard of Celebrity having any mechanism to tally up a count of bottles going different routes to the same cabin. Common sense would say don't make it too obvious that your two bottles and your traveling companion's bottles are going to the same room [such as having your cabin number prominently displayed on each of two bags going consecutively through the scanner]. Celebrity does not specify bottle size, and most reports say no problem with two 1.5 litre [double size] bottles within a single bag, but there are scatted reports of difficulties with large bottles and also with boxes of wine. Usually Celebrity doesn't seem to care unless you really push the limit.

 

Although I have not heard of problems in this area, I would advise limiting openly displayed bottles to two at a time [leaving the remainder in a suitcase] to minimize potential problems with a housekeeping supervisor or a minibar resupplier turning you in [i doubt the tip dependent room steward is likely to turn you in]. Room stewards will readily supply cork screws and glasses [we have usually gotten these without asking if we leave a bottle out - otherwise ask if you need them].

 

Thom

TravelerTom: Thanks for the reply.

There is a $25/bottle corkage fee for bringing your wine to the dining room. No extra charge for consuming it in your stateroom.

 

Oh yes sorry I did not mention that ... I guess I just wanted to let them know that they COULD bring it...

 

Share a glass of good wine with the Wine Steward...we don't always get charged the corkage....

 

Donna

Re carrying wine in your carry on. Do you buy it at home and carry it on the plane or do you wait until you arrive and buy it near the port?

 

No we either pack it into our airline checked luggage OR buy it once we get passed security we buy it. Seattle and Portland airports have pretty good wine shops and then we carry it on the flight...Donna