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Bringing alcohol on board


ozwine

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As an avid wine collector, I'd like to bring a couple of special bottles on board Horizon in April 05. I seem to remember a discussion about policies somewhere but I can't find it.

Also, how do they handle rums and stuff purchased in Carribean ports?

Anybody purchased anything unique? I already have all the Barbancourt rums up to the 15 yr old.

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Technically you're not supposed to BYOB. However, they have corkage fees and do mention that you can bring bottles of special wine or champagne when you embark. We usually bring a bottle of something (typically rum) and put it in the checked bags, but I've heard of others who put it in carry-on and walk it right through security.

 

If you purchase liquor in ports, it will either be sent directly to the ship, or will (usually) be taken upon boarding and reappear in your cabin the night before you disembark.

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We just got off a 10 day Summit. Took 9 bottles of wine... no one cared. In fact, our room steward made sure we always had wine glasses and a corkscrew, and he also took our whites to the dining room in the late afternoon so they were chilled for dinner.

 

Corkage was a bit steep at $15 -- same in Normandy - where the service was excellent and the $15 was well deserved. The Main Dining corkage should be $10, IMO, becasue the wine service just isn't up to par. They will keep a bottle for you, marked, until you finish it, though.

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Oh, and re: buying rum (sorry, I forgot)...

 

We bought more aged rum than you can shake a stick at. The Barbancourt. An aged Appleton. A few nice Havana Clubs. An Angoustura. Mount Gay. (Prices were best on St. Kitts, St. Maartin, Barbados) Anyway - it was never taken from us at the gangway. So I think that even though that is the policy, it is not always enforced.

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I too have always carried 8 or so bottles of wine on and never have I had it taken away. I also brought Liquor on and none was taken. I carried it in my carry on which I purchased in route to the ship. Let me know if anyone gets there taken, how about Limes? can I carry them on? I am making Cosmos. Thanks vlnovak

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Just back from the Summit I had a bottle of bourbon in my checked bag no problem.Brought back rum in every port always in a bckpack never a problem.I got some Mount Gay extra old in Barbados Brindly Gold vanilla rum in St.Kitts,a blue coconut rum in St.Martin,a Cruzan single barrel in St.Thomas and a spiced rum in St.Lucia I got it in a hillside bakery no label on the bottle and the herbs still in the bottle great taste but it's almost gone.

They did take my box of booze when I got on the ship in St.Thomas but they let 10 other people go by while they were giving me a receipt.

 

Tom

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There was a special feature on this site yesterday which give the alcohol policy for most cruise lines. Celebrity policy stated that no alchoholic beverages are permitted to be brought on at embarkation unless specifically approved in advance by Celebrity. Any alchoholic beverages puchased in ports are held until debarkation.

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There was a special feature on this site yesterday which give the alcohol policy for most cruise lines. Celebrity policy stated that no alchoholic beverages are permitted to be brought on at embarkation unless specifically approved in advance by Celebrity. Any alchoholic beverages puchased in ports are held until debarkation.
This is copied direct from the Celebrity web site's FAQ section:
What is Celebrity's liquor and alcohol policy?

No alcoholic beverages may be purchased ashore for consumption onboard.

 

Onboard purchases from the gift shop of any bottle of liquor will be held until the last night of the cruise when it will be delivered to the stateroom.

 

Celebrity Cruises will not serve alcoholic beverages while a vessel is at sea to guests under 18 years of age. In port, the minimum drinking age is 18 or 21, in accordance with local legal age limits.

Our personal experience is that you can take wine & booze on at embarkation, but it varies as to what is allowed to be taken to the cabins from ports of call. If you carry the purchases from the ports in those big cardboard carry boxes the liquor stores provide, chances are that they will hold them till the end of the cruise. If you bring back one or two bottles in bags or your personal shore bag you will most likely not be stopped.

 

Another thing we discovered~~ if you get off the ship early, go make your liquor purchases and come right back to the ship, they will not have the "confiscation table" set up yet and we walked right to our cabin with it. It has worked for us, even when both of us were carrying the multi-pack cardboard boxes. This was in St. Maartin, St. Thomas and a couple of other Caribbean islands.

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If they didn't allow wine, there would be no corkage fee. :) We have bought wines in port and no one batted an eye.

Is there a corkage fee in the main restaurant?

 

Wines not bought from the onboard wine list will constitute a corkage fee. The corkage fee for the main and casual dining, as well as the specialty restaurant is $15 per bottle.

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Our first cruise on the Connie in April 2003, I had a bottle of rum with me, it was taken and given back the last night. I believe they practice a don't ask, don't tell policy. We had bought 3 bottles of vodka in our luggage the next cruise, no problem. The vodka was a special one celebrating a special occasion.

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There was a special feature on this site yesterday which give the alcohol policy for most cruise lines. Celebrity policy stated that no alchoholic beverages are permitted to be brought on at embarkation unless specifically approved in advance by Celebrity. Any alchoholic beverages puchased in ports are held until debarkation.

 

Thats alot of BULL :eek: they may say it but they don't do it

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