Just back of Carnival Dream and the alcohol confiscating IS WAY UP!!!

[Sherman793]

Just an FYI, my husband and I are not normally booze smugglers, in fact we have never bothered. This is our sixth cruise and we have never carried on more than allowed of anything. However my son and his girlfriend are not well off at the moment so they wanted to carry on beer. They asked us to put a case in our luggage so we went ahead and split it between my husbands luggage and mine. He also had a case is his in a container. Ours was loose in large plastic bags. We embarked around 11:30 so we were among the first on board. They got mine and my sons right away out of our luggage and left us a note that it would be redelived to our room on the last day of the cruise, which they did. My husband unfortunately locked his bag so he had to do the walk of shame down to the baggage area and unlock his bag to get it out. I was pretty mortified for him. For some reason my sons girlfriends plastic bottle of Jack Daniels that was in his bag also was left. I guess they just saw the beer and pulled that out.

Needless to say I will never be bothered to do this again no matter what I am asked. Having to drag all that back off the ship including all our stuff we bought was no fun. Cheating never pays!!!

[BaconIsGood]

Ouch, the walk of shame! hope you had a good time on the Dream anyway! We go in a month

[Tapi]

I know that many will disagree with me, but I'm actually happy that Carnival (and other cruise lines) are finally enforcing this rule.

Smuggling alcohol onboard means less revenue for the cruise line. Less revenue means spreading the cost among all passengers. So the passengers that DO follow the rules end up indirectly paying the tab of those trying to save a buck.

[dprg644]

Ah lesson learned is next time tell your son if he wants it he carries it We had a case of water and a 3 ltr box of wine in ours on the Dream and it made it through OK. Must be all the metal cans showing up when they x-ray the bags.

[mjkbaok]

Just went on the Conquest last week out of Galveston. Carried a bottle of champagne in each carry on which is allowed. Decided to put a bottle in my luggage and my girlfriend did the same. Both made it through with no problem. Maybe they don't check as close in Galveston. Who knows? We still spent plenty of money on drinks The Goombay Smash was awesome!!!

[Havingfun2010]

Happy to hear, Carnival is enforcing rules.

[timh111]

We did the Dream 4/17 - 4/24. I brought on a bottle of Jack Daniels via my check in baggage and my brother brought on a bottle of Rum in his check in baggage. NO PROBLEM!! We even bought Tequila in Cozumel and brought that back onboard and still not problem. I agree SOMEWHAT with those that are glad that Carnival is cracking down. I and so many others would be MUCH happier if they didn't charge $4.50 for 1 beer not to include the 15% gratuity or $9.50 for the DOD in a cheap plastic glass (that used to be REAL GLASS years ago) and the $15.00 for a bucket of beer (that comes to $3.00 per beer) when you consider they are buying these items in BULK and probably spend .50 cents per beer and .03 cents for those cheap plastic glasses for the DOD's!!! And what's with the $49.95 for the unlimited beverage card for the week??? OK, I regress. I'm NOT happy they are. If they charged a FAIR price where then could make a decent profit, people would NOT try to smuggle alcohol onboard!!! Times are tough for most cruisers and making an allowance of $2000.00 in their budgets for JUST the cruise not including excursions, shopping or the bar bill you will incurr EVEN if you smuggle alcohol onboard brings that up to around $3000.00 for a couple!! Price fairly, people will buy and they will make a profit!!

[SUGARCREEK45]

Its not like Carnival doesn't make enough money. Who cares if someone is smuggling booze. If carnival doesn't want people sneeking booze on onbroad they shouldn't charge $5 a beer or $8 a drink. I mean come on the price carnival pays for a case of beer is like $20 because they buy in bulk, do the math 24 cans X $5 = $120 so they make $100 on each case of of beer, So dont say that it hurts there revenue because that's BULL.

[ava_girl_123]

I wonder if it has anything to do with how early you show up? The earlier maybe the more time they have to look threw the bags vs the later, more bags are there..? I am thinking keeping them loose was not a good idea either..

[Vanessa L]

Originally Posted by SUGARCREEK45

Its not like Carnival doesn't make enough money. Who cares if someone is smuggling booze. If carnival doesn't want people sneeking booze on onbroad they shouldn't charge $5 a beer or $8 a drink. I mean come on the price carnival pays for a case of beer is like $20 because they buy in bulk, do the math 24 cans X $5 = $120 so they make $100 on each case of of beer, So dont say that it hurts there revenue because that's BULL.

I agree 100%. This is as far fetched as the power strips causing a fire or using up all the ship's electricity, for God's sake. If you figure that only 2-3% of the cruising population follows this or any other cruise board (don't get me on the "I didn't research ONE thing about my cruise, soap box, it's not pretty, I can assure you!) then that means only approx. 60-90 people (+/-) of a 3000 passenger sailing are attempting to smuggle because they know they can. And that is assuming every single one of the 2-3% following the boards, will smuggle. We know not all here (or other boards) do smuggle. With the prices that Carnival charges for their drinks and beer, to suggest that smugglers are making a "dent" in their bottom line is the most asinine thing I have ever read. I suspect they make enough profit just during spring break sailings to cover a good 6 months of smuggling, probably even an entire year's worth.

DH and I typically bring a 12 pack of soda, 1 box of wine and 2 other bottles of wine (white if red is in the box). That goes over the allotment by a couple of bottles and is maybe less than some bring on but more than others. If they wouldn't charge $20 for a wine that I can get for $5 then I would not feel the need to bring extra on board.

[Sherman793]

I believe our early check in did contribute to us being caught. I have never tried to bring on cans like that ever and lord knows our bill on departure is always in excess of $1000 to $1500 for gifts, steakhouse, booze on board, ect. They definately make plenty from us! I heard a number of people say that they had been confiscated and that they were early on the ship. So maybe that does matter. However like I said I will not ever bother again. I usually carry on my one bottle but have been drinking zero alcohol for a year so I did not need it at all. My husband, SIL, and FIL drank enough beer for all of us!!

BTW we paid 25.00 a bucket this trip for 4 beers. They have gone way up again. So I agree that with prices that high the real drinkers will continue to try and smuggle.

[pjpu]

We had 1 bottle of wine confiscated, but they didn't find the vodka in the same bag both were wrapped in bubble wrap and wrapped inside of clothing. They also took my curling iron (see curling iron thread for that!).

Our friends however had all 6 of their bottles (wine and liquor) taken.

We also boarded early - so that may have been why.

[Mrs.C05]

I thought they allowed wine and champagne to be brought on? Have they changed this?

[pjpu]

Originally Posted by Mrs.C05

I thought they allowed wine and champagne to be brought on? Have they changed this?

You can bring it in your carry on, which we did. But also had one packed in the luggage.

[Tapi]

Originally Posted by SUGARCREEK45

If carnival doesn't want people sneeking booze on onbroad they shouldn't charge $5 a beer or $8 a drink.

Actually, compared to land based resorts and even some local bars, $5 for a beer is dirt cheap.

Any way that you try to justify smuggling alcohol onboard, it still hurts the cruise line's bottom line.

Maybe 50 passengers do it on this sailing, maybe 100 on another, and so forth. But when you add up all the lost revenue, you're talking about millions of dollars.

Yes. Carnival still makes money even with the smugglers. But if their projected revenue doesn't match actual revenue, trust me, they will pass it on to the guests in the form of higher cruiser rates, or more expensive onboard items...

I'll know who to thank next time I pay more for my cruise...

[Kurbanfan]

Originally Posted by Sherman793

I believe our early check in did contribute to us being caught. I have never tried to bring on cans like that ever and lord knows our bill on departure is always in excess of $1000 to $1500 for gifts, steakhouse, booze on board, ect. They definately make plenty from us! I heard a number of people say that they had been confiscated and that they were early on the ship. So maybe that does matter. However like I said I will not ever bother again. I usually carry on my one bottle but have been drinking zero alcohol for a year so I did not need it at all. My husband, SIL, and FIL drank enough beer for all of us!!

BTW we paid 25.00 a bucket this trip for 4 beers. They have gone way up again. So I agree that with prices that high the real drinkers will continue to try and smuggle.

But did they take your curling iron

[SAC69]

Originally Posted by timh111

We did the Dream 4/17 - 4/24. I brought on a bottle of Jack Daniels via my check in baggage and my brother brought on a bottle of Rum in his check in baggage. NO PROBLEM!! We even bought Tequila in Cozumel and brought that back onboard and still not problem. I agree SOMEWHAT with those that are glad that Carnival is cracking down. I and so many others would be MUCH happier if they didn't charge $4.50 for 1 beer not to include the 15% gratuity or $9.50 for the DOD in a cheap plastic glass (that used to be REAL GLASS years ago) and the $15.00 for a bucket of beer (that comes to $3.00 per beer) when you consider they are buying these items in BULK and probably spend .50 cents per beer and .03 cents for those cheap plastic glasses for the DOD's!!! And what's with the $49.95 for the unlimited beverage card for the week??? OK, I regress. I'm NOT happy they are. If they charged a FAIR price where then could make a decent profit, people would NOT try to smuggle alcohol onboard!!! Times are tough for most cruisers and making an allowance of $2000.00 in their budgets for JUST the cruise not including excursions, shopping or the bar bill you will incurr EVEN if you smuggle alcohol onboard brings that up to around $3000.00 for a couple!! Price fairly, people will buy and they will make a profit!!

Your a couple of years behind on your drink prices. Buckets of beer are ~$21.00 plus tip and a single 16oz Bud is $6.61 including tip.

[Kurbanfan]

Originally Posted by Tapi

Actually, compared to land based resorts and even some local bars, $5 for a beer is dirt cheap.

Dirt cheap And their $5.00 beers just went up to $5.75 plus gratuity

[Tapi]

Originally Posted by Vanessa L

This is as far fetched as the power strips causing a fire or using up all the ship's electricity

Actually, it's not that far fetched. I was on a cruise in 1991 where our whole floor went dark because of an electrical overload. The origin of the overload? The passenger cabins. We received letters in our cabins the following morning banning everybody from using certain electrical items in their cabins, including hair dryers.

Ask an airline pilot or a cruise ship's captain if an overloaded electrical system is something to be taken lightly or something that is "far fetched"

[Tapi]

Originally Posted by Kurbanfan

Dirt cheap And their $5.00 beers just went up to $5.75 plus gratuity

Ok, maybe not DIRT cheap....