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Bringing Wine on board ( without smuggling)


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Can anyone tell us if you can bring on a bottle or 2 of your wine on board and if you can have it in your room?

 

I would not bring it. They will confiscate it at the pier, and according to their Contract (that you agreed to when you signed it), anything confiscated at the pier will not be returned. I have seen on some RCCL cruises, that the booze that was confiscated was not even placed on the ship, just left at the pier. If you wanted to reclaim it, you had to go and stand in line after you got off the ship at the end of the cruise.

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It has been reported that at many ports now they will NOT return any confiscated booze even if it is in an unopened bottle. Guess they figure it's just not worth the hassle. So don't ever count on it's being returned.

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Can anyone tell us if you can bring on a bottle or 2 of your wine on board and if you can have it in your room?

 

One of the most ridiculous rules on RCI:mad:. Almost every other line allows you 1 or 2 bottles of wine.

 

There is one exception. For anyone sailing out of Barcelona:

 

There is a wine/liquor store AFTER security. You can load up as much as you want and just walk on the ship. On Brilliance, people were making several trips back and forth:).

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I thought I read somewhere that people would want to buy local bottles of alcohol as souvenirs when on port trips and that RCL would hold those bottles until the last night, so as not to penalize people who weren't smuggling, but just buying alcohol from the ports.

 

I wish people would lay low on the Barcelona port so that the shop is still available when we get there next year:o

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Rather than the smuggling thing, which was covered earlier - why not try buying some in advance on the RCCL web site (Gifts and Gear) and request to have it delivered to your cabin? If you booked through a T/A, they have access to T/A rates for a merlot and white wine at a price of something like $13.99 per bottle. Can only be delivered to your cabin. With the white wine though you cannot request a pinot grigio, chardonnay, etc. You get a WHITE wine. They select. Kind of dumb, IMHO. You can also request a white zin, if you prefer that, but I think the price is a little higher.

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One of the most ridiculous rules on RCI:mad:. Almost every other line allows you 1 or 2 bottles of wine.

 

There is one exception. For anyone sailing out of Barcelona:

 

There is a wine/liquor store AFTER security. You can load up as much as you want and just walk on the ship. On Brilliance, people were making several trips back and forth:).

 

Wait...HOLD THE HORSES!!!!:D I'm on a TA departing from Barcelona in October. So what you're saying is I will have the chance to buy some vino after security/before boarding and nobody will stop me? You just became my new best friend!!!

 

So how do the prices/selection run?

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There is one exception. For anyone sailing out of Barcelona:

 

There is a wine/liquor store AFTER security. You can load up as much as you want and just walk on the ship. On Brilliance, people were making several trips back and forth:).

 

Yep, can confirm this. We were shocked, actually!

 

I wish people would lay low on the Barcelona port so that the shop is still available when we get there next year:o

 

You know what? It's not run by RCI. They would never do that - they'd be shooting themselves in the foot that way. It's run by the port - it has to be! No other explanation. RCI would never sell discounted liquor, water, soda, and sundries before boarding one of their ships where they could sell it for whatever they want.

 

So what you're saying is I will have the chance to buy some vino after security/before boarding and nobody will stop me...

So how do the prices/selection run?

 

We only bought 6 cans of soda but knowing how much they cost onboard, we thought we'd go ahead and get a few cans. Price was I think, 8 Euros for 6 cans?? Anyway, cheaper than onboard, for sure ($2.25 each can onboard). Sorry I don't know about the liquor prices.

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You know what? It's not run by RCI. They would never do that - they'd be shooting themselves in the foot that way. It's run by the port - it has to be! .

 

Yep, I believe that is right but RCL could mess us up by putting a scanner after the Shop....:(

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Having sail 4 times from Barcelona on the RCL there is a security guy sat at a table just as you step off the gang plank and if you have one of the duty free shops carrier bags it gets searched. If it is booze it gets confiscated just the same.

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Wait...HOLD THE HORSES!!!!:D I'm on a TA departing from Barcelona in October. So what you're saying is I will have the chance to buy some vino after security/before boarding and nobody will stop me? You just became my new best friend!!!

 

So how do the prices/selection run?

 

It is a duty-free shop, prices were pretty good when we were there last year. They have liquor on one side and a wine shop straight across. We were shocked also, had to board first to make sure it was true. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Having sail 4 times from Barcelona on the RCL there is a security guy sat at a table just as you step off the gang plank and if you have one of the duty free shops carrier bags it gets searched. If it is booze it gets confiscated just the same.

 

Never saw a security guy but I guess that is why the store was telling everyone to put their purchases in a carry on:).

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I thought I read somewhere that people would want to buy local bottles of alcohol as souvenirs when on port trips and that RCL would hold those bottles until the last night, so as not to penalize people who weren't smuggling, but just buying alcohol from the ports.

 

I wish people would lay low on the Barcelona port so that the shop is still available when we get there next year:o

 

I believe what people were saying is that if it is confiscated at the original embarkation port it will not be returned. However, if it is collected at a port of call, it will most definitely be returned to you on the last night or morning of debarkation.

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I believe what people were saying is that if it is confiscated at the original embarkation port it will not be returned. However, if it is collected at a port of call, it will most definitely be returned to you on the last night or morning of debarkation.

 

 

Yes, that's true about alcohol bought at a port of call. We bought several bottles of wine in Sicily and it was taken at the table but returned the night before debarkation.

 

What's funny is my SIL & I also bought some small bottles of wine and liquor. When we went over to the table the guy collecting said they weren't equipped for the smaller size bottles. When we said they were gifts for people back home (& they really were) he gave them back to us and said just don't drink onboard. We did that at each port. By the last port the guy just looked at us and laughed and waved us through.

 

And I think the 3rd night of the cruise my DH went to Vintages and bought a couple of bottles of wine for all of us to enjoy on the balcony. No problem taking the entire bottle up.

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Yep, I believe that is right but RCL could mess us up by putting a scanner after the Shop....:(

 

We walked on board in Barcelona carrying our two bottles of wine (purchased at that little duty free type store before boarding) in full view of security, fully expecting to pay the corkage fees that the Jade charges and a case of water to boot. Nothing was said or done. I was quite surprised to say the least and was quite disappointed that I didn't get a couple of more before we left!! :p From what I recall the cost for wine varied from about euro 3 per bottle to about 30 (I only spent euro 8 per bottle and they were great).

That brings me to my question - Does RCCL have a corkage fee like the Jade? - it was $15 USD per bottle that you carried on and they took the wine at boarding and brought it to you at dinner when requested. I never had to do this cause, like I said, we just carried ours on board.

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That brings me to my question - Does RCCL have a corkage fee like the Jade? - it was $15 USD per bottle that you carried on and they took the wine at boarding and brought it to you at dinner when requested.

 

The thing is, RCI does not permit alcohol of any kind to be brought onboard; additionally, there are reports of corkscrews in luggage being confiscated. That's why this revelation at the Barcelona pier is so amazing; people who have sailed with RCI for years know the policy (like us) and are shocked and surprised to find this happening there. Just a heads up.

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The thing is, RCI does not permit alcohol of any kind to be brought onboard; additionally, there are reports of corkscrews in luggage being confiscated. That's why this revelation at the Barcelona pier is so amazing; people who have sailed with RCI for years know the policy (like us) and are shocked and surprised to find this happening there. Just a heads up.

I'm so glad they didn't confiscate mine last year on the Jewel westbound transatlantic! We had plans to buy wine, bread, and cheese in Paris and have a picnic on the bus back to Le Havre - and they went beautifully!

Gladly turned in the other 2 bottles of French red table wine I bought, as I really wanted them at home and might've been tempted to drink them onboard if they'd been in my cabin :)

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