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"Smuggling" alcohol


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I'm trying to find out as much as I can before our very first cruise in March. I've read a lot of people's experiences with smuggling alcohol onto the ship. They all talked about putting the bottles in their "checked" luggage. What do they mean by "checked"? Please remember I'm a rookie to this whole thing!

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Checked luggage is the luggage deposited with the porter at the pier and delivered to your room by one of the cruiselines employees. The luggage you bring on the ship yourself, such as your valuables, is considered carry-on luggage.

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All of us were rookies once. Ask away.

 

I'm no expert, but I believe your bags are screened, x-rayed and whatever else they do by customs. The people delivering luggage should have no reason to search bags. I have not heard that folks have had alcohol confiscated from checked luggage, but I'm not sure it hasn't happened. Others have said irons have been taken, but again I don't know when it is taken or who does the taking.

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I'm a rookie too but I assume it's similar to airport security where they x-ray all checked luggage and spot check random bags and/or bags that show something suspicious on x-ray.

 

Alcohol won't show up on x-ray unless you store it in a metal container of some kind. ;)

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Twister-I packed 3 bottles of wine into our 'checked' luggage. They made it through just fine. RCCL doesn't actually prevent you from doing this, so if you are within reason, I think it's not a problem. Just remember that the luggage goes through an awful lot before getting to your room...So pack everything breakable, including any alcohol, in sealable bags. Make sure it's well protected by wrapping in bubble wrap or similar. Worked out well for me as I then had the bubble wrap to use to protect vaulables on the way home too.

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Imosoreal~ Thanks for the input. I appreciate hearing from someone who knows what cruising is all about. My DH and I are the first members of our families to take a cruise. This is totally new to us!

 

I'm just wondering one thing...I see that you have many more cruises planned in the future. How in the world are people able to afford so many trips? I'm lucky just to be going on one! I'm very jealous!:)

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I gave up some shoe space..lol!

Actually, we drove to this one. But I have flown in the past and just bought the wine in the city we arrived in and packed it before boarding ship. I carry a bag and back pack on board with the important stuff just in case the luggage is uh..delayed. (Swimsuit, outfit for dinner, makeup, etc) It makes it easier to find the room in the checked bags. The room the wine takes up on the way to the ship also allowed the perfect amount of space for all the stuff we bought in port!

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.....I have cruised 2x on RCL and been able to carry aboard small bottles of liquor-alcohol. They barely screen what you carry on.they do xray..its done as you enter to Port terminal. Ihae also carried on 12pack soda wth no problrem.

I agree -if you pack it in your checked bags- wrap carefully!

ENJOY YOUR FIRST CRUISE!!!!!!

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My nephew told me about a little trick that HE says works.

 

Take a quart size bottled water container, fill it with Vodka and walk on the ship like its water. Looks exactly the same and he says he gets away with it. Does this when he is on the islands, of course it will only work with Vodka, Gin, or anything else that looks like water.

 

I have not tried it so cannot say first hand it works, but sound logical to me

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I'll add my 2 cents--to afford to cruise twice a year we drive old cars, we both take leftovers to work for lunch and don't order out ($5 a day for lunch is $1200 a year, more than our Vision cruise this Oct, which is $500 apiece). We don't eat out for dinner much, I cook in. I work a few Saturdays a month at time and a half. We don't have a DVD player or fancy stereo system. I research our cruises for the cheapest dates and use coupons and discount agencies, and always book onboard for the next one to get the shipboard credit. Once on the cruise, we do not overspend. We book our own independent shore excursions. We don't get massages and play bingo every day and shop in the boutiques. We're probably a cruise line's nightmare, but we're not cheap either. We overtip, we always buy wine with dinner and a few cocktails. I have a nice house with a pool (necessary in Tucson), so I'm not totally cheap, we just really watch where we spend our money so that we can afford to travel. We also have an AA Citibank card that gives us FF miles for every dollar we spend. We charge everything on the card, and pay it off completely every month. We use the FF miles to get to our cruise departure when we can. We don't buy new clothes for every cruise, but we dress appropriately every night for dinner. OK, too long I know, but that's what we do....

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