Taking alcohol on board

First of all Happy New Year to all.

Can any recent cruisers please tell me if you can still take duty free alcohol on board. I have just been told by a friend that they no longer allow (or perhaps encourage) passengers to take booze.

They don't search your baggage and if you carry it aboard, though you will have to put it through the scanner, they are looking for other things than booze and no one will be bothered. But don't say I told you.

David

On the pando chat room they often discuss this(ON-BOARD FORUM/WINING):D and its fine, i am going to take a box of wine and a bottle of champers (for cabin drinking only). As we have a balcony stateroom, and I thought it would be lovely to sit out there and watch the world go by with a nice glass of vino!

sue

The Australian rules seem to be different to the other countries. On the 3 Aussie ships you are allowed 1 litre of Alcohol per person onboard. If they discover more than that they will confiscate it and return it upon disembarkation. They certainly haven't changed their documentation to say otherwise.

Thanks for the replies but what does this mean? Do we get it back when we embark or disembark?

P&O website -

Customs – embarking

Duty-free alcohol over one bottle (1125 ml) per adult passenger will be taken prior to embarking and a receipt issued.

Pacific Princess website-

Customs - Embarking

Duty-free alcohol, except wine and champagne, will be taken prior to embarking and a receipt issued.

Thanks for the replies but what does this mean? Do we get it back when we embark or disembark?

P&O website -

Customs – embarking

Duty-free alcohol over one bottle (1125 ml) per adult passenger will be taken prior to embarking and a receipt issued.

Pacific Princess website-

Customs - Embarking

Duty-free alcohol, except wine and champagne, will be taken prior to embarking and a receipt issued.

I'd like to know whether it's just that P & O have not updated their website or if they have their own rule re alcohol but the amount allowed by customs is now 2250ml per adult. Obviously that's what you're allowed to bring back in, maybe the 1125ml is just what you're allowed in your cabin. It all seems very confusing. As my husband doesn't drink I can take 2 x 1125ml bottles which is plenty for cabin drinking but I'll make sure I bring 4 bottles back.

Karen

P&O Australia's rule is 1 bottle allowed to be consumed onboard per adult. I am not sure if it is related to the duty free or not. For the last couple or years you have been able to buy 2 bottles of alcohol duty free as long as you declared any over 1125 (ie first bottle usually). The new duty free limits have really just formalised the previous arrangement of 2 bottles declaring one and as long as it was less than $50 of extra duty free with no penalties. So if it was linked to Duty Free allowances they should have changed it ages ago.

Also note that (officially) you can only take on one bottle when on first embarkation. You cannot buy it on the ship or in any other port to be consumed. They are all "confiscated". Any duty free alcohol you buy is recorded to your cabin and delivered on the last night. Even in Vila they bag it up and deliver it back to the ship.

P&O website -

Customs – embarking

 

Duty-free alcohol over one bottle (1125 ml) per adult passenger will be taken prior to embarking and a receipt issued.

They take it as you board (if discovered I guess) and return it to you on the last night.

We have to find a babysitter for our alcohol between cruises. As I don't think customs will agree to us bringing back 8 bottles.

Just wondering about bringing bottles back in. When the allowance was one bottle you could bring in two, no problems, if you declared it. Can you now bring in 3 bottles if you declare the extra one? Has anyone done this lately? Not for me as I am allergic to alcohol (sad I know) but the non-cruising members of the family are putting in their Vila orders. :)

No, you can only bring back 2 and they will charge duty on all bottles if you exceed your allowance. The declare one bottle before was really just the unofficial 2 bottles that it is officially now.

There was a discussion about it on http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/discus/index.php listed under the open discussion last entry 31/5/05

Direct link is http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/discus/viewtopic.php?t=818

This board is mainly visited by business people with lots of miliage. So I reckon then are up the all the details.

so if you can take one bottle per person on board.

assuming you put it in your carryon there will be no problems. What if you also packed 1 in your checked luggage. It would be impossible to coralate the the checked luggage with carryon.. so you get 2 bottles per person?

Sound fisable??

Dan

I think that is the general consensus. It is certainly a common thing on the US ships as they don't seem to be allowed any spirits. The xray luggage but don't know if they care or not.

When we last cruised in October the P&O Australia rules said you could take one bottle of alcohol onboard per adult. We have friends sailing in a few weeks and they were told the rules have changed and you can't take spirits anymore.

I looked up the terms and conditions at the P&O Australia site and it says you can take one bottle of wine or Champagne per adult. If you then want to drink it in the restaurant they will charge a $10 corkage fee.:eek:

Maybe drink a bottle of Shiraz the night before the cruise and then refill the bottle with whisky, rum, or whatever. What an evil mind! Make sure it is a screw-top bottle though;)

I wish P&O would give consistant info and update their website etc. We are leaving in 2 weeks too and all the doco we received says 1 bottle of alcohol. Doesn't specify you can't bring on spirits or can only be wine/champagne. Just in case anyone doesn't realise, it doesn't have to be duty free. You can bring any from the shop. We took on homemade Baileys last time. Have 5 bottles made up for this holiday. Some for at our friends some for both cruises.

When we last cruised in October the P&O Australia rules said you could take one bottle of alcohol onboard per adult. We have friends sailing in a few weeks and they were told the rules have changed and you can't take spirits anymore.

 

I looked up the terms and conditions at the P&O Australia site and it says you can take one bottle of wine or Champagne per adult. If you then want to drink it in the restaurant they will charge a $10 corkage fee.:eek:

 

This is what I heard and why I posted. They really need to update their information. We need some clever ways to get some booze on board. Any suggestions?

We are cruising in 2 weeks and when our documnetation arrived a slip had been inserted by P&O stating that policy had changed and no alcohol was allowed to be brought on the ship for consumption. This differs from the printed brochure also enclosed with the doco so is obviously a recent change.

I f you asked them why, they would probably claim insurance reasons or similar but I'd guess the real reason is so you buy more alcohol from the onboard bars. Remember, Carnival aims that each adult spends $100 per day onboard in addition to their fare!!!

We need some clever ways to get some booze on board. Any suggestions?

I am sure the Cruise Companies read these sites so any suggestions will be well noted by them as well. :(

For "aussiedisneyfan" I would be decanting the homemade Bailey's (Can I have some samples?) into non alcohol style bottles. For example those bottles you get heartburn medicine in or the like, in fact anything that doesn't look like a bottle of spirits. You may not be able to take as much but you can still get a few good "hits" onboard.

We always take water dispensing bottles (those with the valve on top) when we cruise, so maybe you could store some stronger liquids in them :D

We leave the day after Jessica3152 and we didn't receive the insert.

I have just rung P&O to check. They have confirmed that from R603 onwards there is a no alcohol policy!!!! GRRRRR. Lucky you Chaz, Suey, Froggy and Dan, you guys just scrape in.

I forgot to say, apparantly we should have received the insert stating the new policy. I wonder if I can rock up with my alcohol and say I was none the wiser. Guess they would just confiscate it. As mine is homemade it wouldn't impact on my 2 bottles duty free coming home.

II'd love to know the real reason why they've changed the rule. If it is just to get you to spend more at the bars (and I bet that is the reason), then I think it's a bit ridiculous. One bottle per adult over an average of 9 or 10 days isn't going to take much away from the bars and I think it's nice to sit & have a drink in your cabin whilst getting ready for dinner.

As if we don't spend enough with P & O just in fares & spending money on board!!!

Karen

It certainly won't increase our bar spending. I don't the the bars would appreciate me running around in my knickers, getting dressed having my pre dinner drink.

We usually only drank it getting ready for dinner or a nightcap before bed. Both of those can't really be done in the bar. So they won't be gaining from us.

Well that all just plain sucks...

I bet in the not to distance future they up the drink costs in the bars too !

gggrrrrr... not happy Jan :(

One bottle per adult over an average of 9 or 10 days isn't going to take much away from the bars .....

As if we don't spend enough with P & O just in fares & spending money on board!!!

 

Karen

Although this bit of news is third hand, someone going on the "Sun" rang and queried this and was told too many young people were creating problems by drinking their supplies on the first day/night.

I am sure if someone else rang and asked the reason, they would get a different answer and so on, and so on...

It certainly won't increase our bar spending. I don't the the bars would appreciate me running around in my knickers, getting dressed having my pre dinner drink.

 

We usually only drank it getting ready for dinner or a nightcap before bed. Both of those can't really be done in the bar. So they won't be gaining from us.

ditto

Karen

It is just another of the 'little' changes they have made over the years, sometimes I think it is better to be a new cruiser then you don't notice them. They have a captive market, lets face it we are all addicted to cruising. Oh well, have to take the bad with the good I suppose. Anyway I am sure, where there is a will there is a way. :)