How Strict Is Celebrity On Smuggled Booze???

Will soon be going for my sixth cruise and my first time on Celebrity. On all my previous cruises I have always done just a little bit of booze smuggling, a bottle of scotch in one bag and a 6 pack of Buds in another. I still run up a nice bill for the cruise line on my card as well.

In the past I have had no problem whatsoever with my smuggled goods and I have not used RR. So how strict is Celebrity on smuggled booze??.

I know that the subject of smuggling is very heatedly debated on these forums so I am not interested in answers as to the rights and wrongs of smuggling as I have well defined my own opinions on this.

I look forward to your replies regarding Celebrity on this theme.

Will soon be going for my sixth cruise and my first time on Celebrity. On all my previous cruises I have always done just a little bit of booze smuggling, a bottle of scotch in one bag and a 6 pack of Buds in another. I still run up a nice bill for the cruise line on my card as well.

 

In the past I have had no problem whatsoever with my smuggled goods and I have not used RR. So how strict is Celebrity on smuggled booze??.

 

I know that the subject of smuggling is very heatedly debated on these forums so I am not interested in answers as to the rights and wrongs of smuggling as I have well defined my own opinions on this.

 

I look forward to your replies regarding Celebrity on this theme.

Celebrity is very strict, they scan the bags and if found whatever you have will be confiscated until the end of the cruise. There have been numerous reports on this board about this...

Recently the policy (at least during spring break) was that confiscated liquor would be destroyed and not returned to the passenger. Don't know if they actually carried that out, but that was what the company wrote in a special statement. In any case, if found you will not be able to retrieve your suitcase until later in the boarding day, will be called to a special place to open your bag and remove the liquor and turn it over to the staff. It can create quite a delay on that first day when you are anxious to get unpacked.

I had to go to the 'naughty room' on a recent Celebrity cruise to claim my suitcase because of some jewellery making tools. I stood in line for quite some time and saw items being confiscated. The cases were marked according to what had been seen on the X-rays. There were many bottles taken, as well as kettles, irons and steamers. Wine in excess of the two bottle limit was taken from carry on luggage while boarding, although this seemed to be a bit hit and miss. They did check that bottles actually contained wine and not spirits.

Sheila

No one really can tell you if you will be caught. X is getting to be stricter however. If you don't mind having your boarding delayed and losing your smuggled items, go ahead and try. You ARE allowed to carry on (openly) 2 bottles of wine per cabin.

On my January cruise we (and lots of other passengers) bought liquor on the islands and upon re-boarding, they spotted the liquor and kept it until the end of the cruise.

In addition to confiscating your booze they charge ballpark prices for the drinks on board. It's very annoying. Although we ran up a nice tab, all I wanted was an additional 6 pack at regular prices to have in the cabin for a drink on the balcony. It was not good enough to rape me on board, they needed to take my darn 6 pack as well.

Well here's what happened: My wife carried 2 and I carried 4. They flagged her and directed her to the "table" just beyond the check point. They also flagged me but I was carrying my shorts in my hand (to change in to) as I walked through the scanner. Well, they needed to rescan me because of the shorts and once the shorts were spotted they became the focus rather than the beer! I made a few harmless comments on the shorts, playing it up, and holding them up for all to see. Hoping they would forget the beer, I kind of snatched the carry-on tote, twirled past the table and never looked back and never stopped. I just proceeded ahead to the check in area leaving my wife behind.

A lot of work for 4 beers! So I hope that answers your question. BTW - I got several dirty looks from the bartenders because the beer was Negro Modello which is not served on board.

I loved the cruise but when I think of it, one of my first thoughts are "the drinks are too expensive" and why 2 bottles of wine but no beer.

Seriously, people - grab a classic or premium drink package and knock yourselfs out! I suspect that if you are wanting to 'smuggle' booze onboard, you likely enjoy your vacation relaxation and accompagning beverages sufficiently that this may be worth your while. You will then not need to add 'stress of confiscation' to your embarkation experience, not to mention losing precious vacation time standing in line to get your luggage. Not only that, unless you plan to spend all of your time drinking in your cabin, you will lose precious time running back and forth to mix your drinks. If you enjoy a cocktail or two while preparing for dinner, grab your card, and your partners card, run off to the closest bar, and return to your cabin to enjoy your 'legal' drink as you get ready for your night out.

On our first couple of cruises, we successfully 'smuggled' in a couple of bottles liquor, only to mostly haul them back home - just found it inconvenient to go back to the cabin to pour drinks. I guess it really depends on where you are spending most of your time, but on our last crusie, our first with Celebrity, we got the premium drink package. If we were running back to the cabin during the day, we would grab a beer or cooler from the bar and put it in our cabin fridge, for later, if we chose. One of us would run out to the bar for our glasses of wine that we enjoy while preparing for dinner. Actually left behind our free sparkling wine that came with cc - never did get that drank!!!:cool:

On my most recent cruise I had wrapped and packed ONE bottle of wine in the middle of a suitcase, because we were flying. We were whisked from the airport to the cruiseport porters in mere minutes, so I forgot to unpack it to carry on.

Fast forward to 6 hours later...all bags had been delivered to our room hours before, except for one. No big deal, we had enough to change for dinner, so off we went. By the time we returned after dinner around 9-ish, the bag was outside our door. I unpacked it, wine had traveled safely, (and it was apparent that no one had searched our bag).

Later after midnight, after turning off the lights, I couldn't get to sleep as our message light on the phone was blinking in my face! I called and listened to the Guest Relations gal: "One of your bags has been found to be carrying something questionable. Please come see us to retrieve your bag" (paraphrased). I was surprised that they had obviously delivered it afterall, since they had been holding it for hours waiting for me to show up. Since I never did, I guess THEY were surprised too that I didn't come looking for it :eek: -- and gave up on me! I'm sure if the scan had showed something different than a wine bottle (hard liquor, or another item)... I might not have been so lucky.

p.s. I have packed RR and miniatures from the plane with no problems in the past.

Sorry to here they have gotten so strict we always take some liquor on board. Trust me they still get there moneys worth but we like our Baileys and coffee in our room on sea days or a Baileys on the balcony before bed. Seems to me if both people in your cabin by a premium liquor package why should they care they would actually save money

Not to offend in ANY way, but......Those that say "they still get my money's worth" is akin to shoplifting a shirt and saying "well I still bought a suit from them"

I don't get it. And again, no offense meant, but I don't understand the rationale.

As someone else posted, the drink packages are very reasonable and they cause no stress whatsoever.

I do feel that if their drinks prices were more reasonable in the first place then they would benefit more as we would buy more.

We have only been on short cruises on celebrity but did find the prices to be steep, we can afford to pay but we refuse to be 'riped off' consequently we drink the two bottle carryon and maybe a bottle with our meal but certainly do not drink as much as on P&O who have much more reasonable drinks prices.

Their loss I feel. :(

Next to the laundrymat where once a week I pay homage to clean clothes there is a nostalgic hot dog diner where I can get 12 hot dogs for $12. Quite the deal. If I go watch the Pirates play in Pittsburgh I don't expect to get the same deal. Same goes for Walt Disney World, a weeks vacation in New York City or Hawaii, a trip to Hersheypark, the restaurant at the top of Seattles Space Needle, or a cruise. The drink prices are not so out of line as you would expect at any 4-5 Star resort. If you really consume that much alcohol that smuggling becomes an issue, there are two choices: stay at home or buy a drink package from the cruise line and get hammered. :)

I think the OP got their response on how tight Celebrity is on smuggling - tight. Just love posts asking others to give them info on smuggling such as this or on how to smuggle and then tells posters not to comment on it being 'petty theft'.....OK. But my favorite posts on booze smuggling is always the rationale that they wouldn't do if the drinks were cheaper, It's 'Celebrity's fault' because they charge too much. Another 'right'. If only the prices were as cheap as I pay at my local restauant....so the prices are dropped to that....if only the prices are what I pay at my liquor store...prices dropped to that....if only they were the same as WalMart.....on and on. get the point.

Just go smuggle and stand in line to get your suitcases late that night or go cruise on whatever Line you think is more reasonable. Funny, just completed a Princess cruise and they allow more than 2 wines brought on. The posts are all about how've unfair it is to not allow booze. Never ends.

Den

To tell the truth we used to smuggle booze on board and actually never got caught. However on our Connie cruise on March 26th, a couple of our friends' booze was taken and not returned. They knew in advance what would happen if caught, so it was a gamble.

I must say, however, that we chose the premium alcohol package this time and thought it was well worth the price in convenience and flexibility and our smuggling days are over:D

On our recent Celeb cruise (Jan-FLL) they took suitcases with wine inside b/c they claim the X-ray machine cannot tell diff between wine & other acohol.. folks had to reclaim it later on--

Our friends never recived their notice & were told at first their luggage had not been taken by Security, so their first night was very stressful trying to find it.....The wine they brought was some special kind & very pricey.. Best appoach is to take it in the wine carrier as a carry-on...

However, on this cruise they also took wine at check in from carry-ons but later said that was an error...

There are many chances to buy wine at a discount on bd--coupons for Elite, packages.. etc. Never understood the booze smuggling threads but sure getting more of them these days on the Celebrity bds...

To tell the truth we used to smuggle booze on board and actually never got caught. However on our Connie cruise on March 26th, a couple of our friends' booze was taken and not returned. They knew in advance what would happen if caught, so it was a gamble.

 

I must say, however, that we chose the premium alcohol package this time and thought it was well worth the price in convenience and flexibility and our smuggling days are over:D

Totally agree - so are ours - love the premium package! We will definitely get our moneys worth.

I do feel that if their drinks prices were more reasonable in the first place then they would benefit more as we would buy more.

I wonder about this sometimes. If they lowered the drink prices by by a certain amount, would the increase in sales make up for the decrease in profit margin?

At the end of the day, however, I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the suits in Miami -- they are entrusted by the shareholders of RCL to determine price points for maximum profit. :)

Here is our story--always buy a bottle of scotch for the room from the drinks package. However, since we usually fly in to the port the night before, we have a bottle with us. Since we never come close to finishing it, DH transfers the leftover to a RR. This has never caused a problem before. Have not been on celebrity for a few years. Can they now detect the RR in checked luggage?

Just a hint to back to back cruisers.....if you bring liquor or excess wine on board for or during the first cruise and they confiscate it...they will return it to you in your cabin at the end of the first cruise.... now you start your second cruise....

Here is our story--always buy a bottle of scotch for the room from the drinks package. However, since we usually fly in to the port the night before, we have a bottle with us. Since we never come close to finishing it, DH transfers the leftover to a RR. This has never caused a problem before. Have not been on celebrity for a few years. Can they now detect the RR in checked luggage?

We took RR on our cruise last year and I got through. We like to enjoy a cocktail while getting cleaned up for dinner/on our balcony.

I dont understand why Celebrity allows 2 bottles of wine but no alcohol or beer.:confused:

We did however bring aboard 2 bottles of champagne in place of the 2 bottles of wine. It was no problem what so ever w/ Celebrity.

Forgive me if this has been addressed before, as I know there are numerous posts on this subject, but is there a problem if we want to put our 2 bottles of wine that we are allowed to bring on board in our checked bags rather than our carry ons?

We are driving to the port, so weight and airline travel is not an issue, and I plan on wrapping it very securely in case the porters toss our bags around a bit. I normally have enough other junk stashed in my carry ons that is easier in our case to put the wine in our big luggage. Can any one comment on this?

I just don't want to get called to the naughty room just because they find wine in our checked bags, rather than our carry ons.

Forgive me if this has been addressed before, as I know there are numerous posts on this subject, but is there a problem if we want to put our 2 bottles of wine that we are allowed to bring on board in our checked bags rather than our carry ons?

 

We are driving to the port, so weight and airline travel is not an issue, and I plan on wrapping it very securely in case the porters toss our bags around a bit. I normally have enough other junk stashed in my carry ons that is easier in our case to put the wine in our big luggage. Can any one comment on this?

 

I just don't want to get called to the naughty room just because they find wine in our checked bags, rather than our carry ons.

I have heard and read of people being called to the naughty room w/ them checked in their luggage. We wrapped ours in bubblewrap and placed them in our carry ons. When we went through security they pulled us aside to make sure we only had 2 bottles of champagne and then waved us through.

Forgive me if this has been addressed before, as I know there are numerous posts on this subject, but is there a problem if we want to put our 2 bottles of wine that we are allowed to bring on board in our checked bags rather than our carry ons?

 

We are driving to the port, so weight and airline travel is not an issue, and I plan on wrapping it very securely in case the porters toss our bags around a bit. I normally have enough other junk stashed in my carry ons that is easier in our case to put the wine in our big luggage. Can any one comment on this?

 

I just don't want to get called to the naughty room just because they find wine in our checked bags, rather than our carry ons.

If you put the bottles in your checked luggage it will probably be detected and you will be calledd to claim it. You will probably be allowed to keep the wine but will still have to go through everything else to get it. IMO, it's not worth the trouble. Just take the time to pull it out of the big suitcase and put it in the carryon.

,

A lot of work for 4 beers! So I hope that answers your question. BTW - I got several dirty looks from the bartenders because the beer was Negro Modello which is not served on board.

 

.

Why would you carry the beer you smuggled on board to a public bar? :rolleyes: