Packing lunch for an excursion

If you do this, what are your reasons and how do you go about it? Thank you!

Most ports have agricultural laws that prohibit you from bringing food off the ship, typically meats, produce and nuts are forbidden.

If you do need to bring something ashore, it needs to be factory sealed, like protein bars or granola bars.

I'm probably going to get slammed for this but I've brought glasses of water to table and filled water bottle 24oz. And we always bring packaged protein bars. This is only for excursions like hiking or snorkeling on our own off a beach. Very helpful in canary islands.

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I'm probably going to get slammed for this but I've brought glasses of water to table and filled water bottle 24oz. And we always bring packaged protein bars. This is only for excursions like hiking or snorkeling on our own off a beach. Very helpful in canary islands.

 

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Why are you going to get slammed for bringing water off the ship? Many, many people do that and I have never read that you couldn't bring water off the ship.

I've done it due to an extremely picky child. I've made a bacon egg and cheese bagel, bagel with cream cheese, lunch meat and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the Windjammer. (During the breakfast hours.) I brought these sandwiches back to my room and put them in zip lock bags. I also have gotten sandwiches and cookies from the Cafe Promenade and done the same. I may or may not have taken these contraband items off the ship...;)

People were complaining we were doing it on our transatlantic in April. We were pouring at the breakfast table. Plus this is cruise critic. 😁

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I'm probably going to get slammed for this but I've brought glasses of water to table and filled water bottle 24oz. And we always bring packaged protein bars. This is only for excursions like hiking or snorkeling on our own off a beach. Very helpful in canary islands.

 

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Most ports have agricultural laws that prohibit you from bringing food off the ship, typically meats, produce and nuts are forbidden.

 

If you do need to bring something ashore, it needs to be factory sealed, like protein bars or granola bars.

In Cozumel there was quite a back up getting off the pier when the agricultural sniffing dogs were stopping people. What a ton of wasted bananas, apples and other fruit. These are the things that cause issues, not cooked items. Pests do not like to live in cooked items (unless it is already rotten, and that is another story). If you do take something off the ship that is not allowed the dogs will find it, and you will just have to toss it out. FYI, this occurs in the States too. Just try to take that banana on the plane in Hawaii! My mom didn't believe me....that's all I will say :)

We are currently docked in San Juan on a Celebrity cruise.:D The daily planner has a statement saying no agricultural products, fruits, vegetables, coffee,tea, etc. may be taken off the ship. Violation is subject to fines.

Sherri:)

I've done it due to an extremely picky child. I've made a bacon egg and cheese bagel, bagel with cream cheese, lunch meat and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the Windjammer. (During the breakfast hours.) I brought these sandwiches back to my room and put them in zip lock bags. I also have gotten sandwiches and cookies from the Cafe Promenade and done the same. I may or may not have taken these contraband items off the ship...;)

FYI this is ILLEGAL to do in most ports. If caught one can be detained and subject to potentially massive fines (they exceed $10,000 in some locales). Most countries allow one to bring factory sealed, pre-packaged items, but have agricultural laws prohibiting many types of fresh food (the exact items forbidden vary from country-to-country, but fruit, vegetables, meat, nuts and dairy are often among items prohibited). Fresh food can contained bugs/pests that can devastate local agriculture. Some ports take this very seriously and even have agricultural dogs to sniff for such contraband. It is also foolish to transport meat and dairy for any length of time without refrigeration (even if it were legal) as it can make one quite sick.

I remember the days they would make you a bagged lunch if asked.

Just answering CruisinSunBunny's question. Nothing illegal about that!

I've done it due to an extremely picky child. I've made a bacon egg and cheese bagel, bagel with cream cheese, lunch meat and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the Windjammer. (During the breakfast hours.) I brought these sandwiches back to my room and put them in zip lock bags. I also have gotten sandwiches and cookies from the Cafe Promenade and done the same. I may or may not have taken these contraband items off the ship...;)

So wrong. There are lots of prepackaged items you can pack for your child including pb&j sandwiches in sealed packages. You may have been lucky to date but it won't happen every time and next time could be very costly.

I'm probably going to get slammed for this but I've brought glasses of water to table and filled water bottle 24oz. And we always bring packaged protein bars. This is only for excursions like hiking or snorkeling on our own off a beach. Very helpful in canary islands.

 

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At least you weren't filling up your water bottles directly at the drink station :eek:.....You did right by using a glass.

I've done it due to an extremely picky child. I've made a bacon egg and cheese bagel, bagel with cream cheese, lunch meat and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the Windjammer. (During the breakfast hours.) I brought these sandwiches back to my room and put them in zip lock bags. I also have gotten sandwiches and cookies from the Cafe Promenade and done the same. I may or may not have taken these contraband items off the ship...;)

If you did this in my country you would get arrested or a large fine. Agricultural biosecurity is taken very seriously here (and rightly so!). I know many other countries have similar rules. Why do you think this doesn't apply to you?

If you did this in my country you would get arrested or a large fine. Agricultural biosecurity is taken very seriously here (and rightly so!). I know many other countries have similar rules. Why do you think this doesn't apply to you?

And there are cute little beagles to make sure you don't get away with anything. They have great noses.

If I remember correctly we weren't allowed to take anything off in our NZ ports - no bottled water, granola bars - nothing. And they had puppies too.

On our last cruise, DH had packed an apple around in our bag all week. For some reason when getting ready to get off at Cozumel, I took it out and left it in my room. The police officer instructed me to put my bag down and the dog "hit" on it. I was mortified. :o I had no drugs in my bag! Then he asked, you have food in the bag. I told him an apple had been in it all week but I took it out. "Are you sure?" Yes. He directed me to another officer who looked through our bag. At that station were bags upon bags upon bags (grocery bags) FULL of food! :eek:

FYI this is ILLEGAL to do in most ports. If caught one can be detained and subject to potentially massive fines (they exceed $10,000 in some locales). Most countries allow one to bring factory sealed, pre-packaged items, but have agricultural laws prohibiting many types of fresh food (the exact items forbidden vary from country-to-country, but fruit, vegetables, meat, nuts and dairy are often among items prohibited). Fresh food can contained bugs/pests that can devastate local agriculture. Some ports take this very seriously and even have agricultural dogs to sniff for such contraband. It is also foolish to transport meat and dairy for any length of time without refrigeration (even if it were legal) as it can make one quite sick.

This 100%. We live on an island that has been devastated by invasive species. While, it has been from cruise ships tourists certainly can (and do!) spread various species without meaning to by simply bringing unapproved items. Please respect the areas you are visiting. The laws are there for a reason and the local community needs to live there long after your vacation is over.

FYI this is ILLEGAL to do in most ports. If caught one can be detained and subject to potentially massive fines (they exceed $10,000 in some locales). Most countries allow one to bring factory sealed, pre-packaged items, but have agricultural laws prohibiting many types of fresh food (the exact items forbidden vary from country-to-country, but fruit, vegetables, meat, nuts and dairy are often among items prohibited). Fresh food can contained bugs/pests that can devastate local agriculture. Some ports take this very seriously and even have agricultural dogs to sniff for such contraband. It is also foolish to transport meat and dairy for any length of time without refrigeration (even if it were legal) as it can make one quite sick.

Absolutely per above. It's ILLEGAL!

Don't take anything off the ship that is not packaged and sealed by the manufacturer!

Those cute sniffer dogs have great noses. ;)

I've done it due to an extremely picky child. I've made a bacon egg and cheese bagel, bagel with cream cheese, lunch meat and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the Windjammer. (During the breakfast hours.) I brought these sandwiches back to my room and put them in zip lock bags. I also have gotten sandwiches and cookies from the Cafe Promenade and done the same. I may or may not have taken these contraband items off the ship...;)

If you do this, what are your reasons and how do you go about it? Thank you!

Cost, knowing it will be something we will eat and easiness.

At breakfast before getting off the ship, for some ports, we just make sandwiches put them in our ziplocs that we bring for the day. Never had an issue in 30 cruises

Absolutely per above. It's ILLEGAL!

Don't take anything off the ship that is not packaged and sealed by the manufacturer!

Those cute sniffer dogs have great noses. ;)

Seems to hard for many cruise critic members

There is food ashore if you get hungry. Some excursions provide lunch, if it's a long excursion.

I'm probably going to get slammed for this but I've brought glasses of water to table and filled water bottle 24oz. And we always bring packaged protein bars. This is only for excursions like hiking or snorkeling on our own off a beach. Very helpful in canary islands.

 

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That's exactly what you ARE supposed to do!