alcohol smuggling

[salty dingo]

Free if your are in an AA or A1 suite

What about an AB suite... any perks there?

[GregInCharlotte]

and those are the ones you want.

[shoreguy]

What about an AB suite... any perks there?

 

Yes but no free bar setup A! (Villa - $13k pp) gets 6, AA (owners ) gets 3. AB gets most of the following:

 

Suite AB – AE

Embarkation:

1 bottle of Domestic Champagne

1 Floral Arrangement

1 Small Tray of Hors D’oeuvres

1 Fruit Basket

1 Bottle of Spring Water

Bath Amentities:

Moisturizing Lotion

Conditioning Shampoo (Dispenser)

Bath Gel (Dispenser)

Cotton Balls & Q-Tip Caddie

Aloe Facial Soap

Citrus Body Bar

Glycerine Soap

Theraputic Hand Cream

Chamomile Night Cream

Bath Salts

Loofah Mitt

Shower Cap

Sewing Kit

Other: Butler Service

Concierge Service

DVD and CD Player w/library

Alarm Clock

Bath Robes

Feather Pillows

Upgraded Linen

Time Fax Daily

Full Breakfast Menu

24 hr room service (Butler menu)

Warm Face Towels, embarkation

Glass of Chamapagne, embarkation

In Suite Dining

Shoe Shine Service(Butler)

Shoe horn/Lint Brush in Closet

Turn Down Food Amenity (formal night)

Wood hangers

Duvets

Mints on Pillow

NCL Shopping Bags

Safe

Refrigerator

Hair Dryer

Hotel Services Book

[rebsar]

I just bought a bottle of tequila in a plastic bottle - what are the chances that I'll get through with that?

[19stephanie66]

:D ok heres the scoop 6 cruises....3 on carnival and 3 on royal caribbean and i have smuggled 1.25 gallons of grey goose vodka onto each of them!(i love my martinis!) i have this clear(light blue actualy) 1.25 gallon container with a spigot and easy fill cap..it is about 3" thick 14" long or so.....and about 12" tall.....i fill it and place it in my suitcase just before boarding the ship............it has made it to my cabin each and every time! woohoo martinis are on me:D and if it was taken from my luggage i would be bummed but certainly wouldnt ruin my cruise........and i agree with the other poster if they just put a fair amount of alcohol in our drinks in the first place i dont think we would need as much of a reason to smuggle it onboard :rolleyes: ha lol i might even buy more of them .....................................stephanie and dan from beantown(boston)

[salty dingo]

I just bought a bottle of tequila in a plastic bottle - what are the chances that I'll get through with that?

Don't know - how big is it? If it looks like a bottle on an xray, you may get caught. I like Stephanie's idea. Non-original container in a non-standard shape.

[19stephanie66]

hi! now that i got your attention! i forgot to mention i bought the 1.25 gallon plastic jug at walmart. and it has this amasing trick somehow it magically empties every time i take it on a cruise :D seems people do like vodka!................................stephanie and dan.....1 month from boarding the caribbean princess .....woohooo

[NoPiratesPlease]

What I find amazing is that the cruise lines are determined to squeeze yet a few more dollars out of their passengers and who takes the brunt of the economic hit? Why the islands, yet again. How many of you buy liquor on the island KNOWING it will be taken away until the last night? Does it stop you? Some yes, some no. But what it DOES do is cut back how many bottles you are willing to buy because you cannot have something to enjoy in your cabin. We used to buy a bottle or two at the first port of something the ship doesn't EVER stock (Like Clement or Dillon or J.Bally rum) to enjoy on the cruise. Now two things usually keep me from buying: 1) I can't keep my possessions in my possession, subjecting them to possible theft and breakage 2) I can't enjoy something I love that the ship doesn't stock.

 

How does this impact the island economies? We were on Antigua and there were 5 cruise ships in port, all DAWN size. Say, 2500 passengers each. 12,500 passengers hitting the port. Figure 1000/ship would buy liquor to bring home--5000 passengers. Now, if each passenger forgoes 2 bottles of liquor because of the cruiseline rules, well, that's 10,000 bottles LESS sold on Antigua that day. Figure $20/bottle--balance off the bulk from the single malts. That's $200,000 LOST revenue for Antigua that day. Will all of it go into the cruise lines' pockets? Probably.

 

Yeah, I KNOW the liquor stores are owned by wealthier people. But they employ people, they spend on the island, etc. That revenue is lost to the island and a REASONABLE freedom is stolen from the passengers.

 

So, when DO I buy liquor, which is rarely, I NEVER stop to give it to the ship unless they stop me. I NEVER offer, even when I'm obviously carrying it. One woman hollered for me to get out of the elevator so she could confiscate it. I waved. I'm not committing a crime, I'm not doing anything illegal or even immoral. I'm not even trying to hide it. If they succeed in stopping me, I'll surrender the liquor. I'm FORCED to agree to their rule and ALL the ships now have it--it's a Hobson's choice, so it's coercive, not mutually agreed upon--and, when coming back on a ship, hot and sweaty, and elevators come VERY slowly, I'm NOT going to wait another 10 minutes so she can make my life more miserable to allow the cruise line to screw yet another couple of bucks out of me.

 

And the kicker? This last cruise, I didn't open what I bought on the islands, I just took it home anyway. I just always feel better when MY possessions are in MY possession!

[uneamie]

So, when DO I buy liquor, which is rarely, I NEVER stop to give it to the ship unless they stop me. I NEVER offer, even when I'm obviously carrying it. One woman hollered for me to get out of the elevator so she could confiscate it. I waved. I'm not committing a crime, I'm not doing anything illegal or even immoral. I'm not even trying to hide it.

I can't quite remember ...do they scan you and your shopping bags when you reboard, return from an excursion or from an island? I don't recall them scanning my shopping bags when we returned. :rolleyes:

[WaldosPepper]

may still smuggle the Poland Goose Springs Water ;)

LOL

 

Love the name. Ingenious idea! :D

[Host CMLA]

... a REASONABLE freedom is stolen from the passengers.

Being able to take liquor onboard the ship is a freedom now? I'm glad I fought in the Gulf War in 1991 so we'd have that freedom.

 

I just don't get it. IT'S AGAINST THE CRUISE LINES RULE TO BRING YOUR OWN ALCOHOL ONBOARD THE SHIP. Why is this even an issue? I can't bring outside food or drinks to my local movie theater so I don't do it. I can't bring outside food or drinks to the bowling alley when we go throw a few games with friends so I don't do it. I can't go in certain department stores with my Starbucks coffee for goodness sake so I don't do it. Since when is the cruise line not allowed to have certain rules that they want to have followed? Rules, by the way, that you agree to when you pay for your ticket? If you don't want to play by their rules, don't go.

[Sonchyne4U]

Oops...I am breaking the rules because I take my food with me to the movies. I'm not paying triple for a box of candy. I've also been known to stick my bottle of soda in my purse. I'll admit it.....I'm cheap. I think you should be able to purchase "all inclusive" tickets for criuises. It should be an option. I would pay more for that option. We went to Cozumel for a week in August and stayed at an all inclusive resort and it was wonderful not having to worry about how much your final bill was going to be. This is just my opinion though. Thanks everybody for all the advice. I've picked up on a couple of things that I am going to do.

[Globaliser]

I'll admit it.....I'm cheap.

You said it.

I think you should be able to purchase "all inclusive" tickets for criuises. It should be an option.

You can. The problem is likely to be that you're too cheap to pay the fares that those cruise lines charge.

[greenie]

I wonder why some people always have to get snotty? Chill out--life is short.

[shoreguy]

Oops...I am breaking the rules because I take my food with me to the movies. I'm not paying triple for a box of candy. I've also been known to stick my bottle of soda in my purse. I'll admit it.....I'm cheap. I think you should be able to purchase "all inclusive" tickets for criuises. It should be an option. I would pay more for that option. We went to Cozumel for a week in August and stayed at an all inclusive resort and it was wonderful not having to worry about how much your final bill was going to be. This is just my opinion though. Thanks everybody for all the advice. I've picked up on a couple of things that I am going to do.

 

As posted above you can try RCL and for $50 per day per person you will know what your bar bill will be. Not sure you would be happy ;)

[GregInCharlotte]

I just don't understand the "a rule's a rule" philosophy. I also don't think anyone has any sort of consitutional right to carry liquor onto a cruise ship.

 

We bought bar drinks on our recent NCL cruise but we were also delayed and hassled every time we boarded the ship while the crew conducted alcohol searches. Finally, in Cozumel I carried liquor aboard just to show my travel mates I could. It's sitting on my counter at home.

 

Cruising has turned into a pay-as-you-go experience. Your cruise ticket get's you onboard then the charging begins. No wonder cruise advertising makes offers like "Book now for a $200 shipboard credit". A vacation should not involve giving someone your room key and signing something every 5 minutes. It seems like every included (nothing is free) offering on a ship "The stale cookie" is placed beside the pay extra alternative "Ben and Jerry".

 

Besides the inconvenience there's the price. Bottled water on the Majesty in Dec'04 was $3. A bar size coke was $1.72. These aren't help the poor ship break even prices, these are we have you as a captive audience prices.

 

And please don't tell me the poor cruise lines have price low then hound you to purchase goods and services in order to have a business, "If cruises were priced inclusively no one would buy a ticket". Deception is still deception.

[Globaliser]

Chill out--life is short.

That's exactly what I think, which is why I cannot understand the lengths that people will go to in order to save a hundred bucks or whatever on their bar bill. And who then take up endless server space to crow about what they've done or what they're planning to do.

Besides the inconvenience there's the price. Bottled water on the Majesty in Dec'04 was $3. A bar size coke was $1.72. These aren't help the poor ship break even prices, these are we have you as a captive audience prices.

 

And please don't tell me the poor cruise lines have price low then hound you to purchase goods and services in order to have a business, "If cruises were priced inclusively no one would buy a ticket". Deception is still deception.

These are not "gouging a captive audience" prices. They're lower prices than you'd find in shoreside hotels of comparable standards and service levels.

 

Why shouldn't one say what is true? The cruise lines have raised on board prices significantly because their revenue from the headline cruise fares has dropped dramatically.

 

And as for deception, let me see. The cruise line's bar prices are no secret, nor is their rule that you are not allowed to bring your own alcohol for consumption. However, some passengers deliberately decide to break the rules, and then find all manner of exotic containers and strategies to disguise what they're carrying and to evade the searches which they know are intended to detect a breach of the rules.

 

Tell me, who is deceiving whom?

[salty dingo]

If you don't want to play by their rules, don't go.

Cecilia is right. If we passengers quit going on cruise lines having rules with which we did not agree, they would lose a ton of business. And then, hopefully, to satisfy their customers and woo them back, they would change the rules.

 

But if all other cruise lines in this price range have similar policies, it is not so easy to jump ship.

 

I look upon the alcohol smuggling as civil disobediance. Protest, and break the rules when you are certain the rules are wrong, so long as no one gets hurt. It worked for MLK!

[GregInCharlotte]

the "inclusive" price.

 

Actually, I didn't find the drink prices to be unfair. I did find the aggressive, process slowing, search, search and re-search for alcohol we experienced to be off-putting.

 

The shoreside hotels you write about do not search each arriving guests luggage in search of alcohol.

[Host CMLA]

Tell me, who is deceiving whom?

I agree with you. It is deceptive to sneak something on to the ship that you know isn't allowed but I don't think people who smuggle alcohol onto ships are bad people. They do what they want and even though they know they're not supposed to do it, they feel entitled because the rule seems unfair to them. I understand how they try to rationalize it. And no matter how many times this conversation happens on this board, no matter how wrong you think it is, it's still against the cruise lines rules for you to bring alcohol onto their ship. Try to justify it but it doesn't change what is fact. I would only say that it's ironic that people talk about smuggling alcohol as if it's a birth given right but then are the first to complain when someone's kid is out of control on the ship or someone dresses inappropriately for dinner or if someone smokes in the wrong place. There are rules about those things too right? Maybe I don't agree with those rules. I should start smoking and light up in the Stardust. It's against the rules but I don't agree with the rule so I'll do it anyway. That would be OK right?

[Sonchyne4U]

It looks like us smugglers are mostly southerners. Maybe it's because our heritage comes from smuggling moonshine. Who knows! Hey - GregInCharlotte, I live in Hickory. We are neighbors almost.

[NoPiratesPlease]

Excuse ME, Cecilia, but I NEVER claimed that I was SMUGGLING liquor aboard--I walk on with it out in the open. If they choose to challenge me they can, if they don't, then I keep walking. Recently, I put the bottles I had just bought through the X-ray scanner, so they knew I had them, picked them up and kept walking and NOBODY said a word. Should I VOLUNTEER to give them up? No Way! Then again, it might have been special treatment since they saw the cabin # for the GV...

 

Up until a couple of years ago there was NO issue about bringing liquor on board for use in your cabin. But one cruise line said "Can we get away with it?" and they ALL immediately jumped on board. I suppose that MARGINALLY falls outside the law on price-fixing (which IS illegal in the US), but it leaves you and me with a Hobson's choice: If you want to cruise you give up the right to privacy. I ACCEPT that these days the cruise lines have the right to search for weapons, explosives and poisons in my luggage, but they have JUMPED on this as the chance to search your luggage for alcohol. I consider that an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy, and, prior to 9/11, they NEVER would have considered searching luggage.

 

It's the nose of the camel allegory. First you let the nose of the camel in the tent, then the head, then before you know it, the tail of the camel is in the tent! What will they do NEXT? Forbid you to bring toothpaste and shaving cream on-board so they can sell you them?

 

I have a better idea yet: Forbid you to bring shampoo on board, don't stock the cabins, then force you to buy the expensive Steiner shampoos on board. What GREAT way for them to make more money! Why not? Where do you have a RIGHT to bring your own shampoo on board?

 

Where does it end? Cruise lines are selling vacations. If they do it well, they will have lots of customers. If not, the bookings fall off. If they mis-estimate how many ships to build, it's not MY fault--I STILL expect them to deliver a nice vacation whether I have an inside cabin or the GV. And I have a RIGHT to expect them to do that! They keep making rules to "enhance revenue", well, maybe people will drift away from the cruise lines. They already have oligopoly power, which is effectively a monopoly: There's Carnival and Royal Caribbean and Star and that's really about it. Everyone else is tiny--or owned by those 3.

 

Why defend their monopolistic practices?

[NoPiratesPlease]

On another note: All the searching now means you cannot lock your luggage. Oh Great! I STILL remember a story on 60 minutes of one guy watching his luggage on the ground from the plane, watching a handler open his bag, and steal his camcorder! When he testified the judge through it out saying he couldn't PROVE it was his bag that was robbed! (despite the 'corder being gone). So you can't pack any valuables in your luggage.

 

In August 1999, we went on the Vistafjord for the Solar Eclipse Cruise (Wow!). I packed a padded Pelican trunk full of gear: Cameras, camcorders, and 3" Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope. Plus lenses and adapters. I pad-locked the thing! It was great! For the next couple of years that padlocked Pelican trunk acted like an extra on-board safe for bulkier stuff. But since 9/11, I cannot use it, because I cannot padlock it--they'l cut the locks. So now I am forced to leave it, and all that cool stuff home. I'm glad I got to use it once and got GREAT shots of the 11 Aug 99 eclipse.

[Globaliser]

Actually, AFAIK no cruise line requires you to leave your luggage unlocked for searching purposes. This only applies to flying within the US, and even then it's only a recommendation - and stuff has always been stolen from airline checked baggage since time immemorial.

 

Confusing the two issues doesn't help the arguments either way.

[19stephanie66]

:D listen i think that if one wants to complain because i "smuggle" booze! onto the ship thats their right...........but its not going to stop me from doing it! and if they find it in my luggage and confiscate it oh well at least i tried to save a few bucks maybe more money to spend in port.what is the big deal? :rolleyes: i dont understand why some of the posters have a problem with people like me who do this.i have never been bothered by people in line having their bags checked by security and having their "booze" taken from them. it's not just southerners who do this i am from boston.....actualy its a wonderful convienance to have my gallon of vodka in the room .........my fiance makes wonderful martinis!:D i say don't sweat the small stuff ,you do your thing and i'll do mine thank you very much........ps i was going to post last night but i almost lost my cool............i think people aren't happy unless there is something to complain about anyonelse out there donate to the victims of the tsunami? i did and i still try to save a buck on some booze and get *flamed but good for it* anyone reading this can visit dan and i in our d628 minisuite on caribbean princess this feb 5th for a nice martini.........cruise on everyone:)