alcohol smuggling

[Host CMLA]

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! Why defend their monopolistic practices?

OK nopirates...you can have your opinion. I disagree with your rationalization for why you feel you should be able to bring alcohol onboard the ship. The cruise line gives you the rules for cruising on their ship.

[greenie]

:D.....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:)

 

 

 

19stephanie66, i'd take you up on that offer if i was going on that cruise (i love a good martini, too, not to mention a tequila sunrise).

 

:-) I've decided to order a bar set-up, but you go girl. now all I have to do is *pleasepleaseplease* hear the NCL bar set-up person say, "why, yes ma'am, we do carry Cuervo gold!"

[shoreguy]

My name is Jim and I am a smuggler :p

 

I have smuggled since my first cruise in 1989 and will continue. I also understand what the rules are now and will give up why smuggled goods if they are found.

 

We can thank 9/11 for the crack down. They don't seach bags you can lock them. They do now since 2002 scan every bag for our security. A bonus from that expense is the ability to identfy our booze. Less carry on booze=more$ that offsets the cost of that added security.

 

I have said it before a few have created this issue. I don't think and cruise line as a problem with the responsible adult that wants a drink while getting ready for dinner. It was out of control. I have in the past seen passengers boarding with rolling coolers of beer. I have seen passengers bring the own Irish Cream to dinner and poor it in thier coffee, Sit by the pool with a rum bottle and a soda card for cokes.

 

In the end it is a $ thing and a very big $ thing.

[TamaLee]

OK nopirates...you can have your opinion. I disagree with your rationalization for why you feel you should be able to bring alcohol onboard the ship. The cruise line gives you the rules for cruising on their ship.

 

 

I smuggle booze for the same reason I speed - because I can get away with it for the most part. Neither one do I do recklessly but I do smuggle a box of wine and drive 5 miles over the speed limit.

 

I bet others do as well both smugglers and non-smugglers alike.

[GregInCharlotte]

Was very reasonable. If everyone decides for themselves which rule applies to them we end up with chaos.

 

I guess the thing that rankels me about the whole alcohol thing (1) the reason for the rule - it isn't about passenger safety or consideration, it's to protect the ship's monolopy and (2) the lengths the ship goes to to seach for alcohol.

[Globaliser]

I guess the thing that rankels me about the whole alcohol thing (1) the reason for the rule - it isn't about passenger safety or consideration, it's to protect the ship's monolopy ...

Although reading posts like this one might help to focus attention on why it's become more important for ships to protect their onboard revenue streams.

 

Do we really want to go back to the days when headline prices were that high?

[GregInCharlotte]

...onboard revenue streams....

 

I'm fair. I plan to spend as much time thinking about the cruiseline's financial health and they spend thinking about mine;)

[19stephanie66]

woohoo i was going through my 15,000 kajillion cruise pictures and found my new england bartenders school book(actualy it was my mothers).......interesting place for it lol........hmmmm going through it now.....hmmm pink squirrel sounds interesting .............maybe... a freddy pud pucker :eek: ...... any one ever have one of those.....:rolleyes: ..........or how about a mexican itch?...................most of the people i have met on cruises were wonderful like minded booze smugglers like myself..............stephanie (the smuggler) from boston

[Host CMLA]

I smuggle booze for the same reason I speed - because I can get away with it for the most part. Neither one do I do recklessly but I do smuggle a box of wine and drive 5 miles over the speed limit.

 

I bet others do as well both smugglers and non-smugglers alike.

OK. If that's how you choose to live, that's your choice. You live differently than I do. I don't purposefully break rules or laws just because I can. To each his own. I disagree with how many people here feel. I'm allowed.

[NewCruiseFan]

Recently off a South American cruise where I met numerous smugglers. Always interested in great tips I asked them how they did it. So, here for your pleasure:

1) get splits and carry them in your pockets (how long before they start frisking us as they do read these sites?)

2) shampoo and conditioner bottles - make sure they are very very clean or, as one wag put it, you'll have your guests foaming at the mouth!

3) divide it between the luggage you bring on, some in carryons some in checked.

4) board at the last minute on port days, there were days when reboarding took place in different locations and without any scanning equipment.

5) go when it's not crowded and sweet talk the guy. i brought on some beer and indiginous liquors and just told him they were gifts and i wanted time to pack them properly. it was true and i didn't drink them and our last day was a port day leaving little time for packing.

6) those plastic bottles for water or snapple - yes, you may have to tint your vodka funny colors!

 

so, why bother? for myself, I brought on a very small amount of vodka - I'm allergic to grains and didn't want to take a chance that they had any non-grain vodka on board. after all, there are now, sadly, only 4 manufacturers of potato vodka in the world. I wasn't drinking by myself so I had a small cocktail party in my room before dinner on a couple of nights and made a whopping 6 Cosmo's - to the delight and amusement of my guests.

 

I also drank wine, (non-grain) cocktails and fancy waters in the bars. As it turns out they did have Glacier Potato Vodka on board so I had a Cosmo in the bar - it cost $10 so I didn't do that again.

 

It's a silly rule and silly rules need to be challenged. If they did it because they were concerned about safety or wanton drunkenness it would be one thing but they do it simply because they have a captive audience and want to squeeze every last penny out.

 

All the smugglers I know also bought drinks and wine from the bars and restaurants.

[cliffd64]

Typically everyone has an opinion on this issue, and they're all entitled to it. It's amusing how passionate the feelings are on this "issue".

 

Personally I have no problems with people who wish to try to smuggle alcohol on board. If they are successful... good for them! If it makes them enjoy their week more, I am very happy for them :) It's not something I choose to do, simply because I do not drink enough in a 7 day period to warrant the weight of the contraband and hassle of trying to find a creative way to smuggle it in.

Note: I am more likely to "stretch" the allowances on customs limits for alcohol when returning, but thats a different issue :)

 

However, if you do choose to smuggle, or violate other posted rules and regulations intentionally, please realize that whatever actions are taken in response by the cruise line cannot be complained about ;)

 

You simply can't have it both ways! If you get caught... don't come back here to protest your treatment!

 

Enjoy your cruises :)

[Leejnd4]

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?

I contend that we as thinking adults have the right to consider the reason for rules when we decide on courses of action. I certainly am not going to blindly follow any rule imposed upon me by organizations that are not law-enforcement (whose rules I WILL always follow).

 

The vast majority of the non-legal rules we encounter in life are going to have a valid purpose behind them that compell us to respect them. For example, no-smoking rules protect others from second-hand smoke and personal discomfort. Rules about controlling one's children are for the protection of the children and the establishment, as well as insuring other patrons aren't disturbed. Rules about not bringing food/drink into a store are to protect that store's merchandise from damage. Rules about dress codes are for the purpose of insuring that the advertised product is what the patrons actually get - i.e. if a formal experience is sold, then an environment filled with people in non-formal attire changes the experience, so patrons do not get what they paid for.

 

But if a non-legal rule has no valid reason for existance other than purely self-serving, and in fact has a negative and unreasonable impact on me, I most CERTAINLY will consider breaking it. To be honest, I'm having a hard time coming up with any other rules that I might have encountered that didn't have any valid purpose, other than the rediculous cruiseship alcohol bans. I suppose I'll have to make one up...what if you booked a room in a hotel that was owned by Victoria's Secret, and were told that you can only wear their underwear while there, and if you showed up in others, you had to purchase theirs in order to sleep in your room? You could argue that, well heck, don't stay there! But what if it was the only hotel near a major public attraction, so that you would be prevented from visiting it by this self-serving rule? I would feel quite justified in sewing on fake VS labels in my panties so that I might visit this place. The "VS Underwear" rule does nothing to enhance my or anyone else's experience, does nothing to prevent harming anyone or anything, and serves no viable purpose other than to pad the pockets of the company. And what if I don't even LIKE VS underwear? What if I much prefer my Wonderbra to any bra I can find in a VS store? Who are they to tell me what I must wear under my clothes, and put on in the privacy of my room?

 

I see the booze rules the same. My bringing my own favorite wines and spirits to enjoy in the privacy of my own bedroom when I'm on my vacation is not their right to deny. It harms no one, impacts nobody but me, puts nothing at risk for anyone. Oh sure, they can try to prevent me, but I have absolutely no problem doing whatever is necessary to skirt this absurd, self-serving rule.

 

There's my take on it.

 

LeeAnne

[samdham]

There was an interesting post about this here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=65766&page=2&pp=25It's post number 36, and it's about the reason the cruiselines don't allow passengers to bring on their own liquor. I don't know if it's true or not, but I thought it was interesting.

[fin]

Why don't some of you start some threads about how it is your right to park your suv in two handicapped parking places, or throw used diapers out the window into the parking lot? Better yet, why not save additional money by just cutting out the ship part of the equation - and sit home and just pour booze down your throat?

[Leejnd4]

Why don't some of you start some threads about how it is your right to park your suv in two handicapped parking places, or throw used diapers out the window into the parking lot? Better yet, why not save additional money by just cutting out the ship part of the equation - and sit home and just pour booze down your throat?

 

Parking in handicapped spots -- denies the spots to the truly handicapped (not to mention illegal).

 

Throwing diapers out the window -- harms the environment, disturbs others, health hazzard.

 

Bringing booze on board -- harms no one, denies no one anything, has no deleterious effects on anyone.

 

LeeAnne

[shoreguy]

I see the booze rules the same. My bringing my own favorite wines and spirits to enjoy in the privacy of my own bedroom when I'm on my vacation is not their right to deny. It harms no one, impacts nobody but me, puts nothing at risk for anyone. Oh sure, they can try to prevent me, but I have absolutely no problem doing whatever is necessary to skirt this absurd, self-serving rule.

 

There's my take on it.

 

LeeAnne

 

If that what most people were doing I don't thing we would be in this mess. The fact is many folks were drinking the booze they carried on in public areas as well. It is another case of the abuse of some impacting all.

 

I plead guility to doing that myself in the past. Buy one drink and stop by the cabin for a refill. I am sure many of us that object to the rule have done the same.

 

You don't think the kids that gave a black eye to one of the members son got drunk on booze they purchased with there Sail & Sign Card. The transaction will not go through.

 

I firmly believe we should have the right to bring wine and spirits onboard to consume in the cabin. The problem it keeps leaking out of too many cabins. :D

 

You can once again bring your favorite wine if it is not available onboard

 

Bar set up solves the spirits problem with a small premium. Not perfect but better then no alternative. If you were not a member here you whould never know the service was available.

[Leejnd4]

There was an interesting post about this here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=65766&page=2&pp=25It's post number 36, and it's about the reason the cruiselines don't allow passengers to bring on their own liquor. I don't know if it's true or not, but I thought it was interesting.

Yes, very interesting. For those of you who don't want to read the whole thing, the jist is this:

 

1) A study was done by a cruise line comparing profits onboard when all outside alcohol was banned, vs. any outside alcohol allowed to be brought onboard. The study showed that alcohol profits were THE SAME.

 

2) The legal dept. insisted on banning outside booze for the purpose of preventing lawsuits: if a passenger gets drunk and is harmed, the cruiseline will not be held responsible as long as they have made "REASONABLE efforts to control alcohol consumption on its premises."

 

If this is true, then it seems to me that the best solution is the one that appears to be employed by Celebrity -- the stated rules about bringing alcohol are murky but suggest it is not allowed, however, the enforcement of this is spotty at best. The result is that they have their "rules" to fall back on to deny any passenger bringing an unreasonable amount of booze, while allowing passengers to carry on limited amounts of wine, which can be consumed in the dining room with an established corkage fee, or spirits to consume in their room undisturbed. This protects against the over-the-top party animals most likely to cause drunkenness problems from rolling on their cases of beer, kegs, or bags filled with multiple bottles of wine, without alienating those discriminating passengers who wish to sip their favorite single-malt scotch in the privacy of their own rented on-board bedroom.

 

LeeAnne

[NewCruiseFan]

Oh, one other thought on a modified version of smuggling. If you are sailing from a US port simply mail yourself a bon voyage gift containing the alcohol you most adore - your own bar setup so to speak.

 

Those gifts are simply sent to your cabin without regard to whether it contains alcohol. For myself, because I can't drink grain alcohols, next time I sail from a US port I'm shipping myself the Cosmo kit for Girls!

 

p.s. LeaAnne - you go, girl!

[Mikey8Ohio]

I have previously sailed on Princess, Celebrity and RCCL, and each time brought a bottle with me. Not that I was smuggling, I honestly didn't know that it was wrong. Believe it or not, until I started reading the NCL posts, I wasn't aware that I was a smuggler.

 

I don't necessarily want to break the rules now that I am aware of them, but I also enjoy a cocktail in bed as I read a good book prior to being gently rocked to sleep. (No one would want to see me sitting at a ship's bar dressed for bed with a book in my hand having my nightcap.....)

 

As I am finalizing plans for a Majesty cruise, I am becoming concerned about how to enjoy my respite. Yes, I could purchase the bar setup, and probably will. I could also smuggle and hope for the best, (And certainly not complain if I am caught....) But I was intrigued by the sending of a package to the ship. Does anyone have any idea how to do that? Has anyone done it with success? Unless I hear otherwise, I will plan to buy the bar setup. Thanks in advance for the input.......Mike

[Globaliser]

I contend that we as thinking adults have the right to consider the reason for rules when we decide on courses of action. I certainly am not going to blindly follow any rule imposed upon me by organizations that are not law-enforcement (whose rules I WILL always follow).

That sounds like an awful lot of words to say "I wanna do it".

[NewCruiseFan]

Mikey - there are a lot of companies that ship bon voyage gifts to cruisers. you just put your package together as a gift and ship it to yourself. When I do it in the future I'll probably put my Mom's name as sender and include for myself a wonderful BV sendoff card!

 

It's great to arrive to gifts! You can even call the cruise line to ask how to send a BV custom gift to a friend, you may wish to send something more personal or customized than the companies that offer the service.

[lorn63vt]

I, too, am a smuggler and not one bit ashamed of it. I smuggled on my last cruise, and ended up bringing half of it back home because it is just easier to buy the drinks in whatever bar I may be in. My bar bill was still quite high, needless to say. But I also had the freedom of having a drink on my balcony with alcohol from my room that I brought. Yes, I play hard but I also work hard in order to afford these cruises. The cruise line is getting PLENTY of money from me, whether I bring my own booze or not. As a matter of fact, they are probably getting MORE from me when I do have my own bottle to sip on. I tend to get a little more generous when I've had a few drinks, and I tend to have a few more drinks when I'm not buying them.

[Leejnd4]

That sounds like an awful lot of words to say "I wanna do it".

Sorry, but that is not correct. What I said was:

 

"I contend that we as thinking adults have the right to consider the reason for rules when we decide on courses of action. I certainly am not going to blindly follow any rule imposed upon me by organizations that are not law-enforcement (whose rules I WILL always follow)."

 

That does not simply say "I wanna do it." It says that I carefully consider all factors before I decide what to do. Yes, that is a rather complex concept. I'll try to keep things simpler.

 

LeeAnne

[vivianbstrd]

Please excuse my ignorance, however I am taking my first cruise this upcoming November and am curious what the procedures are for checking luggage. Do they simply run it through a scanner and if something looks suspicious (like a bottle) they then search it? What about with carry-ons? How can they tell its a bottle anyway - shape, chemical composition (e.g. glass)??

[NoPiratesPlease]

LeeAnne:

I'm jealous! You wrote such a clear and cogent argument I wish I had written it!

 

Cecilia, you may sniff and consider yourself on the moral high ground, but the fact is that the cruise lines CHANGED THE RULES unilaterally. NCL et al are not legal government agencies, they are private, profit making enterprises whose ONLY hold upon us (and upon them) is contractual. They have chosen to change the contract unilaterally, saying, if you don't like it, go somewhere else, KNOWING, that as an oligopoly, there IS no where else to go.

 

Therefore, when I bring liquor on board (not concealing it, either) I am a) NOT violating my contract or b) committing a moral sin or c) committing either a legal sin or a legal tort. They can a) ignore it or b) attempt to interdict me. If I offer NO physical resistance I have committed no crime--but they cannot use physical force either. They MAY ask me to surrender the liquor, but only with the promise to return it. They MAY ask me to leave the ship, if I refuse. They may choose to ignore it.

 

Now, I'm no lawyer, but I KNOW that, under the law, if they choose to ignore the "no alcohol" rule, they have now effectively and tacitly legally AGREED to change and abrogate that clause of the contract--and therefore they then have NO legal right to prevent ANYONE from carrying alcohol on board.

 

Now, I cannot and will not defend someone planning to bring a case of wine on-board just to save buying it at dinner. What you do in your cabin is one thing (and that's what I've been defending), but when they are serving you dinner, their obligation to serve safe, wholesome food may be compromised by your bringing consumables in--and they, and every restaurant in the world with a liquor license will say "no"--not to your having it, but to your opening it and drinking it. Besides, it's pretty tacky to be in a formal dining room, and brown-bag it! Nor can I defend someone bringing a rolling beer cooler to the ship's pool! Talk about an obstacle!

 

I believe it was Plato who discussed that there are two kinds of laws in society. The first is moral law (not imposing morality, but right and wrong). This protects us from murder, robbery, etc. The second has nothing to do with right and wrong but is based on establishing a smooth-running society. These are things like speed limits, traffic lights, noise ordinances and which side of the road to drive on. These are not inherently determined from right and wrong but are arbitrarily chosen and then abided by to provide a smooth and safe flow of society. My proof? In the US and most of Europe and North America we drive on the right side of the road. In Britain, Australia, Japan, much of the Caribbean and Africa, they drive on the left side of the road. Neither is inherently morally superior--but once the choice is made we (who aren't sociopaths) abide by it because it is LOGICAL that we all conform to this rule.

 

The ancient Greeks had yet to conceive of the 3rd concept--the contract. This is, supposedly, a set of agreements FREELY entered into by both parties and has its roots in Anglo-Saxon common law going back something like 600-1000 years. While contracts spell out what each party agrees to do, it also spells out penalties for failure to perform. The other party may elect not to enforce that penalty, because it's tough to keep someone to a contract they no longer wish to be bound by. Or they may enforce it. If NCL chooses not to enforce that clause of the contract, so be it.