Bringing Alcohol on board???

[tbroido]

[QUOTE=stanford's girl]

[font=Arial Black][size=3]BruceMuzz,[/size][/font]
[font=Arial Black][size=3]The alcohol consumed IS TRACKED on a point of sale system. It's on your "sail and sign card" and you are charged on your bill. This is evidence that can be used in a court of law.:) [/size][/font][/QUOTE]

But you would have to prove that the person who signed also drank. Some people will buy a drink for the whole bar. Does anyone know someone on the Westerdam next week who is like that and when they will be in the bar?

[tbroido]

[quote name='jaguarstyper']I also enjoy treating my friends and aquaintences to drinks in the bars.[/QUOTE]
You aren't on the Westerdam next week, are you?

[CGTNORMANDIE]

The arguments being used about hiding or sneaking alcohol onboard are silly. I have never been on a ship that wouldn't deliver all the booze you wanted via room service...just pick up the phone and order it. So the argument goes right out the porthole. The liability argument is just as effective if they cruise line sold you the booze and then you decided to jump or go for a naked romp LOL!!! OBTW...if you have a big enough suite they will stock your bar for you and they will allow you to bring on as much as you want...you should see the nice refridgerators and wine coolers in some of those suites. IT IS ALL ABOUT REVENUE...

If you take the time and read the cruise contract you will find that "It is up to the discretion of the company to allow onboard..." or some such wording. So even though the brochure says booze is not allowed...the contract says a different thing.

I have always believed that what you do in your cabin is your business...as long as you are not bothering or disturbing anyone else. It is really poor form to take any of your private stock outside your room to a public area...BIG NO-NO!!! I will continue to pack my favorite bourbon and whatever into my luggage and I will continue to enjoy the sanctity of my cabin with the libation of my choice made the way I like it. I will continue to invite my friends to my cabin for a libation before lunch/dinner or sailaway. My bar bill in the public rooms will go on being just as big as it was on my last cruise and I will continue to enjoy the cruise the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

HAPPY SAILING TO ALL!!! (And don't forget the corkscrew!!!)

ROSS

[smoosh21]

I think the big difference is justifying the rules people feel they can breakor not break come down to a few issues
1) no un-potty trained children in the pool is an obvious health risk. The cruise line is only looking out for the health of its guests
2) Must be dressed up for formal night--I admit it can be a little petty, but people have paid the cruise fee to expect a certain measure of dress-up at those dinners. You also have the option of going to other dinning options at no extra cost.
3) No private booze in your room brought from outside--This can be attributed to nothing more than the Cruise line (and I say that because I believe most lines now prohibit it) wanting more money. I think some people justify breaking this rule because of how much they charge. Not just for alcohol, but also for non-alcoholic beverages.

A bar or tavern needs to charge more for drinks because that IS their income. People aren't paying to sit in the bar and enjoy the scenery. People on cruise ships have already paid a fare to be on that ship and to cover that ships amenities. You can easily feel that cruise lines shouldn't charge more for a drink than you would pay on shore, especially because you now become a 'trapped' customer

Even if I were to smuggle a bottle of gin or rum on board, most likely I would still buy drinks at the bar, as I am certainly not going to smuggle a blender on board to make margaritas. And the argument that prohibiting alcohol privately brought on board can limit public intoxication doesn't hold water because I have seen plenty of people walking around ships who have had too much and not being told to stop drinking. Having a bottle of booze in your room that you consume in your room, does not effect anyone elses cruise experience.

So to conclude, I am not arguing that breaking some rules is OK and breaking others is not. I can just more easily accept the reasoning for breaking some rules and not others

[dakrewser]

[quote name='smoosh21']I think the big difference is justifying the rules people feel they can breakor not break come down to a few issues[/QUOTE]

Bottom line is that there are rules and we either choose to accept hem or we don't.

Some rules raise ethical issues, people violate them to commit acts of civil disobediaence in the hope of being caught so that the rule itself can be debated. This people also accept that when they are caught they will suffer the consequences.

For others, it's simply a case of feeling that "the rules don't apply to me," or "the rule is silly," or "I paid my money and I'll do what I want." All of which I construe as uncivil behavior. Sure, we all occasionally infract a rule accidently or through ignorance, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about knowing the rule and deliberately ignoring it. THe problem is that once one rule is ignored with impugnity then it's open season on all of them.

How long a journey is it from "I'll drink what I want in my cabin, and bring it aboard if I have to," to "I need to press my skirt, so I'll bring my travel iron with me," to "I don't want the steward to see this, I'd better flush it down the toilet," and oh, so much more.

-dave
[i][size=1]"what, I can't bring my lighter on the plane? How will I smoke in the lavatory, then?"[/size][/i]

[jcrandle]

[quote name='BruceMuzz']Alcohol certainly is a very hot subject these days on cruise ships.

Yes, regardless of the form or type, it is still alcohol - and you can still get drunk with it if you want.
I think that HAL is making a big mistake by allowing us to bring wine and champagne onboard. But I have been told their reasoning is; 1. You are more likely (but not guaranteed) to drink it in the restaurant, where staff are monitoring your condition and behaviour, and 2. It takes a bit longer to get drunk on wine than on spirits (the idea being that it is easier to get out of control with spirits).

This week, on a cruise ship on the Mexican Riviera, a young woman (30ish) burst out of her cabin, screaming and carrying on, running naked down the ships corridors, pounding on other cabin doors, shouting obscenities, and urinating on the floor everytime she stopped to take a breath. You can imagine that the other passengers were a bit alarmed. When the security team caught her and walked her back to her cabin, they found alcohol hidden in shampoo bottles, mouthwash bottles, ziploc bags, water bottles, etc. The next morning this woman and her husband were thrown off the ship in Mexico.
If the captain had chosen to inform the local authorities of the reason for their departure, these two would be in a Mexican Jail today. As it is, they had no passports, which caused them quite a bit of trouble with the authorities. They also had to find a hotel, and purchase new air tickets to get home.

If this woman had been drinking in the ship's bars, the staff would have reported her condition to their supervisors before she got so out of control. Since she was drinking alone in her cabin, they had no chance to monitor her.

If this woman had decided to jump overboard, who would be blamed? Would the cruise line suffer negative publicity for allowing her to get so drunk and take her life? Would the passengers on that cruise be upset that they had to miss a port because the ship had to stop at sea to look for the missing woman? If her family sued the cruise line and won, would you mind paying an extra $50 for your cruise to cover the cost of legal fees and million dollar settlements?

It's all about CONTROLS. The cruise lines must prove to the courts that they are making "reasonable" efforts to control alcohol on their ships in order to fend off all the frivolous lawsuits brought against them by people who wanted to have a little fun and just got out of control.
By the way, the arilines do the same thing.If you read the fine print on the passage ticket, you will find that consuming your own alcoholic beverages on an airplane is strictly forbidden - for just about the same reasons they are forbidden on ships. Are the airlines trying to protect their beverage profits? They barely sell any alcohol these days anyway. There are no profits to protect. They are looking at safety and legal liability - just like the cruise lines.[/QUOTE]As long as HAL will allow you to have several liters of whiskey delivered to your room via room service, and will allow you to bring several bottles of wine on board, I will totally discount that they are concerned with controlling the amount that you imbibe. It is obviously profit motivated, and I suspect it won't be long until they quit allowing you to bring wine on. And when it happens, many posters will insist that it was done to keep the pax sober, rather than to increase the bottom line at HAL.

Mind you, I'm not saying that they don't have the RIGHT to keep you from bringing your own alcohol on board, but please don't insult our intelligence by purporting that it is done for any motive other than profit.

[dakrewser]

[quote name='jcrandle'] but please don't insult our intelligence by purporting that it is done for any motive other than profit.[/QUOTE]

And your source of information is??????

Oh, that's right, it's "obvious" to you. No proof needed!

Note that it's solely your opinion, while BruceMuzz qualifies his remarks by referring to actual events ("My former employer currently has over $500,000,000 [that's half a BILLION] in pending litigation against the company, brought by guests who got drunk in their cabins, started a fight, fell down and broke something, fell overboard, you name it.")

Which do you suppose carries the greater impact, your opinion or his facts?

You do, of course, enjoy the freedom to give your opinion, while I (and others) enjoy the fredom to reject it. But, then, that's only my opinion. :rolleyes:

[michmike]

"I'm talking about knowing the rule and deliberately ignoring it. THe problem is that once one rule is ignored with impugnity then it's open season on all of them." per dakrewser


I was watching the Today show earlier this week and one of their "experts" claims that as much as 60% of married women cheat and speculated that the number for men is in that vicinity or higher. (spose it's that carnival crowd again?)

At any rate , IF that is anywhere close to true then it strikes me we're 3/4 of the way down the slippery slope already and us booze smugglers are only penny ante miscreants.

Pretty certain that DW would take vigorous exception to me being in the first group.. so I guess I'm in good company in the latter.

Now I guess I need to ask more questions when SHE is "working late" *lol*

[michmike]

and perhaps MORE to the point.... why do I only meet the other 40% ? *L*

[jcrandle]

[quote name='dakrewser']And your source of information is??????

Oh, that's right, it's "obvious" to you. No proof needed!

Note that it's solely your opinion, while BruceMuzz qualifies his remarks by referring to actual events ("My former employer currently has over $500,000,000 [that's half a BILLION] in pending litigation against the company, brought by guests who got drunk in their cabins, started a fight, fell down and broke something, fell overboard, you name it.")

Which do you suppose carries the greater impact, your opinion or his facts?

You do, of course, enjoy the freedom to give your opinion, while I (and others) enjoy the fredom to reject it. But, then, that's only my opinion. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]Then if you believe it is to reduce their liability, why Dave, do they allow you to purchase liters of alcohol from room service?

[dakrewser]

[quote name='jcrandle']Then if you believe it is to reduce their liability, why Dave, do they allow you to purchase liters of alcohol from room service?[/QUOTE]

Well, according to Bruce, they can still monitor your drinking that way. Which, I believe, is true. Still - you can always believe what you want. :rolleyes:

[jcrandle]

[quote name='dakrewser']And your source of information is??????

Oh, that's right, it's "obvious" to you. No proof needed!

Note that it's solely your opinion, while BruceMuzz qualifies his remarks by referring to actual events ("My former employer currently has over $500,000,000 [that's half a BILLION] in pending litigation against the company, brought by guests who got drunk in their cabins, started a fight, fell down and broke something, fell overboard, you name it.")

Which do you suppose carries the greater impact, your opinion or his facts?

You do, of course, enjoy the freedom to give your opinion, while I (and others) enjoy the fredom to reject it. But, then, that's only my opinion. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]So a posting by someone who says they are an expert, is valued more than logic? AFAIK, there is no way for us to identify posters, and determine who they are, much less, whether they possess any expert credentials.

[dakrewser]

[quote name='jcrandle']So a posting by someone who says they are an expert, is valued more than logic? [/QUOTE]

No, but you didn't offer logic, just a surmise. Bruce offered a logical explanation with enough verifiable facts (you had none) that lent greater credence to his explanation, at least in my mind.

-dave

[jcrandle]

[quote name='dakrewser']No, but you didn't offer logic, just a surmise. Bruce offered a logical explanation with enough verifiable facts (you had none) that lent greater credence to his explanation, at least in my mind.

-dave[/QUOTE]My facts are 1) HA will sell you multiple liters of 80 proof alcohol via room service. 2) They have no way to determine if one person or 20 will be be consuming them, and they certainly don't know over what period of time.

So why do you believe that provides any control over someone making an ass of themselves?

[stanford's girl]

[quote name='BruceMuzz']Alcohol certainly is a very hot subject these days on cruise ships.

Yes, regardless of the form or type, it is still alcohol - and you can still get drunk with it if you want.
I think that HAL is making a big mistake by allowing us to bring wine and champagne onboard. But I have been told their reasoning is; 1. You are more likely (but not guaranteed) to drink it in the restaurant, where staff are monitoring your condition and behaviour, and 2. It takes a bit longer to get drunk on wine than on spirits (the idea being that it is easier to get out of control with spirits).

This week, on a cruise ship on the Mexican Riviera, a young woman (30ish) burst out of her cabin, screaming and carrying on, running naked down the ships corridors, pounding on other cabin doors, shouting obscenities, and urinating on the floor everytime she stopped to take a breath. You can imagine that the other passengers were a bit alarmed. When the security team caught her and walked her back to her cabin, they found alcohol hidden in shampoo bottles, mouthwash bottles, ziploc bags, water bottles, etc. The next morning this woman and her husband were thrown off the ship in Mexico.
If the captain had chosen to inform the local authorities of the reason for their departure, these two would be in a Mexican Jail today. As it is, they had no passports, which caused them quite a bit of trouble with the authorities. They also had to find a hotel, and purchase new air tickets to get home.

If this woman had been drinking in the ship's bars, the staff would have reported her condition to their supervisors before she got so out of control. Since she was drinking alone in her cabin, they had no chance to monitor her.

If this woman had decided to jump overboard, who would be blamed? Would the cruise line suffer negative publicity for allowing her to get so drunk and take her life? Would the passengers on that cruise be upset that they had to miss a port because the ship had to stop at sea to look for the missing woman? If her family sued the cruise line and won, would you mind paying an extra $50 for your cruise to cover the cost of legal fees and million dollar settlements?

It's all about CONTROLS. The cruise lines must prove to the courts that they are making "reasonable" efforts to control alcohol on their ships in order to fend off all the frivolous lawsuits brought against them by people who wanted to have a little fun and just got out of control.
By the way, the arilines do the same thing.If you read the fine print on the passage ticket, you will find that consuming your own alcoholic beverages on an airplane is strictly forbidden - for just about the same reasons they are forbidden on ships. Are the airlines trying to protect their beverage profits? They barely sell any alcohol these days anyway. There are no profits to protect. They are looking at safety and legal liability - just like the cruise lines.[/QUOTE]

[font=Arial Black][size=3]Bruce,[/size][/font]
[font=Arial Black][size=3] I would like some clarification on a few statements you made:[/size][/font]
[font=Arial Black][size=3]1. " I have been told their reasoning is it takes a bit longer to get drunk on wine than on spirits." Who told you this? Was it a representative from HAL? I find it hard to believe that anyone, who knows anything about alcohol and the effects ALL ALCOHOL has on the human brain would say this. It is easy "to get out of control" with any alcohol.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial Black][size=3]2. "If the captain had chosen to inform the local authorities of the reason for their departure, these two would be in a Mexican Jail today." What would the charge be? Why would the husband be charged? If it's drunk and disorderly, she obviously was but what about him? Does the Mexican police have jurisdiction over cruise ships in international waters? [/size][/font]
[font=Arial Black][size=3][/size][/font]
[font=Arial Black][size=3]Just wondering about these things.:confused: [/size][/font]

[parrotcruiser]

My 2 cents:

We smuggled booze aboard for cabin consumption. Played some poker, had some drinks, then on to the disco. My bar bill was more the nights we started in the cabin, had to keep the buzz going and the room seemed very far away at that point.

We certainly didn't knock on doors and pee in the hallway!

I am more offended my men in speedos than someone drinking "taboo" liquor in their room. But that's just me.

BTW is smuggling alcohol the cruise message board equivalent to sports talk radio debating wether Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame?

[Kayelache]

We were on the Amsterdam in December/Jan. We had two liters of vodka and two liters of scotch that did not get caught. I'm posting this for two reasons. One, I think the whole thing is infantile, after all alcohol consumption is legal, and what one does in the privacy of ones cabin ought not be off limits. After all, the shops sell toothpaste, maybe they ought to force passengers to purchase these items in their shops instead of bringing your own on board. Where will it end?
Anyhow, at home, we bought cheap mouthwash. It was on sale at Walmart, two liter sized bottles for $3. Empty out the mouthwash at least a couple of weeks before you sail. Fill the bottles with VERY hot water, change a couple of times a day. When you open the bottles, and this is VERY important. Do NOT discard the plastic seal that is on the bottles. Fill the bottles with booze. We used "peppermint" mouthwash bottles for vodka, with about a drop of blue food coloring in each, and "original" flavor for the scotch. We also took along another, identical bottle, with about an inch of the original mouthwash in it. Now comes the best part. Take the plastic seals that you removed to empty the mouthwash, and reattach them, using plain old Elmer's glue. It looks like the original seal. Wrap each bottle in bubblewrap, and then in a two quart ziplop bag. We've done this a dozen times in the last five years and have yet to be caught. It is true, most cruise lines have cared less if we smuggled booze aboard. HAL never did a few years ago. We like a drink in our cabin before dinner. Out "bar bills" have always been zero, whether or not we would be able to do this. We are not "bar people:" By the way, we are not youngsters, my husband just turned 92 and I'm not far behind. I think this whole liquor thing is very juvenile, and we intend to look into some of the more "mature" cruise lines. We thought that HAL was one of those, evidentally not.
If one checks into a very exclusive hotel, they do not x-ray your luggage to see if you are smuggling in liquor. Actually, I think the only reason we do it now, is that it's a challenge. At 82, it's fun to smuggle a bra full of miniature bottles aboard. On the other hand, I hate to think that the cruise lines are so dependant on liquor sales that they are forced to take these extreme measures.
We did a river cruise in Europe last summer where we could bring wine and any other spirits at any time with no censorship. Interesting that we did very little, and purchased bar drinks quite often.
Just my humble opinion......
Two very aged seniors who like a drink before dinner in our cabin......

[TeresaJenkins]

[font=Arial][size=2]I too believe this whole "alcohol rule" is so the ship can sell their own firewater to generate money.

Why not just tell us the reasons/facts? Why not give us some options?

ex:
I would not be opposed to paying a $25 fee to bring my own unlimited hard stuff from home. Of course that would be up to each person to decide.

However, they won't do this because it might "look" like they are being greedy, and some people won't want to cruise. Well that's crap too! As an adult I get that the cruise industry is a business, and as a business they are into making a profit.
[b]Do they really think they are fooling everyone?[/b]

What bothers me the most is that the cruiselines treat me/you like we are not capable of making reasonable decisions on our own. Plus, when they won't just come out with the facts, it is as if we are too "[b]sensitive[/b]" to handle the truth!
[b]GRR!!!! I'm not some [i]Sensitve[/i] "New Age Chic"![/b]

I am with you all the way[b] Kayelache. [/b]
[/size][/font]

[dakrewser]

for all of you who believe that the reason you're not allowed to bring booze to your cabin is so that the cruise lines can "gouge" you:

Why do they allow wine, beer, soda, etc?

We've seen reasonable explanations, based on the liability laws, why this is so. But if the only reason to ban hooch is to make a pile of money - why not ban all alcohol?

[lambcom]

Let's put a little realism in this discussion, folks. There's just no way HAL is going to examine or x-ray all of the checked baggage to see if pasengers are smuggling bottles of liquor on board for in-cabin consumption. On a Vista class ship you've got about 2,000 passengers each with 2 plus suitcases or garment bags. That's about 5,000 bags. If you examined each one of these, passengers would be getting bags delivered to their cabins the second day of the cruise. And somehow I can't imagine HAL's on board security force knocking on your cabin door and demanding that you open your suitcase in their presence and turn over your bottle of scotch that showed up during an x-ray scan.

I'll take my chances and smuggle a bottle or two. And yes, I'll still buy enough wine and liquor in the bars to ensure a health profit for Carnivore Corporation.

[ekerr19]

[quote name='Kayelache'] One, I think the whole thing is infantile ....After all, the shops sell toothpaste, maybe they ought to force passengers to purchase these items in their shops instead of bringing your own on board. [/QUOTE]

HAL does not request that you not bring toothpaste onboard - BIG difference, imo.

[QUOTE]Anyhow, at home, we bought cheap mouthwash. It was on sale at Walmart, two liter sized bottles for $3. Empty out the mouthwash at least a couple of weeks before you sail. Fill the bottles with VERY hot water, change a couple of times a day. When you open the bottles, and this is VERY important. Do NOT discard the plastic seal that is on the bottles. Fill the bottles with booze. We used "peppermint" mouthwash bottles for vodka, with about a drop of blue food coloring in each, and "original" flavor for the scotch. We also took along another, identical bottle, with about an inch of the original mouthwash in it. Now comes the best part. Take the plastic seals that you removed to empty the mouthwash, and reattach them, using plain old Elmer's glue. It looks like the original seal. Wrap each bottle in bubblewrap, and then in a two quart ziplop bag. We've done this a dozen times in the last five years and have yet to be caught...[/QUOTE]

Please tell me you are kidding here! This has got to be a joke, right? No one in their right mind would go to all this trouble to smuggle booze onto a cruise ship, would they? Don't you think using food coloring would make the Vodka look more like mouthwash? Oops, I see you already thought of this..

Some of us choose to follow the cruise line rule requesting that we not bring alcohol onboard. While, that may be infantile to you - we like to think that we are law abiding citizens - thus by following rules, we are also setting a good example for our children.

Hardly infantile, wouldn't you agree? ;)

[TinaLee]

[quote name='Kayelache'] Actually, I think the only reason we do it now, is that it's a challenge. At 82, it's fun to smuggle a bra full of miniature bottles aboard. [/QUOTE]

ROFLMAO! :eek:

I just don't understand why everyone gets so up in arms on this subject. Those that want to will, those that don't... won't. It makes no nevermind to me. It's hard to tell the obnoxious drunks who are drunk on 'room booze' from the ones drunk on 'cruise line booze'. Although, dollars to donuts it's the unguarded 'room booze' the younger ones are buzzing around on!

TinaLee :cool:

[ekerr19]

I also meant to add to my post that I really don't care if someone chooses to smuggle - it's obviously a personal choice - I just choose not to and shouldn't be called names because of it.

I also think it's hysterical the lengths some folks will go to save a buck after spending thousands to cruise in the first place... oh well. :rolleyes:

[HeatherInFlorida]

I wish I'd never happened on this thread. A bird let me to it. So prepare to flame me.

I continue to be amazed by people who will come up up any excuse to rationalize bad behavior. The mere use of the word "smuggle" makes it clear that all who boldly post here about how they "get away" with smuggling tells us that they completely understand it's something they are prohibited from doing by the cruise contract they have accepted. Whether or not you agree with HAL's reasons, think they're untrue, think they're unfair really is inconsequential.

So you can argue until doomsday and it doesn't change the fact that you're defying HAL's request. And that speaks volumes of the kind of people you are. Probably the same 60% who cheat on their spouses. A cheat is a cheat is a cheat.

[dakrewser]

[quote name='HeatherInFlorida']So you can argue until doomsday and it doesn't change the fact that you're defying HAL's request. And that speaks volumes of the kind of people you are. Probably the same 60% who cheat on their spouses. A cheat is a cheat is a cheat.[/QUOTE]


Oh, Heather! :eek:

And you promised not to start trouble any more!!!

:rolleyes: -dave