Help me smuggle liquor onboard

[Ramtuff]

I just got back from a cruise on RC's Voyager of the Seas. I was with a group of about 14 people, and we all had booze in our carry on bags and luggage. None of it was camoflauged, and the bags did get x-rayed. No one ever said anything about it, or took it away from us.

[mrios1]

Academy has them for 20 bucks. Wrap your beer or wine in some socks and mix in all sodas and bottled water..I've never had any problems..When you get to your cabin..slip the steward 5 or 10 bucks to keep your "ice" fresh. Works everytime for me...Ice chest is so collapsable it fits in a suitcase or duffle bag....And dont forget the domino's. I took mine an so many people said they could kick themselves for not bringing theirs.

[ej4cruising]

I have triky question. I am also intrested in bring alchol on board. We are cruising on the Carnival Liberty on August 1 out of Rome Italy. I love all of your ideas - but... would this hold up going overseas? I would love to pack a box of wine as I too don't like to pay $25 for a bottle of Baringer that I can get here for $5. But I know security it much stricter going through International passport controls. What do you think?

 

Thanks,

Ellen

[nimbex1970]

Because of conflicting info if carry on was safe or not, we brought a seperate CHECKED bag on wheels (eight bottles of wine, one vodka bottle, one rum (both plastic)) Long story short, all our luggage was lost. this checked luggage of pure booze went through two airport scanners , then was re-scanned to fly to cozumel. cozumel authorities hand searched the bags... then delivered them to RCL.... where they were promptly delivered with multiple notices of hand searches. Not a drop missing or confiscated. :D

 

we then take our 3 water bottles, fill one with solid rum or vodka, the other two with 1/3 of the booze. we then hit the lido deck, fill the 1/3 bottles with ice tea or fruit punch and ice. (pop goes flat). If we need a refil, to save a trip to the cabin... there is that third "water" bottle ready and waiting.

 

this does NOT work at night as water bottles are everywhere durring the day and non-existant at night, this halves our alcohol bill.

 

The wine we un-cork ourselves in our room (bring corkscrew in checked luggage). have a glass before dinner. I'm even known to bring a glass to dinner and refill durring the night. yep, not only cheap... but I'm drinking my home town fingerlake wines.

 

the last night I saved our favorite bottle to share with our favorite bartender who "overlooked" many purchases.;)

[outnlftfld]

Okay, we tried the "wrap it in clothes idea". Not a good suggestion. When we went to get our luggage at the airport, we couldn't figure out what the smell was till we found our luggage. Our bottle of tequila had broken it's seal, maybe from the airplane pressure, maybe from the bag being manhandled, don't know for sure. Bottom line, our luggage STILL smells like tequila (almost 2 yrs later) and we had to wash a whole bag of clothes on board!

[Redroserazelle]

Ok, call me stupid, but what are the rules regarding bringing liquor on board? I have only been on the Radisson Paul Gauguin, and they supply 2 liters of your choice in your cabin and offer alcohol with dinner as well as other venues. I know that is not the case on most other cruise lines. I'm going on the Celebrity Mercury next year and I don't know if I can/should bring my own liquor and wine.

 

JulieMac

Hi Juliemac-we sailed Mercury last year...bought booze in port & put it in water bottles. No one checked those, but they do xray all bags when you get back on the ship.;)

[bluehorizonlover123]

Hide the liquor in the bags you give to the porter; do not put it in the carry-ons because these are ex-rayed before you enter the ship. Be careful not to break it.

[ms_behavin0]

From everything I've read, you can buy bottles on board to send to your room for less than you can buy it at home, so why bother traveling with it? I'd rather take more clothes.

 

Having it in the room to mix your own drinks is what saves the $$$ not bringing it from home. This way you are also still buying from the ship, but mixing your own.

[Seago2]

Okay... I'm gonna try it. Last time I sailed my suitcase had a card in it that said it was checked by Homeland Security. So I KNOW they went over my stuff pretty thoroughly. Are you sure that all they (by which I mean CCL, not HS- what would they care? But as long as it is open, someone from CCL might be standing there...) will do is confiscate it? They won't do anything more harsh, will they?

[UberCruiser]

I've been on several cruises, but never tried to carry liquor through the screening area. I have however, sent several containers through the "checked" baggage process. From my experience, comments from other posts (this topic gets beat to death on the forums), and professional opinion, my belief is:

 

1) Most lines include some provision in the cruise contract that allows them to limit or seize alcohol brought on board.

2) Cruise lines search carry-on baggage to preserve the legal facade that they are controlling the consumption of liquor on board the ship. They can track individual purchases in ship bars through the "cruise card". If they allowed people to carry on unlimited amounts of booze, and someone got hurt due to an alcohol related accident, the line would have trouble with establishing a defense. By searching carry ons, the line can demonstrate a "custom and practice" of limiting the amount of uncontrolled consumption on the ship.

3) All the same, the lines do not want to alienate their passengers in any way. Therefore, they allow you the ability to smuggle liquor onto the ship in your checked baggage. It's a form of "don't ask - don't tell". If the passengers willingly evade the efforts of the cruise line to control consumption, the line can sidestep some of the liability.

4) Also, in most ports, the baggage handlers are local union hands, not employees of the line. Their contract probably does not require an exhaustive search (just looking for REALLY gross violations and dangerous situations), nor does it allow time for a heavy search. Those bags need to get on the boat at the same time as the passengers and all of the supplies for the coming week. The bags aren't really in the control of the cruise line until their set on the ship. Really, there's not time to do anything about it then.

 

 

Personally, I think #2 and #3 are the drivers in the process.

[Kinsey]

What is the penalty for being caught with "beverages" hidden in your luggage? Do they just remove it and say nothing or do they cause a scene?? I don't want to be publically embarrased.

[UberCruiser]

All I've ever seen is that the confiscated stuff goes in a garbage container, and the guests continue on to the boat. No criticism, no lectures. Maybe a smile or two between the staff and the guests.

 

Move along and have a wonderful cruise!

[Ms Belvedere]

All I've ever seen is that the confiscated stuff goes in a garbage container, and the guests continue on to the boat.

Move along and have a wonderful cruise!

How bizarre, I've never seen or heard of anything like that happening until you posted it here. Must be another cruise line.

 

I've had notes in my luggage the last two cruises that Homeland Security searched our luggage. They're looking for bombs, not booze.

 

The cruise lines aren't going to parade you around like a criminal if you smuggle booze on board the ship. You just have to follow the recommendations from former cruisers posting here and use some common sense.

[miamiboater]

I have been on 20 cruises (Carnival, Royal Carribbean, Holland America, NCL, Costa, and Princess) and have always put liquor in my checked bag and have never had any problems until about 6 months ago on an NCL cruise. I received a note at my cabin stating that during routine scanning of bag they noticed a "questionable" object in my bag and they wanted me to head to the card room to collect my bag. They also placed their liquor policy on the sheet. Needless to say, I knew what this was about! Anyway, I went and stood in line with approximately 10 other people. When it was my turn to enter the room, I entered and they asked me if I had liquor in my bag to which I answered honestly. I opened the bag for them and showed them the liquor. I actually had three bottles of different types of liquor. After a brief conversation with the officer, he told me that he wanted me to have a good time and he let me keep all the liquor. I was so embarrassed but I can't say anything negative about NCL because they treated me really well and did not make me feel bad at all.

 

We all laugh about it now but it was so embarassing that day. Anyway, I just wanted to share my story so you all have an idea of what could happen!

[BonVoyage20]

I just sailed on the Inspiration and some friends of mine we able to get a big listerine bottle and a big shampoo bottle both filled with absolut in no problem. it was a great cruise :)

[Egret32]

Members of our party on a recent cruise took old wine bottles and filled them with booze of choice. They then used a wine bottle corker and capper to close them completely. (They make homemade wine.) Then they distributed the bottles so other members of the party as they were limited to one bottle of "wine" each. They had so much left over, they had a rather large party the last night.

[Egret32]

Members of our party on a recent cruise took old wine bottles and filled them with booze of choice. They then used a wine bottle corker and capper to close them completely. (They make homemade wine.) Then they distributed the bottles so other members of the party as they were limited to one bottle of "wine" each. They had so much left over, they had a rather large party the last night.

[scarlett o]

We've just returned from a Jewel of the Sea cruise out of Miami and everyone in our group lost most our "supplies". I even had vodka in a water bottle and it was taken. The screeners are getting too wise!:rolleyes:

[Gunther1]

A "friend" told me that he's used rinsed out contact lens wetting solution bottles (large size) many times.

[s/vPanacea]

You may want to check out: http://www.pronto.com/user/search.do?displayQuery=rum%20runner%20flasks&SEM=true&query=rum%20runner%20flasks&adid=1202356942-6570054-0_ys&ref=%7Bkeyword%7D&creativeid=%7Bcreative%7D&site=%7Bplacement%7D&OVRAW=Rum%20Runner&OVKEY=rum%20runner%20flasks&OVMTC=advanced&OVADID=17287506012&OVKWID=173498557012&OVCAMPGID=3766731012&OVADGRPID=6611007400&OVNDID=ND2&loadingComplete=true

 

It may be the answer for what you are looking for...

[Leroy Neiman]

Can't I just put some airplane bottles in my pockets? Will they pat me down, x-ray me or have me empty my pockets?

[Jayarby]

I used these the last time I went. They're called Rumrunners and they worked great. I packed them in our checked bags.

 

http://www.rumrunnerflasks.com/

[perillous]

I just used CamoCaps (Google it) product, which is a bottle cap that makes your water bottles look factory-sealed, and enjoyed an entire week of cruising and unhassled drinking in my cabin, in the bar. Nobody knew the difference. So cool!

Edited May 3, 2011 by perillous

[MeanieGal]

I am sorry, SockMonkey, but I don't know anything about Carnival. I am just struggling to learn about Princess before our cruise in July.

 

Princess allows guests to bring wine and champagne on board, and they also have hard liquor at reasonable prices on their gift list. I.e., a liter of Absolute vodka is $22.00, which is about what we pay in the State store. In Washington, all hard liquor must be purchased from the State.

 

I agree that the wine prices are too high, so we plan to take a case of wine on board.

 

Oh PunkiC! Prices are so different now. A liter of Absolut is about $28.00 here at home...as a BV item on Carnival, the same liter is $65.00! Shame on Carnival for being so grabby!!! I sure do like your prices better!!

[sarahtaylor]

Don't be so sure... Bottled alcohol in a water bottle bubbles while bottled water does not. They can tell the difference if they do the "shake test". Just a forewarning...

 

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