Bringing alcohol onboard - what's the latest?

[CruisinChic]

I have been on several cruises and know that cruise lines are cracking down on bringing alcohol onboard. I have not cruised Princess in several years so would like to know what the latest is in terms of them cracking down, checking luggage, etc. and if there is still any way to smuggle alcohol onboard? Does Princess allow you to bring wine onboard? Do they hold it and only serve it to you at dinner? We are doing an 11 day Alaska cruisetour and need to watch how much we spend on alcohol, especially considering we are getting married in October!

 

We did a quick search of the boards and could not find a good answer so please do not refer me to the search function. :)

 

Thanks!

[leavingocalaagain]

Generally you can carry on wine without much problem... don't try to hide it. Anything else could result in problems, although I hear that many people do smuggle on other things. If caught, it will be confiscated and they "could' deny you boarding.

 

Officially Per Princess....

 

 

As provided in the Passage Contract, passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind onboard for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml), per voyage.* Princess Cruises reserves the right to remove any alcoholic beverage in excess of the above stated policy thresholds from both passenger suitcases and hand-luggage. Alcohol will be stored for safe-keeping during the course of the voyage and will be delivered to the passenger's stateroom on the final day of the cruise.

Consumption of personal wine or champagne is limited to your stateroom. A $15.00 per bottle corkage fee (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to your shipboard account for any personal wine or champagne consumed in any public area of the ship. Any wines or champagnes supplied from the ship's stock to passengers would not be subject to a corkage fee.

Alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at ports of call, will be collected for safekeeping and delivered to the passenger's stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist passengers with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist passengers with shipboard alcoholic purchases.

*Princess Cruises is not responsible for any alcoholic beverages confiscated by shoreside security staff. Such items are not eligible for monetary refund or replacement.

[Loonbeam]

In short, based on current reports, Princess is not enforcing any limits except maybe in Australia. Of course they could at any time, but that's not my expectation at least...

 

Do note that the cost of wine in Alaska may not be that much less than on ship, prices are very high up there on anything that has to be trucked, shipped or flown in.

[WeBeGone]

As recent as March, you could bring wine, beer and champagne on board in unlimited quantities. (We brought a case in Rio and a case in Santiago.) Hard liquor will be held until the last night of the cruise if they see you bring it on board or if you go to the security table and turn it in.

[Cruise Junky]

Never had an issue with Princess. They had a table set up for collecting it in some ports in the Caribbean, but it looked like it was run on the honor system. We just walked on by, apparently we don't have any ;)

[1 HappyCruiser]

Never had an issue with Princess. They had a table set up for collecting it in some ports in the Caribbean, but it looked like it was run on the honor system. We just walked on by, apparently we don't have any ;)

 

They will not ask to look in any bag or box unless it specifically has the name of the liquor store on the side. I questioned them last cruise & even told the collection guy I had a bottle in my beach bag that I was "smuggling" and he just laughed and said what he doesn't see he doesn't care about.

[Cruise Junky]

They will not ask to look in any bag or box unless it specifically has the name of the liquor store on the side. I questioned them last cruise & even told the collection guy I had a bottle in my beach bag that I was "smuggling" and he just laughed and said what he doesn't see he doesn't care about.

 

That's why I love Princess :)

[paul929207]

From my experience Princess will only hold alcohol to the last night if you ask them to.

[tall-lady]

The passenger contract I found online doesn't state that "one bottle" answer that is found in the FAQ. Does anyone have a current copy of the contract that they could post the current wording of the alcohol policy?

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

The one online is the one you must "Accept", so it is the one that matters. The "one bottle" is in the Q&A in a made up quote from the Passage Contract. Not sure what if any legal standing that would have.

[gdisney]

The passenger contract I found online doesn't state that "one bottle" answer that is found in the FAQ. Does anyone have a current copy of the contract that they could post the current wording of the alcohol policy?

 

I'm leaving in three weeks on the Star. The contract says this:

 

"Passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind (except wine and champagne) on board for consumption. You must surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship’s gift shop, or at ports of call, to Carrier, which will be delivered to Your stateroom on the last day of the voyage. A corkage fee of $15.00 U.S.D. per bottle (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to wine and champagne brought aboard by You and consumed in the ship’s restaurants."

 

No limit on the wine is listed. Now, my parents just took the Star on the RT Hawaii last month, and they brought 8 bottles of wine on board. And then picked up two more during the trip. :eek: They SAID they shared with friends on the trip....but I imagined they just spent the whole trip stumbling around on deck ;)

[-Lew-]

 

The passenger contract I found online doesn't state that "one bottle" answer that is found in the FAQ. Does anyone have a current copy of the contract that they could post the current wording of the alcohol policy?

The latest Passage Contract (PC) can be found here.

 

With respect to the per person limit, it does not need to be spelled out in the PC. Princess can and does make rules and regulations that we must follow. See section 12 of the PC:

 

12. RESPONSIBILITY TO COMPLY WITH LAW AND REGULATIONS, RULES OF SHIP; NO SOLICITATION.

 

You shall be responsible for complying with the requirements of all immigration, port, health, customs, and police authorities, and all other laws and regulations of each country or state from or to which You will travel, as well as this Passage Contract.

You must at all times obey all the rules, regulations and orders of the ship, Carrier and the Captain.

You shall not solicit other Passengers for commercial purposes or advertise goods or services on board the ship without Carrier’s prior written permission. You may be disembarked without liability for refund, payment, compensation or credit of any kind if You or any Passenger for whom You are responsible violate any of these requirements, and agree to assume and/or reimburse Carrier for any expenses or fines that may be incurred as a result of such noncompliance.

 

Lew

[Loonbeam]

Lew, thanks.. Between the two of us, if we cut and paste that enough times, the canard that the contract permits unlimited amounts may finally go away :)

 

The latest Passage Contract (PC) can be found here.

 

With respect to the per person limit, it does not need to be spelled out in the PC. Princess can and does make rules and regulations that we must follow. See section 12 of the PC:

12. RESPONSIBILITY TO COMPLY WITH LAW AND REGULATIONS, RULES OF SHIP; NO SOLICITATION.

 

You shall be responsible for complying with the requirements of all immigration, port, health, customs, and police authorities, and all other laws and regulations of each country or state from or to which You will travel, as well as this Passage Contract.

You must at all times obey all the rules, regulations and orders of the ship, Carrier and the Captain.

You shall not solicit other Passengers for commercial purposes or advertise goods or services on board the ship without Carrier’s prior written permission. You may be disembarked without liability for refund, payment, compensation or credit of any kind if You or any Passenger for whom You are responsible violate any of these requirements, and agree to assume and/or reimburse Carrier for any expenses or fines that may be incurred as a result of such noncompliance.

Lew

[Matcodixon]

A part missing in this discussion is regarding beer. There have been many posts reporting cases of beer being brought aboard, although the passage contract clearly states only "wine and champagne" can be brought aboard.

 

According to the latest posts, it really is up to the Captain. (as it should be)

[paul929207]

A part missing in this discussion is regarding beer. There have been many posts reporting cases of beer being brought aboard, although the passage contract clearly states only "wine and champagne" can be brought aboard.

 

According to the latest posts, it really is up to the Captain. (as it should be)

Beer and alcohol are officially on the banned list, however, this rule is rarely enforced.

[Xplode]

Beer and alcohol are officially on the banned list, however, this rule is rarely enforced.

 

So is it best to put it in your checked luggage or carry on?

[tall-lady]

So, the summary of the concept so far seems to be that as long as you're reasonable about quantity and don't flash it around, most of the ships don't care if you bring some wine/champagne/beer on board. Do any of the ships in particular seem to be sticklers about that "one bottle" idea?

[1 HappyCruiser]

So is it best to put it in your checked luggage or carry on?

We always carry it on in a smaller bag but stuffing it in a checked suitcase also works.

[paul929207]

So, the summary of the concept so far seems to be that as long as you're reasonable about quantity and don't flash it around, most of the ships don't care if you bring some wine/champagne/beer on board. Do any of the ships in particular seem to be sticklers about that "one bottle" idea?

The only one that was a stickler in our experience was the Dawn Princess, in Australia. One bottle at embarkation, and none at ports along the way.

[Xplode]

We always carry it on in a smaller bag but stuffing it in a checked suitcase also works.

 

Great. Thank you.

[Shoalwater]

We took the Grand princess' repositioning back to the UK, boarding in FLL on 7-April, 2012. I carefully wrapped and boxed up 6 x 1.5L bottles of wine for our 3 week trip, put a luggage tag on it and checked it in with the baggage handlers along with the other suitcases at the port. No problem. I carried a bottle of gin in my hand luggage, and again, no problem. Similar experience in Southampton last November, 2011 when boarding to sail back to the USA.

 

Remember who is doing the port inspections at embarkation, and why. Its done for security and not to enforce Princess' policies. I'll repeat the deal in January when boarding for the 49 day FLL-SFO cruise.

[donaldsc]

Generally you can carry on wine without much problem... don't try to hide it. Anything else could result in problems, although I hear that many people do smuggle on other things. If caught, it will be confiscated and they "could' deny you boarding.

 

Officially Per Princess....

 

 

As provided in the Passage Contract, passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind onboard for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml), per voyage.* Princess Cruises reserves the right to remove any alcoholic beverage in excess of the above stated policy thresholds from both passenger suitcases and hand-luggage. Alcohol will be stored for safe-keeping during the course of the voyage and will be delivered to the passenger's stateroom on the final day of the cruise.

Consumption of personal wine or champagne is limited to your stateroom. A $15.00 per bottle corkage fee (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to your shipboard account for any personal wine or champagne consumed in any public area of the ship. Any wines or champagnes supplied from the ship's stock to passengers would not be subject to a corkage fee.

Alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at ports of call, will be collected for safekeeping and delivered to the passenger's stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist passengers with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist passengers with shipboard alcoholic purchases.

*Princess Cruises is not responsible for any alcoholic beverages confiscated by shoreside security staff. Such items are not eligible for monetary refund or replacement.

 

If the Cruise Contract is the ultimate definition of what you can not bring on board, it does not specify any limitation as to how much wine you can bring on -

 

"No alcohol may be purchased or consumed by any Passengers under the age of 21. No Passenger under the age of 21 shall be permitted to engage in any gaming activities on board the ship. No Passenger under the age of 18 shall be permitted to purchase cigarettes or tobacco products. Passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind (except wine and champagne) on board for consumption. You must surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship’s gift shop, or at ports of call, to Carrier, which will be delivered to Your stateroom on the last day of the voyage. A corkage fee of $15.00 U.S.D. per bottle (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to wine and champagne brought aboard by You and consumed in the ship’s restaurants."

 

Color additions are mine.

 

DON

[caribill]

If the Cruise Contract is the ultimate definition of what you can not bring on board, it does not specify any limitation as to how much wine you can bring on -

 

"No alcohol may be purchased or consumed by any Passengers under the age of 21. No Passenger under the age of 21 shall be permitted to engage in any gaming activities on board the ship. No Passenger under the age of 18 shall be permitted to purchase cigarettes or tobacco products. Passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind (except wine and champagne) on board for consumption. You must surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship’s gift shop, or at ports of call, to Carrier, which will be delivered to Your stateroom on the last day of the voyage.

 

And the Cruise Contract also states (as posted above): "You must at all times obey all the rules, regulations and orders of the ship, Carrier and the Captain."

 

So at any time it can be changed to one bottle or even no bottles.

 

(And anything else in the contract can also be changed according to this, but not by you. A very one-sided contract.)

[robgvic]

beer and alcohol are officially on the banned list, however, this rule is rarely enforced.

 

where is this official list, paul?

I still see the contract,and that is carefully worded by vdery good lawyers, that you can take sine an champagne. No limits

given

[-Lew-]

 

where is this official list, paul?

I still see the contract,and that is carefully worded by vdery good lawyers, that you can take sine an champagne. No limits given

Limits are discussed in the Princess Cruise Answer Book.

 

Lew