Naughty Room on HAL

[Yehootu]

OK, before the morality police jump me, this thread is for a newbe to cruising that feels he can out smart the system. He asked about bringing alcohol onboard. I hope I can forward some thoughts to him to convince him it's not worth it. It's ben along time since I've been on a HAL ship, so any tales might enlighten him.

Mahalo, Tim

[drlee]

Whether it's advisable, one always meets those who want to beat the system. Last year we watched a guy on a shore excursion bus try to fill a water bottle with rum, so that he could bring it on board. He spilled quite a bit of it. :) For us, we don't like the rules, especially concerning wine. We don't mind paying a corkage fee if opened in restaurant, but consuming a glass in our stateroom shouldn't result in a fee. Enough complaints seemed to be the reason why HAL now allows a bottle bought on a shore excursion to a winery to be permitted (One per guest).

But, otherwise, just bringing alcohol on the ship to avoid the fees and rules is just plain cheating. It says a lot about someone who is willing to pay a couple of thousand dollars for a cruise, and then "sneak" a $20 bottle on board. Those same people would probably stiff the wait staff on tips, or add themselves to a guided tour to avoid paying for it.

[SilvertoGold]

Well, OP, no moralizing here, as you asked.

 

I have noticed that some ports often/never have a desk set up to tag your one no-corkage bottle per pax, so I guess some pax do get away with this.

 

Having never ventured into the "break-the-rules" lifestyle, I have no idea what happens if a pax does try to do this. Maybe the penalty is to walk the plank? You could tell your friend that.

Edited August 8, 2016 by SilvertoGold

[sail7seas]

What more does your 'friend' need to know aside from the rules and that they apply to all ofus. the liquor rule is for him, as well. :D Tell himHAL enforeeces that rule..

Edited August 8, 2016 by sail7seas

[Krazy Kruizers]

About 3 or 4 years ago we had problems on embarkation day and the concierges couldn't get it straightened out so we had to go to the front desk.

The naughty room was right next to the front desk and the line was a mile long with people waiting to claim their luggage and open them to have alcohol removed from the suitcases.

At nearly every port we have been at -- Alaska, Caribbean and repositioning cruises from Ft Lauderdale to either San Diego or Seattle -- there was a table set up right at the end of the security scan machine for those people trying to bring alcohol on board.

Tell him that he can buy liter bottles of alcohol either from HAL's site or from room service for use in his cabin.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

OK, before the morality police jump me, this thread is for a newbe to cruising that feels he can out smart the system. He asked about bringing alcohol onboard. I hope I can forward some thoughts to him to convince him it's not worth it. It's ben along time since I've been on a HAL ship, so any tales might enlighten him.

Mahalo, Tim

 

 

No jumping from me. I don't care what other people do, really truly. Here's how things are for now: HAL lets each person bring on a bottle of wine with no corkage charge, as long as you drink it in your state room. If you bring said wine into the dining room or a bar lounge, then it's an $18 per bottle corkage charge. If you bring extra wine with you upon boarding, there will be a table with a crew member in the terminal who will be in charge of those extra bottles and their corkage fees (unless of course, there isn't, in which case, no problema). You can order wine and spirits online prior to your cruise that will be in your cabin when you board. I don't think the alcohol prices are that prohibitive, myself; every restaurant, bar, cruise line, etc makes a profit on their booze. Cocktails on board run around 8 bucks a drink. Your friend may get away with it, or not, it's not my problem:)

 

I usually bring a case of wine with me on my cruises, because I know what I like, I usually drive to my cruises, and I store my wine very carefully at home.:)

 

Bonne chance et bon voyage!

Edited August 8, 2016 by Old As Dirt Mom

[Krazy Kruizers]

About the bottles of wine with above poster's comment -- they must be in your carry-on luggage -- not packed in a suitcase.

Wine packed in a suitcase sends you to the naughty room and some people have reported that they did not get it back at the end of the cruise.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

About the bottles of wine with above poster's comment -- they must be in your carry-on luggage -- not packed in a suitcase.

Wine packed in a suitcase sends you to the naughty room and some people have reported that they did not get it back at the end of the cruise.

 

Very good point, thanks for the clarification!

[Sequim88]

Compared to RCCL's draconian policies HAL is great. I would see no need at all to smuggle. RCCL won't allow buying a bottle onboard for cabin consumption. When I had our Rum Runners I used one for having a Brandy nightcap in the cabin. Room service was way too slow. HAL's policy completely fixes that. The bottle rates are only a little more than liquor store prices in the Seattle area and even without the Explore 4 drink package the drink prices are reasonable - same or lower than Seattle restaurants or bars.

[kazu]

I haven't been to the naughty room (and I have plans to be there) BUT.... There is always the risk of being "kicked off" the ship. I think it would be only applied to repeat offenders but it is in the terms and conditions.

[jtl513]

I hope I can forward some thoughts to him to convince him it's not worth it.

Offer to buy him gift bottle if he promises not to smuggle. Maybe that will shame him into doing the right thing. ;)

.

Edited August 9, 2016 by jtl513

[Yehootu]

About 3 or 4 years ago we had problems on embarkation day and the concierges couldn't get it straightened out so we had to go to the front desk.

The naughty room was right next to the front desk and the line was a mile long with people waiting to claim their luggage and open them to have alcohol removed from the suitcases.

At nearly every port we have been at -- Alaska, Caribbean and repositioning cruises from Ft Lauderdale to either San Diego or Seattle -- there was a table set up right at the end of the security scan machine for those people trying to bring alcohol on board.

Tell him that he can buy liter bottles of alcohol either from HAL's site or from room service for use in his cabin.

Perfect. Thanks!

[iriemon]

My friend had to go to the naughty room to get their luggage not because they had liquor in it but because he had wrenches in it for his electric wheelchair. His wife went down to get the suit case but the would not give them back until he came down to prove he was in the electric chair. He got them back so they are not only looking for booze.

[summersigh]

Seems sort of silly to sneak a bottle of liquor onto a HAL ship when, for example, a bottle of Crown Royal is around $48 which isn't unbearably higher than on land .... maybe one can understand on Carnival where the same bottle is twice the price. :rolleyes:

[TiogaCruiser]

I haven't been to the naughty room (and I have plans to be there) BUT.... There is always the risk of being "kicked off" the ship. I think it would be only applied to repeat offenders but it is in the terms and conditions.

 

How's that again, Kazu???;):D

[3rdGenCunarder]

In Boston, they were very quick to take the bag that had 2 bottles of wine. I barely had "that has wine" out of my mouth when it was whisked over the the wine check-in table. On that same cruise, when I was returning to the ship in Saint John, they saw a bottle in my tote bag and asked to see it. It was just a bottle of water, and tit was fine once they saw what it was.

 

In Fort Lauderdale this past winter, I had two bottles of champagne in an insulated tote and it went through the scanner without a comment. I didn't see a wine table anywhere. Maybe they ignored it because it was only 2 bottles? Maybe they were just too busy?

 

I haven't brought wine on board in ports during a cruise. I know you don't get the two freebies. So do you take your bottles to someone and pay the corkage? I wish they'd let us take beer on board. Just a couple of bottles of something local to improve on HAL's poor selection.

[kazu]

How's that again, Kazu???;):D

 

Oops typo. Should be NO plans. LOL.

[Randyk47]

While I have no personal experience or knowledge of it ever happening I believe cruise lines can deny boarding for attempts to "smuggle" prohibited items on board. By "smuggle" I mean an obvious attempt to conceal or somehow camouflage the item with the goal of getting through security. Just putting a bottle of alcohol in your luggage in its regular retail container is not smuggling per se and I suppose a passenger could always plead ignorance and let the cruise line take or hold the alcohol. On least on the surface that's different than trying to deliberately conceal by putting the same alcohol in a "rum runner" or some other container in a deliberate attempt to bypass detection. Again, I don't know if anybody has actually been denied boarding but I think it's possible and certainly not worth the risk.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Randyk47

[take us away]

Please know I am not slamming the OP, just the concept of cheating.

 

Unbelievable that someone would pay hundreds to thousands for a cruise and try to cheat the system to save a few dollars on booze. Do they not realize that if people abuse a policy - that policy is GONE. A sad but true fact of life is that the majority have to pay for the idiocy of the few.

 

For those of us who take on our 1 bottle of wine or pay the corkage fee if we bring more - we should rise up as some cruise lines allow NO beverages (including soda and water) to be brought on board and we would hate to see HAL follow that route. We can purchase wine when on excursions and bring a bottle on board without any hassles, a perk I really like!

 

HAL will not only confiscate the bottle - there are scanners for several reasons, including 'cheaters', the newbie may be flagged in the HAL system. HAL has the authority to not allow boarding or to put the passenger off the ship - read your contract.

[DeeniEncinitas]

On the Oosterdam I believe, my husbands bag did not show up in our room and we received a msg on the phone to come to the front desk on embarkation.

My husband had Swiss Army knife in the side pocket on his bag and said they will hold it until our cruise ended and he could come get it.

This was back in 2006 when we did a cruise to South Pacific.

Denise:)

PS he did mention a long line of fellow passengers waiting!

Denise:)

[serendipity1499]

How's that again, Kazu???;):D

 

Oops typo. Should be NO plans. LOL.

 

Good morning..I was going to ask the same question but TiogaCruiser beat me to it.. LOL :D:D:D

[tedcruise]

I can't understand how people can spend thousands of dollars on a cruise then try to save $30-$40 sneaking booze on board.

[jtl513]

We can purchase wine when on excursions and bring a bottle on board without any hassles, a perk I really like!

Just to clarify, in case someone reading that sentence doesn't know, that bottle must be from a winery stop on the excursion, not purchased somewhere on an excursion that does not go to a winery.

[gpb11]

With HAL's bottle pricing I don't see any reason to bother with smuggling. On our last cruise it was something like $37 for a liter of Seagrams and it was sitting on the desk when we got to our room. We brought on a twelve pack of coke and our steward kept the ice bucket filled. It wasn't terribly expensive to buy buckets of beer (unopened) and keep our fridge stocked as well.

 

On other lines I've smuggled regularly without incident. Think things through, understand how the xray systems and personnel work, then be creative. Self-righteous hall monitors can go pound sand after they review John 8:7.

[shellsrus]

If you don't bring your allowed 1 bottle of wine per person on at embarkation, can you do it at a later port? Does HAL monitor the two bottle rule and give you one time (any time) to do it?