Taking alcohol on board

[claudio]

i went on sky in august and they tell you not to take booze on board but they rarely stop you they rely on your naivety to hand it in. i just shove a couple of bottles in my backpack and just walk through they do xray though. and i found out in port vila if you buy your booze 1 or 2 hours before sailing you have to carry it back yourself when i got back to ship there was a queue forming for people to hand their booze in i just walked past they wont stop you as they would have screened your bags before that, having said that i took it back to my room and hardly touched it anyway i did notice one womAN WITH WHISKY IN A WATER BOTTLE IN LOUNGE ONE DAY SHE would order coke and ice how cheap|

[aussiedisneyfan]

Although this bit of news is third hand, someone going on the "Sun" rang and queried this and was told too many young people were creating problems by drinking their supplies on the first day/night.

 

Everyone could just as easily get trashed on the last afternoon/night when they hand all the alcohol back.

 

Maybe they should just ban the young people's alcohol and let us oldies take ours. hee hee

[nat153]

I think they're right in trying to stop people overdrinking but I think they're aiming at the wrong side of things.

 

On one cruise on the Sky we had a drunk guy jump overboard and apparently they had had it happen a few times we never heard about. Then there was the two girls who died of alcohol poisoning and they'd been drinking in their cabins before dinner.

 

I think they should be looking at the bar staff who keep serving the alcohol even when people are obviously drunk. One guy on our last cruise had to personally go to the pursers desk and cancel his cruise card for the night because he knew he was too drunk but he kept getting served.

 

When I was on the Sun for work, we quizzed the captain about whether the staff had any training on RSA (responsible service of alcohol) and he did a very good job at dodging the issue :rolleyes: We later found out that they don't have to have RSA certificates because of the foreign registration.

[rockie]

On our first trip on the Sky out of Auckland, hubby got up early the first morning and then come back to the cabin and compained it was still cold. I jokingly said, "Are you sure we are heading for Fiji?? We went back up on deck and blow me down, we were passing The Hole In The Rock at the Bay Of Islands. A young man had got so drunk he had dived down through the obversation thing on the back of the Promenade deck into the childrens pool. They had to offload him up north. WHY would anyone spend all that money on a hoilday to ruin it with overdrinking. I cannot see the logic in that at all.

[maxx]

Vodka in the water bottles???? Has anyone seen those household product cans with false bottoms? I seem to remember them somehwere........

[aussiedisneyfan]

I think if people are going to drink they will whether they have their own or not.

 

A friend that is on the same cruise but not booked with us did received the flyer. Here is the info.

 

******************************************************************************

Policy Change

Onboard Alcohol Allowance

 

IMPORTANT: To ensure the saftey and comfort of all onboard, we wish to advise that passengers will no longer be permitted to take on any alcohol for personal consumption. Duty-free and personal alcohol purchased shoreside, must be surrendered by passengers at embarkation or prior to boarding in any port. All alcohol will be held under bond and returned at disembarkation in the final port of call.

 

Please note that all luggage, both hand and check-in, will be x-rayed at embarkation.

******************************************************************************

 

Pity we didn't get this in our documentation. Hubby is sulking that he can't take his Baileys.

[luvvin_u_2]

i was on the phone today to p&o though, asking about vodka cruisers and they said i can take as many as long as it adds up to under 1.25L.. maybe i had a stupid lady?:confused:

[chaz cruiser]

Pity we didn't get this in our documentation. Hubby is sulking that he can't take his Baileys.

 

Hi Jane,

 

If it is home made why not just put it into sports water bottles to carry on. Just remember not to drink it straight out of the bottle unless you like it that way!!

 

A couple of the guys at work were talking about the sneaky ways that they have heard about people taking alcohol into alcohol restricted events (either because they are alcohol free or because they want you to buy theirs). I think the most clever was the guy who put ice in an esky, cans of mixing drinks and then poured a bottle of vodka over it. When they checked the esky just saw the cans of soft drinks and ice with what appeared to be melted water. Then whenever they wanted a drink they would just scoop a cup through the ice & vodka and then add the mixer (of course adding less of the mixer as the ice melted!).

 

Cheers,

Chaz:)

[chaz cruiser]

We leave the day after Jessica3152 and we didn't receive the insert.

 

I have just rung P&O to check. They have confirmed that from R603 onwards there is a no alcohol policy!!!! GRRRRR. Lucky you Chaz, Suey, Froggy and Dan, you guys just scrape in.

 

Hi Luvvin,

 

According to disney's post above it does not start until R603 so you can still take alcohol onboard.

 

Cheers,

Chaz

[aussiedisneyfan]

Love the vodka in the esky. We might put some in sports bottles. Not sure now. If we don't take it then we wouldn't have to worry about carting it up on the plane with everything else.

[karmac]

If it such a safety issue, why ait until cruise 603? If it truly is a saftey issue then it should be effectivelty immediately. Same as the 5 in a cabin rule. They no longer take bookings because it's a safety issue but we're booked in 3 months time (and this rule has now been in a couple of months) and yet we're allowed to have 5 in our cabin. Does that mean they are not concerned about our safety?

 

Karen

[girl05]

Damn I'm going on N607 so I can't take any onboard now:(

[davoni]

On our Xmas cruise on Pacific Princess we packed 2 bottles of spirits in bubble wrap then placed them in a box and wrapped with Xmas paper and carried them on in our hand held luggage. Went through x-ray okay and figured if caught would have got them back at end of cruise anyway. We liked to have drinks on our balcony before dinner and cabin steward brought ice and mixers every day and placed in the fridge. Seemed a lot of people had alcohol in their cabins and some packed it in checked luggage but I was afraid of breakage. We also took 2 bottles of wine which was allowed according to brochure. Asked the Maitre-d why bringing alcohol on board was not allowed and he said because the cruise line wants you to buy at the bars. We still bought wine with dinner and beer at lunch and a few cocktails. Seems cruise line is missing out because they would have sold a lot more duty free on board if people could consume it during the cruise and it would stop alcohol smuggling as well.

[Whoey]

Tell me about it Girl05 - sucks big time...

 

oh well more time at the bar for me :) seeya there !

[catzatsea]

We where on the Pacific Princess Feb 05. Upon embarkation we actually boarded with 10 Bottles of Champagne and 2 Bottles of Red. We carried it in a box through security and check in - no questions asked.

 

My understanding is that the Alcohol policy is different for Spirits versus Wines. Spirits they seem pretty tough on (guessing that inflicts upon onboard revenue) whilst you still pay corkage in the restaurants for wine.

 

We used the champagne for Sailaways, Pre dinner balcony drinks etc and though there was no fridge in the Stateroom the steward was kind enough to source a Ice Bucket and keep it fresh with ice throughout the cruise.

 

 

 

OK I just found the policy for Alcohol:

 

Duty-free alcohol over one bottle (1125 ml) per adult passenger will be taken prior to embarking and a receipt issued. For any items you have purchased and are eligible for a refund on the GST which was paid, please see the Customs Officer who operates the Tax Refund Scheme (TRS) at embarkation, with your tax invoice.

 

 

 

I think the key word here is Duty Free, We didnt board with any Duty Free Alcohol however no questions where asked either way.

[maxx]

On our Xmas cruise on Pacific Princess we packed 2 bottles of spirits in bubble wrap then placed them in a box and wrapped with Xmas paper and carried them on in our hand held luggage. Went through x-ray okay and figured if caught would have got them back at end of cruise anyway. We liked to have drinks on our balcony before dinner and cabin steward brought ice and mixers every day and placed in the fridge. Seemed a lot of people had alcohol in their cabins and some packed it in checked luggage but I was afraid of breakage. We also took 2 bottles of wine which was allowed according to brochure. Asked the Maitre-d why bringing alcohol on board was not allowed and he said because the cruise line wants you to buy at the bars. We still bought wine with dinner and beer at lunch and a few cocktails. Seems cruise line is missing out because they would have sold a lot more duty free on board if people could consume it during the cruise and it would stop alcohol smuggling as well.

Hmmmm....so if I wrap a bottle as a birthday gift for my friend I might get away with it? I guess I can plead ignorance if I get caught.

[girl05]

Tell me about it Girl05 - sucks big time...

 

oh well more time at the bar for me :) seeya there !

I know! yep more bar time for me too:)

[girl05]

Hmmmm....so if I wrap a bottle as a birthday gift for my friend I might get away with it? I guess I can plead ignorance if I get caught.

 

Hahaha, it's worth a try:)

[Brushtail]

I haven't cruised as yet, but I do like a glass or two of wine in the evening as pre-dinner / bed drinks etc like most people. ;)

 

Are you all saying that we are not allowed to take any wine or spirits on board nor keep any wine in our cabin?

 

I can handle not being allowed to take any on board but surely we CAN buy a bottle or two of wine from the bar and take them back to our cabin to be consumed whenever we want, can't we?

 

Please tell me that they don't expect that all alcohol on board must be bought a glass at a time and drunk at the bar. That is ridiculous.

 

I am looking at a balcony cabin and one of the joys will be a glass of wine in the evening looking out at whatever view there will be and enjoying some quiet relaxing moments with my husband of 31 years.

 

I don't care too much about duty free, just everyday consumption.

 

What do others do?

[aussiedisneyfan]

Now, you can take a bottle of wine or champagne. They say $10 corkage, but I think that is in the restaurant not your room.

 

I have never bought a bottle of wine from a bar only at dinner. You could buy a drink/cocktail from a bar and carry it round the ship. Assume this is still the same. A few times we bought cocktails and took them back to our room. Besides you can buy a cocktail in a souvenier glass to keep so you must be able to take them away from the bar.

[maxx]

Latest suggestion....a nice present, gift wrapped and tagged from the kids. How did we know that it was a bottle of bourbon?

Seriously, if we get caught all they will do is confiscate it and hand it back when we disembark.

I know this makes me sound like an alcoholic, but I'm not.

I'm sure Dan will let us know when he gets back what really is going on.

I am still confused.

[aussiedisneyfan]

Dan won't be able to help. It is the 603's onwards that it is policy. I will be letting you know though. I plan to take the homemade baileys in my suitcase. If they don't find it cool if they do then I will plead ignorance as we didn't get the flyer stating the new policy in our documentation. Only from here that I found out. Since it is homemade it won't affect our duty free and we can still bring it back and the 4 bottles from Vila.

[maxx]

Dan won't be able to help. It is the 603's onwards that it is policy. I will be letting you know though. I plan to take the homemade baileys in my suitcase. If they don't find it cool if they do then I will plead ignorance as we didn't get the flyer stating the new policy in our documentation. Only from here that I found out. Since it is homemade it won't affect our duty free and we can still bring it back and the 4 bottles from Vila.

I think your posting post cruise will be well read. Am I correct in assuming that if the booze is home made it will be ok to take on board? How are you planning to carry the bailey's?

I only found out about the policy from the friend who is travelling with us, she had a friend who just got back and she knew about it. She said that Vila is SO cheap for duty free.

[aussiedisneyfan]

We have taken homemade before. I am taking wrapped bubblewrap and a plastic bag in my suitcase as I don't need to declare it for customs purposes. This will sus out how well they scan checked in baggage. The worst that could happen is they confiscate it and give it back on the last night. Lots of drinking to be done then.

[maxx]

Sounds good to me. Good luck.