Proper Wine & Soda Embarkation Procedure

[markieb]

This will be our 2nd cruise and first on Carnival. (Carnival Magic departing from Port Everglades). We are going to take advantage of being able to bring wine and soda onboard during embarkation.. What is the proper procedure  to bring them on? Do I carry them out in the open so security can see them, Have them in grocery bags,  or packed inside my carry on bags? If packed away do I declare to someone that I am carrying wine and soda of just wait for them to find it? Sometimes I feel I overthink things but I want this to go smooth and quickly, so any tips to avoid delays?

 

Thanks in advance 

[Saint Greg]

Haven’t done PE yet but at the ports I’ve been to they have a table after you go through security where you stop and show your liquids. I keep the wine poking out of the top of my backpack. The time I brought soda I just carried a 12pk. Some with large families will put all of them in a rolling suitcase.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2019 by Saint Greg

[Elaine5715]

You carry both openly.  They may or may not open the cartons to be sure what is in it.  

[lasekeye]

We had ours in a rolling carry on.  We mentioned it to the Carnival staff, they asked to see our beverages, all was fine.

[maryred]

Beyond making sure you carry them on in some way, shape, or form, as opposed to placing them in your checked luggage, there is no exact procedure. Even at the same port because different personnel maybe manning the security screenings for different sail dates you will get  a bit of variation on how the details go.

You can choose to carry-on on your beverage allotment anyway you find comfortable, as long as it doesn't exceed the limitations for carry-on bags, and are able to place up to the x-ray scanner or screener's table. Depending on the port personnel they make take your non-alcoholic cans out of their master carton for individual inspection, so I recommend not just carrying the carton or rolling it on a small hand truck or strapping them on top of other full carry-on. Having them in some sort of bag  or backpack that's strong enough for all that you are planning to take on. Additionally, unless you have priority boarding or boarding later in the day, your cabin will not be ready until 1/1:30pm  and your carry-ons must stay with you. 

Also many don't realize that at each port of call you can restock your non-alcoholic beverage allotment, following the same restrictions  as on embarkation day. So if you want you can either board with your full allotment or break it down, for a lighter load, to what you think you will use until you reach a port of call where you can affordably purchase more.

[markieb]

38 minutes ago, maryred said:

 

Also many don't realize that at each port of call you can restock your non-alcoholic beverage allotment, following the same restrictions  as on embarkation day. So if you want you can either board with your full allotment or break it down, for a lighter load, to what you think you will use until you reach a port of call where you can affordably purchase more.

 

Very interesting, I was one that did not realize that!!  Question:... When you say we can restock our non-alcoholic allotment, are you and Carnival meaning that EVERY PORT we stop at we can bring in up to a 12 pack of soda (per person) or is the intent that each person can only bring a total of 12 cans on throughout the entire trip? (not sure how they would keep track, so probably not the case) 

[Shaded Lady]

59 minutes ago, maryred said:

You can choose to carry-on on your beverage allotment anyway you find comfortable, as long as it doesn't exceed the limitations for carry-on bags, and are able to place up to the x-ray scanner or screener's table. 

 

@maryred To clarify, do you mean the limitations for wine & soda, or for carry-ons? I've never heard of any limitation on the number of carry-ons, as long as they fit, as you said, through the x-ray scanner and you can transport them, you can have as many carry-ons as you like. Sorry if I misunderstood.

[maryred]

2 hours ago, markieb said:

 

Very interesting, I was one that did not realize that!!  Question:... When you say we can restock our non-alcoholic allotment, are you and Carnival meaning that EVERY PORT we stop at we can bring in up to a 12 pack of soda (per person) or is the intent that each person can only bring a total of 12 cans on throughout the entire trip? (not sure how they would keep track, so probably not the case) 

Yes you can bring on another 12 count of any non-alcoholic beverage that is sold in a can, juice box (tetrapak, or juice pouch at each port of call. The only difference here ship's security will be doing the scanning.

[maryred]

2 hours ago, Shaded Lady said:

 

@maryred To clarify, do you mean the limitations for wine & soda, or for carry-ons? I've never heard of any limitation on the number of carry-ons, as long as they fit, as you said, through the x-ray scanner and you can transport them, you can have as many carry-ons as you like. Sorry if I misunderstood.

Don't be sorry, I am referring to to quantity limits for the beverages as well as the size limit for the bag or apparatus it's being transported in/on to fit the scanner. It's still OK to bring as many carry-ons as a person can handle in 1 trip through the process. 

Edited June 1, 2019 by maryred
spelling

[Shaded Lady]

3 hours ago, maryred said:

Don't be sorry, I am referring to to quantity limits for the beverages as well as the size limit for the bag or apparatus it's being transported in/on to fit the scanner. It's still OK to bring as many carry-ons as a person can handle in 1 trip through the process. 

Cool- thanks for the clarification! I was afraid something had changed since I last cruised... and I'll be carrying on a TON of stuff for our next cruise!

[Bases5]

 I take a roller suit case with

C-pap extension cord,  soft side cooler, 2 bottles of wine and 12 Dr Peppers.

 I have it laid in the case so you can see everything.  If they ask to see I just un zip and flip the side open.

Easy Pisi  Never a issue. 

[Clairescurtains]

Be sure it the soda is in cans, they will confiscate bottles.

[Organized Chaos]

The last time we sailed out of Port Everglades was 2016. I had a 12-pack of soda in one carry-on and two bottles of wine (together) in another carry-on. I was fully prepared for them to want to inspect the soda, but they never said a word about any of it. But that won't always be case for everyone.

 

I bought my wife an insulated wine carrier for our cruise last year (Amazon). It holds two bottles, came with a corkscrew that stores away under the lid, and has a shoulder strap. We sailed out of Miami, but I don't know if they opened it because she was carrying it and I wasn't looking. We also had two 12-packs of soda with us. I had them strapped to a couple of our carry-ons with bungee cords. I accidentally dropped one in the parking lot and the case broke open, along with a few cans. This is where some sort of bag comes in handy. As someone mentioned, sometimes they'll open the cases of soda to make sure you're not trying to smuggle alcohol. Sometimes they'll rip the case so badly, you can't use it again, so you might want to take something just in case this happens. We took a couple of reusable grocery bags. When I dropped one, I put the loose cans that didn't break in one of those bags.