bringing bottled water or soda on board

[SempreMare]

On 12/20/2019 at 5:46 PM, LP Dad said:

bottled water can be brought on board at any port, not just the port of embarkation.

 

My experience about this for the OP:

 

Before my Alaska cruise, I decided to purchase everything non-alcoholic that I wanted to drink on board in advance and bring it on board at the embarkation port (Seward.)  This turned out to be the right decision. 

1) I had ZERO minutes to stop somewhere in ANY port before getting back on the ship after excursions and replenish

2) In the room, I could have what I wanted when I needed it.   Just add ice.

 

I budgeted and brought on board (per day)

• 1 small container of juice  (rarely drink juice at home but for some reason like it when I travel)
• 1 brewed tea  (love iced tea)
• 1 lemon-lime carbonated water to mix with the juice
• 0.5 Coke Zero (trying to not drink as much of this)
• 1 plain bottled water / day

Before the trip,  I thought I definitely would not use or need it all because I was staying in a Neptune Suite.  However, the Neptune Lounge drinks were not just walk up and take the bottles away-type.  They are in dispensers with very SMALL glasses near them.  Not really convenient at all.   No bottled sparkling water or regular water to have there or take away.

 

So the plan worked well.  I ended out using everything but some of the iced tea, which I left in the room.  

...And immediately regretted leaving it because I definitely would have enjoyed it in my Vancouver hotel room.  But had too much to carry when disembarking.

 

Doing this is a variation of my philosophy of vacation time - it's rare and precious.  I

I'd rather spend 30 minutes doing something in advance if it will eliminate a 15 minute task while on vacation.  I'd rather be chilling...

 

I started a topic on tactics for carrying needed drinks on board, and someone's suggestion in that topic worked perfectly. (You can find it by searching threads started by me I think)

 

On 12/21/2019 at 5:36 PM, thyme2go said:

We drink a non alcohol beer and plan on bringing it on board.   

 

Which one do you prefer? 

If you haven't tried Clausthaler, it's my total fave.  To me - it tastes like an excellent craft beer.

http://www.clausthaler.com/

 

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by SempreMare

[scubacruiserx2]

We just did the math on the cost of bottled water per ounce .

 

The Zepherhills Spring water that we brought from home is 1.6 cents .

 

Princess ( our next cruise ) is 3.44 cents .

 

HAL's bottled water is 14.7 cents .

 

Hal's canned water is 27.4 cents .

 

We paid 2 cents per ounce for a gallon of gasoline when we got home .

[mkkao924]

Can you go to your stateroom right after embarkation?

 

Sorry first time HAL here.

 

I don't mind dragging a case of water (48 bottles since we have 6 people in our party), but I don't want to take it with us everywhere for a few hours. If I can carry on the water and dump in our stateroom after we board then that will not be an issue for us at all.

[scubacruiserx2]

51 minutes ago, mkkao924 said:

Can you go to your stateroom right after embarkation?

 

Sorry first time HAL here.

 

I don't mind dragging a case of water (48 bottles since we have 6 people in our party), but I don't want to take it with us everywhere for a few hours. If I can carry on the water and dump in our stateroom after we board then that will not be an issue for us at all.

 

We were told that we could board at 11:30 but it was after 1 before we did . Yes the staterooms were ready but they had been unoccupied for about 10 days while in dry dock .

[kazu]

1 hour ago, mkkao924 said:

Can you go to your stateroom right after embarkation?

 

Sorry first time HAL here.

 

I don't mind dragging a case of water (48 bottles since we have 6 people in our party), but I don't want to take it with us everywhere for a few hours. If I can carry on the water and dump in our stateroom after we board then that will not be an issue for us at all.

 

 

Yes, staterooms are normally ready.

We’ve always been able to drop our stuff off without a problem.  On a B2B I did when we were changing staterooms, I knew the new room would not be ready but asked if I could just go in to put stuff in my safe so we could enjoy the port.

 

It was no problem at all 😉 

[thyme2go]

On 12/22/2019 at 4:02 PM, SempreMare said:

 

My experience about this for the OP:

 

Before my Alaska cruise, I decided to purchase everything non-alcoholic that I wanted to drink on board in advance and bring it on board at the embarkation port (Seward.)  This turned out to be the right decision. 

1) I had ZERO minutes to stop somewhere in ANY port before getting back on the ship after excursions and replenish

2) In the room, I could have what I wanted when I needed it.   Just add ice.

 

I budgeted and brought on board (per day)

• 1 small container of juice  (rarely drink juice at home but for some reason like it when I travel)
• 1 brewed tea  (love iced tea)
• 1 lemon-lime carbonated water to mix with the juice
• 0.5 Coke Zero (trying to not drink as much of this)
• 1 plain bottled water / day

Before the trip,  I thought I definitely would not use or need it all because I was staying in a Neptune Suite.  However, the Neptune Lounge drinks were not just walk up and take the bottles away-type.  They are in dispensers with very SMALL glasses near them.  Not really convenient at all.   No bottled sparkling water or regular water to have there or take away.

 

So the plan worked well.  I ended out using everything but some of the iced tea, which I left in the room.  

...And immediately regretted leaving it because I definitely would have enjoyed it in my Vancouver hotel room.  But had too much to carry when disembarking.

 

Doing this is a variation of my philosophy of vacation time - it's rare and precious.  I

I'd rather spend 30 minutes doing something in advance if it will eliminate a 15 minute task while on vacation.  I'd rather be chilling...

 

I started a topic on tactics for carrying needed drinks on board, and someone's suggestion in that topic worked perfectly. (You can find it by searching threads started by me I think)

 

 

Which one do you prefer? 

If you haven't tried Clausthaler, it's my total fave.  To me - it tastes like an excellent craft beer.

http://www.clausthaler.com/

 

Yes!  Clausthaler "Dry Hopped" is the choice here......................haven't tried regular Clausthaler.

 

[I like vacation]

On 12/22/2019 at 6:43 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

Until we see something in writing from HAL (evidence ) it's just people's opinions . 

 

This topic is often discussed here with the same resulting admonishment that you must carry water and soda onto the ship and not place water or soda in your checked luggage.  Unfortunately, that policy is not written in HAL's documents as water and soda are not even mentioned in the 18 page Know Before You Go booklet.  There is a section that deals with "Alcoholic beverages brought on board" and another section "Baggage policies and packing advice".  Neither section mentions water or soda.  I think HAL could easily address this issue if it wanted to and add one sentence to either section in the booklet.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq/know-before-you-go.html

 

I for one will ask the porters again at Port Everglades in 3 weeks if there are any restrictions prior to checking a bag with bottled water.  They haven't refused it in the past and I suspect they won't again.

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

9 hours ago, I like vacation said:

 

I think HAL could easily address this issue if it wanted to and add one sentence to eithersection in the booklet.

 

I agree and don’t know why they haven’t amended the KBYG.

 

9 hours ago, I like vacation said:

 

I for one will ask the porters again at Port Everglades in 3 weeks if there are any restrictions prior to checking a bag with bottled water.  They haven't refused it in the past and I suspect they won't again.

 

 

The porters do not know the ship’s policies, nor do they worry about them IME.  They are not delivering luggage on board.  They just toss the luggage into the container.  

 

[TAD2005]

I agree with Kazu.  The porters at the port are employed by the port and have no knowledge of the policies of the ships they accept baggage for.   They just toss your bags into the steel cages and happily accept your tips.   There's no way there going to turn away a bag if it contains soda or water.   

HAL does x-ray all bags as they are loaded into the ship by forklifts.   If they see any bottles or cans of liquids, they have to pull that bag to check if it is beer or other alcoholic beverage.  You can't tell on an x-ray image.  When they have to pull bags and page the owners to come and open the bag, it slows down the whole luggage delivery process.   Also,  HAL doesn't want the weight of luggage in the steel cages to cause  bags with soda or water to be squashed and leaking all over other passengers clothing.   That is why HAL wants any water, soda, or wine to be hand carried onboard.   

I don't want my cruise ruined by your sticky soda soaking my luggage that happens to be under your bag. So please, be courteous to your fellow passengers and carry it on.   

[avian777]

On 12/23/2019 at 12:12 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

We just did the math on the cost of bottled water per ounce .

 

The Zepherhills Spring water that we brought from home is 1.6 cents .

 

Princess ( our next cruise ) is 3.44 cents .

 

HAL's bottled water is 14.7 cents .

 

Hal's canned water is 27.4 cents .

 

We paid 2 cents per ounce for a gallon of gasoline when we got home .

 

... it appears you missed the mark (by approximately 1.4 cents/ounce) by bringing Zephyrhills Spring water on board instead of a like quantity of gasoline ... JMO

[SempreMare]

@scubacruiserx2, the compelling reason for me is not at all cost. 

It's:

- Convenience

- Time

- Having the drink I prefer available to me 

 

I plan for this when I go on work trips so it's not a big deal.

I have a Google sheet. I enter the # of days.  It creates an Amazon Prime Now order list that someone in the hotel delivers directly to my room.  

Total time cost in advance ~ 10 minutes.

 

However,  if I weren't used to doing this all the time, it would seem like more of a big deal.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

7 hours ago, avian777 said:

 

... it appears you missed the mark (by approximately 1.4 cents/ounce) by bringing Zephyrhills Spring water on board instead of a like quantity of gasoline ... JMO

 

The main comparison is spring water from home  at 1.6 cents vs HAL water at 14.7 cents in a bottle or 27.4 cents in a can .

[scubacruiserx2]

23 minutes ago, SempreMare said:

@scubacruiserx2, the compelling reason for me is not at all cost. 

It's:

- Convenience

- Time

- Having the drink I prefer available to me 

 

I plan for this when I go on work trips so it's not a big deal.

I have a Google sheet. I enter the # of days.  It creates an Amazon Prime Now order list that someone in the hotel delivers directly to my room.  

Total time cost in advance ~ 10 minutes.

 

However,  if I weren't used to doing this all the time, it would seem like more of a big deal.

 

 

Cost for us is also secondary but it does show how over inflated the prices are . If they tried to sell water at those prices in Florida after a hurricane they would be charged for price gouging .

[TAD2005]

Comparing prices at home for water/soda vs. HAL prices onboard is like saying I can get a 12 oz prime filet at my home grocery for $18 so why would I pay $50 in a restaurant.    It's the convenience and not having to hit the Walmart before going to the port.   Spending $2000 per person for a cruise but quibbling over a some $2.50 bottles of water seems like a waste of time to me, IMHO.   Spend $18 per day on the Quench package and you can have all of the unlimited water, soda and specialty coffees you can drink.

Edited December 29, 2019 by TAD2005

[SempreMare]

4 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

Spend $18 per day on the Quench package and you can have all of the unlimited water, soda and specialty coffees you can drink.

Unless... you can't.

 

Ex:  from 2pm - 3pm (or was it 3pm - 4pm...) on the Westerdam in Alaska.  

[scubacruiserx2]

6 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

Comparing prices at home for water/soda vs. HAL prices onboard is like saying I can get a 12 oz prime filet at my home grocery for $18 so why would I pay $50 in a restaurant.    It's the convenience and not having to hit the Walmart before going to the port.   Spending $2000 per person for a cruise but quibbling over a some $2.50 bottles of water seems like a waste of time to me, IMHO.   Spend $18 per day on the Quench package and you can have all of the unlimited water, soda and specialty coffees you can drink.

 

Water is necessary for life Filet is not .Water can be carried on board Filet can't .

[Riversedge]

16 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

Comparing prices at home for water/soda vs. HAL prices onboard is like saying I can get a 12 oz prime filet at my home grocery for $18 so why would I pay $50 in a restaurant.    It's the convenience and not having to hit the Walmart before going to the port.   Spending $2000 per person for a cruise but quibbling over a some $2.50 bottles of water seems like a waste of time to me, IMHO.   Spend $18 per day on the Quench package and you can have all of the unlimited water, soda and specialty coffees you can drink.

 

This seems like a huge waste of money to me.  At $18 a day it would cost me $738 for soda, water and coffee (which I don’t drink) for our upcoming portion of the Grand South America.  And can just one person in the cabin get the package?  I’m not sure about what the rules are about that.  I can carry on a pack of soda or some water occasionally and be way ahead of the game.  

Edited December 29, 2019 by Riversedge

[kazu]

27 minutes ago, Riversedge said:

And can just one person in the cabin get the package?

Both parties in the cabin have to get the package.

 

It works well for some people and not well for others 😉 

[Splashduo]

We're bringing two cases of water for our upcoming 18 day cruise.  We are both big water drinkers and want to have it in our room to consume on our balcony.  We also bought our liquor by the bottle from HAL (vodka and rum and two wine packages) instead of the beverage package and are saving lots of money that way.  We're bringing our own olives for martinis and our own Mai Tai mix (non-alcoholic) on board.  We phoned HAL in advance and found that it was allowed.  We're putting our two bottles of wine (allowed is 1 per person) in a grocery store wine carrier bag that has six slots, so the bottles of olives and mix will fill the other slots and be easy to carry.  Also, I'm buying our cases of water at Target where I can request a peel and stick handle be affixed to the side of the cases for easy carrying.  The one stipulation HAL made was that these items could not be carried by the porters---we have to carry them ourselves, but we'll drop all of our bags at check-in and will only be carrying those three items.  Easy peasy! 

[Tom O.]

I am not a big water drinker, but I personally like the taste of the desalinized tap water on board. Tastes like bottled water to me. I would bet that if you filled a water bottle with it most people would think it is a quality product.

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, Splashduo said:

We're bringing two cases of water for our upcoming 18 day cruise.  We are both big water drinkers and want to have it in our room to consume on our balcony.  We also bought our liquor by the bottle from HAL (vodka and rum and two wine packages) instead of the beverage package and are saving lots of money that way.  We're bringing our own olives for martinis and our own Mai Tai mix (non-alcoholic) on board.  We phoned HAL in advance and found that it was allowed.  We're putting our two bottles of wine (allowed is 1 per person) in a grocery store wine carrier bag that has six slots, so the bottles of olives and mix will fill the other slots and be easy to carry.  Also, I'm buying our cases of water at Target where I can request a peel and stick handle be affixed to the side of the cases for easy carrying.  The one stipulation HAL made was that these items could not be carried by the porters---we have to carry them ourselves, but we'll drop all of our bags at check-in and will only be carrying those three items.  Easy peasy! 

 

(Bolding is mine)

Thank you for confirming what some posters have doubted. 

[slidergirl]

If you want to drink bottled water, it's OK with me.  BUT, take a look at who owns the company that bottles that water.  Zephyrhills is a Nestle company.  Nestle is not a nice player in the water game.  They get permits all over the US (and the world) to pull water out of aquifers and pay nothing but that permit fee for the water.  When I was a So. California resident,  drank Arrowhead.  It came from the aquifers above San Bernardino.  There was even a pipe off one of the roads where you could fill your own.  That went away and Nestle was caught pumping much more than they were permitted for.  In Canada, they are sucking dry some First Nations aquifers and the First Nations people reap none of the benefit.

 

Be sure your bottled water provider is an ethical company.  Better yet, bring reusable bottles on board and refill them as needed.  Take some lemons or limes (or some powdered lime or lemon products like "Just Lime") to add to your water if you don't like the taste - I do this all the time.

 

But, if you bring that water/soda/liquid for your trip, please carry it yourself.  Just because you can sneak it to a dock worker with a smile and a tip does not mean that you should...

[Splashduo]

We don't drink bottled water at home.  We have a whole house filter.  I just don't trust the sources of water when I travel and I don't want to get sick and ruin my trip.  We leave in 8 days and I'm beyond excited.  Happy cruising, friends!

[fatcat04]

Some significant changes to the Know Before You Go in 2021:

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq/know-before-you-go.html

 

No bottled water or cans of soda anymore.

I guess cans of water are limited but okay.

 

No mention of the previous 1 bottle of wine "free" per person for in cabin consumption.

Corkage has increased from $18 to $20.

Arbitrary? limitations on how much wine you can bring on. "Deemed to be excessive" means vastly different things to different people. Not that we any longer bring on a case (HALs wine selection is notably better than 12 years ago) but are 4 bottles excessive for a 14 day cruise? 

Also maybe no more bringing on a bottle of wine from a port and paying corkage, which at times has been okay. 

___

 

 

Guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages on board for consumption or any other use except as follows:

 

Guests may bring Wine and Champagne onboard, however a corkage fee of USD $20.00 (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to each bottle (max 750 ml in volume or less). Limitations apply. Wine brought in quantities deemed to be excessive by the vessel or security will be refused.

 

Items such as sodas, energy drinks or other non-alcoholic items are not allowed on board in any form. Plastic water bottles are not allowed. However, an allowance of six liters, twelve (12) cans or cartons (500 ml in volume or less) or six (6) cans or cartons (1 liter in volume or less) of water are allowed per stateroom.  Any amount in excess of this allowance will be not be allowed onboard. Water in plastic bottles will not be allowed onboard in any quantity, including in ports of call. Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding.     

...

You agree to surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at ports of call, to Holland America Line, which will be delivered to your stateroom just prior to disembarking the voyage.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by fatcat04

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I wonder what is driving this.  Were that many people really bringing on sodas?   There were some of course, but I can't imagine it cut much into their soda sales.    

 

What's next?  No food items?   No chocolate bars?  Peanut butter?

 

I guess I have to smuggle my Mountain Dew inside wine bottles (wink)

Edited June 6, 2021 by The-Inside-Cabin