I HAVE ASKED THIS QUESTION BEFORE AND NEVER RECEIVED AN ANSWER--someone please

[suep]

It sounds like people cruising out of San Juan have no problem purchasing alcohol from the duty free shop just outside the ship and bringing it on board prior to departure......this is good information in that we will be cruising on AOS out of San Juan in mid-March!

[Happy ks]

If you do bring in your check luggage, what if it breaks:eek: ...red wine everywhere... including possibly affecting someone elses luggage:mad: ! Not a good start to your holiday!

 

We have always been allowed to bring a couple of bottles of wine onboard. If we want more than that, we do pack it into our suitcase. First, wrapped in bubble wrap, then packaged into a 2 gallon ziploc baggie, paked carefully between layer of clothing. Never once had a breakage. We then take these bottles to the dining room, where we pay a corkage fee to enjoy them with dinner. If you also pack a corkscrew into your checked luggage, you could open it in your cabin.

 

I was under the impression that RCI still allowed a couple of bottles of wine to be carried on, they just don't allow liquor, am I wrong? Am I dreaming we just did this in November?

[erisajd]

well, the issue of 'smuggling' liquor betrays the fact that you should NEVER NEVER NEVER travel to a cruise port the same day the cruise leaves if you are relying on someone else, like an airline or amtrak or a bus, to get you there.

 

You should ALWAYS try to get there the day before to avoid problems with air traffic, mechanicals, being bumped, flight cancellations, weather, terrorists and threats, and bankruptcy. This way, you have time to BUY the wine or other liquor you want the day before you leave and then the only way the bottle is broken is by the gorillas putting the bag onto the ship. And then, YOU can easily control the packing materials and what you use to cushion the blows.

 

You leave home the same day as the cruise, you'll risk having what happened to some others we met on our first cruise - big snowstorm closed the airports for 36 hours, they missed the FLL departure and caught up 2 days later at their own out of pocket expense for last minute airline tickets to St. Maarten in February - you do NOT want to know that THAT cost . ...

[Aprille]

We were on Vision in late August. The wine package was available then. I can't imagine they would do away with it. As far as I know it is available on all RCCL ships. I'm sure it's a big money-maker for them.

 

Also it was no problem taking back an unfinished bottle to the cabin. We did it a couple of times. I would think you could take a full bottle back if you wanted as long as you still have bottles left on your package. I mean it's wine you've already paid for so why not? The waiter would probably even uncork it for you.

[tradingspaces]

Thank you so much Aprille this is super information.:D !

[suep]

When we cruised the Radiance to Alaska we were able to enjoy the wine package; but when we cruised the Serenade to the Southern Caribbean there was no wine package available; we had to order by each individual bottle. We're hoping the package is available next month on AOS so we can enjoy it again!

[Driftwoodgal]

We sailed on the Majesty, 3 night, before our Brilliance 11 night sailing. There wasn't a wine package on the Majesty cruise.

 

We packed our bottles in our luggage that we checked in with the porters. They were sealed in plastic and bubble wrap, then surrounded by water socks and flip flops. We lugged Diet Sprite with us from Miami, not realising that they have it on the ship. They do not have Diet Sprite in your cabin refrigerator.

 

You could take a bottle back with you from a bar or the dining room. This was explained at the wine tasting event.

 

At our ports of call you did have to check your bottles upon returning to the ship, and any bottles purchased on board were held until the last night. One of our fellow cruisers bought three bottles in Aruba, checked two of them and put one in their backpack and took it back to the room.