Western Mediterranean Cruise - Taking Food from Windjammer and off the Ship

[dannysporea]

Yes, I agree on making sandwiches with ingredients that will last longer in a backpack. Those would anyway be a last resort if we cannot find anything pre-packaged on the ship to take with us. A couple bananas and apples would also be a good choice if allowed in the port.

[mjkacmom]

Fruit is probably the number one food not allowed to be taken off at ports.

[bouhunter]

19 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

 

I think it would be a waste of your travel visiting European ports not to make time for lunch and sampling the local cuisine. That is part of travel not just seeing the sites.

Agree, never understood the desire to take food off a ship.....   There is food everywhere at every port......

[1025cruise]

Whether or not someone is doing a bag check or not does not mean whether or not something is allowed or not.

[Tatka]

1 hour ago, bouhunter said:

Agree, never understood the desire to take food off a ship.....   There is food everywhere at every port......

 

Why do you need to understand other people preferences?

If action breaks some laws or rules it is one thing, otherwise it is a pure judgment of other people preferences for which they can have perfectly reasons.

 

For example tight time and wishing to fit more things into it.

 

Some people do not understand why others travel in inside staterooms, others why people travel in balconies. Some people do not understand why people cruise or do not cruise. 🙂

Edited August 30, 2023 by Tatka

[cruiselvr04]

We have taken pre packaged protein bars to Europe and then off the ship for a quick meal substitute.  In fact I think it’s a good idea to do so.  Sometimes tours will not stop until mid afternoon for a lunch break and doing all that walking takes energy.  
 

We never take food from the ship.

[bouhunter]

5 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

Why do you need to understand other people preferences?

If action breaks some laws or rules it is one thing, otherwise it is a pure judgment of other people preferences for which they can have perfectly reasons.

 

For example tight time and wishing to fit more things into it.

 

Some people do not understand why others travel in inside staterooms, others why people travel in balconies. Some people do not understand why people cruise or do not cruise. 🙂

And you've never posted a simple opinion on something at cruise critic?  Wow, relax.

[Tatka]

1 hour ago, bouhunter said:

And you've never posted a simple opinion on something at cruise critic?  Wow, relax.

 

But why? It is like somebody is asking if he/she can sing karaoke.

And opinion: I never understood people who want to sing karaoke, when they can dance? 🙂

[MJSailors]

Just thinking about our trip to the Grand Canyon.

We had a very informative Native American guide for a scheduled three hour tour of the canyon.

He was passionate about the history and natural beauty of the canyon and so much wanted to share his passion with the tour group.

Well, the tour went well beyond the three hours with the agreement of those on the tour, including my husband.

Since everyone wanted to continue the tour, of course, I went along with it.

However, I realized that our dinner reservation at El Tovar was not going to happen. I was also getting quite hungry and thirsty.

So much so, the seat cushion was looking pretty tasty!!!!!!

Since that experience, when going on any excursion or tour, I pack granola bars and water-just in case.

You know, those “three -hour - tours”!!!🙄

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

PS To the OP How about you throw a couple of boxes of granola bars in your suitcase before you leave home?
Good for touring or snacks in the cabin-if the need occurs.

[gingerpeaches]

I was on Symphony of the Seas on a Western Mediterranean cruise two weeks ago and it was made very clear that we were not allowed to take any food off the ship - fresh or prepackaged. We were allowed to take bottles of water and that's all.

Edited September 1, 2023 by gingerpeaches

[BirdTravels]

On 8/29/2023 at 8:49 PM, Tatka said:

Smuggling off?
What a wording…

Unless there are specific rules against it… it’s not smuggling at all. 
And yes, there are prepackaged food one can take off the ship and some excursions offer. 

Smuggling is the correct term. Most ports have a “no food” rule. It is not even “no fresh food” or “no non-prepackaged food”. It is “no food”. If you have ever been stopped by US Customs, they will use the “food” word to mean any food on your declaration. 
 

Just because a ship is closed loop EU, you can not definitively prove that all foods were sourced in the EU. 

[Monk86]

On 8/29/2023 at 6:25 PM, 1025cruise said:

It is most likely against agricultural laws to take non pre-packaged food off the ship.

Granola bars in a sealed package - ok.

Sandwiches made in Windjammer - no.

There are no such laws within the EU with respect  to this (Greece possibly different). Only regulations would be RCI ones themselves.

[Maria63]

Ship rules aside, packing your own drinks & snacks for the day might sometimes be a good idea if you plan to visit some of the major tourist attractions around the Med. The local cuisine in France and Italy is amazing for sure, but finding a good restaurant close to the most popular sights can be a real challenge. Locals do not necessarily frequent these eateries very much, and so they can be very overpriced and not that good as they cater mostly to tourists.

[chengkp75]

While the EU does not have regulations restricting importing food from other EU member nations, there is no guarantee that all of the  food on the ship is from EU origins.  Many cruise lines will ship containers of food from the US to wherever the ship is homeported, in order to maintain consistency across the fleet.  You are prohibited to "personally import" (brought in person) meat or milk products into the EU.  So, taking these products off the ship could be a violation of EU law, and might be hard to prove otherwise, which is why some ports may just blanket disallow food to come off the ship.

[Tatka]

On 9/2/2023 at 1:49 PM, BirdTravels said:

Smuggling is the correct term. Most ports have a “no food” rule. It is not even “no fresh food” or “no non-prepackaged food”. It is “no food”. If you have ever been stopped by US Customs, they will use the “food” word to mean any food on your declaration. 
 

Just because a ship is closed loop EU, you can not definitively prove that all foods were sourced in the EU. 

 

As I said rules must be checked. Cruiselines even offered packaged lunched. So I proposed checking rules.

Just taking food from the ship if it is not prohibited is not smuggling by any means.

[RobInMN]

On 8/30/2023 at 8:04 AM, bouhunter said:

Agree, never understood the desire to take food off a ship.....   There is food everywhere at every port......

Caribbean definitely and Mediterranean probably. However, We did Arctic Circle and Iceland & Ireland. We had some 7/8/9+ hour non-RC excursions, mostly in the middle of nowhere. and while there was always at least 1 lunch stop, taking food from the ship was a must in our book.