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Bringing Alcohol

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TwitterCruise1

TwitterCruise1

Posted
Posted

Going on a RCCL Cruise in Jan. Flying to the port first. Friend recommended that I pour my alcohol that I want to take into Shampoo bottles, and check it.. is that a good idea? OR, will I have a good chance at being caught? I can't imagine that they would go through and check my shampoo bottles.

 

Thanks!

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IslandDreamers

IslandDreamers

Posted
Posted

So all this time, I've been the world's biggest prude!

I've never brought anything but water on board!

I'm too scared of getting into trouble!

So you're saying "everyone does it" and it's not that big of a deal?!

Has anyone been on RCCl lately and tried it?

 

Two years ago we met a really sweet couple who did this and they said they were simply charged a corking fee for their gin. That was all. No spankings.

Personally, I love beer. I think that would be waaaay too heavy to bring on board. :D

But saving money does appeal to me!!!!!

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  • 3 weeks later...
SandiBeach62

SandiBeach62

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Hitting the high seas in a couple of weeks and wondering if anyone's been successful in getting their "beverage of choice" onto a Holland America ship. I'm traveling with a really FUN bunch and I have to be honest...the thought of their "tab" at the end of the week is a bit frightening!

Any pointers will be greatly appreciated! ;)

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Kathy163

Kathy163

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I'm going on NCL in a couple weeks and have heard they are very strict with their alcohol policy. Since bottled water is allowed to be brought onboard, would putting liquor in water bottles work? Just wondering if anyone has tried this and if it worked for them. Thanks!

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rearadmiral

rearadmiral

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It all depends on your drink of choice-

 

I am a rum drinker and my brother prefers vodka. For several years now on Various carnival ships sailing out of almost every port in florida we hit the liquor store prior to sailing. Both rum and vodka are clear and usually theer is one brand that is sold in a clear plastic bottle. I normally buy captain morgan as the labe is a plastic sticker rather than paper. The sticker comes off cleanly and if anyone were to pry, the bottles look like they contain water. I check the bottles in my lugguage and carry on an empty flask which I fill on board.

 

In the past I have managed to bring on a case of beer in my checked bag. Friends of ours attempted to carry on several bottles of beer and sprits in orriginal containers only to have them confiscated at embarkation security screening.

 

I have also walked on in port with bottles of liquor, when asked by security to surrender them for safekeeping, I wait untill the guard that collects the liquor is busy and walk on by.

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rearadmiral

rearadmiral

Posted
Posted

It all depends on your drink of choice-

 

I am a rum drinker and my brother prefers vodka. For several years now on Various carnival ships sailing out of almost every port in florida we hit the liquor store prior to sailing. Both rum and vodka are clear and usually theer is one brand that is sold in a clear plastic bottle. I normally buy captain morgan as the labe is a plastic sticker rather than paper. The sticker comes off cleanly and if anyone were to pry, the bottles look like they contain water. I check the bottles in my lugguage and carry on an empty flask which I fill on board.

 

In the past I have managed to bring on a case of beer in my checked bag. Friends of ours attempted to carry on several bottles of beer and sprits in orriginal containers only to have them confiscated at embarkation security screening.

 

I have also walked on in port with bottles of liquor, when asked by security to surrender them for safekeeping, I wait untill the guard that collects the liquor is busy and walk on by.

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mjwelch

mjwelch

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On our (very) recent trip aboard a Princess ship, my sister brought a bottle of rum (Bacardi Gold, less than $9 for a generously sized bottle - 1 litre) and 4 Cokes on board from St. Maarten in her carry-on. Went through X-ray, no problems. They seemed to care mostly about large boxes of alcohol, cardboard 4-packs and larger - those they took and stored. Other stuff seemed to get through without incident. Original bottles, not well hidden, just wrapped in a towel and placed in her carryon bag.

 

As we left the piers, I saw a man with a portable luggage cart wheeling his way to a HAL ship. He had two big cases of water (like from Costco) and a full 12-pack of wine in cardboard ... can't say if he made it aboard or not.

 

Remember ... they don't have to let you bring it on board - they can "secure" it during your voyage. Most moderate attempts to bring aboard alcohol (such as my sister's) that I know of have been successful.

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ginger2

ginger2

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Hi there. Have been reading the threads about smuggling booze on board.

Can anyone tell me if they have had any problems getting it on the Nav. of Seas. RCCL.

I am leaving tomorrow. Would like to know how you did it.

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  • 1 month later...
JillinCalgary

JillinCalgary

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Can you believe on the 5 Cruises I've taken I've NEVER thought to bring my own alcohol?? And myself and my travel companions are BIG booze drinkers! LOL We're not alcoholics mind you, lol, but we're on vacation and choose to enjoy ourselves :-) If only I'd found this forum of boards sooner....

 

Our last Cruise which was only this past New Year's (we've only been land based for not even three weeks, sniff sniff) was on NCL's Wind out of Hawaii. We'd spent a few days at a resort in Waikiki before the Cruise so we had in our possession an unopened bottle of wine (was meant to be drunk in our hotel room but we never got to it). Without even thinking we put it in our luggage and boarded the ship. Believe me when I say we never even thought about any liquor policy the ship might have. So on we boarded no problem. Our luggage came relatively quickly but we we're missing a bag. I was really panicy about the whole missing bag - it was the bag with my son's diapers! LOL It never even occured to me that it was the bag with the wine. It still didn't click when we recieved a letter calling us down to deck 4 in reguards to our missing bag. Honestly I thought it had been damaged somehow or something. So off my husband goes to retrieve our bag and is faced with staff telling him that a wine shaped bottle had been spotted in our bag (via x-ray) and that he had to open it up for them to see. No problem - he opened it up and sure enough there was the wine. Dh said staff was very nice but said they'd need to charge us a $15 corkage if we wanted to drink it aboard. Thinking that wouldn't be worth it since the bottle only cost $12 or so dollars my husband passed and told the staff they could keep it (for their own personal consumption! lol) In hindsight we should have taken them up on the corkage since the cheapest bottle of wine aboard was around $40 - gasp!!!

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ugobon

ugobon

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last year on our cruise I had learned on this website to bon voyage the beer and liquor to us. it was delivered to our cabin and placed on ice by our cabin steward with no problems. I have since heard that they have cracked down on having bon voyage gifts (liquor or beer) sent on board.

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Hula Girl

Hula Girl

Posted
Posted

Hi Gang,

 

I called a couple of Bon Voyage Gift Companies last week to have Beer/Wine delivered to our cabin. We are sailing RCCL Jewel on Sunday. I was told by a few of them that Beer is being held till the end of cruise, but if you want wine delivered it is not a problem. Most quoted me a rate of $28.00 per bottle for a Cabernet (Kendall Jackson, Mondavi, etc...) I have found that it is not really worth it and will order on board.

 

Amy

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mloca

mloca

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I'm going on NCL in a couple weeks and have heard they are very strict with their alcohol policy. Since bottled water is allowed to be brought onboard, would putting liquor in water bottles work? Just wondering if anyone has tried this and if it worked for them. Thanks!

 

It absolutely does work, Kathy. We bring a 6 pack of "bottled water" with us on each of our cruises and sailed on NCL out of Boston in September. Simply buy bottled water like Dannon which comes in shrink wrapped 6 packs of roughly 16 oz plastic bottles. Make an incision in the bottom of the plastic casing, remove the bottles and replace the water with whatever clear alcohol beverages you enjoy (gin, vodka, baccardi, etc.). We bring this in our carry on luggage and have done so without a an issue on 2 NCL ships and the Celebrity Constellation last March. The beauty of the water bottle is that after you have emptied it, you can refill it in various ports and resupply. Saves a lot of money!!!

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ray98

ray98

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Posted
It absolutely does work, Kathy. We bring a 6 pack of "bottled water" with us on each of our cruises and sailed on NCL out of Boston in September. Simply buy bottled water like Dannon which comes in shrink wrapped 6 packs of roughly 16 oz plastic bottles. Make an incision in the bottom of the plastic casing, remove the bottles and replace the water with whatever clear alcohol beverages you enjoy (gin, vodka, baccardi, etc.). We bring this in our carry on luggage and have done so without a an issue on 2 NCL ships and the Celebrity Constellation last March. The beauty of the water bottle is that after you have emptied it, you can refill it in various ports and resupply. Saves a lot of money!!!

 

 

Pretty good idea....I guess the 6 pack still appears to be sealed.

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bnprincess

bnprincess

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We were just on the Carnival Glory last month and an ice cold bud cost $4.75 plus .71 gratuity for a grand total of $5.46. I think they were selling a "bucket of beer" (4 buds in a plastic bucket with ice) for $19.something. A bit of a savings.

 

Good luck.

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Dave and Micha

Dave and Micha

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If the cruise lines were smarter they would lower their prices and sell more in the process. That would make everyone happy as the bar staff earn their money off of how much is sold... (plus once people get drinking they usually keep going and that's when the bars REALLY make money...)

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