Anyone been caught?

[grammi]

Has anyone actually had their alcohol confiscated that they brought from home and had in their checked or carry on bags??? :cool:

[mcboo]

Grammi,

Sure did. They found it in my checked bags. Tagged it and told me it was in the pursor's office. I could pick it up when the cruise was over.:mad::mad:

[hollym]

I'd love to know what cruise line did that! Really, they must need the money from selling alcohol very badly. I can't be bothered to drag liquor onboard, but that kind of behavior would make me a very unhappy customer indeed.

[bUU]

One of the main ways cruise ships make profit is capitalizing on the captive market they have aboard ship to charge premiums for many items and services. From what I've read, alcohol sales is a very big contributor to the profit for a ship. If this channel was not so especially effective, either cruise fares in general would be higher, or cruising itself wouldn't as an attractive of a market to offer services into, thereby reducing the choices available to us.

 

The documentation and the web site both make it very clear that alcohol cannot be brought on board. Most people don't hold specific animosity towards a company when faced with having been caught violating a rule they agreed to comply with in their agreement with that company. Most simply chalk it up, "You caught me," and feel more guilty than angry. Not everyone is like that of course, though, but companies have to play the odds in order to protect their ability to make profit for their owners.

[hollym]

Enough said about nothing. "Bicker"? What an interesting name.

[MrsPete]

Bicker, I recently read the fine print at the back of my Royal Caribbean booklet. It says that they reserve the right to limit the quantity of alcohol brought onboard -- that's not the same thing as saying you can't bring it on board.

 

Here's my personal interpretation of that statement: They're okay with a small amount of alcohol, but they'd confiscate a large amount.

[bUU]

That seems likely. They're not going to quibble over a $10 corkage, but if it is real money involved, they'll likely exert their rights to confiscate what they find and return it on disembarkation. I've read several reports of this on this board.

[Kevinc6969]

I take liquor on board every cruise. I empty a 1 or 2 liter soda bottle and fill it with liquor. Put it in zip lock and put in my carry on bag. I also buy minatures and put them in my checked bags at various locations. Buy pints of liquor on the islands (with plastic caps) and carry them on in my pockets.

[bUU]

It should be noted that many airlines don't permit transportation of liquor in anything but its legal container (complete with tax stamps).

[profjanmc]

Got caught by RCCL with an "entire" 6 pack of beer in a carry-on..... They took it away until the last day.... Ridiculous, so last cruise, put it in the checked bags that arrive at your door, well padded and it arrived fine.... Now with xray of baggage, don't know if they will open bags and remove liquor. Anyone?

[lougee1043]

hal took a bottle of mescal away from me on our mexico cruise ---really didnt matter because it was a gift for my son-----------really have trouble understanding why people will go to such lengths trying to bring liquor on board-

this is my vacatiion and i personally wont go through the trouble of doing so --but then again i dont drink in my cabin----

[dkjretired]

Just to place some perspective, in some cases the cruise lines are required by law to take the booze. This is especially true in areas where purchases duty free are being made. In many of these ports you can purchase something to bring back to the ship or purchase something on board the ship and pay regular price.

 

Don

[zurmoly]

Depends on the line. Celebrity and Princess tend to look the other way. Of course, don't go overboard ( no pun intended)

[Luckyroot]

Celebrity REALLY looks the other way. We went to Bermuda on 7/30/04 sailing out of NYC. Carried on a padded cooler that said "Coors Pack" on the outside. Inside were 3 six packs of beer and 2 bottles of wine. In our carry on were 2 bottles of vodka and one of rum. They processed the cooler thru the xray machine and did not say a word about it.

 

The funniest part of this is that although the boys drank the beer, we didn't even open the vodka or rum (we were too lazy to make our own drinks, we let the fabulous Celebrity bartenders take care of that.)

 

I was worried about having to declare it when we left the ship, but customs was almost a joke. We just walked out, and there was a man collecting customs forms "if you have them". My sister in law didn't even fill out a customs form, and she had 2 bottles of rum with her.

 

I was quite suprised by that, considering that while we were away, NYC raised the terror security level to yellow.

[bUU]

I believe they're relying more on travelers' integrity than on enforcement.

[rothsix]

These "bringing booze on-board" topics are way too common, but the thing that struck me on this one is not that the cruiseline would "catch" someone bringing booze on-board, but that they would actually open a bag and remove something. I think this would probably have me more angry than the booze confiscation on its own. Kind of a fine line there and I'd have serious issues with any line that was so worried about making a few bucks off me at the bar that they would go through my luggage to ensure it.

 

Happy sailing.

Derrick

[bUU]

I'm not sure there is any guarantee, expressed or implied, of privacy of checked luggage. Did I miss reading that somewhere in the contract?

[rothsix]

Maybe not, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. And to go ahead and do it after not doing it throughout history without any type of notice or warning (renewed warning perhaps, if it is in the fine print) via signage at the port might help to lessen the feeling of being "violated". It's booze. Last time I checked, booze is a legal substance. I don't think policy of a company can over-ride your perceived privacy of checked baggage. I am not even going to argue the guarantee of privacy thing, but if the cruise line is raiding my luggage, it should be for legitimate security concerns, not to try to increase the bucks they squeeze out of me. Are they going to break locks to take your booze? Perhaps if they have a problem with non-security related items in my luggage, they should contact me about it?

 

I don't even smuggle booze on board, so I'm not concerned about the booze, I am very concerned about the privacy issue. What's next, no shaving cream because they sell that on board too? How many people are we as a travelling public willing to let rifle through our personal belongings before we object? How many items have you personally had disappear from your luggage after a TSA inspection? At least the TSA has fairly strict rules, what rules do the ships security staff operate under?

 

Derrick

[bUU]

it doesn't mean I have to like it.

Without a doubt! I misunderstood what you meant by having "serious issues" with a cruise line that was conducting searches of luggage. I can definitely understand not liking it!

 

It's booze. Last time I checked, booze is a legal substance.

Which means only that you can buy it and drink it legally. According to RCI, however, the law prohibits them from allowing you to import or export alcohol, even for personal consumption. You're welcome to disagree with their interpretation of the law, but since it is their ship, legally, it doesn't matter: What they says goes, unless (again) there is some written guarantee of privacy. The matter of Privacy works quite the opposite with the owner of private property than it does with the government.

 

I don't think policy of a company can over-ride your perceived privacy of checked baggage.

There term "perceived rights" is either vague (meaning I don't understand what you're trying to say) or illusory (meaning I understand what you're trying to say, and you're wrong about there being any rights of that sort). Your rights, as a passenger, are spelled out in various national and international regulations, and in the contract of carriage. The overriding legal principle here is that a property owner has the undeniable right to know what it is they're carrying. I don't think you can find anything saying that your right to privacy, preceived or actual, supersedes that. Again, remember, if you were dealing with the US Government, you would have an argument, since the US Government (only) is prohibited from violating your privacy.

 

I am not even going to argue the guarantee of privacy thing

Because you recognize that there is no such guarantee, I suppose... that's fine.

 

but if the cruise line is raiding my luggage, it should be for legitimate security concerns, not to try to increase the bucks they squeeze out of me.

On what basis do you mean that assertion? Why should you be able to unilaterally decide that the policy of a private company, which they put forward as applying to all their passengers, shouldn't apply to you? (That's putting aside RCI's contention that it is actually the law...)

 

Are they going to break locks to take your booze?

I'd bet dollars to donuts that they don't actually search luggage for alcohol at all. I suspect that this is all idle speculation about something that actually never happens.

 

How many people are we as a travelling public willing to let rifle through our personal belongings before we object?

Personally, given that my brother was almost seriously injured on 9/11, quite a bit more.

[rothsix]

Whether they have the right to inspect my bags is not the issue. Of course they do. And having a relative that was close to the tragedy of 9/11 would probably have me more concerned that my freedoms are infringed upon for "company policy" rather than legitimate security concerns mainly because of the degredation of the seriousness of these security concerns. I agree that it is unlikely that this happens, but I can tell you that I can decide that that policy would not apply to me simply by never sailing with a cruise line that did this. I have no problem with law and security enforcement and no problem with company policy when it comes to my private property (no matter how you cut it or what laws you are interpreting, my undies are my private property) as long as it is a real concern for safety and security. The thought of some security guard going through my luggage, probably with a lack of controls I mentioned above, gives me the willies. As a very frequent traveller, I know to not put anything I want to keep in my luggage as a lot of things tend to disappear. What I would suggest is this: If in the process of x-raying the bags they find what appears to be a container of alcohol, put the bag aside and ask the owner if they would like to have the alcohol stored for them or disposed of. If the logistics are difficult, leave a note asking the passenger to claim their bags from where ever in the room and ask the same when they claim it. They should not enter bags for anything other than security concerns.

 

All that said, I'd like to hear about any line that actually did this so I can follow through on my policy avoidance. Until I hear one, I'll keep sailing happily knowing that some TSA employee already rifled through my privies in Dallas on the way.

 

Derrick

[ackpth]

I had a scuba diving knife packed in my luggage, and they paged me over the loud speakers, they did not open my bag until I was present.

 

(they kept it till our return.)

 

Ackpth

[rothsix]

That comforts me Ackpth. Thank you. I will sleep better tonight, all my anxiety over this improbable occurance removed. ;)

 

Derrick

[bUU]

I can tell you that I can decide that that policy would not apply to me simply by never sailing with a cruise line that did this.

Do you have a list of all the cruise lines that have ever done this? If you don't you could end up going from the devil you know to a much worse devil you don't know.

[rothsix]

Alas, I do not have a list. I imagine that one such occurance would be enough to send me to a land based scuba resort and never deal with it again. The fine benefits of cruising do have boundries and I will not sacrifice my privacy for a company's bottom line.

 

I think I can safely leave this discussion with this statement: To invade my privacy to possibly make a few extra dollars would absolutely cost them every single nickle they may have ever made from me in the future. I'm no bean counter, but it doesn't make business sense to me.

 

Derrick

[Speechless]

There's such thing as good business and bad business.

 

If you stopped providing business to the cruise industry, because you felt your own privacy was more important than the safety of millions of passengers...then that's GOOD for business cuz they don't have to deal with the headache of arrogant pompous passengers tying up phone lines, slowing down service, and bothering company executives.

 

So to think that you'd be hurting the cruise industry by not providing your hundred or two bucks of gross profit per year...well....it's a little ambitious to say the least.