When did RCCL stop allowing personal wine?

[mimicsr]

I sure don't mean to open up this can of worms again, just if someone could tell me, please, when did RCCL change their policy about bringing your own (small amount) of wine aboard for in-cabin consumption? We haven't cruised RCCL for the last couple of years, even though we are platinum now, but we had no problem bringing on 1 or 2 bottles per person the last time. I'm just curious as to when this happened and why. We are going on the Rhapsody r/t Alaska from Seattle the last of August. I sure wish they would change this policy back to the way it was, but I guess that's not going to happen!!

[Tanker4]

Can't remember exactly when it occured but that is the current policy. Like yourself, we always enjoyed bringing a couple of bottles onboard with us. Nice to have and occasional glass on the balcony. So......... now we just wrap them securely and put them in our checked baggage. Never had a problem and we still spend our fair share at the bars.;)

[cruiserbryce]

I think its been at least a couple years b/c I dont remember being able to take it on any of our RC cruises

[jtwisconsin]

I know we were not allowed to bring any wine or alcohol for our first cruise back in January 2007.

[Mark_K]

Summer 2006 time frame. It was not long after the 21 year old went over the Mariner railing after drinking alcohol snuck on board - and that was May 2006.

[madforcruising]

Don´t know when exactly, but after the Smith case;)

[TEXASMUNK]

Brilliance of the Seas, Greek Isle cruise. Newlywed and 'buddies' drinking smuggled booze. New wife passed out in a hallway. He goes overboard, press goes nuts....family settled out of court.

Booze banned.

[dutchess43]

Brilliance of the Seas, Greek Isle cruise. Newlywed and 'buddies' drinking smuggled booze. New wife passed out in a hallway. He goes overboard, press goes nuts....family settled out of court.

Booze banned.

 

Yep right after this incident the ban was enforced let us not forget that RCI paid out over 1 million dollars for this to go away.

[Leejnd4]

Yep right after this incident the ban was enforced let us not forget that RCI paid out over 1 million dollars for this to go away.

 

Yes but let's also not forget the following:

 

1. George Smith wasn't drinking carried-on wine - he was drinking smuggled Absinthe - in addition to many alcoholic beverages purchased onboard.

 

2. There is no proof that his going overboard had anything whatsoever to do with his drinking smuggled alcohol. While one can reasonably presume that intoxication may have been a factor, the fact is that he was served many drinks throughout the ship that night, in addition to anything he might have consumed that was smuggled onboard.

 

3. While the timing of the wine ban, coming so soon after the George Smith incident, might lead one to believe that it is directly related, no one but RCI can say that for sure - and they haven't. Further, even if it WAS related, one can speculate that it was used as an excuse for them to enact a policy that is favorable to their bottom line, that might not have been as readily accepted by the public if they didn't have the George Williams excuse.

 

Either way, if you really want to bring your own wine onboard, you still can. Many of us do. :)

[BroncosFan2010]

My DH and I have a favorite local wine that is not available for purchase on the Ship. We REALLY want to have this wine, but are afraid of being caught with it. Has anyone been caught, and what is the worst that could happen?

[ChattaCruzer]

If the ban was imposed as a result of the Smith case, then it was the summer of 2005, not 2006. I know this because my husband took me on a cruise for my 40th birthday, which was in 2005. When we arrived back in Ft. Lauderdale, I remember hearing about a passenger who went overboard on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. It was a man on his honeymoon - George Smith. Because we had just returned from a cruise ourselves, I was really creeped out and wasn't sure I wanted to go on another cruise anytime soon. Obviously, I got over that.

[Leejnd4]

My DH and I have a favorite local wine that is not available for purchase on the Ship. We REALLY want to have this wine, but are afraid of being caught with it. Has anyone been caught, and what is the worst that could happen?

 

First, I would urge you to post this question in the Saving Money on your Cruise forum. People tend to be rather unforgiving in this forum when wine lovers such as ourselves openly discuss the evil practice of "booze smuggling". And I would encourage you to put on a flak jacket if you intend to continue reading this thread after asking this question.

 

But since you asked, I will be happy to give you an honest, straightforward answer. Yes, MANY people carry their own wines onboard RCI ships, myself included. There are different ways to do it, some more successful than others.

 

Yes you may get caught, but the worst that will happen to you is that your wine will be confiscated and held for you until the end of your cruise, when it will be returned. Do not allow any of the alarmists who may post in here to convince you that you might be denied boarding or "kicked off the ship". Never happens. MANY people attempt to smuggle wine and other alcoholic beverages onto every single RCI cruise. Some are caught, some are not. There has never been a report of a single passenger denied boarding for attempting carrying wine or booze onboard a ship.

 

If you wish to smuggle your wine onboard, you have two options: attempt to smuggle it in its original bottle, or transfer it to another container. Either way, be sure to wrap it carefully in a zip-lock, and some bubble-wrap. If you leave it in the bottle, you have a greater chance of getting caught, as your luggage may be one of the bags that gets scanned, and the shape of the bottle might trigger security to ask you to open your bag - at which point your wine will be confiscated. If you transfer it to another type of container (and the best one for this purpose is a Rum Runner flask) you are far less likely to get caught, as these do not look like bottles in a scanner. Many of us wine-loving cruisers use Rum Runner flasks on a regular basis, and have never been caught.

 

The only downside to Rum Runners is that, in the highly unlikely event you DO get caught, they will confiscate your wine and NOT return it, since it's not in its original container. But provided you hide them well inside your checked luggage, and don't have anything ELSE in there that might catch a scanner's attention (weapons, other bottles of booze), the likelihood of being caught is practically nil.

 

If you have further questions, do pop on over to the Saving Money on your Cruise forum. There are plenty of us "booze smugglers" over there who will be happy to help you, without the arrow-slinging that you so often encounter here. :)

[TEXASMUNK]

have stated only facts....Thus dispelling the notion that we/they are blind to reality, while one post seems to have come from Roswell,NM .....probably because there have been so few UFO sightings lately, and conspiracy is far more fun to post than the facts.

 

Typo: Header was supposed to be "Thus far", not "just far" (brain and fingers not connected today)

[Leejnd4]

have stated only facts....Thus dispelling the notion that we/they are blind to reality, while one post seems to have come from Roswell,NM .....probably because there have been so few UFO sightings lately, and conspiracy is far more fun to post than the facts.

 

LOL - sorry Texasmunk but my powers of translation seem to be on the fritz today. :o I'm dying to know what your post actually means...and which earlier post came from Roswell! ;)

[BroncosFan2010]

First, I would urge you to post this question in the Saving Money on your Cruise forum. People tend to be rather unforgiving in this forum when wine lovers such as ourselves openly discuss the evil practice of "booze smuggling". And I would encourage you to put on a flak jacket if you intend to continue reading this thread after asking this question.

 

But since you asked, I will be happy to give you an honest, straightforward answer. Yes, MANY people carry their own wines onboard RCI ships, myself included. There are different ways to do it, some more successful than others.

 

Yes you may get caught, but the worst that will happen to you is that your wine will be confiscated and held for you until the end of your cruise, when it will be returned. Do not allow any of the alarmists who may post in here to convince you that you might be denied boarding or "kicked off the ship". Never happens. MANY people attempt to smuggle wine and other alcoholic beverages onto every single RCI cruise. Some are caught, some are not. There has never been a report of a single passenger denied boarding for attempting carrying wine or booze onboard a ship.

 

If you wish to smuggle your wine onboard, you have two options: attempt to smuggle it in its original bottle, or transfer it to another container. Either way, be sure to wrap it carefully in a zip-lock, and some bubble-wrap. If you leave it in the bottle, you have a greater chance of getting caught, as your luggage may be one of the bags that gets scanned, and the shape of the bottle might trigger security to ask you to open your bag - at which point your wine will be confiscated. If you transfer it to another type of container (and the best one for this purpose is a Rum Runner flask) you are far less likely to get caught, as these do not look like bottles in a scanner. Many of us wine-loving cruisers use Rum Runner flasks on a regular basis, and have never been caught.

 

The only downside to Rum Runners is that, in the highly unlikely event you DO get caught, they will confiscate your wine and NOT return it, since it's not in its original container. But provided you hide them well inside your checked luggage, and don't have anything ELSE in there that might catch a scanner's attention (weapons, other bottles of booze), the likelihood of being caught is practically nil.

 

If you have further questions, do pop on over to the Saving Money on your Cruise forum. There are plenty of us "booze smugglers" over there who will be happy to help you, without the arrow-slinging that you so often encounter here. :)

 

Thanks for the honest and informative answer! Seeing as we are flying from Detroit to San Juan, we will have to see how much room and weight we have left in our luggage. But... if there is room, I am going to try to bring 1 bottle per suitcase. However, my DH is doubtful there will be room!

[mimicsr]

And I thank everyone for all the info about the timing of this wine ban. Our last RCCL cruise was probably 2004, so at that time there was no problem bringing it on. I will transfer over to the other thread for some interesting reading. Thanks again.

[teajak]

Thanks for the honest and informative answer! Seeing as we are flying from Detroit to San Juan, we will have to see how much room and weight we have left in our luggage. But... if there is room, I am going to try to bring 1 bottle per suitcase. However, my DH is doubtful there will be room!

There is a greeat liquor store on the upper floor of the SanJuan terminal, fantastic prices. We bought 2 large bottles of Irish whiskey, carried them back to the ship prepared to hand them over until the end of the cruise. They didn't even look at them. I wanted them for home so we didn't open them. This might be an option for you.

[mems]

I think there was always a rule stating not to bring alcohol on board but it was not really inforced until the Smith death. Things seemed to tighten up after that. In San Juan we would always check in, go to eat then get back off the ship and buy wine and beer at that duty free shop right there at the embarcation site, we were never stopped. Beer and wine choices were iffy....some good some bad but we were never stopped. We would, also, bring beer and wine on board at the ports, not a case or mucho amounts but some without problems. We went to a vineyard in Tuscany and of course we brought back wine. We all know it is a sad commentary of life today. When one bad expierence ruins it for many.

[Cruise Junky]

I think there was always a rule stating not to bring alcohol on board but it was not really inforced until the Smith death. Things seemed to tighten up after that. In San Juan we would always check in, go to eat then get back off the ship and buy wine and beer at that duty free shop right there at the embarcation site, we were never stopped. Beer and wine choices were iffy....some good some bad but we were never stopped. We would, also, bring beer and wine on board at the ports, not a case or mucho amounts but some without problems. We went to a vineyard in Tuscany and of course we brought back wine. We all know it is a sad commentary of life today. When one bad expierence ruins it for many.

 

With RCI you didn't have to bring it on, you could buy a bottle from the duty free store and for an extra $9 take it back to your cabin. They went from having one of the best policies to being the worst.

[Leejnd4]

With RCI you didn't have to bring it on, you could buy a bottle from the duty free store and for an extra $9 take it back to your cabin. They went from having one of the best policies to being the worst.

 

Yeah, I remember those days. Half the time they'd waive the fee and just wink, and we'd take it back to our cabin...especially if it was later in the cruise. And they used to have pretty awesome prices.

[stanford's girl]

I'm glad I read this thread, as I haven't cruised with RCCL in a while. I knew that they discontinued letting you buy a bottle and bring it to your cabin after the George Smith incident. But I didn't know that you couldn't bring a bottle of your favorite wine on board with you either. We have sailed mostly with Carnival and HAL lately and they both let you bring on a bottle or two. :cool:

[Onelouder]

Not many people talk about it, and it is definately frowned upon, but many crew members go into the ports at the same time the guests do, and they are allowed to bring any type of alcohol onboard for their personal use in their cabins. If you find one you recognize in the port, and give them some money, more often than not they will get you a bottle or 2 of whatever you want and give it to you when they get back onboard. They can get in trouble for this, but if you find the right person, and make sure the "deal" goes down in a quiet area of the ship, it shouldn't be a problem.

Also, on some ships, crew members can purchase booze in the duty free shops, and the whole deal can be done without even finding a crew member in the port.

[honeywell]

Onelouder, I am guessing you are a current or former Cruise Line crew member?

[Leejnd4]

Not many people talk about it, and it is definately frowned upon, but many crew members go into the ports at the same time the guests do, and they are allowed to bring any type of alcohol onboard for their personal use in their cabins. If you find one you recognize in the port, and give them some money, more often than not they will get you a bottle or 2 of whatever you want and give it to you when they get back onboard. They can get in trouble for this, but if you find the right person, and make sure the "deal" goes down in a quiet area of the ship, it shouldn't be a problem.

Also, on some ships, crew members can purchase booze in the duty free shops, and the whole deal can be done without even finding a crew member in the port.

 

I would never even consider asking a crew member to do something they could "get in trouble" for doing. If I wish to drink my privately-purchased beverages in my cabin, I will bring them on myself - and accept any consequences that might result. I can't even imagine asking someone to do something just for my own enjoyment, that could put their employment at risk.

[TEXASMUNK]

Wow, if ya gotta resort to finding a crew member to buy you a bottle...I think there is an 800 number you can dial for help with your problem! LOL