CAUGHT SMUGGLING ALCOHOL on RCCL????

[mariapd719]

12 pack(S) multiple ones in the checked luggage. Use your carryon that you took on the plane and move your clothes to your big suitcase.

 

Enchantment Feb,2002; Monarch Nov,2002; Radiance Nov,2003; Golden Princess Feb 28,2004

 

 

[fireguy091]

Gee where are all the flames from the smuggling police. I have never had anything taken from me on any of our cruises. Granted they were alittle easier a 10 yrs ago. But on the last couple trips still no problem. I know the rightous ones out there won't agee but sometimes companys make rules so if the need arrises to enforce them they have the right. Bottom line, if you pass the attitude test you will probably be fine.

 

 

Serenade 10/30/03

Destiny 6/02

Monarch 5/99

Holiday 4/98

Tropical 6/95

Asure Seas 3/93

Asure Seas 5/91

Holiday 3/88

Ms Southward 5/85

 

 

[jerzzgirl]

I cruised 2 years ago on RC and our first stop was San Juan - they have a huge duty free shop right there when you get off and I went for smokes. I stood in line forever and I noticed I recognized some people from my ship buying cases of beer which I didn't know you could bring on - they did, no problem. So I figure I'm doing that at the next stop - so I did at St. Marteen or St. Thomas (can't remember which since they looked the same to me) and mine got taken. I personally think it's a crap shoot - spin the wheel and maybe you'll get lucky! I'm cruising RC again in 39 days (Weee!!) and will try to bring a 12 pack with me - we'll see!

[Sophie]

I bet some of the posters are fuming over this one. I too have carried on booze not even trying to hide it and nothing was ever said...Will continue to do so and my bar bill is always hefty as well...

 

Personally, I don't know why anyone would get their panties in a wad over this post.

My husband has a big suitcase he uses just for beer! He puts 2 cases between 2 pillows and it gets through the checked baggage every time. Then we have 2 extra pillows for our bed and more room for our dirty laundry in the "extra" suitcase!

[morebeaches]

Last January on the Radiance, my wife and I brought on a total of 8 bottles of wine, 4 in each of our carry ons. No problem, we also bought the wine package with dinner. We had none left by the end of the cruise. BTW the over the door shoe hangers make a wonderful wine rack.

[NiniB]

i walked on the Rhapsody in August chugging a 1/2 full bottle of Crown,,, not a thing was said.......:D :p i guess they thought i was NUTS,, or perhaps LOADED,,,, haaa ..... ;)

[skedaddle43]

Just returned from the Rhapsody and tried to board with a 1/2 bottle of vodka (left over from pre-cruise bloody marys) in a carry on. X-ray technician stopped the bag and asked what was in the bottle inside. we had honestly forgotten and said just water. "No, it is not a water bottle. I saw that. This is laying horizontal." another agent opened the bag, pulled out the halfie, shoved it back in and quietly said to just go on. Coming back, each in our party had an extra liter of something in our carry-ons, despite the new Texas law (effective Sept. 1) that limits each person to 1 liter and confiscation - no opportunity to pay the duty. Baggage never X-rayed, walked off like we had good sense. :D

[stones902]

Last trip to Cozumel we had an Owner's Suite and had planned to host a party in our cabin for some friends. I purchase a case of Red Stripe beer in one of the shops just off the pier and carried it on. Unfortunately, one of the ship's personnel stopped me and directed me to a table where they (politely) confiscated my beer, issued a receipt, and advised that I could get in on the last evening of my cruise. For what it is worth, they were checking for alcohol at every port and any passenger with visible alcohol was being searched.

 

When I returned to the ship, I immediately called the Purser's desk to ask if we could get the beer delivered to my cabin as it was purchased especially for a party we were hosting that evening. I was directed to the bar manager who I was told was in charge of keeping all confiscated alcohol for the cruise. After a couple of calls to the bar manager (and a little complaining on my part) my cabin steward brought up the case and we hosted our party w/o a hitch.

 

The bottom line is, each ship is either more diligent or lax in checking for smuggled booze. I have never had a problem bringing beer on the first day but have noted that more often than not it is frowned upon during the cruise. I would probably not try and bring a whole case on again unless it was the first day.

[stephWR]

:D :o My husband and I will be going on our first cruise with carnival in Nov. So, I've been reading the fine print in the back of the cruise catolog. Carnival states-"fine wine or champagne may be brought on board only during embarkation at the beginning of the cruise.A $10 corkage fee per bottle will be charged should you wish to consume this wine in the dining room."

I hope this is true, as I plan to bring 'some' wine with me and I do not plan on putting/hideing it in my luggage. Totally excited to go, this website has been full of great reviews and info. Thanks everyone!!

[hardwaremama]

We just returned from Raspsody out of Galveston. We did take a Bottle wrapped in bubble wrap in our checked luggage. We knew that our luggage would probably arrive late. We wanted to have a pre dinner drink on our balcony so we carried it on board in water bottles. Of coarse it was clear. No problems.

[Cathey]

We were on Empress September 4th. Carry on luggage contained Ammaretta, Chambord, pint of Vodka and a 12 pack of beer. We also purchased beer and wine in bermuda several times and just had it in a brown bag in our beach bag. No problems.

Our biggest problem was the cabin steward. Never had ice but once a day. We had to keep calling room service for ice. That added up to a $2 tip each time. His loss, we only tipped the steward the standard $3.50 p/p p/d.

We also did RC Radiance in Alaska. Same story no problems carry on the ship.

I guess you just have to get lucky.

 

The cruise lines still get there bar money in the dining room, pool deck and lounges. They charge just as much for a glass of wine as they do for Johnnie Black.

[Trlbnd1]

Grand Princess 2001: 4 pack wine coolers, 5th rum, pint scotch in grocery bags-ok.

 

Grand Princess 2002: 5th of rum, 5th of scotch in carry on-ok.

 

Navagator of the Seas 2003: 5th of rum in luggage wrapped in plastic-ok.

 

Imagination 2004: It will be 5th of rum in our luggage. Don't anticipate a problem...

[echo]

Does the Rccl liquor store sell any mixers or wine? Thanks

[curly4dana]

sorry...i travel with my grey goose! not the quacking kind, the sippin' kind! lol we bubbled wrapped the goose in my luggage and have never had a problem!

i also went to the straw market in panama at puerto christobal and was able to by 3 bottles of rum for $5 each and a bottle of vodka for $6. the store put them in boxes and when i got back on the jewel last april, no one stopped me!!!!! i put them in the xray thingy and they handed them back to me! go figure...

i think it was because i was alone, my dh had already gone back on the ship, and there weren't many people at the security check point...maybe it's 'cause i'm cute??? yeah! that's it!!! LMAO!!!

[cmason]

Bought several bottles of booze in San Juan during a port call there. When re-boarding the ship, security informed me that I could not take the bottles back to my cabin, but that I could "check" them in the holding room, to be delivered to my cabin upon debarkation day. I was given a claim check, and they put my booze on a large cart, with other passenger's similar purchases. The evening before debarkation, my bottles appeared in my cabin.

[RMILLER4292]

We sailed on our first cruise on the Rhapsody on 08/26/03, and brought a couple of bottles of wine in our checked baggage. To our suprise, they were there when the luggage arrived. Alas, we discovered that we had not brought a bottle opener, and sheepishly asked the stateroom attendant if he could bring us one. When we returned to the stateroom that night, we discovered that he had not only brought a bottle opener, but 2 wine glasses, and he had opened the wine and chilled it for us!!

 

Thanks RCCL!!

 

Ryan

[lv2bcruzin]

Have taken two cruises with RCCL and one with Celebrity. Never had any kinds of problems with bringing alcohol on board. As everyone prolly knows St. Thomas is a great place to buy booze. So everytime I've stopped there I've stocked up. Brought it back in my bag, granted it was full of clothes too :p, put it through the scanner and away I went :D

[ritarussell]

On the Sovereign a few years ago we were in Nassau in one of their liquor stores sampling the several flavored rums and bought a few bottles. I asked the lady to put them in a big bag instead of the boxed carrying cases. She asked me if I wanted to try to take it on the ship and laughed. We brought our bottles in along with our other purchases, went through the scanner - it was OBVIOUS there were bottles in there. They said nothing. Go ahead and try it! What can happen?

[CRUSINJYL]

Just back one week from my first cruise, Radiance to Alaska. I took one very large bottle of Champagne in carry on and a couple of water bottles with rum in my checked luggage. Everything was packed inside of ziploc bags, hence no worry of ruining mine or anyone elses luggage items. No problems. I also saw fellow passengers carrying on 6-12 packs of beer and other spirits from ports. Still no problem, and no table set up to confiscate the "conterband". They warned us that the popular tourist purchase of ULU knifes would be confiscated till end of cruise for safety, again..no confiscation for anyone in my party. Profiling? Possibly. One word of advice, we were in a D1 and the room attendant gladly emptied the honor bar from the refrig. but it was not so cold. The "ice bucket" in the room is VERY small. I would suggest a collasable cooler if you want to ice anything down. Also, there are "ice stations" on each room section of the boat. (I was tipped off by one of the bartenders and helped myself frequently). On the Radiance the doors to these rooms were all stainless steel and said "Ice station" above the door. I don't think the room attendants want you to help yourself..they are all about service but it is handy when you don't want to bother them. I also took a large thermal cup and had the room attendant routinely fill it with ice each time they made up the room. They are very accommodating and when I tried to tip him the first day for the extra services, he refused my tip and said it was his pleasure! Happy crusing to you all!

[mrsfecura]

We sailed on the Crown Princess in Jan 2009. Several of us brought bottles of wine onboard in our checked luggage. No problems! We plan on doing it again when we sail on RCI in September!

[mrsfecura]

PS-I love this thread! :)

[Langley Cruisers]

Goodness, you went back almost 6 years to find this bad boy! Why did you bump it? There are more recent threads on the board. :p

[PhoenixCruiser]

PS-I love this thread! :)

 

I hope you realize that things have changed over the past six years...

 

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[msbptg]

Lets see here. We went to Publix and bought a liter of vodka, a six pack of 24 oz spring water and a nice box wine.. I carefully removed the bottles of water from the plastic wrap, took out the middle bottle, poured it into a glass, and than replaced it with the liter of vodka.. It filled the whole bottle and I took a swig to finish it off..( it was still morning lol) I than placed a RCCL luggage tag on the 6 pack of water and when checking in luggage, had the porter check in the water too.. I than opened the cardboard box of wine and placed the bladder into my backpack on wheels.. So every day we went to a bar and got some wine glasses, brought them back to our room and poured ourselfs a nice glass of red wine. We even took those same glasses to dinner with us.. Everyday at the pool I ordered the drink of the day while my wife made her vodka and cranberry juice (bought that at belize City) in our cabin..

[MrsPete]

I've always brought a moderate amount of alcohol onboard with me -- never cases and cases of beer or large bottles of liquor as some people have reported -- and I've never had a minute's trouble.