Diana

Hello,

We are preparing to go on our first cruise and were wondering if you are permitted to pack and take a bottle of wine or two or any other spirits on board?

Do they search luggage for this and/or can you buy some when in port and bring it on?

We are kind of picky about our wines and spirits, and enjoy being able to relax in the room with a drink without getting room service or wondering if they will have the brands we prefer.

Not talking about taking a liquor store, just a bottle or two.

We are sailing on Celebrity btw...

Thanks!

sceneisle

In general, wine is O.K. but "other spirits" are not. Each cruise line has their own policy and enforcement rules. If non-allowed beverages are found, most lines will hold it during the cruise and return it to you close to or upon disembarkation. I usually take a bottle or two for room consumption, packing it in a suitcase (less likely to be uncovered than if you packed it in a carry-on item). So far (nine times), its always gotten through. Have never sailed Celebrity so I don't know what their policy is.

12743

Been on Celebrity and never had a problem as long as wine or other spirits are in your check-in luggage.Only carry single bottles back on the ship that you purchase on the islands and put them in your shopping bag. Most cruise ships will take the cardboard carry-ons untill the end of the cruise. You'll love Celebrity.

Budman

I've sailed on Celebrity and RCCL and have always brought my own wine on board. Last cruise on Celebrity Galaxy out of Baltimore, I brought 14 bottles of wine in my carry-on. I had to pay corkage if I brought the bottle to the dining room, but the $12 corkage fee outweighted the $25-30 for their house wines.

ATPittsley

My parents just returned from an NCL cruise - they were watching the security agents view luggage and said they were removing wine and other liquor from suitcases. Once they spotted the bottles, they paged the owner, tagged each and every bottle and gave the owner a receipt, then finally placed the bottle(s) in a huge bin. The liquor would be returned upon return from the cruise...

They said lots of liquor was being removed...

I think it depends on the cruiseline and the security agents...

Austin

I got a brouchure for Carnival and it says that you can take your own wine and champagne on board, but that's it. If you have a brochure for celebrity, you might check it - or call the company.

triathlete

Rather than take lots of bottles of wine, we take wine in a box. There are some very good wines packaged this way (stay away from Franzia, however). It's light, takes up very little room in your suitcase, doesn't break, & stays fresh.

Cheers!

judya

Went on Celebity last Jan. We packed liquor in our lugage, it was in a plastic bottle and we had no problem. We also packed some soda. We did carry on some in our shopping bags from ports, no problem.

mikemo

Two words: cheap or alcoholic.
Think seriously, my friends.
M (MD, NBME, ABIM, ABNM, ABR)

Budman

M (MD, NBME, ABIM, ABNM, ABR)

What the heck does this mean?

Doc, your Navy and Medical days tend to lean towards acronyms. We laymen on this board have no clue. HELP!!!

mikemo

Hi Budman, etal.
Just wanted to let you all know this behavior is "predictive" if not more serious.
I must admit I'm enjoying a 1/2 glass of 1997 vintage Port from Ferreira as I write.
The MD is obvious, the others are US board certifications: national - to get basic license, Internal Medicine, Nuclear Medicine, and Diagnostic Radiololgy.
I have been retired for 14 months, and am about to leave my Dallas home of nearly 25 years and settle in Central Mexico

12743

You hurt my feelings Budman. I'm neither cheap or an alcoholic, but I still like to have a bottle of wine in my room. I also like to use Priceline to save a few bucks.

Budman

12743, You must have me confused with someone else.

12743

You're right I did, and I'm sorry. The message was for mikemo.

mikemo

As long ago as the late '60's, the substance abuse specialist MD's recognized that behavior, especially among other doc's, and I think they have been justified in their conclusions.
M

roy

If we can stagger away from the AA meeting for a moment and return to Diana's original inquiry...
I have taken 8 cruises since 1995 on NCL, Princess and Royal Caribbean. I have taken a bottle of scotch and a bottle of vodka on each one and never had a problem. I was never able to get a decent answer from a cruise line as to what was allowed so I just packed them in the luggage and they always showed up. I think that unless you are blatant about it or very unlucky, you probably won't have a problem.

esd

The couple of times that we've packed a bottle in our checked luggage, we had no problem. Once we tried to take one bottle of wine on board in our carry on and it was confiscated. That was on NCL's Sky last year. The only option we had was to request it in the DR and pay the corkage fee. I didn't care about that, really, although I had read all over these boards that we could take wine aboard and this was just one bottle that we thought we could take on board legally and enjoy in our cabin.

Maybe it just depends on who is checking your carry-ons. Anyway, to be on the safe side, I would pack anything like that in my checked bags.

margorose

I tried to get onboard a Disney ship last year with two bottles of expensive rum and a bottle of preferred wine and it was confiscated until arrival in my cabin. It was not drunk in the dining room, but in the cabin so that I would not be charged any fees. Actually, I had boarded many planes and ships without a problem in the past and take this as a sign of closer inspection of luggage since Sept. 11th. Even my cigarette lighters were brought under intense scutiny until I finally surrendered them to authorities and kept only my favorite single one.

Diana

Thanks everyone!

(Except mikemo; who tries - unsuccessfully apparently - to allay his feelings of inadequacy by utilizing passive-aggressive posting methodology and continously asserting his "superior" knowledge on various and sundry topics while mentioning in nearly every thread that he is retiring to Mexico. Mucho mal Mikey!)

jacketwatch

To Mimeko: Ja, zis behavior of yours iz most puzzling. Ver you abuzed by ze overbearing father figue in your early days of ze yout? Zis ist a most common cause of zis compensatory behavior. I zink you need ze other 1/2 glass of zis vine and zome therapy. Ja. Sigmund Jacketwatch .