We're not looking to bring cases of liquor onboard- or at least, if we do, we'll check them til final disembarkation. However, WOULD like to have a bottle of gin or vodka for cabin consumption.

If we transfer duty free to water bottles in carry-on bags, will they actually stoop to asking us to open a liter 'water' bottle to see if it's really only H2O?

I doubt it!

Steve: I always like to have one bottle for the cabin that you mentioned.

Most brands of "hard" liguor now can be purchase in plastic "travel" bottles, made to be packed in luggage.

I've traveled almost every major line and have never had a problem with what I do. Just pack the bottle in the luggage (not your carry on). I wrap the bottle in bubble wrap or a towel just in case they get carried away tossing it around. This way they bring it right to your room without inspection.

Carry on luggage and packages, on the other hand, are xrayed and subject to being opened.

Think of it this way, your checked luggage is one of about 4000 pieces they must load and deliver in just a matter of hours. The last thing they have time to do is search thru luggage looking for a bottle.

Don't worry about your room steward either. They work for tips and are not about to jeopardize that. Most of the time they'll even bring you extra glasses and ice.
Hope this helps.

P.S. Don't try to buy a bottle on board and take it to your room. Most lines know that this means you'll buy less drinks, so they let you buy it, but then hold it until the end of the cruise and deliver it to your cabin on the final morning of your cruise.

My first cruise was Carnival. I brought 2 bottles of wine in my carry-on, and they were confiscated, and I could claim them on the pier at the end of the cruise. My last Carnival cruise.

Since then, I have cruised on Princess, RCCL, and Celebrity. No problem bring wine on board in my carry-on. I had to pay corkage if I brought a bottle to the Dining Room, but I had no problem with that.

If you are into spirits, bring them in your checked baggage, and bubble wrap/secure them carefully.

My hubby and I brought several bottles of good wine in our checked bags onto a Carnival cruise and had no problem. We did not take them to the diningroom, because a corkage fee would be charges. We drank them in our cabin, on the balcony, and enjoyed it very much!

simpsonc510, checked baggage not a problem -- carry on baggage a problem.

Carnival allows wine for use in ones room but not hard liquor

Since one of, if not THE most, lucrative sources of revenue on a cruise is liquor sales it isn't surprising that lines tell you that you cannot bring your own liquor aboard...and I suppose no more surprising that some people do it.

I disagree that if you buy liquor on the ship by the bottle that you cannot consume it...that may vary from ship to ship, however, but it has never been my experience.

I also agree that if you put it into your checked luggage you'll have an easier time bringing it aboard.