"To Go" lunch box for excursions

Is it possible to order a lunch on board to take with me off the ship on excursion days? We will be on the Emerald, 5-day.

The simple answer is no. Most ports do not allow food to be bought ashore, unless it is sealed, prepackaged items. So if you think you will need something to eat while on tour and don't want to get something shoreside you might want to come prepared with some food bars - whatever kind floats you boat.

Is it possible to order a lunch on board to take with me off the ship on excursion days? We will be on the Emerald, 5-day.

 

Princess doesn't provide to go food since in many ports it is prohibited to take food off the ship (there will be announcements in the Patter and over the Public Address system in those cases). See http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2200790

There are restaurants and eateries ashore! Or, you can go back to the ship to eat...or eat a late breakfast, skip lunch and have a snack when you do come back to the ship.

 

Some excursions provide lunch, if they're long enough.

Edited June 29, 2015 by cb at sea

Most ports in Canada , US and Europe don't allow food a come ashore from ships . Only if is a factory packaged product it maybe allowed.

We have been places where there is a food dog checking people as the get off. If the dog gets excited the subject is taken to another room. Fines can be high

We bring off boxed cereal, cereal bars, hard candy etc. Fruit, meat, most cheeses etc are subject to confiscation.

We have been places where there is a food dog checking people as the get off. If the dog gets excited the subject is taken to another room. Fines can be high

 

 

Definitely don't want the goofy Labrador to sit down next to you.

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

We have been places where there is a food dog checking people as the get off. If the dog gets excited the subject is taken to another room. Fines can be high

 

Ships staff will tell you food isn't allowed off, even coffee has been disposed of sometimes.

 

Never heard of a service dog get exited when they find anything. Last thing they need is more excitement for the handler at the port to deal with, they sit when they find anything, most times they will confiscate the contraband before its a blatent attempt to conceal or smuggle.

Edited June 29, 2015 by M4dC0w

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

 

I have seen checks in Panama, Costa Rica, and Mexico.

Yep.

 

Dogs checking carryons in Cartagena, Aruba, NYC and Toulon that I have noticed so far. Not every bag, of course, spot check in most cases.

 

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

 

I have by the request by port officials

Princess doesn't provide to go food since in many ports it is prohibited to take food off the ship (there will be announcements in the Patter and over the Public Address system in those cases). See http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2200790

 

Wow, that was an interesting thread! Thanks. Some of the arguments in there were hillarious.

Wow, that was an interesting thread! Thanks. Some of the arguments in there were hillarious.

 

In my mind it is a classic :D. People never cease to surprise me.

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

 

Yes - at every port in Australia and NZ (which is especially strict) there was a cute little Beagle checking everyones bags.

They are not going to search unless the dog gives some indication there is something inside.

Getting off the ship in South America all passengers had to line up with all their luggage in front of them while the dogs sniffed everything. Have also had dogs checking in Australia/New Zealand. They are not just checking for drugs but also for food products and plants.

 

Stick to pre packed candy bars/snacks if you have to take something off the ship.

Funny story---

Debarking in San Diego the Ag Dog alerted on my Lemon Heads.

Dogs checking carryons in Cartagena, Aruba, NYC and Toulon that I have noticed so far. Not every bag, of course, spot check in most cases.

Let's see. Big German shepherds with soldiers carrying BIG machine guns sniffing every single thing at disembarkation in Santiago. You do not want to mess with them. Dogs examining all bags at disembarkation in SF. I've seen people taken away for having a banana in a backpack in Boston (after an international flight.) I've seen big barrels filled with confiscated food at many ports. Just because someone hasn't seen it doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

 

Yes. Huatulco, Mexico:

Australia is very serious about items brought into their country.

 

Our flight arrived in Sydney & we were informed that nuts were restricted. We claimed our trail mix & it was approved because the nuts were roasted; a couple we met on the flight decided to not claim their trail mix & they were escorted to the customs room because they failed to claim it. :eek:

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

 

Yes indeed I have.

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

 

We saw sniffing dogs working in Mexico ports.

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

 

we disembarked in Melbourne and there was a hold up with people getting off the ship in the terminal and the problem was they had a line of about 20 people and everyone had to place their bags on the ground and the sniffer dogs went along the line to check out the bags

I've never seen a backpack checked for food items as one debarks for a shore excursion.....have you?

This happened on our California Coastal cruise last year in Ensenada:

 

While we were waiting in line for the tour to proceed to the bus, an agricultural inspector with a dog checked all of us. As we continued to wait, the dog reacted to a group going ashore with a baby stroller. They had to open all their bags and quite a bit of unsealed food (mostly apples) was confiscated; packaged, sealed food (like their carton of yogurt) was allowed. There were a lot of new cruisers on this voyage who may have been unaware of the restrictions on taking agricultural products off the ship. The Princess Patter had only mentioned bringing contraband back on board and an announcement about not taking food ashore was not made until well after passengers had started to disembark.