Bringing water aboard Voyager - NOT!

just wanted to share our experience with bringing water onboard with us at debarkation on a recent (Nov 19) Voyager cruise out of NO.

My DD, DSIL, and DGD were part of our family group; my daughter wanted to bring her own brand of water to use to mix the baby's formula (and ok, a few bottles for she and her husband to drink as well). They did the "bring a whole case, slap a luggage sticker on & give it to the porter" routine -- porter did not indicate there would be a problem, but, you guessed it, the water never showed up. We talked to Guest Relations, who were very, very nice and sympathetic, but basically we had to buy water onboard for the baby.

We were asked if we had an Rx from the dr to say the baby needed our specific bottled water.....of course we did not have one.

I think this is an extreme position - we spent plenty onboard as it was, and I'd even be OK with paying the higher price for bottled water onboard, but really don't care for Evian water.

anyway, it was an annoying way to start what otherwise was a wonderful trip. I wanted to share this to save others from the headache. Don't know how we'd have fared if the water had been in a suitcase, etc, but this way it sure did not turn out well. And, of course, with the whole parking situation, they ended up not being able to just drop off DD, baby, and luggage, but parked several blocks away. DH, and 2 DS's (this was a family vacation) met DD & DSIL at their parking garage and helped schlep their luggage, including lugging the case of water, to the terminal.

It certainly didn't ruin our trip, but wish we'd realized how all this would go before we left home. Yes, the fine print now does say no beverages of any kind can be brought on board, so we have learned.

Mary

It certainly seems like this is something being enforced in New Orleans.

Ok so it is hot in New Orleans? Maybe the dock workers (Porters) who do not work for Royal Caribbean but for the Port of NO, got a little thirsty. JMHO, but maybe next time put it in your luggage. Also maybe you should have considered to take a cab from the parking garage to the ship.

Glad none of this ruined your cruise.

Since your child must be at least 6 mos. to cruise, they are really at the point where they don't NEED "sterile" stuff....and bottled water isn't sterile, anyhow! You could have just used the ship's water. It's fine.

I'd suggest that people sailing out of NOLA put the water in a carry-on and roll it on the ship. I have no basis for asserting that it won't ever get taken from you, but I've always walked water on the ships at other ports without issue. I do suspect that the people rushing to screen carryons for weapons and booze in the terminal and keep boarding moving are far less likely to undertake the hassle of seizing your water than the people behind the scenes who can work more at their own pace.

The point is being missed! If you want a certain brand of water then you should be able to bring it with you. I am a stockholder as many of you are but I don't see this as a bottom line changer and it brings more bad than good will.

but basically we had to buy water onboard for the baby.

Mary

No you didn't.

The water is free out of the tap, and it is better than the bottled water you bought.:rolleyes:

The porter wouldn't take our case of water at Tampa for a Jewel cruise two weeks ago. We then parked the car and loaded a bunch of bottles into a backpack and carried them on.

Marc

Just left out of FLL on 12/4/11, on the

NOS. Carried on 4 bottles of water, and

4 diet coke, no problems..

I think the point is that just simply putting a luggage tag on the case wont work. If you carry it on or put it in luggage and check it you wont have a problem. Its to bad that they wouldnt let you have it. I dont mind drinking the ships tap water but i also dont see what RCI's issue is with a case of bottled water if somebody likes that companies water. O well.

I was also on the Nov 19 VOS out of NOLA as well and witnessed several people carrying cases (12 packs) of water onto ship, yet my checked baggage was sent to the Naughty Room and I had to stand in a long line to retrieve it because they spied a pint of liquid in it (mouthwash). What's odd to me is how unevenly the rules are applied.

Wondering why the original poster could not drop off their family and bags and then go and park. Admittedly the line was ridiculously long and we sat in our car for an hour or more, but we were able to drop off our bags and then park next door in the whale lot and walk with our only our carryons back to the ship.

Perhaps the issue is taking a whole CASE of water vs. bringing a few bottles.

I've taken 6 bottles of water in a carry on for all my RCCL cruises and never had a problem. And I've also brought a few bottle of soda as well.

A case may be considered excessive. You can also bring several bottles back from each port as well.

Took a 6 bottle pkg. of kentwood with me in my carryon on Voyager out of New Orleans and no one said a word. went right thru security. I don't like evian water too much, but bought the larrger bottles and refilled my empty smaller ones with it. Worked just fine. My father however packed his in checked luggage and had to go to the naughty room to get it.

Just left out of FLL on 12/4/11, on the

NOS. Carried on 4 bottles of water, and

4 diet coke, no problems..

Yes, but that is not the port OP left from - that was the point of this thread. :)

.

We carried on a 12 pack of water on the Dec. 10th sailing of Voyager. It was in plastic grocery bag. Maybe the point is that we carried it on, it might be difficult for the porters to load a case of water as luggage, without handles..

On the other hand....we were sent to the "naughtty room" for a leatherman tool that has been on at least 6 cruises. We were even unsure of it's actual location in the toiletries bag. :rolleyes:

I'm the OP, and I guess I put too many things in one email. Let me see if I can break it out:

1) there's been discussion on the boards lately about whether or not people can bring on their own water. I decided to share our experience. The water was in a wrapped case, not in a suitcase, luggage tag affixed. The porters may well have been thirsty, but if so, did not break into our water, as the entire case did make it onto the ship, as we were told by Guest Services, but it was confiscated. We received no notification in our room that one of our items had been confiscated; we learned this by talking to guest services.

2) the guest services agent told us that since the water was for the baby, if we had an Rx from the doctor stating we needed that brand of water, we could have brought it on. I did not get that in writing, but thought I would share that piece of info.

3) I realize that there are other options for trying to get bottled water onboard, including putting it into a suitcase, carrying it on, etc. I wanted to report our experience with "slapping a luggage tag on & checking it in".

4) I understand about age of the baby and purification systems on board. My daughter likes using this type of bottled water, and hoped to use it.

5) I understand that RCCL wants to make money on assorted purchases and I understand that cruise fares are lower, even allowing for inflation, than they were 15 years ago. One way to make up some of that difference is by charging for bottled water.

6) I personally don't like Evian water, and wish RCCL would offer some other types of water (this has nothing to do with the baby).

7) Yes, we could have taken a taxi from the parking garage, but it was only a couple of blocks walk. With several people it was not that bad to carry stuff, and we wanted to avoid sitting in line for another hour trying to get to the port. OTOH, turns out to have been wasted effort to bring the water ;).

8) Yes, now that I've been there I know all about the lot with the whales, but again, we were on the 2nd cruise out of the Port of NO, and all that info came a little too late for us.

9) Again, I really just wanted to share our experience with trying to get a case of water onto the ship by slapping a luggage tag on it.

If this was helpful to anyone, great! If not, well, there you go. :)

Cheers,

Mary

I'm sorry Mary. I wasn't being critical....just mentioning that we took a smaller amount onboard without problems. You've met Bill & I on the Alaska/Serenade cruise. I have never tried bringing on a case of water. I have read of people doing it, but never tried it.

~Patti :)

Since your child must be at least 6 mos. to cruise, they are really at the point where they don't NEED "sterile" stuff....and bottled water isn't sterile, anyhow! You could have just used the ship's water. It's fine.

OP did not ask for an opinion as to whether her grandchild is old enough to do without 'sterile stuff'. That's their call altogether. I know our grandchild still had 'sterile' water, bottles, teats etc. at over one year old.

NOLA seems to be stricter than other ports. We went through on Nov 19 and the security screeners wanted us to throw out one partially used bottle of water and two EMPTY bottles in our carryons.

We always like to have a few bottles with us so we can refill in the cabin before heading ashore... but not this time.

I knew that an empty bottle should be ok but wasn't in the mood to escalate the issue to a supervisor since we had already been waiting over an hour in the traffic jam outside and wanted to get onboard in time to see the Martina McBride concert.

I realize the staff was still new (it was only the 2nd sailing from NOLA) so this has probably been straightened out by now...

once they enforce the rule on RCCL-

Guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports-of-call or from Shops On Board will be stored by the ship and delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the sailing. Alcoholic beverages seized on embarkation day will not be returned.

All confusion on this subject would stop one would hope.:confused:

I'm sorry Mary. I wasn't being critical....just mentioning that we took a smaller amount onboard without problems. You've met Bill & I on the Alaska/Serenade cruise. I have never tried bringing on a case of water. I have read of people doing it, but never tried it.

 

~Patti :)

Hi Patti,

how are you and Bill? wasn't that Alaska cruise something? we had so much fun :).

I know you weren't being critical, I was mostly responding to the early post around "maybe the porters were thirsty", and a later one about whether or not the baby needed bottled water. I had tried to be particularly neutral in my first post, basically, here was my experience, if it helps anyone else in deciding what they'd like to do. Well, it is the boards :D.

I do wish the rules would be consistently enforced. Studies in psychology have shown that the very best reinforcer of a particular behaviour is an inconsistent reward! Counter-intuitive at first, but then think about the casinos. Win once (in this case, getting a prohibited item, such as a bottle of water onboard) and humans are encouraged to continue the behaviour, because "maybe next time I'll win again". Just the way we're set up.

The bottled water for baby formula is an intersting one for a couple of reasons. From reading the rules, I believe (and please, folks, point out quickly if I'm wrong here) my daughter would have been able to bring on board a case of 8 oz cans of ready to go formula with no problems. The problem came in when she wanted to bring 2 containers of powdered formula and water to mix it with. Maybe we should have put that all in a box labeled "Baby Food". Worth an experiment, anyone?

It also seems every method of getting water aboard works sometimes, not others. We've seen on this thread people getting water on by carrying it on and getting it taken away the same method. We do know of others who had put a 6 pack of water in their suitcase, with clothing, etc, and had to head to the "naughty room" to retrieve their suitcase, but leave the water behind. So the suitcase method is no guarantee, either.

My personal opinion is that this rule is too extreme, and I hope RCCL changes their policy in the future, to allow some reasonable amount of non-alcoholic beverage to be brought aboard. 'mI not even going into the alcoholic beverage arena....:eek:

Cheers,

Mary

I have stated before and will say it again, New Orleans is one strict port about bringing anything to drink through. I think it depends on what time you walk in and try to go through. I have seen them let some and not others and no logic at all to it. Only thing I can think of is maybe they have a little fun and go with ennie minnie and just pick someone and that someone won't get to carry their stuff on the ship. Or they have to pick 1 out of 20 or 1 out of 50? Who knows. Some get onboard and some don't. I don't drink anything but water and I like my brand. I can get by a few days till port to buy my brand but it would be nice to have my brand to take my medication with. And I have to drink several bottles a day. But I will live without "my brand."

I was told they have some of the best x-ray equipment and it will show if it's water or liq. or mouthwash. I find that hard to believe but who knows. That same someone said it will show a wave of color that is different if it's hard liq. and not mouthwash.

Took a 6 bottle pkg. of kentwood with me in my carryon on Voyager out of New Orleans and no one said a word. went right thru security. I don't like evian water too much, but bought the larrger bottles and refilled my empty smaller ones with it. Worked just fine. My father however packed his in checked luggage and had to go to the naughty room to get it.

you said he had to go naughty room to get it....did they let him keep the water or did he just get his luggage?

Ok so it is hot in New Orleans? Maybe the dock workers (Porters) who do not work for Royal Caribbean but for the Port of NO, got a little thirsty. JMHO, but maybe next time put it in your luggage. Also maybe you should have considered to take a cab from the parking garage to the ship.

Glad none of this ruined your cruise.

Sure I'll put a case of water in my luggage!...K.O. near Philly....happy cruising;)

You should also put some Philly air in there. Stuff a couple of tanks in with your water.;)