Luggage Scanning: Alcohol and Irons

Just a quick note that all luggage seems to be scanned. I witnessed two suitcases being opened in the lobby by passengers looking for their luggage which had been held back because of a prohibited item. Several passengers also mentioned that they were summoned in order to retrieve their suitcases. It seems that their presence was required in order to remove the alcohol they were attempting to bring on board.

Aren't passengers allowed to bring on 2 bottles of wine?

Yes, 2 bottles of wine per SR, not hard liquor that some try to sneak on via their checked luggage.

Understand a 'Rum Runner Detection Unit (RRDU)' has been developed and put on many of the ships.

Den

yes, 2 bottles of wine per sr, not hard liquor that some try to sneak on via their checked luggage.

 

Understand a 'rum runner detection unit (rrdu)' has been developed and put on many of the ships.

 

Den

according to the internet, i can find no such animal as an "rrdu".

It's as though it doesn't exist.

Can you give more information? Please base it on fact. Thanks:)

Just a quick note that all luggage seems to be scanned. I witnessed two suitcases being opened in the lobby by passengers looking for their luggage which had been held back because of a prohibited item. Several passengers also mentioned that they were summoned in order to retrieve their suitcases. It seems that their presence was required in order to remove the alcohol they were attempting to bring on board.

Hi Arno and Joanne - I bet you are glad to be away from this snowy Canadian winter!

I had to go to the 'Naughty Room' on our recent Mercury cruise, because I had pliers in my suitcase for jewellery making. I had to join a very long line of people in a corridor, on deck 3 I think, who were being asked to identify and open their suitcases. Each case had a piece of tape on it indicating what had been seen on the scanner.

The process was very slow, because there wasn't much room to open the cases, and each one had to be found as the owner arrived. The inevitable arguments also prolonged proceedings. I was astounded at how many irons, kettles and steamers were confiscated, and there was also a considerable collection of liquor. Each item was marked, and the owner was given a tag to collect it after exiting the ship at the end of the cruise. My pliers appeared on my bed the following day, because I showed the Security Officer the project I was working on and she agreed to check with her superior.

Sheila

Yes, that was the case on Solstice.

I heard from someone in charge that in the future liquor will not only be confiscated, but destroyed.

A word of caution to the smugglers.

We don't smuggle but thanks for the information.

On our recent cruise on to the Caribbean we bought a bottle of Rum at one stop and tried to take it on board. It was a gift and I had no intention of drinking it. The secuity guy at on the ship spotted it and told me to check it as a table set up near the elevators. So I took the stairs. I know...I'm a bad boy.

With Celebrity's great drink package options I see no need to smuggle when cruising Celebrity:)

With Celebrity's great drink package options I see no need to smuggle when cruising Celebrity:)

That's true, Betty. But sometimes you just have to practice in case you cruise on Royal Caribbean, who won't let you bring a single bottle of wine, nor will they let you order a bottle of liquor to be placed in your cabin. Grrrrrr!:p

And have you ever wondered why their drinks cost so much ($12 in the Molecular Bar, and $10 in the Martini Bar) when they get their alcohol duty-free?:confused:

And keep in mind that, for example, I'm doing a 14 day in April, which means the Premium Pkg for 2 is over $1500. Now, to some that may seem like a bargain, but I only paid $2247 for a balcony cabin for the WHOLE CRUISE.:rolleyes:

That's true, Betty. But sometimes you just have to practice in case you cruise on Royal Caribbean, who won't let you bring a single bottle of wine, nor will they let you order a bottle of liquor to be placed in your cabin. Grrrrrr!:p

 

And have you ever wondered why their drinks cost so much ($12 in the Molecular Bar, and $10 in the Martini Bar) when they get their alcohol duty-free?:confused:

 

And keep in mind that, for example, I'm doing a 14 day in April, which means the Premium Pkg for 2 is over $1500. Now, to some that may seem like a bargain, but I only paid $2247 for a balcony cabin for the WHOLE CRUISE.:rolleyes:

Ahhh hah! U have explained why the booze paks are so expensive - the cruise is so cheap :)

I think the "rum runner detection unit" comment was a joke. :)

We boarded Solstice on 2/20 in FLL. I had two bottles of wine in my carryon. As we were going through security my husband reached over and offered to carry a bag for our sister in law who was struggling with paperwork for her family. Turns out there was a bottle in her bag. This caused a MAJOR uproar with security... we all had to present our paperwork and point out which bottles were for which cabins. We had two cabins and three bottles. At this point she asks to search my SIL's bag. Down at the bottom she found two 4 oz rum runners half full (the tiny ones). She had brought them for drinks in the hotel room the night before. Totally forgot they were there. The rum runners went in the trash. BUT, the 8 large rum runners in our checked suitcases came through just fine! If there really IS a RRDU on Solstice... it's broken. ;)

When we got off Solstice on Sunday morning they had a table at the gangway for people to claim their confiscated items... no booze there, but WOW, do people really try to bring on jungle survival knives, handcuffs, switch blades, etc??? There was some pretty serious stuff on that table.

Never heard of it.

We are just off the Infinity, we took 2 bottles of wine on board, put 2 in our luggage, a bottle of Vocka in our luggage and 10 beers, nothing was taken. At each of the ports we asked if we could bring on more wine and they said sure, so we did... guess it has to do with the ship and the personnel...

8 large rumrunners? WOW, that's some hefty drinking. :eek:

I bring 2 and end up bring some back, especially with the morning and afternoon happy hours for Elite members.

I also saw passengers who were called to the Guest Relations area to open their suitcases and remove the liquor and the irons. One man asked if he could just take his suitcase to his room and return the iron to the Front Desk later. Nope, he had to open the suitcase there in front of us all and go through it to find the items. Not everyone will be caught. But some will.....

We are just off the Infinity, we took 2 bottles of wine on board, put 2 in our luggage, a bottle of Vocka in our luggage and 10 beers, nothing was taken. At each of the ports we asked if we could bring on more wine and they said sure, so we did... guess it has to do with the ship and the personnel...

Wow, that sounds amazing!

Never heard of it.

I'd like to know more about these also!

I'd like to know more about these also!

http://www.rumrunnerflasks.com/

We are just off the Infinity, we took 2 bottles of wine on board, put 2 in our luggage, a bottle of Vocka in our luggage and 10 beers, nothing was taken. At each of the ports we asked if we could bring on more wine and they said sure, so we did... guess it has to do with the ship and the personnel...

Are you being serious?? I have never seen anyone be able to bring additional alcohol on without being stopped, and we have taken almost 20 Celebrity cruises.

8 large rumrunners? WOW, that's some hefty drinking. :eek:

 

I bring 2 and end up bring some back, especially with the morning and afternoon happy hours for Elite members.

LOL... it was a family cruise, all adults! We went to the Elite social hour once and never went back. Maybe it was the timing, maybe it was the setting (Sky Lounge)... but we also felt it was less somehow. They came around with cold ham roll ups twice. We asked and was told that they didn't do hot appetizers anymore. They used to have bites from the specialty restaurants to try... not now. We didn't feel like we were missing anything by not going back. And for the record, we didn't come CLOSE to drinking all that we brought with us! We just didn't know which suitcases it would go through and which ones would be caught... so we put rumrunners in all of them, and everyone wanted their favorites. LOL

RE: bringing wine onboard at ports... I've done it many times. I've also brought local rum on and not had it confiscated. In 20 or so cruises I've had one bottle taken once (it was a gift for someone at home).

Aren't passengers allowed to bring on 2 bottles of wine?

I brought a couple bottles of wine onto the Summit on the 19th in my carry on and even pointed it out to the guy. No problem.

I also picked up 3 200 ml bottles of rum in Granada to bring home for souvenirs and it either wasn't noticed by the scanner or he didn't care. I was fully prepared to hand it over if I had to.

just returned from the century where a fellow traveler was sent to the naughty room to open thier luggage only for them to show the 2 bottles of wine. the inspector just sent them on thier way with their lugage and wine (never said anything about it or why they were asked to open the suitcase). the wine bottles were your standard shape and size.

I had a bottle of wine in each of our two carry-ons and we were pulled aside and they had me open the suitcase to check them. I guess to make sure they were wine and not alcohol. I wasn't trying to sneak anything so I put them in my carry-on on purpose so I wouldn't have to waste time down at the "naughty" room. That was the Eclipse on February 12.

Tucker in Texas

I think the "rum runner detection unit" comment was a joke. :)

 

When we got off Solstice on Sunday morning they had a table at the gangway for people to claim their confiscated items... no booze there, but WOW, do people really try to bring on jungle survival knives, handcuffs, switch blades, etc??? There was some pretty serious stuff on that table.

That's not fair. They kept my NINJA nunchuck wine opener, my bow & arrows, AND my handcuffs, so I had nothing to do the first 3 days at sea.:confused:;)