Why do you bring booze onboard?

[Cruise Junky]

Oh' date=' they "do" something about it alright.....

 

They raise the prices onboard to make up for the lost revenue.. We, who obey the damn rules get to pay for those who don't.....

 

They have revenue targets to meet on each cruise...on everything. If they consistently fail to meet those targets, they raise the prices...

 

As usual, it's the few who make it difficult for the many......[/quote']

 

Do you realize that they "targets" are less than $20 per person per day? go attack the tea tottlers because I assure you the drinkers are spending that. And seeing as we're paying less now than we did to cruise 10 years ago when you could take your own, your math is seriously flawed, much like your argument.

[RetireeWannabee]

I would like to see the factual history of drink prices, and then correlate that with the smuggling trend (I don't think this can be quantified).

 

Assuming we simply cannot find smuggStats, check evolution of pricing of all other things onboard to see if drink prices have increased significantly more than everything else.

 

I would expect the margin is huge on alki bevs. probably on photos also, possibly lots of things I'm not thinking of.

 

Even if we can find that alco prices are going up disproportionate to other offerings, it cannot be proven that it is due to smuggling. It's an easy price to raise with little to no downside.

 

since people can bring cases of pop and water, might as well check pricing history on those, too, since BYO would also apply to non-alcs.

 

If you are right, G'Ma, then they would halt the bringing on of all bevs because every bev counts for $ to the ship.

[hubofhockey]

Oh' date=' they "do" something about it alright.....

 

They raise the prices onboard to make up for the lost revenue.. We, who obey the damn rules get to pay for those who don't.....

 

They have revenue targets to meet on each cruise...on everything. If they consistently fail to meet those targets, they raise the prices...

 

As usual, it's the few who make it difficult for the many......[/quote']

 

My guess is that drink prices are similar on lines that actively attempt to confiscate liquor and lines like Princess which look the other way. It probably makes very little difference.

[julieanne]

I would like to see the factual history of drink prices, and then correlate that with the smuggling trend (I don't think this can be quantified).

 

Assuming we simply cannot find smuggStats, check evolution of pricing of all other things onboard to see if drink prices have increased significantly more than everything else.

 

I would expect the margin is huge on alki bevs. probably on photos also, possibly lots of things I'm not thinking of.

 

Even if we can find that alco prices are going up disproportionate to other offerings, it cannot be proven that it is due to smuggling. It's an easy price to raise with little to no downside.

 

since people can bring cases of pop and water, might as well check pricing history on those, too, since BYO would also apply to non-alcs.

 

If you are right, G'Ma, then they would halt the bringing on of all bevs because every bev counts for $ to the ship.

Excellent summation Wannabe! I especially like the Smugstats! LOL! Now, I hope this thread dies a slow death..........

[wayne_trisha]

Each cruise line has revenue targets for each ship. These revenues are monitored weekly.

 

They count revenues for ship excursions' date=' for-fee venues, bingo,casino, alcohol and more.

 

When the target revenue amount is not met over the long term, changes in price occur; shore tours prices increase, bingo goes up, optional dining venues increase or are added, bar drink prices are increased.

 

Bean counters are incredible folks. They know the percentage of folks, based on averages, who will not consume alcohol or don't drink. They know, based on averages, how much they will most likely earn on each cruise. These and other statistics are taken into account when planning revenue targets.

 

When alcohol revenues fall over a period of time....prices at the bar increase.

 

They run a BUSINESS....when revenues fall, they do what is necessary to adjust prices in order to meet the revenue expectations and projections.

 

Folks who smuggle booze on board DO have an effect on every passenger.....like it or not.[/quote']

 

While your explanation sounds fancy and all-knowing, it is WRONG. If I smuggle some alcohol to have a drink in my cabin, I have a drink in my cabin. If I don’t smuggle any, I don’t go leave my room to get a drink or order from room service to have a drink in my cabin. In either case I would not be purchasing from the cruiseline thus not affecting any other pasengers. And in regards to your other post declaring it is about the money, again, you are WRONG. While I’m sure many people do bring their own alcohol, your theory that the only reason people bring alcohol is to save money is WRONG.

[hubofhockey]

While your explanation sounds fancy and all-knowing, it is WRONG. If I smuggle some alcohol to have a drink in my cabin, I have a drink in my cabin. If I don’t smuggle any, I don’t go leave my room to get a drink or order from room service to have a drink in my cabin. In either case I would not be purchasing from the cruiseline thus not affecting any other pasengers. And in regards to your other post declaring it is about the money, again, you are WRONG. While I’m sure many people do bring their own alcohol, your theory that the only reason people bring alcohol is to save money is WRONG.

 

I agree with you. It's not about the money at all. If I bring 8-10 beers, it's a hassle and I save $16 to $20 for the entire cruise. I do it to have the beer of my choice on hand when I go out and sit on my balcony. It's exactly the same reason I bring cans of soda with me. Oh by the way, they LET you bring your own soda on and still charge outrageous prices for the freaking soda card. So much for G'ma's theory about restricting a beverage and its correllation to prices on the ship.

[satxdiver]

Smuggling alcohol is a time honored profession in the history of mankind. Thanks to smuggling and English importation laws we have sherry. During this country's brain dead idea of outlawing alcohol, alcohol flowed across the Canadian and Mexican border and it gave rise to organized crime. The list goes on.

 

I bring alcohol aboard (I do not choose to consider it smuggling) for my personal enjoyment. It is generally not the brands offered aboard. I mix my drinks to my satisfaction which is not the same way the bars do it. I will continue to do it until I am no longer breathing air.

 

It is not illegal to bring alcohol aboard the ship. You cannot be charged in a court for doing it. It is often against the ship's rules and sometimes the contracts. If everyone adhered to the contracts, attorneys would be out of business practicing civil law. In every contract there are differences in interpretation and for this we have civil courts.

 

People in this world who manage to do great things, think out of the box. Rules, contracts, etc. are made to be changed. If the colonists in Boston had not illegally boarded the British ships and dumped the tea into the harbor (a criminal act), we would be singing "God Save the Queen" right now. Our country was founded on dissent.

 

Yet another endless diatribe on alcohol - pass the popcorn and get me a beer (microbrew please)

 

[navybankerteacher]

The original point of this thread was to determine why people smuggle.

 

It is pretty obvious that they smuggle to save money.

 

Some might have such delicate palates that they can only tolerate their favorite brand, but I suspect that the majority of such claims are BS. All other arguments are attempts to obscure the fact that people smuggle to save money.

 

End of story.

[AltarEgo]

Isn’t it ironic??? navybankerteacher who is adamant about his opinion that cruise ship booze smugglers are the poster children for penurious, arrogant and reprehensible behavior was apparently deployed on the USS Joseph Kennedy (DD 850). The ship that was named to honor a member of the Kennedy family from Boston Massachusetts. The very family that made a massive fortune by smuggling Scotch whiskey during the "Prohibition Era". Oh the humanity.

[julieanne]

Isn’t it ironic??? navybankerteacher who is adamant about his opinion that cruise ship booze smugglers are the poster children for penurious, arrogant and reprehensible behavior was apparently deployed on the USS Joseph Kennedy (DD 850). The ship that was named to honor a member of the Kennedy family from Boston Massachusetts. The very family that made a massive fortune by smuggling Scotch whiskey during the "Prohibition Era". Oh the humanity.

LOL!

By the way navybankerteacher and g'ma, everyone has stated their opinions, you two have made a flaming thread just by arguing that everyone else's opinion is wrong. When you have an opinion, it is neither right or wrong, it's your opinion, you own it. I for one, do not care about your argument about my opinion, period, that's it, over and out, end of story.

[Traveler353]

Question for those who choose to smuggle: do you also smuggle alcohol into restaurants/clubs etc or food/drink into other venues which prohibit it (movies, festivals, etc) because they want you to buy it there?

It not, why is this a different situation?

 

This is NOT a judgmental, rhetorical, or sarcastic question. I realy do want to hear responses to this issue.[/quote]

 

Are you sure?

 

I bring booze because I want too, that is the only reason that I need.

[justlaff69]

To tell you the truth, I already knew a lot of people break the cruiseline rules by smuggling booze onboard, and I was just trying to figure out why. No reason other than curiosity.

 

If that is the only way someone could afford to drink on a cruise then it would be understandable.

 

:D

 

I recently arranged a cruise for my lower-class family.

It was like lay-away on a blue light special at K-Mart.

Low monthly payments stretched over 8 months and they barely made it (I included gratuitity in their fare so there would be additional charges) My neice and I split the cost of the cruise for two members, so money was low for all of us.

This was a vacation of a lifetime for them and there wasn't a lot of money spent for the 7 cabins that we occupied. They got to go places they will more than likely only see once, Grand cayman, Jamaica and Cozumel.

I'm didn't deny them this adventure just because they couldn't afford to help Carnival with their profit margin.

Nor do I object to others who walk off with a zero tab.

We smuggled booze on that trip because a.) we couldn't afford the cruise prices for everyone and b.) I wasn't going to have people that use alcohol to 'WIND' down, bouncing off the wall for 6 days.....

 

I personally don't drink, but I found it a small thrill to be sneaky. Don't forget that the forefathers of the US were smugglers so it's safe to say it is in our bloodline.

 

Issues of morality and legality shouldn't be used for something this trivial.

 

If smuggling booze actually hurt the cruise lines or drove up the prices, why are there so many fares falling?

 

People book shore excursions through non Lines sponsored companies, are we to flame them as well?

[wayne_trisha]

The original point of this thread was to determine why people smuggle.

 

It is pretty obvious that they smuggle to save money.

 

Some might have such delicate palates that they can only tolerate their favorite brand, but I suspect that the majority of such claims are BS. All other arguments are attempts to obscure the fact that people smuggle to save money.

 

End of story.

 

Thanks for the fairy tale teacher.

[luddite]

Funny stuff.:)

[yesaccasey]

I am going to bring liquor on my next cruise just because of this thread.

[letmetellya]

I havent read through this whole thread, and this may have been adressed already. Has anyone gone out of the Port of San Juan ? We have twice last year and right before you board the ship (go through security)they have great duty free shops . you purchase anything , put it in your carryon and go straight through the scanners , the guards watch you do it (as long as its in your carryon your golden). We got off the ship and through the security 4 times last Dec. We always bring our mixers and the magic bullet and our stewerd always has plenty of ice waiting for us in our room . We even have cocktail partys in there , with new friends that we meet from cruise critic .On that note we also by beer and those special drinks on the Lido deck and if we go to a bar at night , we by drinks and at dinner we get a bottle of wine . So ...Whats the problem with having booze in your room , its your house for a week , and when you go out to hang , you bye theirs . Of course our steward has a blasty blast when we leave him all the left over booze at the end of the cruise. And who dosnt want a very well stocked bar in their cabin on vacation?And yes , Duty Free is the way to go !! Here is our cabin bar last year on the Victory!! Happy Cruising !!

[RICKnVICK]

To Letmetellya - we cruised out of San Juan last September and we were shopping in that little shop as well. There were a few people ahead of us and when they paid for their purchases, they were told it would be delivered to their cabin on the last night! They would not refund their money either. Needless to say, I didn't purchase anything there. I guess it depends on who is behind the counter. Your bar pic is great! A couple of guys with our group had bottles of crown in their checked suitcases that made it safely on board!

[Almost Packed]

i find it funny that there are those who answered on this thread only to stir the pot...they cannot even answer the question...."those who smuggle liquor onboard"

 

therefore, THOSE WHO DO NOT SMUGGLE ONBOARD, SHOULD NOT BE REPLYING!

 

we don't need your lectures.

 

I smuggle my booze onboard because if i desire to have an adult beverage at 2am in my cabin, or on my balcony, i can. i don't have to get dressed to go get one.

 

i don't bring cokes onboard therefore if i want to have a rum & coke, i purchase a coke....which i'm sure the cruise line is making a larger profit on anyways.

 

those that bring wine onboard, even though it is not against any rules, are you cheating the cruise lines out of money? HOW DARE YOU! LOL.:eek:

so see, the same thing could be said. the cruiselines sell wine...perhaps that should be discontinued and everyone be forced to pay for their overpriced wines.

next, we can tackle smoking...no one is allowed to bring their cigars or pipes or cigs on board.

 

yes, i smuggle...not only because i like to have my liquor in my cabin for whenever i want a cocktail, but because wine can come aboard..no need to discriminate against spirits in my opinion...wine/rum...so what...lol:rolleyes:

[sybilla]

We -- those who take liquor aboard (whether you call it smuggling or not) -- are not all doing it for the same reason!!! I don't know why it's so controversial that different people actually have different reasons or why it's so important to some folks to insist that everyone does it for the same reason -- to save money. Certainly everyone likes to save money, but many wouldn't do it just for that. If I could pay the cruise line for a martini "package" with the right gin, vermouth and jalapeno olives and have it in my cabin, I would pay "ship's price". Like others, I am very particular and when I'm on vacation I expect the in-cabin convenience... which is why I BYO to hotels.

 

Why would someone bring their own coffee mug onto the ship? I'm not the only one who does this. We do it because the inconvenience and risk of doing so is well worth the benefit of enjoying our morning joe in warm, familiar ceramic that imparts no off-taste or nasty compounds. Ok, so coffee mugs aren't forbidden therefore you can't get "caught" but this OP asked about motivation for doing something.

 

And for the record, many of us would/will not "replace" the drinks we custom mix ourselves in our cabins with brought-on-board liquor. There is no revenue "lost" to the cruise line. If we couldn't have (or decided not to have) our "just right" cocktails or "special" wine, we would have none at all. But the bottom line is that 7 (or more) days without your favorite libation when you are supposed to be enjoying yourself is just not acceptable to a whole lot of us.

[yellowbird23]

I'll tell you why I smuggled booze onboard. I was travelling solo and had a balcony cabin. Now I'm not much of a drinker, maybe 1 or 2 a year, but I thought peach schnapps would be a good "sipper" after I retired to my room. I got the schnapps on the ship by filling one of my six-pack water bottles with it. Now here is where my problem comes in. I got up one morning and was getting ready for a shower and decided to get my coffee cooking so it would be done when I got out. I used my "water"...not the water in the bathroom. Hence, I took one sip of my "coffee" and discovered I used a whole bottle of peach schnapps. I will never live that one down nor will I make my own coffee!:D

[NWHairGal]

Wow,, some posters have really mean attitudes,, for goodness sake , on some cruiselines( Princess that I know of for sure) it is absolutely FINE AND PERMITTED to take wine on board. So we do,, as we are not impressed by the lack of nice and reasonable French wines on the wine list.

 

We did not "smuggle " rum onboard,, but did order a bottle from Room Service. However,, they did not have the brand we prefer,, so will smuggle it on this time. It makes sense to bring what they do not have.

 

We are looking forward to being crimminals with no morals or ethics on the Ruby Princess this March,, watch out.. we're coming...LOL

Cool cruiser, when do you sail in March? We may be on it with you!

[Rebekajean]

Because they serve yucky wine! Even when you eat at the “for a fee” restaurant they only serve medium priced wine but charge triple the price. I don’t like grocery store wine and when they stop serving it, I’ll stop bringing my own. I don’t need a headache from drinking a lousy bottle of wine. We never sneak on liquor, we only bring on the allowed bottle of wine to celebrate the occasion for which we are taking the cruise. Those lines that don’t allow us to bring a bottle or two on board, don’t get our business.

[sandman69]

I hate to be bump this old thread, especially being a brand new member here.

 

My wife and I are preparing for our very first cruise. Going with a couple friends who are Cruise veterans.

 

I am planning on packing a bottle of my favorite scotch and the wife's favorite vodka. Carnival doesn't not offer either.

 

That being said, that isn't the main reason we are going to bring our own bottles.

 

A very small part is to save money, well not exactly. Another is I want to be able to grab a cup and ice and have a drink in our room, whenever I want. Just like I do on every land vacation I go on.

 

We have already budgeted the entire money we plan on spending for the trip. This includes excursions, casino and alcohol tab. The Cruise line will see this regardless of what I "sneak" on board. If I don't get the two bottles into our room, I am still spending the same amount of money.

 

Us sneaking on two bottles of spirits is NOT impacting what the cruise line is getting from us.

 

I find it very amusing some peoples stance on this. We are not impacting Carnival's bottom line, nor are we making their prices go up. We are going to spend what we are going to spend. Having access to a few more drinks in our room is not going to change anything.

 

On that note, 4 more days and we will be on the Atlantic heading towards warmer locations!

[luddite]

I hate to be bump this old thread, especially being a brand new member here.

 

My wife and I are preparing for our very first cruise. Going with a couple friends who are Cruise veterans.

 

I am planning on packing a bottle of my favorite scotch and the wife's favorite vodka. Carnival doesn't not offer either.

 

That being said, that isn't the main reason we are going to bring our own bottles.

 

A very small part is to save money, well not exactly. Another is I want to be able to grab a cup and ice and have a drink in our room, whenever I want. Just like I do on every land vacation I go on.

 

We have already budgeted the entire money we plan on spending for the trip. This includes excursions, casino and alcohol tab. The Cruise line will see this regardless of what I "sneak" on board. If I don't get the two bottles into our room, I am still spending the same amount of money.

 

Us sneaking on two bottles of spirits is NOT impacting what the cruise line is getting from us.

 

I find it very amusing some peoples stance on this. We are not impacting Carnival's bottom line, nor are we making their prices go up. We are going to spend what we are going to spend. Having access to a few more drinks in our room is not going to change anything.

 

On that note, 4 more days and we will be on the Atlantic heading towards warmer locations!

 

Sure you are. Are you seeking validation or congratulations?

[brown's fan 1]

Geez! I book the best suite, order the best scotch to be in the suite a month before I travel. I book an excursion for every port and throw in a dozen roses just because. My cruiseline allows me to bring a case of wine onboard. Thanks very much; will do. But no fine tequilla on the ship for my DH. No ethical delimma here: the line allows unlimited wine from off the boat after all. So I'll carry what DH considers the world's best tequilla in my luggage and never give it another thought. Nor would the cruise line, I'd bet.