Smuggling Booze No More?

[nofishforme]

This topic comes up every year around this time .At least as long as i have been a member of cruise critic . Spring break is right around the corner and that is what always seems to be the problem, young kids drunk and out of controll not that adults dont get out of controll somtimes .the only time i see bottles of booze lined up at the security table is at spring break or here of booze being taken from checked luggage .I like to take a bottle of vodka with me to have a drink or two while im getting ready for dinner my bar tab is always big despite having the bottle with me wich i always leave behind a quarter to half full .

[DGP1111]

[quote name='zstell']I wasn't going to post, but I just couldn't help myself. I have NEVER seen a "security sweep". I am sure that security would search a cabin if they had a VERY good reason, but not just some random search. . .

. . . Our last cruise (Dream, 12/2009) had over 90% past guests and 600+ platinum - this would not be the case if they practiced security sweeps each cruise. This, of course, is only my opinion.;)[/quote]

[COLOR=white].[/COLOR]
[COLOR=darkred]I've done my fair share of cruisin', and I'd never once heard of, or witnessed, "random security checks of cabins"[B] . . .[/B] until the exact same [I]Carnival Dream[/I] sailing you and I were both on [SIZE=1](12/3/09)[/SIZE]. There was one done one morning at port, including blocking access to an area of deck cabins, with dogs brought onboard, the whole thing. I got to speak with a few of the affected passengers later in the day, and they really took the whole thing quite well. Had to open their suitcases, their safe, and then go out into the hall (in their robes) until allowed to re-enter. Nothing at all was found, and they were told by those doing the check, as well as Guest Services, that it was merely a random search. Since I don't know any different, I'll take that as gospel.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=darkred][/COLOR]
[COLOR=darkred]Again, I was amazed how well those passengers dealt with the situation. Loved the way one lady simply said, "Hey, how many other people on the ship get to tell this story when they get home?" :)[/COLOR]

[iowagirl411]

Ya know what, Don? I'm gonna believe you because I believe you've actually been on a cruise.

[shakwurst]

[quote name='Deckhawk']Doesn't matter - as long as it looks like a wine bottle....it's considered wine.[/quote]


so boxes dont count?

[DG2004]

[quote name='kwbound']Has anyone else seen one of these "sweeps", or just G'ma?[/quote]


10 total sailings, and I have never seen such a thing

[luddite]

[quote name='DGP1111'][COLOR=white].[/COLOR]
[COLOR=darkred]I've done my fair share of cruisin', and I'd never once heard of, or witnessed, "random security checks of cabins"[B] . . .[/B] until the exact same [I]Carnival Dream[/I] sailing you and I were both on [SIZE=1](12/3/09)[/SIZE]. There was one done one morning at port, including blocking access to an area of deck cabins, with dogs brought onboard, the whole thing. I got to speak with a few of the affected passengers later in the day, and they really took the whole thing quite well. Had to open their suitcases, their safe, and then go out into the hall (in their robes) until allowed to re-enter. Nothing at all was found, and they were told by those doing the check, as well as Guest Services, that it was merely a random search. Since I don't know any different, I'll take that as gospel.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkred]Again, I was amazed how well those passengers dealt with the situation. Loved the way one lady simply said, "Hey, how many other people on the ship get to tell this story when they get home?" :)[/COLOR][/quote]

If they brought dogs, they weren't looking for alcohol.

Word on the street is that Carnival isn't trying to eliminate smuggling alcohol onto their ships. A research group advises that Carny would only last 2-3 months without the smuggling. Weird.

[DG2004]

[quote name='DGP1111'][COLOR=white].[/COLOR]
[COLOR=darkred]I've done my fair share of cruisin', and I'd never once heard of, or witnessed, "random security checks of cabins"[B] . . .[/B] until the exact same [I]Carnival Dream[/I] sailing you and I were both on [SIZE=1](12/3/09)[/SIZE]. There was one done one morning at port, including blocking access to an area of deck cabins, with dogs brought onboard, the whole thing. I got to speak with a few of the affected passengers later in the day, and they really took the whole thing quite well. Had to open their suitcases, their safe, and then go out into the hall (in their robes) until allowed to re-enter. Nothing at all was found, and they were told by those doing the check, as well as Guest Services, that it was merely a random search. Since I don't know any different, I'll take that as gospel.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkred]Again, I was amazed how well those passengers dealt with the situation. Loved the way one lady simply said, "Hey, how many other people on the ship get to tell this story when they get home?" :)[/COLOR][/quote]

sounds like they were after something specific, and just said it was random so as to not accuse anyone of anything. I can see them looking for certain things like drugs and weapons if someone tips off security, but I just cant imagine random searches where they toss a guests room...very bad PR IMO

[jetskier]

[quote name='David-n-Rita']We work in a prison which means we walk through metal detectors all the time. We are familiar with what makes them go off - everything, including underwire bras of the well endowed. We have been on many cruises and I walked through accidentally once with my waterproof container around my neck filled with bills and a bunch of coins. The alarm never went off. Since then I have walked through with keys, change etc and never set the thing off. This has happened on many ships getting back on from excursions.

[/quote]

Most metal detectors have two settings......1)stainless steel; 2) Other metals. Both settings can be tuned to be more sensitive to one or the other or both depending on what you are trying to detect.

What is also crazy about a metal detector is that you could walk through it with 50 rounds of ammo in your pocket and it not go off. It cannot detect lead and the brass casings are too thin to have sufficient mass.

Dave

[Cruise, J.D.]

[quote name='shakwurst']so boxes dont count?[/quote]

I've carried on boxed wine, but it was a few years ago. I have not read of a confiscation of boxed wine, but it would not surprise me either.

[dan40]

[quote name='jetskier']Most metal detectors have two settings......1)stainless steel; 2) Other metals. Both settings can be tuned to be more sensitive to one or the other or both depending on what you are trying to detect.

What is also crazy about a metal detector is that you could walk through it with 50 rounds of ammo in your pocket and it not go off. It cannot detect lead and the brass casings are too thin to have sufficient mass.

Dave[/quote]


Went through the airport metal detector on Jan 5. Close enough to the crotch bomber that settings were probably on their most sensitive settings.
The only metal [besides fillings] I had on was the brass buckle of my military style web belt. Beeeep! Took off belt, no beep. Cannot imagine that a metal as dense as lead would not also set off a detector on ANY setting.

[ib4cruzn]

[quote name='kwbound']Has anyone else seen one of these "sweeps", or just G'ma?[/QUOTE]

Nope. First time I've ever heard of such a thing, but I've only been cruising since the '80's.

IMHO that would be PR suicide...

[Smart Arsenal Fan]

[quote name='ib4cruzn']Nope. First time I've ever heard of such a thing, but I've only been cruising since the '80's.

IMHO that would be PR suicide...[/quote]

If [I]any[/I] bit of truth, you just know we would have seen the "[B]JUST BACK FROM THE CARNIVAL ____ , AND CARNIVAL TREATED ME LIKE I WAS ON "OZ"!!!!!![/B]" thread on here at least by now... :rolleyes:

[mlzangel78]

these cabin sweeps USUALLY occure when a passenger complains of smelling marijuana on board... happened on our voyager cruise.. someone was smoking pot on their balcony and a pax with small children on her balcony complained about it... the hallways reeked..

[Geebee8]

I just read through all of the posts but didn't see any mention of bringing a case of beer on board? We were going to carry it on in the open as from reading previous posts, that was allowed but not so sure any more. Does anyone have any information on that?

[Kurbanfan]

[quote=G'ma;22816718][B]Honestly, some folks are really naive about this.[/B]

Do you really think that your cabin has never been looked at?

For years I was a Tour Manager/Cruise Host. I spent about 200 days a year either going somewhere, on something, floating somewhere. 2 companies I worked for did large cruise groups and I spent many spring and summers doing back-to-back for months...from foreign ports and domestic.

The Tour Managers were always notified when a sweep was going to be done. At the end of that, if any of the people in my group had items confiscated, I was given the list of names and cabin numbers...and it was up to me to notify these folks. Happened EVERY cruise....

Folks, don't think for a minute you are pulling the wool over anyones eyes on a ship. They look for destruction or damage to their private property (namely THEIR cabin), signs of drugs and drug paraphenalia, prohibited items like knives and/or weapons of any kind, missing items like lamps, balcony chairs, stored linens. They check for candles and other items that might present a fire danger.

They have that right....and they do it. It's their ship and it's up to security to make sure everything is OK.

If it makes you feel better to think otherwise, well, go ahead.

Don't ever pay attention to any "voice of experience" on CC, no matter what.

Oh, and, totally ignore this clause found in the passenger ticket contract altogether:

All Guests agree Carnival has, at all times with or without notice, the right to search Guest’s [B]baggage and/or personal effects for any of the prohibited items, at any location, to ensure compliance with these restrictions[/B]. Any Guest who refuses any such search or screening, or any Guest traveling with such items, may be denied boarding or disembarked and no refund of the cruise fare will be issued. The Guest will be solely responsible for any and all damage and/or loss caused by his violation of this policy.

Interestingly, G'ma is on a lot of threads, smuggling is one of them....as are many others.....[/quote]


All this for alcohol:confused: Who's naive:confused::p

[Kurbanfan]

[quote name='Houston Texas Mom']
We do take a bottle of wine and some bubbly for sail away. I would hate to see the stewards asked to remove alcohol. Some people will be, "Took my booze--this sucks" and mark it up to experience. I would think many would be mad, rude to the stewards, argumentative, and remove tips just because they got caught smuggling. Would hate to see the room stewards punished by passengers who were caught not following the policies.[/quote]

The stewards would never be allowed to remove anything from any cabin........

[kelz66]

[quote name='Kurbanfan']All this for alcohol:confused: Who's naive:confused::p[/quote]

Do you really not know the answer to that question?

:rolleyes::D

[All4fun&fun4all]

[quote name='John&John']You can buy bottles of liquor ahead of time only through the Bon Voyage department.

Less expensive spirits are about $40 for a liter and things like Jack Daniels are $55, Stoli, $60...

On the ship you can not buy any bottles of liquor for consumption on the ship.[/quote]

[COLOR=orange]Actually, we were able to call room service while onboard and got liter bottles of rum. We got 4 bottles of Bacardi :eek:(spread out over time...not all at once...LOL) and they were $40.00 a bottle. Tipped the guy who brought it $2-$3.00 for his trouble. :)[/COLOR]

[crusinpsychRN]

Just ordered my Rum Runners.

I really don't want to send unlocked luggage aboard. Never have. But I also don't want a big bar bill.

[Texas Realtor]

Just order it from the bon voyage dept. It is a whole lot cheaper and more convenient than buying from the bars.

[John&John]

[quote name='All4fun&fun4all'][COLOR=orange]Actually, we were able to call room service while onboard and got liter bottles of rum. We got 4 bottles of Bacardi :eek:(spread out over time...not all at once...LOL) and they were $40.00 a bottle. Tipped the guy who brought it $2-$3.00 for his trouble. :)[/COLOR][/quote]

This is the first I've heard of this. Everything that I've read on these boards indicates that you have to order from Bon Voyage prior to your cruise and that you can't order spirits by the bottle from room service.

[Rachy817]

Just got off the Valor yesterday. Walked on with 2 Mags of wine. Also packed 2 VERY large bottles of tequila, 1 bottle of Vodka, and 1 Bottle of Rum. We had them set out in the open on our counter top in our room and had NO problems! Well except that we didn't come close to finishing it all!

On a side note, we bought several drinks through ought the cruise from Carnival and spent plenty of money on board.

[jtdlmc]

[quote name='Geebee8']I just read through all of the posts but didn't see any mention of bringing a case of beer on board? We were going to carry it on in the open as from reading previous posts, that was allowed but not so sure any more. Does anyone have any information on that?[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure you [I]can't[/I] carry a case of beer on the ship! I've read where people will pack it in their checked luggage and get it on. You are allowed one bottle of wine per person and a reasonable amount of nonalcoholic beverages that you can carry on - but not a case of beer in the open.

[CruisingAmazona]

[quote name='kwbound']Has anyone else seen one of these "sweeps", or just G'ma?[/QUOTE]
Just G'ma! She is way too much. I doubt any of this is true, but if it is cc'ers have no one to blame but themselves for actually putting this subject in writing for all to see...including but not limited to all Carnival personnel and management! UGH! CC monitors should remove these posts immediately, if for no reason other than it's been talked/written to death! Enough already.

[Denton_Geek]

But we don't smuggle to avoid buying drinks. We buy drinks then add an extra shot of rum. The ship is still making money off me.