Do NOT try to smuggle or check wine in Miami

[kldt]

I just got off of the Triumph out of NOLA (not Miami, sorry!) and had no trouble with anything. We had opened water bottles in our carry-ons, 2 12 packs of soda in our checked bags, more water bottles in our checked bags, and we carried on a bottle of champagne. And all of our suitcases were locked!:D

[John&John]

I just got off of the Triumph out of NOLA (not Miami, sorry!) and had no trouble with anything. We had opened water bottles in our carry-ons, 2 12 packs of soda in our checked bags, more water bottles in our checked bags, and we carried on a bottle of champagne. And all of our suitcases were locked!:D

 

None of these items are contraband or excess alcohol, so they are within the written policy.

[John&John]

I just got off of the Triumph out of NOLA (not Miami, sorry!) and had no trouble with anything. We had opened water bottles in our carry-ons, 2 12 packs of soda in our checked bags, more water bottles in our checked bags, and we carried on a bottle of champagne. And all of our suitcases were locked!:D

 

Hope you had a great time!

[frazzledrazzle16]

We've brought rum runners on our past couple of cruises, but in all honesty most ended up untouched and came home with us. We are driving to Ft. Lauderdale on tuesday for our cruise next week, and I'm wondering if I should bother packing any at all. I wouldn't miss it too much, but I'm curious to see what would happen. :)

[klmorg]

We've brought rum runners on our past couple of cruises, but in all honesty most ended up untouched and came home with us. We are driving to Ft. Lauderdale on tuesday for our cruise next week, and I'm wondering if I should bother packing any at all. I wouldn't miss it too much, but I'm curious to see what would happen. :)

 

Do it! And come back and give us a report so we can talk about it some more. :D

[Steve-N-Steph]

I am just off the Imagination in Miami and wanted to warn everyone to not attempt to smuggle anything or bring your wine in your checked bags. We had only 1 coke bottle filled with rum in our checked bags and it was confiscated. We had another checked bag with our 2 bottles of wine and they were also held until the end of the cruise. Apparently that policy was changed on 1/30 and although we were traveling that day and never received a notice of the change we were still supposed to know. We even provided out printed cruise documents to show that we were following the rules and they would not hear it. There were several people very upset about this but Carnival stood firm. Other than this snafu the cruise was awesome. Just wanted to wanted to get the word out asap before others waste money on booze that will be thrown out.

 

 

Ok I know you all are bashing me about doubting the OP but has anyone seen the OP back on this thread since the first few posts? Also story changes. On this thread the OP's story is above. On the thread luggage searched the OP posts this story:

 

 

We are just off the Imagination today and had our bags searched. We had them unlocked and had 1 water bottle and 1 coke bottle in our checked bags. The coke bottle was filled with captain morgan and was taken and a note was in the bag saying it had been confiscated. Also, another couple we were traveling with had their 2 bottles of wine in the checked bags and it was also taken. They gave the wine back last night but we were very disappointed that it was taken.

 

So who actually had the wine?

And we went from only a bottle of coke in the checked back to a bottle of coke and water in the check bag to the next quote where the water was in the back pack. So if I am a skeptic so be it, I will hold my judgement on the smuggline until there is more reports.

 

 

The bags were not locked. They were searched without my knowledge.

 

I have no idea what their problem was with my water bottle. I had it in the side sleeve of my back pack with the lid sealed and she said you need to drink that our dump it and rather than back up the line or cause a scene for $1 water bottle I dumped it. I tried to explain this in my battle over my wine but they didn't care.

[Steve-N-Steph]

No, I think she's just probably the first one home and online to report back about the new policy. This only went into effect last weekend so most of the first cruisers subjected to this are still at sea or on their way home.

 

Just a thought....

 

Well my thought is there are two ships that do 3 and 4 day cruises in Miami this policy went into effect 1/31 and it is now 2/5. Giving the benefit of the doubt alot of people don't come right home and jump on the computer, but.....I would think there would be more than one report.

[travelntreats]

I too questioned the inconsistency of the OP's threads, but of course got challenged by a couple members as well....

 

I'm with you... it just doesnt add up ! And only reconfirms "in my mind" that the validity of the OP's posts are inaccurate or merely trying to defend himself despite what he did was violating the cruiselines policies and contract.

[crewsweeper]

We've brought rum runners on our past couple of cruises, but in all honesty most ended up untouched and came home with us. We are driving to Ft. Lauderdale on tuesday for our cruise next week, and I'm wondering if I should bother packing any at all. I wouldn't miss it too much, but I'm curious to see what would happen. :)

I too would be curious on the rum runners in checked luggage. And I'm sure Run Runners would want to know about it:eek:

 

We've always carried our wine on board; always thought that was what you were suppose to do. I'd speculate here that if the rum and the wine were in the same suitcase, then the x-rays picked up the wine and the physical search of the luggage noted the broken seal cola bottle that didn't contain what looked like cola in it. I don't recall the OP saying if they also had more wine as carry on, but surely he could possibly have argued for the wine, if indeed only 2 bottles, which would have been in the limits.

[jaybird from SC]

Let's not confuse laws with rules:D

Rules? Laws? Basically the same definition.

[Nate123]

I cruised the Glory back in January. We followed the rules, but might have misunderstood them. We each brought a bottle of wine along, but it was in our checked luggage, not our carry ons. I've actually considered bringing some on just b/c I don't want to pay $10 for each drink, but you'd need mixers too, and that gets somewhat difficult.

 

My guess based on what's here is that they do some sort of random search. If you get searched, you lose. However, my guess is that if you want to get alcohol on board, the easiest way would be to smuggle it in at ports of call. You simply buy a bunch, and then pass through the xray. Check in everything but the bottle in your carry on, which if someone noticed is convieniently "forgotten"... I doubt they'd ever know if you actually checked a bunch in with them and kept a small amount behind.

[Franh]

My husband and I left Miami Jan 30 on the Destiny. We carried on two bottles of wine, a six pack of screw top Diet Pepsi's, and 2 bottles of Pelligrino sparkling water. Absolutely no problems.

[TheDINGOateMyBaybay!]

The port doesn't not have enough xray equiptment to scan all checked luggage, just like at the airports. Also, like many airports, some ports have NO xray for checked luggage whatsoever.

 

Even in this day and age.

 

Don't believce everything you read. In fact I am really surprised so many of you are believing all of this. This being the same forum where everyone accuses anyone with a valid complaint against CCL, of lying.

 

 

. I'd speculate here that if the rum and the wine were in the same suitcase, then the x-rays picked up the wine and the physical search of the luggage noted the broken seal cola bottle that didn't contain what looked like cola in it.

[disneylynn]

I just called Carnival to ask about bringing water and soda on board the ship.

The lady at Carnival said no problem!

You can absolutely bring on a 12 pack of soda and water on the ship

[klmorg]

I just called Carnival to ask about bringing water and soda on board the ship.

The lady at Carnival said no problem!

You can absolutely bring on a 12 pack of soda and water on the ship

 

I still wonder if you can put that in your checked luggage, as we have always done, or if you have to carry it on, like you have to do with wine now. :confused:

[disneylynn]

I am traveling with 5 children, I plan on filling a duffel bag with water and checking it in.

(for port days) the lady at Carnival said it would be ok

[wendco2003]

My hubby and I thought about smuggling on some spiced Captain Morgan, which is our favorite drink. We went and priced the cost of the rum which in the local liquor stores which is around 25 dollars + tax. If I add in the cost of the rum runners and having those shipped to me, it wouldn't be that far off the 40 dollars that Bon Voyage charges. I've read on here that some drinks on board run 8 dollars each. So I figure if we get more than 5 drinks out of our bottle, we got our money's worth. In the end it made more sense to us to just order from them and know it would be in our cabin without worrying about it.

 

Does anyone know if they allow you to bring on mixers that don't have alcohol in them? I'd like to bring some pina colada mix for mine. The hubby is getting a soda card for rum and cokes.

[DqALEX]

They changed the policy about smuggling booze? :confused: What was the explanation given for holding the wine?

It stains the carpet like the fruit punch

[klmorg]

My hubby and I thought about smuggling on some spiced Captain Morgan, which is our favorite drink. We went and priced the cost of the rum which in the local liquor stores which is around 25 dollars + tax. If I add in the cost of the rum runners and having those shipped to me, it wouldn't be that far off the 40 dollars that Bon Voyage charges. I've read on here that some drinks on board run 8 dollars each. So I figure if we get more than 5 drinks out of our bottle, we got our money's worth. In the end it made more sense to us to just order from them and know it would be in our cabin without worrying about it.

 

Does anyone know if they allow you to bring on mixers that don't have alcohol in them? I'd like to bring some pina colada mix for mine. The hubby is getting a soda card for rum and cokes.

 

Yes, you can "legally" bring mixers, pop, water, juice, anything non-alcoholic.

[steveholtam]

I'm with the Dingo lady. They CAN check every bag. Every bag may go through a scanner. But does this happen? Is every bag scrutinized at that level to find some booze. I do not think so.

 

I would imagine they are looking for more important things then beer and vodka. The stories so far usually indicate something else was found in a bag, which was then opened and then the booty was taken.

 

It would take to long for them to check every bag, just like at that airports. I brought a SWORD on a commercial airline a year ago. It was inside a folded chunk of cardboard, taped closed. As it was going through the xray machine, the xray dude started talking to another employee, and out it came on the other side! I picked it up and carried it aboard the plane. It was a three foot long asian sword that was very sharp. So

 

At this point there is just lots of fear and conjecture. Otherwise, there would be MANY angry posts here about this happening. There is not. Just lots of threats about being angry if something is taken.

 

Peace out!

[Kurbanfan]

It would take to long for them to check every bag, just like at that airports.

 

It won't take them any longer then they do now.......because they have always xrayed every luggage.......

[frazzledrazzle16]

I think I'm still going to bring some pineapple rum, because I'm not sure if they sell it at the bars or not. I'll definitely report back if it made it on or not once the cruise is over... we have a longggg drive back from Ft. Lauderdale to Chicago anyways!

 

I believe the OP... they were on a shorter cruise and this changed at the very end of January. Give it a few days for the longer cruises to come back and I wouldn't be suprised if there were similar stories of stricter rules and security.

 

However, my guess is that if you want to get alcohol on board, the easiest way would be to smuggle it in at ports of call. You simply buy a bunch, and then pass through the xray. Check in everything but the bottle in your carry on, which if someone noticed is convieniently "forgotten"... I doubt they'd ever know if you actually checked a bunch in with them and kept a small amount behind.

 

I've walked passed the alcohol check in table before with no problem. ;)

[ohitssunshine]

I just got off the Imagination today as well. We checked in on 2/1- we carried on 2 large bottles of wine without a problem. In my luggage I had 3 rum runners- each in a ziploc bag, and each in a different piece of luggage. All luggage was left unlocked (although the porters did not check to make sure either) and all 3 rum runners were delivered with the luggage to the room with no problem- as well as we were able to carry both bottles of wine on.

[Kurbanfan]

i just got off the imagination today as well. We checked in on 2/1- we carried on 2 large bottles of wine without a problem. In my luggage i had 3 rum runners- each in a ziploc bag, and each in a different piece of luggage. All luggage was left unlocked (although the porters did not check to make sure either) and all 3 rum runners were delivered with the luggage to the room with no problem- as well as we were able to carry both bottles of wine on.

 

lol!

[kr8z]

I suppose that I'll find out when we sail out of LA in a month. You can carry on the wine, but it is a $10 corkage fee per bottle, right? if not, then I am definitely bringing wine.