Pocket knives?

[DougK]

I regularly carry a Swiss Army knife. It's a pain for flying -- have to leave it behind on a short trip or put it in checked baggage for a longer trip -- but until recently it was not an issue for cruising. At least in my experience on Azamara, Celebrity, HAL, and Windstar.

 

Last summer, however, I went on an Alaska cruise on the Mercury, and ran into a new Celebrity policy banning all knives -- my little Swiss Army knife was confiscated and held for the trip. Many other passengers ran into this as well. I was told by port security that it was a new Celebrity-only policy, and none of the other cruise lines had such a policy; everybody else still allowed small pocketknives.

 

I just noticed in the new Azamara brochure that they are also claiming to prohibit all knives, regardless of blade size. Does anybody have any recent experience as to whether they are, in fact, banning pocketknives? If so, it's a real pain for me. I use my Swiss Army knife a lot -- not necessarily the blades, but the screwdrivers, magnifying glass, scissors, tweezers, etc. are all regularly handy. And, of course, from a security standpoint, it makes no sense to keep somebody from boarding the ship with a pocket knife and then hand them a steak knife at dinner...

 

So please let me know whether Azamara is being rational, or is instead adopting a useless (and highly inconvenient) zero tolerance policy for pocketknives. Thanks for any knowledge of recent practices.

 

Doug

[Andy]

Hi DougK !

 

As you mentioned, its stated in their policy they are not allowed, so I would not want to risk it being confiscated. My opinion is, not to bring it with you. I know that's not what you want to hear, but I feel its the sensible answer.

 

I hope this helps. Enjoy your Cruise !

[Xport]

But I saw the policy enforced during Celebrity Solstice's embarkation on February 7... The guest was told that he could reclaim his knife upon disembarkation but I did not hear the specific logistics associated with doing so...

[rdowney]

Mine recently went onto Quest in checked luggage without a problem. However, that doesn't do you much good if you plan to take it to shore with you at ports.

[Dick in Falls Church]

On Century, 4th port, mine got grabbed. When it came time to get off in Miami, they told me to pick it up on the way out. There was no place to pick it up after they checked me out.

 

Oh yes, had carried it on over 15 cruises with no problems (Royal Caribbean, Marco Polo, Azamara, Celebrity.

 

Have you seen the obituary for Common Sense?

[palamoh]

Was on a Silversea cruise in Sept. Forgot I had my pocket knife w/me when I disembarked, Security at the Terminal caught it w/their check point when I reentered the terminal, they confiscated it. Later that evening a Security Agent w/Silversea knocked on my door and gave me back my knife, said its a good idea not to take it off the ship. They had no problem w/me having it on board