No Wine in Luggage?

[David-n-Rita]

I understand the people that say the rule hasn't changed. Maybe it hasn't. The supervisor at guest relations said the policy changed in April. I was just annoyed that the policy changes were not more evident. We all signed the cruise contract agreement months ago when we completed the Sail and Sign information.

 

The first lady that I spoke with about this at guest relations stated that Carnival had posted large signs in the Galveston cruise terminal about only having wine in your carry on. (Noone in my group of 8 saw any such *clearly* marked signage). Besides.. even if there were signs.. our luggage was already with a porter and being loaded with thousands of other bags.

 

When they searched my room they found the bottle of wine that I told them was not taken out of my luggage along with the letter stating my luggage had been searched and that everything was ok. They did take note of the person who had signed the letter and the supervisors signature.

 

I now know for future cruises to carry on my bottle of wine.. lesson learned..

 

I just didn't appreciate being made to feel like I did something wrong when I certainly didn't know about the new rules...

 

The responses are a bit harsh. I agree, although we should, I don't think anyone plows through contracts. If I wasn't on these boards, I would have had no idea about the changes and we cruise a lot. It is hard to keep up with the changes and we are taking our 13th Carnival cruise in September and because of these boards, I can safely say I have read the contract. The previous cruises........check the box and pushed the "next" button just like many others. The arbitrary screeners are frustrating. When I lost my extension cord out of my checked luggage in October, I got called down to the naughty room. They had to move a bottle of Rum to get to the extension cord, put the rum back in my luggage and disallowed the extension cord....go figure?? At least you know the rules for next time. When we cruise 2 weeks ago on the Dream, we put an extension cord in each piece of luggage, hoping for 1 to get through. Our luggage had TSA locks on it and was not opened or questioned. We were stuck with 5 extension cords and used one and threw the other 4 in our suitcase to ride out the journey. Anything that can possibly be questioned that we need, we will merely bring several, one in each suitcase with the hope that one will get through.

[Knights on the Beach]

It's right there in your documents. You can be expected to have read those!

 

And this isn't an updated policy. It has ALWAYS been that your allowed 1 bottle each of wine was to be carried on at embarkation only. That has not changed.

The wording of the policy HAS changed. The policy has (for years) stated that you can bring wine onboard at embarkation only, but it was NOT specified until recently that it had to be in your carry-on. We've always brought ours in our carry-on, but that was a matter of preference not because policy dictated it. For that matter, it has not ALWAYS been 1 bottle either. Years ago the policy didn't specifically state a limit.

[alexandria]

Here's what was on Carnival's Funville Forums in January: http://www.carnival.com/Funville/forums/t/88178.aspx

 

Sandy:

We will be flying into Fort lauderdale for our cruise from Canada .

We will be packing in our checked luggage 1x 750 ml Bottle of wine,how does this have to be

identified to get this on board the ship,we understand it is ok to bring one bottle of our own wine

with us however, is it really ok?

It will be bubble wrapped in our suitcase in order to make the trip,how do we let you know it is in our suitcase?

Thanks,

 

 

Hi Sandy, Yes guest (21 years and older) can bring a 750 ml bottle of Wine or Champagne.

I hope you have a wonderful time on your Cruise.

Mary Ruiz Online Community Specialist Carnival Cruise Lines Staff

 

 

and in a later post quoted the Carnival policy which stated "Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages onboard. However, guests (21 years and older only) may bring one bottle (750 milliliter) of wine or champagne per person on board only during embarkation at the beginning of the cruise."

 

I don't read that policy from January 2010 to require that the wine be in carry-on luggage so if that is now Carnival's policy, it would seem to be a new requirement. (The requirement that the wine be brought on board only during embarkation meant you couldn't bring bottles of wine onboard at ports of call, it didn't specify what luggage it could be carried in).

 

It sounds like Carnival was quite harsh in their handling of the situation. I can't imagine that most cruisers print a new copy of their cruise contract close to the sailing date and then compare it line by line with the contract that was in effect at the time they booked.

 

Carnival could and should do a better job alerting passengers of important changes in their policies that could materially effect them.

[jjlb]

We went on B2B in April on Dream. Took 4 bottles of wine, 3 large RR, two large plastic bottles of Capt Morgan, 12 Cokes, 8 beers. No problem. All in checked luggage.

 

We bought liquor in Mexico and just carried in from port to room, advised to stop at desk...but (sadly?) no one there :)))...so just walked on up to room.

 

We noticed in St. Thomas they didn't stop many with large volumes of liquor...just walked right on.

 

I hope they continue to enforce the way they always have. We love Carnival and don't want to switch!!! The leniency with the alcohol "smuggling" is a large part of the reason why...just saves too much. We still spent $400 to 600 per week, so they still make plenty on us.

[luv2gonow]

My family and I just finished a weeklong trip on the Conquest and had our 1 bottle of wine per person confiscated from our luggage.

 

We booked the cruise last year and at the time were told that we could each bring one 750ml bottle of unopened wine per person for the cruise. My parents were celebrating an anniversary so they packed a nice bottle of wine with their luggage as they've done on several other Carnival cruises and thought nothing of it.

 

When I received my luggage I had a note in it stating that my luggage had been opened and screened for suspected contraband, but that "all is well" and nothing was taken out. My bottle of wine was left sitting front and center in the luggage.

 

My parents on the other hand had a letter stating that their wine was taken out and that it was considered contraband. Clearly I was mad as I was the one that had told them they could take one bottle onboard with them. I took up the issue with guest services onboard and was told that Carnival recently changed their policy so that you can only carry wine with your carry on luggage. I said that we had booked the cruise over 8 months in advance and noone had sent us anything about a policy change and mentioned that my wine was left untouched in my luggage even thought it had been opened and checked. The lady in guest services called a manager over who took down my room number and name and then proceeded to call security up to explain to me that what I had done was against Carnival policy. They then proceeded to search my room to make sure I hadn't smuggled anything else "illegal" onboard.

 

This is clearly overstepping boundaries on Carnival's part. Guest services stated they were going by protocol.

 

Has anyone else had such an experience?

 

:eek:

What do you mean....they came in your room and looked through your luggage and drawers and stuff:eek:

[firefly333]

Im sorry the rules changed since you booked ... so it isnt your fault you didnt know that Carnival has changed a lot of rules lately to crack down.

 

Dont blame yourself...but it is a good idea to check CC threads to keep up with the rule changes.

[luvs2cruise410]

Had you come one here and just looked at one page of the Carnival Forum you would have seen 15 threads going on and on and on and on about how you now had to carry on any wine or other beverages you planned on drinking during your cruise. Carnival changed their policy in April, I'm sure it was in your updated cruise contract. Too bad you didn't bother to read through it. You get no sympathy from me.

how rude are you ? ive been on several cruises and there are many people who have never ever heard of cruise critic. do you just come on here to be incredibly rude to people?????

[Shelbyjane56]

Kind of makes it complicated for people flying in the day of the cruise. You cannot take liquids in your checked luggage on the airline so when you arrive on the flight and take a cab to the cruise port, you then have to open your luggage, repack all the liquids differently and go through security at the cruise port...

 

Kind of a pain in the butt...

 

Perhaps in Canada you cant take liquids in your checked luggage, but here in the states you cant take liquids, other than the few ounces in your carryon, but you can take liquids in your checked luggage, we have done it quite a few times after going on a cruise to bring back some booze. Having said that, I really havent known any other way than to bring wine (one per person) in carry-on, maybe I have a habit of reading the fine print :)

[Earthworm Jim]

The right thing for them to have done would have been to return your parents bottle of wine after explaining the policy change, since their only crime was not knowing in which piece of luggage to pack it. Leaving their bottle in their luggage with a note explaining the policy change for their next cruise would have been a much nicer approach.

 

Well, from Carnival's perspective this would effectively be the same as allowing multiple bottles of wine, since you might have also carried on your allowed two bottles, and you might have had bottles in more than one of your checked bags for all they knew.

[CWcruisers]

:eek:

What do you mean....they came in your room and looked through your luggage and drawers and stuff:eek:

 

 

Yeah, I don't get this at all. What would have prompted them to search your cabin. That sounds a little extreme.

[Cruiser1547228475]

I can't get past the fact they searched your room.

 

 

I must agree ,seems Carnival crossed the line on this one.

I also have never read the fine print after my first or second cruise.

 

If someone told me that they had read it after a few cruises ,I still wouldn't believe it.

 

OP I do feel for your situation

[Kissyfur19]

It would have just been nice for carnival to send an email stating their updated policy to those already booked on cruises.

 

When we cruised on the Liberty last Sept, the policy was then (and when we booked the trip in May) that you were only allowed to carry on wine.

 

I have a feeling whoever you spoke with from Carnival was mistaken. :(

[Froufie]

Perhaps in Canada you cant take liquids in your checked luggage, but here in the states you cant take liquids, other than the few ounces in your carryon, but you can take liquids in your checked luggage, we have done it quite a few times after going on a cruise to bring back some booze. Having said that, I really havent known any other way than to bring wine (one per person) in carry-on, maybe I have a habit of reading the fine print :)

 

I think what they meant to say is you can't take liquids (at least large amounts like wine bottles) in your carry on luggage - so you put it in your checked luggage - but somewhere between the airport and port you need to open your luggage remove your wine bottles and transfer them to your carryon - which I agree is a major pain in the bum and means you need to open your suitcase somewhere (I guess the airport makes the most sense - once you have retrieved your suitcases?) and ensure you have room in your carryon (mine is always jam packed!;)) where you can put your 2 bottles?

 

I also think that Carnival, like any good business or company, would have enuf sense to post any policy changes on their website so people can be made aware of any such changes (e.g. extension cords, wine in carryons, etc) in order to comply. I agree that only a small percentage of the cruise population reads these boards and it should not be the major source of information for company policy changes! And then to go and search someone's cabin cuz they mentioned that their wine was not confiscated from their luggage (due to employee error?) is just absurd and insulting!

[silverado44]

My family and I just finished a weeklong trip on the Conquest and had our 1 bottle of wine per person confiscated from our luggage.

 

We booked the cruise last year and at the time were told that we could each bring one 750ml bottle of unopened wine per person for the cruise. My parents were celebrating an anniversary so they packed a nice bottle of wine with their luggage as they've done on several other Carnival cruises and thought nothing of it.

 

When I received my luggage I had a note in it stating that my luggage had been opened and screened for suspected contraband, but that "all is well" and nothing was taken out. My bottle of wine was left sitting front and center in the luggage.

 

My parents on the other hand had a letter stating that their wine was taken out and that it was considered contraband. Clearly I was mad as I was the one that had told them they could take one bottle onboard with them. I took up the issue with guest services onboard and was told that Carnival recently changed their policy so that you can only carry wine with your carry on luggage. I said that we had booked the cruise over 8 months in advance and noone had sent us anything about a policy change and mentioned that my wine was left untouched in my luggage even thought it had been opened and checked. The lady in guest services called a manager over who took down my room number and name and then proceeded to call security up to explain to me that what I had done was against Carnival policy. They then proceeded to search my room to make sure I hadn't smuggled anything else "illegal" onboard.

 

This is clearly overstepping boundaries on Carnival's part. Guest services stated they were going by protocol.

 

Has anyone else had such an experience?

 

 

I was on your side until I read the highlighted portion. I find that hard to believe.

[Traveler353]

Interesting read but some how I think that there is more to this story than reported. ;)