Taking food off ship??

[vacruizer]

I wonder how Princess (for example) is able to take fruits...breads...meats...etc. onto Eleuthra.

 

Money talks I guess...:D ;)

 

It's the rule...until it's not...

 

More than likely with detailed sourcing of ingredients and which items specifically are coming off along with an agricultural inspection I'd guess.

[Upandadam]

I'm continually amazed at the lack of class among the cc posters. I still am hopeful that it's the minority of cc members that make these obnoxious and uncalled comments.

 

The OP asked an innocent question. If you can't respond with at least some decorem, you really shouldn't respond at all. Didn't your mother ever tell you "not to say anything if you can't say something nice?"

 

Seriously, I bet none of these posters would have the audacity to say in person what they say hiding behind their computer.

 

OP, have a great cruise!

Ditto. :)

[salty dingo]

We did this recently on the NCL Pride of America in Hawaii. It is actually legal to do on that ship since it is registered in America. No different than taking food out of your car.

 

HOWEVER, we only did it one day. It's nice to be budget conscious, which we are... but you quickly realize you are on vacation. Here is what you have to do:

• Order sandwiches from room service the night before.
  
• Keep the stuff in the fridge overnight.
  
• Go out in search of ice first thing in the morning (all the ice in the little ice bucket will have melted)
  
• Bag everything so it does not get wet.
  
• Pack everything into the cooler (takes more time than you think.)
  
• Lug the cooler around wherever you go.
  

After doing this one day (it was a fine lunch, BTW) we decided that the vacation was too short to be fixing meals and all that. We got lazier by the day - which is the right thing to do :D!

 

So, besides violating laws, bringing your own lunch is just a bad idea for the most part, because it makes you work on your vacation.

 

We have found that most excursions, if you start early, will have you back to the ship by 2 pm or so, and that is not too late to wait and eat lunch. So it is really not a budget issue at all. Just plan to eat on the ship!

[donaldsc]

In some places they have fruit and food sniffing dogs. They are serious.

 

DON

[mittchelandsophie]

Yep...when we were in St. Thomas, a man was feeding dog biscuits to the fish at Magen's Bay Beach!

While on a snorkeling excursion in St. Thomas back in 06, our tour guide fed the fish dog food to attrack the fish.

[mittchelandsophie]

We did this recently on the NCL Pride of America in Hawaii. It is actually legal to do on that ship since it is registered in America. No different than taking food out of your car.

 

 

HOWEVER, we only did it one day. It's nice to be budget conscious, which we are... but you quickly realize you are on vacation. Here is what you have to do:

• Order sandwiches from room service the night before.
  
• Keep the stuff in the fridge overnight.
  
• Go out in search of ice first thing in the morning (all the ice in the little ice bucket will have melted)
  
• Bag everything so it does not get wet.
  
• Pack everything into the cooler (takes more time than you think.)
  
• Lug the cooler around wherever you go.
  

After doing this one day (it was a fine lunch, BTW) we decided that the vacation was too short to be fixing meals and all that. We got lazier by the day - which is the right thing to do :D!

 

So, besides violating laws, bringing your own lunch is just a bad idea for the most part, because it makes you work on your vacation.

 

We have found that most excursions, if you start early, will have you back to the ship by 2 pm or so, and that is not too late to wait and eat lunch. So it is really not a budget issue at all. Just plan to eat on the ship!

When I flew out of Maui they made my luggage go through a agriculture inspection.

[salty dingo]

While on a snorkeling excursion in St. Thomas back in 06, our tour guide fed the fish dog food to attrack the fish.

That reminds me... on our Elation cruise that stopped at the private island, I brought some wrapped crackers off the ship and fed them to the fish. They eat right out of your hand.

 

I don't know of any laws restricting crackers, and on the private island there are no police anyway if there were any laws to enforce.

[mittchelandsophie]

More than likely with detailed sourcing of ingredients and which items specifically are coming off along with an agricultural inspection I'd guess.

The Bahamas allows certain food items fromt he states. We flew into Eluthra to vacation on Harbour Island and we packed a cooler with frozen meat, cheese and deli meat. (we stayed in a great house on the water so we wanted to enjoy the house and I wanted to know that my food was safe. Little did I know they have some of the best food in the Bahamas. Not one bad meal as a matter of fact all meals out were fabulous!)

[vacruizer]

When I flew out of Maui they made my luggage go through a agriculture inspection.

 

Same here - there are actually a lot of restrictions on what can be brought out of Hawaii to the mainland. We also had to fill out an agriculture form on the plane on the way to Hawaii declaring any agricultural items, fruits, etc. that we had.

[5waldos]

I'm not sure how Alaska works (may depend on whether or not you visit Canada first) but we sailed from Baltimore in May and our first port was Port Canaveral, Florida. Since we had sailed into international waters the restriction still applied. There were announcements all morning, published in the Capers and then HUGE signs in the terminal with random checks by the dept. of Agriculture. The signs said the fines are now up to $50,000. :eek:

 

My DH gets very passionate on this subject - good thing he's not a member here! :p;) He's a professional horticulture guy and can ramble off lists of invasive pests and the damage they've caused various places around the world. Even if there weren't a fine, he would divorce me for even thinking about taking something not prepackaged off the ship. :p:)

 

Didn't know about the international waters part- makes sense, I guess. I don't take anything off anyway- I'm far too interested in trying the local foods, where ever we are. But thanks for the heads up.

[BeccaBecca1713]

i honestly wasn't trying to belittle you. that's the problem with text, something always gets lost in translation. sorry if it came across that way, i didn't mean for it to.

 

 

LOL, I know you weren't!:) there was a lady that posted before you (her post has been removed) where she called me a fool and really belittled me for not already knowing the answer. So I was extra glad to see someone give me an answer that wasn't making fun of me for posting my question! thanks again!!

[BeccaBecca1713]

Aside from whether you are or aren't supposed to do this (obviously, you're not), the real issue is being a considerate traveler. When you go to another country, and they are hosting you, and helping you to have a good time, it's expected that you will spend some money there. To try to pull this type of stunt is clearly mean-spirited, and inconsiderate of the locals. If you can't afford to be a considerate guest, then there's nothing wrong with picking a vacation closer to home.

 

Good grief dude! Take a pill. I'm not being an inconsiderate traveller and this isn't a "stunt." The whole reason I joined this community was to ask questions and learn from fellow travellers. The only mean-spirited stuff I see going on is your response to my question. Geez......

[BeccaBecca1713]

I'm continually amazed at the lack of class among the cc posters. I still am hopeful that it's the minority of cc members that make these obnoxious and uncalled comments.

 

The OP asked an innocent question. If you can't respond with at least some decorem, you really shouldn't respond at all. Didn't your mother ever tell you "not to say anything if you can't say something nice?"

 

Seriously, I bet none of these posters would have the audacity to say in person what they say hiding behind their computer.

 

OP, have a great cruise!

 

thanks so much for standing up for me! It is MUCH appreciated!;)

[T. Advisor King]

While it is generally a good rule of thumb not to take anything but factory-sealed, pre-packaged food into port, it is a little more complicated than saying that it is not "allowed" or that it is "illegal". And obviously there is very little logic to saying it would be okay to take a cracker into port if it is factory sealed and not okay if it is not factory sealed.

 

Each country (and often each port within each country) has its own regulations about importation of various things, including food. The best thing to do is not to take anything in. The next best thing is to inform yourself about the import rules for your port of call and follow them. The ship will put up signs that give you direction about what you can't take with you in a particular port, but this is one area where I think they could do a better job.

 

Are you being a "poor guest" in a country by bringing in your own food rather than buying? I don't think so. Most people have a budget and follow it. If they don't spend the money in one place (e.g., lunch), they'll spend it somewhere else (souvenirs, drinks, transportation).

 

There are plenty of benefits to buying your meals on shore (e.g., convenience and the chance to sample another culture's food). On the other hand, I was on an all-day tour to Tulum out of Cozumel where there was no time in the excursion schedule to stop for lunch. And sometimes, especially for the do-it-yourselfers, there are just simply no restaurants or food services around the places you want to visit.

[Theicom1]

Just wondering why don't they restrict these things on open decks while the ship is in port?

 

A banana on your balcony could do the same damage as if it was on land.

After all fruit flies umm.... fly.

 

I have also seen garbage unloaded in some ports.

[LaShelle2]

I am a cheapanista, and YES I take food off the ship. I usually grab some toast or bagels and cheese and ham, etc from breakfast for a sandwich.

 

I also admit to taking a banana or apple, eventhough it's produce and a big no no. Always found it funny that taking off fruit is a big deal when all the fruit was shipped in to the us from the islands anyway, so it's like returning it to is's home right? So if the world's eco system is thrown off balance you can blame me.

 

I have also ordered room service blt with no tomato, extra chips and cookies, as these travel well.

 

I pack a bag of ziploc sandwich bags and make me a lunch every day. Those little mayo and mustard packets you get at restaurants are great to save up and pack too. They are fine without refrigeration.

 

Eventhough it saves money, it's also a great convenience. My last cruise we were on a long tour in Dominica and there were few places for snacks for lunch. The tour included lunch, but it was homemade from the tour operators home and I trusted Carnival's stuff more than his. A small bag of $.25 chips was $2.00 at some of the stops!!! All my tour mates were envious of my lunch I packed.

 

I also take a couple of bottles of water off.

 

I still buy a few snacks and cold drinks on shore, but supplement with my ship snacks and will continue. :-)

[LaShelle2]

also the little boxes of Cherios from breakfast are great to feed the fish!!!

[bplazo]

also the little boxes of Cherios from breakfast are great to feed the fish!!!

 

I cannot believe that you would blatently do something that you know is not allowed. Hope you get caught and fined.

[kcroxyoursox]

I cannot believe that you would blatently do something that you know is not allowed. Hope you get caught and fined.

 

The boxes of Cheerios would be factory sealed. So it wouldn't be against the rules...

[highbridge5]

On our cruise, breakfast cereal came in the little boxes. Perfect little travel sizes and "factory sealed" for a quick snack.

 

In Nassau, we accidentally forgot about an apple we had in our bag and brought it off the ship. I didn't see a single sign about produce as we left the ship.

 

If Port Canaveral in Florida is one of your stops, you'll see USDA signs as you get off the ship that accomplish two things:

 

-- point you to a big bin to throw out your produce or plants or whatever other disallowed items you might have with you

 

-- imply that you face a bigger penalty if you are caught since they tried to warn you and give you a chance to get rid of it before you got in trouble.

 

And, eventually we did pass through some kind of

check point where a person asked

if we had any fruit etc. with us.

[bplazo]

The boxes of Cheerios would be factory sealed. So it wouldn't be against the rules...

 

I was actualy talking about the post above that one where she was taking apples and bananas and sandwiches off the ship. I just did not want to quote the whole post :).

[Hunwolf]

Just out of idle curiosity...I would assume that folks who are sticklers about the food/ag regulations in port are also very ardent sticklers about the ship/cruiseline regulations against bringing alcohol onboard. Correct?

 

I mean...after all...we must adhere to the regulations as they are laid out at all times correct?

 

I'll "hang up" and listen to the responses "Alex".

[richstowe]

On our cruise, breakfast cereal came in the little boxes. Perfect little travel sizes and "factory sealed" for a quick snack.

 

In Nassau, we accidentally forgot about an apple we had in our bag and brought it off the ship. I didn't see a single sign about produce as we left the ship.

 

If Port Canaveral in Florida is one of your stops, you'll see USDA signs as you get off the ship that accomplish two things:

 

-- point you to a big bin to throw out your produce or plants or whatever other disallowed items you might have with you

 

-- imply that you face a bigger penalty if you are caught since they tried to warn you and give you a chance to get rid of it before you got in trouble.

 

And, eventually we did pass through some kind of

check point where a person asked

if we had any fruit etc. with us.

Sorry about being dense but does it matter if the port is American or not? On the Pride from Baltimore our first stop is Port Canaveral .

Why would the USDA care what you took off the ship? Clearly everything from Baltimore was kosher. How did it go bad from there to here.

Don't get it!

[bplazo]

Just out of idle curiosity...I would assume that folks who are sticklers about the food/ag regulations in port are also very ardent sticklers about the ship/cruiseline regulations against bringing alcohol onboard. Correct?

 

I mean...after all...we must adhere to the regulations as they are laid out at all times correct?

 

I'll "hang up" and listen to the responses "Alex".

 

I have never smuggled alcohol onto a ship.

[vacruizer]

Sorry about being dense but does it matter if the port is American or not? On the Pride from Baltimore our first stop is Port Canaveral .

Why would the USDA care what you took off the ship? Clearly everything from Baltimore was kosher. How did it go bad from there to here.

Don't get it!

 

They still regulate it since you went into international waters. It may be overkill, but better safe than sorry. Also, many states prohibit fruits and veggies from crossing state lines. I wouldn't be surprised if Florida did since they grow so much there.