Smuggling beer onto cruise ship

[lysolqn]

calm down. Its none of those things....its a couple of bottles of cider.

 

Happy Smuggling

 

As a matter of fact, I'm quite calm and find this and other smuggling threads rather entertaining. The gushing pride and overwhelming sense of accomplishment expressed by those who have been successful in their smuggling endeavors and wish to impart their knowledge to fellow passengers is heart-warming, to say the least. Notwithstanding, I'm having difficulty trying to figure out exactly which part of "no" supposedly responsible adults have troubling understanding. Perhaps you know; is it the "n" or the "o"?

[arpster]

As a matter of fact, I'm quite calm and find this and other smuggling threads rather entertaining. The gushing pride and overwhelming sense of accomplishment expressed by those who have been successful and wish to impart their knowledge to fellow passengers is heart-warming, to say the least. Notwithstanding, I'm having difficulty trying to figure out exactly which part of "no" supposedly responsible adults have troubling understanding. Perhaps you know; is it the "n" or the "o"?

 

 

I'd hardly class it as 'gushing pride' or 'accomplishment'.....just some handy and helpful tips from responsible but canny cruisers to like-minded shipmates.

 

IMO If you dont try and get some decent/normal priced booze on board for your hard earned and expensive vacation then that makes you a mug. if this doesnt meet with your approval - tough........and btw, you sound like you need a drink.....a double at that.

 

Bottoms up.

[Denny01]

...... Any other smuggling tips andr endorsements you folks want to share? Candles? Irons? Your next door neighbor?

Obviously you've not met my next door neighbor!

 

Den

[CPT Trips]

I'd hardly class it as 'gushing pride' or 'accomplishment'.....just some handy and helpful tips from responsible but canny cruisers to like-minded shipmates.

 

IMO If you dont try and get some decent/normal priced booze on board for your hard earned and expensive vacation then that makes you a mug. if this doesnt meet with your approval - tough........and btw, you sound like you need a drink.....a double at that.

 

Bottoms up.

 

Remind me, why did we revolt? No one had cold beer in those days.

[iurebekah3rt]

Thanks to the member who posted the woodchuck and strongbow prices. I'm very happy about that. I got my rum-runners in the mail today for my cherry vodka. Yumm!

And don't worry, I'll have quite a few drinks on board with my smuggled alcohol for those members who got their britches in a wad over my thread.

Happy crusing, and thanks for all the tips!! ;)

[GE Mom]

I've been reflecting on why this topic keeps coming up, again and again, with the passionate responses on both sides of the issue.

 

I think the reason may be as follows:

1. You're on a cruise ship for a substantial length of time, and it's not like you can go anyplace else for a drink or a bottle.
   
2. A lot of people like to drink a little more while cruising than they would in a restaurant or hotel at home. Particularly since the 'retail' price of drinks on the ship is on the high side, given the quantities I'd like to drink (and I'm not a heavy drinker, btw.)
   
3. Many people, when staying in a land based hotel, will pick up a bottle and have a drink or two in our rooms or by the pool.
   
4. Yet that normal, harmless behavior that is ignored by hotels has been 'criminalized' by the cruise lines. It's something that just does not seem wrong to me.
   

The explanation that cruise lines set their fares so low that they have to make money on the drinks does not ring true for me. The per person/per day cost for cruising is about the same as for land based all inclusives that do include drinks.

 

So that's why I think there's all this 'smuggling' going on. Kinda like during prohibition!

[arpster]

GE Mom - nailed it. :cool:

[bye-seaya]

Wrap the cans in Xmas paper, put it on a skate board, attach a rope to it and pull it on board. If stopped, advise them that its a mobil cathetar bag and you have a medical condition that requires you to stow your 'medical sample' in an air tight container !!

 

:D

 

Yep you cant beat Scrumpy!!! So many bad memories lol....

 

OMGosh - That is BRILLIANT! Love it! :)

[phoenix_dream]

GE Mom -good points. I didn't think about it that way before. I am generally a rule follower by nature but your comments put it in perspective I think. We often bring beer into our room for late night drinks at hotels on vacation and never were made to feel like criminals. Drinks onboard are so pricey and as you say, it's not like you have the option to pick a different bar - you are a captive audience. If they eased the restriction I frankly don't think they would lose lots of revenue. Most people would still not bring liquor onboard, and those that did would likely still buy some drinks from the cruiseline. Oh well............it won't be changing anytime soon.

[GE Mom]

The last reason that I forgot to list is human nature. The minute you tell me that I may not do something, I will be determined to do it, even if it's something I would otherwise not do. So by telling folks they can't bring their own, the cruiselines are probably increasing the number of folks who do it.

[ORV]

The last reason that I forgot to list is human nature. The minute you tell me that I may not do something, I will be determined to do it, even if it's something I would otherwise not do. So by telling folks they can't bring their own, the cruiselines are probably increasing the number of folks who do it.

 

The morality and logic police must be out on the town for the evening, they'll get to you later.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

I still like the ol' "sneaking popcorn into the movie theater" analogy. Their theater, their rules, their livelihood; don't like it, don't go.

[Goldryder]

Just a small, possibly warped, thought on alcofrolic beverage smuggling onto ships....

 

It has been mentioned that you can drink your own stash of booze in a hotel and no-one bats an eyelash, whereas its as if you committed the crime of the century (no pun intended with the ship name) if you take/drink your own on a ship.

 

If you get so out of your tree (or blind drunk) on land, you'll probably fall over, introduce yourself many times to the porcelain god and make a total idiot of yourself dancing round reception singing 'I will survive' at the top of your lungs. But in most cases, you'll get through the night and awake with the grandaddy of all hangovers, but alive(ish).

 

Now if you get out of your tree on a ship at sea....well the game changes slightly. Yes, you can still fall over, introduce yourself to the porcelain god and make a total idiot of yourself dancing around the decks singing 'I will survive' at the top of your lungs. However....you might either end up being escorted back to the cabin with security planted outside til you sober up....or you could end up as fish food, afterall it only takes one slip or stupid act to end up in the drink from the drink.

 

So maybe the cruise lines are not entirely thinking solely about their revenue here....maybe, just maybe, they would rather have you as alive when you get off the ship at the end of the cruise as you were when you boarded at the start of the cruise.

 

Afterall, if you do go over the rail and become fish food, especially if out of your tree, there is a huge amount of paperwork & questions to be dealt with....not least as to why the passenger was not stopped from drinking at the bars long before the tree became a problem. The cruise line would be held responsible when you become fish food if it was their drink and/or if its your smuggled drink.....cos they should have either stopped serving you or they should have caught you smuggling.

 

Bottom line....don't smuggle it...cos at the end of the day it does impact on everyone else...especially if you cannot handle the drink & end up as fish food. Most people who drink only do it in moderation due to work or family committments at home, but when on vacation they tend to go stark raving nuts since they have no school run or drive to work tomorrow.

 

See...told you it was warped ;)

[arpster]

I still like the ol' "sneaking popcorn into the movie theater" analogy. Their theater, their rules, their livelihood; don't like it, don't go.

 

 

 

I've paid good money to see the film - not for the exorbitant snacks......so I'll continue to go - but I'll bring my own popcorn

[excitedofharpenden]

make a total idiot of yourself dancing around the decks singing 'I will survive' at the top of your lungs.

I prefer "I've Got You Under My Skin", but that's another story and not for here:eek:

 

Phil

[robtulipe]

[quote name='Wine-O']Just put the stuff in a roller carry on. As it goes thru x-ray, if there are no weapons, you most likely will not have any problems -- it's the Port security, not the ship's security that's checking you, and they are looking for weapons and the like. If in a rare moment someone questions you, just tell them it's cider, you know, like bringing soda on board.
[/quote]
My recent experience with Celebrity is that it is ship's security that checks your carry on items and this happens onboard just after you've had your ship's card scanned to allow you on the ship. It was the same procedure when we boarded at embarkation or reboarding at port stops. This happened for our recent B2B Summit cruises out of SJ and our Nov.09 Mercury out of Baltimore. In fact my recollection is that this is the procedure used for all cruise lines we've been on in recent years. I do recall sailing out of San Juan in late 2006 or early 2007, did three cruises out of there within six months, when the carry on bags were X-rayed in the terminal which was done by port security. Then you could buy alcohol at the store in the terminal and carry it onboard. The store staff told you it was no problem bringing alcohol onboard as the port operated security check was for weapons only and to make sure the alcohol or the bag from their store was not visable when actually getting on the ship.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

It's been a while since I've expressed my opinion on a smuggling thread. I usually try to avoid them, but here goes-

[quote name='arpster']I've paid good money to see the film - not for the exorbitant snacks......so I'll continue to go - but I'll bring my own popcorn[/quote]

If you don't wish to pay good money for exorbitantly priced snacks, there's a simple solution-- don't buy them!

Here's the problem-- movie theaters make more money from concession sales than they do from the films themselves. If everyone does as you do and the theater can't make money from selling popcorn, the price of the movie doubles for you, me, everybody. Attendance drops due to the high cost of tickets, forcing ticket prices even higher.

When you buy the ticket, the theater owner is essentially saying, "Come on in, enjoy the picture on our nice big screen with surround sound, it'll cost you eight bucks. Sorry, if you want popcorn, we have to insist you buy it from us at the price we're charging, and we know it's a lot more than what you'd spend if you made it at home and brought it in. But if you and everybody else choose to sneak in your own popcorn, we can't afford to stay in business, and we all lose."

Similar situation with a cruise ship. A significant portion of their revenue comes from drink sales. Suppose they just said, "Nuts on it. It's too much trouble and too much of a customer relations headache to keep people from bringing their own booze on board, so let 'em. Drink sales will plummet, obviously, once people realize they can BYOB without consequence. To make our profit goals from now on, we'll just have to charge everybody more for the cruise fare." Well, I'm one of those people who will now have to pay more because other people felt that the rules didn't apply to them. In fact, if those who smuggle stopped doing so and bought their drinks at the bar like the rest of us, they might end up drinking less but drink sales would go up. With the additional revenue, fares drop, even if by a few dollars. Smuggling is taking money out of my pocket, albeit indirectly.

To keep things in perspective, it's actually a minor problem for the cruise lines, or else they would be much more diligent in searching for smuggled liquor and the penalties would be stiffer. But it shouldn't matter if it's 1% or 100% of the customers that smuggle-- when you purchase the cruise, you agree to abide by their rules. There's names for people who go back on their word without regard for how it may affect others, just because it results in a better deal for them.

I will now put on my asbestos suit!:D

[arpster]

haha...so me bringing a bottle of rum and some (small) beer onboard pushes up the price of cruising for others? :D ....i've heard it all now...do you really think that anyone who brings the odd extra tipple or two in their luggage is not going to also sample a drop (or two, or three or a couple of dozen) of ship bought liquor? - of course not...I expect you'd need a hell of a large suitcase to keep you going for the duration of the cruise!.........There are names for Multimillion dollar corporations who charge exorbitant prices for their services and then attempt to criminalize those who think this is maybe a teeny bit unfair.....and there are also names for those who unblinkingly go along with it and start pointing a holier than thou finger at those who just want to supplement their carousing and holiday enjoyment. Live and let live brothers and sisters....if you cant bring yourself to bend the rules slightly thats up to you....but please spare us the moral indignation.

Here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women :cool:

[lysolqn]

[quote name='arpster']There are names for Multimillion dollar corporations who charge exorbitant prices for their services and then attempt to criminalize those who think this is maybe a teeny bit unfair.....and there are also names for those who unblinkingly go along with it and start pointing a holier than thou finger at those who just want to supplement their carousing and holiday enjoyment.[/QUOTE]

...and there are names for those who try to justify why rules are for everyone but themselves...and there are names for those who think it's fine to ignore the cruise line's booze rules but get their knickers twisted in a great big knot when someone else "just wants to supplement their carousing and holiday enjoyment" by ignoring rules about smoking, chair-hogging, breaking into lines...

[Wine-O]

[quote name='robtulipe']My recent experience with Celebrity is that it is ship's security that checks your carry on items and this happens onboard just after you've had your ship's card scanned to allow you on the ship. It was the same procedure when we boarded at embarkation or reboarding at port stops. This happened for our recent B2B Summit cruises out of SJ and our Nov.09 Mercury out of Baltimore. In fact my recollection is that this is the procedure used for all cruise lines we've been on in recent years. I do recall sailing out of San Juan in late 2006 or early 2007, did three cruises out of there within six months, when the carry on bags were X-rayed in the terminal which was done by port security. Then you could buy alcohol at the store in the terminal and carry it onboard. The store staff told you it was no problem bringing alcohol onboard as the port operated security check was for weapons only and to make sure the alcohol or the bag from their store was not visable when actually getting on the ship.[/quote]

My experience on ALL of my Celebrity cruises is that on [B]initial embarkation[/B], port security screens your carry-ons, you walk on board the ship and your picture is taken on your seapass, then you are handed a glass of champagne and invited to head up to the buffet for some lunch.

On port visits the ship sets up its own security and screening, and it's hit or miss whether or not they will confiscate any alcohol carried on board. It's more "hit" than "miss."

I've known people who fill up their rumrunners ashore and put them in the large pockets of their cargo pants. That won't set off the walk-thru x-ray machine. :D

[arpster]

[quote name='lysolqn']...and there are names for those who try to justify why rules are for everyone but themselves...and there are names for those who think it's fine to ignore the cruise line's booze rules but get their knickers twisted in a great big knot when someone else [B]"just wants to supplement their carousing and holiday enjoyment" by ignoring rules about [B]smoking, chair-hogging, breaking into lines[/B]..[/B].[/QUOTE]

all of which are dreadful and cause major inconvenience to others...unlike packing some drinks in your luggage - which increases the enjoyment of your cruise and causes not the slightest teeniest hint of a problem to anyone.........apart from the morally outraged finger pointers obviously.


Cheers

[lysolqn]

[quote name='arpster']all of which are dreadful and cause major inconvenience to others...unlike packing some drinks in your luggage - which increases the enjoyment of your cruise and causes not the slightest teeniest hint of a problem to anyone.........apart from the morally outraged finger pointers obviously.


Cheers[/QUOTE]

I guess we all must have missed the memo in which you were appointed Grand Arbitor of All Things Moral. Congratulations for setting the bar (no pun intended!) as low as you have. It's nice to know we're all exempt for all rules except those you have decreed "dreadful and cause major inconvenience to others;" no doubt you've set that bar below ground level as well. Cheers.

[arpster]

[quote name='lysolqn']I guess we all must have missed the memo in which you were appointed Grand Arbitor of All Things Moral. Congratulations for setting the bar (no pun intended!) as low as you have. It's nice to know we're all exempt for all rules except those you have decreed "dreadful and cause major inconvenience to others;" no doubt you've set that bar below ground level as well. Cheers.[/QUOTE]


I havent 'decreed' anything. The issues you mentioned cause problems for fellow passengers. Having a bottle in your luggage doesn't. Simple as that. Bottoms up.

[ehschief]

We were on a Princess cruise in Dec. There was a duty free shop as we boarded where we bought a bottle and some soda. Plus, they had $2.99 drink specials everynight as well as for Plantinum level cruises privately before dinner. We therefore spent money on and off the ship keeping our costs down.

If the drinks were cheaper people would not smuggle alcohol on board. We are going on a 14 day Antartica cruise next month with very few port days so the cost could be substantial for drinks plus there is no self serve laundry which brings more revenue for the ship maybe we will not drink.

There are not answers..let people do what they want, it is vacation...

[GE Mom]

LOL -- I'm sure you're right!