Anyone bag lunches or snacks from the ship's offerings to take on excursions?

[pitterpattershoppe]

We're going to be on longer excursions this time with a three-year-old. Just wondering whether anyone has tips or advice for bagging lunches or snacks from the ship's offerings to take on excursions?

 

You can't take fruit off of the ship, right? Does Carnival have individual little boxes of cereal? I was thinking those might be a good for a three-year-old to munch on. I was thinking I could bring some Ziploc bags with us and pack up a few other things.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks!

-pitterpattershoppe

[firefly333]

Anything not sealed is against the law .. so put on your flame retardant suit.

 

I brought 4 little boxes of cereal with me, because they were sealed on a long excursion. I had frosted flakes and fruit loops I think. The only other legal thing is crackers on the ship, unless you buy snacks in the gift shop or bring from home.

 

The couple next to us brought protein bars from home.

[zqvol]

The answer that you are going to get is that you cannot take anything off the ship. people will claim that there are signs saying no food off the ship though I have never seen one. If you ask carnival they will say no food off the ship.

 

The best thing to do is become familiar with the laws in the various ports and follow the law. There is not a broad prohibition against taking food off the ship, but there are very specific rules, and the fines can be large for violating the rules. If in doubt leave it on the ship.

[MichelleChell]

This tends to be a sore subject with the holy that are on this board. I did take a sandwich for my kids that was made and bagged at the deli the night before. I never saw a sign nor was my bag checked. This was in Jamaica. At the time no I didn't know you couldn't do this. However I would do it again. I also took a few boxes of cereal from breakfast.

[pitterpattershoppe]

Hmm...so, I would probably be better off bringing some pre-packaged snacks from home then?

 

Guess I can't really fix up some meat, cheese and crackers to take with us? Well, maybe the crackers, from what has been mentioned.

 

-pitterpattershoppe

[LHP]

For years in Cozumel, it was the Red Palm Mite (HUGE sign as you walked off the ship) .

 

Now I don't know what a Red Palm Mite is....but if Cozumel doesn't want it on their island...then as a guest...I will be respectful.

 

One thing I noticed on our last 6 cruises since October 1st .... the searching of backpacks at every port. (and a table with fruits etc on it taken from backpacks)

 

I have never seen that done as consistantly as I did on these last cruises.

 

We have a special needs son who will only eat certain things. We plan our day accordingly to be back on the ship for him to eat. BUT just in case, I always carry box cereal from Lido and granola bars, potato chips, peanut butter crackers in the package that I bring from home....etc.

 

Also something to think about....when people discuss carrying sandwiches off into port....IF it is a hot day .... things can get iffy pretty quickly...prepackaged foods prevents that as well.

[pitterpattershoppe]

That's ok...I have a thick skin. I did try searching for such a topic beforehand, but I must not have searched with the correct terms because I came up empty.

 

I'm really just looking for information. This will be our third cruise, second with our daughter. I'd like to be prepared one way or another.

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

 

This tends to be a sore subject with the holy that are on this board. I did take a sandwich for my kids that was made and bagged at the deli the night before. I never saw a sign nor was my bag checked. This was in Jamaica. At the time no I didn't know you couldn't do this. However I would do it again. I also took a few boxes of cereal from breakfast.

[okgirl]

That's ok...I have a thick skin. I did try searching for such a topic beforehand, but I must not have searched with the correct terms because I came up empty.

 

I'm really just looking for information. This will be our third cruise, second with our daughter. I'd like to be prepared one way or another.

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

I always have prepackaged peanut butter crackers, Quaker 100cal 1/2 sugar snack bars and sometimes small bags of prepackaged peanuts.

 

During embarkation I have enough to share should the ship be late boarding like it was last February when the Conquest wasn't back in until noon....fortunately I had a gallon size bag of snacks for the starting to get REALLY cranky kids that we're sitting in my area.

 

When leaving the ship I have 5 or 6 snacks with me just in case and also a large bottle of water. I also always have some hard candy in my backpack.

 

Even when travelling back home I have my snacks with me......I've had too many delayed planes, one time we didn't get off the ship until after 1pm and they took up breakfast at 9:30 and had NOTHING else for any of us to eat until we were on shore.....I've never let that happen again........

[vacruizer]

That's ok...I have a thick skin. I did try searching for such a topic beforehand, but I must not have searched with the correct terms because I came up empty.

 

I'm really just looking for information. This will be our third cruise, second with our daughter. I'd like to be prepared one way or another.

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

 

Things usually get pretty heated when this topic comes up so most of the threads end up pulled. :)

 

Every port has it's own rules of what can or can't be brought in from overseas. Since they vary so much, an easy rule of thumg is only pre-packaged items. In general fruits, veggies, and meats are a big no-no as they are most likely to import pests. It's also hot in a lot of ports so this stuff will also spoil pretty quickly if you take it off anyway.

 

I'll throw this out there for anyone who cares on the reasoning. My husband is a horticulture guy and can give you way more info than you'd ever want to know, :p but imported pests are a serious issue. It's easy to assume that an innocent piece of fruit or a sandwich is safe but all it takes is one that is contaminated brought in that can cause major problems for a local ecosystem. Either the pest has no natural predators in that environment and destroys crops, or another issue is that the pest eats other native insects that are food for the native birds, etc. and wipes out their food source and/or habitat plants.

 

A recent introduction to the U.S. that many on the east coast are way too familiar with recently is a variety of stinkbug that got brought in from asia. For those infested with thousands of the things, it's been a huge problem and is now destroying peach crops. The Mediterranean fruit fly has been another huge problem and was an accidentally imported pest.

 

I'm not trying to be the "holier than thou" person that someone mentioned earlier - just seems like many people don't know the reasoning behind the restrictions and think that people are just lecturing them. :)

 

We usually bring some energy bars from home and keep them in our backpack on excursions just in case we need something. Saved us in Hawaii last year when a tour we were on ran 8 hours long due to the tsunami evacuations and being stuck on a mountainside all day. :eek:

[pitterpattershoppe]

Thanks for the info! We usually have snacks on-hand too wherever we go. I will just have to be creative and try to pack small light snacks with a good amount of nutrition in them. Do you think little boxes of raisins would be out since they're not really sealed all around the edges?

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

 

I always have prepackaged peanut butter crackers, Quaker 100cal 1/2 sugar snack bars and sometimes small bags of prepackaged peanuts.

 

During embarkation I have enough to share should the ship be late boarding like it was last February when the Conquest wasn't back in until noon....fortunately I had a gallon size bag of snacks for the starting to get REALLY cranky kids that we're sitting in my area.

 

When leaving the ship I have 5 or 6 snacks with me just in case and also a large bottle of water. I also always have some hard candy in my backpack.

 

Even when travelling back home I have my snacks with me......I've had too many delayed planes, one time we didn't get off the ship until after 1pm and they took up breakfast at 9:30 and had NOTHING else for any of us to eat until we were on shore.....I've never let that happen again........

[DGP1111]

The one and only place I've ever carried non-pre-packaged food off a ship was in Key West. We embarked in Florida the previous day, the goods were loaded in Florida, and we were still in Florida.

Itinerary offered us a whopping five hours in KW, and I chose not to spend any of that time in a restaurant.

When outside the US, I would never consider taking anything off the ship.

[firefly333]

Thanks for the info! We usually have snacks on-hand too wherever we go. I will just have to be creative and try to pack small light snacks with a good amount of nutrition in them. Do you think little boxes of raisins would be out since they're not really sealed all around the edges?

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

Since fruit seems to be the one thing they really are upset about, hence all the fruity drinks piled on the side when you get off in ports .. I think raisens would only be ok, if they were still in the sealed wrapper.

 

The protein bars I mentioned, or that sort would be better for nutrition anyway.

 

Fruit is the biggest no no... I once got off in the home port though with a apple in my back pack .. after saying on my customs form, no I wasnt carry fruit .. was my first cruise though.

 

I would find anything but fruit to be honest.

[pitterpattershoppe]

Fruity drinks too?! :confused: So, no juice boxes? Gosh, I hope DD is not ingesting the pests in question from her juice boxes.

 

Ok, so no "fruit" of a any sort. All of this is good to know. Thanks!

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

 

Since fruit seems to be the one thing they really are upset about, hence all the fruity drinks piled on the side when you get off in ports .. I think raisens would only be ok, if they were still in the sealed wrapper.

 

The protein bars I mentioned, or that sort would be better for nutrition anyway.

 

Fruit is the biggest no no... I once got off in the home port though with a apple in my back pack .. after saying on my customs form, no I wasnt carry fruit .. was my first cruise though.

 

I would find anything but fruit to be honest.

[firefly333]

Fruity drinks too?! :confused: So, no juice boxes? Gosh, I hope DD is not ingesting the pests in question from her juice boxes.

 

Ok, so no "fruit" of a any sort. All of this is good to know. Thanks!

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

A juice box from home would be sealed .. so its not the same .. at least to me.

 

I havent had my knapsack searched.. seems to happen more out of calif going into mexico.

 

I also bring a empty water bottle to fill from the ship before I get off if I think of it .. wound up buying a bottle in the port and it was cheap this last time.

 

Where are you going that you cant buy food in the port?? Just curious which excursion. Even the ruins had a snack shop I heard. we did one and near the end they had snacks and drinks to buy and the prices to me were very reasonable.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Some people, in fact, do take all kinds of things off of cruise lines. Even in Cozumel, some of the locals have requested cruise passengers bring them certain items.

 

There are enough preservatives in most foods these days to outlast you in the sun.

 

Besides the boxed cereal on Lido, I've seen bacon (even with bacon servers), toast, croissants, cheese, bananas, pizza, all kinds of room service sandwiches, etc.

 

The gift shops sell lots of overpriced items, as well.

[pitterpattershoppe]

We're going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Roatan and are scheduled to port at Belize.

 

I really just don't want the stress of trying to find snacks in-port since we'll be going directly from the ship to our tours.

 

Also, I'm sure there are plenty of US national brands sold in-port, but I'd rather not run the risk of purchasing something with a microscopic parasite crawling around in it. Not worth the risk, to me. Same with bottled water, no local brands, US national brands only for us.

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

 

A juice box from home would be sealed .. so its not the same .. at least to me.

 

I havent had my knapsack searched.. seems to happen more out of calif going into mexico.

 

I also bring a empty water bottle to fill from the ship before I get off if I think of it .. wound up buying a bottle in the port and it was cheap this last time.

 

Where are you going that you cant buy food in the port?? Just curious which excursion. Even the ruins had a snack shop I heard. we did one and near the end they had snacks and drinks to buy and the prices to me were very reasonable.

[vacruizer]

We're going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Roatan and are scheduled to port at Belize.

 

I really just don't want the stress of trying to find snacks in-port since we'll be going directly from the ship to our tours.

 

Also, I'm sure there are plenty of US national brands sold in-port, but I'd rather not run the risk of purchasing something with a microscopic parasite crawling around in it. Not worth the risk, to me. Same with bottled water, no local brands, US national brands only for us.

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

Stuff will be pretty easily accessible in most ports. If you dock at Puerta Maya in Cozumel there's a drugstore right there with plenty of normal snacks. The trick to bottled water in port is to make sure the seal isn't broken. there are some unscrupulous sellers that refill with local tap water and sell it. :eek: The bottled water is safe in all those ports as long as it's sealed. We also bring a re-useable bottle and fill it before we leave the ship. Cozumel's restaurants are also pretty safe. They use purified water for everything. Some of the best fish I've ever eaten I've had in Cozumel. I'd stay away from street vendors.

 

BTW - if you like Coca-cola, make sure you but a bottle in Mexico, Roatan, or Belize (or all three!) It's made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup like here in the US - tastes like it did years ago before Coke changed over to corn syrup in the 80s. Yummy stuff and so much better tasting! :D

 

Use common sense with food in ports, but also don't be afraid. It's a great way to sample local cuisine and flavors. Check out what's good and not before you leave but packaged snacks should be fine in port. We've also eaten at the Wet Lizard in Belize and had a great meal and no problems. :D

[MrPete]

Pre packaged food only.

 

Bags are now checked thoroughly for anyone trying to sneak stuff off that is not.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Never had a bag searched in any of those ports and seriously doubt anything has changed.

[firefly333]

OP only you can decide if you want to break the law or not. Obviously some people do it.

 

I speed a lot too .. even though I know its against the law, I have a heavy foot. Which laws we choose to break are up to each person in the end.

[tak81288]

Honestly, we just eat a big breakfast and bring snacks from home to tied us over. Granola bars, trail mix, protein bars, candy....etc...Everything is pre packaged, works good for snacks in the room and the plane ride too..I've had bags searched at some ports but not others and all that go thru okay.

 

In my opinion, aside from dried cereal and the few overpriced things available in the gift shop I don't think the ship offerrings when it comes to "snacks" are that great anyway....

 

 

Have a great cruise!

[Sargent_Schultz]

Carnival requests and laws are often not the same and US laws do not apply in foreign ports.

[vacruizer]

I have noticed more signage and bag checks recently. In Cozumel a few weeks ago the searches appeared to be random, but everyone was asked if they had fruit or unpackaged food when debarking.

 

As an interesting side note, when we sailed in May from Baltimore our first port was Port Canaveral - going from one U.S. port to another. There were still HUGE signs and amnesty bins for fruits and we were asked several times by agriculture agents in the port building if we had fruits or vegetables. It didn't matter to them if we'd come from a U.S. port - we were on a foreign flagged ship that had been in international waters so they still didn't allow anything off.

[saskcruiser]

I think you have gotten the best advice so far. If it is a specific pre- packaged food you want, bring some from home. Anything you would want to take off of the ship in regards to food will be readily available at almost all ports. I am guessing you are meaning breads, fruit, ect. These will all be there. Any meat that sits in your backpack for a few hours would be probably worse than what you would purchase on land. If you are worried about chemicals ect on fruit, unless they are organic, which I doubt Carnival brings on, it will probably be the same you find on land.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Rosefloater]

You can't take fruit off of the ship, right? Does Carnival have individual little boxes of cereal? I was thinking those might be a good for a three-year-old to munch on. I was thinking I could bring some Ziploc bags with us and pack up a few other things.

 

I take a few boxes of cereal with me off the ship. Anything prepackaged is a safe bet.

 

 

BTW - if you like Coca-cola, make sure you but a bottle in Mexico, Roatan, or Belize (or all three!) It's made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup like here in the US - tastes like it did years ago before Coke changed over to corn syrup in the 80s. Yummy stuff and so much better tasting! :D

 

Saw Coca-cola made in Mexico in our local Costco last week.

 

This tends to be a sore subject with the holy that are on this board. I did take a sandwich for my kids that was made and bagged at the deli the night before. I never saw a sign nor was my bag checked. This was in Jamaica. At the time no I didn't know you couldn't do this. However I would do it again. I also took a few boxes of cereal from breakfast.

 

I don't know about the Caribbean ports, but in the Pacific ports, there are signs as you exit the ship about not taking any fruits off the ships and there are inspectors in Cabo San Lucas checking the bags as you get to the port.

 

*Stepping on my soapbox now*

I'm sorry that you think that some of us are "holy" on this subject. But when you live in an area that has insect infestations that are caused by people bringing in restricted items and then getting aerial sprayed to rid the areas of these insects, you will be singing another tune. Sometimes us Californians don't even know what we can/can't bring in to the state (One time at the ag inspection station at the CA/OR border, we were asked if we had any grapes. All other fruit was okay though.)

 

So, please, if you are asked/told that you can't bring open food onto shore, then don't. There is a reason for it, even if you don't agree with it.

*Stepping off my soapbox now*