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[gualalamama]

I have been reading about what is and is not allowed on cruise ships and I have a question.

We travel every year or so from the US to South Africa. We spend about 6 weeks there staying in a National Park. We stay in self-catering bungalows which are not always very well equipped. Thus, we have a suitcase full of all sorts of unconventional things...i.e. pots, pans, KNIVES, CANDLES, hair dryer, curlers etc. etc. etc. We are thinking that it might be fun to travel from the east coast to England on a cruise ship and then fly from London to Johannesburg. Then I discovered that there are a bunch of things that we really need that are forbidden on the ship. Will we just go to the Naughty Room and have all that suff held for us or will we be in trouble? Could I pack all the illegal stuff in one suitcase and just claim it from the get go and have them store it for us. Or maybe we should just fly???? Any help would be appreciated.

[SadieN]

Hair dryers, curlers and other hair appliances are allowed onboard.

 

A 'naughty room' suitcase might work.

[GUT2407]

Hair dryers, curlers and other hair appliances are allowed onboard.

 

A 'naughty room' suitcase might work.

 

 

I am inclined to agree, but contact you line first.

[Keith1010]

Yes, you need to contact the cruise line.

 

Often they will publish a list of some of the items in the brochure or on line.

 

Keith

[calliopecruiser]

Another option to consider would be to have all those things mailed/shipped directly to your destination - you won't need them on the journey, and it will save you having to carry them around with you. It might not be as expensive as you think if speed is not an concern.

[paul929207]

Contact the cruise line before sailing. Our experience has been that they take the forbidden item(s) and return them the last night of the cruise.

[Nitemare]

If you go to the same place every year for 6 weeks, might they not be willing to store some things there for you?

[gualalamama]

Thanks all for your responses. I was curious if it was going to be a nightmare but sounds like it is probably doable. Wonder if anyone has faced this before. As far as storing things there, it is not an option as it is a National Park and they don't have facilities for such things. Every year we just leave everything for the workers and it all gets dispersed. Shipping is also not an option as there is no place to ship it to (and shipping anything to South Africa is notoriously iffy). I will continue reading about the various cruise lines and transpacific cruises. I had no idea it was all so complicated!

[cb at sea]

It's really not THAT complicated! If you are cruising BEFORE your land trip, just put all the "naughty" items into on bag, and they will hold it for you until your cruise is over. OR...do the cruise AFTER your land trip, when you've left the "naughty" items behind!

[OCruisers]

It's really not THAT complicated! If you are cruising BEFORE your land trip, just put all the "naughty" items into on bag, and they will hold it for you until your cruise is over. OR...do the cruise AFTER your land trip, when you've left the "naughty" items behind!

 

Per above .... The ship will hold items for you while you're cruising. No problem when you tell them up front and don't appear to be trying to sneak naught things on. :)

[sail7seas]

Obviously, no guns or ammunition would be permitted brought aboard in any capacity nor would flammables other than a normal cigarette lighter or pack of matches or the like. I would contact ship's services prior to sailing and inquire from them as to their suggestion how to handle it. Ask them to answer that question in writing by e-mail so you will have that to present at the ship when you arrive should there be an issue.

 

Sometimes communication between ship to shore is not all we would hope it would be. Headquarters may tell you something but it is the ship that will deny or permit......

 

 

[sail7seas]

It's really not THAT complicated! If you are cruising BEFORE your land trip, just put all the "naughty" items into on bag, and they will hold it for you until your cruise is over. OR...do the cruise AFTER your land trip, when you've left the "naughty" items behind!

 

Have you ever done something similar relatively recently? Which cruise line?

[toberman]

Or.... You could buy the stuff in England. :)

[gualalamama]

Or.... You could buy the stuff in England. :)

 

hahaha...it takes me a good 6 months to gather all of the perfect things to make each trip "the trip of a lifetime", I doubt if I could find it all in England in a limited amount of time. Plus, when I am in a foreign (to me) place, the LAST thing I want to do is SHOP. :)

[SPacificbound]

I have been reading about what is and is not allowed on cruise ships and I have a question.

We travel every year or so from the US to South Africa. We spend about 6 weeks there staying in a National Park. We stay in self-catering bungalows which are not always very well equipped. Thus, we have a suitcase full of all sorts of unconventional things...i.e. pots, pans, KNIVES, CANDLES, hair dryer, curlers etc. etc. etc. We are thinking that it might be fun to travel from the east coast to England on a cruise ship and then fly from London to Johannesburg. Then I discovered that there are a bunch of things that we really need that are forbidden on the ship. Will we just go to the Naughty Room and have all that suff held for us or will we be in trouble? Could I pack all the illegal stuff in one suitcase and just claim it from the get go and have them store it for us. Or maybe we should just fly???? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Sorry for highjacking your topic for a moment, but it sounds like you are a very good person for me to ask this question.

 

We will be flying London to Johannesburg (and back) next year. Do you have difficulty with checking baggage that is over the airline's stated limit? Or are you not over limit?

 

We will be flying BC but don't know what airline yet. Due to medical supplies we have more then a little baggage.

 

We will be cruising both ways US - Southampton.

 

Thank you.

Edited July 12, 2015 by SPacificbound

[You Me & the Sea]

On our first cruise, we had a couple of items confiscated, including a pair of handcuffs (don't ask;)). These items were NOT returned nor was any offer to 'hold' them for us made. We weren't trying to sneak them on...just didn't know they weren't allowed. This was on CCL. Another line may have different rules.

[gualalamama]

Sorry for highjacking your topic for a moment, but it sounds like you are a very good person for me to ask this question.

 

We will be flying London to Johannesburg (and back) next year. Do you have difficulty with checking baggage that is over the airline's stated limit? Or are you not over limit?

 

We will be flying BC but don't know what airline yet. Due to medical supplies we have more then a little baggage.

 

We have never had a problem. We always fly Virgin-Atlantic and we are allowed 2 LARGE suitcases each. We work hard to fit within that and we are always very close to the max. weight which is 50 or 60 pounds (x4). My biggest fear is that they will weigh our carry-ons which consist of (between the 2 of us) laptop, ipad, kindle, 3 canon DSLR cameras, 3 or 4 lenses including a 400mm, chargers, cords, extra batteries, converter, extra hard drive, phone, 2 large expensive pairs of binoculars, 1 change of clothes, meds for 6 weeks, and some other stuff. All things that we absolutely, positively HAVE to have and/or is too expensive to risk putting in luggage. Not wanting to be the jerk with too much carry-on, I try to squeeze all of that into the smallest possible bag(s). It is a nightmare and yes, weighs considerably more than it is supposed to. We usually fly Premium Economy and occasionally Upper if we have enough miles. Have you checked with the airlines whether or not there are exceptions for medical equipment? For heaven's sake, you can bring golf clubs, why not something truly useful?

So, you are going to travel by cruise ship from US to London then on to South Africa? I would love to hear more about your plans. Are you doing a safari? Does this forum have a way to send private messages? (I am a newbie here).

[gualalamama]

On our first cruise, we had a couple of items confiscated, including a pair of handcuffs (don't ask;)). These items were NOT returned nor was any offer to 'hold' them for us made. We weren't trying to sneak them on...just didn't know they weren't allowed. This was on CCL. Another line may have different rules.

 

I won't ask...though I really want to. I saw a thread here that was something like, Have You Ever Embarrassed Yourself on a Cruise...perhaps this should go there.:D Did you TRY to get them back?

[sail7seas]

 

<snip>

So, you are going to travel by cruise ship from US to London then on to South Africa? I would love to hear more about your plans. Are you doing a safari? Does this forum have a way to send private messages? (I am a newbie here).

 

Sorry but CC does not have PM.

 

[You Me & the Sea]

I won't ask...though I really want to. I saw a thread here that was something like, Have You Ever Embarrassed Yourself on a Cruise...perhaps this should go there.:D Did you TRY to get them back?

 

I'll just say it was our 15th anniversary & my :eek: birthday celebration as well as our first vacation in a long time without the kids...and we're the adventurous types. ;) But no, we didn't try to get them back. When they held up my carry-on and asked who it belonged to I doubled back to the agent who by then was holding them in his hands. There was a line of passengers waiting so I didn't dare try to explain...or request them back. I just nodded that I understood that they were taking them and proceeded. Lesson learned-read the FAQ's! It was still one of the best vacations ever...even without the handcuffs! LOL

[Underwatr]

Have you ever done something similar relatively recently? Which cruise line?

Ships commonly store knives, e.g. dive knives for travel elers. When u out b end the item for a port call (dive excursion) you can check it out for the day and return it to storage when you get back to the ship.

 

The OP's situation seems like just a special case of that. It's not anything that wouldn't ordinarily go into checked luggage on a plane.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Underwatr

[Scubadoobie2]

This thread caught my attention because I recently cruised on the Carnival Glory (Eastern Caribbean) and had a dive knife in my large checked suitcase. Excited that I had a scuba dive excursion booked for Grand Turk I totally overlooked the fact that a knife was a prohibited item. That knife provided an adventure for me that I hadn't anticipated.

 

For fifty dollars I had purchased what Carnival calls, "Faster to the Fun." It provides priority embarkation (behind the most loyal cruisers), says that your cabin is guaranteed to be ready when you board the ship and says your luggage will also arrive at your cabin quickly (presumably ahead of non-priority cruisers).

 

Well, 2 hours after boarding, luggage still not arrived, I was called down to what I'll call Security's especially naughty room, which was located not on the ship but where you first enter the building and get your luggage scanned. I had no idea why because I had totally forgotten about the knife. There was my bag and, after opening it at Security's request, there it was, the item that guaranteed that my large suitcase was NOT going to get delivered to my cabin ahead of others.

 

Each time I got off the ship at ports, when I inserted my Sail & Sign card into the slot, an alarm would go off. Sheeesh! A bit embarrassing. The Security people would immediately see that I had a dive knife and they would ask me if I needed it. Of course, I said no at each port except Grand Turk where I was doing my dive. When I was re-boarding at Grand Turk I had that knife in my hand and gave it to Security immediately.

 

At the end of the cruise Carnival gave the knife back to me but it was a real adventure getting it. The written notice I had received from the cruise line said that I could pick up the confiscated item on the ship at the Cinnabar lounge (I think that was the name of the lounge). Went there during disembarkation and the staff looked and looked and couldn't find it. They told me to check with Security.

 

Just before exiting the atrium/lobby of the ship I asked a Security guy there where I could get my dive knife because it wasn't where I was told it would be. Finally, a guy in the know told me that I could pick it up at basically the same place where cruisers come in to get their luggage scanned at the beginning of the cruise. Finally at that area a security guy brought it to me. Obviously, they don't want customers carrying a knife anywhere on board the ship or anywhere near it.

 

This was all okay by me but I was worried a tad as we were routed through Customs because by that time, having been running back and forth, I'd worked up a good sweat and it was trickling down my face. And, I've seen TV shows where border agents are trained to look for suspicious people, one category being people who looked worried and were perspiring. That was me. :D I guess I worry too much, 'cuz the Customs Agent looked at my passport and looked at me and just waved my by.

[sail7seas]

All that and yet they provide sharp steak knives in the restaurants. :)

 

[chengkp75]

I realize you forgot you had the knife, but in Carnival's ticket contract it spells out how the process works for dive knives.

 

While they do allow steak knives, did you know that none of the chefs' knives are allowed outside the galley? There are lockers there where each chef stores his knives, even personal ones brought onboard. Walking around with galley knives is a firing offense. When a chef signs off the ship, if he is taking his knives with him, he must have a Security escort from the time he picks them up to the time he walks down the gangway.