cigars

[marc334]

can you bring cuban cigars on board????

[roohound]

You can bring them onboard, just can't bring them off the ship if you are disembarking in a US port

[srphnx]

I know of no reason you can not bring them off the ship in US port, there are limitations to the number you can bring back from a trip but that number isn't ZERO. I have come back with between 20 and 40 don't recall the regs now as I am a former smoker.

One open Princess booking
[B]<FONT color=red>Alaska</FONT>[/B]
Diamond Princess 05/04
Mercury 06/02
Rhapsody o.t. Seas 05/98
Legend o.t. Seas 09/95
[B]<FONT color=red>Mexican Riviera</FONT>[/B]
Diamond Princess 11/04
Diamond Princess 04/04
Sea Princess 01/02
Vision o.t. Seas 04/02
Star Princess 12/02[B]<FONT color=red>
West Coast-Baja Mexico</FONT>[/B]
Ecstacy 09/01
Vision o.t. Seas 10/02
[B]<FONT color=red>Eastern Carribean</FONT>[/B]
Century 12/97
[B]<FONT color=red>Western Carribean</FONT>[/B]
Century 9/96

[KAJOKG]

Actually, they tell you to smoke up your Cuban cigars before you leave the ship in U.S. On the Island Princess they even had a cigar smoking party meant to finish the stogies before port.

KATY

NCL NORWAY - 2000
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2001
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2002
HAL NOORDAM - 2002
HAL VOLENDAM - 2003
ISLAND PRINCESS - NOV. 2003
HAL VOLENDAM - JAN. 2004
CORAL PRINCESS - OCT. 2004

[Guest]

My impression is that because of the Cuban embargo, Cuban cigars are illegal in the United States. Given the ship is considered "international" or at least the country in which it is registered, Cuban cigars on board are OK.

-------------------------
Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993

[roohound]

[url="http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/travel/alerts/cuban_cigars.xml"]Customs info[/url]

[Guest]

Thank you.

-------------------------
Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993

[Rosieo]

We bought Cuban cigars and were told to get rid of them before customs back into the US otherwise there could be a fine. We were told this from the pursers desk. Cigars from anywhere else was just fine.

Caribbean Princess 4-10-04
Royal Caribbean 11-01
Celebrity 6-99
Sun Princess 3-98

[srphnx]

ok.... I do know of reasons you can't bring CUBAN cigars off the ship. It is hell getting old, I don't wish I had the body of a 20 year old anymore but the eyes would be ok.

I only read the cigars part. First of all, most cuban cigars are not that big of a deal, the mystique is there, and they are good, but the trend has been to the honduran or dominican for a long time I don't even think 5 of the top 20 cigars in the world are cuban anymore. Buy a few for the experiance, they are good but so are MANY others.

One open Princess booking
[B]<FONT color=red>Alaska</FONT>[/B]
Diamond Princess 05/04
Mercury 06/02
Rhapsody o.t. Seas 05/98
Legend o.t. Seas 09/95
[B]<FONT color=red>Mexican Riviera</FONT>[/B]
Diamond Princess 11/04
Diamond Princess 04/04
Sea Princess 01/02
Vision o.t. Seas 04/02
Star Princess 12/02[B]<FONT color=red>
West Coast-Baja Mexico</FONT>[/B]
Ecstacy 09/01
Vision o.t. Seas 10/02
[B]<FONT color=red>Eastern Carribean</FONT>[/B]
Century 12/97
[B]<FONT color=red>Western Carribean</FONT>[/B]
Century 9/96

[sumguy]

I agree, cubans are over rated. The mystique is cool but in reality Fuente OpusX or VSG is simply a much better cigar.

I have a question on this topic. Is cigar smoking allowed on balconies? Are there other areas this is allowed. I'm a first time cruiser on Golden in May.

[srphnx]

Yes it is allowed on the balcony but beware it isn't always popular with the neighbor, try to be considerate and offer to set aside some time there won't be cigar smoke for them to share, like breakfast (lol). There is also usually a cigar bar called churchills, don't know about Golden, check her deck plans.

One open Princess booking
[B]<FONT color=red>Alaska</FONT>[/B]
Diamond Princess 05/04
Mercury 06/02
Rhapsody o.t. Seas 05/98
Legend o.t. Seas 09/95
[B]<FONT color=red>Mexican Riviera</FONT>[/B]
Diamond Princess 11/04
Diamond Princess 04/04
Sea Princess 01/02
Vision o.t. Seas 04/02
Star Princess 12/02[B]<FONT color=red>
West Coast-Baja Mexico</FONT>[/B]
Ecstacy 09/01
Vision o.t. Seas 10/02
[B]<FONT color=red>Eastern Carribean</FONT>[/B]
Century 12/97
[B]<FONT color=red>Western Carribean</FONT>[/B]
Century 9/96

[CruiserGreg]

If your worried about bringing Cuban's back to the States, just remove the rings before you go through customs. Put them back on when your home and no ones the wiser. Personally I never remove the rings, and have never had a problem taking them thru customs.

Greg


[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=dc143c&cdt=2004;12;12;12;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Golden Princess half a hundred birthday cruise.

[GloriaF]

Smoking on the ship and on balconies: I thought they had designated one side of the ship for smoking, the other non. It was that way on the Regal recently, but which was which I don't remember!??

Gloria

Grand Princess, Eastern, April 2001
Grand Princess, Western,April 2002
Regal to Hawaii, April 5-20, 2004

[WillB]

Of the very top rated cigars, most are Cuban. This does not mean that all Cubans are better --They tend to be full bodied - strong. I've had some really bad ones. Plus, the Caribbean is loaded with fake Cubans, especially in Mexico. The only places I trust are in St. Maarten. You can buy Cubans on the ship, but they are outrageously expensive.

As far as bringing Cubans home, it's low risk, but I'd keep the quantity down. Technically you can be fined 100,000 for purchasing something made in Cuba, thus violating the nonsensical Cuban embargo -- a policy that has gotten us nothing for over 40 years, so we keep doing it hoping for a different result.