Bringing wine in carry-on or checked luggage?

[High Cs]

We're flying to port and can't have wine bottles in carry on luggage for flight.

Will Princess 'discard' our 2 allowed bottles if they are in our checked luggage?

 

Princess alcohol policy states:

Please remember that luggage will be scanned and alcohol outside of our policy will be removed and discarded.*

 

Seems I've seen posts in the past recommending 'carry-on only' and others recommend leaving in checked luggage.

 

What has your experience been?

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

Can't you move it to your carry on after you claim your bags at the airport?

[BRANDEE]

My experience: If in carry on, you go through security than over to the "wine" check desk, where they verify it is wine and not liquor. Two people equals two free bottles.

 

If you leave it in your checked luggage, security will check that bag once on board and you will receive that piece of luggage later than the rest. Put one bottle in each piece of luggage..

 

Also, a different experience at different ports. I've been checked at Port Everglades and LA. At Southampton this spring there was no checking the carry on luggage.

[Astro Flyer]

We put one bottle in each checked bag when flying from LAX to YVR & planned to put them in our carryon bags upon arriving at Vancouver. Our Princess tags were on our checked luggage & despite not paying for it they were transferred directly to the ship.

 

Both bags were delayed...one eventually arrived at our cabin with the bottle of wine & one went to the naughty room where we had to go to unlock it. After checking that it wasn't booze they only said nice wine and I took my bag with wine to my cabin. We only had 2 bottles of wine so we weren't over our corkage fee free limit.

 

Like moki'smommy suggested, transfer it to your carryon at your arrival airport but if something goes wrong they might just send you to the naughty room to prove that it's wine. ;)

Edited September 30, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[easyboy]

We're flying to port and can't have wine bottles in carry on luggage for flight.

Will Princess 'discard' our 2 allowed bottles if they are in our checked luggage?

 

Princess alcohol policy states:

Please remember that luggage will be scanned and alcohol outside of our policy will be removed and discarded.*

 

Seems I've seen posts in the past recommending 'carry-on only' and others recommend leaving in checked luggage.

 

What has your experience been?

At the baggage claim, we just put the wine in a grocery bag and hand carry it separately up to ship.

[jpcello]

I have flown several times with wine in my checked luggage. Both times bottles arrived perfectly fine (purchased wine diapers just in case - check amazon). Once I got to the airport and gathered my checked luggage, I removed the bottles and put them in the bag I was carrying onto the ship. I had been told that cruise lines don't like you to put them into checked luggage.

 

Never an issue.

[Thrak]

Our next cruise we will just put them in checked luggage for the flight and then remove them to carry on luggage before boarding. It just seems easier to do that than have to wait for delayed luggage. Our luggage isn't locked so that I doubt we would be called to the "naughty room" in any case. We have the AIBP on our next two cruises (booked under the Sip n Sail) but will likely still take our two bottles for easy in-room consumption.

[seafish]

Our Princess experience over the last few cruises out of Port Everglades with our" allowed wine" in our carry-ons - has been that the wine bottles are detected while going through security at the cruise terminal - we were then directed to the nearby Princess Inspection Desk to register the wine before being allowed to enter the waiting area. No big deal - but may take some time if there are a number of passengers checking wine at the same time.

[land lover]

Our next cruise we will just put them in checked luggage for the flight and then remove them to carry on luggage before boarding. It just seems easier to do that than have to wait for delayed luggage. Our luggage isn't locked so that I doubt we would be called to the "naughty room" in any case. We have the AIBP on our next two cruises (booked under the Sip n Sail) but will likely still take our two bottles for easy in-room consumption.

 

They have you come to the naughty room so you will open your luggage whether is is locked or not.....they will not open anything without you being present.

[IECalCruiser]

They have you come to the naughty room so you will open your luggage whether is is locked or not.....they will not open anything without you being present.

Not true, just check your passage contract. It states "You may be required to attend an inspection if your luggage is locked." I believe they record the inspections in case there is a later issue.

 

 

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[kennicott]

Yes, it is not true that Princess will not open up your luggage unless you are present. The rules say they can and they do.

 

We prefer to bring our two free bottles on board in our checked luggage. Now, it is true that they say in some of their literature they want you to bring those on board in your hand carries. But there is contradictory language in their various FAQs regarding that as well as in their actions. For instance, a couple of cruises back they opened all of our checked luggage. They found our two bottles of wine, they went ahead and delivered all bags to our room and left a nice note in one suitcase saying we were in compliance. I assume the problem they have is if we bring more than our two free bottles in checked luggage, then we have to pay $15.00 per bottle for each of those and it gets a little awkward for them in doing that when we aren't there.

 

Some argue that the cruise lines don't want you to have wine in your checked luggage because it might break and get all over everybody else's stuff. But that doesn't jibe with reality, first off, they fall all over themselves to get you to buy wine on the last day of the cruise from their duty free to take home with you. They know that about the only practical way to do that for guests flying home later is to put it into checked luggage since TSA won't let you carry it through security, furthermore the airlines have no heartburn over wine in checked luggage and spilling all over, probably because it doesn't happen often. Anyway, we put our wine in sealed spill proof bubble wrap containers. No problem.

[caribill]

 

Some argue that the cruise lines don't want you to have wine in your checked luggage because it might break and get all over everybody else's stuff.

 

More likely it is so you do not take your "free" bottles in your carry-on luggage and do it again in your checked luggage.

[kennicott]

More likely it is so you do not take your "free" bottles in your carry-on luggage and do it again in your checked luggage.

 

Yea, I agree, and as I mentioned, the logistics for Princess of trying to bill guests with more than their share of free bottles in their checked luggage is difficult, coordinating with crew members going through hand carry luggage at the same time makes it even more complicated.

 

 

We really haven't witnessed where Princess is overly persnickety in this regard though, probably because we take long voyages and as some have pointed out they are much more strict on their short booze style cruises. During our many voyages with Princess over the years we find that they seem to alter their rules at random depending upon the circumstances. For instance:

 

I had to chuckle last January when we were on a relatively short duration Caribbean cruise with Princess and at one port of call a big Disney vessel was directly adjacent to us. In order to board our Princess ship we had to walk by the Disney gangway which had a sign there saying this: "Bringing Alcohol Onboard------Each Guest 21 years and older may carry-on two bottles of unopened wine or champagne or six beers (no larger than 12 oz) on board at EACH port of call.----Wine or champagne in excess of the two allowable bottles or beer in excess of the six beers will be stored and Guests may retrieve at the end of the voyage.---All liquors and spirits are prohibited and will be sorted until the completion of the cruise.---Guests MUST retrieve any stored alcohol at the end of the cruise. Uncollected alcohol will be destroyed and no compensation will be offered."

 

Many of us off the Princess ship stopped to marvel at this sign and comment on the lenient standards offered by Disney, like days of yore on Princess and HAL.

 

Later in the day, upon boarding our ship, Princess personnel told us there would be no charge that day for bottles of wine hand carried on board by their guests. HAW.