New x-ray technology - Carnival

[Kenster]

Are your chances better trying to slip a bottle or two in checked suitcases, or carryon?

 

Do they not allow any bottle water (or partially consumed soft drink in plastic bottle) to be brought on board anymore?  We usually have a bottle with us in our carry on backpacks?

 

We will be bringing two bottles of wine (allowed) and at least one twelve pack of canned soft drinks.  Any problem with that?  I read  somewhere upthread that their soft drink carton was opened for inspection.  Does that happen often?  What are they looking for?

[RWolver672]

12 hours ago, Kenster said:

Are your chances better trying to slip a bottle or two in checked suitcases, or carryon?

 

Do they not allow any bottle water (or partially consumed soft drink in plastic bottle) to be brought on board anymore?  We usually have a bottle with us in our carry on backpacks?  No longer allowed.

 

We will be bringing two bottles of wine (allowed) and at least one twelve pack of canned soft drinks.  Any problem with that?  I read  somewhere upthread that their soft drink carton was opened for inspection.  Does that happen often?  What are they looking for?

 

What they are looking for is if someone took out a few of the cans of soda and replaced them with cans of beer or even a bottle of liquor, then resealed the carton.  They most likely only do it if they suspect that something doesn't look right.

[Forchunut1]

The mark-up on bottles of liquor is ridiculous, regardless of whether it is better than buying separate drinks.  Can I afford to order bottles?  Yep.  But, I won't do it on principle.  I get that mark-up on individual drinks creates the profit needed to keep things going.  The price of drinks on Carnival is no different than at a bar at a nice hotel, so I have no complaints about the price of drinks.  But, when the mark-up on a bottle of alcohol is 3-5 times what I can buy a bottle for, which is also already marked up, I'm not going to do it.

 

You'd think Carnival would get that if they lowered the mark-up a bit, more people would buy the bottles and Carnival will still make money.  Many people who have posted about this say they also have a bar tab at the end of the cruise regardless of whether they buy bottles or use an alternative method of acquiring their alcohol.  I always do, although never to the point of Cheers making financial sense for me.  Many people like the freedom of being able to make a drink in their cabin and then will hit the bars as well.  I'm all about profits to keep a business successful, but until Carnival stops trying to squeeze every last living penny out of us with these ridiculous mark-ups (now including delivery fees!), I'll look for alternative sources. 

[jdemps]

36 minutes ago, Forchunut1 said:

The mark-up on bottles of liquor is ridiculous, regardless of whether it is better than buying separate drinks.  Can I afford to order bottles?  Yep.  But, I won't do it on principle.  I get that mark-up on individual drinks creates the profit needed to keep things going.  The price of drinks on Carnival is no different than at a bar at a nice hotel, so I have no complaints about the price of drinks.  But, when the mark-up on a bottle of alcohol is 3-5 times what I can buy a bottle for, which is also already marked up, I'm not going to do it.

 

You'd think Carnival would get that if they lowered the mark-up a bit, more people would buy the bottles and Carnival will still make money.  Many people who have posted about this say they also have a bar tab at the end of the cruise regardless of whether they buy bottles or use an alternative method of acquiring their alcohol.  I always do, although never to the point of Cheers making financial sense for me.  Many people like the freedom of being able to make a drink in their cabin and then will hit the bars as well.  I'm all about profits to keep a business successful, but until Carnival stops trying to squeeze every last living penny out of us with these ridiculous mark-ups (now including delivery fees!), I'll look for alternative sources. 

Any business tries to keep a 25% cost or under for beverages.  The bottles cost them $20, so they charge $80 - $100 for it.  It's not a big deal and it's within the range for keeping costs down.  The same cost % is applied to the individual cocktails but at an even higher mark up rate than the bottle.  So, if you get the drinks at the bar, I estimate those are at about a 15% cost or less so buying the bottle is less mark up.

[klfrodo]

42 minutes ago, Forchunut1 said:

 

 

You'd think Carnival would get that if they lowered the mark-up a bit, more people would buy the bottles and Carnival will still make money. 

It could be that the price point is set at such a high level as to make it prohibitive to those who would purchase to get "sloppy drunk" in their cabin then go out to use their Cheers package vs. those who just enjoy a beverage or 2 in the cabin before heading out.

Do we sell 100 bottles and make $2500 margin? or do we sell 25 bottles and make a $2500 margin?

[Haveuseen1]

Sailed out of Port Canaveral in September.  2 of the couples with us placed a bottle of liquor in each checked bag. Did not conceal them in rum runners or anything else. Just put them in the luggage.  All of the liquor made it through security.  Not saying that will happen every time, but it leads me to believe the the "secuirty" is random.  One of the couples cruises a few times a year, she said she has never had an issue.  

[Joebucks]

1 hour ago, Forchunut1 said:

The mark-up on bottles of liquor is ridiculous, regardless of whether it is better than buying separate drinks.  Can I afford to order bottles?  Yep.  But, I won't do it on principle.  I get that mark-up on individual drinks creates the profit needed to keep things going.  The price of drinks on Carnival is no different than at a bar at a nice hotel, so I have no complaints about the price of drinks.  But, when the mark-up on a bottle of alcohol is 3-5 times what I can buy a bottle for, which is also already marked up, I'm not going to do it.

 

You'd think Carnival would get that if they lowered the mark-up a bit, more people would buy the bottles and Carnival will still make money.  Many people who have posted about this say they also have a bar tab at the end of the cruise regardless of whether they buy bottles or use an alternative method of acquiring their alcohol.  I always do, although never to the point of Cheers making financial sense for me.  Many people like the freedom of being able to make a drink in their cabin and then will hit the bars as well.  I'm all about profits to keep a business successful, but until Carnival stops trying to squeeze every last living penny out of us with these ridiculous mark-ups (now including delivery fees!), I'll look for alternative sources. 

 

The bottles are the cheapest prices for consumable alcohol on the ship, period (unless you want to get technical and talk about happy hour casino deals while in port).

 

For some reason, people can get over that a glass of liquor has a big markup. But once we talk about the whole bottle, we suddenly realize there are cheaper options in the world. When in reality, it's a fantastic option for some people. For me, about 3/4 of everything I drink on the boat is straight bourbon/whiskey. I don't want all of those fillers all day. A 1 liter bottle of Woodford costs $127 delivered to my room. At a standard 1.5 ounce pour, that is 22 drinks. $5.79 a drink. Meanwhile, I believe that same drink is about $9ish dollars on the boat.

 

Sure you can tell me next that you like Cheers for more options and/or pouring your own drink is a hassle. For me, I like the bottle option way better. A liter of alcohol is a LOT of alcohol. I can also pour myself a double or triple or whatever I want, which will last me for a bit. I'm usually at my room at least 2-3 times a day anyways. Then, maybe I'll stop at the Alchemy for 1 out of pocket cocktail for a special treat in the evening.

 

Now if bottle prices were to be lower, I wouldn't be mad. I doubt it though. Even more reasonable, I wish the 18% delivery fee would be optional. I would gladly go pickup my own bottle from wherever it is if it saves me $20.

[MRSG29]

1 hour ago, Forchunut1 said:

The mark-up on bottles of liquor is ridiculous, regardless of whether it is better than buying separate drinks.  Can I afford to order bottles?  Yep.  But, I won't do it on principle.  I get that mark-up on individual drinks creates the profit needed to keep things going.  The price of drinks on Carnival is no different than at a bar at a nice hotel, so I have no complaints about the price of drinks.  But, when the mark-up on a bottle of alcohol is 3-5 times what I can buy a bottle for, which is also already marked up, I'm not going to do it.

 

You'd think Carnival would get that if they lowered the mark-up a bit, more people would buy the bottles and Carnival will still make money.  Many people who have posted about this say they also have a bar tab at the end of the cruise regardless of whether they buy bottles or use an alternative method of acquiring their alcohol.  I always do, although never to the point of Cheers making financial sense for me.  Many people like the freedom of being able to make a drink in their cabin and then will hit the bars as well.  I'm all about profits to keep a business successful, but until Carnival stops trying to squeeze every last living penny out of us with these ridiculous mark-ups (now including delivery fees!), I'll look for alternative sources. 

I agree as i've said before. The CHEERS package makes no financial sense to me. Paying over $800 for 7 days for us to drink is ridiculous. I get it for some people, it works for them. Like everything else in the world, some things work for you some things don't. Same thing with bottles to the room. I always use the bottle of Sky vodka example cause my lady drinks that. It costs over $100 for a bottle of Sky including delivery fee. That same bottle I can buy for $18 at home. I get marking it up. I completely get it but thats just insane markup. If it was like $50-$60. I might buy it but $110-$120? No. Once again, it works for some people otherwise they wouldnt have it, just not me. Out of all the times i've cruised with runners, only one time did they not make it. That 7 day cruise our total drink tab was a little over $400 for the both of us. 

[pacruise804]

18 hours ago, Kenster said:

Are your chances better trying to slip a bottle or two in checked suitcases, or carryon?

 

Do they not allow any bottle water (or partially consumed soft drink in plastic bottle) to be brought on board anymore?  We usually have a bottle with us in our carry on backpacks?

 

We will be bringing two bottles of wine (allowed) and at least one twelve pack of canned soft drinks.  Any problem with that?  I read  somewhere upthread that their soft drink carton was opened for inspection.  Does that happen often?  What are they looking for?

Bottles are not allowed.  We had empty insulated drinking tumblers with straws and they were verified as empty.  Some terminals have vending machines after check-in, so you might see a bottle from this.

[trummy]

On 2/14/2019 at 6:24 PM, ElCrappyTan said:

 

Nope. Sorry. 

 

This type of post is why the day will come when we will have to carry all liquids in a carry on.

[Bookster99]

I suppose you could just buy alcohol on the ship?

[DryCreek]

51 minutes ago, Bookster99 said:

I suppose you could just buy alcohol on the ship?

Maybe....

Just to be sure about some of the information I've gleaned from here, I made a call.  Actually, I made two calls.

I called Carnival directly, and queried them about ordering a bottle through room service.  The booking agent was hesitant to speak to me at first since we made our reservations through a TA.  I explained that it was a "general question", and she was suddenly very interested in helping me.  The Carnival agent had never heard of the ability to order a bottle of liquor through room service.  She even put me on hold in order to "ask the front desk".  Her reply was "No, room service ordering of liquor is not available".

 

So, I politely thanked her and hung up.  My next call was to the travel agency we booked our upcoming cruise through (100 day countdown!).  While my agent wasn't available, I did speak to another helpful lady there.  She put me on hold and queried someone there.  Here answer was that indeed I'd be able to order a bottle of liquor through room service once aboard.  She did caution me that the selection may not be as large as what I could order through the Fun Shops (previously known as the "Bon Voyage Program").

 

Two calls, two entirely different answers. 

[Bookster99]

2 minutes ago, DryCreek said:

Maybe....

Just to be sure about some of the information I've gleaned from here, I made a call.  Actually, I made two calls.

I called Carnival directly, and queried them about ordering a bottle through room service.  The booking agent was hesitant to speak to me at first since we made our reservations through a TA.  I explained that it was a "general question", and she was suddenly very interested in helping me.  The Carnival agent had never heard of the ability to order a bottle of liquor through room service.  She even put me on hold in order to "ask the front desk".  Her reply was "No, room service ordering of liquor is not available".

 

So, I politely thanked her and hung up.  My next call was to the travel agency we booked our upcoming cruise through (100 day countdown!).  While my agent wasn't available, I did speak to another helpful lady there.  She put me on hold and queried someone there.  Here answer was that indeed I'd be able to order a bottle of liquor through room service once aboard.  She did caution me that the selection may not be as large as what I could order through the Fun Shops (previously known as the "Bon Voyage Program").

 

Two calls, two entirely different answers. 

I'll have to ask on my next cruise. I always thought you could, but never needed too. You may find there's a THIRD answer when you ask onboard! 

[5000]

I have done it before, but it has been two years since the last time.  

[trummy]

55 minutes ago, DryCreek said:

Maybe....

Just to be sure about some of the information I've gleaned from here, I made a call.  Actually, I made two calls.

I called Carnival directly, and queried them about ordering a bottle through room service.  The booking agent was hesitant to speak to me at first since we made our reservations through a TA.  I explained that it was a "general question", and she was suddenly very interested in helping me.  The Carnival agent had never heard of the ability to order a bottle of liquor through room service.  She even put me on hold in order to "ask the front desk".  Her reply was "No, room service ordering of liquor is not available".

 

So, I politely thanked her and hung up.  My next call was to the travel agency we booked our upcoming cruise through (100 day countdown!).  While my agent wasn't available, I did speak to another helpful lady there.  She put me on hold and queried someone there.  Here answer was that indeed I'd be able to order a bottle of liquor through room service once aboard.  She did caution me that the selection may not be as large as what I could order through the Fun Shops (previously known as the "Bon Voyage Program").

 

Two calls, two entirely different answers. 

The TA lady was not helpful. She gave you incorrect information.

 

You can not buy bottles through room service. You can buy bottles in the funshops but they will not deliver it to you until the night before debarkation. 

 

You can order individual drinks through room service.

Edited November 7, 2019 by trummy

[DryCreek]

47 minutes ago, trummy said:

The TA lady was not helpful. She gave you incorrect information.

 

You can not buy bottles through room service. You can buy bottles in the funshops but they will not deliver it to you until the night before debarkation. 

 

You can order individual drinks through room service.

But, I have read posts here (to various other threads) where folks say they regularly order the bottle through room service.  If you pre-order, you pay tax and the gratuity.  If you order through room service, you pay NO tax, but still get hit with the gratuity.

 

Or so I've read.

[trummy]

3 minutes ago, DryCreek said:

But, I have read posts here (to various other threads) where folks say they regularly order the bottle through room service.  If you pre-order, you pay tax and the gratuity.  If you order through room service, you pay NO tax, but still get hit with the gratuity.

 

Or so I've read.

I guess you will just have to go on a cruise to find out. Not a bad thing.

[DryCreek]

1 hour ago, trummy said:

I guess you will just have to go on a cruise to find out. Not a bad thing.

We are booked on the Vista in mid-February.  Seven-day Western Caribbean.

 

That's why I was curious.  We will each bring our allotted one bottle of wine, but sometimes I like a whiskey and ginger ale.  The last time we cruised I had our bottle of Jim beam ordered through the Bon Voyage Program.  It was delivered to our room about mid day after departure.  Since then, they've added a gratuity (delivery) charge and tax.

[Joe817]

8 minutes ago, DryCreek said:

We are booked on the Vista in mid-February.  Seven-day Western Caribbean.

 

That's why I was curious.  We will each bring our allotted one bottle of wine, but sometimes I like a whiskey and ginger ale.  The last time we cruised I had our bottle of Jim beam ordered through the Bon Voyage Program.  It was delivered to our room about mid day after departure.  Since then, they've added a gratuity (delivery) charge and tax.

D.C., let me ask you: since they have added gratuity(delivery)charge and tax a deal breaker for you do do that again? 

[trummy]

49 minutes ago, DryCreek said:

We are booked on the Vista in mid-February.  Seven-day Western Caribbean.

 

That's why I was curious.  We will each bring our allotted one bottle of wine, but sometimes I like a whiskey and ginger ale.  The last time we cruised I had our bottle of Jim beam ordered through the Bon Voyage Program.  It was delivered to our room about mid day after departure.  Since then, they've added a gratuity (delivery) charge and tax.

I like Beam and coke and we have pre-ordered also, so I feel you. It seems to me charges are very arbritrary. 

[naxer]

2 hours ago, DryCreek said:

 If you pre-order, you pay tax and the gratuity. ...

Or so I've read.

 

Depends.  At this point there is always gratuity.  But we have it delivered the first day of cruising, once we're out at sea, and we pay no tax.  If we had it delivered on the day we embark, we would pay tax.

[DryCreek]

52 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

D.C., let me ask you: since they have added gratuity(delivery)charge and tax a deal breaker for you do do that again? 

Not a deal breaker for me.

I was just trying to see if ordering a bottle once onboard was possible.  Think of it as "Plan B" in the event the RR is discovered.

[AandBmom]

My understanding and experience has always been that checked luggage is scanned at random as they don't have enough time or capacity to scan every single bag.  

[cruiseinqueen]

Is the 3d scanner just for luggage or do you walk through one as well on embarkation?

[MRSG29]

16 minutes ago, cruiseinqueen said:

Is the 3d scanner just for luggage or do you walk through one as well on embarkation?

Just for luggage.