Bringing beverages aboard

[cruisernan]

We are traveling on the Veendam in September.  HAL indicates we may bring non-alcohol beverages on board in our carryons.  Does anyone know if this includes N/A beer and wine?  Also, does HAL really examine checked luggage for alcohol?  We have often taken a bit of alcohol in our luggage for a drink in the cabin.  We also contribute to ship’s bars 😁😁

[awhcruiser]

 

[cruisernan]

My major question was actually if non-alcolic beer/wine would be included in  the permitted NA you may bring on board in your carryon.  Two of our group cannot drink alcohol.

[OVgirl]

I don't think non-alcoholic beer and wine are permitted as other non-alcoholic beverages.

 

[TAD2005]

You can bring all the soda and water you can carry in any port.  BUT.... you must carry it on, don't sneak it in your checked luggage, not allowed.   You can also bring as much wine onboard at boarding, but you only get one bottle free from the $18 corkage fee.

[Vict0riann]

I am also interested in the question about bringing on board non-alcoholic beer.  I guess it isn't the same as sodas, as it cost a lot more on board, but I have asked someone who is sailing on Koningsdam next week to ask on board.  

 

I would imagine non-alcoholic wine would be pretty much the same as regular wine - they don't  look all that closely at the bottle and if the bottle appears the same, I would think it would pass....  As TAD2005 said after the first "free" (to drink in the room) bottle per person, the corkage fee is $18 per bottle.

[sailingdutchy]

On 7/30/2019 at 5:05 PM, cruisernan said:

We are traveling on the Veendam in September.  HAL indicates we may bring non-alcohol beverages on board in our carryons.  Does anyone know if this includes N/A beer and wine?  Also, does HAL really examine checked luggage for alcohol?  We have often taken a bit of alcohol in our luggage for a drink in the cabin.  We also contribute to ship’s bars 😁😁

 

As far as HAL screening for alcohol in passengers luggage is concerned . Yes coming on board a lot of the suitcases do get screened . On our last cruise on the Prinsendam we came on board before noon and my wifes suitcase was in the cabin within a couple of hours , mine was nowhere to be seen until I asked the cabin steward close to supper time if he could look into this after another 40 mins my suitcase showed up and when I opened it there was this note inside :

 

Dear guest 

 

Holland America Line performs routine screenings of all luggage arriving onboard 

to ensure the safety and security of our guests.  The screenings are done under close-circuit 

television surveillance in a secure area to protect your personal property.

 

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding and wish you a wonderful sailing

ahead. 

 

Sincerely 

Beverage department 

 

I had a 375 ml bottle of Maple syrup , a great Canadian treat , in my suitcase that I had purchased to give to a wonderful guide on one of my tours , she is a Canadian ExPat who realy missed it  !  

So be aware , they do not take smuggling alcohol on board lightly .

Edited August 1, 2019 by sailingdutchy

[woody14h]

13 hours ago, sailingdutchy said:

 

As far as HAL screening for alcohol in passengers luggage is concerned . Yes coming on board a lot of the suitcases do get screened . On our last cruise on the Prinsendam we came on board before noon and my wifes suitcase was in the cabin within a couple of hours , mine was nowhere to be seen until I asked the cabin steward close to supper time if he could look into this after another 40 mins my suitcase showed up and when I opened it there was this note inside :

 

Dear guest 

 

Holland America Line performs routine screenings of all luggage arriving onboard 

to ensure the safety and security of our guests.  The screenings are done under close-circuit 

television surveillance in a secure area to protect your personal property.

 

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding and wish you a wonderful sailing

ahead. 

 

Sincerely 

Beverage department 

 

I had a 375 ml bottle of Maple syrup , a great Canadian treat , in my suitcase that I had purchased to give to a wonderful guide on one of my tours , she is a Canadian ExPat who realy missed it  !  

So be aware , they do not take smuggling alcohol on board lightly .

My only visit to the Naughty Room was for a bottle of large olives which I use for my martinis. Jar didn't even look like a liquor bottle. They do check.

[mcrcruiser]

imo it is best never to smuggle booze on board  . The scanners will catch it 

[surfgram]

Yes, you can bring NA beer onboard.  We were on the Amsterdam in June and I asked onboard and then purchased some NA beer in Ketchikan.  I showed a bottle to the screener on reboarding the ship and she said it was fine because it was non-alcoholic.  I assume it is the same for NA wine, but I don't know for sure.  Happy sailing!

[picsa]

17 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

imo it is best never to smuggle booze on board  . The scanners will catch it 

 

On my recent cruise on Konigsdam, at a number of the ports we stopped at the bag x-ray scanning and metal detector arch was done on-shore by the port authority before boarding the ship, with only a ship card scan on boarding.

 

Amusingly at these ports, after going through the security scan and to get to the ship you then had to go through the duty free shop which had a full range of alcohol on sale, where there seemed to be quite a few people browsing and buying from the drink section.

Edited August 1, 2019 by picsa

[cruisernan]

All of this info has been interesting and helpful.  We have cruised many times but this is our first on HAL.  I have always taken a small container of gin to have a cocktail in the cabin.  It has never been confiscated nor reported by the cabin steward.  We have always paid for cocktails at the bars and dinner.  My husband can no longer drink alcohol and has a n/a beer that he likes.  My main question was if he is allowed to take some onboard.  I do wonder why we can take a bottle wine and not “alcohol.”  Does HAL not think that wine is alcoholic??

 

I have asked HAL about the n/a beer and wine, but they have not responded.

[ACA Jester]

Cruisernan,

On my recent Voyage of the Vikings Cruise, we were able to bring a few bottles of beer and soda on board at each port in our carry-ons with no problem.

They were only pulling wine, champagne and liquor at security.

 

If we can bring on board regular beer and soda, I'm would think NA beer would also be allowed.

HAL in the past has been somewhat inconsistent in many things, but you should be ok.

[cruisernan]

HAL does seem to be very inconsistent.  I am getting many different answers.  Kind of amused by their “corkage” fee - so many wines are now screw tops 😁😁

[Shmoo here]

Sorry, duplicate

Edited August 3, 2019 by Shmoo here

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, ACA Jester said:

If we can bring on board regular beer and soda,

Ah, but you can't bring onboard beer.  From HAL's Know Before You Go:

Guests are not allowed to bring beer, boxed wine, or other liquors and spirits onboard.

[TAD2005]

1 hour ago, cruisernan said:

HAL does seem to be very inconsistent.  I am getting many different answers.  Kind of amused by their “corkage” fee - so many wines are now screw tops 😁😁

In that case, you would be charged the "Screw Fee", which basically is the same as the "Corkage Fee".  In either case, you get "Corked".

[Rickster50]

Good one Tad....Luv it😁

[SempreMare]

just FYI - a related topic that I started

I'm sure I won't have room to bring my fave Clausthaler in my suitcase from home, and I'd be pleasantly shocked if Alaskan grocery stores carry it.  Heineken 0.0 served on board is good but not as interesting as Clausthaler.

 

If I do find it and bring it onboard, I also expect it to be a point of discussion while boarding, even though it's clearly marked "non-alcoholic"

"no really, it IS NON-alcoholic... like sodas or carbonated water are..."

 

Non-alcoholic beer will help me save my 'alcohol content' budget for:

- a Wang Wang ;-)

- the bottle of wine from my TA

and it helps me drink less diet coke when I'm craving something carbonated.

 

ps:  A German colleague says non-alcoholic brands and drinking is booming in Germany.  Look for more good brews from them soon.

Edited August 4, 2019 by SempreMare

[GeezerCouple]

Does HAL have Diet COKE (not Pepsi) available?  If so, is it available in containers, meaning not "soda fountain" nozzle into a glass" type?  (Re-sealable bottles are always nice, to avoid spills, ahem...  But cans are also okay vs. the soda fountain "fill the glass in advance" type of servings.)

Is San Pellegrino available (large or small bottles)?

Costs?

 

It seems that one *can* bring soft drinks onboard, such as Diet Coke or San Pellegrino (we go through the large bottles like... water ) ?

This is for Australia/New Zealand, in case that makes any difference.

 

And how is bottled wine (with corks  ) handled?  It wasn't clear from above comments.

We don't drink much alcohol, except for an occasional bottle of nice wine, which we usually try to bring on board if that is allowed with (or without!) a corkage fee.   Does it matter if one drinks it in, say, a Dining Room or just in one's cabin/suite?

 

We are about to book our first HAL cruise on short notice (DH found an itinerary that *really* appealed), and I'm just getting started reading through the HAL website. 

(But I didn't see beverages among the FAQ listings. It's always a bit tedious getting used to a totally new website, but we'll get there, of course!)

 

We are also very much looking forward to this cruise so we can see how much we enjoy the ship/etc., thinking ahead to a longer cruise to Antarctica...

 

I'll start a separate thread shortly, about gluten-free food availability/quality.  (Unfortunately, DH has full celiac disease, so it's not just a "preference", etc.)

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

[RuthC]

33 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Does HAL have Diet COKE (not Pepsi) available?  If so, is it available in containers, meaning not "soda fountain" nozzle into a glass" type?  (Re-sealable bottles are always nice, to avoid spills, ahem...  But cans are also okay vs. the soda fountain "fill the glass in advance" type of servings.)

HAL has Coke products, and yes, Diet Coke is one of the choices. In some areas the delivery is Coke Zero instead. It comes in cans. 
The fountain soda is not prepped in advance, but drawn when ordered, just so you know. 

34 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

And how is bottled wine (with corks  ) handled?  It wasn't clear from above comments.

We don't drink much alcohol, except for an occasional bottle of nice wine, which we usually try to bring on board if that is allowed with (or without!) a corkage fee.   Does it matter if one drinks it in, say, a Dining Room or just in one's cabin/suite?

You can bring aboard as much wine as you can carry. One bottle (750 ml) per adult is allowed without paying a corkage fee of $18 per bottle; the rest are charged and given a sticker. You can drink your 'free' bottle in your cabin, and bring any of the bottles with a sticker to any public room. If you want to drink your 'free' bottle outside the cabin, HAL will just charge the corkage when you do. 

[leerathje]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

Does HAL have Diet COKE (not Pepsi) available?  If so, is it available in containers, meaning not "soda fountain" nozzle into a glass" type?  (Re-sealable bottles are always nice, to avoid spills, ahem...  But cans are also okay vs. the soda fountain "fill the glass in advance" type of servings.)

Is San Pellegrino available (large or small bottles)?

Costs?

 

It seems that one *can* bring soft drinks onboard, such as Diet Coke or San Pellegrino (we go through the large bottles like... water ) ?

This is for Australia/New Zealand, in case that makes any difference.

 

And how is bottled wine (with corks  ) handled?  It wasn't clear from above comments.

We don't drink much alcohol, except for an occasional bottle of nice wine, which we usually try to bring on board if that is allowed with (or without!) a corkage fee.   Does it matter if one drinks it in, say, a Dining Room or just in one's cabin/suite?

 

We are about to book our first HAL cruise on short notice (DH found an itinerary that *really* appealed), and I'm just getting started reading through the HAL website. 

(But I didn't see beverages among the FAQ listings. It's always a bit tedious getting used to a totally new website, but we'll get there, of course!)

 

We are also very much looking forward to this cruise so we can see how much we enjoy the ship/etc., thinking ahead to a longer cruise to Antarctica...

 

I'll start a separate thread shortly, about gluten-free food availability/quality.  (Unfortunately, DH has full celiac disease, so it's not just a "preference", etc.)

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

 

DH and I were on the Koningdam in January of this year with my Dad, brother and sister-in-law.  Brother has full Celiacs. Happy to answer questions if I can.

 

Leanne

[Spender Nui]

Haven't cruised HAL for a while.  They were allowing purchases during booking which would be delivered to your stateroom.  Is this still the case?

[kazu]

1 hour ago, Spender Nui said:

Haven't cruised HAL for a while.  They were allowing purchases during booking which would be delivered to your stateroom.  Is this still the case?

 

Yes, once you have booked, you can log in and go to your booking and order bottles, packages, etc.

[GeezerCouple]

On 8/30/2019 at 4:16 PM, leerathje said:

 

DH and I were on the Koningdam in January of this year with my Dad, brother and sister-in-law.  Brother has full Celiacs. Happy to answer questions if I can.

 

Leanne

 

Thanks very much.  I'll post a more general question separately, but we'd love to know about your experiences.

We had zero idea that DH had celiac disease (or even any "sensitivity", until he had a totally separate procedrure and they could see some real damage that could only be explained by celiac disease.  So he quickly had more testing, and his levels were totally off the charts, to everyone's amazement.  He went completely gluten free immediately, no surprise, and later re-testing show his levels were still 'off', but at least in a "normally  off" amount.  And surprisingly, a few other vague symptoms have disappeared.

A real case of "Who Knew!"?"😱

 

We've been finding that there tend to be a lot of gluten-free choices just about everywhere these days (including lots of gluten-free pasta in Italy - amazing!).

Is it important to choose meals in advance, on HAL or are there some GF choices available on short notice if one isn't too fussy and doesn't need/expect to eat "item A right now", etc.?

"Good" bread and rolls seem to be the most difficult to find, but whatever they have is what they have, of course.

 

Many thanks.

 

GC