Bringing Wine with Me Question

[WannaBaMermaid]

Hi all!  Our first cruise on Royal Princess is coming up next week and we are excited!!  I have a couple of questions:

 

I know  we are allowed 1 bottle of wine (per person) for consumption in our cabin, but I “think” it has to be in our carryon?    If this is true and we are flying into LAX, then the wine must be packed in our checked luggage to keep TSA happy.     So what do you do?    Get the wine back out of your luggage at baggage claim so it can be ‘carried on’?  Wait and buy a bottle of wine at the airport and put it in your carryon then?

 

This is my first time to fly to a port before boarding.    Normally I drive so it is a non-issue.    

 

Also, I read somewhere that electrical outlets on the Royal Princess were few and far between. I also read that surge protector extension cords were not allowed and would be removed.    Does anyone have any insight on this?

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Thrak]

Take it in your carry on luggage. If it is in your checked baggage they may well hold the baggage and call you to the "naughty room" to have you open the bag. Remember that a bottle of wine can look a lot like a bottle of whiskey on the x-ray. Usually they don't even ask us about a bottle in our carry one luggage.

 

When flying you should have it in checked baggage and then change it out before boarding the ship. That's how we handle it if that becomes necessary. Otherwise we fly and the purchase the wine and take it in our carry on luggage. It's a slight pain in the neck but not all that bad to pack it for flying and then change it out for boarding the ship. We have been quite happy when using these for wine in our checked luggage on flights:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IIT9HM2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Reviews of many wine bags show them leaking and making a huge mess. The reviews of these bags were very good and didn't show any leakage at all.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Thrak

[jennybenny]

Check into your flight and put the wine in your luggage.  Then take it out and put it in a backpack or whatever carry on you want to take onto the ship. We've never had problems with a few bottles of wine in checked luggage.  Do it all the time, wrapped in clothes.  BUT I've heard some horror stories so that may not be the smartest thing.  We have used this packaging once and they worked fine. In fact, Southwest airlines gave us one for free. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Protector-Leakproof-Transport-Inflatable-Cushioning/dp/B06X9CC4MF/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=package+for+wine+travel&qid=1569129877&s=home-garden&sr=1-7

 

Correct, no power strips with the protector.  The non protected multi plugs and power strips are cheap to buy. Not only are they not allowed, if you somehow manage to smuggle it in you put the ship in danger of fire because those protected power strips don't work with the ship.  

[vampiress]

since the christmas stuff is out, there are inexpensive outlet extenders, just a cord with plugs on the end, no surge protection.  i picked one up a few years ago after christmas, and i bring that.  but recently i've just been traveling with my phone and ipad, so i'm usually ok with my usb hub which has 5 usb ports.

 

 

[Rabbi-Reefer]

Amazon sells power strips made specifically for cruise ships.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cruise+ship+power+strip+no+surge+protection&crid=3IWLHB5RUI1JM&sprefix=cruise+ship+powe%2Caps%2C254&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16

[Wehwalt]

I would try to pull it out at the destination airport. But I have been in situations like the Princess transfer leaving immediately where I've forgotten or not had time to, and the bag showed up. Obviously you should not rely on that and try to do things by the book, but it's not a mortal sin. If security decides to hold it for the end of the cruise, well, such is life.

 

As for packing the bottle, good padding and plastic bagging is a must. Though I had a situation once where the contractor for TSA tore open the bag even though it wasn't sealed (just tied with a twist-tie) and it's a good thing it didn't break.

[skynight]

One option is to purchase wine in CA before boarding. There are a few stores in San Pedro, one not far from the pier and a few not too far from LAX airport. If you arrive at the pier early enough you can hand your luggage to the porters for delivery to your cabin and then walk or Uber to a wine store. There is one not too far from the pier.

[WannaBaMermaid]

Thanks all for the input!   I’ll definitely get something to protect the wine and my clothes in case it does break!   I didn’t realize they made such.   Same with the extension plugs for electrical outlets.    Thanks again!

[jimlouisesophie]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

One option is to purchase wine in CA before boarding. There are a few stores in San Pedro, one not far from the pier and a few not too far from LAX airport. If you arrive at the pier early enough you can hand your luggage to the porters for delivery to your cabin and then walk or Uber to a wine store. There is one not too far from the pier.

Why not get several bottles in San Pedro and pay the $15 IF the wine check in area is open...not always open so one may be able to get all bottles on board without paying corkage.   It is a lot less expensive to bringing on wine then buying on board.  We plan on bring a larger back pack just for the bottles to bring aboard.

Edited September 22, 2019 by jimlouisesophie
wrong spelling

[MixerDave]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

One option is to purchase wine in CA before boarding. There are a few stores in San Pedro, one not far from the pier and a few not too far from LAX airport. If you arrive at the pier early enough you can hand your luggage to the porters for delivery to your cabin and then walk or Uber to a wine store. There is one not too far from the pier.

Can you recommend a store within walking distance?  We will be staying at the Crowne Plaza

[skynight]

23 minutes ago, MixerDave said:

Can you recommend a store within walking distance?  We will be staying at the Crowne Plaza

I can not 'recommend' any specific wine store. But if you Google wine stores in San Pedro you should find Marabella Vineyard Company just a few short blocks away from the Crown Plaza. They make their own wines. Other wine stores are located on S. Gaffney St. and S. Pacific Ave. You can walk to them, or ask the hotel's shuttle driver. Last year we walked to Von's, a supermarket, on S. Gaffney, and then called the shuttle for a pick up.

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, vampiress said:

since the Christmas stuff is out,

Isn't that sad?  Around here, I think only the Hallowe'en stuff was out for Labor Day weekend.

[BoopTennis]

Do you need to pack a corkscrew and wine bottle stopper plug or can one borrow from the steward?

[Colo Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, BoopTennis said:

Do you need to pack a corkscrew and wine bottle stopper plug or can one borrow from the steward?

We get a corkscrew but have not seen any stoppers for loan. Better bring your own.

[Steelers36]

34 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

We get a corkscrew but have not seen any stoppers for loan. Better bring your own.

Yes, I have been able to borrow a corkscrew in the past, which is good because most of them won't pass TSA scrutiny if using carry-on bags only.  Also, stoppers are easy to bring and won't cause any issues with TSA.  (It's been a while but for pure Caribbean cruising we always just took carry-ons and it will be the case again in November).

[neverbeenhere]

TSA has little problem with corkscrews, it’s the 1 inch long foil cutter that they dislike. 

[Wehwalt]

The CVS on South Gaffey Street, I've found, has a nice selection.

[Steelers36]

41 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

TSA has little problem with corkscrews, it’s the 1 inch long foil cutter that they dislike. 

Just to expand a bit, I was informed by a TSA supervisor once that the straight type of corkscrew like this: 

was acceptable.  After that worked once, then it was taken the next time, so I just gave up.  I always thought it was odd that the standard wine opener with the recessed cutting blade was not okay when the actual screw section as seen above was not only larger but certainly could be weaponized.  I have not made any inquiry with a TSA agent in years about this.  

 

I take a regular corkscrew when we are checking luggage and otherwise deal with it at the destination.  Haven't had a problem on Princess.  Another solution is to buy wine for taking aboard with screw tops.  Not so much of those from California and France, but in use internationally, especially Australian wines.

[NCbmwmom]

11 hours ago, Rabbi-Reefer said:

Amazon sells power strips made specifically for cruise ships.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cruise+ship+power+strip+no+surge+protection&crid=3IWLHB5RUI1JM&sprefix=cruise+ship+powe%2Caps%2C254&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Outlet-Desktop-Charging-Station-Extension/dp/B0773H94GR/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3IWLHB5RUI1JM&keywords=cruise+ship+power+strip+no+surge+protection&qid=1569179948&s=gateway&sprefix=cruise+ship+powe%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-4

 

I use this one. It’s on the list Rabbi shared. It works great. 

[tailspintom]

5 hours ago, BoopTennis said:

Do you need to pack a corkscrew and wine bottle stopper plug or can one borrow from the steward?

Stopper plug? What on earth could that be used for?  I pack a flat waiters corkscrew with the small blade in my toiletry bag in my checked luggage.

[Cruise Raider]

This is a little bit off base from your actual question but the Royal Princess has been known to sell the wine packages onboard, even on 7 night cruises.  They have a wonderful wine list and you may not have to risk any breakage inside your luggage.  We debated taking our own wine before going on our last cruise on the Royal and decided against it as we had a 3 night stopover in Vegas before heading to San Pedro.  Well, we were able to purchase the wine bottle package and so glad we did.  We were able to take a few of the bottles to our cabin and had the remainder in the MDR or Alfredos.  They will hold an open bottle of wine for you as well until you request it on a subsequent night.  Just a thought...

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, tailspintom said:

Stopper plug? What on earth could that be used for? 

Easier to use than replacing the cork a lot of the time.  Of course if you drain the bottle after opening, a stopper is unnecessary. 

[Papa Yoda]

I don' need no steenkin stopper...

 

But I do take one of these:

with the built in aerator.

[andrek]

Hello Cruise Raider,

We will be on the Royal Princess in November for one week and I can not find out how to order the gold wine package for the 7day trip. Did you buy it online before you left or is it available once you get on board. I was thinking of calling Princess and asking. Thanks for any help.

Andrea

[capriccio]

11 hours ago, andrek said:

Hello Cruise Raider,

We will be on the Royal Princess in November for one week and I can not find out how to order the gold wine package for the 7day trip. Did you buy it online before you left or is it available once you get on board. I was thinking of calling Princess and asking. Thanks for any help.

Andrea

Wine packages can only be bought on board.