Wine in carry-on

[Retired 07]

It’s been a while since I sailed Princess. Is each person still allowed to bring 1 bottle of wine in their carry-on?

[Thrak]

Yes. The current terms listed still allow for one bottle each in carry on luggage.

 

Snip from the Passage Contract:

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Thrak

[Retired 07]

Thank you, it’s good to know that they haven’t changed that.

[getting older slowly]

Here they don't even look at it....  so it could be anything in a bottle.....

 

But having said that... on one cruise of 20+ nights really like a port before bed...

 

and cost of port on board      $25 per tiny glass.... so bought two bottles of port but put on new labels on showing shiraz and took them on board....

 

Normally I wouldn't bother doing this... but $25 per glass for an average port is over the top.....   As for wines .. happy to pay the price on board...

[vjmatty]

10 minutes ago, getting older slowly said:

Here they don't even look at it....  so it could be anything in a bottle.....

 

But having said that... on one cruise of 20+ nights really like a port before bed...

 

and cost of port on board      $25 per tiny glass.... so bought two bottles of port but put on new labels on showing shiraz and took them on board....

 

Normally I wouldn't bother doing this... but $25 per glass for an average port is over the top.....   As for wines .. happy to pay the price on board...

Why put it in a shiraz bottle? Wine is wine....I mean I understand the difference between port and Shiraz but does the carrier contract specifically prohibit port? 

Edited July 20, 2021 by vjmatty

[getting older slowly]

Just now, vjmatty said:

Why put it in a shiraz bottle? Wine is wine....

Port is a fortified wine which is not allowed to be bought on board...

Wine still or sparkling is allowed...

and I just changed the label.... so the bottle was still sealed......

 

Cheers Don

[vjmatty]

Just now, getting older slowly said:

Port is a fortified wine which is not allowed to be bought on board...

Wine still or sparkling is allowed...

and I just changed the label.... so the bottle was still sealed......

 

Cheers Don

I wondered about that because I do know the difference so I edited my response....I have never seen port mentioned as an exception to the carry in rule. 

[Thrak]

59 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

I wondered about that because I do know the difference so I edited my response....I have never seen port mentioned as an exception to the carry in rule. 

 

In the past people have reported having their fortified wines confiscated. It's not worth the chance of losing a good port. Of course, many people have also simply walked right on by the wine check table and sometimes it's not even staffed. I'm not sure what port is being purchased at $25 for a tiny glass. There is far less expensive port available. I've had an after dinner port in the dining room several times. No, it isn't snazzy wow wow port but it's not really bad either. (And, in my youth, I have definitely experienced some truly bad port! 🤪)

[Eaglecw]

I like to drink Costco brand  or Sheelin "Irish Cream" from Total wine and More, it has no spirits in it, it's made from wine. Is that OK to bring onboard?

[brisalta]

18 minutes ago, Eaglecw said:

I like to drink Costco brand  or Sheelin "Irish Cream" from Total wine and More, it has no spirits in it, it's made from wine. Is that OK to bring onboard?

 

That seems to be a fortified spirit.

[Thrak]

57 minutes ago, Eaglecw said:

I like to drink Costco brand  or Sheelin "Irish Cream" from Total wine and More, it has no spirits in it, it's made from wine. Is that OK to bring onboard?

 

That is only 13.9% alcohol content so it "should" fall under the same category as wine. However, my guess is that they would take one look at the bottle and decide it's booze and confiscate it. You might be able to argue your case by pointing out the alcohol content but I wouldn't count on it. Seems stupid but it's hard to count on common sense prevailing.

 

[LHC Kirby]

There is a simple way to get 4 bottles on with two people.

 

Wife and I both carry on two bottles, go through separate "security" lines.... simple tell them, I carry both, there is my wife... she and I are looking for "the look" and a happy wave we are good.  ONCE I was told to go to the wine table (NCL) and I by passed..... no worries.... 

[nini]

Shoot, we had  newbie at the port who wanted to confiscate my Chardonnay! He thought 13% alcohol was too high. Finally, someone explained to him that it was ok. This was out of San Pedro, California.

[Roger88]

8 minutes ago, nini said:

Shoot, we had  newbie at the port who wanted to confiscate my Chardonnay! He thought 13% alcohol was too high. Finally, someone explained to him that it was ok. This was out of San Pedro, California.

13% for a Chardonnay is really a bit too high. I think he was joking with you. As a person working in a wine business for awhile I can confidently tell you that the average is 11-12%, especially for Chardonnay. Maybe he wanted to explain this to you? 😄

[nini]

Just now, Roger88 said:

13% for a Chardonnay is really a bit too high. I think he was joking with you. As a person working in a wine business for awhile I can confidently tell you that the average is 11-12%, especially for Chardonnay. Maybe he wanted to explain this to you? 😄

No, he was wet behind the ears and very green. I disagree about the 13%. I also drink reds and the 13% is pretty normal. I worked in an Italian restaurant and we only served Italian wines, many at about 14%.

[MissP22]

11 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

Here they don't even look at it....  so it could be anything in a bottle.....

Same here in Ft Lauderdale.

Some people switch out the contents & go so far as to re-cap the bottled with shrinkable seals.  

[MissP22]

5 hours ago, LHC Kirby said:

There is a simple way to get 4 bottles on with two people.

 

Wife and I both carry on two bottles, go through separate "security" lines.... simple tell them, I carry both, there is my wife... she and I are looking for "the look" and a happy wave we are good.  ONCE I was told to go to the wine table (NCL) and I by passed..... no worries.... 

That works.

They don't question the fact that you might board at separate times & never take the time to register how many bottles enter per cabin.

It's to much trouble. 

Last cruise they saw I had numerous cans of soda scattered in my suitcase & questioned if it was beer. I told the woman to go ahead & open it but she just waved me by. 

[Steelers36]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

That is only 13.9% alcohol content so it "should" fall under the same category as wine. However, my guess is that they would take one look at the bottle and decide it's booze and confiscate it. You might be able to argue your case by pointing out the alcohol content but I wouldn't count on it. Seems stupid but it's hard to count on common sense prevailing.

 

That one would appear to be difficult to pass in the wine category.

[Steelers36]

10 hours ago, Thrak said:

Of course, many people have also simply walked right on by the wine check table and sometimes it's not even staffed.

It's been my experience that early in the morning (talking PE, FL), no one is at the wine table from the ship that early.  On one voyage, I walked back downstairs to check and still no one was there.  What they are doing is writing a chit to later charge your on-board account.  You receive stickers for charged bottles.  If you take a bottle to the DR without a sticker, your waiter is supposed to write-up a chit to charge the corkage fee (or tap the Medallion nowadays).  Some waiters may not do this for the entire voyage and some may be sticklers.

 

If all you have is the two free bottles, it doesn't matter if you see or visit the wine table since there is no charge and no bottle stickers. 

 

For the next while (rest of 2021?), bypassing the table may not be an option since they are not opening up the terminals until 11:30 for first Arrival Group and they should have the table staffed by then.  Whether one can stroll on by or not, I can't say.  I figure it's either pay-them-now-or-pay-them-later, but I prefer if the table is not staffed since it doesn't hold us up from boarding and our waiters have generally not charged for every bottle, or I have a bottle that was opened in the room before taking it anywhere for dinner.

 

If travelling to ports where you might pick up more wine, I have found it to be a non-issue bringing up to a bottle each back on board at a port stop.

 

[vjmatty]

14 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

In the past people have reported having their fortified wines confiscated. It's not worth the chance of losing a good port. Of course, many people have also simply walked right on by the wine check table and sometimes it's not even staffed. I'm not sure what port is being purchased at $25 for a tiny glass. There is far less expensive port available. I've had an after dinner port in the dining room several times. No, it isn't snazzy wow wow port but it's not really bad either. (And, in my youth, I have definitely experienced some truly bad port! 🤪)

 

I guess it depends on how much of a wine connoisseur the person checking bags is.... but you're right, not worth the risk.

[FredZiffle]

12 hours ago, LHC Kirby said:

There is a simple way to get 4 bottles on with two people.

 

Wife and I both carry on two bottles, go through separate "security" lines.... simple tell them, I carry both, there is my wife... she and I are looking for "the look" and a happy wave we are good.  ONCE I was told to go to the wine table (NCL) and I by passed..... no worries.... 

I've also carried my two bottles on board, put them in the cabin, and then gone back off the ship and picked up a couple more.

[getting older slowly]

Also on our last cruise a 26 nighter way back in Dec 2019... stop at ports   we would buy a couple of bottles of wines and come back to the ship in the morning, they would put the bag through the x-ray, they would not say anything and walk past the the "booze table"which was unmanned most times.... it is was just smile and say hello..

 

What will happen in the future.... no idea..... one thought is they will be looking for every bit of income..

 

Don

[neverbeenhere]

Par for the course. Two bottles in carryons becomes a booze smuggling thread. 

[norwega]

1 hour ago, getting older slowly said:

Also on our last cruise a 26 nighter way back in Dec 2019... stop at ports   we would buy a couple of bottles of wines and come back to the ship in the morning, they would put the bag through the x-ray, they would not say anything and walk past the the "booze table"which was unmanned most times.... it is was just smile and say hello..

 

What will happen in the future.... no idea..... one thought is they will be looking for every bit of income..

 

Don

We brought 8 bottles back onboard in Barcelona as we were on a B2B and had been wine tasting all day, Priorat region.  It was late, 6pm? , no one to check our backpacks.  We had kept the stickers from when we paid corkage at other ports, and the next week at sea we brought wine to dinner with a sticker on it, then I'd remove it and put it in my purse for the next night.  The wine was yummy and much less expensive than onboard so we were prepared to pay corkage.  DH has learned that if the port has the xray on land, part of the port, they won't check for wine, but if the xray is on the ship, be prepared to pay corkage for wine brought aboard. 

 

We've brought port from WA before and no one questioned us, but that was Celebrity.