Taking Soda on board

[Sgwscruiser]

Tried to look up. Not a fan of the search Feature.  Can you take a 12 pack of Soda on board with you on Embarkation day

[jeh10641]

For our 12/01/21 Rotterdam cruise, I brought on board over a dozen containers of ready-to-drink

protein shakes (part my life style) but I had checked with HAL in advance (directly, even though I had a travel agent).

[CruiserBruce]

Soft drink? No.

[Shmoo here]

27 minutes ago, Sgwscruiser said:

Tried to look up. Not a fan of the search Feature.  Can you take a 12 pack of Soda on board with you on Embarkation day

No longer allowed.  I will miss that perk.  Has me seriously reconsidering cruising with HAL again.

[jkrislc]

1 hour ago, Shmoo here said:

No longer allowed.  I will miss that perk.  Has me seriously reconsidering cruising with HAL again.

Agreed, especially since the sister brands, including Carnival, allow it (or did the last time I checked). 

[ehyup71]

I think the thing that bothers me most about this change is that they still allow people to bring wine/champagne on board.  Even if they are charging a $20.00 corkage fee per bottle... are they not losing more money on alcohol sales than they are from someone bringing on a 12-pack of soda?  I mean purchasing 12 soda individually on board would cost about $30.  Seems silly.

 

(** was just on Carnival Panorama in February and yes, Carnival still allows you to bring a case of soda onboard)

 

Guests may bring Wine and Champagne onboard, however a corkage fee of USD $20.00 (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to each bottle (max 750 ml in volume or less). Limitations apply. Wine brought in quantities deemed to be excessive by the vessel or security will be refused.

Edited March 20, 2022 by ehyup71

[AFNavigator]

1 hour ago, Shmoo here said:

No longer allowed.  I will miss that perk.  Has me seriously reconsidering cruising with HAL again.

About the closest you can come to soda is bringing on a 12 pack of carbonated water.  We were allowed to bring on a 12 pack of La Croix sparkling water onboard in Dec.

 

From HAL FAQs:  

Items such as sodas, energy drinks or other non-alcoholic items are not allowed on board in any form. Plastic water bottles are not allowed. However, an allowance of six liters, twelve (12) cans or cartons (500 ml in volume or less) or six (6) cans or cartons (1 liter in volume or less) of water are allowed per stateroom.  Any amount in excess of this allowance will be not be allowed onboard. Water in plastic bottles will not be allowed onboard in any quantity, including in ports of call. Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding.

[Shmoo here]

8 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

About the closest you can come to soda is bringing on a 12 pack of carbonated water.

Yeah, no.  That's not going to do it.  My preferred drink is caffeine free regular Coke, or caffeine free regular Pepsi, if I have to.

 

I've yet to find it stocked on any cruise line I've been on so far, so I want to bring my own.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Shmoo here

[Shmoo here]

3 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

duplicate

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by Shmoo here

[Shmoo here]

4 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

 

sorry, duplicate

Edited March 20, 2022 by Shmoo here

[AFNavigator]

5 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

Yeah, no.  That's not going to do it.  My preferred drink is caffeine free regular Coke, or caffeine free regular Pepsi, if I have to.

 

I've yet to find it stocked on any cruise line I've been on so far, so I want to bring my own.

Edited just now by Shmoo here

Depending on which ship you will be on, and how much soda you go through in a week, you might want to look into purchasing the "Unlimited Coca Cola Package".  Price for a 7 day cruise is $66.08/person.  If I did the math right, that works out to the equivalent of 22 12oz sodas per person.

This option is only available on the Pinnacle class ships and is in the form of the Coca Cola Freestyle machine.  They give you a special drink tumbler to use for the duration of the cruise...don't lose it because they say it is not replaceable.  If the freestyle machines have the same selection as stateside, they should include caffeine free Diet Coke...the package picture online even shows a caffeine free Diet Coke.

 

On non-Pinnacle class ships, the cheapest option is the Quench package that goes for $148.26/person for 7 days.  That's pretty pricey in comparison but contains a lot more content.  It covers, "a variety of Coca-Cola products, mocktails, juices, bottled water (sparkling 330ml or still 500ml) and Exploration’s Café Beverages. Exclusively on our Pinnacle Class ships the Quench Package also features Freestyle Coca-Cola which provides 100+ refreshing Coca-Cola flavors to choose from."

 

Obviously, anyone considering these packages, as with the alcoholic packages, need to do the math to determine if they consider the package to be a good value to them.  The peace of mind of getting a drink with the package is great though because you don't keep getting billed each transaction.

[Shmoo here]

12 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

you might want to look into purchasing the "Unlimited Coca Cola Package".

The issue is - I've yet to find caffeine free regular Coke onboard.  That's why I bring it onboard myself.

 

As for the Free-style option - no thank you. l find that the spigot seems to retain flavor from whatever the preceding drink dispensed from it was.  Meaning the taste of MY drink is odd.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by Shmoo here

[RuthC]

41 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

The issue is - I've yet to find caffeine free regular Coke onboard.  That's why I bring it onboard myself.

I didn't realize HAL stopped carrying this particular form of soda. When did that happen? And do they still carry the caffeine free diet Coke? I've always been able to get that. 

Anyway, since HAL does carry Coke products, why not just ask your TA to notify HAL to have some aboard for your cruise? If the product is available, they would be willing to do that. At least they have in the past. 

[Shmoo here]

37 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I didn't realize HAL stopped carrying this particular form of soda. When did that happen? And do they still carry the caffeine free diet Coke? I've always been able to get that. 

Anyway, since HAL does carry Coke products, why not just ask your TA to notify HAL to have some aboard for your cruise? If the product is available, they would be willing to do that. At least they have in the past. 

I've found that the diet (caffeine free) Coke is usually available.  But, only once was I able to snag some regular caffeine free onboard.  

 

Certainly sounds reasonable to ask for it be be onboard our cruise, but who would I notify?  I don't use a TA.

 

Of course, right now (since COVID) Coke isn't producing the caffeine free regular Coke.  At least I can't find it anywhere.  So, it's a moot point whether they'd even be able to get it.

[Wakepatrol]

I  just got of Nieuw Amsterdam and the people boarding in front of me had a Brisk one liter bottle of ice tea. It was confiscated before they passed through security.