Another random question

[teddie2]

Hi all 

Here I am again with another random question.  Are you allowed to bring food onto the ship from the port you just visited.  Say we liked the bread or pastry they had in port and wanted to bring some back are they ok with that.  What if it was empanadas?  Or croquettes in Porto.. The cruise ships make money on us because we wont eat alot on the ship. We like having a nice big lunch (which is our dinner) in port to experience the local food.  THen at dinner we eat light or just snack.  Bread and cheese and some salad or some of the local foods.. Any way just wondering what the policy may be. I know you can bring alcohol on board (say bottles of port from Porto) but they will hold it till the end of the cruise.  I just wondered about food. Thanks!

[Steelers36]

15 minutes ago, teddie2 said:

Hi all 

Here I am again with another random question.  Are you allowed to bring food onto the ship from the port you just visited.  Say we liked the bread or pastry they had in port and wanted to bring some back are they ok with that.  What if it was empanadas?  Or croquettes in Porto.. The cruise ships make money on us because we wont eat a lot on the ship. We like having a nice big lunch (which is our dinner) in port to experience the local food.  Then at dinner we eat light or just snack.  Bread and cheese and some salad or some of the local foods.. Any way just wondering what the policy may be. I know you can bring alcohol on board (say bottles of port from Porto) but they will hold it till the end of the cruise.  I just wondered about food. Thanks!

No food like you have described.  Packaged food snacks or candy, yes.  Princess has a list of what is not allowed on board at Princess.com.

[Shippy]

Most of the time they have sniffer dogs at the port before you re enter the ship

[SCX22]

Bring food back onto the ship all the time and haven’t had problems.  
 

On our Med cruise this past November, we brought all sorts of pastries and snacks from the ports we visited.  Toulon…pissaladiere and Tropezienne.  Messina…cannoli.  Naples…babas and savarins.  Athens baklava and kataifi.

 

This past April we brought back torrijas from Malaga, pastel de nata and bacalao fritters in Lisbon.

 

 In Hawaii, we brought all sorts of tropical fruits back on to the ship with no problem.  

Mind you these were all in to go boxes and containers, sans the fruit.

 

If using the ship’s x-rays rather than the port authority’s, you can ask for a hand search of the food items by the ship’s security staff.

 

Not sure why this would be a problem for passengers since the crew do this all the time.  In US ports I see them bringing Panda Express back onto the ship.  In Vancouver this spring, they brought back Jollibee.

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

No food like you have described.  Packaged food snacks or candy, yes.  Princess has a list of what is not allowed on board at Princess.com.

Do you have this list?

 

We bring back food all the time, so does crew. Not prepackaged.  

 

Follow crew members and you'll see lots of local cuisine being enjoyed onboard the ship.

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, teddie2 said:

Hi all 

Here I am again with another random question.  Are you allowed to bring food onto the ship from the port you just visited.  Say we liked the bread or pastry they had in port and wanted to bring some back are they ok with that.  What if it was empanadas?  Or croquettes in Porto.. The cruise ships make money on us because we wont eat alot on the ship. We like having a nice big lunch (which is our dinner) in port to experience the local food.  THen at dinner we eat light or just snack.  Bread and cheese and some salad or some of the local foods.. Any way just wondering what the policy may be. I know you can bring alcohol on board (say bottles of port from Porto) but they will hold it till the end of the cruise.  I just wondered about food. Thanks!

Yes. You can definitely bring food back onboard. 

We've done this in Colombia, Mexico, American Samoa, Tahiti, San Francisco, Juneau, Boston and Brooklyn just to name a few. We brought takeaway,  leftovers and drinks (non alcoholic).

[reedprincess]

I bring back local items all the time, all over - various European ports- cheese,.pastries, croquettes, charcuterie, etc, Hawaii - fruits, flower leis, macadamia nuts, Caribbean - real patties from Jamaica, conch fritters, brought some oxtail back 2 weeks ago, etc.  brought some homemade salsa and fresh tortilla chips back in Cozumel. A d so forth.

Bringing food aboard is generally no problem. 

 

Taking food OFF the ship is a hard no go - unless it's factory sealed/prepackaged, etc.  even things you e bought in various ports - unless it's factory sealed, you shouldn't be tak

[teddie2]

Thank you all. Steelers 36 why do you think not. It sounds like many have.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, SCX22 said:

Bring food back onto the ship all the time and haven’t had problems.  
 

On our Med cruise this past November, we brought all sorts of pastries and snacks from the ports we visited.  Toulon…pissaladiere and Tropezienne.  Messina…cannoli.  Naples…babas and savarins.  Athens baklava and kataifi.

 

This past April we brought back torrijas from Malaga, pastel de nata and bacalao fritters in Lisbon.

 

 In Hawaii, we brought all sorts of tropical fruits back on to the ship with no problem.  

Mind you these were all in to go boxes and containers, sans the fruit.

 

If using the ship’s x-rays rather than the port authority’s, you can ask for a hand search of the food items by the ship’s security staff.

 

Not sure why this would be a problem for passengers since the crew do this all the time.  In US ports I see them bringing Panda Express back onto the ship.  In Vancouver this spring, they brought back Jollibee.

 

2 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Do you have this list?

 

We bring back food all the time, so does crew. Not prepackaged.  

 

Follow crew members and you'll see lots of local cuisine being enjoyed onboard the ship.

 

2 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Yes. You can definitely bring food back onboard. 

We've done this in Colombia, Mexico, American Samoa, Tahiti, San Francisco, Juneau, Boston and Brooklyn just to name a few. We brought takeaway,  leftovers and drinks (non alcoholic).

 

2 hours ago, reedprincess said:

I bring back local items all the time, all over - various European ports- cheese,.pastries, croquettes, charcuterie, etc, Hawaii - fruits, flower leis, macadamia nuts, Caribbean - real patties from Jamaica, conch fritters, brought some oxtail back 2 weeks ago, etc.  brought some homemade salsa and fresh tortilla chips back in Cozumel. A d so forth.

Bringing food aboard is generally no problem. 

 

Taking food OFF the ship is a hard no go - unless it's factory sealed/prepackaged, etc.  even things you e bought in various ports - unless it's factory sealed, you shouldn't be tak

 

1 hour ago, teddie2 said:

Thank you all. Steelers 36 why do you think not. It sounds like many have.

It looks like I stand corrected.   I thought I had seen reference in the list of prohibited items or been told on a ship.  Yes,  I know we are quite limited in what we can take off the ship.

 

Sorry, folka.  Got my wires reversed.  Food not mentioned in prohibited items list.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Steelers36

[antsp]

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

Most of the time they have sniffer dogs at the port before you re enter the ship

Getting off yes, on never

[antsp]

There is a cruising world outside the usa and Caribbean, within Europe (EU) there are no restrictions 

[dlh015]

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

Most of the time they have sniffer dogs at the port before you re enter the ship

Have never seen that...not in the Mediterranean, Hawaii, South Pacific, Mexico, etc...

[Kmkub]

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

Most of the time they have sniffer dogs at the port before you re enter the ship

I’ve seen dogs once, getting off the ship in port. Never when boarding. In which ports do you usually see dogs?

[Cruise Raider]

Now, this is interesting and if you asked me this a year ago, I would have said there was no problem bring food onto the ship from port.  I’ve actually done it several times.  
But, just so you are aware, it’s generally not an issue but there have been a couple of ports recently where anybody bringing non-sealed food onboard had to dump it.  These ports were both on the west coast.  They may be getting touchier about it but for the most part, it has been allowed.  You might just want to ask security when you get off the ship just to save yourself from spending money on something only to have to throw it away on the way back.  

[cr8tiv1]

 

I've brought back foods many a times.  Only once was it confiscated (plate lunch/NCL Kona).

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I purchased a large container of clam chowder on the Monterey Pier to bring on the ship for a friend that stayed onboard while we were in port. I had it in my hands when I boarded the tender. When I stepped off of the tender an employee asked what I was carrying. When I told him clam chowder he took it from me and said that I couldn’t bring it onboard. 

[teddie2]

Wow so interesting. I think good idea to ask before we got off yes.  We are entirely in Europe on the Island Princess. Now I am going to push even more...if I can bring it on or do bring it od..is there somewhere to heat it up?

[Cruise Raider]

5 minutes ago, teddie2 said:

Wow so interesting. I think good idea to ask before we got off yes.  We are entirely in Europe on the Island Princess. Now I am going to push even more...if I can bring it on or do bring it od..is there somewhere to heat it up?

There is nowhere for guests to heat up food onboard.  
 

We once asked the food and beverage director if we could bring a meal for several of our favorite crew members and we were told no.   Once explained, it made sense to us.  It not only has to do with the lack of strict controls outside of their kitchens, but also has to do with transporting the food.  They don’t know how long it’s been out of proper temperature controls. They don’t want their passengers or crew getting food poisoning and blaming it on the cruise line.  While many will get away with it, I’m just now starting to see security in some ports having you dump it before breathing / reboarding.  Items such as bread, chocolate, etc are probably ok, things like soup, meats, etc that are subject to proper temperature controls would be iffy.  

[teddie2]

Thank you thats a good point. I think we woukd bring on things not needing to heat up. Cold tapas items and bread cheese. Hopefully that will be ok.

[Cruise Raider]

24 minutes ago, teddie2 said:

Thank you thats a good point. I think we woukd bring on things not needing to heat up. Cold tapas items and bread cheese. Hopefully that will be ok.

 fingers crossed for you … 

I am sure something that doesn’t easily spoil would be ok unless they just have a hardline rule against bringing anything onboard that is not factory sealed.  
 

[Steelers36]

It does appear there are and can be restrictions.  I am positive I have seen such restrictions on some of our voyages, but cannot recall specifics.  Best to ask first if nothing has been posted.

[Rick&Jeannie]

23 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

It does appear there are and can be restrictions.  I am positive I have seen such restrictions on some of our voyages, but cannot recall specifics.  Best to ask first if nothing has been posted.

I have as well...policies may not be the same everywhere, or at least not enforced uniformly. 

[SCX22]

7 hours ago, teddie2 said:

Thank you thats a good point. I think we woukd bring on things not needing to heat up. Cold tapas items and bread cheese. Hopefully that will be ok.

 

Another thing to remember is to only bring on board what you can eat in a single sitting, if what you brought back will spoil if unrefrigerated .  The minifridges don't get as cold as a conventional refrigerator.  Good enough to keep drinks cold enough, but not cold enough for food storage.

[teddie2]

Ok thanks good to know. We have used minis in hotels and they are pretty cold. For a day they have been fine with anything wecput in there. We would only be purchasing something that would not spoil easily.

[MrSchwump]

I just want to meet that Empenada sniffing dog!