Box Lunches

[candkd]

Does anyone know if box lunches are available?

[uktog]

33 minutes ago, candkd said:

Does anyone know if box lunches are available?

No unless the ship provides them for an excursion as part of an arrangement. Many countries prohibit bringing food off the ship and fines if detected (usually by a sweet little Beagle) are significant 

[Catchum]

We have taken food ashore when we know time will be limited. Go to the breakfast buffet grab sandwich fixings, make sandwich in room and place in ziploc bag (which no one should ever travel without).

 

BUT CHECK THE GOVERNMENT WEBSITE ON THE RULES FOR BRINGING IN FOOD BEFORE YOU TRAVEL. 

 

Norway when we visited not a problem-  New Zealand don't even think about it. 

 

Ignorance is not going to help nor is someone on TripAdvisor said it was OK. You need to read the rules carefully for each country you visit and abide by them.

[KTV]

On 6/25/2024 at 2:54 PM, Catchum said:

 

 

BUT CHECK THE GOVERNMENT WEBSITE ON THE RULES FOR BRINGING IN FOOD BEFORE YOU TRAVEL. 

 

Any problem bringing food into Scotland or Ireland?

[Catchum]

24 minutes ago, KTV said:

Any problem bringing food into Scotland or Ireland?

As I said don't take mine or anyone else's word for this. Check the government's website for yourself so you are confident you comply. 

 

It can also depend on where you are travelling from, plus Ireland and Northern Ireland will have different rules. My guess is that Scotland will have the same rules as the rest of the UK but if the sniffer dogs decide to have a playdate to meet your ship telling them "someone on CC said I could bring this into the country" is not going fly.

 

Google bringing food into -name of country-

[Riocca]

1 hour ago, KTV said:

Any problem bringing food into Scotland or Ireland?

This shows how complicated the rules are:

https://www.gov.uk/bringing-food-into-great-britain

[BHBailey]

We got a little to go box at windows during breakfast last year. We were on an excursion in Turkey and some other guests who were on the same one heard that the provided box lunch wasn't good... which was true. We all loaded up on some fruit and breakfast pastries to make it until we got back on ship. There were no issues at all.

[Rosroz]

Unless you’re going to the middle of nowhere , why not just purchase something ashore 

[Leo_On_Geo]

8 minutes ago, Rosroz said:

Unless you’re going to the middle of nowhere , why not just purchase something ashore 

You are free to do that. Personally I would rather have a piece of fruit, than a fast food snack, or spend time waiting at a cafe.  To each their own. 

[Catchum]

3 hours ago, Rosroz said:

Unless you’re going to the middle of nowhere , why not just purchase something ashore 

Sometimes if you have a full day of mustsee things, having food with you to eat on the run is helpful. Olso springs to mind. Other places our whole plan is to find or revist an off the beaten track bar to snack, drink and watch the world go by.

[ECCruise]

5 hours ago, Rosroz said:

Unless you’re going to the middle of nowhere , why not just purchase something ashore 

I guess that it would depend on the length/structure of the tour.

 

But the majority we have been on have offered some time to sample something outside.  I would much rather do that than bring the same old/same old from the ship, since sampling different cuisines is way up on the list of reasons to travel, for us. 

[Catchum]

21 hours ago, ECCruise said:

I guess that it would depend on the length/structure of the tour.

We don't do organised tours often - in Oslo we visited the viking ship museum, the Kon-Tiki museum, the Fram museum, the National museum (scream), and Vigeland all on our own so having food with us was a major time saver. But I had extensively researched the rules for bringing food into Norway.

 

In Funchal we have a favourite tapas bar in a back street where the local construction crews come to get their lunch where we happily hang out. So I have no idea if you can bring food ashore.