Where to buy wine before sailing?

[Red Rox]

We're on the Coral Princess departing Whittier on July 23rd with a 5 day land tour on the front end. We fly from Fairbanks to Anchorage on the 23rd and then transfer by motorcoach to Whittier to board the ship. We'd like to buy some wine to take on board with us. My question is, can we buy a case of wine somewhere on the day of embarkation? Maybe in Anchorage or Whittier? Or can we buy it when we arrive in Anchorage on the 18th, before the land tour, and leave it with our luggage that will be held and delivered to the ship?

Anyone with experience doing this, please let me know. Anyone else who knows of specific places to purchase a case of wine, please chime in as well.

[camella]

I don't know where you can buy a case of wine but you need to check a few things before you do that. See what your line's policy is about bringing on wine #1. We just got off of Celebrity and carried on two bottles per person but I understand their official policy is two bottles per cabin..but they didn't give us any trouble. We had to travel east coast to west coast so we actually checked our wine on the airplane because it's the only way we could bring it and we got in really late the day before the cruise. Don't know where you live but if you can get a styrofoam shipper it would make your life a lot easier. If they will only allow you to carry on the wine, then make sure you bring lots of bubble wrap and 2 gallon zip locks. Another option is to send yourself wine through the ship's bon voyage program. Not cheap, but a way to have wine in your room that's a little cheaper sometimes than the dining room. Good luck and have a great time!

[Red Rox]

I'm aware of the 1-2 bottle per person policy at Princess, but there will be 4 of us traveling together (in 2 seperate suites), and we plan to do some entertaining in our suite. I've read several posts from travelers who have had no problems boarding with as much as a case of wine for personal consumption.

The point is that since we're flying from PHX to Anchorage to begin our trip, we don't want to buy the wine in PHX and fly with it. We'd rather purchase it in AK at some point and not have to lug it around with us and especially not have to bring it on any aircraft. I'm sure that someone must have dealt with this kind of issue in the past, so I'm looking for comments on the experience and hopefully locations of wine/liquor stores close to Whittier embarkation, or Anchorage air/bus terminal.