Bringing Wine on the Caribbean Princess

[CruiseLiz]

Can everyone clarify something for me please........

 

Is this wine confiscated from carryons (i.e. you brought it on your person on the ship)?

 

Has anyone had experience with wine confiscated from checked luggage?

 

 

Thanks!

[cricketdog]

Just back from the Golden princess and carried on 5 Bottles of wine and 2 bottles of Champange, No problem, I put them through the xray machine and they were in 2 bags that said wine shop. No problem go figure.

Cricketdog

[choochella]

cruisenpeg, so, you just put a case of beer in your checked luggage? Not afraid of it getting shook up and spurting all over the place?

[DeRon]

:rolleyes: A little dose of reality -- do you really think they will budge for a passenger waving their "contract" and demanding their "rights"? I sincerely doubt it. They are not lawyers and probably don't give a darn what is legally enforcable. They have been giving marching orders of one bottle per and that is what they will enforce.

100% agree! And, who wants to start a vacation like that - in an argument of your rights? No thanks. Besides that, I was there. These people were just following orders that were given to them. It would have held up a long line and made a scene for nothing. We were compliant and went on to have a great time on our cruise. I want to escape stress on a cruise, not create it.

[DeRon]

It sounds like it depends on who is doing the xraying.

[crusinpeg]

cruisenpeg, so, you just put a case of beer in your checked luggage? Not afraid of it getting shook up and spurting all over the place?

 

Never had a problem...wrapped in bubble wrap...has anyone out there had a problem doing that?

Maybe I'm just lucky.

[cruisers0708]

We brought several bottles on the CB on 10/14--packaged in a box from Total Wine. Taped it up, tagged with princess luggage tags and dropped off with porter. No problems, no questions asked. Delivered to our room later in the day. We didn't try to carry any on after reading recent posts about confiscated wine.

[SoSueMe]

So, what about beer? I have heard so many conflicting stories that some were able to get on with more than one case, and some had stories of how they disguised them in soda cartons. I would hate to have to smuggle just for the idea of getting caught and being embarrassed. What is everyone's stories on bringing beer?

 

 

As already noted by another poster above from my review, on our 10/7 CB cruise, we carried on a 12-pack of beer in a duffle bag, which went through the scanner. We did not disguise it in soda cartons, nor did I disguise the Jack Daniels bottle (a fifth) in my carry on in any way (other than put it inside 2 clear ziplock bags in case of breakage in my suitcase), so frankly I somewhat resent the "smuggling" label affixed to this conduct by cruzinchris. :rolleyes: Whatever. :rolleyes: This stuff shows up in an x-ray. If we were intent on "smuggling" we might have packed it in our checked luggage and I wouldn't be sharing it on a message board. Had we been questioned in any way, we were prepared to simply relinquish it and go on. It's not worth ruining the start of a great vacation, imo.

[CEVannoy]

Bottom line is if you get caught (carry on), it's one bottle of wine or champagne per person you can bring on board at each port of call. The Xray machine can see the bottles and it's up to the Xray attendant if he chooses to say anything or not. Last week it was one bottle per person (no hard liquor). Pack any extra's and hard liquor in your checked luggage before arriving at the ships terminal.

Liquor is very measured and very expensive on the ship. They almost always ask you if you want a double ($10) because a measured shot drink is such a joke you might as well go without it! You can expect to pay $5.00 per measured shot (tip included) if you have a vodka/tonic or a Bailey's in your coffee. If you drink wine, the cost of a bottle is doubled from what you would normally pay on the street!

[cruisemom42]

This "rule" (as stated in the Cruise Answer book) is randomly enforced. I had 1 bottle of wine held from my carry on (I had 2) on our 5/27 CB cruise from Fort Lauderdale. I didn't realize I was not in compliance, but I wasn't going to make a fuss. A woman in front of me had a 12-pack of beer confiscated as well. They were definitely not letting folks through with anything other than the minimum allowed on that day.

 

I believe that most who have carried wine in their luggage have no problem. I don't want to risk breakage as we fly, so will likely just buy on board or at local ports from now on.

[vince_g]

Bottom line is if you get caught (carry on), it's one bottle of wine or champagne per person you can bring on board at each port of call. The Xray machine can see the bottles and it's up to the Xray attendant if he chooses to say anything or not. Last week it was one bottle per person (no hard liquor). Pack any extra's and hard liquor in your checked luggage before arriving at the ships terminal.

Liquor is very measured and very expensive on the ship. They almost always ask you if you want a double ($10) because a measured shot drink is such a joke you might as well go without it! You can expect to pay $5.00 per measured shot (tip included) if you have a vodka/tonic or a Bailey's in your coffee. If you drink wine, the cost of a bottle is doubled from what you would normally pay on the street!

 

Sorry, but it's not one bottle per person at each port... it's one bottle per person at EMBARKATION only. They will hold any and all alcohol purchased at ports, if they catch it. Again it probably depends who is manning the security checkpoint at embarkation and the port of embarkation.

[Fairport]

We are going on CC in two weeks. Our total cost for the cruise comes to $232.00 per night for a balcony on Caribe deck. You can stay at a great hotel in Vegas for that and they don't care how much booze you bring to the room. On the other hand it will cost you $100 pp for meals, minimum of $100pp for shows, and who knows how much for drinks and wine. You will stay in one place and not see any other towns, unless you rent a car. Princess has to make a profit somewhere and enforcing the booze rule is one way they can increase their bottom line. That said and done, if their drink prices were not so out of line for what you get, maybe less people would feel the need to carry on their own.

[Foxy lady]

:rolleyes: A little dose of reality -- do you really think they will budge for a passenger waving their "contract" and demanding their "rights"? I sincerely doubt it. They are not lawyers and probably don't give a darn what is legally enforcable. They have been giving marching orders of one bottle per and that is what they will enforce.

 

Hmmm, well, we'll see. I'll let you know what happens.....

By the way, Mr. Know-It-All, read cricketdogs post above. 7 bottles of wine/champagne and no problem on the Golden, LidoLiz who boarded the Coral with several bottles and cruisers0708, several bottles on the CB. I boarded the Regal in Aug. with several bottles and all of us were recent cruisers on 4 different ships.

[Leafpeeper]

We sailed out of Brooklyn on Crown Princess last Fall and notice someone who had an entire carryon suitcase filled with various alcoholic beverages. One scanner said to the other, "Looks like a great party in that cabin." I guess it all depends on each port and each cruiseline.

 

Princess has been the best and NCL is the toughest if you try to smuggle on booze. They do allow you to bring wine on if you pay a $15 corkage fee per bottle of wine when boarding.

[BA21]

I was on the 10/07/07 sailing of the CB and had 6 bottles of wine in a carry-on suitcase. My bag was flagged by the Xray screener who shouted to co-workers, "There's too much wine". One of the other security persons asked the Xray screener if there was more than 2 bottles, and she replied there were 6. The second security person advised I 'd have to take the suitcase and meet a Princess represenative in an ajoining room. There weren't any represenatives in the area at the time. The security person then shrugged his shoulders and said, "oh well, enjoy" and motioned me through the line to continue embarkation. Next cruise I will probably pack the extra wine in the checked luggage.

[genevieve7000]

We just returned from the 10/14 CB Western Caribbean and had no problem.....packed 4 bottles of wine in our checked bags and checked a 12 pack of beer. Enjoyed all of the above on our balcony before dinner! Had to have larger glasses of wine our last night in order to finish off our supply!! Drink prices on the ship are completely reasonable, too. Cheers!

[ihatethecold]

We carried on two large bottles of wine in hand (the allowed 1pp) and didn't even open the second bottle (left it for our room steward). I don't remember where but i definitely read the one wine or champagne per person rule before going.

 

The price per bottle and glass of wine on ship were the same as restaraunts in NY so I guess we were just used to the prices. We carried on our two favorites just cause they aren't available on ship and I like to have a glass while getting ready in the evening. I drink wine for the taste not to get sloppy drunk so I really don't have more than 2-3 glasses a night including bottles we ordered at dinner which lasted us more than one night.

 

Princess has to make money somehow so I wouldn't be surprised that they try to enforce the one pp rule. But the actual person looking at the x ray probably only cares when they are cracking down or his boss is around and that's why different people have had different experiences. My advice either bring 1 bottle per person or be prepared that it may get confiscated. If is doesn't YAY! if it does you really can't complain cause it's the rules.