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Alcohol in water bottles

rubybc62

By rubybc62,
in Ask a Cruise Question

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MrChuckFL

MrChuckFL

Posted
Posted

You have touched on one of the hot topics here which is sure to draw comments from both sides.

 

There is a lot of mis-information floating around on the subject.

 

Having been on 35+ cruises, here are my experiences.

 

We always take alcohol with us in both water bottles and in rum runner flasks and have yet to have a problem. Although on a recent cruise, we traveled with 2 friends, and one friends alcohol was confiscated and another got a whole case of beer onboard, so I know they (RCCL) do spot check some bags. With 7000+ pieces of luggage on some ships, they cannot check every one, it would take too long. That being the case, here is what you can do to minimize your chances of having it confiscated.

 

We generally put a small (16.9 oz) bottle in the carry on along with a couple cans of soda for a little celebratory drink once we get onboard. Never once have we been questioned about this.

 

The rest of the alcohol goes in the suitcase in water bottles and rum runner flasks. Don't just pack it on top. If you do that, there is a good chance it will get confiscated. Instead put it inside pant legs, inside shoes, mixed in with bathroom stuff, etc. If they are opening your luggage they are not going to take the time to go through the whole thing, they are just looking for the easy to spot stuff.

 

If you are flying, you must put everything in your suitcase, because TSA will not allow it in your carry on. In case you want some to carry on the ship, just move it around before you board.

 

Although we take it on board with up, it still seems somehow that we still leave with a good bar bill... hmmm

 

Now for all the people who say this is wrong and want to whine about it being against the rules, we know.. so please save your breath and keep driving the speed limit in the left lane.... Thank you.

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kornkob

kornkob

Posted
Posted

Try this:

 

When you get to the port city, hit a package store and get:

 

-a liter of your favorite clear booze

-a case of water

 

 

You can usually pull water out of the case, especially when it is warm, without appreciably warping the plastic wrap. Pull out a bunch of the water and then select 4 or 5 bottles that are in the middle of the case and open them carefully and dump the water. Transfer the clear booze to those bottles, being careful to fill them to exactly the same height as the other bottles.

 

Then put those bottles at the center and replace all the water bottles around them. When you get to port, have the porter tag your case of water for room delivery with your checked bags.

 

 

 

Short of pulling every bottle in the case and checking them ALL they won't be able to easily tell that the water isn't water.

 

 

This also means you'll have some bottled water to drink on board.

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grandmkmk

grandmkmk

Posted
Posted

We've been fine using water bottle '6-packs' as well. But we've always driven to our ship in the past. This year we are flying to San Juan and trying to decide what to do. I did order a 'rum runner' that I'll pack and maybe buy some rum in town? Five years ago, we bought rum at the terminal and the cashier asked me which bottle I wanted for my purse. I thought he was joking and he said that everyone puts one in their purse and the customs personel don't care. We went right through without incident. Is this the norm? If so, I'll just do that again. The other problem was mixers - when you get really tired of rum and coke! We do get cocktails by the pool or whatever but it's nice to have a drink in our room while getting ready for dinner, or a nightcap...

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ikelmay

ikelmay

Posted
Posted

Depends on the cruise line, the ship, the time of year. We haven't yet had our water 'checked', nor our baggage contents removed. plastic bottles in baggage are better than the real thing but they may be picked up. It's a lottery.

 

You take the risk, you may suffer the consequences - worst case, it'll be confiscated. If I were you, i'd divide the stuff up into smaller units and distribute it so that at least some will get through.

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yellowbird23

yellowbird23

Posted
Posted

Wow! Brings back memories of my 13-night repositioning cruise mid-October. I took only 6 big water bottles on board and only 1 of them had a whole bottle of peach schnapps. Unfortunately, one morning I brewed my coffee with my "water" bottle while taking a shower. When I got out of the shower I detected a strange smell. Unbeknownst to me, I had mistakenly put in the whole bottle of peach schnapps to make my "coffee". I will never live that down with my fellow CC'ers.:D

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cb at sea

cb at sea

Posted
Posted

If you want to "smuggle" a bottle onboard, just keep it in the real bottle and put it in your checked, LOCKED luggage. If it IS detected, they will hold it for you until the end of the cruise. If they find alcohol in other containers, they will pour it out.

As long as you aren't bringing a total bar, and have it in your checked bags, along with the curling iron, and other "visible" things (on x-ray), then you should be fine.

 

However, sitting in your room drinking isn't the most fun. It's much more fun to get out on the ship, drink in a bar, and people watch!

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grandmkmk

grandmkmk

Posted
Posted

Mine came super-fast too. I also ordered a set of the little travel bottles for bathroom stuff. We got stopped at an airport in December with a jar of hand cream that was over 3 oz (not liquid, CREAM!) and a 8 oz bottle of hairspray (holding about 1/2 oz at most) and a new can of mousse (again, close enough to a liquid to be confiscated)....

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opus72

opus72

Posted
Posted

I called the Bon Voyage dept (gifts and services delivered to your room) and ordered a bottle of Stoli vodka for the room. The bottle retails at approx $30, would be equal to at least $90-$110 depending on shot size if $5/drink at the bar. Instead, I paid Carnival's gift dept $40. Now I get to save a few bucks and I don't have to worry about a bottle leaking in my luggage or being confiscated, and it will be waiting in our room for us when we get on board. Can't order it online from their website, have to call their 1-800#.

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