Can I bring fresh flowers back onto the ship?

[4ever]

I doubt this is allowed, but can you tell me if I pick up a nice boquet of fresh cut flowers at Pike Place Market while the Mariner is in port in Seattle, would I be allowed to bring them back on board or is it just like fruit, a big no no?

[rummenroman]

I doubt this is allowed, but can you tell me if I pick up a nice boquet of fresh cut flowers at Pike Place Market while the Mariner is in port in Seattle, would I be allowed to bring them back on board or is it just like fruit, a big no no?

 

I can't say for sure, but the risks would be the same with fruit or flowers. So i think it is a big fat no.

[aquatot11]

I expect that it is a big No No. Probably a USDA regulation.

 

Charlie

[jcross2]

On a repositioning cruise on Mercury a year or so ago, I bought a bouquet of those lovely dried flowers at Pike Place Market and brought them back onboard the ship. No questions asked, no problem.

 

BUT ... later in the day, everyone else who tried to bring similar dried bouquets aboard had them confiscated. There were dozens of bouquets stuck between the railings, waiting to be discarded or whatever.

 

My guess is that the inspectors were still having coffee when I brought mine onboard, earlier that morning. Though if I'd known the dried flowers weren't allowed, I wouldn't have bought them; I'm a strong believer in ag regs. There were no notices in the dailies about not bringing stuff ON, just about not bringing stuff OFF the ship.

 

(Have read here on CC, frequently, that flowers can be brought on board in Europe, but I didn't try it on our recent transatlantic.)

 

However, I wouldn't take a chance on any cruise that visited any California ports. (Ours did, later.) Their regulations are very strict, and they need to be ... remember the notorious Medfly? Yikes.

 

We didn't take our dried flowers off the ship when we reached California; I'm sure they were incinerated with the trash. But we enjoyed them while we had them!

 

So, my advice is not to try it. You would likely lose your $ and have them taken up.

[aqhacruiser]

On my 4/26/09 cruise we were in St. Thomas and 2 women tried to bring on beautiful fresh flower arrangements and they were told no.

[Costafox]

On our Serenade cruise last year, we asked security when we disembarked in Seattle if we would be allowed to bring fresh flowers from Pike Place Market on board and we were told definately not. However when we returned to the ship many people were bringing bouquets on board and were allowed to without any problem. We were fuming as we didn't have time left to return to Pike Place and pick up the flowers, which we wanted as a gift for one of the crew members who had got out of her way to help us.

We complained about this inconsistancy with the security department at guest services and they told us to pick up the flowers we wanted at the flower cart on board and they would make them complimentary.

We would never have paid the price they were asking for the flowers on board and they were of a far inferior quality/freshness to the flowers in Pike Place but the crew member got her bouquet in the end! (and she cried when we gave them to her!)

 

Gill

[elleluv]

On our Serenade cruise last year, we asked security when we disembarked in Seattle if we would be allowed to bring fresh flowers from Pike Place Market on board and we were told definately not. However when we returned to the ship many people were bringing bouquets on board and were allowed to without any problem. We were fuming as we didn't have time left to return to Pike Place and pick up the flowers, which we wanted as a gift for one of the crew members who had got out of her way to help us.

We complained about this inconsistancy with the security department at guest services and they told us to pick up the flowers we wanted at the flower cart on board and they would make them complimentary.

We would never have paid the price they were asking for the flowers on board and they were of a far inferior quality/freshness to the flowers in Pike Place but the crew member got her bouquet in the end! (and she cried when we gave them to her!)

 

 

Were those for Maritza by any chance? We were on this cruise and she had flowers on her desk... she told us they were from a guest and how much it meant to her.

 

I actually know exactly what happened in this particular case...

 

I had an injury (shattered wrist with an external fixator) so I didn't get off the ship in Seattle, but DH did and he got me some flowers at Pike's Place. He brought them back to the ship and saw several people standing there, flowers in hand... they told him they weren't allowed on with flowers... DH was then told the same thing by security (who had a big bin of flowers they'd confiscated). He knew there was no regulation against bringing them on... there IS a regulation about bringing them off... so he asked to speak to the supervisor. The supervisor came down and said "sir, you can't bring flowers off the ship"... DH said I don't want to bring them OFF... I want to bring them ON... supervisor said oh, yeah, you can do that...

 

The remainder of the cruise, DH had people who were waiting to get on with their flowers stopping to thank him.

 

I felt really bad for the people that had them confiscated... DH said there were a bunch of flowers taken by security.

[Costafox]

Hi Ellen

 

No the flowers were for the bars manageress but I can't recall her name now.

 

We thought that the whole crew of the Serenade were wonderful and we had a great trip, however we felt that the security staff could certainly do with a little customer service training - a smile would not go amiss whilst your flowers are being confiscated! :)

 

Gill

[LeDemonBlond]

We were on Century Mercury last October and brought a bouquet of Flowers aboard after visiting pike's market in Seattle. I definetely had thought that they would not allow it but they did. My wife's view was that were only out $15 if they confisgated them. For her ( and for me, don't tell her ), it was nice seeing the flowers in our room for the remainder of the trip.

 

The flowers at pike's market are extremely well priced for the variety, quality and quantity you get.

[amybeth4]

What I don't get is...the question above is about bringing flowers from AMERICA onto an American-owned (yeah, I know, Bahamian registered) ship. I don't see why this is a problem.

 

I know all about bringing fruit/flowers off the ship, or flying and bringing fruit in and out of other countries, but we're talking about Seattle.

 

Why can a ship get flowers to sell to pax when it's reloading in Miami, but it can't get flowers when it's in Seattle? Why can a ship the sails r/t Seattle/Alaska/Seattle load up with flowers for sale but passengers can't get flowers from the same city?

 

Something doesn't sound right about all this confiscating!

[TravelerThom]

What I don't get is...the question above is about bringing flowers from AMERICA onto an American-owned (yeah, I know, Bahamian registered) ship. I don't see why this is a problem.

 

I know all about bringing fruit/flowers off the ship, or flying and bringing fruit in and out of other countries, but we're talking about Seattle.

 

Why can a ship get flowers to sell to pax when it's reloading in Miami, but it can't get flowers when it's in Seattle? Why can a ship the sails r/t Seattle/Alaska/Seattle load up with flowers for sale but passengers can't get flowers from the same city?

 

Something doesn't sound right about all this confiscating!

Think PROFIT CENTER!

 

There is no rule by any known government to prevent you from bring alcohol aboard, but as we all know RCI forbids it [a minor concern is better control over drunks, but the main reason is the profit they make on alcohol].

[SylviaB]

We bought flowers while on the Serenade in Hawaii, lots of people did. Although in the end, coming back to the US (San Diego) you weren't allowed to take them off the ship.

Same thing on our Independence transatlantic cruise last autumn. Lots of people bought flowers in Madeira to put in their cabins. Again, not allowed to take them off the ship. Reasonable enough.

 

[jbond]

What I don't get is...the question above is about bringing flowers from AMERICA onto an American-owned (yeah, I know, Bahamian registered) ship. I don't see why this is a problem.

Maybe it's the same problem as taking fruit and plants from one state to another. Don't try and bring fruit into California from Oregon, Nevada or Arizona, it's against the law.

Why can a ship get flowers to sell to pax when it's reloading in Miami, but it can't get flowers when it's in Seattle? Why can a ship the sails r/t Seattle/Alaska/Seattle load up with flowers for sale but passengers can't get flowers from the same city?

Because they are purchased from a government regulated supplier. You can buy plants in Hawaii and bring them back to Cailfornia, provided they have that little agricultural certificate attached.

[hcat]

This is the first I heard about a ban on cut flowers which are not plants or seeds

 

Hilo has the best arrangements as you re-board for abt $15 & they lasted the entire cruise...

 

Got awesome sunflowers in Provence that were so big they knocked over my little wonder vase! No problem bringing those on either..

 

Most bouquets ordered from on-board florist are way overpriced & very generic-

 

Does anyone know abt Rome--was planning to stock up before our cruise from there?