Cruise liner question

[sirsunnyslayer]

The wife and I are taking a cruise to Mexico next week and where wondering if a guy can take a bottle of booze on the boat or if they will catch it at customs. Does anyone know for sure if you can or cant do that?

[Bigbartguy]

The cruise lines forbid you from bringing your own booze on board. It would interfere with their ability to charge you for booze!

I dont recall ever having to submit our bags to be checked, although I'm sure they have the right, since youre bringing them onto their boat. WAIT DONT CALL IT A BOAT. THE CREW HATES THIS, seriously. It's a ship

I have several friends that brought bottles with them and nothing happened. They'd mix up a drink in their room with no probs.

Additionally, when you go on shore excursions, they often waive you on with your bags from your tourist shopping...although youre supposed to drop off any liquor at that time and they'll give it to you at the end of your cruise. I dont recall them going thru the shopping bags it was a 'we trust you to tell us' situation. I dont think it's a super high priority for them.

ps- drink prices werent insane on our ship. Probably $5 for mixed drink, not too bad. Enjoy the trip!

[Ebiz]

I know on Royal Carribean they do check your bags when returning to the ship. That being said we usually make sure to bring along several "water bottles" in our luggage, clear liquids work well for this

If you do pack your own "water" just remember to put it in your checked luggage and not your carry-on - otherwise you just wind up donating it to airport security.

[Scott K]

If I remember right, when you wer outside of the border, you could buy a bottle from the ship liquer store tax free, as long as you told them you were going to drink it on board. It was a lot cheaper then buying it at home.

[Coach1310]

My wife and I cruised Royal Carribean in March. If you want to bring a bottle of liquor along make sure you put it in your checked luggage like has been said. Drinks on the ship are expensive, $6.25 a piece when we went in March. If you purchase liquor at a port of call or from the duty free shop on board, they will tag it and hold onto it until the last night of your cruise. ALL BAGS WERE CHECKED AND SCREENED(I assume it was an x-ray machine they put them through) each and every time you board the ship. I think if you try to "sneak" a couple of bottles on in your checked baggage at the start of your trip you will be fine, but don't expect any cheap drinks on board!

[jquittum]

We bought our liquor at the onboard liquor store and mixed the drinks in our room. Bought a couple of drinks from the sundeck bar and just saved the cups and used them.

[Scott K]

Quote:

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We bought our liquor at the onboard liquor store and mixed the drinks in our room. Bought a couple of drinks from the sundeck bar and just saved the cups and used them.

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This what we do also, the bottle was cheap as long as you were going to drink it on the ship. Since most cruise ships just use your room card, to charge all the bills to, you can rack up a huge bill by the end of a 7 day cruise, and not even know it. Have fun, wish I was going!

[Gatores]

I was just wondering what cruise line you are going on and what ship? If you have cruised before and why you choose that cruise line? I am going on a carnival cruise next week too and wondering if I am going to enjoy it.

Thanks

[Ebiz]

Quote:

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We bought our liquor at the onboard liquor store and mixed the drinks in our room. Bought a couple of drinks from the sundeck bar and just saved the cups and used them.

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Royal Caribbean won't let you drink the onboard liquor on the ship - just like the stuff you buy at the ports they will hold it and deliver it to you on the last day. With RC at least I've found the only way to defray the beverage bill is to bring it along in your checked luggage.

[sirsunnyslayer]

It is a Royal Carribian ship and I have never been on one before. The wife picked it out so I don't really know why we ended up with that particular one. It sounds like alot of fun, even if I have to buy my booze.

[Coach1310]

Royal Carribean is top notch in my opinion. Carnival is labeled more of a "partiers" cruise compared to RC. With RC you can party if you want, relax if you want and everything in between. My wife and I won't cruise any other line...unless we take the kids on a Disney someday. Enjoy your cruise... what ship are you on and where are you headed?? You will be blown away at the size of the ship!!

[sirsunnyslayer]

We are heading back to Cozumel. The wife and I have been on the island before by plane but this time we are taking my 11 year old along and she is going to turn 12 on the ship. It should be pretty cool.

[Xplorer]

SSS,

My only experience was on Carnival (the Valor, 3/2006) and I was able to drink what i bought onboard at the duty-free.

On a side note, when you return let me know how the island is. This will be our 4th trip there in March, but first in the last 5 years. We're staying somewhere north of town at a "family-friendly" all inclusive, since we are taking our 5 year old with. Just wondering how last years hurricane affected the island (heard it was not that bad).

Enjoy yourself's!!!!

[computerboy]

Here are the rules for most cruise lines regarding alcohol:

- You can bring wine onboard to have with dinner, but you will be charged a corking fee.

- You can NOT bring any other type of liquor onboard with you, whether you are boarding for the first time or returning from port.

- If you buy liquor onboard in one of the shops, most ships will hold it until the cruise is over.

Not that I'm encouraging you to break the rules, but many passengers discretely pack their beverage of choice in a non-breakable container in one of their main bags (not their carry ons).

I've been on several ships and cruise lines, and RCL is my favorite overall. The Voyager class ships in particular are quite impressive. If this is your first time, I would highly recommend going to the cruisecritic HSOforum. It's a great resource for cruisers of all experience levels. I can also answer any questions you have.

Enjoy!

[sirsunnyslayer]

We stayed for a week on Cozumel about 10 months ago at an all inclusive about 10 minutes south of town. As for the storm damage it looked like someone cut every tree off at about 15 feet above ground. I like the island, not nearly as busy as Cancun.

[sirsunnyslayer]

Just got back and had a blast. RC is a top notch cruise line. The food was pretty good and the service was fantastic.

The answer to my question is no, you can't bring it on board and they do check for it. They X-ray every bag just like at the airport for security reasons and they check for alcohol at the same time. The penalty for bringing it on board is a possible removal from the ship. It probably wouldn't get to that point but it wasn't worth the risk for me. Drinks ran from domestic beer at $3.50 to a high quality martini at $8.00.

[Gatores]

I was wondering what ship you were on and where you went cause some ships got diverted from tropical storm olga. I was on the Carnival Valor from dec9-16 out of miami, fl. When we were in belieze there was a rc cruise that got diverted from the storm.

[sirsunnyslayer]

It was the Royal Caribian "Navigator of the Seas", from Ft. Lauderdale to Cozemel and back. Great time and I will do it again in a year or so.

[Coach1310]

Glad you had a great time. I can't wait to go again. Royal Carribean will always be the cruise line for me.

[ocf1]

My cruise experience was on Holland America, It was very fantastic! I have heard complaints about RC, and we were docked right next to RC in seattle. I gotta say, we HA people walked right onto the ship, while RC had lines all the ways out of check in!

[minnbowhunter]

If you want to bring a bottle of wine to drink with dinner they will charge a $10 fee to bring it on board. We cruise every year and smuggle on 4-5 bottles in our luggage. Stop at a local liquer store before you get on the ship. No need to bring it on the plane. Buy the soft drink card that is offered on all cruises. Mix your own in your cabin, I bring a large insulated type mug with a lid. Don't leave the bottles out when you leave your room, The cabin stewards are told to grab them. I have talked to my cabin steward when we first got to our cabin and we worked out a ($) deal.

I always had a fresh bucket of ice by my door. Enjoy your cruise.