Port of Miami and checked liquor and wine

[cruise_crazy68]

Thanks for sharing!

 

Oh....and by the way.....I take it you drank all of that IN YOUR CABIN????????? Not a drop outside?????

 

Please folks!!!!!!!!!! Get real!

 

OP, thanks for sharing, this is good information :-)

 

 

If I can buy from the Bon Voyage Dept and walk around the ship with my drinks mae in my room what difference does it make if these OP drink their smuggled drinks in their cabin or all over the ship? I just dont get why everyone cares what OP are doing. People need to grow up and mind their own business. People come here to share info and experiences good, bad or indifferent. If you dont like what you are reading that people do why read it at all.

[joebat1]

I thought the same thing - they know about Rum Runners and so a "blob" would be suspicious, too. Hmmmm....

 

NOT REALLY.........A new product to replace Rum Runners ~~!!~~

No X-ray machine, just a metal detector to pass through.........

 

[jrchapma]

 

 

 

This reminds me of an episode of Will and Grace where Grace's water bra sprung a leak!

[jsteinberg]

jsteinberg, did you pack your beer and rum rummers in your checked bags. Were they hidden in your clothes? Just curious!

 

 

everything in checked baggage; wrapped rum runners in a towel

[Twoboyzandadog]

Just went through port of miami and no problems;):cool: They did ask when we first got on lide about whether we were bringing our one bottle per person, which we had to take out or not take out depending on who you asked. Still spent about $400 on drinks on ship between DW and self.

[MangoJo]

Firstly - jsteinberg - you're a legend!!! Bit confused though - I know you put the rum runners in your checked baggage - but where was everything else?

 

Secondly, hubby and I went on a cruise April last year and despite "smuggling" some spirits on board, we still ended up spending over $1000 per week on alcohol, some wine with lunch, some wine with dinner, beers at happy hour, some spirits later in the night and maybe a cocktail or two during the day. (wow, reading that back, maybe someone needs to do an Amy Winehouse on us!?!) So smugglers still drink and gamble on board! On top of all this, we managed to bring in soda at the port which wasn't checked as it was a metal detector, so they didn't really care.

 

We even bought (Costa Allegra) a soda voucher and they're not cheap AND you still have to pay for 15% tip on top of everything (sorry, from Australia and not really used to the tipping way of doing things).

 

Truth of the matter is - the cruise lines get their alcohol tax free and buy in bulk - why can't they pass the savings on to the people that would like to have a drink - including non-alcoholic drinks.

 

Mum and I will be on Valor in March this year - and you can bet your bottom dollar that we'll be smuggling something on board, along with our bottle of wine each - I just haven't decided where to do it yet - actually from Miami or our first port of call. :D

[dan40]

NOT REALLY.........A new product to replace Rum Runners ~~!!~~

No X-ray machine, just a metal detector to pass through.........

 

 

 

And what do you do once you've sucked the life out of those puppies??:D

[cruise_pirate]

when wife heard we could nt bring booze aboard she went to work trying to figure a *how to*..

 

the result..JELLO CUBES..instead of water, vodka and gin..once onboard

we load up on OJ and just let a few cubes melt in overnight..:D

 

Love it! how did you keep the cubes from melting in your luggage though??:confused:

[David-n-Rita]

And what do you do once you've sucked the life out of those puppies??:D

 

...you take the travel sewing kit which you probably have to smuggle on the ship (a seamstress - this would be a :"tool of the trade") and take in the dress.

 

BTW My pet peeve about the "contraband" is the "tools of the trade" clause.

Tools of which trade??:confused:

[Irish1964]

Are you kidding? Do you often see people on the pool deck drinking bottles covered in a paper bag? :rolleyes:

 

Anything I bring onboard is consumed in my cabin/balcony, and all others that I've talked to onboard have done the same.

 

Threads like this just confirm all the studies that have shown that non-drinkers on average are far less educated than drinkers (less than 14% have college education).

 

Here's just one if anyone questions it: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE56240820090703

 

Okay, this just got really ugly. I'm sitting here with my friend who is a non-drinker and has just finished her second masters degree - she is needless to say insulted! I just wanted to find a way to bring on a bottle of rum for my pirate buddies and now I have to console my friend. Let's please stop and think before we say mean things. We can have a drink and talk about it on board - I'll bring the rum you bring the coke

[pnjkeith]

NOT REALLY.........A new product to replace Rum Runners ~~!!~~

No X-ray machine, just a metal detector to pass through.........

 

 

[1PCcruiser]

Did the 2 day modified on the Destiny a week ago... Smuggled a 5th of rum on(packed in carry-on right thru the screening). We were on this ship 2 weeks prior and had purchased a liter thru room service so was prepared to do so again if carry-on did not work. Anyway the point is I killed my stash and still dropped $300 on additional drinks and pics in 2 days(on Saturday at 12pm and off Monday at 8am). Even though I smuggled, I still dropped a nicew piece of change! I always do so I do not feel bad about BYOB.:cool:

[jaime_voyager]

We just got off a CCL cruise and had no problem getting our stash onboard.... both carry on and checked in. I think it is just hit or miss though. Some of our CC group got stuff through with no problem.... others had everything including their water taken away. (In the last case, I guess security didn't want to bother checking what was booze and what was water and just took it all. This was in checked luggage.)

 

For us it was easy to get through stuff in carry on. But, it was hit or miss there too. Some Security were very thorough.

 

Some people in our group thought if you tipped the Porters well they'd put your bags in the non-scanner line. Interesting theory. However, that didn't really hold up either. The good thing is they don't have the time to scan every bag in checked luggage.

 

Good luck to all you fellow smugglers!

[*Mach*]

This was the state of my checked bag when I turned it over to the porter at Galveston prior to boarding the Ecstasy:

 

This was the state of my checked bag when it arrived at my cabin:

 

No issues at all...

 

:)

[Vanessa L]

This was the state of my checked bag when I turned it over to the porter at Galveston prior to boarding the Ecstasy:

 

 

This was the state of my checked bag when it arrived at my cabin:

 

 

No issues at all...

 

:)

 

I'm guessing you didn't have anything controversial in it? It seems to me that 1) it truly is hit and miss and 2) people bring entire bars with them in their suitcase are probably more likely to have those seals broken.

[golfgod003]

Sorry, G'Ma...

 

Just got back from a Carnival cruise out of Miami and EVRYONE in my group of eight got their rum runners through their checked luggage. Security DID open up two suitcases that had bottled waters and sodas, but let everything through and delivered them to our cabin promptly.

 

This wasn't the ONLY method we used, however ;)

 

BTW - We all spent over $3500 on our ship accounts before the cruise was over. Plenty of profit for CCL!

[tommyt37]

An X-ray machine that can tell the difference between Vodka and Water?

 

Really?

 

Really?

 

And the TSA still requires no liquids because their machines (none of the machines) can't tell the difference between lotion and explosives and no one has talked about buying these mythical machines that know the chemical compounds of the liquids you're carrying.

 

Well it all depends on the type of system they have. The TSA uses CT scan equipment from GE Security (formaly InVision) and L3 (Lockheed).

 

The system will alarm things a few different ways. Shield meaning that somnething metal is blocking the x-ray...but the main reason is density. The bag passes through a stationary X-ray then from that 2 d image the system will select areas areas of interest and slice it using the CT scanner. It will determine the density of the item and depending on that density it will alarm the bag and it will be hand searched. For example if you pack peanut butter in your bag some brands have the same density as c 4 so it will alarm. I doubt that it would be able to tell the difference between water and Vodka but I'm not sure. These machines are used mostly for checked bags only.... Oh and womens high heels on boots you knowthe rubber kind they alarmed as well. You could even set the system to alarm for certain kind of drugs but as I was told that was against the law at the time.... I stopped working on those systems in 2006. I was a field service engineer for ge.

you also have to remember the thousands of bags that go through and the short amount of time they have to get them sorted and delievered..... there for I beleive thay can not look at all the bags that people are saying they look at. Just a guess

[tommyt37]

Well it all depends on the type of system they have. The TSA uses CT scan equipment from GE Security (formaly InVision) and L3 (Lockheed).

 

The system will alarm things a few different ways. Shield meaning that somnething metal is blocking the x-ray...but the main reason is density. The bag passes through a stationary X-ray then from that 2 d image the system will select areas areas of interest and slice it using the CT scanner. It will determine the density of the item and depending on that density it will alarm the bag and it will be hand searched. For example if you pack peanut butter in your bag some brands have the same density as c 4 so it will alarm. I doubt that it would be able to tell the difference between water and Vodka but I'm not sure. These machines are used mostly for checked bags only.... Oh and womens high heels on boots you knowthe rubber kind they alarmed as well. You could even set the system to alarm for certain kind of drugs but as I was told that was against the law at the time.... I stopped working on those systems in 2006. I was a field service engineer for ge.

you also have to remember the thousands of bags that go through and the short amount of time they have to get them sorted and delievered..... there for I beleive thay can not look at all the bags that people are saying they look at. Just a guess

 

My best guess as to what happens is the bags are searched because the machine giving it an alarm for something else then they find the drinks...or they search a set amount of bags.

[livingthedreamrtw]

Vodka and water will have similar densities. Pure alcohol is slightly different, but since most of what people smuggle are lower proofs, they will be quite similar.

[beach410]

I just don't understand what the difference would be between a plastic Rum Runner and a plastic bottle. Are they going to inspect every suitcase with liquid in it? Just about every suitcase is going to contain some liquids. And a bottle could contain anything from mouthwash to contact lens solution.

 

 

Not all liquor is sold in plastic bottles, Crown Royal and my orange vodka are only sold in glass, hence the need for rum runners. Also other top shelf liquors. I have packed Bacardi rum soft bottle wrapped in a towel before or the single serves as well along with my rum runners.