Question about the Liquor Policy on board....

[Boarcephus]

We have an Alaskan Cruise lined up for the first part of June and while we've been on several cruise lines, never Princess. A friend just returned this week from a Carnival Cruise and he told me today that he contacted Carnival, in advance, and worked out a deal where he ordered a bottle of Rum and it was in his cabin when he checked in.

 

Question...Does Princess allow you to purchase liquor from the ship by the bottle and have it delivered to you cabin? Many thanks!

 

steve

[Pia1913]

We have an Alaskan Cruise lined up for the first part of June and while we've been on several cruise lines, never Princess. A friend just returned this week from a Carnival Cruise and he told me today that he contacted Carnival, in advance, and worked out a deal where he ordered a bottle of Rum and it was in his cabin when he checked in.

 

Question...Does Princess allow you to purchase liquor from the ship by the bottle and have it delivered to you cabin? Many thanks!

 

steve

 

You can send yourself a gift.

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/cellars_culinarydelights/princess_cellars/index.jsp

[1 HappyCruiser]

You're much better off in the long run by packing a 750 ml bottle of rum in your luggage compared to what they charge.

[Pia1913]

You're much better off in the long run by packing a 750 ml bottle of rum in your luggage compared to what they charge.

 

And if the rum somehow breaks in there................? :eek: I learned my lesson many years ago. :(

[Talisker92]

Pour the rum into 2 half liter water bottles and put them in your checked luggage. Princess sells 375 ml bottles (half a fifth) at a ridiculous price

[Boarcephus]

You can send yourself a gift.

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/cellars_culinarydelights/princess_cellars/index.jsp

 

 

I appreciate it but $26 for a pint of Jack Daniel's is a tad pricey.

 

There is a website called Rum Runners where you can order flasks designed for such a purpose. Fill them up with whatever you want, stick them in your luggage and go for it. I'll contact Princess and see if this is doable but may go this route.

 

Once again, thanks.

[Lilly'sMom]

You can send yourself a gift.

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/cellars_culinarydelights/princess_cellars/index.jsp

 

Thats what we do and then bring the wine in our carry on! :)

[UpcountryTravelers]

If you buy a bottle of liquor on board Princess, it will be delivered to your cabin the LAST night of your cruise.

 

If you intend to drink it on board, you will have to pack it in.

[Amadawn1]

Sending yourself a liquor gift on Princess is a whole lot less expensive than sending yourself a liquor gift on NCL. On NCL a 1 Ltr. bottle of Smirnoff Vodka was over $80.00....and that's the cheap stuff! :eek:

[Toto2Kansas]

If you buy a bottle of liquor on board Princess, it will be delivered to your cabin the LAST night of your cruise.

 

If you intend to drink it on board, you will have to pack it in.

 

Only if you purchase it in the duty free shop. A bottle of Liqour (although a bit on the expensive side) CAN be ordered from room service, OR pre-ordered to be delivered to your stateroom for in room consumption on Princess.........legally. ;)

[Amadawn1]

Nah, I misspoke. I just checked and the Smirnoff was only $63.00. Nice to have in the cabin, though for afternoon drinks on the balcony!

[Boarcephus]

If you buy a bottle of liquor on board Princess, it will be delivered to your cabin the LAST night of your cruise.

 

If you intend to drink it on board, you will have to pack it in.

 

 

This is what I remember it being. The last cruise we took (Oct. 2010) was an all inclusive one on the Paul Gauguin and we really liked that aspect of it. After getting feedback on the board, I'll probably order from Rum Runners and pack my own in.

 

Thanks again and can't wait. Never been to Alaska and looking forward to it.

[1 HappyCruiser]

And if the rum somehow breaks in there................? :eek: I learned my lesson many years ago. :(

 

We never give them any suit cases to load onto the ship & always carry our own but it can be cushioned not to break.

[caribill]

And if the rum somehow breaks in there................? :eek: I learned my lesson many years ago. :(

 

I had a co-worker who brought back some rum from Puerto in his suitcase.

 

When he reached the mainland, the customs officer told him there was good news and bad news.

 

The bad news was that my friend had purchased a bottle paying the Puerto Rico tax, not the Federal tax. Therefore he would have to pay the Federal tax to bring it to the mainland.

 

The good news was that since the bottle had broken inside his luggage, no tax was due.

[RMorningglory]

I posted this a while ago but hope it helps answer questions here:

 

The varied policies regarding BYOB is one of the main reasons I continue to book on Princess. First let me tell you my experiences on NCL and RCCL and then I will detail the Princess difference.

 

RCCL is militant about bringing ANY form of beverage aboard any of their ships, including water. They WILL find it and they are serious about looking for it.

 

NCL has been purchaced by the same group that owns the Harrah's Hotels and Casinos. This happened a little over 3 years ago and their policy has tightened up as well, even know it was a little strict in the first place. Before the sale we sailed on the Pearl and had some wine etc in a couple bags when we boarded in Miami. One of the bags never made it to the cabin. When we went to look for it we were told to go to the ship's library and guess what... there it was. We were asked if we had any alcohol in the bag. My partner pulled out one bottle of wine and said yes. They checked in that bottle for safe keeping ( we could have kept it for $15.00) and didn't ask another question. We zipped up the bag and off we went. There were 3 more bottles of wine in the bag. We did in fact feel like we were doing something naughty and it just felt wrong. We drowned our guilt in a glass of wine. ;)

 

With drinks on board these ships running from $8.50 and $20.00+ for a frozen drink with a floater it adds up fast (Believe me!!). 3 years ago I was on a 9 night RCCL Holiday cruise where we had pre-purchaced a wine package for dinner and the booze bill still ended up being almost $1,000.00 and I am not even close to needing an AA meeting with a couple drinks a day on Vacation. I bought a couple drinks for friends traveling with us but that amount was about $100/day for 2, that's not hard to do.

 

Now for the Princess Deal: The cruise line has an official policy but Does Not enforce it. They know people bring on their own beverages... we don't have to whisper it... we're not "Getting away with something naughty"... I really think that they realize that this alone is a draw to their line for those who see value in it coupled with their style of cruising to geared to passengers simply looking to relax and unwind.

 

I have sailed from San Juan and Fort Lauderdale and the policy is the same at either. In San Juan there is a duty free in the cruise terminal. If you arrive with "Duty Free Liquor" bags and boxes there is someone there at the ship to hold them for you. If whatever is bought in the duty free is any other type of bag or box it is not even looked at. This is for LIQUOR only. Wine, champagne, water, soda and beer are not included, they can be visible and will not be questioned in any way. Liquor, as long as it is in a bag that is NOT a duty free bag will go through the scanners as well.

 

I sailed from Ft. L in October and did things a little differently. I had read about a liquor store close to the ship called "Total Wine" here on Cruise Critic. http://www.wineaccess.com/store/tota...ale/index.html We boarded the ship early, ate lunch and then hopped back off the ship to treck around the corner to Total Wine. I went on this mission equiped with 4 extra printed luggage tags and a packing tape gun. First we hit Publix where I bought a case of Water, and a 12 pack each of Diet Coke, Diet Sprite, Ginger Ale and Tonic Water, lemons and limes, some crackers and that kind of thing. I taped the 4 cases of soda together and slapped a luggage tag on what was now a single case, tagged the water, put the rest in a grocery bag and headed next door to Total Wine pushing my cart in front of me. There I bought 2 bottles of Absolute, 1 bottle of Canadian Club, 1 Bottle of Saphire Gin, 6 bottles of wine, 4 bottles of Proseco, a small bottle of port, sweet and dry Vermouth and a cocktail shaker. At the counter I asked for a couple of boxes and the guy checking us out helped us pack our $250.00 purchase in the boxes. I taped them up and tagged them as I had the water and sodas and called a local taxi from my cell phone.

 

The Taxi arrived 3 minutes later and we loaded the boxes into the trunk and took the $5.00 ride back to the Emerald Princess. The porters came to the Taxi and when we popped the trunk told us that they knew where the party was for the next 10 days. After a few "High Fives" and a $5.00 tip we left our goodies with them and headed back aboard. This was about 3:30 PM prior to our 5 PM sail away. The boxes arrived at cabin R620 before 4 PM in-tact and undisturbed. We set our "Bar" up on top of our mini-fridge and asked our Steward for some glasses for wine. They were in the room when we got back from Muster and we made our own drinks for Sail Away.

 

We brought our own mixers in our pool bags and allocated a day's liquor to water bottles to take to the sanctuary each day. The staff up there constantly gave us glasses filled with ice and we simply poured our own. We brought a bottle of wine to Sabatini's and one to the Crown Grille and I believe were only charged corkage at one of them, though we expected the $15.00 charge at both. Not only did we bring our own bottle but asked that it be decanted, and they did it with a smile. We got Martini Glasses from Adagio and kept them through the cruise. We bought a total of 4 drinks between the 2 of us on nights when we didn't feel like moving from where we were to go fill up.

 

I would guess that in all this was a $500-700 savings. With that we did the Chef's Table, Crown Grille, Sabatini's, Ultimate Balcony Dinner and the cruise long package in the Sanctuary. We did these things guilt free LOVED having a Martini or Manhattan on our deck as the sun set each day on our FANTASTIC Princess Cruise.

 

I hope this helps and wish you all Happy Cruising.

 

CHEERS!!!! :rolleyes:

[UpcountryTravelers]

Only if you purchase it in the duty free shop. A bottle of Liqour (although a bit on the expensive side) CAN be ordered from room service, OR pre-ordered to be delivered to your stateroom for in room consumption on Princess.........legally. ;)

 

Hmmm... Wasn't aware of that one. That's a closely held secret - isn't advertised anywhere that we have seen. Thanks for the heads up.

[Toto2Kansas]

Hmmm... Wasn't aware of that one. That's a closely held secret - isn't advertised anywhere that we have seen. Thanks for the heads up.

Look in your stateroom information book after you board (or you can pre-order from Princess gift section here: http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/cellars_culinarydelights/princess_cellars/index.jsp ), it is listed there by name, cost and size. ;) All you need to do is to pick up the phone and order, it will be there in a flash or order from home, and a voucher will be waiting in your cabin when you board. But as said, it's not cheap as it used to be when you could order a liter for $18-$30 (back in the good old days). :)

[FLACRUISER99]

And if the rum somehow breaks in there................? :eek: I learned my lesson many years ago. :(

If you look it now comes in Plastic.

[Pia1913]

If you look it now comes in Plastic.

 

I don't know how I got involved in this. I don't even drink rum or for that matter, any kind of hard liquor. I'm just a plain old wino, who drinks diet Pepsi and black coffee. ;)

[1 HappyCruiser]

If you look it now comes in Plastic.

And all the good flavored rums from St Croix are only $10 per liter. Enough to last me for the rest of the cruise. :D

[Toddy709]

I'm just a plain old wino, who drinks diet Pepsi and black coffee. ;)

 

Same here, minus the coffee!! Have you seen the wine diapers for sale on Amazon? I used these on my last cruise and was able to breathe easier not having to worry about breakage!

[navychop3]

I appreciate it but $26 for a pint of Jack Daniel's is a tad pricey.

 

There is a website called Rum Runners where you can order flasks designed for such a purpose. Fill them up with whatever you want, stick them in your luggage and go for it. I'll contact Princess and see if this is doable but may go this route.

 

Once again, thanks.

 

We used a rum runner. And brought bottles of wine with us. And did not discuss it with Princess.

[Boarcephus]

We used a rum runner. And brought bottles of wine with us. And did not discuss it with Princess.

 

After looking at the options, I think what I'll do is buy a couple 32 oz Rum Runners, fill then with Jack Daniels I'll pick up in Vancouver, stuff them in my luggage and take my chances that way. Does that sound like a pretty workable plan? Pretty safe? Base on what some on here have said, I sense Princess almost looks the other way when done this way.

 

RMorningglory, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm hardly a card carrying member of AA but I like to have a toddy on vacation. We've got a cabin with a balcony and plan on seeing most of Alaska from there when we're on board. I'm just not interested in dropping $500 on a bar tab, which like you said, is not all that hard to do for a couple people.

 

Appreciate all input.

[Toddy709]

After looking at the options, I think what I'll do is buy a couple 32 oz Rum Runners, fill then with Jack Daniels I'll pick up in Vancouver, stuff them in my luggage and take my chances that way. Does that sound like a pretty workable plan? Pretty safe? Base on what some on here have said, I sense Princess almost looks the other way when done this way.

 

RMorningglory, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm hardly a card carrying member of AA but I like to have a toddy on vacation. We've got a cabin with a balcony and plan on seeing most of Alaska from there when we're on board. I'm just not interested in dropping $500 on a bar tab, which like you said, is not all that hard to do for a couple people.

 

Appreciate all input.

 

I think you'll be safe even without the Rum Runners. One of the things I like about Princess is that they treat their guests like adults and don't worry about alcohol for in-room consumption.

 

However, IMHO, I think if people abuse this privilege it will come to a screeching halt. I keep what I carry on for in-room consumption or take it to the dining room and pay corkage. If I'm out and about on the ship, I'll buy my wine on the ship. I find Princess' alcohol prices to be pretty reasonable.

[shepp]

However, IMHO, I think if people abuse this privilege it will come to a screeching halt.

 

And, has been established time and again, the folks at Princess do indeed read these boards. All these boasts about bringing a whole luggage store onboard may someday lead to my not being able to schlep my bottle or two of wine onto the ship.