Confiscation!!

[bdstrom]

we ALWAYS take an extension cord, and we have never had a problem with either. Not sure why they pick on poor firefly, lol...

 

The post disappeared. :confused:

 

Anyways, yeah customs sometime goes too far but wow, that far??

[halos]

The only thing I can think of is that then they are responsible for getting it on board and safeguarding it and getting it back to you. They'd rather say "get rid of it or trash it". I can see their point, but wouldn't it just be best to enforce the rules on what alcohol you can bring aboard and what weight bags you can bring and how many?

I guess I don't understand why someone can't have this aboard?? I must be missing something (can you tell I don't smuggle???) I totally understand that they would take any alcohol or soda above the limits they set...but WHY the bag????? :confused:

[98Charlie]

I guess I don't understand why someone can't have this aboard?? I must be missing something (can you tell I don't smuggle???) I totally understand that they would take any alcohol or soda above the limits they set...but WHY the bag????? :confused:

 

Best answer I can come up with is the old adage: ``If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.'':)

 

Scenerio is a cruiser comes on to the ship with a rolling bag with a plastic liner that has booze inside as well as other items.

 

Best answer I have to that scenerio is to not try to convince others that a plastic lined roll on with booze inside is not a cooler no matter what else is packed inside the plastic lined, roll on cooler.

 

Dianne

[trvlqueen]

I have a collapsible cooler bag that is 12x15x5. that does have the plastic lining in it. It is no larger than a beach bag or some women's purses. Will Carnival allow you to carry on this bag or will they confiscate it? Bought this bag this summer just for our cruise this Christmas not knowing that Carnival had a "cooler rule". Hate to lose my new bag.

 

My rolling cooler has a plastic lining that velcros in - I guess I'll un-velcro it and pack the liner in my suitcase - then it won't be a cooler when I take it on ... seems like a silly rule, but I guess they're trying to save work for the room stewards. After all, keeping everyone's coolers full probably takes quite a bit of time - even if it does net them quite a few tips in return.

[CanWeGoYet?]

My rolling cooler has a plastic lining that velcros in - I guess I'll un-velcro it and pack the liner in my suitcase - then it won't be a cooler when I take it on ... seems like a silly rule, but I guess they're trying to save work for the room stewards. After all, keeping everyone's coolers full probably takes quite a bit of time - even if it does net them quite a few tips in return.

 

You know, come to think of it I think my rolling cooler does the same thing. Got it from overstock, was a little mad it seemed cheesy & cheap the way the liner was put in. But now I'm glad!

[Buffettfan 225]

I have just checked the rules on the Carnival web site and this is what it says about carry on coolers:

• Coolers: Small, personal-sized coolers no larger than 12” x 12” x 12” for the purpose of housing small quantities of non-alcoholic beverages and/or medications are permitted as carry-on luggage.

 

We are a family of six with four kids. I was planning on putting the soda for our family in two cooler bags to carry onto the ship and use in ports to put some cold sodas for our family in them while in port. Has anyone experienced a problem with this. No Alcohol in them, just soda?

I'd put carton of soda in a carry on-we use rolling backback (one per each of us) and pack one-two collapsible lunch boxed sized coolers for beach in checked luggage. Never has been a problem. Even use one in room to have stward keep ice in to keep soda or water cold.

[TexasGirl1971]

I had the same thing happen to me and they said they had to take it.

 

Bringing it back to the car was not an option.

 

That is one of the main reasons I have not been on Carnival since 08.

 

 

Then why are you on this Board????

[rybreadsmomshubby]

Then why are you on this Board????

Maybe looking for a good reason to return to Carnival?

 

Maybe just for a bit of internet chit chat?

[PurpleDog]

We are carrying no water, soda, wine, or booze on board. But .. my wife has one of these that will be filled up with her some of her "carryon" clothes:

 

http://www.amazon.com/California-Innovations-Innovations%C2%AE-Convertible-Carry-All/dp/B002JG4DUG/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1319326291&sr=8-15

 

Will they take this away from us ?

[halos]

LOL

I am beginning to believe that the CCL bag inspectors do a better job than the TSA.....

:p:rolleyes::p

[tamirpr]

We are carrying no water, soda, wine, or booze on board. But .. my wife has one of these that will be filled up with her some of her "carryon" clothes:

 

http://www.amazon.com/California-Innovations-Innovations%C2%AE-Convertible-Carry-All/dp/B002JG4DUG/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1319326291&sr=8-15

 

Will they take this away from us ?

 

Who knows. But it does beg the question of what's the difference between a cooler and a lined bag to put wet clothes in from the beach. I have a Vera Bradley lined bag that sounds similar to the one that OP lists. I wouldn't consider that a cooler, but some yahoo at check-in might.

[PurpleDog]

Who knows. But it does beg the question of what's the difference between a cooler and a lined bag to put wet clothes in from the beach. I have a Vera Bradley lined bag that sounds similar to the one that OP lists. I wouldn't consider that a cooler, but some yahoo at check-in might.

 

Thanks tamirpr; I guess we will just act like nothing's wrong. ;)

 

BTW, strawberries from your town are the best in the world !!

[billmacd]

I have a similar "cooler' bag I planned on taking Sunday on a Spirit cruise Sunday out of San Pedro. Anyone know if they are as strict at the San Pedro port??Thanks...

[cruisemama1]

Then why are you on this Board????

 

wow is all I can say.

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

Iv seen posts from people that had barely larger than 12 x 12 x 12 who had them confiscated. Its always a risk you take if you take a cooler that is too large. they can spot those rolling coolers a mile away like OP has.

Was so glad to see this post. Our last cruise 4/10 the cooler reg were 15x12 and we purchased 2 coolers, we were just gonna take those. Now looks like we'll be purchasing more coolers. Oh, well!!

[bingo3]

I have a collapsible cooler bag that is 12x15x5. that does have the plastic lining in it. It is no larger than a beach bag or some women's purses. Will Carnival allow you to carry on this bag or will they confiscate it? Bought this bag this summer just for our cruise this Christmas not knowing that Carnival had a "cooler rule". Hate to lose my new bag.

 

I would just pack it if possible, so as not to worry about it.

 

I'm not sure why they have the rule. If it fits through the xray machine and if the guest is the one having to bring it on board and keep up with it, I don't really know why the size matters??? Can anyone enlighten me??

[Wehwalt]

I suggest bringing the stuff aboard in a normal suitcase and have a member of your party carry two or three foam coolers like you buy at 7-11 for five bucks. If they are confiscated, then buy a cooler at the first port. I find that security after embarkation is often more relaxed.

[Wehwalt]

I would just pack it if possible, so as not to worry about it.

 

I'm not sure why they have the rule. If it fits through the xray machine and if the guest is the one having to bring it on board and keep up with it, I don't really know why the size matters??? Can anyone enlighten me??

 

Look, Carnival wants your party to drink the drinks, including the soft drinks on board. Obviously it is very profitable to them and they feel strongly enough about this to offend some passengers. I'm taking a HAL cruise tomorrow; there is no such rule there (their rooms do have coolers though) However, they get an older crowd, so they are unlikely to arrive with cases of Coca Cola for Brittany and Josh. I may bring a couple of bottled waters, but I'm not a soda drinker so it's not a big deal to me.

[bguppies]

Sorry.......it was out of Baltimore MD. I thought it was a very picky, picky thing especially looking at the other carry ons.........so huge and bulky.

and i saw alot of rolling carry ons too! Oh well, just take note no carry ons with plastic linings!!

 

We always pack our rolling carry on (cooler) with clothes and check it with the other luggage.

Then just unpack and get the steward to fill it with ice for us.

 

Has made it on 9 consecutive Carnival cruises, from every Florida port, with zero problems.

 

Bill

[near the beach]

It is interesting how some things get through and some don’t. A could of weeks ago we were on the Sensation and saw two hard sided coolers being pulled around by passengers. They were both well over twelve by twelve. I guess I should have asked. I have been told that items taken before you board can be retrieved at the end of the cruise when you leave the ship. Has anyone tried to get their items back after a cruise?

[bingo3]

Look, Carnival wants your party to drink the drinks, including the soft drinks on board. Obviously it is very profitable to them and they feel strongly enough about this to offend some passengers. I'm taking a HAL cruise tomorrow; there is no such rule there (their rooms do have coolers though) However, they get an older crowd, so they are unlikely to arrive with cases of Coca Cola for Brittany and Josh. I may bring a couple of bottled waters, but I'm not a soda drinker so it's not a big deal to me.

 

That has nothing to do with the size of the cooler, they still allow the same amount of drinks to be brought on board per person, no matter the size of cooler. (12) 20oz, drinks and 1 bottle of wine. I still don't know why cooler size should matter?

[Wehwalt]

I thought I saw a 12 20-ounce restriction on soft drinks someplace in Da Rulez and a requirement you carry them on.

[foxesden1]

Would it not have been possible to remove (tear or cut) the lining out? That is too bad, I am sorry you lost your bag. Seems to me that it would have been nice if they gave you the option to destroy the lining so it couldn't be used as a cooler, then you might have been able to keep it!

 

 

Okay I do not understand - why can you not bring a cooler carry on bag?

 

I guess, some people might bring them to the pool filled with their own drinks?

 

I have always taken a small shoulder cooler on every trip - great for when we are in port.

 

Should I not pack it?

 

(Heck, I have a great one that Disney Cruise Sold us!)

 

T

[klmorg]

Okay I do not understand - why can you not bring a cooler carry on bag?

 

I guess, some people might bring them to the pool filled with their own drinks?

 

I have always taken a small shoulder cooler on every trip - great for when we are in port.

 

Should I not pack it?

 

(Heck, I have a great one that Disney Cruise Sold us!)

 

T

 

You can bring a cooler of any type... there are just restrictions on cooler size... must be no larger than 12X12.

[MyDogRudy]

Just because Carnival allows quite a lot of beverages to be brought on board does not mean all those beverages need to be cold at the same time. It is reasonable to limit coolers because it does use more ice for people to fill large coolers full of ice and keep them full of fresh ice during their cruise. Producing ice does use resources and even if Carnival is not worried about the cost of those resources, they need to make sure plenty of ice is available for all the guests, including their own needs in the drinks they make.

 

Sadly, there seems to be a trend in people only caring about themselves. They will hoard what they need with no regard for others. Many people do not care about sharing resources among the other 3,000+ guests. Well, ships have limits - they are not land-based hotels which can acquire more resources at any given time. Ships need to plan out the use of said resources more carefully. Restricting cooler size is one way to go about this task. It may not have been necessary in the past when people truly only took what they needed, but this is not the case these days. Rules can not always be enforced with 100% compliance at 100% of the time, so people do get used to being able to get away with some things, but it is always a risk.

 

In the OP situation described, it seems obvious to us she did not intend to use the 'pretty bag' as a cooler to be filled completely with ice fresh every day. However, there are plenty of others who would have that intention. To be fair, when rule violations are found, they should be enforced equally across the board because you can't always determine intent and when you try to pick and choose which passengers need to follow the rules and which do not, that is more problematic than just being a stickler with everyone. The fact more people seem to be paying less attention to rules and have less respect for rules leads me to believe they can no longer store all these 'confiscated' items upon return of the cruise ship. Not only are there storage issues to consider, but tracking and disposal issues for those items not claimed upon return.

 

This might all sound a bit harsh or critical, but the numbers of these long threads regarding how the rules are ridiculous or unfair, wondering why the people at the port can't just use more common sense actually prove my point. More and more people don't take the time to know the rules or want to push limits, and because of this, everyone is under more scrutiny. Again, not saying that is what the OP was doing in this case - seems she had a rolling cooler bag which worked nicely as a carry on, so she used it in that manner. However, it was over-sized as far as a cooler, which is what it actually is. It stinks she did not realize this and lost her bag, but ignorance of the rules cannot be an excuse either because then you run into the storage/tracking issue of all these items if the ship tries to accommodate for this.

 

With that said, I am glad I do read CC so I can learn from others' experiences as I am sure I have overlooked some of the Carnival rules. However, I fly into port and do not carry on any beverages, so my bags are already limited by TSA and airline standards which are still more strict than port standards, so I feel relatively safe getting through the port after leaving the airport. If I were to drive to a port and had the luxury of bringing on more items, I would probably need to bone up on the rules more if I did not want to run the risk of leaving anything behind. I go on week long cruises, so do need to be somewhat prepared with personal items, however, I am not moving onto the ship, so see no need to bring the kitchen sink on board - even if I drove to the port.

 

Anyway, thankful people do post their experiences here so I can learn what to avoid, but do sometimes tire of the debate as to whether a rule is reasonable or not.