Bringing liquor on board?

[scooter17i]

if you put liquor in your checked bag will it go through? also, how tight are they when looking through your bag? can a water bottle be filled with something other than water? can anyone give me some tips on how to sneak stuff in. thanks.

[KruznKel]

Lots has been posted re this.. check out the thread below maybe it will help you..

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=168445&highlight=alcohol

[sled diva]

if you put liquor in your checked bag will it go through? also, how tight are they when looking through your bag? can a water bottle be filled with something other than water? can anyone give me some tips on how to sneak stuff in. thanks.

My boyfriend and I brought a "few" bottles on board. Even with the xray machine they didn't take it as long as we had it in our carry on and it was concealed. The duty free in San Juan told us this and it worked. Definately don't walk on with it in your hand but in your bag shouldn't be a problem. If you're nervous do the fill the water bottle trick. What cruise on you on?

[scooter17i]

it is on carnival

[Bruin Steve]

Okay, here I go again...I know I'm about to raise the ire of all those folks who think smuggling booze onboard is one of the prime activities of cruising, but, let's do this anyway:

 

The cruise lines all now offer this really great new service...

For a small fee per drink, THEY will actually mix you a drink, over ice and deliver it to you wherever on the ship you may want it...in a bar or lounge, in the dining room, the show room, up on the pool deck or even to your cabin...they carry a large stock of all sorts of alcoholic drinks and mixers and can make just about anything you desire...

 

Use this service and they will actually allow you to drink publicly all over the ship! No rushing back to your cabin to drink or sneaking out that flask to add a little zip to your Coke in the dining room when your table mates aren't looking...

 

And, here are some of the other advantages to using this service:

 

No more packing suitcases that weigh 10 or 20 pounds more than they should and having to lug those heavy bags around airports...

 

No more broken or exploded bottles as your luggage is abused by skycaps down at the airport...

 

No more spending the length of your cruise wearing strangely stained clothes with the prevailing odor of Jose Cuervo Gold permeating everything you wear...

 

No more worrying about whether or not the cruise lines enforce their rules regarding alcohol...

 

Yes, it does cost you a little bit extra, depending on how bad your alcohol dependency has become...let's say you consume 6 drinks a day between your spouse and yourself at around $5 a drink (If you care enough to smuggle, we know you're not drinking Dom Perignon or Glenlivet or Patron)...so, that's $30 a day times seven nights...or about $210 for the entire cruise...

 

Let's compare that to the smuggler's deal...You paid $22.95 each at Costco for a 1.75 liter of Jose Cuervo and a 1.75 liter of Kamchatka...and $6.99 each for a case of Coke and a case of 7-up (Why pay the cruise line for the mixers, right?)...That's probably enough to pour yourself those same 42 drinks...and a touch stronger than the bartender at the pool bar pours them...That's $60...

 

Except, the Cuervo bottle breaks in your luggage when the airline crew drops it off the little truck onto the tarmac and then tosses it onto the plane (not to mention losing six cans of Coke as they explode somewhere in the air over Kansas due to the change in air pressure 40,000 feet up...So the replacement bottle of booze at the pier runs you another $30...So, you're up to $90...

 

But, though you don't care whether you smell like Tequila while touring the ports, your wife refuses to let you attend formal night in your tequila-scented tux...So, you've got to dry-clean, on the ship, one tux, two tux shirts, black socks, cummerbund, bow tie...there's another $40...Now, you're up to $130...

 

But, wait, you need ICE...Better throw an extra $40 onto the tip for that cabin steward to keep on bringing you fresh ice...Okay, we're up to $170...

 

But, all of this is okay...because you've saved $40...

I don't know about me, but I'm sure to you smelling like tequila, carrying two extra suitcases and an extra 30 or 40 pounds and dinking by yourself in your cabin is clearly worth the $40...Right?

 

Okay, let me have it...

Tell me about how you find the service not quite as good and/or immediate as pouring your own...or how the ship, somehow, among its thousands of bottles, just doesn't stock your favorite brand...or how it's just your protest against paying $5 for a drink you can pour for yourself for a $1 (I am sure you do this when you dine out at a fine restaurant, too...and you undoubtedly pop your own popcorn and smuggle into the local megaplex because why on earth would you spend $4 for a bag of popcorn?...)

 

And all of you who are about to scream at me that this DOES NOT apply to you because YOU are NOT cheap, you smuggle your own booze on board for some higher purpose,,,Well, it's okay, then, I guess this doesn't apply to you... :) :)

 

And to those who claim my numbers are off...that it's not the difference between $60 and $210 (or the obvious, worst case tongue-in cheek $170), but that, in YOUR case, you drink more than that and so YOU actually save THOUSANDS on YOUR bar tab...Well, to you, do us all a favor and check into those "Friends of Bill W" meetings, because, if you're saving THAT much, you must be drinking enough that cirrhosis of the liver, alcohol poisoning and brain cell loss start coming into question...and you need far more help than just tips on the best way to smuggle booze on board...

 

Good luck...

[sk8teacher]

Okay, here I go again...I know I'm about to raise the ire of all those folks who think smuggling booze onboard is one of the prime activities of cruising, but, let's do this anyway:

 

 

Well said. I agree with you completely!:)

[Happy ks]

Bruin Steve, I agree with you to a point. Sometimes we do bring along a few good bottles of wine, it is allowed by many cruise lines. We are charged a corkage fee, but it still comes out to less than half of what the ship will charge, plus we get a better selection of wine. No "smuggling" necessary. It depends on if we are flying, I don't like to weigh down our luggage with wine bottles.

 

DH will take along a bottle of Jack for in-cabin use only. He enjoys a drink while getting ready for dinner, it's a convenience for him more than anything. If we are cruising RCI, we don't bother with this because we can purchase a bottle in their liquor store and, for a fee, take it to our cabin for in cabin consumption. I think all ships should offer this service. By the way, sometimes he will grab a drink from the bar to take back to the room. I've neer put his bottle of Jack on the scale, I doubt it weighs more than 2 lbs.

 

We are not huge drinkers, so the cost over the week is not our concern. Mostly we do the above for convenience and good taste. We have purchased wine onboard a ship and we both cringe at paying over $20 for a bottle of wine we could get for $4.99 at the local grocery store that is almost un-drinkable. We can get a very good bottle for $15-25 range and pay a $15 corkage fee. Not only are the selections rather poor onboard, if they did have our choices, they would be more like $70-90 per bottle, bringing your total cost to more than $550 for what we could do for less than $250. I do have to add, I would never bring 7 bottles of wine aboard, more like 3-4! Our bar tab for the week still totals around $150-200.

[Skinsfan1311]

Okay, here I go again...I know I'm about to raise the ire of all those folks who think smuggling booze onboard is one of the prime activities of cruising, but, let's do this anyway:

Well, to you, do us all a favor and check into those "Friends of Bill W" meetings, because, if you're saving THAT much, you must be drinking enough that cirrhosis of the liver, alcohol poisoning and brain cell loss start coming into question...and you need far more help than just tips on the best way to smuggle booze on board...

 

Good luck...

Wow! Way to make a new poster feel welcome!...:cool: You have some valid points, but, why so harsh??

:confused:

[Bruin Steve]

Wow! Way to make a new poster feel welcome!...:cool: You have some valid points, but, why so harsh??

Didn't mean to jump all over the OP...

It's just my writing style, really...and it was more directed toward the greater "everyone" who reads these boards...

 

I just see this question asked so many times...and so many people feel this is some sort of right or challenge or that it's just an important part of their cruising experience...that I think a lot of folks take the booze smuggling thing for granted...they're looking to refine and perfect it rather than to sit back and think about it...

 

The reason to cruise is to relax...to take a vacation as stress-free as possible...Most cruise not just to travel, but to be relieved of so many of the stress-inducers brought on by other vacations...There's no need to deal with the logistics of getting from site to site, no need to deal with questions on where to eat...no searching out entertainment choices...

 

The whole thing is laid out before you and made easy...

The day's program is slipped under your door the previous night...

Your dinner reservations are made and you can eat whatever you want off the menu...You don't have to wait for a table...or worry about what the bill will be when your family orders a slew of appetizers and desserts...Everything is easy walking distance from your room...

 

Yeah, the whole thing costs a little bit of $$$...But most of it is pre-paid...and you know approximately what your tips will cost...and you can count on a few $$$ on the old bar tab...

 

My idea is that you shouldn't worry about it...Most of your costs are fixed and you should be able to approximate things like the bar tab going in...You know how much you typically drink...Figure it's going to run you a few bucks a drink...a little less if you go for the "Drink of the Day" specials, a little more if you like to call your own shot on expensive liquors or liquers...

 

When all is told, that bar tab is likely just a small fraction of your total cost...

 

But, those drinks are available everywhere...they make it easy for you (of course)...Why worry about getting a drink? Why worry about ANYTHING???

 

Pack as LIGHT as you can (and, yes, whatever those bottles weigh, smuggling booze runs counter to this)...Heck, I don't even worry if I forget to pack something...You can always buy clothes or toiletries or whatever you need anywhere along the way...

 

Heck, you can even buy booze...

And that's the point...You can ALWAYS buy booze...by the drink or however...and, in the greater scheme of things, the challenge of saving a paltry few dollars that are undoubtedly only a fraction of your total cost really can't be worth all the stress...

 

And THAT is my real point...You are on vacation...Better than that, you are on a CRUISE...The cost is what it is...Learn to stop worrying about the little things...

 

For the few days you are cruising, live like a king...

[KruznKel]

Well my opinion is that you just more or less said that any others that do enjoy to have a few extra beers or fruity drinks on a cruise and bring their own liqour are considered alkies and that I did not like.. TOO each their own ..there is a reason behind the means for everyone and for you to preach yours is all good.. but do not think you are any better then the rest that want to enjoy their own personal liqour brought on board... And I am sure that the bar bill for the cruise line is nice as well.. so they are not missing much.. ...

[Skinsfan1311]

Didn't mean to jump all over the OP...

It's just my writing style, really...and it was more directed toward the greater "everyone" who reads these boards...

For the few days you are cruising, live like a king...

Good point, especially the "live like a king" part!!

:D

[4merlurker]

Well my opinion is that you just more or less said that any others that do enjoy to have a few extra beers or fruity drinks on a cruise and bring their own liqour are considered alkies and that I did not like.. TOO each their own ..there is a reason behind the means for everyone and for you to preach yours is all good.. but do not think you are any better then the rest that want to enjoy their own personal liqour brought on board... And I am sure that the bar bill for the cruise line is nice as well.. so they are not missing much.. ...

 

I don't think BruinSteve actually meant all smugglers are alcoholics.....Lighten up. :) His answer was rather funny...had me laughing out loud and I haven't even had my 3:00pm shot of tequila yet LOL! :D

My interpretation? Well, you spend thousands of dollars on the cruise what the heck is another hundred or two for a few foo foos and some beer??? I mean build it into the budget if you must but don't let it make or break your vacation. Again, that's just my interpretation. (I'm sure there are many of this board who will disagree ;) )

Happy cruizin everyone!!!

[elron]

Scoot, everybody is into their own thing. If you feel like bringing your own, go ahead!

[jcanino]

Okay, here I go again...I know I'm about to raise the ire of all those folks who think smuggling booze onboard is one of the prime activities of cruising, but, let's do this anyway:

 

The cruise lines all now offer this really great new service...

 

Well said! I have always wondered how many of these "smugglers" try to bring their own liquor into a restaurant that has a liquor license. Smuggling is not a good term. It means that you are doing something wrong and against laws and regulations.

[Sandgroper]

:eek: OMG LOL ...'Steve's' are always verbose! Don't know why........Luv ya

 

BTW, My brochure for the Star Princess states that we can take on-board wine and soft drink. I will be taking some 'Banrock Station' red as that is my favourite wine. It can be bought in a box too, so I shall try that. I like a glass before my meal, not so much with or after, so I'll probably have it in my room while getting ready for dinner. I would probably 'smuggle' it on-board if it were not allowed... because the 'Rebel' in me would make me do it!!!! :D

Sandgroper