Bringing Wine & Beer Onboard

[NSWP]

We were on Dawn Princess from Sydney roundtrip New Zealand - disembarked today. We took a bottle of wine each in our checked luggage. Our suitcases didn't show up in our room so we asked our cabin attendant where our bags were and he found out they were being held in the naughty corner. We went down to deck 4 and showed the crew member that it was wine only and were allowed to take our suitcases (and our wine) to our cabin. At the second port we attempted to bring a bottle of wine each back onboard and it was confiscated until the last day of the cruise. Tried again next port, same outcome. Went to Passenger Service and asked when Princess' policy re bringing wine on at ports of call changed and they said "recently". I asked if Australian passengers were being singled out re this policy as it seemed that we were being discriminated against going by the comments on cruise critic and other websites and was told "No- it's a fleet wide change". I told them that Princess will be losing their point of difference from other lines in Australia if they keep this up. I also made a point of mentioning it to the Captain's Circle hostess onboard. She knew nothing about it - just said it was a matter for the hotel department and she really couldn't help. I told her that she may be worried when people stop coming on Princess because they are treated like children who cannot be trusted with a bottle of wine. It is a blatant revenue raising exercise and we are NOT happy about it.:mad:

You are spot on. We have travelled on many Princess ships including the Aussie ones and the American ones. The two bottles of wine limit at inital embarkation is enforced on Sea/Dawn/Sun Princess but not on the 'American Princess ships.'

 

Travesty of justice. American Princess cruisers would not put up with it, we are expected to. Time to revolt ! And they want US$12 per person per day tips too. I said want !

[cee cee1]

You are spot on. We have travelled on many Princess ships including the Aussie ones and the American ones. The two bottles of wine limit at inital embarkation is enforced on Sea/Dawn/Sun Princess but not on the 'American Princess ships.'

 

Travesty of justice. American Princess cruisers would not put up with it, we are expected to. Time to revolt ! And they want US$12 per person per day tips too. I said want !

That's exactly what I said to the Passenger Services staff. They tried to tell me that it was a fleet wide rule but we have been on American sailings too and had no trouble. It's unfair to treat us differently from others - and being Elite didn't even get me a hearing. They couldn't have cared less.

[pedirn]

When we boarded in LA all beer, soda and a portion of rum runners were in a rolling backpack that we carried on board.

[Debbie4994]

That's exactly what I said to the Passenger Services staff. They tried to tell me that it was a fleet wide rule but we have been on American sailings too and had no trouble. It's unfair to treat us differently from others - and being Elite didn't even get me a hearing. They couldn't have cared less.

 

If they start those tactics in the US I'm going to invest in 6 rum-runners for the next trip.

[Lostincruisin]

always bring one bottle of wine per person. This we have in our room. If you bring it to the dining table, uncorked... they will charge a corkage fee. This may be more than your bottle sometimes....

[allysdad]

Seems to be the party line . @ families with kids should not be aproblem. I am on the Cribbean Princess next Saturday. Already have a case waiting in FLL. Any word from anyone on the size of bottles? 2 Magnums may be an idea for our party of nine!!

[jagoffee]

You are spot on. We have travelled on many Princess ships including the Aussie ones and the American ones. The two bottles of wine limit at inital embarkation is enforced on Sea/Dawn/Sun Princess but not on the 'American Princess ships.'

 

Travesty of justice. American Princess cruisers would not put up with it, we are expected to. Time to revolt ! And they want US$12 per person per day tips too. I said want !

 

Don't you wonder how much of the US$12 a day service charge actually goes to the person making the decision on the wine policy?

[Debbie4994]

always bring one bottle of wine per person. This we have in our room. If you bring it to the dining table, uncorked... they will charge a corkage fee. This may be more than your bottle sometimes....

 

That will be the day when my HD pays 3 times more than the amount the wine costs to have someone open it. :rolleyes:

[caviargal]

We have no problem paying the 15 corkage fee to drink wines we enjoy. I agree that I would not bother bringing an inexpensive bottle of wine to dinner and paying the corkage but we bring special bottles to drink a few nights with dinner and are happy to pay to have it decanted and properly served.

[jk160]

Listening to this board sounds like I need to not worry about my next Princess Cruise and following the contract...one question is there any difference in scanning the regular line and the suite/platinum/elite Passenger line. Anybody think they are more lax on one line than the other????

 

 

PS Princess is my favorite line and I am Platinum and love the upsale fairy!!!

 

Have no idea as I thought everyone went thru the scanner. Elite tends to board before others, but security is same for all.

[jk160]

Not that these comments will be particularly helpful as I'm going by memory of previously read threads: it seems if you go to the port pages of the CC boards and look at Galveston in particular, there are posts regarding the strictness of the screeners at that port.

 

I'll amend this post if/when I find the specific link...

 

Crown arrives Galveston 12/22. I'll be aboard on 1/5:D

 

We are doing back to back Jan 12th and 19th, and will be first time on Crown. Will be our 25th and 26th cruise with Princess.

[priggio01]

On Princess, people so it all the time.

 

Where are you sailing from. If it is Fort Lauderdale. Go to Total Wines & More (totalwine.com) for best selection and price. You can even order in advance and they will have it waiting

 

We will be sailing out of FLL in February. This is great information to know. We will definitely be shopping with totalwine! Thank you!

[Roxymax]

We will be sailing out of FLL in February. This is great information to know. We will definitely be shopping with totalwine! Thank you!

 

Total Wine and Spirits is Awesome! Make sure to give yourself an hour for the stop not because the check out lines are long (they move quickly due to great customer service and attention to details) but due to the fact they have sooooo many wines and spirits and beer it is like a candy store for adults....huge selection with great prices...

[IECalCruiser]

We haven't sailed out of FLL since 2006. In San Pedro (LA) they have changed the procedure so that you go through security between check-in and the boarding waiting area. There are three scanners, one for Suite/Elite/Platinum and two for others. Depending upon the number of Suite/Elite/Platinum passengers, the line for the other two scanners can be much shorter.

[IECalCruiser]

Seems to be the party line . @ families with kids should not be aproblem. I am on the Cribbean Princess next Saturday. Already have a case waiting in FLL. Any word from anyone on the size of bottles? 2 Magnums may be an idea for our party of nine!!

If you check your passage contract, you see the wine bottle size is limited to 750ml. Don't know what would happen now if you brought a magnum to the DR.

[Debbie4994]

Do you really think the waiter cares one way or the other what size bottle he opens?

[caviargal]

If you check your passage contract, you see the wine bottle size is limited to 750ml. Don't know what would happen now if you brought a magnum to the DR.

 

I am wondering about this. We have a special magnum we have been waiting to drink and it is ready now. Would really like to open to enjoy on Christmas Eve and Day but if they take it and do not store it properly and it is subjected to hot temps for a week, it will be ruined.

 

Think we may not chance it.

[paul929207]

I am wondering about this. We have a special magnum we have been waiting to drink and it is ready now. Would really like to open to enjoy on Christmas Eve and Day but if they take it and do not store it properly and it is subjected to hot temps for a week, it will be ruined.

 

Think we may not chance it.

Historically, Princess has not been real strict enforcing the alcohol rules.

[WAVTAM]

On Crown doing TA, have bought 3 -4 bottles in Princess carry bag in every port with no problems, including spirits. wayne

[BoardwalkBabe]

We sailed on CB last week and I didn't have any trouble checking a small rolling cooler (looks like a suitcase) with water and beer in it. It also didn't have a negative impact on our daily bar tab as we were parked at Crooners every night prior to dinner.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Situations vary by port. When we sailed out of San Pedro last year there were three scanners. One was reserved for Platinum and Elite, BUT there were so many of them on board that is was a much shorter line to use the other two and Princess personal was directly those going to the Platinum/Elite scanner to go to them to shorten the wait. In Vancouver, the port authorities rather than Princess staff are doing the scanning. They were very strict about limiting the size of carry-on bags to 22x14x9.

 

There has been no reported change in practice in Port Everglades or San Pedro, but the one bottle per person rule has been reported to have been enforced at least some times in St. Thomas, Aruba and Honolulu.

 

Hello neighbor....we also live in the IE and will be sailing on Sapphire Princess out of San Pedro for NYE. We'd love to take some wine onboard and wonder if you know if they're stricter enforcing the policy on holiday sailings & if you think we might be able to take a few bottles each onboard? Are we able to bring any on in the Hawaiian ports?

[IECalCruiser]

Hello neighbor....we also live in the IE and will be sailing on Sapphire Princess out of San Pedro for NYE. We'd love to take some wine onboard and wonder if you know if they're stricter enforcing the policy on holiday sailings & if you think we might be able to take a few bottles each onboard? Are we able to bring any on in the Hawaiian ports?

We haven't sailed out of San Pedro since September of last year but we have carried as many as five bottles of wine on board. I haven't seen any postings reporting changes this year in enforcement.

[caribill]

Hello neighbor....we also live in the IE and will be sailing on Sapphire Princess out of San Pedro for NYE. We'd love to take some wine onboard and wonder if you know if they're stricter enforcing the policy on holiday sailings & if you think we might be able to take a few bottles each onboard? Are we able to bring any on in the Hawaiian ports?

 

The future is speculative, but so far nobody has reported any problems.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

We haven't sailed out of San Pedro since September of last year but we have carried as many as five bottles of wine on board. I haven't seen any postings reporting changes this year in enforcement.

 

The future is speculative, but so far nobody has reported any problems.

 

Thanks...that's good to know. :)

[IECalCruiser]

Hello neighbor....we also live in the IE and will be sailing on Sapphire Princess out of San Pedro for NYE. We'd love to take some wine onboard and wonder if you know if they're stricter enforcing the policy on holiday sailings & if you think we might be able to take a few bottles each onboard? Are we able to bring any on in the Hawaiian ports?

We didn't bring any wine on board at any of the ports in Hawaii on our 2009 cruise. There have been recent posts that they have sporadically enforced the one bottle per person rule in Honolulu.