Can you take food off the ship?

[avalon007]

Hi,

 

Whilst cruising in Alaska, do they allow you to take food off the ship or is it like in other ports that say no food allowed off the ship due to quarantine regulations?

[Keith1010]

Our experience is that you are not allowed to take food off the ship in Alaska other then package items and of course water.

 

Keith

[PennyAgain]

People will post that they did take mountains of food of their ship and no one cared. It still is a violation of US laws. You will see people packing up food in the breakfast buffets on the ships but a great deal of it ends up thrown away and wasted.

 

At least part of the ships' enforcement of US laws is to cut down on massive wasting of food.

 

Alaska ports have many good places to eat and to buy food for picnics. You won't starve on shore.

[aerospace]

Your not supposed to bring open food and especially not fruits/veg. I usually get a couple of granola bars or something sealed to bring if I'm hungry(no restaurants on a glacier lol).

 

Also be aware you can't bring open food on board. It happens every once in awhile someone picks up lunch in a port to go. They will even make you dump a coke bottle if it's been opened already, though they aren't likely to check.

[Putterdude]

Packaged snacks and alike are OK but sandwiches, fruit and vegetables are a no-no.

[avalon007]

Thanks for the replies.

 

We have super strict quarantine laws here in Australia & we always abide by any such laws around the world.

 

Just wanted to make sure it was the same in US ports.

 

It was just taking a small healthy snack like nuts or fruit if we go straight on an excursion etc with no time to purchase anything onshore that I was thinking would be handy.

 

But no problem if that's not allowed. :)

[PennyAgain]

As said above, you can take prepacked items of food off the ship; so a sealed bag of nuts is OK. Likewise packages (professionally made and sealed up) of a dried fruit and nut mix.

 

I usually have granola bars in my camera bag.

 

Just a word about other things you might want: I get very dry skin in Alaska and keep a supply of anti-dry skin lotion handy and use it often. You also need to take reasonable sun precautions if you have a sunny situation.

[avalon007]

As said above, you can take prepacked items of food off the ship; so a sealed bag of nuts is OK. Likewise packages (professionally made and sealed up) of a dried fruit and nut mix.

 

I usually have granola bars in my camera bag.

 

Just a word about other things you might want: I get very dry skin in Alaska and keep a supply of anti-dry skin lotion handy and use it often. You also need to take reasonable sun precautions if you have a sunny situation.

 

 

Thanks for the additional info.

 

I will stick with regulations regards packaged foods, raw nuts are our snack of choice as they are low in sugar & high in protein, so we may have to buy some packaged pre cruise to take on board, just to take off again in port!:D

 

Like you I get dry hands etc in cold weather so always have a lip balm & hand cream with me, we also use our sunscreen in all weather as we are from the land of sun damage, so are big on sunscreen.

 

I even wear a 50+ blockout long sleeved rashie when snorkelling in warmer places as I am fair skinned. Don't think I'll need it though on the Alaska leg of the trip!:)

[generichandle]

If you wanna protect your fair skin, definitely DO wear sunblock everytime you go out in snow/glacier. 'Burning' doesnt come from heat, it comes from exposure to certain wavelengths of radiation. On reflactive snow and ice, it is enhanced.

 

Doug

[crusinpsychRN]

Thanks for the additional info.

 

I will stick with regulations regards packaged foods, raw nuts are our snack of choice as they are low in sugar & high in protein, so we may have to buy some packaged pre cruise to take on board, just to take off again in port!:D

 

Like you I get dry hands etc in cold weather so always have a lip balm & hand cream with me, we also use our sunscreen in all weather as we are from the land of sun damage, so are big on sunscreen.

 

I even wear a 50+ blockout long sleeved rashie when snorkelling in warmer places as I am fair skinned. Don't think I'll need it though on the Alaska leg of the trip!:)

 

Lots of posts about getting sunburned in Alaska. Take the sunscreen!

[vbmom87]

If I didn't read this forum I would not have known it was against the law to take food off the ship in AK. I went on two AK cruises and never took any food off the ship except prepackaged items. However, even though I was paying attention, I never saw any information regarding this posted on any literature or on signs. You would think they would post signs in the area where you are leaving the ship to inform passengers of this law. Or even better inform you as you check in. Not everyone is an expert on the laws. If it is an important law the cruise lines should do a better job of informing its passengers. I do recall when we were getting ready to disembark in Seward an announcement was made to not take any fruits or veggies off the ship. We had begun our trip in Vancouver. That was the only time in 21 days of cruise travel to AK that I was made aware of taking food off the ship. You think they would have made that announcement at each port. Better yet, it should be in printed material. Perhaps a note on the beds so there would be no excuse to not have been aware of the law. This is my take anyway.

[1025cruise]

I always saw signs printed in the Patters on my cruise.

[Shmoo here]

If I didn't read this forum I would not have known it was against the law to take food off the ship in AK. I went on two AK cruises and never took any food off the ship except prepackaged items. However, even though I was paying attention, I never saw any information regarding this posted on any literature or on signs. You would think they would post signs in the area where you are leaving the ship to inform passengers of this law. Or even better inform you as you check in. Not everyone is an expert on the laws. If it is an important law the cruise lines should do a better job of informing its passengers. I do recall when we were getting ready to disembark in Seward an announcement was made to not take any fruits or veggies off the ship. We had begun our trip in Vancouver. That was the only time in 21 days of cruise travel to AK that I was made aware of taking food off the ship. You think they would have made that announcement at each port. Better yet, it should be in printed material. Perhaps a note on the beds so there would be no excuse to not have been aware of the law. This is my take anyway.

 

I just went back and checked our Explorers for our Alaska cruise last year.

 

This was on page one:

 

GOING ASHORE

When going ashore today please

make sure you carry your guest ID

card (stateroom key), as well as a

form of government-issued photo

ID. Also, please remember that due

to local government regulations no

food may be taken from ship to

shore.

[sherryf]

I think the posting of this rule is inconsistent. I have seen it posted in the Princess Patters on some cruises, but it was not mentioned once in my Patters last year. I went back and looked at some point to be sure.

[pdmlynek]

This thread comes up every couple of weeks on this forum.

 

Although I understand the need to protect the port area from invasive species that may come on shore from fruit or other foods, I seriously doubt that the local grocery stores review their products for invasive species more closely than the food inspectors aboard the ship.

 

I strongly suspect that the primary reason for such rules is simply economic: restaurants need customers.

[bearbait]

There are NO food inspectors at the end of the gangplank as you get off the ship. There are NO food inspectors doing random inspections as you troll around the dock. As a guide for bear tours we frequently asked people to hand over any food they had brought with them from the ship. LOTS of people take food off of the ship, LOTs of them. There are NO local laws or regulations in Alaska that prohibit you from taking food off of the ship. I will say those bacon, egg & sausage biscuts that chap from Australia was carrying in his pocket were very odorous. That's how I knew he was carrying them.

[capriccio]

I think the posting of this rule is inconsistent. I have seen it posted in the Princess Patters on some cruises, but it was not mentioned once in my Patters last year. I went back and looked at some point to be sure.

 

You must not have been on the Coral Princess in late July :D. Here is what appeared in every Patter (but not always in the same place) on port days and was mentioned in the the announcement over the PA at every port:

 

Agricultural Notice: The U.S. and Canadian Agricultural Departments remind you that heavy fines can be imposed for bringing any fruit, vegetables, flowers, plants, meats or diary products into our ports of call.

 

When someone questioned me on the Princess Boards because they had never seen/noticed it, I noted that it appeared

 

• in a box on the last page for Ketchikan that included the Security Screening notice.
  

 

• in a box on the front page for Juneau (right below From the Navigator) that included Planet Princess and Ship's Security Notice.
  

 

• in a box on the last page for Skagway that included the Security Screening notice and a Public Health Reminder.
  

 

• on page 3 of the Disembarkation Sheet (for Whittier) under in the Customs/Border Patrol Section under "Disembarkation Day" but the content was slightly different:
  

US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RESTRICTIONS: It is illegal to take fruits, plants, meats or dairy ashore, on the spot fines will be enforced.

[sherryf]

You must not have been on the Coral Princess in late July :D. Here is what appeared in every Patter (but not always in the same place) on port days and was mentioned in the the announcement over the PA at every port:

 

I was on the Golden in late July. I looked at every page of every Patter and could not find it anywhere. That is why I say it is INCONSISTENT. Some ships (and I assume it is the Cruise Director because s/he does the Patter) are good about listing it, and others are not. I have seen it in the past, but not at all last year. FWIW, our CD wasn't very good, so maybe that's a factor. I still agree that we aren't supposed to do it, and I never do, but it is not always communicated to passengers as it should be.

[Putterdude]

The underlying issue here is that with ships leaving from Vancouver to Alaska while the food has been inspected by Canadian inspectors it hasn't been so by USDA inspectors and with ships leaving from Seattle or San Francisco early in the season...there is food onboard that has come from who knows where. Thus the ban...yes you probably won't be caught taking food ashore...but if you are the penalties can be big.

[tangerinebunny]

If food/open drinks/coffee is seen by security as passengers leave the ship, they oversee its disposal.

 

Since these rules also apply in larger ports such as Vancouver, I doubt that it's the local restaurants pushing it.

[tbiesinger]

Are we allowed to take food off of the ship for lunch in the ports? Are their things in the buffets, for instance, that we can pack in a hand bag for the day we are in port and carry it off of the ship?

[Keith1010]

You are not allowed to take food off the ship unless it is packaged food.

 

Keith

[1025cruise]

There are no "to go" containers. It is not lawful to carry food that is not prepackaged off of the ship.

[5HappyCampers]

We always travel with granola bars, trail mix, and other prepackaged snacks from home. Everyone carries a backpack for going ashore with some snacks so if they get the nibbles they can have something without having to find a restaurant.;)

[Putterdude]

Pre-packaged food and snacks are allowed but nothing like sandwiches, meats, fruit or vegetables may be taken ashore.