Bringing a bomber (750ML or 22oz) of beer on board in place of wine

[cardinals218]

Hello,

 

A question. We are sailing on the Silhouette leaving on December 15 to celebrate two birthdays and a law school graduation. I was wondering if anyone has had sucess bringing in two large format beers in place of wine?

 

Most of the people in our group enjoy bourbon barrel aged beers and I was lucky enough to pick up a Goose Island Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout (14.1% ABV) which would we would love to have on board to celebrate with one night.

 

Thanks

[richstowe]

Hello,

 

A question. We are sailing on the Silhouette leaving on December 15 to celebrate two birthdays and a law school graduation. I was wondering if anyone has had sucess bringing in two large format beers in place of wine?

 

Most of the people in our group enjoy bourbon barrel aged beers and I was lucky enough to pick up a Goose Island Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout (14.1% ABV) which would we would love to have on board to celebrate with one night.

 

Thanks

Wine not beer ! Why ? No good reason however if it looks like a bottle of wine it may go through.

 

 

BTW - You should get it back at the end of the cruise if they do confiscate it.

Edited December 3, 2013 by richstowe

[Tiggertastic]

You are going to open up a can of worms with this one - get ready to put together a tally chart to count the number of different answers positive and negative

 

It clearly states wine only however in our experience it is your decision and your risk and often down to the port you go out of

 

In our experience - Miami, every time they have checked the contents so would be a no and Fort Lauderdale was down to which screening aisle you went through - we watched as we queued and one was checking every bottle, even water bottles, swirling them around and watching bubbles. I got a bottle of grey goose on in Fort Lauderdale purely by going down the aisle that was not checking bottles.

[cardinals218]

The main reason I'm asking is that while Celebrity has amazing wines available on board the beer selection on the high end (even considering Michael's change to a craft beer bar) is not very good. I only want to bring one or two high alcohol beers on board in lieu of wine. Oh, and everyone in our group already has the premium beverage package booked.

 

It does look similar to wine bottle and if you get it back at the end of the cruise, might just be worth the risk.

Edited December 3, 2013 by cardinals218

[cruisestitch]

The screeners don't know or care that you have the Premium package. They only know that they can allow 2 bottles of wine, no beer or hard liquor. Whether your beer will make it through undetected or unchallenged is anybody's guess. You do run the risk of 1) having it taken and not returned and 2) having your luggage delivery delayed.

[Fouremco]

Why not simply follow the rules? Wonderful way for the law school graduate to start off. Or don't they teach ethics anymore?

[chuckroast1]

Put a wine label on the bottle....

[richstowe]

Why not simply follow the rules? Wonderful way for the law school graduate to start off. Or don't they teach ethics anymore?

This is what lawyers are trained to do , to push boundaries , especially regarding arbitrary regulations.

Getting rich while doing this is just a side benefit. Being in Ottawa you should know this.;)

 

Put a wine label on the bottle....

Excellent way to insure not getting your bottle back!

[Fouremco]

This is what lawyers are trained to do , to push boundaries , especially regarding arbitrary regulations.

Getting rich while doing this is just a side benefit. Being in Ottawa you should know this.;)

Gee, I thought that they were meant to help others who ignore the rules! :)

 

Being in Ottawa, what I sadly recognize is that ethics are an increasingly scarce commodity. But enough about Harper and his cronies! :D

[Lsimon]

Cruisestich nailed it.

The only alcoholic beverage that you can clearly take on is wine and then only two 750ML bottles per cabin at initial embarkation.

 

Anything else (beer or liquor) or different (large bottles, more bottles, boxes, etc) is subject to the luck of them not detecting the item for one reason or another. So if you try it don't be disappointed if your product is confiscated and if you have to go the naughty room to collect your luggage if you put it in checked baggage.

 

...BTW - You should get it back at the end of the cruise if they do confiscate it.

 

While this is usually the case we have been on cruises where all items confiscated at initial embarkation were destroyed and not returned. On those cruises there were signs to that effect and we talked to other passengers who had liquor confiscated and destroyed.

[cardinals218]

Deleted. Double post.

Edited December 3, 2013 by cardinals218

[cardinals218]

Cruisestich nailed it.

The only alcoholic beverage that you can clearly take on is wine and then only two 750ML bottles per cabin at initial embarkation.

 

Anything else (beer or liquor) or different (large bottles, more bottles, boxes, etc) is subject to the luck of them not detecting the item for one reason or another. So if you try it don't be disappointed if your product is confiscated and if you have to go the naughty room to collect your luggage if you put it in checked baggage.

 

 

 

While this is usually the case we have been on cruises where all items confiscated at initial embarkation were destroyed and not returned. On those cruises there were signs to that effect and we talked to other passengers who had liquor confiscated and destroyed.

 

Thanks for the reply. Not worth the hassle I guess, I'll just leave it at home. You would think with Celebrity's move towards craft beer they may want to revisit this policy.

 

Curious, what is the definition of wine? Fortified wine okay? Champagne okay? I have a "beer" that is 50% made with fermented grapes with pinot added at the end. Is that a wine?

Edited December 3, 2013 by cardinals218

[Lsimon]

...Curious, what is the definition of wine? Fortified wine okay? Champagne okay? I have a "beer" that is 50% made with fermented grapes with pinot added at the end. Is that a wine?

 

The test to determine if a product is wine or not isn't technical at all. It is whether a security guard who knows nothing about wine will look at the bottle and instantly think it is wine in an original bottle that has not been tampered with. If it is something that requires explanation and convincing then you're probably out of luck. The security guard is unlikely to make a determination in your favor about a questionable item and risk being disciplined.

 

I once read a post that someone was not allowed to bring champagne on as a guard didn't think it was wine. That's an extreme example, and one I would argue with and protest, but it shows what you'll be up against trying to bring on what you believe is a "beer" equivalent of wine.

[cardinals218]

The test to determine if a product is wine or not isn't technical at all. It is whether a security guard who knows nothing about wine will look at the bottle and instantly think it is wine in an original bottle that has not been tampered with. If it is something that requires explanation and convincing then you're probably out of luck. The security guard is unlikely to make a determination in your favor about a questionable item and risk being disciplined.

 

I once read a post that someone was not allowed to bring champagne on as a guard didn't think it was wine. That's an extreme example, and one I would argue with and protest, but it shows what you'll be up against trying to bring on what you believe is a "beer" equivalent of wine.

 

That's what I assumed but wanted to see if anyone else had experience. My only Celebrity cruise we didn't bring on any wine so I didn't really know the process at the pier. Wow about the Champagne story though, that person had to be unhappy, hopefully not too expensive of a bottle.

[MyDogRudy]

FWIW I think this is a good question and would be nice if there were exceptions made for situations like this where people already paid $ for premium package when you aren't trying to cut into cruiseship profit or save a buck; you just want to ensure you have your beverage of choice available. However, it might be tough to draft a policy with enough exceptions to make it clear to staff so it is consistently applied.

[WestLakeGirl]

And not just staff in the US, but think of the embarkation security staff in Buenos Aires, Valparaiso, Barcelona, Venice and wherever around the world Celebrity originates cruises from. The simplest policy possible, with no exceptions is the easiest all the way around

[Bfson]

Many wines now come with screw caps instead of corks. Buy one of those, drink the wine and then refill with the beer.

[Lsimon]

Many wines now come with screw caps instead of corks. Buy one of those, drink the wine and then refill with the beer.

 

See the last paragraph of post No 3 above by Tiggertastic.

 

There are lots of ways to try and scam the system and smuggle what you want on board. None of them are foolproof.

[MicCanberra]

There are lots of ways to try and scam the system and smuggle what you want on board. None of them are foolproof.

 

If people followed the bringing alcohol rules there would be no issue with being lucky or not as their plans will always work.

[YYC F/A]

Why not simply follow the rules? Wonderful way for the law school graduate to start off. Or don't they teach ethics anymore?

 

Thanks for the condescending lecture, really adds to the discussion. I hardly think that subbing a high end bottle of beer for a bottle of wine is an issue of "ethics"... :rolleyes:

 

To the OP - I'd try and take it on and worst case they hold it til end of cruise.

 

You could email Celebrity guest relations ahead of time and ask for permission if you explain it's a very special bottle of high end craft beer and ask if they'd allow you to sub one bottle of that instead of one bottle of wine/champagne.

 

Otherwise just try it and see what happens.

Edited December 4, 2013 by YYC F/A

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Your craft beer sounds fantastic. My son is a big craft beer fan. I bet he would love your special brew. Your beer sounds too good to risk losing if it is confiscated and not returned.

 

I know the rules seem arbitrary. There are special rums, tequillas and vodkas that would be great to take on board too. If I were you, I would leave that wonderful special brew at home and drink it in peace and quiet when no one is looking over your shoulder and trying to cause trouble.

[jhans24]

I wouldn't give it a second thought and i would take it. While not following the letter of the rule, you certainly are following the intent/spirit of the rule. One 750 of beer has an identical impact on their bottom line as a bottle of wine. Huge difference between a 750 of beer and a 750 of vodka.

[rbsmithpaige]

Not only wouldn't I chance taking it aboard, I probably wouldn't leave it at home unattended, either. I suggest you send it to me and I'll keep an eye on it. I can be trusted. I still have 4 bottles left out of my 2013 case of Hopslam. :D

 

Just picked up a 4-pack of BCS myself. Can't justify buying bombers, as I rarely have more than one friend over at a time that can tolerate it, and I can't do much more than 12oz. at a time, myself.

 

While Michael's doesn't have the end-all beer list, it's pretty decent, and I'm the second biggest beer snob I know.

[jackdiamond]

I wouldn't give it a second thought and i would take it. While not following the letter of the rule, you certainly are following the intent/spirit of the rule. One 750 of beer has an identical impact on their bottom line as a bottle of wine. Huge difference between a 750 of beer and a 750 of vodka.

Are you serious?

[Denny01]

I think the OP has decided not to make a go of it.

 

By the way, pouring that great beer into a different container (wine bottle) sounds as if it might work to smuggle it on, but the problem is, any good beer I've had that gets opened and then exposed to lots of air as you pour it into another bottle kind of ruins a great (Evan a poor) beer.

 

Enjoy celebrating with a special bottle of wine or champagne.

 

With my type of luck, I would be inspected by a security guy who loves good beers and would make sure to confiscate it...and then apologize at the end of the cruise that it somehow got lost!

 

We were getting back on in Santorini and I'd bought a few wines there. Our friends did the same and they were waved through security with their wines. We were right behind them and got stopped. We both had them out, not trying to smuggle, so it was obvious. We got hit and they didn't. Nice ending though. we drank their wine on that cruise, then the ship returned ours at the end, even though we were on a back-to-back so we had our wine on the next leg!

 

 

Den

Edited December 4, 2013 by Denny01