Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Bringing alcohol on board

frankandanne

By frankandanne,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

frankandanne

frankandanne

Posted
Posted

Like many, I brought a bottle of booze onboard the Noordam for consumption in our cabin. Found out they go so far as xraying baggage to find it. Never dreamed they’d be so petty. Wrote a letter to them about it, bet never got the courtesy of a reply. No longer keen on Holland America.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

Posted
Posted

It isn't petty. It is their ship. They make the rules, and when you signed up and paid for your cruise, you agreed to follow them. You have rules for your house and business. How do you feel about people violating them?

 

Petty? No. Cheap on someone's part? Yes. And by the way, this isn't new or startling.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
OlsSalt

OlsSalt

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, frankandanne said:

Like many, I brought a bottle of booze onboard the Noordam for consumption in our cabin. Found out they go so far as xraying baggage to find it. Never dreamed they’d be so petty. Wrote a letter to them about it, bet never got the courtesy of a reply. No longer keen on Holland America.

 

Good, best you go elsewhere if all you want to do is break clearly stated rules. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
thinfool

thinfool

Posted
Posted (edited)
20 minutes ago, frankandanne said:

Like many,

?????

Really?  I don't know of 'many' who do this on HAL.

You can buy a full bottle of alcohol thru the HAL website and you can bring one 750ml bottle of wine in your carry-on bag..

That's it....and 'many' comply.

 

Not sure where you can go to do what you describe and 'get away' with it.

 

Edited by thinfool
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
DaveOKC

DaveOKC

Posted
Posted (edited)

Would you bring a bottle of liquor into your favorite restaurant and mix your own drinks?  Same applies here.  At least HAL let us bring on one bottle of wine AND all the soft drinks and bottled water we want - most lines do not go that far.

 

Besides, HAL liquor prices are reasonable (IMO) so why bother?

Edited by DaveOKC
Link to comment
Share on other sites
VMax1700 "Live from...." Rare

VMax1700

Posted
Posted

If you had asked here before you boarded you would have been given the facts.  Instead you tried to smuggle a bottle on to the ship and got caught.  Yes, it was smuggling, because, as you state, it was in your baggage.

 

What was the theme of the letter you wrote? Mea culpa?  I confess?

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sevenseasnomad

sevenseasnomad

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, frankandanne said:

Like many, I brought a bottle of booze onboard the Noordam for consumption in our cabin. Found out they go so far as xraying baggage to find it. Never dreamed they’d be so petty. Wrote a letter to them about it, bet never got the courtesy of a reply. No longer keen on Holland America.

Really?  How many people have violated a clearly stated policy?  Did they confess to you?  It isn't worth the hassle of bringing any restricted items onboard. 

 

How many times have you cruised?  To my knowledge, all cruise lines x-ray carry-on baggage, purses, backpacks, tummy packs etc.  They screen, searching for prohibited items.  Why would they ignore any prohibited item and allow it onboard?  In that case, what's the point of having a certain policy in the first place? 

 

The fact that other cruise lines may allow liquor to be brought onboard by passengers is immaterial here.  HA doesn't allow it.  End of story. 

 

Why you would now be less than keen on HA makes no sense, since this is a clearly stated policy which you chose to violate.  You're miffed you got caught.  And how did you expect HA to respond in their letter to you?  Surely, you did not expect an apology.      

Edited by sevenseasnomad
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
aotmc

aotmc

Posted
Posted

Just wanted to provide information... my intention isn't to shame or ridicule the choices of the OP... 

 

The x-ray maybe able to catch the alcohol being brought on board, which is policy to not allow onboard. HOWEVER, as with all security checks, it is also to find any other illegal items in luggage. Just like when you enter a concert venue, or sporting event, it is there to provide a check for everyone's safety... and it is not a wild policy for most cruise lines to prohibit alcohol being brought onboard. 

 

Also, speaking from experience and information shared from other cruisers, yes, some lines are not as strict with their policy, but as far as I know they all x-ray bags as a security measure. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
*Miss G* "Live from...." Rare

*Miss G*

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, frankandanne said:

Like many, I brought a bottle of booze onboard the Noordam for consumption in our cabin. Found out they go so far as xraying baggage to find it. Never dreamed they’d be so petty. Wrote a letter to them about it, bet never got the courtesy of a reply. No longer keen on Holland America.

 

Okay.  Thanks for letting us know.  👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites
terrydtx Great Review Rare

terrydtx

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, crystalspin said:

I think OP(s) should indeed cruise only the lines that let them bring their "booze" on board. Regent, Seabourne, Crystal, Silversea, and Azmara will be happy to take their money for cruises... then they should figure out how much money they saved.

I do not know of any mass marketed cruise lines that allow any alcohol other than a bottle of wine brought on board. HAL use to allow any amount of wine brought on board for consumption in your cabin now its only 1 bottle. On our last cruise in 2011 with HAL I brought a whole case of wine when we boarded.

We are on a Viking Ocean cruise in 2020 and we can bring any wine or spirits on board and drink it anywhere on the ship without a corkage fee. They even will use your booze to mix drinks at any of the bars. However  the price of cruising on VO is very high compared to HAL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Herfnerd

Herfnerd

Posted
Posted

Uhm….ZERO main stream cruise lines allow ANY liquor/alcohol, other than a 750ml bottle of wine/champagne per adult on board.  And they do NOT x-ray luggage for the express purpose of finding smuggled liquor but for all contraband - guess you would be OK with someone smuggling a firearm then?

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Djptcp

Djptcp

Posted
Posted

It's not petty, it's Holland America's "law" and no one is above the law. We buy liquor through HAL's program and have a bottle waiting for us in our suite. We also bring one bottle of wine each. At least HAL's liquor purchases are still somewhat reasonable - we cruise Carnival much more often and stopped purchasing their liquor to have in our cabin when they jacked up their prices which are now about twice what HAL's are. We get free drinks in the Carnival casinos through our casino offers so that helps make up for not purchasing their liquor bottles beforehand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
david,Mississauga

david,Mississauga

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Herfnerd said:

Uhm….ZERO main stream cruise lines allow ANY liquor/alcohol, other than a 750ml bottle of wine/champagne per adult on board.  And they do NOT x-ray luggage for the express purpose of finding smuggled liquor but for all contraband - guess you would be OK with someone smuggling a firearm then?

Cunard has no restriction, despite what it says on their Website. They do reserve the right to enforce the limitation of one bottle of wine per person, but they also say they will do so only if necessary (or some such wording). Given the civilised clientele we have encountered, I have never known there to be a problem requiring any enforecement of limitations.

Edited by david,Mississauga
typo
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Herfnerd

Herfnerd

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

Cunard has no restriction, despite what it says on their Website. They do reserve the right to enforce the limitation of one bottle of wine per person, but they also say they will do so only if necessary (or some such wording). Given the civilised clientele we have encountered, I have never known there to be a problem requiring any enforecement of limitations.

 

True, but Cunard is a luxury cruise line and they still don't allow beer or liquor to be brought on board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
corkpopr

corkpopr

Posted
Posted

I have been on 40 cruises on eight different lines and we always bring on vodka, vermouth, olives, and a bottle of brandy and have never had a problem getting it to our cabin.  I don't care about cost, if they wanted to charge an extra 50-100 dollars I would gladly pay it.  I want the brands that I want and available immediately in my cabin.  outside I buy drinks and wine at all the public venues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
doublebzz

doublebzz

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, corkpopr said:

I have been on 40 cruises on eight different lines and we always bring on vodka, vermouth, olives, and a bottle of brandy and have never had a problem getting it to our cabin.  I don't care about cost, if they wanted to charge an extra 50-100 dollars I would gladly pay it.  I want the brands that I want and available immediately in my cabin.  outside I buy drinks and wine at all the public venues.

Oh! I can't wait to hear poster's comments on this one.  What is the secret of your success?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...