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Bringing wine on board: Is home-made allowed?


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Hi

 

Sorry if this has been discussed already or if it is a stupid question.

 

My father has a few bottles of his delicious 2008 vintage home made red wine left and I am considering bringing one or two bottles on board for my December Ovation OTS sailing. Is it OK that the wine is home-made, has little preservative and is contained in sterilized re-used commercial wine bottles?

 

Also I was wondering if I could get away with packing a cork screw in my suitcase. Obviously I would not pack the wine in my suitcase - I would openly declare it in my carry on when boarding.

 

I thought it would be a nice touch if I get involved in my first cabin crawl.

 

Happy cruising.

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I always pack a cork screw that also has a 1.25 inch knife style foil cutter on it in our first aid kit (always prepared for all types of emergencies :classic_wink:) that is packed in our checked luggage. No problem. 

Edited by davekathy
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3 minutes ago, ibonexheadi said:

does it have a label? if not, throw a label on it, not like they would be able to tell the difference. 

 

They hold it up to the light when it is a cork screw to make sure it has not been cracked. A bottle filled at home with a cork would not have the foil seal. Or the untracked metal of a screw top. A label would not fix the "problem". They seem to be concerned that its mixed with hard liquor.

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4 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

 

They hold it up to the light when it is a cork screw to make sure it has not been cracked. A bottle filled at home with a cork would not have the foil seal. Or the untracked metal of a screw top. A label would not fix the "problem". They seem to be concerned that its mixed with hard liquor.

or just hard liquor in the wine bottle. 

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1 hour ago, tinkr2 said:

 

They hold it up to the light when it is a cork screw to make sure it has not been cracked. A bottle filled at home with a cork would not have the foil seal. Or the untracked metal of a screw top. A label would not fix the "problem". They seem to be concerned that its mixed with hard liquor.

You can purchase the foil seals from homebrew/wine making stores or online for relatively cheap. If you search around youtube, you will find this is actually how people are sneaking liquor onto the ships in wine bottles now. 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Mike From Syd said:

What about purchasing booze at the ports of call in NZ? Is there a limit? I understand they store it until the last night.

 

As far as the ship is concerned, no limit that I've seen reported.

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5 hours ago, Hogbay said:

They have been onto the home made wine for a long time and the re capping. Corking . Rumrunners .that's there job .good luck 

They don't check that closely.  If the bottle has a cork, capsule, and label, looks respectable, you should be just fine.

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3 minutes ago, Wine-O said:

They don't check that closely.  If the bottle has a cork, capsule, and label, looks respectable, you should be just fine.

That was our experience until a month ago on Symphony.  I’ve never had them inspect wine bottles so closely down to confirming the size.  Tightest security I’ve seen at any port. 

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4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That was our experience until a month ago on Symphony.  I’ve never had them inspect wine bottles so closely down to confirming the size.  Tightest security I’ve seen at any port. 

that is ridiculous, however even if they do inspect it that closely, a well presented homemade wine should still be indistinguishable from a store bought one. 

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21 minutes ago, ibonexheadi said:

that is ridiculous, however even if they do inspect it that closely, a well presented homemade wine should still be indistinguishable from a store bought one. 

Especially one with a well designed label and shrink wrapped seal. There are many free label makers available online and plenty of places that sell the shrink wrap seals.

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3 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Makes me think of 40+ yrs ago. My Dad was dating girl who made homemade wine she'd carry into Concerts in one of those 1960/70's drinking bags 

Well there that kind and then theres very nice wine available. We make a few batches every year. We buy the different varietal grape juice and go from there. We had a pretty good Amarone  and a really good Sauvignon Blanc this time around. We grow hops and brew beer also. We have never bothered to put capsules on the wine bc it is just for home consumption. 

But if I ever decide to smuggle vodka, I will consider it.😂

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24 minutes ago, ChrisTheDBA said:

Does anyone think this will be allowed on board? It's a 750 ml bottle of beer.

 

 

Officially not allowed, but will depend on how closely they look. Honestly, that looks more like a beer bottle than a wine bottle to me, so I'd lean towards it being more likely to be caught. That is assuming the workers actually care.

 

We did bring on a bottle of beer on our last cruise, but the bottle it comes in looks a lot like a wine bottle. It's even stopped with a cork. This was the bottle we brought on. 

 

w66442857b_1.jpg

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3 minutes ago, awestover89 said:

 

Officially not allowed, but will depend on how closely they look. Honestly, that looks more like a beer bottle than a wine bottle to me, so I'd lean towards it being more likely to be caught. That is assuming the workers actually care.

 

We did bring on a bottle of beer on our last cruise, but the bottle it comes in looks a lot like a wine bottle. It's even stopped with a cork. This was the bottle we brought on. 

 

 

 

Thanks, I was leaning that way. Probably not worth it.

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26 minutes ago, awestover89 said:

 

Officially not allowed, but will depend on how closely they look. Honestly, that looks more like a beer bottle than a wine bottle to me, so I'd lean towards it being more likely to be caught. That is assuming the workers actually care.

 

We did bring on a bottle of beer on our last cruise, but the bottle it comes in looks a lot like a wine bottle. It's even stopped with a cork. This was the bottle we brought on. 

 

w66442857b_1.jpg

yummy!

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21 minutes ago, ChrisTheDBA said:

 

Thanks, I was leaning that way. Probably not worth it.

Not much of a gamble. They give it back to you when you return from your cruise so you will have lost nothing. Though its definitely not allowed. I can see why the Framboise got on, these are luggage security people not cicerone or sommelier.

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