Fresh flowers no longer permitted to be brought aboard by passengers

[bcummin]

On 10/19/2022 at 3:16 PM, sansterre said:

We are aboard the Zaandam and yesterday visited the fabulous Mercado in Funchal.  Before returning to the ship I selected 5 or 6 cut stems to put into our nearly empty liter water bottle in the cabin.  The cost was 7 Euros.

When we boarded the Zaandam we were told that no plant life could be brought aboard.  I explained that these were cut flowers from the market and we have always been able to bring flowers on board for our cabin.  Security told me no soil or plants could be brought onto the ship and he took the flowers.

Later I asked guest services if this was a new policy.  They had to check on that and called me back. Apparently it is new and applies to the entire fleet of HAL ships.  I keep thinking of all the times we have brought flowers on board, most recently in February in Hilo, Hawaii.  There have been countless other times when leis, crowns of flowers, or simple cut flowers have adorned our cabin.

Has anyone else experienced this situation?

Does anyone have an explanation for this restriction?

 

I am so sorry that you were treated this way.

I am also aboard ms Zaandam and bought beautiful flowers in Funchal.  I had no problem bringing them onboard.  And my Room Steward found me a heavy vase to put them in.

My bottle of wine bought on a wine tour in Lanzarote was confiscated by Security, but it was finally delivered to my room today.

I have had internet problems, mostly because I am such a dinosaur.  But the Front Desk has been very helpful.  That does not mean I am reading this thread very often.

I do still have the original letter that you described.  I have never heard of the prohibition of bringing flowers aboard before.  Hope this gets sorted out.

Barbara

[Florida_gal_50]

27 minutes ago, bcummin said:

 

I am so sorry that you were treated this way.

I am also aboard ms Zaandam and bought beautiful flowers in Funchal.  I had no problem bringing them onboard.  And my Room Steward found me a heavy vase to put them in.

My bottle of wine bought on a wine tour in Lanzarote was confiscated by Security, but it was finally delivered to my room today.

I have had internet problems, mostly because I am such a dinosaur.  But the Front Desk has been very helpful.  That does not mean I am reading this thread very often.

I do still have the original letter that you described.  I have never heard of the prohibition of bringing flowers aboard before.  Hope this gets sorted out.

Barbara

That is crazy.  Right hand meet left hand.

[sansterre]

2 hours ago, bcummin said:

 

I am so sorry that you were treated this way.

I am also aboard ms Zaandam and bought beautiful flowers in Funchal.  I had no problem bringing them onboard.  And my Room Steward found me a heavy vase to put them in.

My bottle of wine bought on a wine tour in Lanzarote was confiscated by Security, but it was finally delivered to my room today.

I have had internet problems, mostly because I am such a dinosaur.  But the Front Desk has been very helpful.  That does not mean I am reading this thread very often.

I do still have the original letter that you described.  I have never heard of the prohibition of bringing flowers aboard before.  Hope this gets sorted out.

Barbara

Wow, now that is interesting.  We came aboard around 1:00 and it was the head of Security who took my flowers.  Tonight I located the "TRAVEL ADVISORY" we received prior to arriving at our first port of Funchal.  I took a photo of it and will post tomorrow (hoping I cloud will upload to my laptop by then.).   

[mcrcruiser]

Whats next that  the  cruise line restricts  ? This  flower issue seems  to me to be   over kill l by HAL   in this situation  .  

[sansterre]

Today DH and I waited about 20 minutes for front desk staff to locate the "fleet wide policy" preventing flowers to be brought aboard which they said existed just 5 days ago.

What they finally gave me is two pages copied "from their website" - a list of things not allowed to be brought on board, starting with Scissors with blades longer than 4 inches and ending with Coolers (only less than 12 x 12 x 12 inches) and Scooters (only if used for mobility). 

Confiscated items will be returned to guest after guest has scanned off the the gangway (aka in the terminal) and signed for the item.  Hmmmm, I wonder if my Protea and Bird-of Paradise cut flowers will be there?

It was further explained to me that flowers are not specifically covered in this list but the last paragraph covered them.  Here is the last paragraph:

"The above list is not exhaustive.  The SSO/Staff Captain are authorized to make a professional judgement as to the legality of any item declared, detected or discovered on board."

The front desk person I talked to did not think this would be the security policy at every port.  I"m not so sure!  

However, I feel that the title of this thread needs to changed or have a question mark on it.  How can I get that done?  I don't want to further mislead people like a have been misled by others.

 

 

 

[sansterre]

On 10/20/2022 at 5:18 AM, TiogaCruiser said:

Glad to hear you two are able to do this cruise.

 

So you can still bring wine aboard and pay corkage, or did the letter totally forbid bringing on wine?

The letter didn't include wine.  But my understanding is one bottle is permitted per person with the $20 corkage fee, whether you open it in your room or have it opened in the dining room.  

The "Travel Advisory" which was provided the day prior to our first port of Funchal. deals with restrictions on things not to bring back on board in All Ports of Call.  It mentions the ban on ivory and rhino horn and anyone buying or trafficking  them will be prosecuted.

Also, imitation or replica weapons, knives over 2.5 inches long, and a long list of sharp items with razors and/or sharp points including ceremonial knives and swords will be denied.

The last paragraph warns of pickpockets, and travel alone.  They recommend ship organized tours or a recommended tour firm.  We should "familiarize ourselves with items that are prohibited on board.  If in doubt, do not bring it on board or seek advice before purchasing."

[kazu]

3 hours ago, sansterre said:

However, I feel that the title of this thread needs to changed or have a question mark on it.  How can I get that done?  I don't want to further mislead people like a have been misled by others.

 

 

You can go to your first post, and hit the report button and in the comments request that the title be changed to what you prefer.  The mods should change it for you.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, sansterre said:

Today DH and I waited about 20 minutes for front desk staff to locate the "fleet wide policy" preventing flowers to be brought aboard which they said existed just 5 days ago.

What they finally gave me is two pages copied "from their website" - a list of things not allowed to be brought on board, starting with Scissors with blades longer than 4 inches and ending with Coolers (only less than 12 x 12 x 12 inches) and Scooters (only if used for mobility). 

Confiscated items will be returned to guest after guest has scanned off the the gangway (aka in the terminal) and signed for the item.  Hmmmm, I wonder if my Protea and Bird-of Paradise cut flowers will be there?

It was further explained to me that flowers are not specifically covered in this list but the last paragraph covered them.  Here is the last paragraph:

"The above list is not exhaustive.  The SSO/Staff Captain are authorized to make a professional judgement as to the legality of any item declared, detected or discovered on board."

The front desk person I talked to did not think this would be the security policy at every port.  I"m not so sure!  

However, I feel that the title of this thread needs to changed or have a question mark on it.  How can I get that done?  I don't want to further mislead people like a have been misled by others.

 

 

 

Thank you for all your efforts on this.  Such beautiful flowers for you to have to leave behind.

[sansterre]

Thanks Kazu, I will do just that and change the title of this thread slightly.

Florida gal - they were beautiful.  We selected African flowers like protea, also bird of paradise.  They were flowers that would last for several weeks and had great memories 

of the people in the Funchal mercado who helped us with our selection and took a photo

of us with them.  Now we have just the photograph 🥲

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, sansterre said:

Thanks Kazu, I will do just that and change the title of this thread slightly.

Florida gal - they were beautiful.  We selected African flowers like protea, also bird of paradise.  They were flowers that would last for several weeks and had great memories 

of the people in the Funchal mercado who helped us with our selection and took a photo

of us with them.  Now we have just the photograph 🥲

I just read the wcb thread.  They are on the zuiderdam in Fiji.  They just brought on a bouquet of flowers on the ship with no problems.  I would not be a happy camper.  If hal is going to do these one off policies (even on the same ship) don’t disrespect people by saying it’s fleet wide.

[sansterre]

13 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I just read the wcb thread.  They are on the zuiderdam in Fiji.  They just brought on a bouquet of flowers on the ship with no problems.  I would not be a happy camper.  If hal is going to do these one off policies (even on the same ship) don’t disrespect people by saying it’s fleet wide.

That is why I changed the title of this thread.  It's all up to the Security Officer.

To let one bouquet on the ship while taking my bouquet away, leaves me "not a happy camper".