Bringing Wine on board

[Hottubmomma]

I noticed on several boards where people bring their own wine on board.  Curious how you pack it if you are flying? I have looked at the wine list offered and I don't see many that I like under $15 a glass.  My husband and I enjoy a nice glass of red wine with dinner and I are thinking we might just bring our own on board.  

[complawyer]

just wrap it and pack it very carefully. we've brought wine home on numerous occasions, just wrapped really tightly under a bunch of clothes and you should have no problems. just remember to pack it in  your checked luggage.

[fastpitchdad]

If you want good wine definitely bring your own (even the wine above $15 a glass isn't very good), especially since there isn't a corkage fee when you have the drink package. 

 

Wrap it in your clothes, make sure the suitcase is very tight when finished. 

 

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by fastpitchdad

[mjkacmom]

If you have the UBP, you can bring unlimited bottles of wine, if not it’s $15 a bottle. My sister always travels with a wind suitcase.

[charlnel]

When we fly into Port we have ordered wine on line from Total Wine and More. Search for location near the port and on the way from the airport we stop and pick it up to carry on board. Taxi and Uber drivers have been OK with the stop...

[Hottubmomma]

thank you everyone for these hints and suggestions. We booked our ride from the airport to the terminal with NCL so we cant make a "pit stop"

[complawyer]

so just buy a bottle of what you want the day before you are scheduled to leave, and wrap as indicated. if you wrap the bottle securely, it is really no problem. and remember, there are probably no total wine and more shops if  youre cruising from foreign ports.

[bedfordmom]

If you don't have the unlimited drink package how do they charge the $15 corkage fee?  If I hide it in my checked luggage wouldn't it be picked up in the scan and have to go to the "naughty" room to retrieve (thats what it used to be called.  

[fastpitchdad]

2 minutes ago, bedfordmom said:

If you don't have the unlimited drink package how do they charge the $15 corkage fee?  If I hide it in my checked luggage wouldn't it be picked up in the scan and have to go to the "naughty" room to retrieve (thats what it used to be called.  

 

You need to remove it from your luggage and carry it on. If you don't have the drink package they bill your room and give you little corkage fee paid stickers. 

[chloe173]

Option A - Stop by a liquor store on embarkation day (or the day before if you fly in early). We usually do this with sunscreen and bug spray, since we try to only fly with carry ons.

Option B - Do a search on your favorite online shopping site for Jetbag or something similar. There are a ton of bubble-wrap esque products out there, and the nicer ones like Jetbag are also lined with super absorbent materials just in case it breaks, it won't get on the rest of your stuff.

[zqvol]

31 minutes ago, complawyer said:

just wrap it and pack it very carefully. we've brought wine home on numerous occasions, just wrapped really tightly under a bunch of clothes and you should have no problems. just remember to pack it in  your checked luggage.

Don’t put it in your checked luggage,  when you board the ship it has to go into your carry on. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by zqvol

[fastpitchdad]

Just now, zqvol said:

Don’t put it in your checked luggage when you board the ship it has to go into your carry on. 

 

For the flight it needs to be in your checked luggage. 

[Sailing12Away]

Wow... so much conflicting information. We sailed in September and had several bottles in both our checked luggage, as well as carry-on (we were leaving from NY, so no flight involved). For the checked luggage, I taped a note on the bottles saying essentially "Hi, we have the drink package! Please don't take my wine, room #xxxxx".

 

For the carry-on in our backpacks (champagne and a skinny bottle expensive dessert wine), no one said a word to us when the bags went through the scanners at the port. Coming back onto the ship during the cruise they would see our bottles, check our room cards to confirm we had the package and then send us on our way. The only thing they'll take and hold is hard liquor. Wine, beer, and cans of hard cider I was allowed to bring right to my room, no charge.

 

On other trips that do involve flights, we have several of these bags that we bring with us. We'll pack bottles in that to protect our clothes in case of any mishaps, or if we buy more booze than we have bags for, we wrap them up in our dirty laundry like others have said. No mishaps yet, and we rarely come home from a vacation without local beer, wine, cider, booze, etc. Just put them towards the bottom of the bag (near the wheels when the bag is standing upright) with some cushion around on all sides.

 

 https://www.containerstore.com/s/jetbag-bottle-protector/d?q=wine bag&productId=10032365

[3412mom]

Search for "wine diaper" or "jet bag".  I think some are sold on Amazon. We have used these several times when traveling to places that do not offer our preferred wines.  I put the bottles in these and also bury them in clothes. I am planning to do the same when we fly for our upcoming cruise in May.

[Hottubmomma]

I am buying some "Jet Bags" today, thank you everyone for your helpful.

Happy cruising!

[vacation44]

What about hard liquor?  If you have the drink package, are you allowed to bring a bottle of hard liquor on board?   We are going to the Barcardi factory the day before our cruise out of San Juan and might be buying some rum.  

[Schoifmom]

So, yes, I'm cheap.  We purchased some liquor on one of our last cruises that we had to fly home (we planned to do so).  I purchased some bubble wrap from Dollar Tree and ordered some extra-large ziplock bags from Amazon (making sure they were big enough).  Wrapped those bottles and put into the baggies and buried those bottles in the suitcases.  No issues and not a huge expense or bother.

[mjkacmom]

59 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

What about hard liquor?  If you have the drink package, are you allowed to bring a bottle of hard liquor on board?   We are going to the Barcardi factory the day before our cruise out of San Juan and might be buying some rum.  

Being allowed to bring wine on without a corkage fee if you have the UBP is pretty new, hard liquor will be taken and returned to you the last night. This thread is the first time I’ve heard that they allow beer and wine to be brought onboard, this was never allowed before even with a fee.

[ilovetotravel1977]

So my experience was from 2016, no clue if it has changed at all.

 

We didn't have the UBP this time, so we went to Publix and bought eight bottles of wine. When we got to the port, after security, we were directed to a side table where a staff member tagged/numbered our bottles of wine and charged us $15US per bottle. That's it.

 

We would bring a bottle to dinner each night, no questions asked. 

[v3cruiser]

Good to know. I thought we had to have our wine/champagne in carry on only while boarding. 

[herbanrenewal]

On 1/24/2023 at 4:49 PM, complawyer said:

so just buy a bottle of what you want the day before you are scheduled to leave, and wrap as indicated. if you wrap the bottle securely, it is really no problem. and remember, there are probably no total wine and more shops if  youre cruising from foreign ports.

I've always managed to find some decent wine store near every embarkation port. Forums like Trip Advisor usually have locals respond and I've gotten wonderful recommendations there. It can be fun to try a local wine at dinner the night before cruise and bringing a bottle onboard. Of course I usually stay in embarkation port the night before US cruise ports,  and several nights before international travel - plenty of time to find a great local wine.

I'm not a wine expert, but I hate paying over a hundred bucks for a wine I can buy at home for $15 or less. Since I only drink a glass at dinner I decline the "Free" drinks and save enough from avoiding the tax and tips fee to buy a coupe nice bottles to bring onboard.

[RocketMan275]

7 hours ago, v3cruiser said:

Good to know. I thought we had to have our wine/champagne in carry on only while boarding. 

I thought one had to have the wine in a carry-on too.  Where did you hear it could be in non-carry-on bags?

[njhorseman]

10 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

This thread is the first time I’ve heard that they allow beer and wine to be brought onboard, this was never allowed before even with a fee.

They've allowed wine to be brought on board with payment of a $15 per 750 ml bottle corkage fee for many, many years. The elimination of the $15 corkage fee if you have the beverage package is relatively recent.

As for the report that beer can be brought on board, the person who said that was talking about doing it in ports of call, not at the embarkation port. I think they just lucked out because the rules clearly prohibit it.

https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#can-i-bring-alcohol-board

 

Can I bring alcohol on board?

All guests are prohibited from bringing alcohol on board our ships. Please note that with the exception of Wine and Champagne, all guests are prohibited from bringing alcohol on board our ships. If you purchase any alcohol at one of our ports-of-call or in our onboard shops, we will safely store your purchase(s) and either on the final night of the cruise or the morning of debarkation it will be available for pick up in a designated area.

 

Wine & Champagne Policy 

Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below.

750 ml Bottle: $15.00 USD

1,500 ml Magnum: $30.00 USD

Wine or champagne sent directly to the ship by travel agents, friends, family, etc. or from another retail source, are subject to the same fees. Box wines are not allowed on board.

Corkage Fee is not applicable to guest with beverage package

[uneamie]

Wow....so happy to hear you can now bring your wine on board at check in if you have the beverage package. I have a 10 year old bottle of champagne was a  very expensive gift.  I have not had the opportunity to drink it since hubby is not a drinker.....so I just let it sit in my china closet all these years waiting for a special occasion..............this is it! ha! 

 

Question: How do they know you have the beverage package???

Edited January 26, 2023 by uneamie

[Sailing12Away]

14 hours ago, vacation44 said:

What about hard liquor?  If you have the drink package, are you allowed to bring a bottle of hard liquor on board?   We are going to the Barcardi factory the day before our cruise out of San Juan and might be buying some rum.  

They'll take that from you and hold it until the night before disembarking where you get it back.

 

4 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

I thought one had to have the wine in a carry-on too.  Where did you hear it could be in non-carry-on bags?

Nope, we brought about 4 bottles in our checked luggage and they were still in the bag when it got to our room in September.

 

1 hour ago, uneamie said:

Question: How do they know you have the beverage package???

At the ports it will be on your room card. On embarkation I presume they look up the room number on the luggage tag to determine if you get charged or not. Pure guess though.