Medications on Board

[gold1953]

22 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

I have never, ever, seen a drug sniffing dog when embarking at any port.  Sometimes it might be better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission and plead ignorance.  No one is going to lock up a cancer patient for a prescribed pill.🤪

I have in at least 3 ports

[Charles4515]

26 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

I have never, ever, seen a drug sniffing dog when embarking at any port.  Sometimes it might be better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission and plead ignorance.  No one is going to lock up a cancer patient for a prescribed pill.🤪

I have seen them onboard when docked in Bermuda. Some other ports do the same. In Bermuda they will take them to a magistrate and if a fine is paid then no jail time. Pleading ignorance and asking for forgiveness will probably get the fine reduced from $15,000 to $7,000. I am going by figures published in their local Royal Gazette. I don’t know if Celebrity lets the stay onboard. It really is dumb to bring a prohibited drug on a cruise ship. There was a recent case of a Carnival passenger caught with CBD gummy’s. It didn’t end well. OP’s sister can find some alternative med. 

Edited January 2 by Charles4515

[doghog]

35 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

I have never, ever, seen a drug sniffing dog when embarking at any port.  Sometimes it might be better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission and plead ignorance.  No one is going to lock up a cancer patient for a prescribed pill.🤪

Doesn't mean after a long embarrassing boarding delay they won't confiscate the prescribe meds. 

[1Virgo]

I got pulled aside at the airport.  I had a new style sling/cast due to a broken collarbone.  When they did the drug wand over me, I set off the alarms.  Came from the cast, which obviously came from a hospital.    

We have often seen drug sniffing dogs at US airports, let alone entering some of the islands

[Wineaux007]

I've never seen a drug dog while EMBARKING at any port in the U.S.  I've seen plenty DISEMBARKING, coming back from a cruise or overseas flight, checking out luggage.

[Baynanno1]

15 hours ago, kitty9 said:

My sister was recently diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and is on a chemo regimen of pills.  Her oncologist prescribed the usual medications to alleviate the side effects, with one being capsules of marijuana-based medication.  It’s the only thing that settles her down.  We are leaving in a week for 21 days on a B2B on Beyond.  Am I right in assuming that she will not be allowed to bring her meds on board?  It’s not like she uses the stuff to get high, but it’s a part of her cancer treatment.  Does anyone know if they allow these meds under special circumstances?

 

Find out whether the marijuana based medication is natural (hemp) or synthetic.

Contact Celebrity!

Give them a list of your sister's medications.

Travel with all medications in their original packaging.

Take the original prescriptions with you.

Get a letter from your sister's doctor.

If necessary get an alternative medication prescribed for the duration of your cruise.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise with your sister!

[billc23]

2 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

I have never, ever, seen a drug sniffing dog when embarking at any port. 

I have. Also, in the port while visiting Bermuda they allowed drug sniffing dogs onto the ship and they roamed around being allowed into unoccupied passenger cabins!

Quote from the US Dept of State website:

Bermuda Customs routinely boards visiting cruise ships with drug sniffing dogs and will arrest persons found to have any illegal drugs in their cabin. Penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Bermuda are severe, and convicted offenders can expect jail sentences and/or heavy fines.

[Wineaux007]

23 minutes ago, billc23 said:

I have. Also, in the port while visiting Bermuda they allowed drug sniffing dogs onto the ship and they roamed around being allowed into unoccupied passenger cabins!

Quote from the US Dept of State website:

Bermuda Customs routinely boards visiting cruise ships with drug sniffing dogs and will arrest persons found to have any illegal drugs in their cabin. Penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Bermuda are severe, and convicted offenders can expect jail sentences and/or heavy fines.

You must have misread my post.  I was talking about initial embarkation from a U.S. port, which the OP was referencing.  No one was talking about Bermuda Customs, yada, yada, yada.

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

There was a recent case of a Carnival passenger caught with CBD gummy’s. It didn’t end well.

 

 https://people.com/woman-receives-lifetime-ban-carnival-cruises-after-bringing-cbd-gummies-8404491#:~:text=A Texas woman received a,in her luggage during boarding.

 

 I always leave mine at home. 

 

[billc23]

4 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

You must have misread my post.  I was talking about initial embarkation from a U.S. port, which the OP was referencing.  No one was talking about Bermuda Customs, yada, yada, yada.

I may have misread your post and my answer to you was I have. To expand, I have seen drug sniffing dogs at US ports during initial embarkation. Usually near the luggage area sniffing the bags that the porters take but they could be explosive detection dogs perhaps both. Others posters wrote about what they observed at different ports and with my also... I was warning people to be aware that drug sniffing dogs may be used on the ship and at ports of call also. 

 

CCL news release seems to back this up:

Marijuana, even for medicinal uses, remains illegal under federal law. Carnival said the drug-sniffing dogs will be used both at the terminal and on the ships. Security may conduct searches regularly or randomly, according to the cruise line. If guests are found violating the policy on a Carnival Cruise, they could face up to a $500 fine.

 

I have never seen a drug sniffing dog when embarking a Carnival cruise ship. I believe that you have never seen them at any port during embarkation. That does not mean they are not present. 

[markeb]

This thread has diverged dramatically from the original question. CBD derived from hemp, not marijuana, is legal under federal law. There is an extremely low tolerance for THC in both the hemp and the finished product. CBD derived from marijuana is illegal. Synthetic cannabinoids are complicated. FDA approved versions are legal in the US and because of that they theoretically can’t be used in unregulated supplements. State laws apparently still varied. 
 

For international travel, (not an area of significant interest so I didn’t research in the past) many if not most nations still consider anything derived from cannabis illegal. Probably hemp as well. 
 

Federal law was changed in a farm bill in 2018. My interest was a combination of a local sheriff in my home state of Oklahoma busting a shipment of hemp from Kentucky (figure the politics of that on your own) using a qualitative test that showed presence or absence of THC when federal law allowed trace amounts in the hemp. 
 

All the cruise ship language reflects marijuana and is antiquated in 2024. CBD Gummies derived from hemp or synthetically in a lab are by definition not marijuana. They may or may not have language on cannabinoids. 

 

The Carnival passenger could have been perfectly legal. Or not, depending on the source of the CBD. I’ll look at the original story later. 
 

I don’t know what molecule the dogs hit on. If it’s not present in a synthetic they shouldn’t alert. More correctly, they shouldn’t remain certified if they alert in the absence of their target. There’s probably ultimately a serious probable cause debate there in the future…

 

Too long. Probably bored tonight. 

[Jim_Iain]

My understanding is that it would not be allowed.   While we all may agree that possibly exceptions should be made.

 

Like in the U.S.   while it may be legal in your state it may be illegal in many other states and is still Prohibited under Federal Law.   Now you take it one step further -   International Regulations.  

 

Personally I would recommend she not travel unless she can do without the THC or even CBD products.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Too bad the OP hasn’t return to let us know about the medication 

[mom says]

8 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

1.I have never, ever, seen a drug sniffing dog when embarking at any port. 

2.Sometimes it might be better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission and plead ignorance. 

3.No one is going to lock up a cancer patient for a prescribed pill.🤪

1. Previous posts have documented seeing sniffers both in the terminals and on the ship. Just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they aren't there.

2. Uh huh. CBP and international border control are famous for being lenient and bending the drug rules whenever they feel like it. Said no one ever.

3. Perhaps; perhaps not. But she could face a very stiff fine and have her medication confiscated. If not banned from the cruise, she would be without a much needed medication for the duration and be subjected to stress which is the last thing she needs..

 

If the medication is Marijuana based, as the OP stated,  the patient would be much better off in seeing her oncologist for an alternative medication to use on the cruise. Then she can just relax and not have to worry about it.

 

[kitty9]

My sister has gummies and something called Organic Remedies.  They are THC based.  She gets them from a local dispensary with her physician’s medical marijuana card. 
 

To the person who commented about her fitness to travel, her oncologist encouraged her to take the trip. Her condition is stable and the cancer cells are shrinking with the chemo.  All her markers are really good.  She lost 144 lbs in less than 3 months, but she’s gaining weight and feels good.  

[Charles4515]

37 minutes ago, kitty9 said:

My sister has gummies and something called Organic Remedies.  They are THC based.  She gets them from a local dispensary with her physician’s medical marijuana card. 

Those are prohibited.

[alexandria]

3 hours ago, kitty9 said:

My sister has gummies and something called Organic Remedies.  They are THC based.  She gets them from a local dispensary with her physician’s medical marijuana card. 
 

To the person who commented about her fitness to travel, her oncologist encouraged her to take the trip. Her condition is stable and the cancer cells are shrinking with the chemo.  All her markers are really good.  She lost 144 lbs in less than 3 months, but she’s gaining weight and feels good.  

 

Those "medications" will not be permitted on board and should she choose to bring them anyway, she could face adverse legal consequences.  It is also, to my best understanding, a crime in Florida to possess those "medications" absent a Florida medical marijuana card.  At last report, Florida does not recognize out-of-state medical marijuana cards to permit possession of those "medications" by tourists. 

 

Glad she is improving and her condition is stable.  However, your sister may want to really think through whether a cruise is the right/best vacation option for her at this point in her treatment considering the side-effects she is experiencing.  If she is unable to be prescribed an FDA approved medication that will have similar therapeutic efficacy and as a result does not have relief from certain chemo side-effects, then being on a ship with any attendant motion sickness may serve to worsen her symptoms.  And if she is feeling poorly and suffering from significant nausea, will she really enjoy the cruise, including the dining?

 

You and she may wish to look at the provisions of your travel insurance that might cover cancellation if her diagnosis occurred after booking (or if she has coverage for pre-existing conditions) and consider postponing until she is further along in her treatment and no longer requires such medications.  But only she can decide whether she is willing to "tough it out" on board and face the very real potential of spending much of the cruise being sick in her cabin.  That could be a very long and miserable 21 days for you both.  Best wishes.

[cmaleblanc]

20 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Just because a drug is FDA approved, doesn't mean you can travel internationally with it. Places like UAE have very tough laws on importing pharmaceuticals, prescribed or not.

 

I post something similar every time this question comes up, and it comes up often. I'm sorry OP your sister has to go through this, and I wish her the best. and this isn't specifically directed at you or your sister. But the number of people that responded to these questions advising people to "risk it" or "they've never seen it so it's ok" is astonishing. It doesn't matter what the FDA says or even the state/federal government has to say. You can not transport narcotics across international borders. even prescription drugs should be checked with any country you are traveling to, as a medication prescribed in the US could be illegal in other countries. Although it's unlikely, depending on the location you are docking at, the local authorities have the right to search the ship and enforce the laws of that country and any enforceable international laws. This means that while THC/CBD is legal in the US and is prescribed you could still be arrested for trafficking the drugs across an international border if you take them with you on a cruise.

 

Although Canada has legalized marijuana, and so have some states, you still can't transport them across the international border between both countries. I always advised people traveling with prescriptions to take them in a bottle, for safety. Even taking them in those daily containers won't work unless they are the bubble packs you get from your pharmacy with the prescription attached. I especially wouldn't recommend taking any narcotic that has a "grey" zone when it comes to its permissibility. I would suggest to the OP to see if your sister's Doc could provide something to use temporarily while on the trip. It only takes one border agent in a foreign country to put a big damper on your vacation.  

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

7 hours ago, alexandria said:

Glad she is improving and her condition is stable.  However, your sister may want to really think through whether a cruise is the right/best vacation option for her at this point in her treatment considering the side-effects she is experiencing.

 

Not only that, but she'll be on a ship with thousands of people who may come on board with any variety of viruses (cold, flu, covid, noro), none of which would be good for someone with a compromised immune system.

 

As for the prescribed marajuana (or "marajuana-derived product"), I'm with most others. I wouldn't chance it. Even if allowed on board, once the ship enters another country's waters, that country's laws apply and odds are very high that it won't be allowed in them. Is she willing to risk a jail sentence or worse? I wouldn't be.

[TeeRick]

11 hours ago, kitty9 said:

My sister has gummies and something called Organic Remedies.  They are THC based.  She gets them from a local dispensary with her physician’s medical marijuana card. 
 

To the person who commented about her fitness to travel, her oncologist encouraged her to take the trip. Her condition is stable and the cancer cells are shrinking with the chemo.  All her markers are really good.  She lost 144 lbs in less than 3 months, but she’s gaining weight and feels good.  

@kitty9 Best wishes for your sister and glad she is doing better.  Hopefully you will all have a great cruise.  Instead of listening to the range of noise and responses here, if it were me I would just call Celebrity and explain the situation.  You never know what happens but I would be up front about it.  If the answer is NO, at least you tried.  And there may still be time to get the oncologist to prescribe something else for the cruise duration.  Best of luck!

[cruisestitch]

I seriously doubt if any customer service agent you call at Celebrity has the authority to tell you that it’s OK to violate the passenger conduct policy and/or the laws and regulations of the countries involved.  

[Charles4515]

26 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

@kitty9 Best wishes for your sister and glad she is doing better.  Hopefully you will all have a great cruise.  Instead of listening to the range of noise and responses here, if it were me I would just call Celebrity and explain the situation.  You never know what happens but I would be up front about it.  If the answer is NO, at least you tried.  And there may still be time to get the oncologist to prescribe something else for the cruise duration.  Best of luck!

You would have her rely on a cusomer service rep? Well known for fuzzy answers. While some states allow THC for medical use THC is illegal at the federal level even for medical use. It is listed as a schedule 1 narcotic with  no medical use. Even is the US changed it's designation there are the regulations of every port which are likely the same. No reason to bother calling Celebrity the law is clear. 

[Alakegirl]

50 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

@kitty9 Best wishes for your sister and glad she is doing better.  Hopefully you will all have a great cruise.  Instead of listening to the range of noise and responses here, if it were me I would just call Celebrity and explain the situation.  You never know what happens but I would be up front about it.  If the answer is NO, at least you tried.  And there may still be time to get the oncologist to prescribe something else for the cruise duration.  Best of luck!

I am surprised at the advice to call Celebrity and simply explain the situation.  Whoever you speak with will simply open their book of stock answers and read out the guest conduct policy.  See post #3.

[calicakes]

On 1/2/2024 at 5:00 AM, Wineaux007 said:

If it's prescription medicine in its original prescription bottle, who is going to know what it is or what it contains when you check in.  I wouldn't worry about it.  Who's going to know the difference.  I've never had any of my medication searched at any time when boarding the ship.  

Same for us.  I bring a small first aid bag with all types of OTC and prescription meds.  I keep it in my rolling carry on.  I did have 1 CBD gummy( with a small percentage of THC), that I keep in my gummy vitamin bottle( its for the return airplane trip home).  Never been an issue with this either.  

 

I'm glad I'm always prepared.  Last Month, on our trip to Paris, I came down with Covid and my wife had a bad cold.  This was my first time getting Covid,  I had brought covid tests, covid medication and cold meds with me.  Thankfully, because I've had 6 booster shots, my bout with covid was just a not so bad cold,. 

[WestLakeGirl]

Here’s a what if, worst case scenario, what if she had to go to the ships medical department and would be asked, what medication’s have you been taking? Does she admit to the gummy’s or withhold that information from the doctor?

 

Are the onboard doctors bound by Confidentiality requirements found in the US? or Would they have to report her to the ship’s staff for having them?

 

If she didn’t admit to having them, would it have a possibility of messing up her test results and/or treatment or whatever ailment brings her to the medical department?