Buying a bottle of wine in each port & bringing it onboard

[KKB]

I know in the Caribbean they are sticklers about confiscating every bottle of booze until the last day.

I have heard in Europe they don't worry about a single bottle (that was our experience this summer).

Are they sticklers about this on Carnival in AUS/NZ/S Pacific?

Not trying to break any rules! Just trying to determine what drink/wine package makes the most sense!

Thanks!

(this is Carnival)

[Megra M]

I dont have an answer but curious about this too.  But i am traveling on Holland America 

[arxcards]

6 minutes ago, KKB said:

I know in the Caribbean they are sticklers about confiscating every bottle of booze until the last day.

I have heard in Europe they don't worry about a single bottle (that was our experience this summer).

Are they sticklers about this on Carnival in AUS/NZ/S Pacific?

Not trying to break any rules! Just trying to determine what drink/wine package makes the most sense!

Thanks!

(this is Carnival)

Absolute sticklers.

Apart from your bottle of wine at embarkation, no liquid in bottles can be bought onto the ship at embarkation or in any port. Yes, that includes bottled water.

[MicCanberra]

Any alcohol will be taken.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I was pleasantly surprised that Cunard didn't even blink when we brought cider, wine, gin and liqueurs on to the ship at our Burnie and Hobart stops.

[KKB]

7 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I was pleasantly surprised that Cunard didn't even blink when we brought cider, wine, gin and liqueurs on to the ship at our Burnie and Hobart stops.

NCL was quite lax in Europe for small or single bottles

[MicCanberra]

In Europe we have not had any issues with any of the lines.

[Lanwood]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I was pleasantly surprised that Cunard didn't even blink when we brought cider, wine, gin and liqueurs on to the ship at our Burnie and Hobart stops.

Yeah, my last 2 cruises of NZ and Aus, we bought bottles of wine onboard after purchasing during wine tours in 3 ports. Never blinked once on each occasion.

 

Yet same thing in the carribbean, we had them taken and returned to us last night of the cruise (which was fine as we were staying on for 2 more cruises b2b2b 😁)

 

[cruiser3775]

If you take an official ship shore excursion that visits wineries, most lines will allow you to bring back one or more bottles and not confiscate them until disembarkation.  I went on a Carnival cruise last year, and they were very strict about checking for liquids when coming back onto the ship.  Many people buy discount spirits in Fiji ad Vanuatu, and French wine in Noumea, and I think they were all confiscated and returned at the end.  They had a crew member behind a desk when you got back on, specifically to take and hold alcohol.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We weren't on an excursion when we bought the gin and liqueurs, just pottering around Salamanca markets. Cunard didn't even have an alcohol checkpoint like most other ships we've been on did.

[mr walker]

2 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

If you take an official ship shore excursion that visits wineries, most lines will allow you to bring back one or more bottles and not confiscate them until disembarkation. 

I don't see how that would work. Returning to a ship we have never seen a skerrik of interest by the crew scanning our bags & collecting our belongings (if required) of where we may have been and whether we went on a 'ship-tour' or whatever.

[joejoe 59]

In the past, pre covid, we never had any trouble bringing bottles of wine back onboard when visiting NZ. Not sure if you can still do this.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, mr walker said:

I don't see how that would work. Returning to a ship we have never seen a skerrik of interest by the crew scanning our bags & collecting our belongings (if required) of where we may have been and whether we went on a 'ship-tour' or whatever.

We've had alcohol taken off us a few times on cruises, sometimes on ship's tours, others just from shopping. It's inconsistent cruise line to cruise line, and on different ships of the same cruise line.

 

I suspect the ones that allow you to bring it on after a winery excursion probably allow everyone to take wine to their cabins in that port.

[Tripmode33]

On Majestic Princess cruises recently, there was no trouble bringing one bottle on when returning from a port day. There was a sign on the ship scanning machine, that there was a limit of one per person.

[arxcards]

The conversation is general, but the OP is for Carnival. In the crossfire, some lines are OK with bringing bottles back aboard, some aren't.

For Carnival, they screen for everything. P&O Australia also screens for everything. Anything bought aboard is stowed till the end of the cruise. Anything considered to be sneaking/smuggling it aboard is usually confiscated and disposed of (i.e. rum runners, Scotch or bourbon in an iced tea bottle etc)

[cruiser3775]

I got the information about being allowed to bring a bottle of wine aboard if you have visited a winery on an official ship's shore excursion. It was in the fine print for the excursion on Holland America from Picton in NZ to the Marlborough wineries.   I have also seen the same proviso on Princess, I think.

I didn't go on the ship's excursion myself, but I spoke afterwards to someone who did. She said that, when they got back to the ship on the bus, all the people in the group who had bought a bottle of wine just had to show it at the check in point, and they were allowed to take it to their cabins.

[MicCanberra]

I have had the same on both Princess and HAL, it is easy for them to check if you have done a winery tour with the ship, if they don't believe you.

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I got the information about being allowed to bring a bottle of wine aboard if you have visited a winery on an official ship's shore excursion. It was in the fine print for the excursion on Holland America from Picton in NZ to the Marlborough wineries.   I have also seen the same proviso on Princess, I think.

I didn't go on the ship's excursion myself, but I spoke afterwards to someone who did. She said that, when they got back to the ship on the bus, all the people in the group who had bought a bottle of wine just had to show it at the check in point, and they were allowed to take it to their cabins.

Yes, that's what happened to us on HAL. I think we just put the wine through the xray as usual then told them we'd done the wine tour.

[c-boy]

On 1/21/2024 at 8:09 PM, Tripmode33 said:

On Majestic Princess cruises recently, there was no trouble bringing one bottle on when returning from a port day. There was a sign on the ship scanning machine, that there was a limit of one per person.

It was wonderful.. 

It kept the wine flowing and our spirits on high 🍷