Another "can I bring booze on board"question

[vesw01]

I just rcvd the booking in the mail from Carnival. It states "passengers are prohibited from bringing alchol at the point of embarkation aboard the ship." Does this mean that you are allowed to buy booze in the ports of call and bring it on board??

[cruizinwoman]

You may purchase alcohol in port, but when you return to the ship, they will take the alcohol from you, mark it with your name and cabin number, and store it safely until the last day of your cruise when it is returned to you.

[GoinCruisin]

And in many ports and stores, you can't take it back on the ship... they send it to the ship and you don't see it until the last night...

[VentureMan_2000]

I've never heard of this before. Can you explain more...?

[L2J]

Does this mean that you are allowed to buy booze in the ports of call and bring it on board??

 

No.

 

There's tons of good info on the CCL FAQ page.

[zqvol]

I just rcvd the booking in the mail from Carnival. It states "passengers are prohibited from bringing alchol at the point of embarkation aboard the ship." Does this mean that you are allowed to buy booze in the ports of call and bring it on board??

You can alwasy buy any liquor you want any carry it with you. When you get back to the ship you will have to turn it in and it will be held for you. This is not a bad idea becasue you can't fly with a bottle of liquor that has been opened anyway.

 

You NEVER have to let the store send your purchase to the ship though some will offer.

[GoinCruisin]

You can alwasy buy any liquor you want any carry it with you. When you get back to the ship you will have to turn it in and it will be held for you. This is not a bad idea becasue you can't fly with a bottle of liquor that has been opened anyway.

 

You NEVER have to let the store send your purchase to the ship though some will offer.

 

That is not true. If you buy liquor in Grand Cayman, at Tortuga... you cannot take it back to the ship... they have an agreement with the ship to ship it back... you will see entire tenders filled with liquor from the various stores that have these agreements. There are plenty of others, I just happen to buy all of my liquor at Tortuga.

[zydecocruiser]

That is not true. If you buy liquor in Grand Cayman, at Tortuga... you cannot take it back to the ship... they have an agreement with the ship to ship it back... you will see entire tenders filled with liquor from the various stores that have these agreements. There are plenty of others, I just happen to buy all of my liquor at Tortuga.

 

If you buy liquor in a duty free store they won't let you walk around the island drinking it unless the island is duty free (like St Thomas). You drinky locally you have to pay taxi on.

[blueocean]

This is true about them taking the liquor and delivering it to your cabin the last night. They have let us bring back beer, soda, and mixers from all ports . At the start of the cruise, we have always brought a few bottles of liquor in our checked bag and had it with us the entire cruise. Sometimes it is nice to have happy hour in the cabin without going out on deck to buy a drink. ;)

[zqvol]

That is not true. If you buy liquor in Grand Cayman, at Tortuga... you cannot take it back to the ship... they have an agreement with the ship to ship it back... you will see entire tenders filled with liquor from the various stores that have these agreements. There are plenty of others, I just happen to buy all of my liquor at Tortuga.

There is nothing that says you have to tell them you are on the ship. There are vacationers there not on a cruise.

[GoinCruisin]

If you buy liquor in a duty free store they won't let you walk around the island drinking it unless the island is duty free (like St Thomas). You drinky locally you have to pay taxi on.

 

Zyd, so if you do what ZQ suggests, and tell them that you are not on a cruise... you would have to pay duty?? Just trying to understand... They have never given us a choice, then again, I have never lied to them and told them I was not on a cruise... I have no desire to, I actually like them taking care of it, gives me 10 less things to carry :D

[zydecocruiser]

Zyd, so if you do what ZQ suggests, and tell them that you are not on a cruise... you would have to pay duty?? Just trying to understand... They have never given us a choice, then again, I have never lied to them and told them I was not on a cruise... I have no desire to, I actually like them taking care of it, gives me 10 less things to carry :D

 

I would prefer to have it delivered, also.

 

I don't think they will let you walk out of the store with it (at least at duty free prices). The difference in price is about $10/bottle. It isn't a cruiser duty, it is an import duty, if there is a chance you can consume locally. Your mileage may vary.

[GoinCruisin]

I would prefer to have it delivered, also.

 

I don't think they will let you walk out of the store with it (at least at duty free prices). The difference in price is about $10/bottle. It isn't a cruiser duty, it is an import duty, if there is a chance you can consume locally. Your mileage may vary.

 

Thanks... that makes sense. I've never questioned it... I just really like the prices at Tortuga, and always thought it was great that I didn't have to carry around those boxes :D

[zqvol]

Don't know about Tortuga on GC, but on St. Thomas and St. Martin duty free prices are the same whether you carry it out or have it delivered to the ship.

 

Of course if you are going to buy more than a bottle or two then I would have it delivered too, all I was saying is that you do not have to have your purchase delivered to the ship.

[GoinCruisin]

Don't know about Tortuga on GC, but on St. Thomas and St. Martin duty free prices are the same whether you carry it out or have it delivered to the ship.

 

Of course if you are going to buy more than a bottle or two then I would have it delivered too, all I was saying is that you do not have to have your purchase delivered to the ship.

 

Certainly, just as Zydeco mentioned above... in duty free islands such as St Thomas, it is not a problem. But on other islands, if you are not on a cruise, I would imagine you would have to pay duty... and then, what's the point??? So many places take your purchases to the ship for you rather than allowing you to carry them... not all, but many.

[johndana274]

Here's what happened on our recent cruise out of Puerto Rico. There was a store in the terminal telling everyone you can buy alcohol from them and bring it on the ship no problem.

 

Well, I didn't believe them so we purchased it and hid it on our carryon. Once you got on the ship before you get your sail and sign card, there was a table for alcohol confiscation. The folks in front of us never hid it in there carry on and it was taken from them. We had no problem as we just walked right on buy. I was watching the table after we went past and the only people they stopped were the ones that didn't have it hidden. They didn't stop anyone and search their bags.

 

Note: The confiscating table was after you go through the x-ray machines. I'm pretty sure the folks there don't work for Carnival and could care less.

 

By the way, this table was set up at each port of call. Again the only folks they stopped were the ones not hiding it.

 

Hope this helps.

[kchesneylover]

We bought liquor in St. Thomas and hid it in the carry-on. Those folks that bought those alcohol boxes got them confiscated til the end of the cruise.

 

TIP - When you buy your booze and they come in those boxes, transfer the liquor out of the box and into a carry-on bag so it is hidden. Worked for us.