Does Princess allow bringing food ONBOARD ship in port ?----

[Jetswdo]

 I know this is a weird question----  But here it is:  We will be in Portland Maine for a very short time on cruise stop. Ship leaves at 2:00   I want to grab a lobster roll at a nearby recommended cafe, that has long waits for a table.  I was thinking that it would be easier to just get as takeout, and if necessary just eat this on board ship.  Just a thought.    Has any one ever brought back a meal from a port stop on Princess?

[1025cruise]

Unfortunately, this will not be allowed.

[kywildcatfanone]

Probably not supposed to, but doubt they stop you.  They really don't check what is in bags.

[cr8tiv1]

I did it in Saint John and Halifax.  Brought my lobster rolls onboard after checking first with security.  They had a good chuckle.

 

Saint John:  Container kiosk way in the back

Halifax:  Building across from terminal

[skynight]

I don't see food items listed in the prohibited item FAQ list.

[Kay S]

In Maine, I don't know, but in New Zealand, they have dogs that sniff and people go to jail for sneaking food in.  Chili has dogs and soldiers with big guns.  The best thing to do is check with the local port authority and if they say no, decide whether you want to risk it or not.  

[Potstech]

Bringing on the ship probably no problem. Taking it off is a totally different story.

[hrhdhd]

4 hours ago, Kay S said:

In Maine, I don't know, but in New Zealand, they have dogs that sniff and people go to jail for sneaking food in.  Chili has dogs and soldiers with big guns.  The best thing to do is check with the local port authority and if they say no, decide whether you want to risk it or not.  

The OP wants to bring food ON the ship, not off.

[wolfie11]

I go grocery shopping in port and bring food on all the time.  The only thing they want to know is if any of it is alcohol.  

[_rusty_shackleford]

You should be fine. My wife and I have grabbed some Filipino food from a stand popular with crew in Juneau to bring back to our steward and some for us as well. No one batted an eye.

[Senga]

The only thing I've brought on board, aside from "packaged" food is bakery items in Norway and there was no problem.

[cjpj]

You see the crew bringing food on all the time. And I've bought Portuguese Tarts on in Lisbon.

[Coral]

I have had mixed luck bringing restaurant food on the ship. Sometimes they have let me and other times, I have had to throw it out. I don't know why I was allowed sometimes and not other times. 

[reedprincess]

Bringing food aboard is - generally - not an issue.

We've brought back family catering for our band friends (singers mom catered a major meal for her daughter and the band), we brought on 4 boxes of food.   No questions beyond what smelled so good!

Pastries and cheese and chocolate and ham and such on Med sailings.

Conch fritters and jerk chicken from Jack's in Turks 

Accra and chicken & bakes in St Lucia.

Ramen for bartender friends.

 

Heck, brought 6 wicked rum punch cocktails back aboard in St Kitts - security held them for us as we went through the metal detectors and gave them back after... Go figure...

 

And so forth...

 

Bringing food OFF the ship is generally a no-no, unless factory sealed/prepackaged - and not seeds or nuts, etc.   

Edited May 10 by reedprincess

[sewgood]

31 minutes ago, cjpj said:

And I've bought Portuguese Tarts on in Lisbon.

 

So have I, unfortunately I didn't buy enough of them. 😁

I can buy them at home but they are so much better in Lisbon

[BamaVol]

I plan to shop for chips (crisps) in port in Mexico.  They will have flavors not readily available here in the US. And I always grab a few single beers in port to bring back home. The chips will go on top of the beers in the same bag. 

[Cruise Junky]

Would be fine. The crew come back from ports loaded in food containers.  

[Coral]

1 hour ago, cjpj said:

And I've bought Portuguese Tarts on in Lisbon.

I did also! Amazing!

[lahlah57]

4 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

The OP wants to bring food ON the ship, not off.

Yes....bring onboard from Maine USA should not be an issue. 😆

[warthog2608]

3 hours ago, BamaVol said:

I plan to shop for chips (crisps) in port in Mexico.  They will have flavors not readily available here in the US. And I always grab a few single beers in port to bring back home. The chips will go on top of the beers in the same bag. 

My wife, who is Mexican, regularly brings packaged food items onboard from Mexican ports. As you mentioned, chips as well as candies and cookies and it has never been a problem. 

[arizonaperson]

@Jetswdo hope the take out process isn’t as long of a wait for you, compared to dining in.

Let everyone know how it goes.

Edited May 11 by arizonaperson

[cruzsnooze]

6 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

The OP wants to bring food ON the ship, not off.

Some people just don't read before answering.

Bringing food on the ship has never been an issue for me. I frequently shop in grocery stores in foreign ports because i want to try different native foods. Crew go shopping in port for food in every port. 

[Jetswdo]

Thanks for all the responses-  I figured a couple of posters would confuse my question with taking food off the ship--- but that's ok.   Due to the horrible hours for Portland Maine, I just want to make my own "foodie" tour---- Hopefully I can just find a table where I can sit someplace off the ship and people watch while eating a lobster roll for early lunch----I'm guessing that I will have competition to line up for seating at nearby cafe----so I just want a "plan B" just in case  So good to know that most of the responses think it will be ok if I end up just bringing my sandwich on the ship.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I purchased a large container of clam chowder from a restaurant on the Monterey Pier in CA. As I stepped off of the tender onto the ship they asked me what I had. They took my piping hot clam chowder. You know someone ate it. 

[SCX22]

YMMV...

Having said that, I've never had a problem bringing food back to the ship.  Have brought back lots of pastries from Southern Italy and Greece.  On a Transatlantic, I brought back 5kg of bacalao in Lisbon and was never questioned.  In Hawaii, I brought back papayas, cream puffs, fresh mochi, and pies with no problem.  Beverages can cause some questioning, but it's always been to check if they were alcoholic.  Got questioned in Honolulu because the I purchased 2, 24 pack cases of Hawaiian Sun from Costco, but they security let me through when they saw what it was.  The Filipino crew bring back Jollibee fried chicken en masse when they're in a port with a location, like Honolulu and Vancouver.  They literally take orders for their crewmates that can't make it off the ship.