Boarding with excess Alcohol

[curry767]

Hi everyone,

 

I gather I can board with alcohol in excess of the allowed amount and that the ship security will store this until the last night of the cruise. I am curious to how this actually works. For example, is it best to have said alcohol in a seperate bag and just hand that to security at check in? Just trying to plan ahead to make life easy for everyone.

Backstory is that I will be visiting the Anchorage Brewing Company next July before sailing on the Summit ex Seward and I may end buying a few of their rarer beers (if available) to bring back to Australia. 

[DingoMom]

If you board with excess alcohol and they find it, it will be confiscated and NOT given back. Hoping someone can help with ‘declaring’ it when you board.

[canderson]

1 hour ago, DingoMom said:

If you board with excess alcohol and they find it, it will be confiscated and NOT given back. Hoping someone can help with ‘declaring’ it when you board.

It can be voluntarily surrendered at boarding, and rather than being picked up at the 'naughty' table during disembarkation, our experience is that it will be delivered to your cabin door on the last night of the cruise, just as would be any purchases of alcohol made in the ship's onboard duty free shop.  This is also the 'correct' thing to do if picking up something rare/unusual at a port stop anywhere along the way.  We've found that being open and courteous with the security staff goes a long way toward reaching an agreeable solution.  It's possible that they may even wave you through with just a couple of beers.

 

Yes, I'd put it into a convenient carry bag so that it's not a hassle for security to deal with should they decide to keep it for you.

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We boarded once with a bottle of spirits that we expected to be taken and returned. It sometimes depends on the cruise and passenger mix, short Caribbean cruise more strict than an Alaska cruise of mostly adults. My concern would be flying with the beers back to Australia. How well will they hold up? Maybe best to enjoy them while in Alaska.

[canderson]

14 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

My concern would be flying with the beers back to Australia. How well will they hold up? Maybe best to enjoy them while in Alaska.

As long as they don't get heated up, and even though Anchorage makes unpasteurized beer, it should hold up plenty long enough to enjoy at home in Aus.  Remember, he'll likely be getting fresh bottled at the plant, which gives an edge when it comes to unpasteurized.

 

To @curry767

My own advice on glass bottles is that "if it don't clink, it don't break".  I've brought home suitcases loaded with wine successfully.  I take a pair of sweat socks for each bottle, slide one on one way, then the other with the second.  Stuff it all in between the dirty clothes for the return trip. 

 

[dcbiker97]

2 hours ago, DingoMom said:

If you board with excess alcohol and they find it, it will be confiscated and NOT given back. Hoping someone can help with ‘declaring’ it when you board.

Thats not accurate.  I’ve done this before.  Agree with the other post that it depends on the cruise. Sometimes it may get through and sometimes they will hold it for you until the end of the cruise.  My thinking is that you should put it in your checked baggage and then if it’s flagged by Celebrity, you’d go to the naughty room and explain. If you put it in the carryon you would deal with contractors, not Celebrity personnel. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

When we boarded in Alaska with a bottle of alcohol we were directed to "give it to the guy ""over there"". There was no "guy over there" and we just walked on with it. Same thing happened in Quebe. 

 

I'm not a beer drinker so was wondering how it would hold up traveling that far.

[canderson]

12 minutes ago, dcbiker97 said:

If you put it in the carryon you would deal with contractors, not Celebrity personnel. 

It doesn't become an issue until you reach the brow of the ship, and the folks there are very much Celebrity employees.  Playing it straight with them has yielded consistently good results for us over many years.

 

The 'local' security people at the dock are confirming that you've got a Seapass and are looking for dangerous items, not 'contraband' like alcohol. 

[1Virgo]

take bubble wrap for bottles if not in tins. we had 2 bottles of rum we bought on an island. Celebrity took it. However, my mistake, I didnt plan ahead and have bubble wrap to ensure the bottles arrived at our cabin on the last night intact.  1 was broken. 

[canderson]

1 minute ago, 1Virgo said:

take bubble wrap for bottles if not in tins. we had 2 bottles of rum we bought on an island. Celebrity took it. However, my mistake, I didnt plan ahead and have bubble wrap to ensure the bottles arrived at our cabin on the last night intact.  1 was broken. 

Ah ... speaking of rum, since that's one of the more frequent offenders ...

 

All:  Don't try to bring home anything > 140 proof in your luggage.  A bottle of Barcardi 151, for example, is considered a flammable material, and if picked up in screening, you won't see it in your checked luggage when you get home ... just a note from the friendly folks at TSA who are no doubt enjoying it on your behalf.

 

[dcbiker97]

16 minutes ago, canderson said:

It doesn't become an issue until you reach the brow of the ship, and the folks there are very much Celebrity employees.  Playing it straight with them has yielded consistently good results for us over many years.

 

The 'local' security people at the dock are confirming that you've got a Seapass and are looking for dangerous items, not 'contraband' like alcohol. 

I’ve also seen things over many years and the contractors look for supposed contraband. Some ports are way more observant than others.  But it does happen. I’ve seen them first hand pull aside folks for “contraband.”

[curry767]

Thanks all, really appreciate the feedback.

 

Not worried about getting said bottles home as I do this all the time (pilot), its more the cruise logisitcs that I'm interested in.

Sounds like, have them in a seperate bag and then flag it upon check in. Thanks again.

[dcbiker97]

Have a great time enjoy those beers!

[canderson]

3 minutes ago, dcbiker97 said:

I’ve also seen things over many years and the contractors look for supposed contraband. Some ports are way more observant than others.  But it does happen. I’ve seen them first hand pull aside folks for “contraband.”

For what kind of goods?  They post the list of prohibited items at the pier security entry point, and I've never seen alcohol listed.

[wwcruisers]

In the 20+ years that I've been sailing RC & X, the only time that I have heard of alcohol being confiscated and NOT returned were open bottles, or specific contraband smuggling paraphenalia -- like RumRunners. Anything not it a sealed, original bottle was always destroyed. Everything else was tagged and sent to the 'Naughty Room', for pick-up at the end of the cruise. Just my personal observations, though. Someone out there may very well have had a different experience.

[awhfy]

22 hours ago, curry767 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I gather I can board with alcohol in excess of the allowed amount and that the ship security will store this until the last night of the cruise. I am curious to how this actually works. For example, is it best to have said alcohol in a seperate bag and just hand that to security at check in? Just trying to plan ahead to make life easy for everyone.

Backstory is that I will be visiting the Anchorage Brewing Company next July before sailing on the Summit ex Seward and I may end buying a few of their rarer beers (if available) to bring back to Australia. 

You can’t bring any type of alcohol) other than a bottle of wine at embarkation. I’d check to see if the brewery will ship it home for you. 

[canderson]

1 hour ago, awhfy said:

You can’t bring any type of alcohol) other than a bottle of wine at embarkation. I’d check to see if the brewery will ship it home for you. 

Your source for information needs improvement. Our combined experience (above) argues otherwise.  It's just a matter of handling the situation properly. 

 

From the Celebrity *.pdf that covers this issue:

 

Alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports of calls or from the onboard shops
will be stored by the ship and delivered to guest's staterooms on the last day of the sailing.

 

You may review it for yourself by clicking the link below.  As you can see, that version of the document has been in place since 2007.

 

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/en_US/pdf/faq/Cel_Alcohol_Policy_07-30-07.pdf

 

[RichYak]

4 hours ago, awhfy said:

You can’t bring any type of alcohol) other than a bottle of wine at embarkation. I’d check to see if the brewery will ship it home for you. 

This is simply not true. I don't know why you would even post this.

[awhfy]

16 minutes ago, RichYak said:

This is simply not true. I don't know why you would even post this.

I read it as at embarkation only a bottle of wine is allowed then. At a port you can bring aboard but be prepared that it will be taken until the last night. 

[RichYak]

5 minutes ago, awhfy said:

I read it as at embarkation only a bottle of wine is allowed then. At a port you can bring aboard but be prepared that it will be taken until the last night. 

What you posted is also not true at embarkation. It works the same way as at port stops.

[awhfy]

3 minutes ago, RichYak said:

What you posted is also not true at embarkation. It works the same way as at port stops.

Well I’ve seen liquor taken at embarkation many times 

[RichYak]

4 minutes ago, awhfy said:

Well I’ve seen liquor taken at embarkation many times 

Yes. And returned before disembarkation.

[awhfy]

13 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Yes. And returned before disembarkation.

Maybe, but the one i specifically remember was definitely not returned, it was poured out in Miami 

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, awhfy said:

Maybe, but the one i specifically remember was definitely not returned, it was poured out in Miami 

Then it was already opened.

[awhfy]

Possibly, I couldn’t see that from where I was standing. I know the person it was taken from was very unhappy