Taking food off the ship ...

[dwrist]

Wow. It's great to read all the supportive posts. The issue is so serious and yet taken so lightly by some.

 

dwrist: You'll appreciate this story. One evening my best friend and I were lounging in the hot tub at her apartment complex. All of a sudden we heard the rotors of helicopters. "Oh (expletive)" we had forgotten to check the schedule. We rush out of the hot tub, grab our stuff, and make a mad sprint (dripping wet) to get indoors before the spraying started. What a mess. And you know how much collateral damage (such as ruined paint jobs on cars) occurred.

 

beachchick

 

Remember the Oak Ridge Boys recording Fruit Fli'a to the tune of Elvira?? and it's playing on the radios on the spray days? Memories are wonderful.:)

[beachchick]

Remember the Oak Ridge Boys recording Fruit Fli'a to the tune of Elvira?? and it's playing on the radios on the spray days? Memories are wonderful.:)

 

:D I haven't thought about that in years. Oh the memories it brings back.

 

beachchick

[canadiangirl77]

Thanks for the responses .. I just didnt want to be breaking any rules. I had seen someone say that they ordered sandwiches from room service and thru them in baggies for their kids etc when taking excursions such as early morning fishing trips and the train trip and such .. I just was unsure of if there are any rules .. last thing I need is a fine! lol

[daveco58]

I would think that if you are going from a state in the US to another state in the US you should be fine. Example from California to Alaska or one of the Hawaiian ships. But that would be it.

 

Given that Alaska is not a huge agricultural state, you may be right, but the reverse, Alaska to California would be hugely wrong. All agricultural products coming into the state are inspected, a lot of them are outright banned, and all cruise ships, because they provision all over the world, are strictly forbidden from off loading any agricultural products in California. I am pretty sure Florida has the same rules.

 

Havent flown out of Hawaii lately, but last time they had "amnesty bins" (trash cans) to toss any fruits/plants/etc at the Airport. LAX has the same thing for incoming pax before you hit customs.

[PDAZ]

The airport in Honolulu had a beagle patrolling the baggage claim area -- he'd sit next to bags that had food in them. My stepmom was nabbed -- I forget what she had in her bag, but the inspector let her keep it.

[Cosmopolitan]

[quote name=broberts;9766606

I'm also on the soap box. While many states and provinces are selective in how they enforce their ag import regulations' date=' they all have them. State to state, province to province, country to country, one can't be too careful. The damage that a pest can do is enormous. Protect farmers, leave the food on-board.[/quote]

 

I agree..not difficult..eat before you disembark or when you embark.

You will never "starve" on a cruise:)

[beachchick]

I would think that if you are going from a state in the US to another state in the US you should be fine. Example from California to Alaska or one of the Hawaiian ships. But that would be it.

 

I just wanted to reinforce that no, it is not "fine" to bring produce from any other state into Hawaii. It's strictly illegal. There are many, many state-specific import regulations for plants and food items. It doesn't matter that you are only going from one US state to another. In fact, counties in many states have their own specific import regulations. So you can't even necessarily take produce from one place to another within the same state.

 

beachchick

[Ephraim]

Thats not true about it being ok if you are staying in the states, Hawaii for example. We were just on POH. DH asked to have a muffin put into saran wrap. The waiter in the buffet told us that it is a $3,000 fine if you are caught taking food from the ship. They also told us it wasn't the cruise line. He said no one on the ship cares if you take off food for shore excursions, he said it was coast guard rules. It was the first we ever heard of it.

 

 

Hawaii's regulations are MUCH more stringent than other states. And California produce has to be specially sprayed to deal with medfly and to avoid contamination of other places.

 

Which might explain why you should ALWAYS wash your fruit and vege with soap and water.

 

In order for fruit and vege to be allowed into Canada, it must be clear of pesticides. The same is NOT true in the US of internal fruit. Fruit rejected at the Canadian border is regularly sold in US supermarkets.

[Glamourgal]

I'm a little confused here...Beachchick, did you say it is okay to take food off of the POAloha? If it is not, that is fine and we will not do it but if we can, it would be great to take a prepared lunch for the day we do the drive to Hana. I believe I read another post from POH that said it was not okay??

[Lake House]

There's one other issue that the cruise lines may be more reluctant to talk about openly.

 

It has to do with liability. If I take food supplied and prepared onboard, leave the ship and take a day excursion ashore, that food is left unrefrigerated for a period of time. Safe to say it's not up to health code requirements. I eat the food, get sick (perhaps food poisoning?), and sue the cruise line.

 

I may not be successful in my suit, but it will still be a cost to them in defending the action, and the publicity isn't good either.

 

So it's much easier to simply prohibit removal of food products from the ship. Add to that the local Dept. of Ag regulations, and it's really a no-brainer. Why would they take the chance?

 

For the price of a piece of fruit, a drink, or a sandwich ashore we'll just dig deep and put out a few more bucks for our snack. Not a big deal, and who wants to get into a "situation" when you're on vacation?

 

Ann

[NCL DAWN 4/1/07]

:cool:

They tell you not to take food off the ship, but you can take everything including the curtins if you want.

They are in such a frenzy getting everyone swiped off the ship, they would never notice.

 

Lets face it! Food is food. All the food in loaded in the port you depart from. Yes, this is all US inspected food.

 

So, enjoy and pack an extra sandwich for me!!

 

Chears!!!:p

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read somewhere this is a no-no?! Does anyone have any experience with this? My DH and DFIL are booked on a really early morning fishing trip when we head to Alaska, and just wondering if it's possible to pack them a sandwich or 2?

 

Thanks!

[johnql]

Lets face it! Food is food. All the food in loaded in the port you depart from. Yes, this is all US inspected food.

This is a totally inaccurate statement. "Food is food" is only accurate if you mean that all food can be consumed by humans. For purposes of this thread, that's where the accuracy ends. Many foods can and do pose a threat to the local ecology, environment and agriculture of certain ports by introducing pests that are not visible to the human eye.

 

If the ship tells you that it's against the law to take food off at a specific port, my advice is to heed the law.

[beachchick]

I'm a little confused here...Beachchick, did you say it is okay to take food off of the POAloha? If it is not, that is fine and we will not do it but if we can, it would be great to take a prepared lunch for the day we do the drive to Hana. I believe I read another post from POH that said it was not okay??

 

Well, here's the thing. Because we feel so strongly about the issue and because we would never break these laws, I did a ton of research before our PoH cruise. We had heard very mixed things about it. I finally got confirmation from the Hawaii Dept of Agriculture that yes, food may be brought off the Pride ships and the Pride ships only.

 

So far, so good. Then I researched NCL's information. There was nothing (not online, not on the Freestyle Daily, not at the gangplank--nowhere) saying that food could not be taken off the ship. There was information about open food, fresh food, and open beverages not being allowed to be brought onto the ship. If there is a Coast Guard regulation against it, I couldn't find it anywhere and it certainly wasn't listed. In fact, I'm not sure what authority the Coast Guard would have over this because the laws are state or county laws. In any case, we did pack lunch a couple of times and took it with us in our cooler.

 

I talked to our butler about it a couple of times. Basically, they are required to discourage pax from taking food off the ship. They are not supposed to help pax put together lunch or anything like that. Part of the reason is that people take fresh food off the ship, do not store it properly, the food spoils, they eat it, and then blame the fact that they get sick on the cruise line having "bad food." I can understand the cruise line's point of view on this. If pax are so careless as to take fresh food off the ship and not bother to store it properly, then they're going to get sick. The cruise line doesn't want to have to deal with determining whether a pax is sick from doing that or from food eaten on the ship, which would be the responsibility of the cruise line. I imagine they would get tired of pax not taking responsibility for their own behavior.:rolleyes: Lake House is right on in this interpretation.

 

On top of all this, as soon as the PoAl starts doing the longer itineraries with the ones that go to Fanning Island, pax on the PoAl will not be allowed to bring fresh food of any kind off the ship on the Hawaiian islands. Period. At that point, PoAl will join all the ships which stop at non-Hawaii ports. Even though it's only Fanning Island, the strictest state laws regarding import apply. Let's say that the ship has bananas provisioned in Hawaii (which BTW, are under quarantine in certain places on the islands), they go to Fanning Island. The bananas remain onboard, but someone manages to bring an insect or pathogen onboard which then makes its way to those bananas. Now they are "infected" and are a risk to Hawaii's ecosystem. Is this likely to happen? Nope. Could it happen? Yep.

 

That would leave only PoAm as the Hawaii-only ship. It's entirely possible that the state would decide that it is silly to have one rule for this one ship and other rules for all the rest of the ships which visit the islands.

 

So, I guess I'm going to have to say that no, you will probably not be allowed to bring fresh food off the ship. Sorry.:(

 

Ephraim: That's not entirely true. California's fruit/veg import laws are pretty much as strict as Hawaii's. The problems with various fruit flies (including medfly) and other insects in CA's produce are the direct result of people carelessly or selfishly smuggling in plants or produce infected with pests or pathogens. I do not know what the current requirements are for CA produce being exported from the state, but I can tell you that it is not true that all of our produce is loaded with pesticide or other chemicals. We have a huge number of certified organic farms throughout the state. My family and I are lucky enough to be able to buy virtually all our produce at the local weekly farmers markets (different places in the state). Of course we wash our produce before eating it because, chemicals or not, dirt, dust, etc. need to be washed off. Soil isn't exactly the cleanest thing in the world and can contain harmful pathogens and insects.

 

 

NCL DAWN: It is exactly that kind of selfish, careless attitude that is the problem.:mad: Food is not just "food." It doesn't matter whether it's all "US inspected" because state and county agricultural laws trump federal inspection of food. I hope you don't put your thoughts into action because that is how local ecosystems are harmed. I am almost (almost, but not quite) at a loss for words in responding to your "pack an extra sandwich for me" attitude. I fear that if I continue that I will be too tempted to write the words I'm thinking--which would not go over well on the forum.

 

beachchick

[Glamourgal]

Thanks for clearing that up for me Beachchick!! I think I'll just buy a packed lunch that I have been reading about once off the ship!! We are on the Pride of Aloha that is NOT doing the Fanning Island tour but from the sound of things no itineraries will be allowed to take food from the ship.

[dwrist]

Well, here's the thing. Because we feel so strongly about the issue and because we would never break these laws, I did a ton of research before our PoH cruise. We had heard very mixed things about it. I finally got confirmation from the Hawaii Dept of Agriculture that yes, food may be brought off the Pride ships and the Pride ships only.

 

So far, so good. Then I researched NCL's information. There was nothing (not online, not on the Freestyle Daily, not at the gangplank--nowhere) saying that food could not be taken off the ship. There was information about open food, fresh food, and open beverages not being allowed to be brought onto the ship. If there is a Coast Guard regulation against it, I couldn't find it anywhere and it certainly wasn't listed. In fact, I'm not sure what authority the Coast Guard would have over this because the laws are state or county laws. In any case, we did pack lunch a couple of times and took it with us in our cooler.

 

I talked to our butler about it a couple of times. Basically, they are required to discourage pax from taking food off the ship. They are not supposed to help pax put together lunch or anything like that. Part of the reason is that people take fresh food off the ship, do not store it properly, the food spoils, they eat it, and then blame the fact that they get sick on the cruise line having "bad food." I can understand the cruise line's point of view on this. If pax are so careless as to take fresh food off the ship and not bother to store it properly, then they're going to get sick. The cruise line doesn't want to have to deal with determining whether a pax is sick from doing that or from food eaten on the ship, which would be the responsibility of the cruise line. I imagine they would get tired of pax not taking responsibility for their own behavior.:rolleyes: Lake House is right on in this interpretation.

 

On top of all this, as soon as the PoAl starts doing the longer itineraries with the ones that go to Fanning Island, pax on the PoAl will not be allowed to bring fresh food of any kind off the ship on the Hawaiian islands. Period. At that point, PoAl will join all the ships which stop at non-Hawaii ports. Even though it's only Fanning Island, the strictest state laws regarding import apply. Let's say that the ship has bananas provisioned in Hawaii (which BTW, are under quarantine in certain places on the islands), they go to Fanning Island. The bananas remain onboard, but someone manages to bring an insect or pathogen onboard which then makes its way to those bananas. Now they are "infected" and are a risk to Hawaii's ecosystem. Is this likely to happen? Nope. Could it happen? Yep.

 

That would leave only PoAm as the Hawaii-only ship. It's entirely possible that the state would decide that it is silly to have one rule for this one ship and other rules for all the rest of the ships which visit the islands.

 

So, I guess I'm going to have to say that no, you will probably not be allowed to bring fresh food off the ship. Sorry.:(

 

Ephraim: That's not entirely true. California's fruit/veg import laws are pretty much as strict as Hawaii's. The problems with various fruit flies (including medfly) and other insects in CA's produce are the direct result of people carelessly or selfishly smuggling in plants or produce infected with pests or pathogens. I do not know what the current requirements are for CA produce being exported from the state, but I can tell you that it is not true that all of our produce is loaded with pesticide or other chemicals. We have a huge number of certified organic farms throughout the state. My family and I are lucky enough to be able to buy virtually all our produce at the local weekly farmers markets (different places in the state). Of course we wash our produce before eating it because, chemicals or not, dirt, dust, etc. need to be washed off. Soil isn't exactly the cleanest thing in the world and can contain harmful pathogens and insects.

...

 

beachchick

 

California has some of the strictest organic regulations in the nation. We buy organic, have since we moved to Minnesota, and my requirement is that it has to be certified organic from California, which I find readily available. Organic producers here in MN use some fertilizers that are not truly organic. ;)

[broberts]

Lets face it! Food is food. All the food in loaded in the port you depart from. Yes, this is all US inspected food.

 

It appears that you haven't taken into consideration the fact that most cruises depart from a port in one state and visit other states and / or countries.

 

Two factors here. First, the inter-state transportation of food stuffs, which may be restricted. Second, while in a foreign port it is possible, if not terribly likely, that a pest finds its way on board and seeks housing in food supplies.

 

Given that many ships spend time in warm water ports and given how difficult some pests are to eradicate, I don't think its a stretch to assume that any unprocessed food on board may be infected with some pest that while no danger to humans could pose a threat to agricultural.

[BruceMuzz]

The US Customs Service, US Public Health Service, US Center for Disease Control, and US Food & Drug Administration all agree that ANY food taken off a non-US Flag ship is legally and officially "Foreign Food". They do not care where it was produced, purchased, or loaded onto the ship. It is now Foreign - and legally forbidden from entering the USA - even if it originally came from there.

The Cruise Lines are charged with following these laws and regulations. They can get into a lot of trouble if they ignore them.

 

Many other countries also have similar laws. All Ports on the West coast of Mexico are now searching the bags of every passenger who goes ashore.

If they catch you, they might just confiscate the items - or they might decide to make an example of you. If you want to play that game, you have to take your chances.

[pg.]

Fruit, veggies, meat and diary products can carry pests, or diseases, so they are a no no.

Cookies from the buffet, or unopened boxes of Fruit Loops( cereal) are fine as they do not carry anything.

We motorhome and of course carry our food with us across borders, the dried or pre packed or canned food is not the Agricultural Departments concern, they have boarded our MH and only searched for meat, fruit, veg and diary.

 

We always have taken baked goods( mufffins , cookies etc) off the ship and never had a problem.

 

I do wonder how a mother with a baby could get off a ship for more then 2 or 3 hours with no formula for their baby. I have a feeling canned formula must be allowed as it is sterlie one would hope.

[beachchick]

pg.: That makes sense about the canned formula. Perhaps sealed bottled water and powdered formula would be okay as well.

 

beachchick

[NCL DAWN 4/1/07]

Jimmy had the nerve to tell everyone not to take food off the boat when you leave and to please return the blue and white towels!

 

The ship only take on provisions in New York!

 

This seems to destroy any case for intrducing a foreign parasite to the US food chain!

 

Next time you are on the Dawn, ask the captain where all the food is purchased from and inspected by. I did!!!!!:cool:

[johnql]

The ship only take on provisions in New York!

 

This seems to destroy any case for intrducing a foreign parasite to the US food chain!

 

Next time you are on the Dawn, ask the captain where all the food is purchased from and inspected by. I did!!!!!:cool:

You are misinformed or you don't want to face the facts - it is NOT a countrywide situation. It's at least a state-by-state matter. In some states, there are even some counties that prohibit certain foods to be brought across the border. In other words, a parasite or pest that is indigenous to Texas, for instance, may not be indigenous to California. Introducing it to California's ecology could very well prove to be damaging. That is why the laws and regulations are in place.

 

As far as sailing out of NYC, I can tell you that when a ship like the Dawn or Spirit makes a port stop in Florida, they are very strict about food being taken ashore. I saw plenty of people being told to throw out their food (mostly fruit) as they disembarked in Port Canaveral. This is an important matter and should be taken seriously.

[broberts]

Jimmy had the nerve to tell everyone not to take food off the boat when you leave and to please return the blue and white towels!

 

The ship only take on provisions in New York!

 

This seems to destroy any case for intrducing a foreign parasite to the US food chain!

 

Next time you are on the Dawn, ask the captain where all the food is purchased from and inspected by. I did!!!!!:cool:

 

Johnql's pointed out the essential incorrect assumption you make.

 

Further, ships spend time in foreign ports. Hatches are open, passengers go ashore and return, crew go ashore and return, and while ships may not typically resupply, there is no guarantee that it has never done. Given all this it is a very faulty assumption that ships themselves hold no potential for infestation.

[greatam]

I would think that if you are going from a state in the US to another state in the US you should be fine. Example from California to Alaska or one of the Hawaiian ships. But that would be it.

 

Evidently you have never traveled into Arizona or California in anything other than a plane. I laugh every time I go through the Parker, AZ ag inspection into California. All those RV's with their doors, refrigerators, and closets open, while the ag inspector drags around his waste can. And the owners/passengers standing right under the sign that states NO FRUIT saying "I just bought it at the Safeway in Parker. I need to stock up". Good for a laugh!!!!

[Rahi]

I know it is suppose to be a no-no.. but more than once I have seem people pull out fruit on an excursion.. ..

[blindrid]

Regardless of the various reasons listed above. This is certainly one that no means no.