wine as contraband?

[j!m]

last year we cruised in the med on quest and brought wine back to the ship (4 bottles)

 

there were no questions asked and our wine was not "confiscated"

 

seems like the "policy" is a bit inconsistently enforced

[JennAngel9]

In case this is being read by anyone at Azamara or its parent corp, I am also a lawyer, but a less nitpicky one, I would like to add my emphatic agreement that I want to be able to bring (and DRINK) wine on board when I cruise, especially in Europe, NZ, South America, South Africa, the West Coast of the U.S.... pretty much everywhere one can cruise except the caribbean. :p My point is that it is difficult AND dangerous (for my clothes) to fly the bottles back home, so it really does me no good to have the wine returned at the end. Doesn't Azamara want me to spend all of my limited vacation days on their ship and not take a shorter cruise so that I can spend 3 days in a hotel in a drunken stupor (or a more pleasant week) trying to get through my bordeauxs before heading back across the atlantic?

 

I liked the idea of having the wine taken and served w/ corkage fee in the restaurant (though I might advocate for a "corkage package" if you are willing to do it every night of the cruise)-- I'd also be willing to pay something like $10 per bottle brought on board at each port (regardless of where I consume it) for the security of knowing it won't be confiscated.

 

Also, from a "liability" perspective, the policy is nuts to begin with-- because as long as you can bring 2 bottles of wine on, you can always get drunk elsewhere on board and go back to your stateroom after you've been cut-off (which assumes that the bartending staff will cut you off in the first place-- has that ever actually happened to anybody?).

[critterchick]

Also, from a "liability" perspective, the policy is nuts to begin with-- because as long as you can bring 2 bottles of wine on, you can always get drunk elsewhere on board and go back to your stateroom after you've been cut-off (which assumes that the bartending staff will cut you off in the first place-- has that ever actually happened to anybody?).

 

I've seen it happen on RCI ships, but not on Azamara.

[joelmomma]

When bringing wine on board, do you have to bring it in your carry-on or can you just leave it in your luggage? If it's in your luggage, do they scan it? How else would they know how much you are bringing on?

[happy cruzer]

When bringing wine on board, do you have to bring it in your carry-on or can you just leave it in your luggage? If it's in your luggage, do they scan it? How else would they know how much you are bringing on?

 

I certainly hope that they are scanning luggage. Perhaps not looking for wine but definitely scanning the luggage.

 

Everyone's comments and arguements are the same ones that were made with RCI changed their policies about 4 years ago. I canceled an RCI transatlantic cruise because I could not stand the idea of stopping in Spain and Portugal and not being allowed to carry on wines to enjoy in the dining room with corkage fee. Also there are many reports that the wine is thrown away or lost before it is ever returned to passengers, if they bother to just check it for the cruise duration.

 

If you like to carry on or check wine, I recommend staying away from RCL lines. Carnival, HAL, Princess, Oceania, Disney, NCL all allow wine to be brought on board and pay a corkage fee (and in many cases the fee is "forgotten") CCL and others seem to get the point about fine food and fine wine.

 

Cheers.

[joelmomma]

I certainly hope that they do scan the luggage. I guess what I meant to ask was, will they be looking at how many bottles you have in your luggage and what will they do if they find more than the allotted amount?

[JennAngel9]

To my knowledge, there is no way for any line to know if you bring 2 bottles on in your carry-on and 2 in your checked luggage-- on the other hand, are you willing to risk all of your clothes in the suitcase if the bottle breaks?

[Wilcoam]

I'm an avid cruiser who sailed lines from NCL to Silverseas but have sialed more with X than any other line

 

My fave exp at sea has been on smaller ships that include all drinks gratis (including wine) such as you would find on the X Xpedition or SS Prince Albert

 

On a mainstream line like NCL - and or Princess I can board with a CASE of WINE in a wine case (looks like a music road case) and pay a corkage fee - and I have done so in that my wife and I can enjoy fantastic 92+ rated vintages both at dinner and in our cabin of a certain quality that is rarely found on a cruise ship

 

IMO it's odd that I can do so on a 3-4 star rated cruise line (like NCL or Pricness) but not do so on a premuim rated line (like X) or a 5 star (?) like Azamara

 

My wife and I just happen to be researching a 2010 cruise on either Oceana - Azamara or R7S - of which who knows which line and itin we will go with by I did want to comment that when it comes to WINE Azamara's finishes way down in 3rd place with regard to a wine appreciation comparison between the 3 lines

 

Thx

jc

toronto

[lisiamc]

I just can't seem to get too worked up over it. I like nice wine with dinner, but I'm not going to the shops in the embarkation port to search out something special and then pay corkage on top. We have some good wine at home, but I'm not going to drag it around in my luggage. Before dinner, I like cocktails, in the bar, where I can people-watch.

 

So yes, I'm slightly irked on principle that Azamara treats their passengers like teenage booze-smugglers, but we like the Azamara product enough that we won't go elsewhere just because of their wine policy.

 

Lisa

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We had no problems bring wine on while in port

A corkage fee of $10CDN would be nice:D