Getting booze on board
 

Thanks for all of your answers to my previous questions. I'm at 1.5 days and counting until my cruise. I just discovered how hard RCCL is on their bring-on-board booze policy. So how do you do it? What's your secret? Some people say nalgene's. Others say just wrap every bottle in a couple layer of clothes. How are the prices in the duty-free shop? Is it worth it to buy the bottle and pay the consumption fee? How do I get around the corking fee?

Thanks!

We refilled our water bottles with vodka and other clear liquors, and our friends wrapped several bottles of wine/champagne in their clothing. Packed clothes, not the ones they were wearing.

We drank a lot on board, too, so it's not like they didn't make any money off of our group...

Just put your booze in your checked luggage.

Don't bother with putting it in unmarked bottles. They won't even notice. In fact, I recommend using teh real glass bottles, unopened, to ensure that you don't have liquor all over yoru clothes.

If it's in your carry-on, they'll find it and confiscate it. If it's checked, they won't.

All that said, I smuggled some on my cruise last summer and never drank any of it. It's easier just to drink at the bars.

We were advised to wait until the first port because they don't check when you get back on board unless it is blatant. That said, I never opened the dang bottle!!! Always went to one of the bars even though we had this nice balcony lol!!! Linda

You can feel free to bring on as much wine as you'd like on board cruise ships. They allow this and they hope to charge a corkage fee to you if you bring your bottle to dinner. Some waiters charge the corkage fee and some don't. I believe that the fee is usually around $10. My wife and I usually bring a number of bottles on board, open them in our room, and drink the bottles at our leisure. You may want to bring a few magnum bottles on board for dinner since they are twice the normal size of a bottle and you can double your available wine for dinner while paying one corkage fee.

I have never had a problem with hard alcohol. I tend to either transfer the contents to plastic containers (soda bottles, water bottles, vodka bottles) primarily to help my luggage to be lighter. If I plan to drink at the pool, I generally pre-mix something with grenadine (ie. 1 part vodka, 1 part amaretto, 1 part southern comfort, 0.5 parts grenadine) so that I can mix it with either orange juice (to make an Alabama Slammer :D ) or lemonade (if available. You can purchase a fancy tropical drink glass at sailaway and then keep refilling it during the cruise to look like you have one of their drinks and you have a nice souvenier.

Either way, don't worry too much about getting anything confiscated as long as it is in your checked luggage.

Cheers!!

On some lines, anything you purchase in the duty free on board they hold for you.

I've never had a problem bringing stuff, I just stick in in the suitcase, or if coming back from shore in whatever carrying bag I'm using.

I'm pretty sure on RCC the alcohol purchased at the duty free shop was held until we got back to LA. I was so busy drinking, however, that my memory is a little fuzzy about the entire cruise. :)

I've brought a case of water in my checked luggage with no problem. I've also carried on liquor bought in port without confiscation.

I buy my drinks at the bar and wine at dinner. It just seems like too much trouble to smuggle and mix. I don't sit in my cabin and drink. That's no fun. That's what the bars are for.

Do you bring a bottle of liquor with you when you go to a bar? Do you bring your own wine when you eat in a restaurant? I don't find the prices on a RCCL ship to be any different, so why would I not buy my drinks there? How much money are you really saving?

how much are drinks on RCCL?

Mrs. Swede and I brought 3 bottles of wine onto our RCCL cruise (two Merlots and one Chardonnay). They were in one of our carry-on bags, and they were not confiscated. We took the Merlots to enjoy in the dining room (and paid the $12 corkage fee for each bottle). One afternoon, we decided to open the Chardonnay in the room. We passed our room attendant in the hallway and asked for some white wine glasses. When we returned to our room, there were two wine glasses, AND the bottle of Chardonnay was in an ice bucket! :)

About 10 years ago, my husband and I sailed around the Society Islands on the Windstar. The cruise just lent itself to drinking tropical drinks around the pool. After a couple of expensive Pina Coladas in which the alcohol was barely discernable, many of the pax upon docking in Bora Bora went right to the General Store and picked up a bottle of rum. It was kind of funny seeing how many "virgin" drinks were ordered after that. Nearly everyone by the pool had a beach bag which contained a bottle of rum or vodka. No doubt the cruiseline was aware of what was going on but it never became an issue.

As some others have stated here, just don't make a big issue of bringing it on board and you should be OK. Pack it in your checked luggage as others have suggested and make sure it's between some clothes as extra protection for breakage.
And if you're going to pick up some booze in port, don't carry it back on the ship while swigging out of a bottle. ;) Or by carrying it on board in a sack marked "Jose's Liquor Emporium". Just pack it in a generic shopping bag.

What others have said. If you bring it on board in an obvious fashion, it will be taken from you, and returned on the last night of the cruise.

If someone asks, "Do you have liquor in that bag?" just say no. You'll have no problems.

On Royal Caribbean, we brought a bottle of champagne on board and decided to share it with our table on the 2nd formal night. Our waiter started to get the corkage fee papers, and the head waiter came over and told him not to charge us.

we have had no problem on any cruise line....

have always put it in the checked bags...

also, no problem w/ that bought at port calls....

it varies by line whether you can drink stuff bought from the duty free on board....have seen it both ways....on one, you paid a couple of $ more at one of the bars for a bottle.....the pacific princess, iirc hnl-osaka a couple of yrs back...

have fun.

I just got back from our 4 night cruise. I did what was suggested and packed 2 bottles in my checked luggage. It got to my room no problem. As many have said earlier, we didn't really drink that much in the room, but we did have a couple people in our group who got the coke package and ordered cans of tonic for our gin which we carried to the pool deck in a water bottle. All in all, it was very successful and we figure that we saved everyone who dabbled $20-$50. Long story short, if you bring it on board, it won't save you a ton, because you're not going to carry it with you a lot. But it will save some money if you figure ways to use it. Still didn't stop my girlfriend and me from racking up $400 in room charges (not just on booze). C'est la vie.

As for wine, I wish I'd had a chance to pick some up for the cruise beforehand. We bought the gold wine package and got 5 bottles for the cruise for a little more than $100. Not a great deal, but not bad either. 1 for each night at dinner and 1 more that we ended up bringing home.

IMO, it's one thing to sneak some booze into your room and another to try to consume it publicly onboard.
We always get the 5 or 6 bottle wine package at dinner as the bottle is always waiting when we arrive at dinner and not a huge rip-off. $20 or so per bottle for a decent wine works for us and that way the waiter/wine steward gets some action and everything is above board.
You might be able to sneak a cheap bottle of wine to your table and consume it but it's not worth saving a few bucks.

On our last cruise, while eating in the specialty (=extra fee) restaurant, we spotted the party of 6 at the table next to us bringing in their own wine.

It was BOX wine! :eek:

Personally, we got the mid-range wine package. Two advantages were that 1) if we didn't finish a bottle, they would label it and have it for us the following night, and 2) another couple at our table had also gotten a wine package so it was nice for us to share 2 bottles of champagne between the 4 of us on our last night of the cruise.

:eek: :eek: ;)

Depends on the port. In Nassau, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and St. Thomas they are militant about their checks but Aruba, Puerto Limon and Sint Maarten they barely checked us!

A tip, try to get into the Concierge club. The free liquor is a major +! On the Radience Class ships (Jewel and Brilliance for sure) the bars directly across from the disco turns into one at night!

What is a Concierge club?

On the Holland America line they have a Concierge Lounge for the exclusive use of those booking certain classes of suites.
I’m assuming this is what the poster meant by his reference to the Club on the Royal Caribbean line.

It's the same thing as HAL. For higher level suites or Diamond and Diamond Plus members.

The lounge (and Concierge who works there) is the reason we're at Diamond Plus 2 (30+) on RCL.

Free Liquor for a certain time period or throughout the cruise?

So is it worth booking a Suite to get invited to the Concierge club?

I am new so forgive my ignorance.

I read that one of the best-selling wines in France comes in a box. Why not?

No problem with boxed wine but when you’re trying to subtly bringing your own to dinner, it’s a bit obvious IMO.



You’ve got to run the numbers. The level of suite that will get you “free” liquor will run a couple grand or more per couple over a smaller suite. If you can consume that much extra alcohol and still function, go for it.
You probably need to decide on the suite for the other amenities as well. Such as extra room, personal butler service, complimentary drycleaning, etc., etc.
I doubt any of us could decide to spend the extra $$$’s on the free booze factor alone.

I agree. I looked up the prices for the Freedom of the Seas. I am better bringing my own liquor and gettting a very small inside room.

Smart idea not to mention the booze takes some of the edge off of dealing with an inside cabin. ;)
Enjoy the cruise!

People taking Chateau Carton on cruises now, eh? :rolleyes:

I also like buying onboard, and allowing them to stash the bottle between dinners or whatever. Once, a half-consumed bottle was misplaced, and we were comp'ed a new bottle of "upgraded" wine - classy!

As to Windstar Cruises, they are now inspecting hand baggage brought on board at all ports, and are storing Duty Free purchases until you disembark. OTOH, nobody checks when divers return on board... :D

Strongly suggest checking the boards for the cruiseline YOU are going to sail on. The rules and enforcement appear to vary widely among the various cruiselines. check over at cruisecritic.com for lots of good info.

I think I just wet my pants :p

you can bring your own wine onboard on pricess
 

We sailed on a Princess cruise last year. Their policy specifically permitted bringing your own wine on board. We brought two assorted cases to the dock. There was a $10/bottle corkage fee at dinner.

All things considered, this is reasonable IMO. If you prefer a certain type/vintage of wine then this is a good policy. Chances are you won't be able to get exactly what you prefer by ordering onboard.
A corkage fee of $10 at dinner works and the wine you drink in your room is "free".

A $20 tip to your waiter (with that first bottle of wine) can sometimes make him a tad 'forgetful' on the corkage charge... :D

That works as well. ;)

We've been taking a box of wine on board cruise ships for ages.
Usually it's a 5 liter box of Franzia Merlot (obtained at Costco for about $8) and is purely for in room consumption. Although on our Constellation Baltic last summer, we were part of a group of four couples and there was a happy hour that rotated from one couple's cabin to another the whole cruise. That box only lasted about two ports before we had to go find a liquor store in Stockholm. Celebrity never had a problem with the stuff we brought back on board. One back pack that went through the X-ray machine had four bottles of hard stuff in it, complete with the sound of clinking bottles and they never batted an eye! Skol!

MO

It would be very funny to see the reaction if you brought a *box* of wine to dinner and asked them to serve it.

Buying booze in ports....
 

is not always a good idea.
No problems when you check it inside your suitcase.

But when you come back from a port visit onboard, they check your bags etc. I have seen bottles being taken and not available the night before you leave the ship

When we went on Hunki's class reunion cruise, we had the "party central" suite. We, therefore, took a whole case of wine on board.

This was on Princess which allows passengers to bring their own wine, so it was no problem at all.

Royal caribbean has a new alcohol policy:

ALCOHOL POLICY
Effective as of all sailings commencing on or after July 28, 2006, the minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on all Royal Caribbean International ships is 21.


However, on cruises departing from European and South American countries, where the legal drinking age is typically lower than 21, a parent who is sailing with his or her son(s) and/or daughter(s) who is between the ages of 18 to 20, may sign a waiver allowing the 18 to 20 year old to consume alcoholic beverages.


The 18- to 20 year-old must agree to comply with Royal Caribbean's policies, including among other things, agreeing to not provide alcoholic beverages to any other person, regardless of age. Restrictions apply, and this policy is subject to change without notice.



Guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports of call or from onboard shops will be stored by the ship and delivered to guest staterooms on the last day of the sailing. Security may inspect containers (water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, luggage etc.) and will dispose of containers holding alcohol. Royal Caribbean's Guest Vacation Policy may be enforced, up to and including disembarkation, if a guest violates any alcohol policy. Guests under the age of 21 will not have alcohol returned to them.


Guests who violate any alcohol policies, (over consume, provide alcohol to people under age 21, demonstrate irresponsible behavior, or attempt to conceal alcoholic items at security and or luggage check points or any other time), may be disembarked or not allowed to board, at their own expense, in accordance with our Guest Vacation Policies.


Royal Caribbean reserves the right to revoke or otherwise restrict drinking privileges of any guest, regardless of age.

What other use is there for alcohol besides consumption?

if
 

they can actually enforce this, it will cost them business. The wild parties must have gotten out of hand.