Bringing Alcohol on Board

jewels64 · January 22, 2005

Hi everyone. I did a little search for this topic, but I really couldn't find anything that would answer my specific questions. We are first-time cruisers, sailing on Mariner of the Seas in March. We will likely buy our fruity cocktails and beer during the day while out and about on the ship, but we both enjoy a glass of wine or rye and coke after we have come in out of the sun and are getting cleaned up in our cabin. Tradionally, at All Inclusives we have been to, we have a Bailey's on ice before going to bed or added some to our coffees in the morning. If we were to bring along a bottle of rye and a bottle of baily's in our luggage, is there going to be a problem? I also read that the "pop" (you guys may call it "soda"?) must be paid for on board....how much would it be?

Also, friends who have cruised before have told us they bought their wine in each port they visited and then paid a corkage fee at dinner. Is this true for Royal Caribbean? How much is a bottle of "house wine" on a ship at dinner?

Hmmmmm.....I sound like an alcoholic or something...LOL....well, it is a holiday, right!?! :rolleyes:

elle · January 23, 2005

Im curious being from the north whats "rye"? Bringing alcoholic beverages on board is a very so to speak "risky" thing. If you read your "docs" when getting your tickets it will say none allowed. Its a personal issue wether you choose to go about bringing your own or not. From what Ive read and Ive only cruised carnival and been on many of them but it was over 7 yrs ago.....and now we are cruising on royal carribean in 2 weeks ..The book says no booze allowed... they will take it . That a cork fee is charged per bottle. Even so tho from what Ive seen the price still comes out to the same as you would pay at home........so heh.dont fret it just order it and drink up.

DaCruzNut · January 23, 2005

Bringing a bottle, or two, aboard in your luggage, should not pose any problem. it is very common, and I have never heard of a verified instance of the cruise line confiscating liquor from a passengers luggage. Technically, it is against the rules, but it is not often enforced.

Bringing liquor aboard at a port, however, is a different story. Most ships "greet" you as you return to the ship and take any liquor purchases. thy give you a receipt, and deliver the alcohol to you on the last night of the cruise.

Some ships may allow you to bring one bottle of wine aboard, in port, to have for dinner, but the corkage fee is usually pretty high, about $15.00 (US), per bottle! You can get a decent house wine for about $20.00.

As an aside, a Wine Steward aboard one of the ships once told me that it is a waste of money to order an expensive wine on a ship. Wine needs three things: dar, controlled temperature and lack of motion! While the ships can provide the first to, the "lack of motion" presents a unique, and unsolvable, problem. The movement of the ship causes the sediment to flow through the wine, causiong a depreciation in quality. So, stick to the "cheap stuff."

alt text

Well, maybe not THAT cheap! :grin: :grin: :grin:

scapel · January 24, 2005

Pack liquor in your checked luggage with it well padded and protected from leakage with zip loc bags and you will have no problem. You could even mix drinks in your room and walk on deck with them.

sailingrose · January 24, 2005

OMG Jeff! I haven't seen that stuff in many many years! LOL

jbond · January 25, 2005

Please don't do that. Bringing liquor on board, I can understand,almost. But mixing drinks and then consuming them in a public area, just rubs me the wrong way.

If you are sailing on Mariner it may not be worthwhile you buying your liquor at home. RCI sells liquor for in room consumption. Their prices, including the $9.50 per bottle to take it back to your room, are very competitive. A litre bottle of Absolute costs $10.50, with the extra charge that's $20 for a litre. They have a very wide selection of liquor to choose from.

Wines are, in my opinion, priced on the high side, especially the lower price wines. A bottom of the line wine will cost around $25-$30 per bottle. RCI's corkage fee is $10, but it is not always collected. We have never paid a fee on wines we have taken to the dining room.

jewels64 · January 26, 2005

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. Rye, by the way, is "Canadian" for what many of you call "whiskey", I think. Canadian Club and Crown Royal are the most popular brand names. Now that I know how reasonable the prices are, I can relax and buy my drinks on board :grin: . I still may need that little bottle of Bailey's though! Thanks, again.

c21jim · January 26, 2005

We are cruising on the ms Veendam on Feb 5th. Has anyone had any

experience buying alcohol by the bottle for your cabin with Holland America?

C21Jim :cool:

KeithnRita · January 26, 2005

We've been on six HAL cruise, however, we have not purchased any liquor by the bottle from them. Since we drove to port on our recent Zaandam New Years cruise, we did bring a bottle of scotch via our checked luggage.

We cruised on the Veendam for Y2K and it remains one of our favorite cruises. We even wrote a review--which is a little dated!

Veendam 2000 Review