Booze

mysticks1 · October 5, 2005

I thought I had read somewhere in Carnivals website that any alcohol bought in port was held by the ship until you disembark? Do you have to place it in carry-ons, etc or can you just walk on board with it in hand?

joebat1 · October 6, 2005

If you are going to carry it on by hand there are several "secrets" at each port. With Carnival it's a No-No officially. In Cozumel if you purchase it at the Duty Free Store they will put it in a Yellow Bag. Get rid of the Yellow Bag~~!~!~~ Put it inside another bag or replace the yellow bag with another bag. Now we get into the conspiracy part. Have several passengers go thru the x-ray machine at once. The security will Yell "liquor" for each passenger to the crew member taking up the liquor. The designated person(first in line with a yellow bag) will get her/his attention while the next four hit the stairs ignoring everyone with all their liquor in hand!!!!

Caymans are another easy refill port with cheap prices. All liquor purchase on the island MUST be shipped by the store directly to the ship. That being the case security is very lax. The Only store I know of that will by-pass this rule is a little store just to the left as you depart the docks. Wait till the last few minutes and purchase several bottle and they will hand carry it thru the Customs Office and hand it across the ship's security guard at the dock. The clerk will not give you the purchase until you have crossed the security check.

Jamaica "No Problem Mon" like Cozumel.

St. Thomas..No problems here have even carried open beer aboard while drinking it. Same in St. Marten, just dump the gaudy liquor store bags.

If you are very young looking or drunk all rules goes out the nearest open port hole.

sunshineforblue · October 7, 2005

Heres an idea!! This is what I did when I went on Carnival this past July........I took a Listerene bottle and emptied it and then filled it back up with Vodka....then I added 8or 9 drops of yellow food coloring. Now it looks like Listerene again!! I put it in my suitcase and away we went. Why would they suspect Listerene as anything different? Some people put water bottles that are really Vodka in their carry on.

Good luck!!

JACKEL1618 · December 18, 2005

Put your bottles in your carry on the best way to go.

jsme · January 1, 2006

How did you sneak your alcohol on? You started this thread in October so I am guessing you are back.

Term I did not know you should take it on a carry on. I am so learning all of this. On DCL you can take whatever you want and not hide it.

NYCruiser · January 7, 2006

If you pack it in your carry on, carnival usually will take it away, RCCL has never taken a bottle from me though. Personally though I get tired of carrying those heavy bottles to the boat so I will bring just one bottle and get the rest at the first port, now I have a full proof way of getting alcohol on board that has yet to fail anyway who has used it.

I agree with above, its the bags or the boxes that give it away so if you are going to drink it on board, take it out of there and put it in your beach bag. Now here is what you have to do.

When you go through the xray machine, they will see the bottles in your bag, be very nice and say "I know I have to check them" and then proceed to the desk where you are supposed to check them in. I always buy one bottle to really check and keep the rest in my beach bag, once they see you at the desk they never look to see what you are actually checking, so check 1, keep 3, lol, it always works.

jsme · January 8, 2006

You do know I am going in after you on our upcoming cruises.

NYCruiser · January 13, 2006

Thats ok selena, just means we can get more back on at once, lol

Joanandjoe · January 19, 2006

I like to bring one small plastic bottle of liquor (rum, mostly) in my suitcase. You can mix it with juice for a wonderful cocktail. You can also "smuggle" booze on by putting the local brew into your plastic water bottles. We had good luck on our "Panama Canal" cruise which didn't go into the canal but offered a field trip. We just brought bottles onto the ship in our backpacks. They were totally disorganized in major areas on that cruise, though, and I don't know if I would try it again.

How much do you drink? We consume a half-a-bottle of wine with dinner. While alcoholic beverages CAN increase the cost of a cruise, we don't find it increases the cost very much. Also, since we tend to drink only with food, it's hard to "sneak" anything on board.