I am a 26 male who just enjoyed a seven day cruise on the Carival Triumph. I would have enjoyed it less if I wasnt able to sneak numerous bottles of Booze onto the boat. A few years ago Carnival stopped letting passengers bring liquer onto their ships. This enables Carnival to make enormous amounts of money at their bars. If you are planning a cruise, like to drink please take these suggestions into consideration.
A well know way to sneak liquer onto the boats is to put clear booze into water bottles. This is not a sure method. At ports of call customs officals have opened and confiscated these bottles of "water". It works best at the time of embarkation.
Placing actual liquer bottles in checked luggage will work, they may find it, but this is rare.
Buying duty-free liquer at ports is the least expensive way to drink on the ship, the problem is getting it abord. When going through cumtoms they will ask you to put your bags through a X-ray machine. Three times the officals detected the bottles I had in my backpack. They then told me to report my bottles to the ship. Which means go over to a table next to the machine and give Carnival the liquer. There is nothing aginst their policy to bring liquer onto the boats, but they want you to check it in with them. Carnival proceeds to record and take the liquer. On the last night of the cruise they bring all the booze back to your room. One of the three times I was asked to report my liquer, I just walked by torward the elevators, and went upstairs. Nothing was said. The next two times, and I was asked to come back, while trying to go directly to the stairs. At that point I reached into my backpack and only took out 1 of the 3 bottles I had in my bag. (The customs Officals do not tell the people taking the liquer how many bottles are in your bag, they just alert them.) As I gave the one bottle to the lady she recorded my liquer, and I was on my way. I repeated this another time, with no problem.
While on the ship I found it easy to conseal the drinks in any type of soda bottle. It is a good thing to scope out where you will begin your day/night of drinking. Usually the best bar to hang at is the casino bar at midship. There is alot of foot traffic, and plenty of people watching. On the first night try to make a connection with one bartender that said bar. What works for me is buyig a few drinks with your sail card, and then asking he/she for a glass of ice, (where I will pour my own drink from my soda bottle.) In turn I will tip them a few bucks in cash. As the night/trip progresses you continue to do this, its great when you want to give someone else a drink. The bartender is estatic about the cash, and your drinks are half the price. By the third night on my last cruise I was asking him for 5 plus shot glasses at a time,throwing him 10 bucks and pouring Sambuka for all my freinds at the bar myself. It is a wonderful way to meet total strangers.
If you have any questions, or want finer details please contact me.
HI
Well I also was able to get liqour on board 3 of the 4 times i was ashore. I was aksed to take it out once and didnlt actually hear them or kno what they wanted until I wa sin the elevator and a lady told me they were asking me to take the liqour to the deask LOL ooopps
BUT in San Juan, when your lined up to go thru security to get on the ship, there was a duty free shop right by the XRAY machine lineup and the clerk told me just out it in your bag or hand bag or carry on and nothing will happen, SHe was right, i had 2 40 oz bottles and they went right thru. ??????
Maybe the cruise lines have an agreement with the SAN JUAN liqour control board?? to let people take it thru in SAn JUan???
Beer would be harder, but i suggest that you put 12 cans in your luggage in San Juan or where ever your going from, and wrap the cans in socks, or something to keep the clinking noise down.
Give it a try and see, let us know how you make out with this venture
Geenie
I really would like to bring a plastic "traveler" 750ml of Captain Morgan on the boat. If I have it in my checked luggage, what is the probability of it being taken from me?
I gues the best way to do it, would be plastic, and if it gets taken it gets taken, but in San Juan, it was weird because the people in the duty free said take it in your carry on and they won't take it, AND they didn't ???
go figure
anyway best of luck and keep us posted
I drink red wine. The information says you can bring on "special" bottles and they charge you a corkage fee at dinner. Can you just keep the bottles in your room or do they take them and then give them back when you ask at dinner?
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