The Best Way To Smuggle Liquor Onto A Cruise Ship

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When people go on cruises, many of them plan to drink alcohol. Some may even plan to drink a lot of alcohol ;-). Thing is, drinks on cruises can start to add up, even with a drink package. So some more experienced cruisers look into unscrupulous ways to bring alcohol from home with them onto the cruise ship.

I use the word “unscrupulous” because not all cruise lines allow you to bring alcohol on board with you, and those that do place strict limits on them.

Here’s what each of the top-selling cruise lines allows (click on their respective links for more detail):

• Carnival – “Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board with the following exception – at the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day only, guests (21 years of age and older) may bring one 750 ml bottle of sealed/unopened wine or champagne, per person, in their carry-on luggage. Outside this exception, all liquor, beer, other forms of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited in both carry-on and checked luggage and such items will be confiscated and discarded and no compensation will be provided.”
• Celebrity – “Guests are not permitted to bring alcoholic beverages onboard; with the exception of embarkation day when each guest is permitted to bring onboard with them up to two (2) bottles of wine (which are subject to a corkage fee) per guest.”
• Costa – No alcohol can be brought on the ship during embarkation.
• Disney – “Disney Cruise Line Guests 21 years and older may bring a maximum of 2 bottles of unopened wine or champagne (no larger than 750 ml) or 6 beers (no larger than 12 ounces) on board at the beginning of the voyage and at each port of call. These beverages must be packed in carry-on (not checked) bags or luggage.”
• Holland America – “Guests may bring Wine and Champagne onboard, however a corkage fee of USD $20.00 (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to each bottle (max 750 ml in volume or less). Limitations apply. Wine brought in quantities deemed to be excessive by the vessel or security will be refused.”
• MSC – No alcohol can be brought on the ship during embarkation.
• Norwegian – “Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes…”
• Princess – “As provided in the Passage Contract, guests agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind on board for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles are welcome, but will incur a $15 corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Liquor, spirits or beers are not permitted.”
• Royal Caribbean – “On boarding day, guests may bring onboard two (2) 750 ml bottles of personal wine or champagne per stateroom in their carry-on luggage. If more than two bottles of wine or champagne are brought onboard, including any alcoholic beverages purchased in ports-of-call or in our onboard shops, they will be stored by the ship and delivered to your stateroom on your last day onboard.”
• Virgin Voyages – Guests are allowed to bring two 750ml bottles of wine per cabin. You can’t bring any other alcohol such as beer or spirits, and the wine must be in your carry-on bag, not in your checked luggage.

There are, obviously, other cruise lines out there, some luxury and specialty, some that cater to clientele beyond those in the U.S. Search ALCOHOL POLICY “Name Of Cruise Line” for their respective specifics.

Anyway, again, there are some cruisers who try to bend the rules, get around them, call it what you wish. Joe and I, by the way, are not those people; we tend to be “goody goody two shoes” rule followers. But we know there are those who think rules are made to be broken, or that rules don’t apply to them. Well, for THOSE PEOPLE, someone has made a tutorial with step-by-step directions on how to take an ordinary bottle of red wine and turn it into an illicit bottle of liquor. And done in such a way that inspectors will supposedly be none the wiser. Operative word, “supposedly.”

The way he gets the cork out is genius, BTW.

Joe and I DO NOT CONDONE THIS ACTIVITY. But with the video getting 1.5 million views in 5 years, I’m guessing it might’ve worked for some people, y’know what I’m sayin’?

Feature Image: pxhere

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary