I'm going on a cruise in August with 4 friends and we all agree that it would be infinitely more enjoyable if we could bring our own alcohol on board (we are all over 21). The literature provided says that "intoxicating beverages of any kind are not permitted" in luggage. We don't really feel like dropping lots of phat ca$h at the bar if we can help it.

I've never been on a cruise before; how do they usually check bags? How difficult would it be to provide our own amusement?

We're going with Norwegian Cruise Lines if that makes a difference to anyone.

EDIT: One other thing. I'm the only single one of the 5 of us that are going. The joke is that cruises are for "newlyweds and almost-deads". How true is that? What are my chances of finding unattached twentysomething women to dance/dinner/perhaps etc. with?

Check with your travel agent or company directly but on some cruises alcohol is included.

I went on a cruise a few years ago with my family. My parents did not want to pay an arm and a leg for a drink, so they snook their own liquor on board the ship.


If your cruise is not all inclusive, you can try to sneak your own alcohol on board. I think the worst thing that they might do is confiscate it if they catch you. However, if you got it on board you'd have to limit your drinking to your state room.


As for the single twentysomething women, you will not have a problem finding any on the ship. I don't know how big your cruise ship is, some range in capacity from a few hundered to a couple of thousand, so your odds are pretty good. You also have to remember that in addition to the passengers, there are approximately an equal number of staff and crew on board.

Well, I'm not sure how it was a few years ago, but on Carnival cruises now, they're extremely paranoid. My family took a cruise to Mexico about a month ago. My cousin (of legal age) brought a gatorate bottle of vodka in his carry-on. They picked it up on the baggage screener before boarding the ship, opened his bags, smelled it, and threw it out. They're even more paranoid when you come back. In fact, they caught a group of hispanics with backpacks full of marijuana across the hall from us and dragged them out of their rooms kicking and screaming before they even tried to get through Customs. I assume they're just as careful with checked luggage, but I don't know for sure from experience.

And yes, unfortunately, the newlyweds and almost-deads thing was true on the cruise I went on. Most of the single girls I met.. well, would have been illegal. The few exceptions to that weren't worth pursuing in my opinion. If you're lucky you'll stumble upon a graduating class trip. Other than that, good luck!

It was 1999 when I went so I imagine things would be very different now. My parents were worried when we got back to Port Canaveral. They picked up some rum in the Bahamas and were worried about getting it taken away. The family just ahead of us was stopped by customs and was subject to a random search of their luggage.

You just have to smart and mix your booze with the type of liquid in the bottle to cover up the scent.

mouthwash bottle and food coloring.....or just get something nice like some bombay saphire

Dammit. Mixing Pepsi products and booze (in 2 liter bottles) was going to be our backup plan. But if they can smell it...

Well, I am a UMR graduate; having smuggled alcohol into TJ for four years, I should be able to come up with something.

Marijuana (any illegal drug, really) is out of the question. Getting kicked off a cruise ship for illegal drugs would probably cost me my security clearance, which would cost me my job. No good.

Double damn. Guess I'll just have to play the "wait and see" game. Hopefully Stumbles is right on this one.


You can bring 1 liter (or maybe it's a fifth, I dunno) of booze back to the States duty-free. Norwegian says that if you purchase booze in another country that they'll hold it "in a safe place" until the ship returns to the US port.


We're pretty sure alcohol isn't included. Some of the excursions do have an open bar, however.


Gin is quite possibly the nastiest liquor I've ever tasted. And I say this as someone who will drink Cuervo tequila straight from the bottle.

I'm sure it depends on which port you go from too. We left from Long Beach, where security in general was on high alert everywhere we went. The LA region realizes what a big potential target they are. That being said, I wish they'd concentrate on looking for bombs and guns instead of alcohol.

I know I'm going to be going to hawaii around januaryish, after my 21st. Parent's said that they'd cover everything except my bar tab. We're not going to be on a cruise. Anybody know the legality of just bringing alcohol on a plane?

Blue bols and sour apple puckers could also pass as mouthwash.....

http://www.americanairlines.com/content/customerService/baggage/restrictedArticles.jhtml
American Airlines doesn't list booze as something restricted to bring on the plane...

http://www.americanairlines.com/content/customerService/baggage/carryOnAllowance.jhtml
But then again they don't list it as an allowable carry-on either...

I think on most decent airlines if you're over 21 you can get some complimentary cocktails while you're in the air...and you can always get wrecked at the airport bar before takeoff...

First class get's a free drink, coach has to pay out of pocket on the flight. I don't know how keen they would be about booze in the carry-on. Bottles of pressurized or flammable liquids might make the security monkeys kind of nervous.

It depends on where you are going and what kind of stops you are making. I have been on cruises to the Bahamas (Disney) and Greece/Turkey. The Disney one was obviously bad about bringing that type of stuff on and they had x-rays machines like any airport. But they had duty-free liquor in Nassau, Bahamas and it was cheaper to buy it there. On the Greece/Turkey one, I met some kids from D.C. on the boat, and their parents brought a bunch of alcohol on the boat because they didn't really check the bags. The only problem was that is was a lot cheaper to buy it on the stops than to bring it. And we stayed up many nights till 4 am drinking and messing around. Plenty of women too.

Ok so i've been on a few cruises and have never known one that lets you bring alcohol onboard or has free alcohol. But i have known a few people to smuggle entire handles onboard. Basically it must be on your person, not in your bag. You need to have baggy clothes and just figure a way to make it work. You'll go through a metal detector before boarding so be advised. Your baggs are put through xray.

I went on a cruise to the bahamas a couple of years ago with my family and have to say that I would definatley not reccomend it to anyone. I would much prefer going to an all inclusive island/mexican resort. Sure they do water down the booze at all of these resorts and serve the most god awful liqour available, but it is plentiful and thats all that really matters when your on a vacation. Plus every cruise that I have every been on has been totally lame, such as kicking me out of the bar for not being 21 in international waters of all places. I thought they had an entire episode of the simpsons about doing whatever you want in international waters. Correct me if im wrong.