what do you try to take on the ship?

[schatje]

We decided to stop in FLL before boarding to buy wine this time. DH was buying a glass every evening during dinner so I told him that he might want to sip a glass while we are dressing.

[shebert]

Questions???

I see that alot of you bring wine on board. Do you turn it in before you board and pay the corkage fee or do you pack it in your suitcase? I'm leaving on Monday and bought some bottles of wine to take - I was planning on turning it in. But I would really like to have a glass or two getting ready in my room.

If you pack it...where? In your carry-on or big suitcases?

One more thing...exactly how many bottles of wine do you take :grin: ?

She

[Joanandjoe]

You'll definitely want to buy wine in Europe, even if you don't bring it onboard. On our Med. cruise, we bough so much wine that we never tried the ship's wine on a two week cruise, and brought some bottles home.

Normally we don't start a trip with any wine (unless there's a special occasion), but by some in ports if we're in wine country. Ditto soda: we don't start with any, but often buy some if there's interesting local diet soda (such as ginger beer in Bermuda). Otherwise, we're happy with the ship's water (we bring plastic water bottles), iced tea, wine, and an occasional soda. (Joe drinks so little soda that he didn't have any on Radisson, even though it was free.)

Bring booze onboard? Not any more! A few years ago, when the cruise line alcohol policies were a bit more relaxed, we occasionally bought local spirits; but not with the new, nastier policy of confiscating the stuff.

[rogue]

We bring water with us, but I think that, on our next cruise, we'll bring some wine. With a balcony that we always have, I would like to have some wine. :grin:

[JohnG]

When we bring wine aboard we have done it openly, as the cruiseline policy, except NCL, will let you bring wine aboard, at least when you board the first time. You can carry it in a box under your arm, or, as we do, we have packed a case of wine in the kind of case cartons wineries use for UPS or FEDEx shipping....heavier boxes with protective packing. I have shipped those cases on airplanes and checked them in with me checked luggage at the pier. It shows up in my cabin. The boxes are not outwardly marked "wine".

If you consume it in your cabin, you don't pay corkage. If you take it to the dining room to consume it, they charge the corkage.....sometimes....not every ship, every night. I remember, on a Celebrity ship for a 10 day cruise, we told the wine steward the first night that we would be bringing wine each night, and tipped him $10 the first night. The only night we were charged corkage was on his night off when another steward worked our table. The last night we gave the steward a very healthy gratuity.