To smuggle alcohol, that is the question

[Arroz con Panther]

Going on a cruise in a week. I've been on a few before and have been successful smuggling alcohol on the ship. The last one I went on was, I think, 5 years ago and, while we were able to smuggle alcohol on board, we never drank any of it because we were always on the top deck having a good time and didn't want to go down to our room to get more alcohol. Needless to say, my bill at the end of the cruise was ridiculous.

Now, the difference between that one and the cruise I'm going on next week is that we had two or three days at sea whereas this time around we're stopping at port the first two days and only one day at sea. So, I'm thinking my bill won't be as high because we'll have things to do during the day instead of just day drinking. Buuuttt...the cruise is for a bachelor party, so I don't know.

What does the huddle say? Should I make an attempt to smuggle or is it not worth the hassle? A lot of people online are saying that they've gotten stricter over the past two years, but the only thing they'll do is confiscate your booze.

[Fryfan]

Go for it - but do it right:

[Mother Grabber]

is that tortilla soup? yum!

[cookinwithgas]

I just put vodka in one of our water bottles and rum in another. You can bring your own bottled water on board (at least you could a few years ago when we went). We didn't drink it all; like you it was a PITA most of the time to have to head down to the cabin for a refill.

[Fryfan]

37 minutes ago, Mother Grabber said:

is that tortilla soup? yum!

Chili

[Arroz con Panther]

1 hour ago, cookinwithgas said:

I just put vodka in one of our water bottles and rum in another. You can bring your own bottled water on board (at least you could a few years ago when we went). We didn't drink it all; like you it was a PITA most of the time to have to head down to the cabin for a refill.

Yea, you're not allowed to bring water on with you anymore (they started catching on). You can order a 6 or 12 pack for like $2.50 if you really want it. Damn smugglers!

[cookinwithgas]

Sorry we ruined it for everyone else lol

[SOJA]

The way I've heard of people brining alcohol on a cruise is filling up a wine bottle with vodka then re-sealing it. But one bottle of vodka isn't going to last me a whole cruise. 

Is there an alcohol package where you don't have to buy individual drinks you just spend x per day?

Personally, I think I would drink enough to justify the drinking package but it's all up to how much you drink vs. how much you want to spend. If this is a bachelors party I would just buy the alcohol package and have a good time, again that's me and frugality is not my strong suit. 

On the flip side, worst comes to worst they confiscate it and now you just have to buy the alcohol package. 

[blackcat]

Haven't been on a cruise in a long time, but every time my parents go, they get the drink package, which is basically an all you can drink fest, with some limitations on expensive wines and liquors.

[Arroz con Panther]

1 hour ago, SOJA said:

The way I've heard of people brining alcohol on a cruise is filling up a wine bottle with vodka then re-sealing it. But one bottle of vodka isn't going to last me a whole cruise. 

Is there an alcohol package where you don't have to buy individual drinks you just spend x per day?

Personally, I think I would drink enough to justify the drinking package but it's all up to how much you drink vs. how much you want to spend. If this is a bachelors party I would just buy the alcohol package and have a good time, again that's me and frugality is not my strong suit. 

On the flip side, worst comes to worst they confiscate it and now you just have to buy the alcohol package. 

The only problem with drink packages is that they have limits. For instance, on Carnival you have a 15 drink limit and that's it, you're cut off. If you don't buy the drink package, they won't cut you off (until you're falling out of your chair, at least.) Now, I know this is going to make me sound like an alcoholic, but there's reasons why this is a problem.

1) Everyone in your room has to purchase the drink package if one person orders it

2) Over a 12-hour+ drinking period, 15 is easily doable.

3) A cocktail counts as a drink. If I make it a double, it counts as two drinks. If I order a bucket of beer, that counts as 4-5 drinks (however many beers there are in the bucket. See #2.

4) I know at some point, I'm going to be standing at a bar with two friends and I'll offer to buy the round. Well, that's 3 drinks towards my 15 total.

So, yea I don't think a drink package is doable...at least not for a bachelor party, but it was a good suggestion. If I was going with family or something, then I could see the upside.

 

[Arroz con Panther]

Oh, I had a dream last night about going through cruise security. They caught everything I had in my luggage. For some reason, I had a toy gun (equipped with the orange cap and all.) They saw the pint bottles of rum in my shoes (they even sniffed the shoes and told me they smelled bad). And for some reason, I was the only one going through security. They were sort of in disbelief of how bad I had been at trying to hide things. I woke up when they let me through, but the last words they said were, "Ready for the worst part?"

I think I should take that as a sign haha

[SOJA]

23 minutes ago, Arroz con Panther said:

The only problem with drink packages is that they have limits. For instance, on Carnival you have a 15 drink limit and that's it, you're cut off. If you don't buy the drink package, they won't cut you off (until you're falling out of your chair, at least.) Now, I know this is going to make me sound like an alcoholic, but there's reasons why this is a problem.

1) Everyone in your room has to purchase the drink package if one person orders it

2) Over a 12-hour+ drinking period, 15 is easily doable.

3) A cocktail counts as a drink. If I make it a double, it counts as two drinks. If I order a bucket of beer, that counts as 4-5 drinks (however many beers there are in the bucket. See #2.

4) I know at some point, I'm going to be standing at a bar with two friends and I'll offer to buy the round. Well, that's 3 drinks towards my 15 total.

So, yea I don't think a drink package is doable...at least not for a bachelor party, but it was a good suggestion. If I was going with family or something, then I could see the upside.

 

That is absolutely ridiculous they have a 15 drink limit, I fully agree with you that's not enough for me. 

I want to thank you for warning me about that. My next vacation like that I'm just going to go to an all inclusive resort place. 

[Johnny Rockets]

I've never heard of a bachelor party on a cruise. What made them (or is it yours) choose that over a destination type bachelor party to Mexico or Vegas? Not saying it's a bad idea and I'm sure it would be fun, just never would have thought of that for a group of guys on a bachelor party extended weekend.  

Good luck on the alcohol thing. It's been awhile since I went on a cruise and it was easy to sneak it in but like you said, I hear things have changed. 

[Fryfan]

58 minutes ago, SOJA said:

2) Over a 12-hour+ drinking period, 15 is easily doable.

Yeah if you are planning to have a soft buzz going for all day 15 drinks will blow through pretty quickly.

 

But dont the allow you to purchase bottles of wine and stuff at discounts with the program?  Plus you get powerade, energy drinks, bottled water, etc... which are useful for multi day drinking sessions.  It seem like its worth doing the drink package and then supplementing with buying.