LMAO That's pretty awesome though. I'd have to take a shit ton of pictures on a cruise. It's not like I'd remember any of it. :D Well, the Med cruise I wouldn't drink a ton on. I'd want to remember that one.

Your drink tastes better when you know it's the finest drink on the face of the earth. ;)

I think it's handled the same as in airports. Maybe just random checks. They do check the soda you can bring on board. They slightly open your 12pks. There were quite a few that had carefully opened them and stuck beers or limearitas inside. It was quite a pile at the soda check in table...lol.

Just went on my first one this year. Went to Atlantis...incredible but not enough time at Atlantis. It was a 7 day cruise, enjoyed the time at sea, but it got a little long on the specific boat we were on and the other two stops were a little boring. Next cruise, I will do 5 days out of Florida with a 2-day stay at Atlantis where I will rent a room to get full access to the Park for much cheaper than my $700 one day with a family of six. Atlantis is one of the most awesome places on earth, but I would advise going in the winter or offseason, much cheaper, less crowd at the stops. Also, the excursions (Carnival at least) are more expensive than you can work out on your own. Have fun!

I figure it's a no brainer to try to get a bottle or two on board. If they catch it, I get it back anyway. I've found that a 750ml bottle can fit inside a shoe.


I can only speak for Carnival, but

Copied from their liquor and beverage policy:
http://www.carnival.com/core/faq.aspx?faq=liquor
All alcohol/hard liquor/beer (sealed, unopened bottles/cans), wine/champagne over the allowable 1-bottle per guest (sealed, unopened bottles) or excessive quantities of non-alcoholic beverages (over 12 per person, sealed, unopened bottles/cans) will be confiscated and stored for safekeeping until the end of the voyage. The retained item(s) will be available for collection onboard in a designated location on the morning of debarkation. Unsealed liquids that are prohibited will be discarded, as well as any unclaimed items left after the voyage, and no compensation will be given in either case.

went to bahamas on carnival boats, not my idea of fun, only thing to do was gamble no shows except to buy jewlery, aint happening ! food was good, bahamas was just ok, kinda boring, even took a jeep tour kinda lame. best part of trip was going to the kennedy space center in florida, best day of the trip by far.

As far as them catching it, it's hit and miss, but I suspect more gets through than doesn't.
You figure that from the time a ship pulls into port (8:30 am give or take normally) until they take off again (4pm ish) they have to not only unload thousands of bags, but also scan and load a few thousand more. There's no way in hell they're going to catch it all.

You went on the crappiest kind of cruise: short trip to the Bahamas.

I've been thinking about just skipping the cruise and JUST going to Atlantis. It looks like a lot of fun for a family...

To clarify, you may only bring aboard 1 bottle of wine (not liquor or beer) per guest over the age of 21.

You can do better. The Bahamas are pretty lame.

I have two pre-teen kids. Pretty much every family vacation destination is lame.

The kids want to go to Hawaii, FWIW.

This thread has way too much emphasis on sneaking in alcohol and not enough on cruises.

I'm not a drinker, so I have to ask. I thought half the fun of drinking is going down to the bar and hanging out and meeting people and getting in drunken fights where you hit people with chairs and throw them through windows. If you're sneaking liquor on board, don't you miss out on all that fun?

No. You get happy for less in your stateroom then, already happy, travel to the bar, get happier and meet people.

I've done everything from the 7-10 day Caribbean trips to the 21 day Mediterranean/Middle East cruises, and the biggest lesson I've learned is to avoid the ship sponsored excursions at all costs. They absolutely bend you over with their pricing. I go out on my own. (this may present some safety issues depending on where you go and how comfortable you are with the idea) Hire local taxis to take you where you want to go. Hire private boats to take you outside the congested reefs that all the ships bring people to. Research ports online at places like cruisecritic .com. You can usually find others on your same cruise looking to hook up with small groups for the tourist spots. The advantages are usually a much more reasonable price, local knowledge and info from your guide and a more relaxed time compared to the ships excursions where they load up 40 or more of you on a bus and haul you around like sheep. It can also greatly open up the opportunities available to you. On one trip to Cozumel, we weren't super excited by the typical local excursions, so we pre-arranged to get a flight at the local airport to take us inland to go to Chichen Itza. Figuring it may be the only time I'd ever be in the area, it was well worth the extra $ and planning to see such an amazing site as opposed to a 4 hour snorkeling trip that pretty much everyone else on our ship did.

Also be prepared to haggle. It's accepted practice to negotiate taxi fares, tourist items at shops etc...

Know what type of vacation cruise you really want. Personally, I hate the days at sea. I'm not much for lounging on my balcony or at the pool for hours or days at a time. I'd prefer my vacation being spent doing something. Others though love the days at sea and the ability to mingle and do nothing. Pick your cruise accordingly.

Time of year, length of trip and the cruise line you choose all impact the type of people you'll find on your ship. A cheaper cruise line such as Carnival will usually give you more of a younger group. Lots of families and that typically means kids running around the ship and being loud. Whereas companys like Princess, Celebrity or Oceania are genarally more expensive and tend to be an older bunch.

Longer cruises also tend to raise the average age. My first cruise was as a 21 yr old with my parents on a 10 day Southern Caribbean on Princess. Most of my shipmates were about 60 plus. While I had an amazing time, I missed having the younger crowd that I was expecting in the night clubs and social events. Typically the shorter cruise length finds more people in the younger age brackets either due to financial means or ability to have time off from jobs or school.

Time of year can have an effect on whether or not kids are out of school, hence more families on board. Also the weather comes into play.

Cruising is a great get away. Just research where you want to go, what you want to do and the type of atmosphere you're looking for. And as others have mentioned, prepare accordingly for all the additional monies you'll spend on top of the cruise price and airfare. To an extent you're nickle an dimed the entire way' but you can have some control over that with proper planning.