How to Sneak Booze Onto a Cruise Ship
Trying to sneak some alcohol onto a cruise ship? I don’t blame you – drinks on cruise ships are very expensive! Sneaking liquor onto a cruise ship can be a bit tricky, especially for first–time cruisers or anyone that has never tried it before. The cruise lines all state what their alcohol policies are and warn you that if they find anything else, it will be confiscated. In reality, not everyone gets searched – my girlfriend and I walked onboard our last cruise without anyone bothering to look through our carry–ons, and we could have easily snuck more liquor on, but other people we spoke to weren’t so lucky and got a thorough searching and all of their prohibited alcohol taken away. Based on my personal experience, as well as the experience of other cruisers I have spoken to, here is my best advice for anyone thinking of sneaking extra booze onto a ship.
1.Sneak on booze you’re willing to lose_ the worst that will happen is that they take it and not give it back, so don’t bring your fanciest, most expensive type of liquor. Leave the bottles of 21-year-old scotch at home, and opt for cheaper liquor that won’t upset you terribly if it gets confiscated.
2.Check what you are allowed to bring on the cruise ship’s website. For instance with Carnival, you can bring two 750 ml bottles of wine, plus 12 non–alcoholic drinks 20 ounces in size or less.
3.Figure out what container or bottle you are going to funnel your liquor into. This is very important, as you don’t want to bring it in something super obvious, but you don’t want something that will spill or leak either.
4.Split the extra alcohol upon each bag you’re bringing – both your carry–on and your checked bag. That way if they check your carry–on, your checked bag might still be okay, and vice versa. Minimize your risk by spreading the liquor across different bags.
The real trick is figuring out what kind of container you’re going to sneak the booze in. My girlfriend and I tried shampoo bottles – bad idea! The vodka we snuck on smelled & tasted like shampoo, despite our best efforts of washing the bottles out in scalding hot water multiple times. Plastic bottles, especially ones that housed cleaning chemicals or hygiene products, will be difficult to rid of the previous liquids stored in them. Instead, avoid plastics or anything that previously contained something you wouldn’t want to eat or drink, such as shampoo, and opt for these instead:
Rum Runner flasks –
they’re stealthy and you can hide them just about anywhere, and they won’t change the taste of your liquor at all. They’re also very safe to travel with and won’t spill or leak. I’ve found the kit to the right to be great for a variety of purposes. The only downside to this one is that if your luggage does get searched, they will know what these are and are likely to take them (and return them at the end of your cruise), but assuming your luggage doesn’t get searched (or if you put this in your carry on) then this is a cheap & safe way to bring liquor onboard without risking it spilling or making noise, and you can cram them in just about any pocket or inside of something so they’re harder to find if your bags get searched but not searched very thoroughly.
The Booze Belly –
This item was suggested by readers and is a great idea! You sneak all of the booze on your person, so even if your luggage gets inspected, you still won’t lose your booze. Obviously, it isn’t something I’d want to wear all day long, but generally, you’ll only wait in line for 30 minutes to an hour to get on board the cruise ship, so it’s a relatively short amount of time that you’ll actually need to wear it. You can even pour drinks directly out of the Booze Belly while you’re wearing it (it looks a little funny), although I’d recommend doing this somewhere privately (like a bathroom) so as to not arouse suspicion or tip-off any cruise employees that you have a concealed flask you’re hiding.
