Bringing Bottled Water or Sodas on RCCL....is it allowed?

cherokeemamma

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 16, 2005
Just curious if I can bring a case of water or a 12 pack of soda onboard the RCCL Brilliance of the Sea? If it is allowed what is the best way to do it?
Thank you! :)
 
Bottled water is technically not allowed. They are generally lenient on this though. But be prepared to show that your bottles are sealed during the security check.

The fizzy stuff they’re not nearly as lenient on.
 
the only thing you are technically allowed to bring aboard are wine or beer for personal consumption. According to RCL you can't even embark with souvenir booze you purchased prior to embarkation, since any bottles seized during embarkation will not be returned. However they did allow friends to bring aboard a souvenir bottle (it was confiscated and given back at the end of the cruise).
 


the only thing you are technically allowed to bring aboard are wine or beer for personal consumption. According to RCL you can't even embark with souvenir booze you purchased prior to embarkation, since any bottles seized during embarkation will not be returned. However they did allow friends to bring aboard a souvenir bottle (it was confiscated and given back at the end of the cruise).

Only 2 bottles of wine per stateroom is allowed, not beer. Depending on where you consume the wine a corkage fee may be charged.

Any other alcohol that is brought on board, whether at embarkation or at a port of call will be taken and returned to your state room on the last night of the cruise.
 
Yeah that happened to my brother when he brought a 6 pack on board last year. When we got it back we iced it down as much as we could and drank it - no point bringing it onto a plane.
 
Technically it is not allowed by the T&C of royal but they usually allow water. I have brought a case of bottled water on board a few times. I put it in a duffle bag and give it to the porter. I have seen people walk on with a case of water in their hands through the terminal also.
 


It is correct that you are technically not allowed to bring water, but embarking in Bayonne I put a case of water in one of those canvas-like grocery bags (they like having a handle to carry it with) and taped one of those printable RCCL luggage tags on it and it was delivered to our stateroom. I figured worst case I'd never see the water or the bag, which would set me back a total of about $5, so it was worth the risk.
 
Can I bring a bottle of water back onto the ship after a day of sightseeing?
 
I can’t remember if they’ll allow the plastic bottles, but they’ve never had an issue with my Contigo.
 
We packed 4 bottles of water in our 2 checked bags. No issues. Also brought with us a bunch of those single serve lemonade/punch/ice tea packs for refills of the bottles. The cabin fridge kept everything cold. That and the fact the "freestyle" soda machines will dispense ice into any container. We were just fine. There were just two of us, Anthem to Bermuda.
 
I drink so little pop these days that I’d actually never tried using a freestyle machine until last year, and had no idea that the machines on Harmony would dispense ice for anyone until about day 4.
 
By rule, neither water nor soda is allowed to be brought on board. However, that rule is often ignored. I would put water & soda in a duffel bag. More than likely, you'll be asked to go to the naughty room. Worst case, they take the water/soda from you. Best case, you take the drinks from the naughty room to your cabin.
 
Do they have sparkling water? I do love my La Croix. I gave up soda 4 years ago but I love my fizzy water.
 
We just got off the Allure and simply tape on a luggage tag (the one with floor and cabin #) onto the case of Spring water and it arrived at our room when the rest of our luggage did. No problems at all. Piece of cake.

That was the only good thing about the cruise. It will be our last RCCL. We are clearly Disney snobs now, there is no turning back.
 
That was the only good thing about the cruise. It will be our last RCCL. We are clearly Disney snobs now, there is no turning back.
Lol.

I’m sure the cruise was fine. But sometimes you discover that a cruise line is “not for you” and I’m guessing that was the case here.
 
There were several issues that were jaw dropping kind of things. Just an overall bad experience. AC didn't work in stateroom all week, even after maintenance was called twice to fix it, extremely rude people, 30 mins to get eggs to order at wipeout cafe, 25 mins for waiter to clear dishes between main course and desert in the Grande Dining room, needing cash on Labadee to tip people who set up our chairs (As we know, Castaway is completely cashless and Disney even states, don't bring cash off the ship that day), smokers not smoking in designated smoking areas, and the icing on the cake was having to carry 6 soaking wet towels all the way from Columbus Cove on Labadee back on to the ship and through security until there was finally someone there to collect them and scan my card so they knew I returned them. Disney has multiple places on Castaway so the guests don't need to lug the soaking wet towels back to the ship, also you don't need to wait in line to "check out" towels on board. Also, while on Labadee we watched another cruise guest find a syringe (with a 3+inch needle) in the water at Barefoot beach, they showed it to a RCCL employee and the employee didn't even seem to care. I'll be danged if I'd ever swim there again, just so gross. Plus a fee for after 10pm in the Adventure Ocean, where Disney is free. Plus, there was always a wait to just get into the Windjammer, insanity!! We did do a meal at 150 Central Park and it was on par with a regular dining room meal on a Disney ship. Aside from that the main dining room meals were very lackluster, often times the food wasn't even warm, truly disappointing. There was a time, on RCCL where you didn't need to pay "extra" to get a great meal, that time has passed. But it can still be found on DCL. Even the soda "package" is a rip off, considering the average line for the coke freestyle machines is 8-10 people deep constantly. Soda on DCL is included in your cruise price. I could go on, but i'm getting a headache.

Please keep in mind this cruise was right after 3 nights at Beach Club Villas, and a night at Disney's Vero Beach. So, that may play a part. Either way, my money is to valuable to my family and I to "settle", when I know there is something so much better out there (DCL). I found that the way that RCCL nickles and dimes you on things Disney don't closes the gap in price as well, then when you throw in the difference in service provided, Disney wins by a long-shot.

We honeymooned on the Mariner in 2006 and it was incredible, then did a 20+person family cruise on the Jewel in 2009 and it was excellent. I just think the RCCL service has really went down hill with the massive # of ships and crew that they need to hire to fill these ships. But, that's just my opinion.

I will say this, the ship was the nicest ship I've ever been on, we ziplined, did the rock climbing wall, and even ice skated. The aqua show was awesome, but Blue Planet, half the lights on the globe didn't even work. The casino is nice, but we don't need it. I love the Buena Vista Theater on DCL and it's much cheaper (free) than a casino. I'd still prefer a cruise on the Magic any day. That's why we are sailing on it twice in 2019.

But it's all worth it, cause you can get a case of Spring Water on lol. It was actually really exciting to see our case of water showed up with our luggage.

Have a magical day. But, then again, how bad can a cruise really be. I can tell you, it was sure better than being at work. :earsboy:
 
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Wow, that borders on a sitcom-level “wacky stack” of mishaps. The kind of story where someone (like, say, me) says "it couldn't be that bad" and you say "hold my beer". I feel bad for you.

Some thoughts:
Food, as we know, is subjective (I found the DCL food to be simply ok), and there's no point in debating about that. Time to get food is not, and 30 min for eggs is nuts. Especially at Wipeout, where in my experience not a lot of people go to.

The smoking thing makes sense (not in a good way) since you mentioned extremely rude people. Not saying the two are directly related, but I'm pretty sure that if there was a Venn diagram of rude cruisers and don't give a **** smokers, the overlap area would be large. The one that really eats me is when people smoke near the kids areas. Or on balconies (which to be fair, has happened on both RCI and DCL for me).

The cash on Labadee is a weird thing. They allow local vendors to set up shop there and the people that set chairs up for you are also locals, hence the need for cash. It would be nice if RCI would actually mention that, or that you can get the chairs themselves.

And I agree about the towels. The check in/out thing is not a big deal as far as I'm concerned, but there should be a check in spot near Columbus Cove.

The syringe is just... yikes! Don't know why that didn't freak out the employee.

Never found that I had to wait on Windjammer, whereas Cabanas was always a nuthouse for me. Mind you, WJ was still always busy and after Cabanas I tried to avoid buffets so didn't frequent WJ on Harmony more than 3 times.

TBH, all the drink packages are a rip off, unless you can comfortably handle 6-7 alcoholic drinks every day. For me, I can't do it. Maybe 1 day out of 7, but 7 straight days? Nope. And given the cost of carbonated water and syrup, I can only imagine what RCI is making off of their soda package. But since I try and avoid the fizzy stuff, and like drip coffee (with exceptions), I don't get any extra value out of DCL's bundled in drink package either.

I am on Allure in a couple of weeks. Western, so no Labadee, but I'll definitely be keeping your observations in mind as I'm on the ship. Forewarned is forearmed.

Out of curiousity, what was your cabin number? And did you do fixed or My Time?
 
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Cabin was 10725 (boardwalk interior balcony - awesome view of the aqua theater), but I heard of others having the same problem with their AC. We did early seating (fixed).

You'll love the ship, it's really nice. Waiting for elevators get's old, then when those waiting the least amount of time, run in, in front of you, it will help you see the "rude people" comment better. There is such a thing as elevator etiquette. I guess some just play dumb, or their parents never taught them any manners.

I'd prefer a smaller ship with less passengers any day of the week. Too crowded and too much chaos.

Have a magical day,
Brad
 
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I’ve been on Allure twice before, actually. Harmony once. I know what you’re talking about with the elevators - some folks don’t have common courtesy when it comes to them. You’d think that on a cruise you’d have the most motivation to not rush, but sometimes it’s the opposite.

It does give me proper motivation to take the stairs, but my dad has bad knees and can’t so one of us always stays with him to ensure he gets into an elevator.

I have early fixed as well. Last time my family (currently sitting a 13 over 3 generations) got split over 2 tables and different servers. Our server (“Teo”) was exceptional while the other was very indifferent. Hoping we get just the one table this time around.

We have 12-something with Central Park view. Not as good a view as boardwalk or outside, but it should be nice.
 

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