Alcohol inspections at port

[JonMcIntosh]

I found this older thread with this crazy story from @kiapepito:
"The other thing that started the trip off on a bad note was when we went through security to get on the boat and was told that we would have to take out our alcohol to be inspected. We brought two bottles of Port and two bottles of Sherry.... both wines... the inspector managed to pop open the bottle of Sherry, sniffed it and told us that it smelled like alcohol... "umm... duh... it's wine..." long story short, she took it over to another person that informed that sherry is wine and so we got to keep the other bottle.. HOWEVER... the bottle she opened, she tossed it in the trash telling us that it was an open container and she would have to throw it out.. my husband was LIVID.... to say the least... I was told to talk to Guest Services and was told that they were having many complaints regarding Port of Galveston inspections and that they would speak to their supervisors again. Two days later, we had a nice gift basket in our room with popcorn, soda, and Mickey rice crispy bars."

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? What has been your experience with "alcohol inspectors" at ports recently?

Thanks!

 

[happycamper47]

Last 5 cruises no one even had us open our carry-on and one was San Diego.

 

[JonMcIntosh]

Last 5 cruises no one even had us open our carry-on and one was San Diego.

Thank you. Did you have wine in your carry-on?

 

[happycamper47]

Thank you. Did you have wine in your carry-on?

Yep two bottles each, also in June our 2 kids and spouses also had beer and wine and nobody even looked.

 

[JonMcIntosh]

Yep two bottles each, also in June our 2 kids and spouses also had beer and wine and nobody even looked.

Got it. Thank you.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

Wow, Thats nuts.

We've never had issues at the ports with DCL. (Sailed out of Canaveral, Miami, Copenhagen and San Juan) The ones at Canaveral can't count. We had 4 adults and 8 bottles of wine and when it went through the scanner he goes "They have 6 bottles of wine."

Just a note, sounds like that is not DCL but the security at the port.

 

[minniemouse1]

My question is that my husbands beer of choice is a craft beer that only comes in 16oz cans. The policy says 12oz cans. Is this going to be an issue?

 

[pjacobi]

Sherry and Port are fortified wines. Grape juice is allowed to ferment to a certain point, then additional alcohol is added from another source that kills the yeast and stops the fermentation. Because of the incomplete fermentation, the wine remains sweet.


-Paul

 

[RedHead0186]

Both sherry and port are fortified, so although they are classified as wine they do have liquor in them. I could see that being a gray area. HOWEVER, regardless of that I think it's highly inappropriate for a security officer to open a bottle and sniff it, especially since it was then considered an open container and had to be throw out. That's terrible.

 

[closetmickey]

So I read somewhere that seltzers (our favorite is High Noon) are considered similar to beer now and allowed onboard. Is that correct?? Would be great news if so.

 

[koala1966]

I can't even begin to imagine why they would open a sealed bottle of wine when they could look at the label. We only had issues once, back when Disney first started sailing out of Miami, and they made us remove all wine and beer from carry on so they could count and match up with travelers in our party to make sure we had the right amount. We literally had to set each grouping of beer or wine next to the person claiming it for them to know we had the right amount. Math was on break that day. It was a pain, but last few times in Miami its been normal, no unpacking necessary.

 

[closetmickey]

Seems my post disappeared so I apologize if this is a duplicate…
I read on another chain that security is treating seltzers the same as beer- thus allowing them to be brought onboard. Is this true? Would love to bring a few High Noons!

 

[lanejudy]

Seems my post disappeared so I apologize if this is a duplicate…
I read on another chain that security is treating seltzers the same as beer- thus allowing them to be brought onboard. Is this true? Would love to bring a few High Noons!

I think it can depend on the security personnel and how tightly they stick to the stated rules. Some simply count 6 bottles/cans while others pay closer attention to contents.

 

[DCLMP]

I have found security at MCO and Miami don't pay attention at all. I'd say more, but I won't.