Answers by other Reviewers

Try Thomson they dont take your duty free. We all ways go to the local supermarket for booze and lemonade.

if you bye duty free at airport going out you must be going to non eu country cause you cant bye drink at edinburgh or glasgow if your going to palma

Hi, thanks for all your help on this matter, it looks like I'll be filling a LARGE bottle of water with bacardi. Its not really the price of drinks on board I'm worried about its just that it would be nice to have a drink on our balcony on my birthday!!!!

I'm stunned by this. We've cruised on various ships with several different companies and never had any problems. We've bought duty free at our departure airport and taken it on board in the carrier bags from the shops. We've also bought from local shops and duty frees and taken our purchases on board with no trouble at all. In fact at some ports the duty free shops have been recommended. We've also bought duty free on board and drunk it in our cabin without any problems.

hi mr lamont you say island escape is inclusive only if you get free upgrade to it or pay for it .does not come automatocly any way as they say ive never had my bags searched in all times been on ships for island .i think they may just do some at random

I didn't get mine searched, I took some Pernod I put it in a pop bottle. I cannot alway get Pernod, which is my favourite drink, that is why I took mine, You should be O.K

HI, never been on that particular ship, but all cruise ships aim to make most of their money from bar bills and organised trips, hence HUGE reductions on brochure prices. They do every thing they can to discourage you bringing booze on board. Every time you come back on board, they search your bags etc. Any booze is politely taken from you and returned to you at the end of the voyage. A trick we used was to buy a large bottle of water as we left the ship, buy CLEAR booze. eg Vodka. Baccardi, at a duty free and substitute it for the water. We additionally had collected a large number of miniature bottles and divided the booze, once on board, into these minis. That way. we could order one legit 'baccardi and coke etc and then top it up under the table for the rest of the night. The waitors knew what we were doing but turned a blind eye.

I was on Island Escape last year. They do check hand luggage quite often but if you put it in your suitcase you will be fine. I managed fine with a litre of whiskey.

As with most cruise lines alcahol is not permitted to be taken on board. Even if you purchase it whilst in a port it will be taken from you on return boarding and given back to you on disembarkation There is only one exception I have found and that was with Ocean Village.

yes, you will get searched when you come on board - my experience with Costa and I assume with every line, is that they do not allow you to bring alcohol on to the ship - the reason is pretty obvious Tom VIGAR

Hi there We went on the Island Escape in September 2003. As we had an early flight from Gatwick, we cheerfully set off for the local supermarket (Capbrabo - good shop) and came back on board with our bags clinking away. The staff didn't stop us, and it was only when we got to our cabins that we saw the notice about not bringing alcohol on board (this is incidentally standard practice for all the cruise lines). However, our Ukranian cabin steward just ignored it and kindly kept us supplied with ice for the duration of the cruise! Needless to say, she got a good tip. Enjoy the cruise - we had a fabulous time. Good, unpretentious ship, great staff, and wonderful salsa teacher called Ernesto!!!

We have been on the Star twice, and both time bags were searched and alchohol bought on land was taken and stored in the hold until the last night of the cruise.And yes, it was brought to the passengers and not given to the crew as was rumoured at the time. Enjoy the cruise.

As most cruise companies work on fairly tight profit margins, they protect these by ensuring that only alcohol that is purchased on board is consumed on board. After all, they must recoup the cost of maintaining bars & bar staff, otherwise cruise prices could go up. Ivor, Hull, E.Yorks 09.05.08

hi i was on escape in may last yr, all booze is confiscated when you board if u buy on shore then it gets returned to you the last night of the cruise to take home.

aeasy answer no. enjoy yourself prices on board similar to good pub prices

we did not take any food or alcohol on board as sometimes our bags got searched when we went back on t.he ship, its the chance you take.margaret booth /liverpool

Drinks taken on board will be confiscated and returned at the end of the cruise

Thats true most cruises now xray hand luggage in all ports ,we had the same thing happen on NCR there is no good reason for this apart from the cruise lines make more money ocoan village allow you to buy bottles on board and pay a five pound premium to take it to your room which is OK

Have been on a couple of cruises and always take a bottle each for consumption in cabin. Wrap in 2 plastic carriers and put in middle of case, never had one broken yet.

Bags wernt searched on embarcation. If they have a lock on anyway then ships crew will not be able to search . The ship will take any duty free you buy onshore and returnm it to you when disembarking. You can buy on board at duty free prices. Most cruise lines have a policy of not allowing passengers to take drink onboard. David Soutar Forfar

yes your bags are scanned every time you go aboard and so it will be found and confiscated J Armour, Wirral

The peculiar British custom of "tippy ins" is practised by lots of seasoned cruisers. Basically you put a couple of bottles of spirits into your cases before you fly out from the UK. The cases are taken to your cabin as you board. Then you decant the hooch and use it to top up your mixers or soft drinks. If you try to bring alcohol on board during the cruise it will be confiscated until the last day. I'm not advocating this practice as a cost saving measure - onboard drinks are fairly priced - it's just that we Brits get a kick out of fooling authority and breaking rules!!

hi, they provide you with an ice bucket and the ice machine is along the corridor, we bought our own wine in Sardinia and it wasnt a problem in the cabin. Have a good time, we did. Jayne

You can buy on ship but they keep it till you get off after the holiday unless you want to pay £5 extra so you can drink it in your cabin. Dont take it on with your hand luggage as it is searched. I put mine in plastic bottles and in main luggage. Some people put it in water bottles when coming on the ship

stick it in your suitcase..NOT in your carry-on.

Just come off the escape on tuesday -if you are all inclusive they have every spirit available included anyway but i was never searched nor did i see anyone else searched over the fortnight.

My advice would always be, put any cabin booze (carefully wrapped) in your main luggage. If you carry it in hand luggage or in a shopping bag, it is likely to be confiscated. Remember though, that searches are for more important things than a bit of booze. Just be discreet. You will probably find your cabin steward very happy to bring you ice to put in your drinks!!

Been on Island Star few times, never had a problem taking a bottle in my suitcase, even talked to the Food and Beverage Manager one night about bringing drinks on boardship and he told me that they don't stop people bringing any.

They are not keen on you taking your own drink on board as they want to sell you it, but they don't search you or your bags at every port only some of the stricter controlled ports and this is probably due more to local duty control than their own. If you do want to take on board alcohol to drink on board, declare a bottle or two (in other words give it to them as you go on board, they will wrap it, keep it secure and deliver it back to you just before you disembark, and conceal one or two amongst your other purchases. They don't make you walk the plank if they find it they'll only secure it for you until you leave, but don't leave it in full view in your cabin when you are out of it, what they don't see they won't fret about. The drinks on board are not extortionate though, they're probably equivalent to our pub prices at home, but on holiday one does tend to drink that bit more and it's always nice to make us of 'duty free' - You'll love the cruise though, the ship's crew are absolutely brilliant to a man and woman and the food is great. I've sailed on her several times plus her sister ship The Star and would recommend them to anyone! J Nisbet, Ayrshire

Hi, we went on the Island Escape two years ago. We enjoyed it very much and even though the ship is rather long in the tooth, it was clean, had a friendly atmosphere and the food was certainly very acceptable. When you board your luggage goes through a scanner and you are not allowed to bring alcohol to your stateroom. Any purchased on board (duty free) cannot be consumed (while on the ship) and I believe you pick it up prior to departure. Don't partake myself, but am observant enough to notice "things". Enjoy your cruise. We did.

Was on the Island escape 4 weeks ago and we did but alchohol to bring back on board, your bags do go through a security check and I thought oh no they are going to take my drink but they did'nt say anything. Loads of people did this. but i guess it depends on how flexible the custom officers are. \enjoy I did

Island escape is all inclusive. No need to take alcohol on board. At any rate, no one checks your bags.

The rule is that you are not allowed to take any drinks on board that are sold on the ship. Our first two cruises on the escape they were very strict and always put your bags thru the xray machine whenever you came on board. However, we did our third cruise on the Escape in April and they didn't seem to bother as much. Maybe the xray machine wasn't working. Even if they do confiscate your booze, I believe you can reclaim it when leaving the ship in Palma.

no alcohol is taken off you, if you have any from any of the stops and kept till you get off the ship at the end of your cruise, you can get crafty though, buy a big bottle of water, empty it or drink it, then fill bottle up with vodka gin etc, they dont check your water bottles.crafty i know, but nice to have an inexpensive drink in your cabin.

your welcome enjoy your cruise

Thanks mcguire and kelly, I'll probably get off the ship just before we sail then and go to the duty free shop!!!! Hope you have a nice cruise on the star.

there is duty free shop at port .you could go on ship then come back off or go out port then across road is supermarket .when you arrive at port coach goes round side cases get taken off put on conver belt and through seacurity machines you could put drink in cases but might get broken .when you go off ship you go on other side to come back on ship you should be ok last year they were coming on and off my husband went down to get some ciggarets we did not get on ship till about 7oclock sail at 9 but must be on ship usally .1 hour before sailing we used to buy water and cans of juice at spar suppermarket at each stop its 1.40 for can of juice think thats quite dear dont mind other prices as they are pub prices i dont drink as i take medication enjoy your cruisewe are going on star last week in may for two weeks

Hi there, i'm going on the Escape on 20th May, and i read somewhere that you can't bring any alcohol on board. Not sure exactly where i seen it but it must have been on their website or on the tickets. Have a nice cruise. M