[HoneyBadger]

Originally Posted by JD10367

Uh, no. They're not stupid. They check your stuff. And if you buy onboard at the duty-free, you can't get it until you get back to the home port.

Drinks are not outrageous, considering you're floating on the ocean and they've had to cart everything onboard. Your average fru-fru pina colada will run you around $7-8 more or less, I think beers are a little cheaper. Stay away from souvenir glasses. The biggest problem is that you don't pay as you go, so people drink up a storm and then get hit with a $500 bar bill. I keep all my receipts as I go and keep a tab of what my bill is going to look like, so when I settle up at the end of the cruise I don't have a coronary.

Cruises used to be ultra-expensive, all-inclusive, and only for the wealthy. Cruise lines have learned to tone down the room prices and try to nab more "a la carte" cash for drinks, photos, souvenirs, shopping, gambling, and shore excursions. You also don't get free soda, but coffee, iced tea usually, and juice at breakfast are free. (If you drink a lot of soda you can buy a soda card for the week, usually around $35-55, which is cheaper than buying it by the glass daily.)

Really? Every cruise I've been on I take a couple bottles in my bag and have never had any problem.