Secuity Measures

[sshuttle]

My husband always carries a pocket knife with him. Will he be allowed to carry this on-board? I read the docs. I received but they didn't mention pocket knives. It's awful handy, I'd hate to "leave home without it!"

 

[prymsu]

would be to pack it into your luggage that you will be checking at the doc. I can't remember having to go through a metal detector, but you can never tell when the security checkin procedures might change...

 

[WDWLVR]

They x-ray all the bags before they come on board. My father-in-law bought an ornimatal sword at WDW right before our cruise and when his lugguge wasn't delivered we found out it was because of the sword. He had to go down, open up the luggage and they took the sword and gave him a claim for it. When we got back he gave the claim in and was given the sword back. I think the same would work for any knife, even pocket knives. With the shape of things as they are now i think the motto is better safe than sorry.

 

[taswira]

DEFINITELY!

Although the ports now have pretty much the same security standards as airports, there is one major difference - - Airline passengers do not have access to their checked luggage until they reach their destination, so sharp items can be checked. On cruise ships, access to "checked" luggage is the same as your carry-on once they deliver it to your stateroom. So you basically should apply carry-on content rules to your checked bags on a cruise.

 

[Mboothby]

I don't have my cruise documentation in front of me now, but I was going over it last night and there is a part that mentions a NO WEAPONS policy. I did not read fully, as we never have anything that could be mistaken as a weapon, but I'd think the knife would qualify. I'd say, better safe than sorry and to avoid any unnecessary attention, I'd leave it at home. Will you really need it on the cruise? How have you found traveling with it since 9/11? Have they given you grief at the airport? I can tell you, they would not allow you past security at either SJC or SFO with a knife. You COULD check it. I'd ask myself if I really needed it and if I didn't, I'd just leave it at home and not worry.

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

And yes, people do pass thru a metal detector every time they board the ship.

 

[mikeymars]

Heads up time:

The cruise documents we got for our recent 3/23 Magic cruise had a "ZERO WEAPONS" policy printed in screaming bold font that was virtually impossible to miss, and which I did take the time to read.

It not only SPECIFICALLY mentioned NO knives whatsoever (there were NO "exceptions" listed or implied, and it even mentioned no diving knives, which I have taken on Caribbean trips in the past) but included anything packed in EITHER checked OR carry on luggage.

This would obviously appear to ban bringing a pocket knife, PERIOD. If I were you would call DCL directly to confirm this, but again my interpretation of that plain english policy is "leave the knife home or assume you're going to check it at the pier, because you aren't going to be able to take it along on the cruise."

 

[taswira]

Well put, mikeymars. As I mentioned in my post, the "checked luggage" rules of airlines do not apply to cruises because unlike on a plane, on a cruise ship you DO have full access to that "checked luggage." So if you are not allowed to carry an item on a plane, you won't be allowed to have it on your cruise whether checked or carry-on. That includes ANY form of weapon, among other things.

 

[sshuttle]

Thanks everyone for the great info. We'll have to leave the small pocket knife at home. The only reason why I wasn't sure was because on a cruise (vs. an airline) everyone has access to silverware because they eat on board. I'm sure it's easiest to just say no knives than to start haggling over the length of the blade or whatever. No knives is no knives.

Mboothby - there are a million things we could need it for on the cruise - cutting tags off of things, mini-screwdriver for sun/eye glasses, cutting child's food (when very clean and no knife is available), slicing fresh fruit from a street vendor, we used one on our honeymoon cruise to scrape coconut out of a coconut - you never know when you're going to need it!

For some reason I pictured a diving knife as a large knife, but after re-reading my documents I'm sure your're right and they mean no pocket knives as well.

It's a shame that the evil people of this world make up the rules for the good people of this world.

Thanks again everyone!