Enobytes Wine Blog

Anyone that has traveled with their wine in hand has experienced some sort of problem along their route. Here are a few tips to consider when traveling by air, boat, train or bus.

If you are flying any time soon, be certain to read up on the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Permitted and Prohibited items list. Rules seem to change often enough to require a quick review of the limitations before you travel. The 3-1-1 rule regulates carry-on liquids, and to date, the TSA will only allow each passenger a three ounce liquid limit (or less) stored neatly in a one quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag. So if you have a 750 ml bottle of wine,

expect to pack it in your checked luggage or leave it at home. There is one exception to the rule: Items purchased after the checkpoint have been pre-screened and are allowed on the plane so if you want to pay the airport prices, you can carry your purchase onboard.

My personal experience with breakages and a few [mysteriously] missing bottles have deterred me from packing my wine in checked baggage so as a word of caution you might want to consider forgoing the pack and purchase your libations once you reach your destination.

The good news is that the TSA now allows cigar cutters and corkscrews in both carry-on and checked baggage. A while back, they banned these items. I can’t tell you how often security confiscated my favorite corkscrews; I have no one to blame but myself for not reading up on the rules before traveling.

If you’ve had an opportunity to take a cruise, you’ve probably found out the hard way that wine is not permitted on many of the ships including Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Lines and MSC Cruises.

Those that do allow wine have strict requirements regarding how many bottles they allow per passenger and corkage fees usually apply. If you’re traveling on a boat that does not allow alcohol, bring your billfold and expect to pay a hefty markup on all wines.

As a word of caution, don’t try to sneak a bottle of wine in your luggage, for boat security has the right to confiscate containers and dispose of them at their discretion. Your best bet is to book a cruise with a cruise line that allows passengers to bring your own bottle(s) (BYOB). A few boats that allow passengers to bring your own wine upon embarkation include: Carnival Cruises (one bottle per person, $10-14 corkage); Celebrity Cruises (two bottles per stateroom, $25 corkage); Costa Cruises (limited amount of wine allowed, $10 corkage + gratuity). Cunard Line (wine and champagne, $15 corkage); Holland America Line (wine and champagne, no limit, $15 per bottle corkage); Norwegian Coastal Voyage (any alcohol for consumption in cabin only, no corkage); Princess Cruises (wine and champagne, one bottle per person, $15 corkage).

Once again, I would strongly advise checking directly with the cruise line before traveling since regulations seem to change frequently.

If you are traveling by train, its best to check local rules and regulations set by the train. As for Amtrak, they allow passengers to bring aboard your own private stock of alcoholic beverages and consume your beverages in sleeping car accommodations only (for which you have a valid ticket). Unfortunately, they do not allow you

to consume private stock alcoholic beverages in any of the public areas on the train.

…and for your two-buck chuck lovers, remember anything goes on a greyhound bus, especially if you follow the don’t ask don’t tell policy.

Share This

Bookmark to:

5 Responses to “Have Wine, Must Travel”

1. Christophe - Titus Vineyards Says:
   February 11th, 2008 at 12:18 pm

   Since I live and work on the west coast but all of my family and friends are up and down the east coast I fly back and forth often. Most of the time I am bring wine for gifts and consumption. I have had tremendous luck using the styrofoam shipping boxes. I pack them full up with the wine I want and check them as luggage. I have to sign a waiver but I have never had any issues. I rarely get raised eyebrows from my west coast departures. However, I sometimes have to answer a couple extra questions when departing east coast terminals. I have recently done this when travelling overseas to France without any issues as well.

   There is some new product out that is basically the Haliburton of wine transport. It is luggage made specifically for wine travel. I may eventually pick one up but for now I’ll just save the styrofoam shippers from my wine club shipments and repurpose them. If you do not receive wine shipments go down to your local shipper. A full case shipper will set you back $10 and now you can rest assured your precious cargo won’t stain your clothes if broken.

2. enobytes Says:
   February 13th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

   Thanks for the great suggestions Christophe! The Styrofoam option seems like a viable option.

   As for the wine luggage, would you happen to have the URL and/or vendor name of the company that sells the product?

   Thanks for your input!

3. enobytes Says:
   February 15th, 2008 at 6:48 pm

   For those interested in the Aluminum wine safe that Christophe mentioned above, you can find it at Amazon or the Wine Enthusiast catalog. It comes in 3 bottle, 6 bottle, and 12 bottle formats:

   Aluminum Wine Safe

   I also have to make a correction in the above article. Airlines will allow corkscrews in carry-on baggage as long as the corkscrew DOES NOT have the stainless steel blade - As you have probably guessed, I lost another corkscrew!!!

   Might I suggest buying a corkscrew with a foil cutting wheel in lieu of the blade. Here are some suggestions:

   Corkscrew w/ Foil Cutting Wheel

   Foil Cutter Corkscrew

   Corkscrew with Foil cutter

4. Anne Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 10:55 am

   Another option is a soft-sided bag I saw at the Boston Wine Expo earlier this month. It’s from a company called BottleWise and has padded bottle pouches lined with a resealable water-proof bag just in case! It can carry 2 bottles so you can’t transport a ton of wine, but enough to keep you happy! The web address is http://www.bottlewise.com.

5. Jeane Troxel Says:
   March 13th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

   I have about 60 - 70 used (1 shipping per box) styrofoam wine shipping boxes that I would like to recycle. Would anyone out there like to have some? I will send them to you for shipping charges only. There are 2, 4, 6, and 12 bottle boxes. These boxes cost from $10.00 to $12.00 to buy new. We moved a home cellar across country and really don’t want to throw them away.

Leave a Reply