Taking Food off the Magic in Europe?

[thymed]

We have rented a private boat for the day in Naples and instead of going to a restaurant and spending 1 -2 hours having lunch. I would like to take a picnic lunch. I am not sure if there would be a spot to purchase food at the marina so I was wondering about taking food from room service. Has anyone done this or is there some law/rule against it?

Thank you for your input

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

We have done it, no problem! I even grabbed whole fruit off the breakfast buffet.

 

[DahliaRW]

I highly doubt it. Most countries have very strict rules about what you can bring into them. Usually no meat products, produce, etc. Pre-packaged things are usually ok.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I highly doubt it. Most countries have very strict rules about what you can bring into them. Usually no meat products, produce, etc. Pre-packaged things are usually ok.

Agree. Often there are announcements.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

I could have sworn DCL recently changed this rule or "relaxed it" a bit? I tried searching on the DCL webpage but couldn't find it. I thought it was now okay to bring certain items with you on excursions and off the ship? I realize it's never okay to bring fresh fruit and other items upon arrival back into the US (and possibly the foreign ports) but I do remember this not too long ago.

As a type 1 diabetic I always bring my own small Juicy Juice boxes, pre-packaged granola bars, pre-packaged fruit snacks, etc. but I remember thinking it was nice they were finally allowing items to be brought off the ship.

Hopefully someone can confirm this

Heather

Ps. Yes, they were very firm on this in Alaska to where they made everyone get rid of everything, including milk before departing the ship. They made numerous announcements and it was very clear.

 

[carpenta]

We have sailed twice in the Med. on the Magic and taken food off the ship. They did not offer any warnings against it. We also brought wine and cheese back onto the ship with no problem. I would suggest you don't try to walk off with the whole buffet. the only warning is when we entered the US.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

We had fruit and uncrustables in Corsica. That was the only time we did it, but I don't remember them ever announcing that we couldn't. This was in 2011, so quite possibly rules have changed!

 

[kiford]

I could have sworn DCL recently changed this rule or "relaxed it" a bit?

Rules about what food items you can and can't take on or off a ship are not up to DCL but are subject to the local government regulations. You won't, therefore, find anything on DCL's site. It will be information you would need to get for each port when on the ship and will be found in the Navigator the night before.

Certain food items may need to be packaged in a certain way (e.g., vacuum sealed) or prepared in a certain way. For example, hard cheeses like parmesan might be able to be brought back on but fresh unripened cheeses or cheeses made with unpasteurized milk might not. Each port will have its own rules.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Rules about what food items you can and can't take on or off a ship are not up to DCL but are subject to the local government regulations. You won't, therefore, find anything on DCL's site. It will be information you would need to get for each port when on the ship and will be found in the Navigator the night before.

Certain food items may need to be packaged in a certain way (e.g., vacuum sealed) or prepared in a certain way. For example, hard cheeses like parmesan might be able to be brought back on but fresh unripened cheeses or cheeses made with unpasteurized milk might not. Each port will have its own rules.

I just googled this and found a hit on Mouseplanet.com and here is the info I found and remembered reading. I don't usually read mouse planet so I'm sure it was out there somewhere else but this is the gist of it :

Disney Cruise Line changes policy regarding taking food on and off the ships
Disney Cruise Line has quietly rolled out a new policy that will have little impact on most passengers, but is a huge win for passengers with food allergies or other dietary restrictions, as well as for those traveling with toddlers.

Effective immediate, passengers can take "non-perishable, government approved snack food items in their sealed, original packaging," with them when they disembark the ship in ports of call, as well as at the end of their cruise.

Disney allows passengers to bring this food onto the ships, but until now has forbidden passengers from bringing any food off the ship, regardless of whether or not it is sealed. For people with food allergies or other dietary restrictions, this has limited their ability to participate in day-long shore excursions because they could not ensure the availability of safe-to-eat food at the various ports of call. Parents were not allowed to bring baby food off the ship.

Even with the new policy, passengers are not allowed to bring opened containers of food back onto the ship, so it's best to bring single-serving packages of the desired food with you so you don't wind up tossing the rest of an opened container. This is important for families who pack larger containers of formula.

As always, passengers may not bring perishable food, homemade food, pre-cooked food, or open containers onto the ships in any port, and may not take open containers off the ship at any time.

Passengers may bring a cooler no larger than 12" x 12" x 12" onto the ship only for the purpose of storing medication or baby food.

Food brought onto the ship must not require any food preparation assistance, and cast members are not allowed to assist passengers in preparing the food items. Food brought onboard can not be stored in the ship's galley, and must be stored in the passenger's stateroom.

Breast milk is not impacted by this policy, and may be brought on or off the ship as needed. Breast milk can not be checked, and must be in the passenger's carry on luggage.

Completely understood about the foreign ports as that makes sense but I thought I'd clear up my part as this is what I read and they did make a few changes and relaxed it a bit although I think many were already doing this!

Heather

 

[thymed]

Thank you everyone!

 

[Pooh001]

We took food off the boat all the time in Europe . It was never a problem - I traveled w a large day travel bag or a backpack . Have fun

 

[SillyInventor]

I highly doubt it. Most countries have very strict rules about what you can bring into them. Usually no meat products, produce, etc. Pre-packaged things are usually ok.

Spain, Italy, Greece and Kroatia are all part of the European Union and therefore have unobstructed transit of people and goods. Local governments are not allowed to obstruct this traffic in any way.

The only catch on the 2014 European cruises is Turkey, that isn't part of the EU (no political discussions about this, please), meaning you have to obtain a separate visa and the Turkish Government may post restrictions on what to bring into the country.

So once you have entered Spain and with that the EU you can bring everything wherever you want.

 

[mimmi]

Spain, Italy, Greece and Kroatia are all part of the European Union and therefore have unobstructed transit of people and goods. Local governments are not allowed to obstruct this traffic in any way.

The only catch on the 2014 European cruises is Turkey, that isn't part of the EU (no political discussions about this, please), meaning you have to obtain a separate visa and the Turkish Government may post restrictions on what to bring into the country.

So once you have entered Spain and with that the EU you can bring everything wherever you want.

There are certain restrictions of taking food of certain means of transports, though. It is, for example, forbidden to reuse airplane food, that is not packaged, no matter if the plane comes from an EU airport or not, everything, that is not packaged has to be destroyed. This has nothing to do with the freedom of free movement of goods.
So I guess it could be the same as with planes: as long as it's packaged, no problem, if it is perishable, like fruits, no.
Although it is very improbable to get caught, anyway, the danger to get caught with an apple by one of those beagles on an American airport on your way home is much higher.

 

[SillyInventor]

I have flown several times within Europe and there isn't any check at the arrival airport. I have never cruised, so our upcoming Med cruise will be the first time we will experience that. But I don't expect any checks from "border patrol" as in the US, where (air)travel safety is many factors tighter than in Europe.
Only exception will be Turkey where we will need a visa to enter the country.

 

[kiford]

Only exception will be Turkey where we will need a visa to enter the country.

If you are entering Turkey via cruise, you don't need an individual visa if you are not staying overnight in Turkey (or Turkish waters) assuming you are from US or Canada. On our Med cruise in June 2013, there was no requirement to obtain an individual visa for our stop in Kusadasi.

 

[milliesmum]

We have just got off the transatlantic cruise stopping at Malaga, Spain en route and were warned by Disney not to take fruit or perishables off the boat as you could get huge fines if caught. That said I didn't see anyone checking to see what everyone had in their bags

 

[harrisb1964]

At every port we went to in the Caribbean, we warned that we could be heavily fined if we brought food from the ship. We actually had food with us as we were disembarking, but there were foreign police? at the port entrance and we didn't want to risk it. So we just threw everything away before we walked into the port. I know most countries are pretty serious about this.

 

[Jubilee252]

We looked into this as we are going on the 23rd and as SillyInventor rightly states as long as the departure port and port of call are both in the EU (ie not the Transatlantic or Turkey) there are no limits (other than a DCL policy) to taking any foods off or on boat. The UK government website makes this very clear. The point Mimmi made re airline food maybe correct but this is a food safety issue that doesn't apply as any food taken off the boat will most likely be eaten cold and not reheated.

We will certainly be taking breakfast/room service items for the kids snacks!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Brent the CD made it clear you could do it in Europe and actually encouraged taking sealed cereal packs off,