So, I gots RUM!

[AccountingDrone]

Gotta hide that video from my mom now. She gets sick looking at ships. We thought the Med might be a good choice for her.

I think you win on the hurricane front. Even though I was in a bathtub boat, you had to put up with worse.

Voyager, Caribbean, 6th Feb. Sounds like that might be a good idea. I will have to look that up at some point.

C.

Actually, even though we had sort of a rough ride the first 24 hours, it smoothed down and was nice after that. We just had to get away from the outlying winds of the storm that was pounding the east coast with snow =)

I would love to have some CS people on the cruise to hang out with and do stuff - the fun thing mrDrone found to do was blow $20 on this book of shopping coupons, and hit the jewelry stores on the various islands for the free bling from the coupons! I ended up with 2 tiny amethyst necklaces, one tiny garnet necklace, matching microscopic amethyst earrings, a charm bracelet to add charms to, and one charm ... um ... a nifty tote bag that the design on it changes in sunlight. We figure that if he had actually bought the stuff it would have cost about $50, and he had fun looking at the other stuff.

They do room service any time - a common lunch for us was 2 orders of honeystung wings [4 pcs per] 2 caesar salads, 1 fruit plate and 1 cheese plate with extra crackers ... add some festive beverages, and cookies or pastries and we have a party [just increase the number of servings =) ]

[CaroPhoenix]

Somehow I knew Idrinkarum would be the first to respond to this thread. Happily I was right.

Hahaaha! You know I just had to!

I like to know when I'm traveling around and meeting other people. Though to be home in time to cook dinner for the family does tend to be a little difficult when I'm picked up and carted off randomly. (Why yes, I do have a vey strange sense of humor).

In Virginia, you can buy wines and beers at grocery stores. However, if you want to liquors, you have to go to the ABC stores. Fortunately, there is one right next to the grocery store I frequent and they have a a whole assortment of vodkas, whikeys, rums, etc., etc.

However, you can buy the mixers at the grocery stores (which I don't understand if they don't sell the liquors to go with them). The mixers being like sweet & sour (which I love to drink with my amaretto), bloody mary mix, strawberry diaquiri, etc.

[Jester]

I found it funny that they said they stopped selling cigarettes for the health of their customers and then put in a huge wing for beer sales.

But beer is healthy for you!

(goes off to the kitchen for a tasty beer.....)


Yes, it's 5 in the morning.

Yes, I work in 5 hours.

What's your point?

[AdminAssistant]

One of the few benefits of living in Missouri was being able to buy any kind of alcohol in the grocery stores (well, in KC anyway, might be different in other counties). Here, in Kansas, grocery stores can sell beer and wine coolers, but not wine or liquor. Back home, I think the rule is the same, except in certain counties where liquor sales are completely prohibited. Ridiculous.

[Misanthropical]

So, party at AccountingDrone's house?

PA has weird liquor laws and where you can buy it. One store for beer and another for wines and rums, etc. The first year we were here I was at the grocery store (where you can buy all alcohol in SD and CA) and was looking everywhere for the wine. I asked a clerk where it was and she looked at me like I just spouted another head. She told me I had to go to a special store for it. I was

There was talk here in PA about making it were you could buy all alcohol in the grocery stores, but the state run store owners starting whining and crying about it.

There is one grocery store near me were one can buy beer, but that is it. I found it funny that they said they stopped selling cigarettes for the health of their customers and then put in a huge wing for beer sales.

[Chrismor]

This was a RCI ship in the med during a storm ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AN2Q...eature=related

We had a cat 2 hurricane, which is winds of 120 MPH, with 90 MPH sustained, um ... 193 km with 144 km sustained winds. Sea state 6 for about 20 hours of the transit =)

We already reserved a stateroom for next Feb 6th on Explorer of the Seas ... if we get more people from CC on it, we can have a party =) Nothing like some caribbean sun in the middle of winter!

Gotta hide that video from my mom now. She gets sick looking at ships. We thought the Med might be a good choice for her.

I think you win on the hurricane front. Even though I was in a bathtub boat, you had to put up with worse.

Voyager, Caribbean, 6th Feb. Sounds like that might be a good idea. I will have to look that up at some point.

C.

[RavenStarr]

Somehow I knew Idrinkarum would be the first to respond to this thread. Happily I was right.

[Jester]

As for the Cuban rums, don't know if you'd get in trouble with your boss over this, but if you gave the customers the name of someplace in Canada that sold them (yep, it's legal to buy Cuban rum/cigars/etc. in Canada), neglecting to let the SCs know that the place wasn't in Key West, that might get them off your back.

I don't know if I would get in trouble with my boss either, but I don't quite see the point. We are in Key West, 90 miles from Cuba and nowhere near Canada. The people seeking Cuban rum are on vacation, and somehow thinking that our proximity to Cuba gives us certain priviliges, despite the embargo. Look, I don't doubt that there are people in Key West that possess Cuban cigars, Cuban rum, and other such contraband. Hell, I'd bet on it. But no one here with half a brain cell is going to blatantly SELL it to tourists they don't even know! The fact that these people think that a BAR would do so is simply astounding.

In any case, I am already known as a smartass, and have gotten in a small amount of trouble for it from time to time. Telling tourists on vacation in Key West seeking Cuban rum that they can get it in Canada would almost certainly be taken as a smartass comment, and could possibly get me in some hot water.

To give them the name of a place they can buy it and not mention it is in Canada? That could get me in trouble to, as that is flat out misleading.

I think you get my point.

Totally jealous of all the delicious sounding rum, though. Someday I need to make a pilgrimage to Jester's bar!

Come on down! And the rum IS delicious. Guest yesterday bought me a shot of one of my favorite rums when I turned them on to it. Bonus!

[trailerparkmedic]

We dont even have any sort of alcohol in our grocery stores or anything.

You have to go to a liquor store to buy any alcohol in Maryland, too. They aren't state run or anything but it always trips me up when I visit family. At least the tiny liquor store by my parents has Shiner--the clerk thought I was crazy when I got excited about that. Of course, he'd never even tried it.

Totally jealous of all the delicious sounding rum, though. Someday I need to make a pilgrimage to Jester's bar!

[AccountingDrone]

I want to do a Royal Caribbean or NCL one now. Have to see if any good travel agent offers come up.

C.

P.S. Oh, better hope your cruise ship does not do this (see attachment, taken from Daily Mail article published last year.)

This was a RCI ship in the med during a storm ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AN2Q...eature=related

We had a cat 2 hurricane, which is winds of 120 MPH, with 90 MPH sustained, um ... 193 km with 144 km sustained winds. Sea state 6 for about 20 hours of the transit =)

We already reserved a stateroom for next Feb 6th on Explorer of the Seas ... if we get more people from CC on it, we can have a party =) Nothing like some caribbean sun in the middle of winter!

[Chrismor]

One person was whinging to the guest relations person next to the one I was talking to about the rough seas heading down. Um, hurricane force winds [measured at 100 miles per hour, with 25 foot waves] isn't something the captain can actually DO anything about

I took an introduction to cruising in August last year. It was not with any of the big liners (the ship I was on, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Black Watch was parked next to Crown Princess, who left us cowering in her shadow. Thanks, Princess Cruises.)

Sailed from Dublin, Ireland to Southampton, England. 2 nights onboard, non stop.

Night 1 was an... experience. As we left sheltered Irish waters and entered the Atlantic, we met a guy called Bill... Hurricane Bill. Between him and the merging bodies of water and the fact that it (in cruising terms) was a small ship, we got thrown about the place. My brother, who was in a suite 1 deck below me, with my parents (I treated them to the cruise, seen as I work for the travel agency that had exclusive selling rights) got thrown out of bed 3 times.

The next morning, after a bit of an extended sleep, I saw the crew looked ill. It must have been bad.

The Captain though tried to make a joke of it. During his 9AM announcements, he said, as deadpan and monotone as possible:
"Overnight sea conditions were moderate. (pause) Yes, that was a joke!"

Once we got round the south coast of England it became very calm, and very relaxing.

One plus side was that because the ship left the EU on it's main itinerary, I could buy duty free booze, and well, the drinks onboard were almost for nothing.

I want to do a Royal Caribbean or NCL one now. Have to see if any good travel agent offers come up.

C.

P.S. Oh, better hope your cruise ship does not do this (see attachment, taken from Daily Mail article published last year.)

[Amina516]

I do not believe it is illegal. Sure, I have driven with booze (sealed unopened bottles) in my vehicle, but since I have never been stopped, this proves nothing. However, when I flew to San Fran in '08, I took a bottle of rum with me as a present to my host. I put it in my checked luggage, and I told the airport folks about it. Since it was not in my carry-on baggage, they had no problem with it.

Which suggests it is not illegal to transport it across state lines. At least not in a blanket way. There are limitations, I am sure, which is why most liquor companies won't just ship you something if it involves a different state. But some will. Check the local laws in your area.

This is what Ive always been told. (Doesnt make it true!!) Not in a blanket way, but specifially from MD to PA due to the taxes. It would appear that PA is a bitch about liquor. We dont even have any sort of alcohol in our grocery stores or anything. You can ONLY buy liquor at the state run stores (thats another reason I Loooooove Florida..Publix and BJs have LIQUOR.mmm!!) Beer is sold in its seperate Beer Distributor stores. Going to the gas station and picking up a six pack is a liberty I do not have..

[wolfie]

This is one of the top rums I get asked about at The Bar that we actually do NOT have. People are constantly asking about it, and apparently it has a big following. I would love to try it, though as always I keep a grain of salt with me

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I do not believe it is illegal. Sure, I have driven with booze (sealed unopened bottles) in my vehicle, but since I have never been stopped, this proves nothing. However, when I flew to San Fran in '08, I took a bottle of rum with me as a present to my host. I put it in my checked luggage, and I told the airport folks about it. Since it was not in my carry-on baggage, they had no problem with it.

Which suggests it is not illegal to transport it across state lines. At least not in a blanket way. There are limitations, I am sure, which is why most liquor companies won't just ship you something if it involves a different state. But some will. Check the local laws in your area.

Jester, as a bartender, you should know that salt is for Tequilla, not rum.

As for transporting booze across state lines, IANAL (or even a Yank), but I believe the difference between your case and the liquor companies is that you were bringing already-purchased liquor in what was obviously a personal-use quantity, and even if there were tax implications it probably wasn't worth the airline's time to do the paperwork. If you'd been bringing a couple cases of rum, it would have been another story.

With the liquor companies, they would be selling liquor into a state where they're not based. Since this is a commercial enterprise, the government would be very interested.

As for the Cuban rums, don't know if you'd get in trouble with your boss over this, but if you gave the customers the name of someplace in Canada that sold them (yep, it's legal to buy Cuban rum/cigars/etc. in Canada), neglecting to let the SCs know that the place wasn't in Key West, that might get them off your back.

[Jester]

I ... brought back the most RIDICULOUS cheap, delicious rum I have ever in my life tasted.

Its was by Tortuga Rum Co...

This is one of the top rums I get asked about at The Bar that we actually do NOT have. People are constantly asking about it, and apparently it has a big following. I would love to try it, though as always I keep a grain of salt with me, as Bud Light also has a big following, and it is not exactly the best beer around!

The top rum we get asked about is when idiots ask us about Cuban rum. Which is illegal in the U.S. due to the Cuban embargo that the U.S. has had against Cuba for decades. What bothers me is not the people that ask about it that don't realize that it is illegal to have in the U.S. I am not even bothered by the idiots who don't realize that Key West is subject to U.S. laws, as it is part of Florida. Hell, I am not even bothered that much anymore by the morons that don't realize that Key West is part of Florida!

No, it's the fucktards that know Key West is part of Florida, hence part of the U.S., and that due to this Cuban rum is illegal here, and yet still ask for it. You can tell these ass munchers by the way they ask for it. "Hey, do you have any Cuban rum behind the bar/under the bar/socked away somewhere that we could buy?" They are assuming that not only would we admit to having something that is blatantly against federal laws, but that we would sell it to them and break even more laws just because they asked.

Are there people and places that have Cuban rum illegally? I have no doubt that there are. Especially this close to Cuban. I wouldn't even doubt that some of the bars around here do. But if they do, there is no way in hell they are going to just sell it to some schmo off the street for the asking. Now, if one day you find yourself partying with the owner of a bar in the Keys, or some other tropical part of the U.S., and you end up there after closing, and they've closed the blinds but allowed you and a select few other privileged individuals to continue partying after hours, and the owner then breaks out a bottle of quality aged Cuban rum, consider yourself lucky and enjoy your good fortune (just as you would if you found yourself skinnydipping with a hot movie star), as this is the only way it's going to happen. And for goodness sake, don't tell anyone about it! The owner was kind enough to share with you....your mouth is just going to get him in trouble. (For once, the above really is only conjecture, as I don't actually know of such things....I just wouldn't be surprised that they do happen.)

Of course, i would not be transporting liquor across state lines because thats illegal (some big to-do with the taxes)...

I do not believe it is illegal. Sure, I have driven with booze (sealed unopened bottles) in my vehicle, but since I have never been stopped, this proves nothing. However, when I flew to San Fran in '08, I took a bottle of rum with me as a present to my host. I put it in my checked luggage, and I told the airport folks about it. Since it was not in my carry-on baggage, they had no problem with it.

Which suggests it is not illegal to transport it across state lines. At least not in a blanket way. There are limitations, I am sure, which is why most liquor companies won't just ship you something if it involves a different state. But some will. Check the local laws in your area.

[AccountingDrone]

I can't drink much or often, so I like *good* stuff, the bottle of reservo will last a real long time!

The ponches are interesting, and can be described as rum creams though they don't have the same heavy syrup consistency of irish cream or advocaat.

Rob is actually thinking about doing the move to the islands thing ... it was nice not being in pain from the cold for a while. The summer heat can be dealt with by air conditioning. I suppose if he can get the house finished, and find a job there, the whole ex-pat thing would be ok by me. I rather like the idea of tropical fruit trees in the back yard. I adore avocados, oranges, mangos, bananas and plantains not costing an arm and a leg.