Has any one gone on a cruise lately and brought their straight razors? I am going in Nov. and can't get a straight answer from the cruise line if it is ok to put the razors in my check in luggage. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
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Has any one gone on a cruise lately and brought their straight razors? I am going in Nov. and can't get a straight answer from the cruise line if it is ok to put the razors in my check in luggage. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
So. Should I consider the razor a sharp object or personal grooming item? Thats the problem. Celebrity Cruises is not sure either. I have been trying to get in touch with port security with no luck. Thanks.
I fear it depends on who checks your luggage. If the Royal Caribbean says "Personal grooming items such as", that will be interpreted differently by different people. You could defend that a razor is a personal grooming item, but they might classify it as dangerous. Which cruise line is it?
I actually just went on Celebrity for my honeymoon in June. Had the same dilemma as you and decided to just bring a fusion, although it killed me to do so. I didn't want to risk having any of my straights confiscated or anything like that.
Went on Norwegian 18 months ago or so. I chose to leave the straights at home and went with the Mach3, which I hadn't used in years. Did the job, and made me appreciate the straight razor all the more. Only used the Mach3 a couple of times.
I used the Mach 3 last time. It really drags wtg. Didn't bother with any other pass. ANd I have a shavette. at least I can get a decent shave with that. No strop and I can live with canned gel for a week.
IMO - "safety razor" means a cartridge razor, or at the most a DE.
An STR8 that can have an open, razor sharp blade might be pushing it...a shavette would also fall into this category IMO...why take the chance.
I got my axe taken away from me on a cruiseship, they put it in a safe, and I got it back on departure. So bring the sr and a normal as backup:)
Since a DE is known as a Double Edged Safety Razor and if this definition is correct Safety razor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia packing a traditional DE in your checked baggage "should" be OK. Any type of cart razor should be OK also as you can have that as a carry on with airlines. Personally I would not chance losing a straight due to somebody's interpretation of the rules.
Bob
Strange that you can have a razorblade on a plane after 9.11. Not to hard to make it into a weapon. That was new to me:)
That is why I like sailboats:)
Celebrity Cruise lines. I guess I will take all your advice and just bring a throw away safety razor. Sure don't want to lose my good straights. Thanks to all that responded and for the advice.
You could hazard a shavette or DE. I don't see how a DE can be turned into a weapon, nor would I miss my shavette terribly if it was confiscated.
Or grow a big beard and have your best shave yet as you return :)
I was thinking of my shavette. I usually only use for close areas but could use it all over the face.
I worked in a state prison for 18 years. I can take a CD disc and sharpen the edge and cut someone. I mean anything can become a weapon even a pencil or ball point pen. They are a little rediculous. But thanks
Took one of my straights on a celebrity cruise about two years ago. Had no problem but I may have been lucky !
Am going on another cruise in December and will be taking a straight again. Even if its confiscated you will get it back at the end of the cruise anyway.
Thanks for the info.
For reference, Carnival Cruise simply states "no blades over 4 inches in legnth". I checked in and put in the security tray a folding pocket knife, no one said a thing. I also asked security on the ship and they said they didn't know the policy! I was cautious about getting off the ship with a knife as one must remember you are in other countries and their laws are different.
So, a straight razor should get through security, however, ask yourself the question do you REALLY want to use one while on a boat? I don't care how large the boat, it rocks, rolls, swayy and bumps. I'm pretty sure you don't want your razor sitting on top of your jugular when the ship decides to shake! I would suggest a safety razor of some sort for the week. I also asked in the spa's that most ships have on board if they do straight shaves and they said absolutely not due to the unpredictable ship movement.
All sailors shaved with razors back in the days, and a modern cruiseship are rather steady. Just don't shave if there is a storm:)
I used one many years ago on cruises when the ships were only 40,000 tons. Now the ships are 100,000 tons and larger. Never had a problem. Even with the upstroke on the neck. Thanks anyway for the concern.
Have fun then, and I'll be watching the "Cut of the Day" forum post to catch updates!
I would treat cruises the same as an airline whenever I travel I use the Mach 3 on my face and the head blade to shave my head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqBX1hsWlfg
Guess nobody was shaving at that time, I would be worried when I see the SAR choppers circling around!
Never had any problem with my razors at sea or in the air but once the took my pistol in the cockpit,
I was fine with that, gave them the gun and mags... after 20 min of flight they want me to come to the pilots,
they had put a mag in the gun and didn't know how to get it out! :)
She's doing a pretty good imitation of a destroyer in heavy weather. I think you would be too busy puking your ring bit out to worry about shaving.
Bob
The guy who taught me more about straight razors than anybody else, is a merchant seaman and he says it is not a big deal at all. He says he has never put off shaving due to weather, period. I was like, "Really? Even in storms?" and he was like, "What did I just say?" Lol. So don't worry about that. On small boats, yeah, can be a problem. On a 800 foot cruise ship just do it. Brace up against the sink and have at it. But if you are nervous, those single blade BIC disposables with the non-pivoting head give you pretty good control and they shave okay. Me, when I try to shave with cartridges or disposables where the head tilts and pivots and stuff, I get all weirded out. I don't feel like I am controlling the angle any more and now, I feel a real NEED to control it. And the single blade ones don't clog up like my pre-straight favorite, the Mach 3. They probably sell them on the ship.
As for the cruise line confiscating your razor, like others said, they will give it back. But what I would do is get a modified Gold Dollar or a vintage razor from Whipped Dog for cheap. You won't be losing anything precious and irreplaceable even if you do lose it. Keep your good razors at home. Put it this way... just take something that you don't mind losing. Nobody is going to know you are shaving with a junk razor but you will have the satisfaction of shaving the way you like to shave. And your nice razors will still be waiting for you at home. Just be sure to test shave a few times before you go, so you know your expendable straight razor won't expend on you halfway through your cruise!
One trick you could try. Get a note from your doctor saying you have easily irritated skin or you have bad ingrown hairs and you got to shave with a straight razor. It might work if you look like kind of respectable and not like some psycho killer.
Those cruise ships pay absolute crap wages, I am told. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. If your bags are opened and searched, and your straight razor is in its coffin in your shave kit with your strop and mug and brush, very likely the guy won't even know if he should take it or not. And if he does, power of persuasion time. "It's a GROOMING implement! That's what I shave with. That's what my Grandfather shaved with. That's what his Dad shaved with and HIS dad. If I wanted a weapon, I would have a knife. Look, see how easy this thing could close up on your knuckles? Do you want to get in a fight with that?" Some of those guys might be easily put in their place. Some might be stubborn and you would have to take a different approach.
If you carry a DE too, I think you will lose the argument. If you have a DE, then obviously you are okay with shaving with it, and you don't even NEED that dangerous cut throat Sweeney Todd jugular slasher. So maybe don't take a DE.
Of course you could just not shave. Hey, it's a vacation, right?
The reason they won't give you a straight answer is they don't want to be on record saying it is okay cause of the liability, and they don't want you to cancel when they say it is not okay. So they do what my Dad, a lawyer, would tell them to do. Don't say nothing. They want you to just get tired of waiting for an answer, give up and stop bugging them, and buy the stupid ticket already.
Bon Voyage.
I would be very aware of the humidity and all the salt in the air. Make sure to keep it well oiled to prevent rust. Hope you get to shave with it on the cruise! Good luck.
Honestly, someone might "confiscate" a str8 just because they want it for themselves. I wouldn't chance it.
I would put it in the room safe. That's what I do when traveling with mine.
Hey guys, have just got my straights through security and they are now in the safe. Will give my first report when we make port, let the holidays begin.
So, had my first shave on the way to New Zeland, 3 metre swells and we are on deck five the lowest passenger deck at the prow. Horses for courses, I just propped myself up leaning against the vanity and away I went. There was an older guy who went to a shaving seminar with me, said that he took a bit of his goatee off with his de and was a bit awed that I was happy to shave with a SR. The beautician said they were only allowed to use a de on board even though she was taught with a straight. Pitty I was looking forward to sitting in a barbours chair for the first time.
I always bring a straight on a cruise and have been on many. I wouldn't put it in my carry on luggage. Pack my shaving kit in a big suitcase and never had an issue. Enjoy your cruise.