Norwayfan1

Apologies if I missed something, but do you mean that they are offering drinks to those with drinks packages on UK cruises, or do you mean somewhere else in the world?

He won't know 'until they gets into the ports'?!!!!! That must be the biggest load of baloney ever.😬

For what it's worth, I have just emailed the travel agent who sold me my forthcoming Norwegian Star cruise. Here in the UK, the 'Free at Sea' package is sold as a fare add-on and I do feel that if the promised open bar isn't delivered each day, then that is mis-selling. I don't really expect the travel agent to do anything, or to be able to get any sense out of NCL, but I felt I should write anyway. If I receive anything of note, I'll add an update here.

It seems to me that NCL had a couple of options... a) have a letter distributed to every passenger, explaining exactly what Uk law has been introduced and when - quoting the exact wording, so it shuts up all the doubters, removes all those queues at Guest Services, ensures no one wants to remove gratuities, gives people on this thread nothing more to talk about... and so on. If I were an NCL Manager I'd be sorting that out pronto. OR... b) admit NCL have taken their eye off the ball (eg not paid a bill in time, not applied for a licence... or whatever.) Apologise. Make a nice gesture. Move on. Unfortunately they have gone for... c) Don't explain. Don't admit anything. Don't provide any evidence. Upset people. Allow things to fester and get worse. Ensure your hard-working, lower-level staff get a really hard time because of your own incompetence or cowardice. Honestly... what sort of company, with any sense of pride or responsibility, would opt for C?!!!

Well, absolutely. 🙂

I wonder why NCL don't simply come up with some hard, printed evidence of the law they say has been sprung on them at short notice. That would clarify things.

I'd be surprised. I cruised on Iona not long ago and have friends who have recently returned. No issues, ever.

I think maybe lone is a misprint and it should say 'line'. I've never heard of a ship called lone.

For those who struggle to understand why some people are bothered about a few alcoholic drinks, try some analogies. You choose and pay for a particular cabin. When you board, you find you have been allocated a worse one because the port authorities are now organising all the cabin allocations. No refund. You book a special excursion, but then NCL don't run it because the port wouldn't let them. No refund. You order some flowers to be delivered to your cabin for your anniversary. No flowers are delivered because the port authorities have banned flowers on board. No refund. Would any of those analogies send you down to Guest Relations?

I so agree with you. I sailed on the Norwegian Star a few months ago (first time with NCL for a very, very long time) and really enjoyed it, so I booked again to travel soon, once again out of Southampton. I feel so disappointed they are behaving like this. If I eventually end up not cruising with them again, it will not be because I've missed out on a couple of cocktails here and there.... it will because they have failed to treat their customers with anything like the respect they deserve.

This all seems to blow that 'the port only gave us two days' notice' excuse out of the water. What a load of baloney from NCL. I'll be asking for a pro-rata refund for the days they don't deliver the service and products they promised. I don't care if that amounts to a small amount of money in the grand scheme of things... I'll do it as a point of principle.

It doesn't really seem that NCL are doing anything about the issue. The strategy seems to be: 1. Let passengers board, and read the 'no alcohol' notices at the bars. 2. Ride out any grumbles or complaints - offer a vague explanation, passing the buck, if pressed (knowing that people on holiday probably don't have the time, inclination or internet access to pursue it). 3. Wait for everyone to calm down a bit and they start to rationalise: 'it's only for a few hours; 'it's only for a couple of ports' etc etc. 4. Disembark the passengers, who will probably grumble a bit when they get home - but so what. 5. Embark new passengers and go back to stage 1. If a lot of the passengers aren't Southampton regulars with knowledge of other cruise lines sailing from there, so much the better for NCL.

If NCL simply had to pay a fee of some sort, they have now had time to do so (unless they decided not to use wire transfer, and sent the fees by pigeon carrier instead). If legislation genuinely prevented alcohol service in some way, I'd expect NCL to be able to quote that legislation in a proper explanation. Vague 'nothing to do with us' statements are just an insult to their passengers' intelligence, in my view.

For me, the issue is not at all about how much alcohol I may or may not be served on any particular day. It's about cruise companies being straight with their paying customers. Owning up if there's a problem of their own making. Saying what they are doing to rectify things. Making sure all staff are briefed and are able to give the correct explanations. Compensating passengers (where appropriate) if they haven't received a service they paid for, or making at least a goodwill gesture or 'nice touch' of some sort, when a cruise hasn't got off to the best possible start. Even if the fault lies with Southampton (as they seem to claim here), much of the above still applies. It's just good old customer service. Customers can be pretty forgiving if an issue is well handled. But once companies start passing the buck and resorting to weasel-worded notices plonked on counters as a problem-solving method, it's a slippery slope!

Over the past 15 months or so, I've been lucky enough to have taken six cruises sailing out of Southampton: 2 x P&O, 2 x MSC, 1 x Celebrity and one on the NCL Norwegian Star itself last Autumn. My most recent cruise was on P&O Arvia just 3 weeks ago. There was no restriction on alcohol sales/servings on any of those cruises. I'm due to sail on Norwegian Star again soon, on one of the round Ireland cruises and I have bought the 'Free at Sea' package. I feel really annoyed about this, on principle. It isn't a question of how much alcohol I can consume in UK ports - I just feel there is some dishonesty or serious misunderstanding on NCL's part. In the (unlikely?) event that there is some brand new change in UK law that has come into force in the last 3 weeks (!!!) then NCL should be able to explain exactly what that change is, when it came into force etc etc.