Bringing bottles of wine on NCL

[jdvmd]

We were recently on the Star out of Seattle.

 

We brought 6 bottles on board and no corkage was charged- not when we boarded and not when we brought them to different dining venues. We expected to be charged but the wine just went through the x ray, onto the ship and was opened and poured by the servers with no question or comment.

 

Even with corkage we would have saved about $100 over the cost of a higher end package. With no corkage we saved a lot more. I know we got lucky, but I wonder how many others that bring their own wine get a similar pass.

 

Not sure why you didn't get charged but definitely a rare event.

[Lancer1568]

"Guests are allowed to bring wine or champagne onboard. These will be subject to a $15 corkage fee regardless of size.

 

Wines that are not featured on NCL's wine lists are subject to the corkage fee including wine sent directly to the ship by Travel Agents, friends, family, from another retail source, etc."

 

What does it mean when it says "wines that are not featured on NCL's wine are are subject to corkage....

 

Does this mean wines that are on NCL's wine list AREN'T subject to the corkage fee?

My reading of that wines not on NCL list subject to corkage is to avoid the argument of I am bringing this certain wine that i just love not to save money but because NCL doesn't offer it...they making it clear NCL gonna get paid regardless of what kind of wine.

[Zsgma]

I just read on Cruise Critic's information page regarding alcohol for the Norwegian Lines, "Bringing wine or Champagne onboard: It's allowed, but you'll have to pay a corkage fee for wine that is brought onboard and served or consumed in any restaurant or public area. Fees are $15 for 750ml bottles, $20 for 1,000ml and $30 for 1,500ml. Boxed wine is not allowed." I originally thought the corkage fee was $15 no matter what size the bottle.

[jdvmd]

I just read on Cruise Critic's information page regarding alcohol for the Norwegian Lines' date=' "[b']Bringing wine or Champagne onboard:[/b] It's allowed, but you'll have to pay a corkage fee for wine that is brought onboard and served or consumed in any restaurant or public area. Fees are $15 for 750ml bottles, $20 for 1,000ml and $30 for 1,500ml. Boxed wine is not allowed." I originally thought the corkage fee was $15 no matter what size the bottle.

 

 

Here is the link to the actual NCL FAQ page. This is the new policy $15 per bottle no matter what size. Boxed wine is not allowed.

http://www2.ncl.com/faq#n28635

[valleyvillage]

...I was going to order some NCL wine because the price from the liquor store plus corkage was close enough to the NCL price, then I read the fine print!:eek:

 

You also pay a 15% upcharge to the listed prices.

 

So we are getting a couple nice bottles, paying the corkage and saving about $100.00.

[happy cruzer]

Can you pay the corkage fee with an OBC?

[jdvmd]

Can you pay the corkage fee with an OBC?

 

Yes!

[happy cruzer]

How do they handle left over wine in the restaurants? Will they store it and retreive it later no matter which restaurant you are in? The buffet? Or do you take unfinished bottles with you when you finish?

 

Thanks for all the details.

[K&LCruise]

We sailed on the Gem in September. We brought 5 magnums/1.5 ltr, and 1 bottle of champagne. We wrapped them up in bubble wrap, had 4 in a rolling carry on, 2 in another carry on. The bags were xrayed, and we were told "You have 4 bottles of wine, go to the desk to pay the corkage fee". Went over to the desk, gave our room card, signed the receipt, got stickers, walked on board. $15 per bottle.

Had issues with keeping the white wine & champagne cold in the cabin ice buckets, so our room steward brought us a huge rolling cooler, like the ones you see in the hallway that they use to fill up the ice buckets. He kept it full of ice, drained out the water for us, he was great!

We had been told by a crew member on board (don't remember who) that we couldn't bring a magnum to the dining room--the 1st night we were in the dining room we saw someone sitting there with their own magnum--went back to the room & got ours!

No issues on having them hold the wine for us, they fill out a ticket, give you a receipt, and when ever we wanted it we just showed the receipt, and we had it in within 10-15 minutes.

We would also occasionally bring a glass with us when we left the room, or bring drinks back to the room, no problems. Saw a lot of other people walking around with drinks.

We didn't buy any wine/liquor in port or in duty free, so I can't comment on that. :)

[slycruiser61]

Please be careful when searching for an answer to a question on the NCL site. Some of those answers are provided by people who have NO AUTHORITY to answer them.

 

Here is the link to the actual NCL FAQ page - with the official answers to the questions you are asking.

 

http://www2.ncl.com/faq#n28635

 

The first item in the FAQ is about the wine corkage fee.

 

If you have any doubts about this, I would print out the page so you have it if there is any confusion when you embark about the $15 corkage fee for ANY size bottle.

This was taken directly from NCL's website, today... I don't know where the different cost for different size one posted above came from. I'm bringing a copy of the this with me when I board...they'd better not tell me the policy has changed...if so they better update their website.

 

 

What about alcohol consumption and wine corkage?

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION POLICY

Passengers must be 21 years of age or older to purchase or consume alcohol.

With the exception of Alaska and Hawaii itineraries, NCL permits young adults to purchase and personally consume wine and beer only while onboard and with the consent of an accompanying parent. Authorization will be given only when the accompanying parent completes the Young Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver form. This form can be obtained and completed at the Guest Services Desk upon embarkation of the vessel. However, passengers 18 years of age or older are permitted to consume alcoholic beverages when sailing on round-trip European voyages without having to complete the Young Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver form.

 

Please note that with the exception of Wine and Champagne, all guests are prohibited from bringing alcohol on board our ships. If you purchase any alcohol at one of our ports-of-call or in our onboard shops, we will safely store your purchase(s) and on the final night of the cruise it will be available for pick up in a designated area.

 

Wine & Champagne Policy

Guests are allowed to bring wine or champagne onboard. These will be subject to a $15 corkage fee regardless of size.

 

Wines that are not featured on NCL's wine lists are subject to the corkage fee including wine sent directly to the ship by Travel Agents, friends, family, from another retail source, etc. The bottle will have a sticker or stamp placed on it showing that the fee was paid, and that the guest will be allowed to have the product onboard. This fee will be charged to the guest’s onboard account. Wines that come in boxes are not allowed onboard.[/i]

[Clay Clayton]

Not sure why you didn't get charged but definitely a rare event.

 

We had similar experiences when sailing out of Buenos Aries and Athens. We think it was because the inspection was being done by Port folks rather than NCL personnel. I suspect this is the case in every port but for those two, they don't have that many embarkations so we figured they didn't have their system down. Lucky us!

[happy cruzer]

So they give you the stickers?? I thought that they put the stickers on each bottle to show that the corkage was paid for that bottle.

[Clay Clayton]

When we have paid the corkage, they put the stickers on each bottle.

[janetz]

We boarded the Dawn on Sept 16th. I had 3 large bottles wrapped in my carryon. The bag was scanned and they opened it, took the three bottles out of my carryon and brought them over to a table, as we followed. We then were charged the 15 per bottle, and no stickers were put on the bottles. We then had to repack them in the carryon, which was a pain because there were so many people and bottles being brought over to one small table. Why did they even take them out? Just charge us and let us go on our way. When we brought a bottle to the dining room they had some way to check our account to be sure we paid the fee. :)

[happy cruzer]

So I've learned that they may hand you the stickers, they put the stickers on the bottles or they may not have any stickers, wow. All sounds random maybe by port??

 

Also about paying corkage fee with an OBC - Do you get your sign and sail account set up before security? I've always had the account set up after security.

 

Looking forward to doing it all first hand sometime :)