OK To Bring Bottled Water Onboard?

[Tigerlily2643]

I read back as far as I could on this board looking for the answer and couldn't find it, so forgive me if this has been answered 100 times already. :) I've already found the answers to several of my questions here--thanks for all the great info, everyone!

 

This will be our first cruise on NCL (Sea, 6/4), and it seems like different lines have different rules about what you can bring on board with you. We'd like to bring our own bottled water (either 2 12 packs or a 24 pack of 16oz. bottles) with us. Does NCL allow that? If not, can we purchase bottles in bulk on the ship? Any clue how much it would cost? Thanks for any insight!

[smeyer418]

welcome to the Boards and yes you can bring your own bottled water. The water on the ship is very good and I have been known to refill from the Buffet my empty bottles...They do sell bottled water and you will find a bottle in your room at some pricey amount...

[Jeanne S]

Tie it up with twine and attach a lugggae tag and check it in at the pier with your luggage.. It will be delivered to your room. Have done this about 15 times and the water has always arrived intact.

[Tigerlily2643]

Thanks for the welcome and the speedy answer!

[budgetED]

In order to avoid carrying alot of water onboard, I take enough bottled water to last me until the first port of call. I then buy a couple more if need be to hold me over again to the next port. I don't like lugging around a whole case with me and water is readily available in port.

[zimmerjulie]

You are welcome to bring water or any other non-alcoholic beverage onboard.

 

I agree that the water available free on the ship tastes very good. It is also thoroughly filtered (maybe even more so that some bottled waters;) , if what I have read about such matters is true).

 

What we usually do is buy a couple of the larger bottles of water and refill them throughout the cruise. We do drink a lot of water while touring in ports and like to have it with us, rather than stopping to buy some every time we get thirsty.

 

Another little tidbit, if you buy the water from your cabin, you pay just the price of the water. They also sell it on the gangway (along with other items that you might have forgotten to grab, but want to take ashore...sunscreen, disposable camera, etc). If you buy it here, there will be a gratuity added. No biggie, but I did notice it when we used this service, so thought I would mention it.

[ZydeDiverDC]

Hello, I had just exactly that question when I first signed onto the NCL Sun. I called their customer service dept and they told me ... "NO. YOU CANNOT BRING YOUR OWN WATER ON BOARD. YOU MUST FIRST FAX OVER A REQUEST TO BRING ABOARD.. AND THE REQUEST WILL BE REVIEWED".. and it was not explicit if that meant it would be given a final ok either.

I was wowed as i had seen on CC several times by other threads that you COULD bring water on-board. So . .. for me, the answer to your question is not always what you read here.:confused: I say, try it and the worst .. they keep it till you leave. I liked the other suggestion of taking just enought till the next port!

When I went on Carnival they were fabulous to us and allowed a six pack of water no problemo! NCL so far really has not shown me that same flexibility. Case in point. While asking about the water .. I also asked if I might have gifts delivered to the ship, answer: "NO.. IF WE DONT SELL IT YOU DONT NEED IT" .. was the answer.. again.. i was wowed. I thought to myself.. did I accidently call the Soup****..:mad: ? man.. no more questions for this cruise line.

So I am still awaiting someone's thread to answer this definitely ..

[johnql]

ZydeDiverDC, wow! You really got a bad rep at NCL. You may or may not want to take this as a definitive answer, but I have NEVER heard or read about anybody having trouble taking bottled water onboard an NCL ship. In any quantity. The same goes for soda. Sounds like you got connected to a rep who was having a very bad day.

 

P.S. There's a whole list of items that can ordered as gifts to be delivered to a cruiser's cabin. Again, the rep either misunderstood your question or misinformed you.

[Zeno]

When I was on the Sun, we had absolutely NO problem bringing on bottled water.

[WazAnOkie]

Have never seen or heard of anyone having problems bringing water onboard. Personnaly, we take a couple of bottles with us for the trip down, and keep the bottles. Like others have said, we find the water on the ship very good - better than many city water systems, and probably better than some bottled 'filtered' waters. We refill the bottles and use around the ship and when going ashore and on excursions.

[ZydeDiverDC]

Hello, well I have to tell you that was my first impression .. I must have a "bad" rep and called back and actually got the same response from a different lady. .and I called back a week later and talked to yet a nother different lady.. all had the same response. "If you want to bring water on-board ship, you must fax in a request to .... " and as far as gifts.. it was way too limited for the type of gifts I wanted to send to my friends. When I cruised on Carnival I used Ace-of-Hearts Gift Baskets and they sent the most wonderful gifts to my friends and Carnival was great about it. NCL so far is not. I still haven't received any positive response from anyone in cust service in regards to : water, gifts and Meet n Greet. So far I am not very impressed with NCL as a "user-friendly" cruise line. If anyone else out there has a "line-in" to a rep that would help further than I have experienced so far.. I'm open!

And as far as taking water on board. I guess its up to the individual's choise of chance. Since I am still not convinced NCL is supportive in this endeavor!

[johnql]

I must have a "bad" rep and called back and actually got the same response from a different lady.

I just wanted to clarify that when I previously wrote, "You really got a bad rep at NCL", I meant that you got a bad representative on the phone when you called NCL. I did not mean that you have a bad reputation. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[lucy2222]

Does anyone have any thoughts on taking a case of bottled water, putting it in a box and checking it like luggage?

 

Has anyone done this?

[basketballmom]

We brought a case of bottled water, wrapped it around the side with duck tape (DH's favorite), put a luggage tag on it, and checked it in pierside with our luggage. We got almost 2/3 of the case back. The rest was "missing". I would carry on the bottled water next time. Of course packing it in a box is a good idea except you know you will have to go claim your box because it might look like alcohol :)

[barbgazz]

I called today about get a bar setup and here was the deal. $40 for a liter of Barcadi Silver or some other Bacardi. I asked if that included any mixers (meaning soda, etc.) and was told "no". Well I said can we bring soda on board, and I was told "no" and I asked about bottled water and was told we can't bring that either.

 

I asked if she was sure, since it seemed a little silly to me and the rep assured me that she was sure.

[johnql]

OK, here's the exact wording of NCL's policy, as posted on their web site:

 

"What can't I bring onboard?

Passenger is not allowed to bring onboard the vessel without the previous written permission of the Carrier any intoxicating liquors, or beverages, firearms, weapons of any kind, ammunition, explosive substances or any goods of a dangerous nature, nor animals of any kind, except service or guide animals, provided the passenger notifies Carrier prior to the cruise of his intention to bring such animal and agrees to take sole responsibility for any expense, damage, injuries or losses associated with or caused by such animal."

 

So, it appears that their customer service reps are quoting chapter and verse from their official policy. This, however, is in complete contrast to what is practiced at embarkation. If we were to follow the formal policy, soda and water would also be prohibited, which I don't believe has EVER been enforced. I now understand why people are getting mixed messages.

[Hikini]

I have taken bottled water on board, in plain view - not hidden - and no one batted an eye. 2 different NCL ships, not a problem!

 

Hikini:D

[ZydeDiverDC]

Hello, I am finding that the Sun seems to revolve in its own little orbit.. awaiting the news of some brave soul who dared to bring water on the Sun... oooooooo!;)

[Zeno]

zydeDiverDC: To quote from my earlier post:

 

When I was on the Sun, we had absolutely NO problem bringing on bottled water.

[ZydeDiverDC]

Ok Zena! will do the impossible ... mission that is.. and attempt water in-tow.. Any packing suggestions?!

[tigerlilycruiser12]

Tigerlily

 

From one tigerlily to another. :D I always carry as much bottled water as I can in my carryon and in plane view. I have seen other passengers carryon a case of water. through what I have experienced....no problem.

 

marie:)

[Zeno]

Ok Zena! will do the impossible ... mission that is.. and attempt water in-tow.. Any packing suggestions?!

I just carried a couple of bottles on in a large plastic shopping bag.

[shoreguy]

OK, here's the exact wording of NCL's policy, as posted on their web site:

 

"What can't I bring onboard?

Passenger is not allowed to bring onboard the vessel without the previous written permission of the Carrier any intoxicating liquors, or beverages, firearms, weapons of any kind, ammunition, explosive substances or any goods of a dangerous nature, nor animals of any kind, except service or guide animals, provided the passenger notifies Carrier prior to the cruise of his intention to bring such animal and agrees to take sole responsibility for any expense, damage, injuries or losses associated with or caused by such animal."

 

So, it appears that their customer service reps are quoting chapter and verse from their official policy. This, however, is in complete contrast to what is practiced at embarkation. If we were to follow the formal policy, soda and water would also be prohibited, which I don't believe has EVER been enforced. I now understand why people are getting mixed messages.

 

Take the comma out and I think the above is correct. No issue at all to bring your own water! It should read:

 

...........Passenger is not allowed to bring onboard the vessel without the previous written permission of the Carrier any intoxicating liquors or beverages, firearms, .........

 

Since beer and wine are not liquors but are intoxicating beverages :rolleyes:

 

You cut and pasted from the FAQs - here it is from the contract on the ticket

 

http://www.ncl.com/more/contract.htm

 

4. Passenger is not allowed to bring on board the vessel without the previous written permission of the Carrier any intoxicating liquors or beverages, firearms, weapons of any kind, ammunition, explosive substances or any goods of a dangerous nature, nor animals of any kind, except service or guide animals, provided the passenger notifies Carrier prior to the cruise of his intention to bring such animal and agrees to accept sole responsibility for any expense, damage, injuries or losses associated with or caused by such animal.

[johnql]

Take the comma out and I think the above is correct.

Ah ha! So, somebody at NCL needs to do some proofreading. I cut and pasted my quote from one of the FAQs on the NCL site. Your wording comes from the contract and, in theory, should have been the same as mine. Good sleuthing, shoreguy! I agree, of course, that your wording (the wording in the contract) should be the policy that should be enforced. For some reason, however, the customer service reps at NCL are telling callers differently. As far as I'm concerned, I will continue to take a couple six-packs of soda onboard. I'm a Pepsi drinker and NCL serves only Coke products.

[karfest]

We boarded, dropped our carryon luggage and then left the ship to return our rental car and pick up beverages. I carried on a 24 pack of Diet Pepsi, my husband carried on 12 waters and 12 Red Bulls-NO PROBLEM! We did get some odd looks from the embarking passengers because we had no luggage, just drinks!

 

Also- most of the ports have a market nearby to get water and soda if you don't want to haul it in your luggage or don't have a car handy at embarkation.

 

In reference to another thread, I also had a steamer/iron in my luggage and there were no problems with that, either- I think they are too busy looking for booze;)