How to Get Beer into your Cabin?

[cdngooner]

We like to enjoy a beer on our balcony. Bringing own beer on board to store in fridge is not allowed. We have the UBP. As far as I can tell, our options are:

a) take one out of the mini-fridge. If we do that, do we have to pay if we have the UBP?

b) go to one of the bars, order a beer for free with our UBP, and walk it back to the room. If we do that, will they give us unopened bottles, or do I have to walk with open beers back to my cabin?

c) order room service. But I doubt that's included in UBP.

d) is it possible to buy a six-pack on board and keep it in our mini-fridge? Would that be cost effective?

e) any other options?

[ColinIllinois]

Read the terms and conditions of the UBP on NCL.com.

 

https://www.ncl.com/terms/ultimate-beverage-package

 

If you are nice to the bartenders they will give you unopened bottles. ;)

[cdngooner]

OK, so that policy answers some of the questions. Now the options are:

 

a) take one out of the mini-fridge, but not included in UBP.

b) go to one of the bars, order a beer for free with our UBP, and hope the bartender will let us take it away unopened.

c) order room service, but not included in UBP.

 

None of those are very palatable options. Are there others?

 

d) is it possible to buy a six-pack on board and keep it in our mini-fridge? Would that be cost effective?

e) any other options?

[hawkeyetlse]

The best option is to order a bottle with your UBP and ask them not to open it. I'm not sure why you find that unpalatable. The problem is, you can't go back five minutes later and ask the same barman for the same thing. But there are a lot of bars around the ship. So with a little legwork you should be able to build up a nice stockpile in your cabin fridge. If there are two of you with the UBP, this can go even faster.

 

If for some reason that doesn't work out, you can order a beer bucket at most bars (6 beers for the price of 5, you can mix and match). You can get all 6 bottles unopened, and they will give you a bottle opener. But you'll have to pay full price for 5 of the beers. No further discount with the UBP.

Edited September 5, 2016 by hawkeyetlse

[BirdTravels]

We like to enjoy a beer on our balcony. Bringing own beer on board to store in fridge is not allowed. We have the UBP. As far as I can tell, our options are:

a) take one out of the mini-fridge. If we do that, do we have to pay if we have the UBP?

Not covered by UBP. Pay as you go with the mini-fridge price.

 

b) go to one of the bars, order a beer for free with our UBP, and walk it back to the room. If we do that, will they give us unopened bottles, or do I have to walk with open beers back to my cabin?

Bartenders are suppose to open the bottles. You probably can get them to leave it sealed. As you walk from one end of the ship to the other, stash your beer and pick up another. BTW: UBP does not cover buckets of beer, just individual servings.

 

c) order room service. But I doubt that's included in UBP.

Not covered by UBP. Pay as you go with the room service price (and a $7.95 per order delivery charge)

 

d) is it possible to buy a six-pack on board and keep it in our mini-fridge?

Would that be cost effective?

Not covered by UBP. And not sold in six-packs. Per prior response, you could just buy a bucket of beer (left sealed) and carry that back to your room. It is not covered by the UBP, but is somewhat cost effective.

e) any other options?

get a room near a bar so the walk is not so far.

 

Happy crusting.

[Pitzel]

Find a bartender you like and treat him or her well. You may be surprised what you can get under the UBP.

 

We had a cabana on GSC earlier this year. Even though buckets of beer are not included in the UBP, our cabana steward offered to bring us several beers to save himself from having to make several trips back and forth between the bar and the cabana. We tipped him well when he brought the first 6 bottles in a bucket...and we were kept in good supply all day. When we were ready to head back to the ship, we took our 3-4 unopened beers back to our stateroom with us.

[don't-use-real-name]

Check out if NCL still has the "Corks and Caps" program a sort of mini UBP

featuring only wine and beer.

I think it has been previously posted/noted that using the UBP and getting

too too many drinks in rapid succession might be noticed when the bartender

or other source rings up the beverage invoice ?!? This even if running all over

the ship to stock your party suite - can't beat the electronic cash register !

Stay out of the mini-fridge to avoid stateroom charges - NO APPLICATION or

association with the UBP.

If buying the 5 beers and get 6 have your cabin steward ice the unopened

beers.

To make your beers go further fix them with ice making your own diet beer !

 

Out of ideas to beat the NCL system ?

Found a better way don't post it here on CC !

[SullytheBFG]

When we were on the Escape last year and they were closing the bar down for the evening in Vibe. We used to get brought buckets of beer or a bottle of prosecco in an ice bucket without even asking.

 

We were nice and friendly to the bar staff, it helps :-)

[hawkeyetlse]

Check out if NCL still has the "Corks and Caps" program a sort of mini UBP featuring only wine and beer.

They already have the full UBP. Why would they look into purchasing a mini-UBP on top of that? If the ship does any sort of electronic surveillance of UBP orders, they do it for Cork & Caps, too.

[jimmcg29]

If you don't mind Fosters they never open it and you don't even have to ask. My wife would do this because she always wanted a beer or two while getting ready for dinner. She did ask for a glass so she had something to pour it into. Every time you are headed to your room for any reason grab a can.

 

If I remember correctly Molson also came in an unopened can but that is only a 12 oz beer so there would be a little more back and forth to stock your room.

[Honestlee314]

We have been on many cruises with UBP, the first day we ask room steward to empty the mini fridge. We ussually have 2-4 beers in there by the end of the first day to enjoy on the balcony. Once you know the bartenders, they are good about knowing what your needs are ;)

[boatseller]

Um..through the door? :) Just kidding.

 

If you ask the Stateroom Attendant they will clear the mini-bar.

 

If you get to know a bartender who will skip opening the bottles, you can get them on the UBP.

 

What ship? You might find the draft selection better than the bottles, especially on Escape.

[Jediknight4jc]

How much does a bucket of beer cost? I am guessing around $30, not counting 18% gratuity?

Edited September 5, 2016 by Jediknight4jc

[dexddd]

How much does a bucket of beer cost? I am guessing around $30, not counting 18% gratuity?

 

That's probably on the low end more like $40 give or take. Check a bar menu floating around here and it would be whatever beers you choose x 5 with one free total = 6 beers plus the 18%.

[hawkeyetlse]

Most beers are $6.50 or $6.95, so a bucket would be around $33-$35 before tip.

[alreadypacked]

We have UBP too.

 

We like to have a cocktail or two in our room sometimes too. On other lines I have ordered a bottle of vodka for our room (at an exorbitant price) for the convenience of not having leave the room to get a drink. Also a mixed cocktail gets all watery if I want to save it for later.

 

I could only find wines for sale on ncl site. Anyone know if NCL sells bottles of liquor for in-cabin consumption?

[hawkeyetlse]

I could only find wines for sale on ncl site. Anyone know if NCL sells bottles of liquor for in-cabin consumption?

Yes, they do, although I haven't seen any very recent info about this. Have a look here:

Bar setup ahead of time different than buying a bottle at the bar?

 

You can also buy full bottles on board. Here are the current prices:

 

 

Some of these brands can be pre-ordered as part of a bar set-up in your cabin. The price per bottle should be the same as what you see here.

 

If you do call NCL and they send you the current info about brands and prices for bar set-ups, please post it in a new thread here!

[alreadypacked]

Thanks Hawkeyetlse!

 

If I get any new info about prices etc, I'll definitely post a thread.

[bbryan5]

So with a little legwork you should be able to build up a nice stockpile in your cabin fridge.

 

This is exactly what we do. Go to a bar, order a beer, bring to the room. Go to another bar, order a beer, bring it to the room. You can build a nice little collection of beers in no time! 99% of the time, when I ordered a beer, and gave the bar tender a dollar, they were more than happy to leave the cap on for us.

[Gershep]

We never had a hard time getting unopened bottles of beer. I would just tell the bartender that I wanted it for later to drink on balcony. Whenever we were going back to the cabin we would grab a couple and keep for a later time. We always had a supply on hand. It was convenient coming back from the beach and having a cold one without stopping at a bar.

[jkneern]

Just tell the server you are taking it back to your cabin, no problem they wont open it. We do this all the time.

[Crusi3r_]

If you are a domestic beer fan, those come in 16 oz aluminum bottles with a twist cap.

I do not recall if a bartender gives you those particular beers with or without the cap.

If you get the aluminum bottle with the cap, I have to believe that twisting it tightly closed would compare favorably to the original seal on those aluminum bottles.

If the glass bottle imports are more your thing, hopefully a few bartenders will be kind enough to give you a sealed bottle.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited September 6, 2016 by Crusi3r_

[Misskitty72]

Just a word of warning. Watch out for the mini bar beer.

1.) It's not included with the UBP

2.) I tried one on my last cruise and it was skunky!!

It may have been bad luck, but I think it has more to do with the fact that some people like to empty out the fridge, and then the room steward just puts it all back in for the next cruise. All that cold to warm does a number on beer.

[detroitlions]

I would never drink any thing out of that mini fridge I don't see the point in it anymore they should have it as a request. Those drinks have been in and out of the fridge way too many times. As for the question I always bring at least 2 closed domestics in aluminum bottles in my room a few times a day. I like to chill out and have at least 2 before dinner when My wife is getting ready.

[Crusi3r_]

I would never drink any thing out of that mini fridge I don't see the point in it anymore they should have it as a request. Those drinks have been in and out of the fridge way too many times. As for the question I always bring at least 2 closed domestics in aluminum bottles in my room a few times a day. I like to chill out and have at least 2 before dinner when My wife is getting ready.

 

 

 

Do you recall if the bartenders open the twist cap on domestics?

If they do open it, do they leave the twist cap so you can open and seal the bottle?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk