Wine corkage fee question

[joeinsb]

My wife and I are thinking about treating ourselves to a Haven suite to celebrate a special occasion. We would like to bring a couple of bottles of champagne on board to enjoy strictly in our stateroom. If I am reading Norwegian's alcohol policy correctly, there is no limit on the number of bottles we can take onto the ship, but we will be required to pay a per-bottle fee for them even if they will never leave our suite. Is that true? If so, how is that fee charged? Do they charge you when you go through security? How does that work since you haven't yet checked in with your crddit card. Do they confiscate the bottles and then give them back to you after you check in. We have never sailed on Norwegian, so I am just curious how the system works. I certainly don't want to inconvenience my fellow passengers by holding up the line at security while I am paying for a couple of bottles of champagne. Any insights would be appreciated.

[MeHeartCruising]

You are reading correctly.  You can bring as many bottles as you like.  As you go through security to board the ship they will guide you to a table where an employee puts a sticker on the bottle and manually write up a paper ticket charging your room for the fee.  The charge will show up on your onboard account a day or 2 later, usually as a charge from one of the bars or restaurants.  After stopping at the table, you proceed onboard with your bottles.  On occasion, they don't notice the bottles, or the security guards don't care.  It's up to you to then decide if you want to bother stopping at the table.  I've also seen where the table wasn't actually manned (usually when I pass through security very early in the check-in process).

 

FYI, once you're on board, you can actually drink the bottle anywhere you desire... in your cabin, in a restaurant, in the dining room, etc.  Theoretically, the employees look for the sticker to make sure the corkage fee has been paid, but I'm not sure how closely most of them look.

Edited December 21, 2019 by MeHeartCruising

[Sauer-kraut]

You are more than welcome to take the bottle to any restaurant and should you not finish, the ship will store it for you, give you a chit and you can retrieve it from ANY restaurant or bar to drink when you decide.  Also you can ask your steward to place a wine bucket with ice in your cabin to keep your bottle chilled.  Glasses can be had from any bar or the steward can also provide.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, joeinsb said:

If I am reading Norwegian's alcohol policy correctly, there is no limit on the number of bottles we can take onto the ship, but we will be required to pay a per-bottle fee for them even if they will never leave our suite. Is that true? If so, how is that fee charged? Do they charge you when you go through security? How does that work since you haven't yet checked in with your crddit card. Do they confiscate the bottles and then give them back to you after you check in. We have never sailed on

There is no limit to the number of bottles you can bring onboard. It must be hand carried. If you leave it in your checked luggage, your bags will be confiscated and you'll spend time in a [long] line waiting to get your bags from the naughty room. 

You pay $15 per 750ml bottle after security. Most people leave a credit card when they check in online. In any case, you charge it to your room account at the corkage desk (eventhough you have not fully checked onto the ship).

[AllisonJames]

I have another question related to this issue — can you only bring wine on during embarkation or can you bring it in from any port.  Maybe this is a silly question but I didn’t know if they’d be set up to “check in” the wine and record the corkage fee at other ports.  We’ll be in Hawaii and plan to embark with a number of bottles but might run out 😊

[Jan_In_Maine]

When we were in Hawaii we stopped at a winery at one of the ports.  We purchased wine, NCL would have charged us the corkage fee when getting back on the ship, but we elected to have them hold the wine (no corkage fee) as we bought it to take home with us.  They retrieved the wine on the last night.  Jan

[fshagan]

On 12/21/2019 at 12:44 PM, AllisonJames said:

I have another question related to this issue — can you only bring wine on during embarkation or can you bring it in from any port.  Maybe this is a silly question but I didn’t know if they’d be set up to “check in” the wine and record the corkage fee at other ports.  We’ll be in Hawaii and plan to embark with a number of bottles but might run out 😊

 

You can only bring on wine at embarkation. You can bring as much as you can carry, but each 750ml bottle is subject to the $15 corkage fee no matter where consumed. Champagne and wine only, no other alcohol.

 

The only cruise line I know of that allows bringing on wine and beer in ports is Disney (they limit you to two bottles and a six pack at embarkation, but you can bring on an additional two bottles or a six pack at each port. They charge corkage of $25 per bottle only if you consume the wine in a public place).

[teacherman]

RCCL, Celebrity, and HAL all allow 2 bottles per stateroom to be brought aboard.

[NLH Arizona]

7 minutes ago, teacherman said:

RCCL, Celebrity, and HAL all allow 2 bottles per stateroom to be brought aboard.

Both RCCL and Celebrity charge a corkage fee if consumed in a public place, so if you want to bring the bottle to the dining room on Celebrity, it will cost you $25 per bottle.  

[Podie]

I was on NCL Joy 2 weeks ago. I carried on 2 bottles of wine and my cabinmate brought one bottle in her carry-on and put one in her checked luggage. None of us were asked to pay the corkage fee and her checked luggage came through just fine.

[Cnew405]

Also, don't forget you will get a bottle of "champagne" with the Haven suite.  It's crappy, but lol its "free" . We always use it for mimosa's on one of the sea days, as it is okay for that. 

[esm54687]

1 hour ago, Podie said:

I was on NCL Joy 2 weeks ago. I carried on 2 bottles of wine and my cabinmate brought one bottle in her carry-on and put one in her checked luggage. None of us were asked to pay the corkage fee and her checked luggage came through just fine.

This is not the norm........ typically the passenger either declares it at security or seen during your carry-on xray.    If it's in checked baggage, it is typically found and you're called to the "naughty room" once on board to claim it and get charged (this is a long process because you and many other passengers are there for bottles, fans, or other restricted items) 

[esm54687]

On 12/25/2019 at 1:10 PM, teacherman said:

RCCL, Celebrity, and HAL all allow 2 bottles per stateroom to be brought aboard.

which has what to do with NCL's policy? 

[fshagan]

4 hours ago, Podie said:

I was on NCL Joy 2 weeks ago. I carried on 2 bottles of wine and my cabinmate brought one bottle in her carry-on and put one in her checked luggage. None of us were asked to pay the corkage fee and her checked luggage came through just fine.

 

Security sometimes misses it. I've heard of it happening. But that's an exception to the rule. When someone asks what happens, we have to respond with what the policy is and what is likely to happen, to be fair to the person asking the question.