NCL ships completely running out of types of alcohol

[cruiseny4life]

I went to Taco Bell this afternoon for lunch....there were at least five items on the menu that they didn't have the supplies for. Thankfully they had cheese, so I could have my quesadilla! Yes, yes, I know....Taco Bell is not real food, but I happen to enjoy every so often. 

[WickedRed]

2 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

i'm pretty sure there is no such thing as a "vodka truck."

 

What do you mean, no... vodka truck?  *stares in utter disbelief*  Next thing you're going to tell me is there's no Santa or Tooth Fairy.  The beef in grocery stores actually came from real cows...  I'm not really related to some prince in Africa, who died, and if I send them $5,000.  They will send me $5M.  None of that is real?   🤣😂🤣

[sanger727]

I agree that cancelling a vacation over this is a bit extreme. But if you get to day 3 of the cruise and they have run out of tequila and vodka, I think they should you give you the option to opt out of the drink package at that point and pro-rate whatever you paid back for the remainder of the cruise. It is absurd to run out of such basic liquors and then have pre-sold "all you can drink" packages. 

[markkw07]

7 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

I agree that cancelling a vacation over this is a bit extreme. But if you get to day 3 of the cruise and they have run out of tequila and vodka, I think they should you give you the option to opt out of the drink package at that point and pro-rate whatever you paid back for the remainder of the cruise. It is absurd to run out of such basic liquors and then have pre-sold "all you can drink" packages. 

I like your idea, but I am thinking NCL is going to counter and say, this is an included perk, unless you opted for the upgraded drink package, that is subject to availability. True, if you don't drink anything but tequila or vodka, to which anyone can say that, they can't really substitute that with anything else so they are sort of stuck with trying to compensate you in someway, but if the only thing you paid additional $$ for is the gratuities then i don't think they are going to obligated to give any additional $$ other then the gratuities on days that were unused. So after day 3, would they just "turn off" the drink package on the account? Then say, you order a beer, then you would have to pay for the cost of the beer?  I think it gets technical at this point. 

 

[sanger727]

8 minutes ago, markkw07 said:

I like your idea, but I am thinking NCL is going to counter and say, this is an included perk, unless you opted for the upgraded drink package, that is subject to availability. True, if you don't drink anything but tequila or vodka, to which anyone can say that, they can't really substitute that with anything else so they are sort of stuck with trying to compensate you in someway, but if the only thing you paid additional $$ for is the gratuities then i don't think they are going to obligated to give any additional $$ other then the gratuities on days that were unused. So after day 3, would they just "turn off" the drink package on the account? Then say, you order a beer, then you would have to pay for the cost of the beer?  I think it gets technical at this point. 

 

 

Yes, that is what I'm saying. If you drink primarily vodka and tequila and they run out. Then they should allow you to "turn off" the package and pay per drink, and then refund the service charge for the remaining days. Obviously, if you enjoy drinking beer or wine you wouldn't take them up on this. But, for example, I know people with mild allergies to certain types of alcohol that won't drink beer or wine but will drink certain hard liquors in mixed drinks. I do think completely running out of vodka or tequila is ridiculous. And not re-stocking with the gift shop liquor is more ridiculous. If they are selling a product they should feel some obligation to follow through. 

[Oxo]

On MSC Seashore. Running out of straws. Brands of spirits. Can't order spirits in Buffet.

So, each cruise line has its problems. Not only NCL.

 

[markkw07]

4 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

Yes, that is what I'm saying. If you drink primarily vodka and tequila and they run out. Then they should allow you to "turn off" the package and pay per drink, and then refund the service charge for the remaining days. Obviously, if you enjoy drinking beer or wine you wouldn't take them up on this. But, for example, I know people with mild allergies to certain types of alcohol that won't drink beer or wine but will drink certain hard liquors in mixed drinks. I do think completely running out of vodka or tequila is ridiculous. And not re-stocking with the gift shop liquor is more ridiculous. If they are selling a product they should feel some obligation to follow through. 

I am 100% with you on this! This will never happen, but I also think if they run of certain spirits, then you should be able to bring those back on board from the port stops without taking them and storing them until the end of the cruise like they do know. A lot more work for them, and people will definitely take advantage of that, but hey its good for us! lol.....😂

[tetleytea]

As it is, we have upcharges, and then there are upcharges after you purchase the upcharges, and then there are upcharges on the upcharges.   Do we really want a week of trying not to succumb to marketing ploys?

[MsMidge]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I went to Taco Bell this afternoon for lunch....there were at least five items on the menu that they didn't have the supplies for. Thankfully they had cheese, so I could have my quesadilla! Yes, yes, I know....Taco Bell is not real food, but I happen to enjoy every so often. 

At least they did not take your money and then tell you they didn’t have whatever you ordered refusing to give it back.

[Rob-Bob]

Glad I opted out of drink package for cruise leaving 7/23/22. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, Rob-Bob said:

Glad I opted out of drink package for cruise leaving 7/23/22. 

I'm glad you did too.  It will leave more liquor for everybody else. 😎

[tetleytea]

Then you'll be glad that I don't drink.   I just paid for a Free at Sea package, and I'm stuck with virgin marys and virgin mojitos.

[UKstages]

inadvertent duplicate post

Edited July 8, 2022 by UKstages

[UKstages]

5 hours ago, PATRLR said:

 

At least you got notice ahead of time.  We were told after we were in-flight.

 

i suspect we got notice only because this was part of the widely publicized carbon dioxide shortage of 2018 that caused many UK food shortages and supply chain issues. beer was rationed! meat was in short supply! ice cream was unavailable on the ground, too.

 

so, in this case, the absence of ice cream was completely predictable and went on for a good long while.

[BarnCat1]

The first thought that popped into my head while reading all this is that I hope the toilet paper truck makes it to the port ok.   Don't want to run short on that by day 3 in the middle of the ocean somewhere.  

[UKstages]

4 hours ago, markkw07 said:

I like your idea, but I am thinking NCL is going to counter and say, this is an included perk, unless you opted for the upgraded drink package, that is subject to availability. 

 

 

that's an interesting theory, but the countervailing legal argument would be that the decision to take the cruise is conditional upon these perks being provided... it's in their advertising, it's on their website, it's touted endlessly in their emails and by their sales reps. and no reasonable person would conclude that "free drinks" would exclude a certain type of spirit.

 

and, yes, i know that there are clauses in the contract that talk about the unavailability of services

... but that language should not apply here, because the basic conditions of what was promised have not been met. they don't have to run out of ALL types of spirits in order to be deficient in this regard. if a reasonable person would expect them to have vodka available, and they don't have it, and that's the free drink that particular person wants... well, that's a big problem.

 

to a vodka drinker, the promise of "free vodka at sea" is a qualifying condition that weighed heavily in their decision to purchase the cruise, a dealbreaker, if you will. "free drinks" means free vodka... there is no way to get around that.

 

so, while it might seem that NCL's liability here is limited to a refund of service charges on the free drinks package, some might argue that the entire cruise has been ruined and NCL would be stuck for a refund of all or a major portion of the cruise fare. in my view, NCL becomes even more culpable if they visit a downline port and are unable to restock.

 

10 minutes ago, BarnCat1 said:

The first thought that popped into my head while reading all this is that I hope the toilet paper truck makes it to the port ok.

 

here again, i hate to shatter childhood dreams, but there likely is no "toilet paper truck." that truck is packed with paper towels, disinfecting wipes, tissues, straws and a host of other food and hospitality supplies, including toilet paper... or the stuff that passes for toilet paper on NCL. frankly, no great loss if the toilet paper truck never arrives... the toilet paper is not exactly top of the line.

 

 

[BarnCat1]

6 minutes ago, UKstages said:

here again, i hate to shatter childhood dreams, but there likely is no "toilet paper truck." that truck is packed with paper towels, disinfecting wipes, tissues, straws and a host of other food and hospitality supplies, including toilet paper... or the stuff that passes for toilet paper on NCL. frankly, no great loss if the toilet paper truck never arrives... the toilet paper is not exactly top of the line.

 

 

   I would think that bad toilet paper is better than no toilet paper at all. Let that truck in the loading dock!!

[deliver42]

The toilet paper on ANY cruise ship leaves a lot to be desired, but that's what ship's plumbing will tolerate.

[GeezerCouple]

22 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

<snip>

 

here again, i hate to shatter childhood dreams, but there likely is no "toilet paper truck." that truck is packed with paper towels, disinfecting wipes, tissues, straws and a host of other food and hospitality supplies, including toilet paper... or the stuff that passes for toilet paper on NCL. frankly, no great loss if the toilet paper truck never arrives... the toilet paper is not exactly top of the line.

 

 

 

I really do hope that you realize that it is almost certain that "the toilet paper truck" (or "the vodka truck", etc.) is not meant literally?

 

However, "liquor supplies" or "paper/hygiene/cleaning supplies" might indeed be meant literally, but not whether each individual item has its own "item truck".

😉

 

As for the TP quality... ah, yes... 😱

It would be tempting to bring some along, but we aren't eager to clog up the systems more than they tend to do without any help from us....

OTOH, I'm not sure that's the only reason for the particular choice of the flimsy stuff.

I assume at least some of the choice is based upon cost....

 

GC

 

[PATRLR]

10 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

I really do hope that you realize that it is almost certain that "the toilet paper truck" (or "the vodka truck", etc.) is not meant literally?

Oh, I think it's very apparent that s/he didn't realize it wasn't meant literally.

[hrmkr]

On our last cruise on Royal Caribbean about 4 years ago, on the last night, the group we were hanging with finished  all the Fireball on the ship.  The bartenders went to every bar looking for more but none was found. 

[debenson0723]

5 hours ago, tetleytea said:

Then you'll be glad that I don't drink.   I just paid for a Free at Sea package, and I'm stuck with virgin marys and virgin mojitos.

You can decline the drink package and not pay the $20 per day gratuities with the Free at Sea package.

[CrazyTrain2]

you guys steal some corn, bread and 10,000 sugar packets.  We will be ready to roll in a few days.

 

I hope you like shampoo in your mojito

[Old Fart Cruisers]

1 hour ago, debenson0723 said:

You can decline the drink package and not pay the $20 per day gratuities with the Free at Sea package.

 

Yes.  I have done that on the last three cruises on NCL.  I can't justify spending $40.00 per day for two of us just for drinks.

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, hrmkr said:

On our last cruise on Royal Caribbean about 4 years ago, on the last night, the group we were hanging with finished  all the Fireball on the ship.  The bartenders went to every bar looking for more but none was found. 

Really?  They all drank that Fireball stuff?  Yikes!  I'm guessing that "normal" demand is about two bottles for the entire ship for the entire cruise. 🤣