No Alcohol in any UK ports - what! 😱

[Catchum]

Won't be looking at NCL for a Europe cruise at the moment. Looks like they don't have the cash flow to pay operating costs. Maybe next is "we weren't given enough notice to pay the fuel bill." (Stirring the pot)

[flamingo_fancies]

25 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

So......

I can give them the benefit of the doubt that 2 days was not enough notice to pay the bill for Southampton, but hey, they told us it was only Southampton & Dover & Belfast would not be an issue.

Now we are told there will be no Alcohol in Belfast, the whole day, well did they not have enough notice this time...... Or are NCL just shy of paying the taxes that are due. They are not shy in making us pay for the package.

 

This is wearing thin now!!

The whole company line is pure fabrication. If this apparent "fee" needed paying they wouldn't have only found out about it for 2 days prior, they would have been aware of it from at least may 4th when the Dawn was in Southampton.  If you live chat or phone anyone at NCL they are adamant that there are no restrictions on the sale of alcohol at any of the ports. Then you have the Southampton port agent saying its due to VAT and Duty on the alcohol. The whole fiasco is beyond belief 🤦‍♀️

[Norwayfan1]

21 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

 

This. It never fails to amaze me how many things people are happy to 'let go' after spending thousands on a cruise and agreeing to be provided with certain services in return. It's an incredibly one sided contract to begin with, and then we have people who defend large corporations who have resources, experience and whose job it is to deliver on what was promised to the customer - it really blows my mind.

 

NCL should be proactive in offering profuse and sincere apologies, along with refunds and compensation on top for this issue - anything less shows contempt for the customer (although I can see why they do it, as so many are happy to roll over and 'go with it' as gets evidenced on Cruise Critic all the time).

I so agree with you.

 

I sailed on the Norwegian Star a few months ago (first time with NCL for a very, very long time) and really enjoyed it, so I booked again to travel soon, once again out of Southampton.

 

I feel so disappointed they are behaving like this.

 

If I eventually end up not cruising with them again, it will not be because I've missed out on a couple of cocktails here and there.... it will because they have failed to treat their customers with anything like the respect they deserve.

[Cardex]

39 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

I'm buying wine off the ship as I'm in Mondeo tomorrow night and I'm not having another specialty meal wine free, they better let us pour it!

 

I was on the Gem last May when we had these same issues. What we ended up doing was the night before a dry port we would stock up. We would get unopened beer, shots (no need to get the mix), wine or whatever and keep it in our room fridge for the next day. The bartenders had no problem giving us anything we wanted and remember each card will get you 2 drinks. Just make a few visits to the bar and you will be all set for tomorrow.

[Pooston]

1 hour ago, belchro22 said:

Can we hope that maybe the issue was resolved by the time ship reached that port?🙂

No. Belfast was in the middle of the cruise. Portland was the last day. The only 'issue' is NCL not wanting to iat port taxes for serving drinks 

[Pooston]

I'm literally gobsmacked at the most recent information in the posts on here. It appears NCL are just lying continually to their customers. It really does beggar belief!  

[Cruising Lynne]

4 hours ago, cybermirth said:

It’s true.  I just boarded Norwegian Dawn today, May 14th, 2023 - NO ALCOHOL being served and I have a premium plus drinks package.  Garbage reason given by NCL.  LAST SAILING.

This is awful. I would be especially angry if I paid extra for the premium plus package.

 

We have cruised lot with Norwegian and have reached Sapphire Latitude level. But, if I was going to cruise in UK or Europe, I would definitely choose another line. NCL needs to fix this ASAP. Not wanting to pay the fees or taxes they need to to save a buck will cost them more in the long run. Fewer people will choose NCL.

[luv2kroooz]

14 minutes ago, Cardex said:

 

I was on the Gem last May when we had these same issues. What we ended up doing was the night before a dry port we would stock up. We would get unopened beer, shots (no need to get the mix), wine or whatever and keep it in our room fridge for the next day. The bartenders had no problem giving us anything we wanted and remember each card will get you 2 drinks. Just make a few visits to the bar and you will be all set for tomorrow.

Love it!! Very creative!!

Notwithstanding, I think it would be better to do business with an ethical company rather than contributing to the problem by attempting to skirt the law and consuming alcohol in a port where alcohol is not supposed to be served.

[luv2kroooz]

1 minute ago, Cruising Lynne said:

This is awful. I would be especially angry if I paid extra for the premium plus package

Yes, the premium plus clientele is literally getting toasted on this, pun intended. That upgrade package costs some money.

[Travelling2Some]

20 minutes ago, Cardex said:

 

I was on the Gem last May when we had these same issues. What we ended up doing was the night before a dry port we would stock up. We would get unopened beer, shots (no need to get the mix), wine or whatever and keep it in our room fridge for the next day. The bartenders had no problem giving us anything we wanted and remember each card will get you 2 drinks. Just make a few visits to the bar and you will be all set for tomorrow.

That was great that you got fair warning.  We experienced the same in January in Gibraltar without any warning.  Came back to the ship after a long, weary walk down the Rock and through the town, all ready to relax with a cocktail . . .

[WexIrl]

I worked hard, excuse the pun 😆 to get my wife to go on a cruise (she does not like sea/boats/sea) and after successfully acclimatizing her to said holiday/vacation, this nonsense comes to light.

My wife has been pushing hard for a land based holiday/vacation for the past year and I feel this carryon with NCL and uncertainty with no alcohol in ports will only cement her wishes...

[Ellipooh]

2 hours ago, bbnmom said:

In the US when in port you just have to pay the taxes which still relieves NCL of the burden. I wonder why they don't handle it that way. I wonder how much per drink it would be. I don't think it amounts to much in the U.S. Or am I confused?

 

This.
 

It is absolutely how it should work, at least in the short term (long term, the company can adjust its pricing as necessary).
 

I can only wonder why on earth they haven’t implemented this solution already. Maybe it has something to do with VAT and availability of VAT refunds for non-UK pax? But it’s probably something in the range of 20%, that’s a huge hit. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Ellipooh

[Greener123]

3 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

This.
 

It is absolutely how it should work, at least in the short term (long term, the company can adjust its pricing as necessary).
 

I can only wonder why on earth they haven’t implemented this solution already. Maybe it has something to do with VAT and availability of VAT refunds for non-UK pax? But it’s probably something in the range of 20%, that’s a huge hit. 

UK regulations say the advertised price has to include the taxes… they’d have to adjust all the menus constantly - or just absorb the cost like very other line does 

[KeithJenner]

We have paid tax on drinks in the UK on NCL in the past, but it was a few years ago and the last few times were been in Southampton with them they haven’t charged it.

 

I suspect that it is due to having to charge the advertised price, as mentioned.

[cybermirth]

Alcohol sales started at 8:42 pm in Cagney’s restaurant tonight.  We had almost finished our entrees when the good news came.  We immediately ordered a glass of wine!

 

 The Dawn was late leaving port, and we had to clear the estuary and Isle of Wight!

[Cruising Lynne]

1 hour ago, Cardex said:

 

I was on the Gem last May when we had these same issues. What we ended up doing was the night before a dry port we would stock up. We would get unopened beer, shots (no need to get the mix), wine or whatever and keep it in our room fridge for the next day. The bartenders had no problem giving us anything we wanted and remember each card will get you 2 drinks. Just make a few visits to the bar and you will be all set for tomorrow.

Good idea. This reminds me of a thread about bringing zipper bags to store snacks for late night consumption... The banana bread keeps well in the fridge this way. LOL Add a shot of rum and you can have banana rum cake!

[Cardex]

54 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

That was great that you got fair warning.  We experienced the same in January in Gibraltar without any warning.  Came back to the ship after a long, weary walk down the Rock and through the town, all ready to relax with a cocktail . . .

 

I can relate to the getting back on the ship and wanting a cold drink... The first couple of Greece ports we had no notice but then word got around and people got creative 🙂

[Ellipooh]

34 minutes ago, Greener123 said:

UK regulations say the advertised price has to include the taxes… they’d have to adjust all the menus constantly - or just absorb the cost like very other line does 

“Absorb“ really just means pass along to paying customers. Which I’m fine with.
I don’t fully understand a need to continually adjust menus but I’ll take your word for it. 
Would it be more manageable if, while in port, they just served alcohol to those who pre-purchased beverage packages?

[Greener123]

14 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

“Absorb“ really just means pass along to paying customers. Which I’m fine with.
I don’t fully understand a need to continually adjust menus but I’ll take your word for it. 
Would it be more manageable if, while in port, they just served alcohol to those who pre-purchased beverage packages?

That seems to be their get around in Greece at least. 
 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, luv2kroooz said:

Notwithstanding, I think it would be better to do business with an ethical company rather than contributing to the problem by attempting to skirt the law and consuming alcohol in a port where alcohol is not supposed to be served.

If I save some Vodka from yesterday and consume it today, what law am I "skirting?"

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, IrieBajan54 said:

Glad to read passengers are pushing back against this unscrupulous business practice. I noticed the cheerleaders have disappeared with all their alternative facts.

I think this is crap, but expect it to get fixed quickly.  In the meantime, I would just take that empty "free" water box to the bar and add a couple of neat shots every 15 minutes.  Tomorrow, I'll show up at the bar with my box of "water" and reverse the process. Does that make me a cheerleader?

Today: rum, no Coke

Tomorrow: Coke, no rum

😎

[luv2kroooz]

1 minute ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

If I save some Vodka from yesterday and consume it today, what law am I "skirting?"

Here we go. The intent of the law is to require cruise ships to evidently pay a fee. NCL has apparently decided to not pay the fee or claim they don't know about a fee. So, the workaround by passengers is to load up on alcohol in the prior port and consume it in the port where NCL didn't pay for the right for passengers to consume the alcohol. The intent of the law is "pay to drink". In your example, that is not happening because you loaded up in a prior port.

[ChiefMateJRK]

3 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

All they would have to do is add another sentence at the bottom of their sign stating they were issuing a pro rata refund of service charge and beverage package for the missed days.

NO!!!  I don't want a pro-rata refund of my free + gratuities basic drink package.  What would that be?  A buck ninety-five?  I want the full cruise experience.

[SouthamptonCruiseFan]

As reported from FB, NCL's port agent advised that Star and Dawn are unable to open their bar service as they refused to agree to pay duty and VAT on alcohol sales. On Dawn's cruise last week they opened the bars when in Belfast, but this week no alcohol to be served in Belfast on Dawn. NCL seem to have just discovered Belfast is in the UK. Not a clear picture on their visits to Scottish ports.

This is not a change to policy in the UK, just a change to policy in NCL - because theyve got away with similar elsewhere in Europe.

Someone in revenue needs to get to grips with this, and, like other cruiselines, build these taxes into the pricing as it's getting ridiculous. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 minute ago, luv2kroooz said:

Here we go. The intent of the law is to require cruise ships to evidently pay a fee. NCL has apparently decided to not pay the fee or claim they don't know about a fee. So, the workaround by passengers is to load up on alcohol in the prior port and consume it in the port where NCL didn't pay for the right for passengers to consume the alcohol. The intent of the law is "pay to drink". In your example, that is not happening because you loaded up in a prior port.

I believe that you are mistaken.  Taxes and fees are applied to business transactions.  None occur if I am consuming my stockpile that I previously obtained.  I'm guessing you're not a tax lawyer.  Do I need to get my lawyer involved?  Calling @complawyer!!! 🤣