No Alcohol in any UK ports - what! 😱

[belchro22]

Really? Do you think that the UK has targeted NCL for special treatment?  There have been numerous posts here and on Facebook of folks on other cruise ships in the same ports not having this issue. Also numerous posts about the responses from customer service. Someone at NCL has screwed up but still spewing the same excuse that it's UK law.

[Greener123]

4 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Where's the evidence you were lied to? Saying "I don't care what they say, they're lying" just won't cut it. That's not evidence. Neither is "but no other cruise line is doing this" or "no one has mentioned it on Cruise Critic."

How is the fact that it isn’t impacting other cruise lines not evidence of NCL lying? 
 

They’re claiming it is the law preventing them from selling alcohol, people from the country, port agents, guests on other lines and people working for customs and excise have all said that is false. 
 

why would a law only impact one company… 

[DCGuy64]

11 minutes ago, belchro22 said:

It's like buying a specialty dining package and going to Cagney's and being told they aren't allowed to serve you a steak but they can give you a burger.

 

It's about the fact that even if you have the free at-sea drinks package you've paid about $42 a day in gratuities on drinks you can't have.

 

It's about the false advertising of "Free unlimited Open Bar"

 

It's like bringing a bottle of wine to a BYOB and still being charged for wine the restaurant didn't provide. 

None of these analogies work, actually. For Cagney's, the correct analogy would be going there wanting a 40-oz tomahawk steak and them saying they were not able to provision it due to supply chain issues, i.e. something outside their control. Even the term "free unlimited open bar" has to be understood within the context of what they can offer, and when. If they run out of stuff, that's understood to be a part of the deal. If you're in a port where taxes have to be collected, you have to pay the taxes on the "free unlimited open bar." Even the wine analogy: if you didn't have a drinks package, you WOULD be charged the corkage fee for your BYOB. Everyone has to understand the limitations of "free unlimited open bar," including a scenario where the cruise line is unable, for whatever reason, to deliver it.

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, Greener123 said:

How is the fact that it isn’t impacting other cruise lines not evidence of NCL lying? 
 

They’re claiming it is the law preventing them from selling alcohol, people from the country, port agents, guests on other lines and people working for customs and excise have all said that is false. 
 

why would a law only impact one company… 

I'm not here to attack or defend NCL, I'm here to say that when the company gives an official explanation and you just don't believe them, that isn't evidence of the company lying. That's it.

[Greener123]

2 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'm not here to attack or defend NCL, I'm here to say that when the company gives an official explanation and you just don't believe them, that isn't evidence of the company lying. That's it.

It’s not just a case of not believing them, it’s overwhelming evidence of it being a lie. 

[DCGuy64]

I think it's clear that at this point, people are so dug into the narrative that NCL has lied to them, they won't be satisfied with any explanation. I maintain there IS an explanation, so that's it. (I believe earlier on it was clarified that UK law involved a payment of some kind, which wasn't presented to the ship until it was too late to do anything about it. That would certainly explain why a) NCL didn't have time to correct the issue and b) why they were the only ones affected) But I highly doubt the critics will be placated by this.

[Twolittleboys]

23 minutes ago, belchro22 said:

Again it's not strictly about the alcohol or a few hours. These folks are on multiple UK port cruises.

 

It's about being lied to about the reasons for the ban.

 

It's like buying a specialty dining package and going to Cagney's and being told they aren't allowed to serve you a steak but they can give you a burger.

 

It's about the fact that even if you have the free at-sea drinks package you've paid about $42 a day in gratuities on drinks you can't have.

 

It's about the false advertising of "Free unlimited Open Bar"

 

It's like bringing a bottle of wine to a BYOB and still being charged for wine the restaurant didn't provide. 

 

Well, it is almost more like you buy a specialty dining package, go to Cagney's, the tell you they can't serve steak but you are welcome to bring on a burger from a McDonalds and eat it there.

[KeithJenner]

11 minutes ago, Greener123 said:

How is the fact that it isn’t impacting other cruise lines not evidence of NCL lying? 
 

 

But apparently it may be affecting other lines, but those cruisers are completely different to NCL cruisers and just wouldn’t mention it anywhere would they.

Edited May 15, 2023 by KeithJenner

[flamingo_fancies]

39 minutes ago, Lauale said:

We are on the Star now.  It’s our first NCL cruise, but We knew we could bring wine aboard before boarding. there is no limit (within reason) and no corkage for guests with a drinks package. We chose to bring our own wine aboard as we were unsure of what wine was on offer on board.  We brought 6 bottles on board. During the ‘we can’t sell you alcohol’ periods we have been allowed to bring our own wine to bars and restaurants to drink.  And last night leaving Dublin we were encouraged to get cans for tonight. I’m disappointed that NCL are not allowing alcohol sales for whatever reason , but grateful we have our own wine. We are on vacation and like to have a drink.We have visited guest services to complain, their stance is, it’s the law, it’s nothing to do with duty and HMRC.  We refuse to allow this to spoil what is so far a lovely cruise, ship and itinerary.  

NCL'S Southampton port agent has even said its down to Duty and VAT.

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, Greener123 said:

It’s not just a case of not believing them, it’s overwhelming evidence of it being a lie. 

Disagree. You claiming something is a lie does not make it so.

[DCGuy64]

Just now, flamingo_fancies said:

NCL'S Southampton port agent has even said its down to Duty and VAT.

Well lookey here... There's your answer. I am assuming the Ione is another ship, which puts the lie to the notion that only NCL is affected. My vindication is at hand, LOL!

[Greener123]

2 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I think it's clear that at this point, people are so dug into the narrative that NCL has lied to them, they won't be satisfied with any explanation. I maintain there IS an explanation, so that's it. (I believe earlier on it was clarified that UK law involved a payment of some kind, which wasn't presented to the ship until it was too late to do anything about it. That would certainly explain why a) NCL didn't have time to correct the issue and b) why they were the only ones affected) But I highly doubt the critics will be placated by this.

That excuse may allow NCL to be forgiven for the May 4th Dawn sailing, but not the Star or the second Dawn sailing this week. 
 

how much notice do they need… the laws haven’t changed in the last 2 weeks, NCL have sailed in the UK for decades.

[Greener123]

Just now, DCGuy64 said:

Well lookey here... There's your answer. I am assuming the Ione is another ship, which puts the lie to the notion that only NCL is affected. My vindication is at hand, LOL!

It’s a typo of line… 🙄

[Greener123]

4 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Disagree. You claiming something is a lie does not make it so.

Again, it’s not my judgement, it’s the EVIDENCE

[KeithJenner]

This really is magnificent entertainment. I am literally laughing out loud here.

 

Superb. 🙂

[DCGuy64]

6 minutes ago, Twolittleboys said:

Well, it is almost more like you buy a specialty dining package, go to Cagney's, the tell you they can't serve steak but you are welcome to bring on a burger from a McDonalds and eat it there.

No, that doesn't work, either. When a cruise line is unable to serve ALL alcoholic beverages, but can serve SOME, it's more analogous to them saying they have to serve a limited menu for several hours, meaning you can still get your food another day or even later on the same day. The Norwegian Star was set to depart from Southampton at 4 pm, meaning by 5 pm it'd be outside UK waters and you could get your drinks. Hardly the crisis some believe it to be.

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, KeithJenner said:

This really is magnificent entertainment. I am literally laughing out loud here.

 

Superb. 🙂

Same. It really is hilarious how people can make a mountain out of a molehill.

[SouthamptonCruiseFan]

5 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I think it's clear that at this point, people are so dug into the narrative that NCL has lied to them, they won't be satisfied with any explanation. I maintain there IS an explanation, so that's it. (I believe earlier on it was clarified that UK law involved a payment of some kind, which wasn't presented to the ship until it was too late to do anything about it. That would certainly explain why a) NCL didn't have time to correct the issue and b) why they were the only ones affected) But I highly doubt the critics will be placated by this.

The rules have not changed since NCL last cruised here last summer. It's only NCL's decision making that has changed. The UK law does indeed include a payment of taxes. I believe what they discovered was that, unlike in other ports, they are not allowed to pass that on to passengers separately. But again, that is something that hasn't changed since last year. 

[Greener123]

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

No, that doesn't work, either. When a cruise line is unable to serve ALL alcoholic beverages, but can serve SOME, it's more analogous to them saying they have to serve a limited menu for several hours, meaning you can still get your food another day or even later on the same day. The Norwegian Star was set to depart from Southampton at 4 pm, meaning by 5 pm it'd be outside UK waters and you could get your drinks. Hardly the crisis some believe it to be.

It was 9:30pm before alcohol was available on the Star and past 10:30pm for the Dawn leaving Portland. 
 

 

[Norwayfan1]

7 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Well lookey here... There's your answer. I am assuming the Ione is another ship, which puts the lie to the notion that only NCL is affected. My vindication is at hand, LOL!

I think maybe lone is a misprint and it should say 'line'. I've never heard of a ship called lone.

[KeithJenner]

1 minute ago, Norwayfan1 said:

I think maybe lone is a misprint and it should say 'line'. I've never heard of a ship called lone.

No, no, it’s evidence that NCL aren’t lying. Apparently. 🙂 🙂 🙂 

[flamingo_fancies]

5 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I think it's clear that at this point, people are so dug into the narrative that NCL has lied to them, they won't be satisfied with any explanation. I maintain there IS an explanation, so that's it. (I believe earlier on it was clarified that UK law involved a payment of some kind, which wasn't presented to the ship until it was too late to do anything about it. That would certainly explain why a) NCL didn't have time to correct the issue and b) why they were the only ones affected) But I highly doubt the critics will be placated by this.

So you maintain the explanation is they needed to make a payment last minute? The whole we  didn't know about a payment narrative doesn't work. The line on the star May 11th was.. oh port athority only made us aware of a fee we needed to pay and there wasn't enough time to rectify it. Sorry had the whole of NCL come down with amnesia and forgotten that the exact same thing had happened on the Dawn in Southampton on May 4th a whole 7 days before the Star docked. Its also still happening on the Dawn's May 14th cruise. 

 

Then there is NCL customer services saying there are no restrictions on the consumption of alcohol in uk ports/waters. The port agent is even saying its down to duty and VAT. 

 

You still belive the party line🤯🤯

[DCGuy64]

5 minutes ago, Norwayfan1 said:

I think maybe lone is a misprint and it should say 'line'. I've never heard of a ship called lone.

Ha, I thought it was the MS Iona operated by P&O! 😄

[KeithJenner]

36 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Where's the evidence you were lied to? Saying "I don't care what they say, they're lying" just won't cut it. That's not evidence. Neither is "but no other cruise line is doing this" or "no one has mentioned it on Cruise Critic."

Absolutely nobody is saying “I don’t care what they say, they’re lying”.

 

Lots of people are saying “what they say doesn’t make sense and conflicts with the other evidence we have”.

 

They are two very very different things.

 

You may not agree with what people are saying but that doesn’t give you an excuse to misrepresent what they are saying.

Edited May 15, 2023 by KeithJenner

[SouthamptonCruiseFan]

9 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

No, that doesn't work, either. When a cruise line is unable to serve ALL alcoholic beverages, but can serve SOME, it's more analogous to them saying they have to serve a limited menu for several hours, meaning you can still get your food another day or even later on the same day. The Norwegian Star was set to depart from Southampton at 4 pm, meaning by 5 pm it'd be outside UK waters and you could get your drinks. Hardly the crisis some believe it to be.

No. They have to travel quite slowly down Southampton Water as it's a very busy and narrow shipping lane. They then have to go around the Isle of Wight to head west. Takes much longer than an hour, I understand from someone on board it was after 8.30pm before they could get a drink. Someone who'd paid for a 7.30pm Cagneys reservation couldn't enjoy a nice glass of red with it. That would upset me too on the first night of my holiday.

Edited May 15, 2023 by SouthamptonCruiseFan