No Alcohol in any UK ports - what! 😱

[Greener123]

What makes me laugh now in all of this is that NCL are now going to suffer the consequences for a while…

 

thanks to the reporting from a few online cruise sites and YouTubers - plus whatever else comes out, people who haven’t been following along live will find it and feel the need to contact NCL or get worried and cancel/not book. 
 

I hope we actually find out the truth as to why it happened in the first place

[JeanieC,Aston]

9 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

And you get extra points for being able to spell it!

And even more if you can pronounce it,,,,,,,Dun Leery?

Edited May 22, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[Centuryrace]

59 minutes ago, Greener123 said:

What makes me laugh now in all of this is that NCL are now going to suffer the consequences for a while…

 

thanks to the reporting from a few online cruise sites and YouTubers - plus whatever else comes out, people who haven’t been following along live will find it and feel the need to contact NCL or get worried and cancel/not book. 
 

I hope we actually find out the truth as to why it happened in the first place

I doubt ncl will worry too much, yes they have tried to put it right now. We will never know why they tried it on. However as they state on their corporate site they are running at 103 percent occupancy on forward bookings I don't think a few folk changing lines or cancelling cruises will upset them. They are still easily the cheapest booze add on offering on the market plus the other 3 things included. 

[luv2kroooz]

10 hours ago, Mommapadraig said:

The itineraries and price are comparable. My point is I have never looked before.  I’m sure we aren’t the only people who are looking.

We looked and then booked. We are giving it a try this fall. One other positive, Princess sells the packages onboard on Day 1 for the same price as in advance. This allows you to buy on Day 1 and use onboard credit to offset the cost of something we value. You can't do this on NCL because you have to pre buy free at sea. With NCL, we seem to find ourselves in the position of dumping OBC on stuff we don't really value.

 

You are exposed to any Princess price increase if you wait to buy onboard. We find the Princess beverage package is much more inclusive on the top shelf liquors, but also includes bottled water, milkshakes, specialty coffee and tea, fresh squeezed juices, etc.

[luv2kroooz]

1 hour ago, Centuryrace said:

They are still easily the cheapest booze add on offering on the market plus the other 3 things included. 

If you open to a Princess cruise and have not looked at the Princess Plus and Premier bundled offerings, I would softly encourage you to do so. I used to share your feelings, but when I looked at those packages, I found out I was wrong. Those packages are truly all inclusive. There is, however, a 15 per drink limit per day on alcohol, so not unlimited. Nonalcohol is all inclusive. If you drink liquor, no upcharges for Grey Goose, Hendricks, Woodford, Bailey's, Chambord, Talisker. No $21.80 per person per day service charges, either. Specialty coffee tea, bottled water, milkshakes, fresh juice all included. Might be worth a look. 

Edited May 22, 2023 by luv2kroooz

[SouthamptonCruiseFan]

13 hours ago, Myfanwy60 said:

I was the one who sent the elusive Tony questions and requested a face to face to no avail

We met with Tony on a previous cruise. Waste of time, just said rules came from Miami and onboard they couldn't do anything different. He said let me get you a drink though. Thought it might be a premium one, but no, just the not-so-great wine we were already entitled to in our drinks package!! Were we supposed to thank him??

[Rosy 2 cakes]

12 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

And you get extra points for being able to spell it!

Dun Laoghaire is in Republic of Ireland so its not part of the UK and not subject to the same rules as Northern Ireland

[Centuryrace]

1 hour ago, luv2kroooz said:

If you open to a Princess cruise and have not looked at the Princess Plus and Premier bundled offerings, I would softly encourage you to do so. I used to share your feelings, but when I looked at those packages, I found out I was wrong. Those packages are truly all inclusive. There is, however, a 15 per drink limit per day on alcohol, so not unlimited. Nonalcohol is all inclusive. If you drink liquor, no upcharges for Grey Goose, Hendricks, Woodford, Bailey's, Chambord, Talisker. No $21.80 per person per day service charges, either. Specialty coffee tea, bottled water, milkshakes, fresh juice all included. Might be worth a look. 

We as you advised I have had a look at princess plus and premier. The cost of plus would be gbp 618 for 20 days compared to 149 with ncl, which includes a meal package, Internet and shore excursion discount. Not sure that's in any way comparable. The premier one would be 1060 pounds. If I want to drink high end spirits such as baileys and hendriks it would be way cheaper to pay the extra on NCL. But each to their own. 

[insidecabin]

18 minutes ago, Centuryrace said:

We as you advised I have had a look at princess plus and premier. The cost of plus would be gbp 618 for 20 days compared to 149 with ncl, which includes a meal package, Internet and shore excursion discount. Not sure that's in any way comparable. The premier one would be 1060 pounds. If I want to drink high end spirits such as baileys and hendriks it would be way cheaper to pay the extra on NCL. But each to their own. 

 

Where did you get £149 for FAS 20days?

 

For 20 days FAS is  £349pp

https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions-ceuk

Free at Sea upcharge amounts are per person based on sail lengths:

Sail Length	FAS Upcharge GBP Per Person
3-5 Nights	£99
6-8 Nights	£149
9-11 Nights	£199
12-14 Nights	£249
15-17 Nights	£299
18+ Nights	£349

 

then you have the £15.5pppd gratuities(included with princess) another £310

£659  with NCL

 

Where did you get £618 for princess 20days?

 

P+ is £50ppp but for a while next years cruises its £25, 

£1k normal or £500 advanced 2024 bookings

 

Princess drinks package is far superior to NCl

NCL internet is 300mins Princess unlimited. 

 

Another big player in the UK is MSC they include grats and their drinks package is priced on a per cruise basis  often under £20pppd  their drins  package ls also far better then the NCL one.

[insidecabin]

14 hours ago, Mississippian said:

This is going to do some real damage to NCL in the long term. A tremendous share of times when people might want a drink are in port or within a few miles of port. Most people will cruise elsewhere so long as there is fear of not being able to have a drink in port. In addition, there will be more people not taking the drink package and just bringing some wine on board and paying the corkage. And no one can be expected to have any guilt about using Rum Runners to bring spirits on board. Yes, it is against the rules, but so is not providing drinks that people have already paid for.

 

At this point, all NCL can do is compete on price, because all of the other mass-market lines are providing a better cruise experience.

Some ports you don't need rum runners as no one checks for alcohol/liquids

[Centuryrace]

20 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

 

Where did you get £149 for FAS 20days?

 

For 20 days FAS is  £349pp

https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions-ceuk

Free at Sea upcharge amounts are per person based on sail lengths:

Sail Length	FAS Upcharge GBP Per Person
3-5 Nights	£99
6-8 Nights	£149
9-11 Nights	£199
12-14 Nights	£249
15-17 Nights	£299
18+ Nights	£349

 

then you have the £15.5pppd gratuities(included with princess) another £310

£659  with NCL

 

Where did you get £618 for princess 20days?

 

P+ is £50ppp but for a while next years cruises its £25, 

£1k normal or £500 advanced 2024 bookings

 

Princess drinks package is far superior to NCl

NCL internet is 300mins Princess unlimited. 

 

Another big player in the UK is MSC they include grats and their drinks package is priced on a per cruise basis  often under £20pppd  their drins  package ls also far better then the NCL one.

Sorry fat fingers. It's 10 days as are the princess ones straight off their website. Been on msc, drinks are low grade brands. Not sure where you get your information. The ncl and beverage plus are for the same level of drink and at 15 dollar level, the even if you add the 15 dollar gratuity which I dont it's still half the price. Internet included is 150 minutes not sure where 300comes from. Unless princess are offering deals then it's way cheaper on Ncl for the package and with just as good a range of booze. 

[luv2kroooz]

We are US based booked for an upcoming 10 day on Princess. By way of example, we are paying $600 (60*10) each for our plus package. We are booking onboard on Day 1 because between SH credit, Princess OBC, and TA OBC we each have $300 OBC per person to burn. So our net out of pocket is going to be $300 per person, or $30 per person per day for the Princess plus package. For $30 per person per day, included is our daily service charge to dining room and room steward, which is $16 per day on Princess. Then, we get unlimited internet and the plus beverage package which includes many of the high end liquors that NCL charges for plus everything I mentioned above. There are other inclusions like fitness classes and sundaes but they are of no value to us. Plus, we don't have to worry about buying coffees and bottles of water, or port regulations, bar closures, upcharges etc. Our exposure is that Princess decides to raise the $60 package price prior to sailing. As mentioned above, everyone should do what makes the most sense for them. We don't believe NCL has the cheapest package in the industry is the point I was trying to make. They do have very creative marketing and have developed a strong perception of Free offerings, but there are a lot of upcharges and restrictions in their Free program. It may make sense to shop around. In full disclosure, NCL does not limit consumption of alcohol. Princess has a 15 drink per day limit on alcohol.

Edited May 22, 2023 by luv2kroooz

[Centuryrace]

6 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

We are US based booked for an upcoming 10 day on Princess. By way of example, we are paying $600 (60*10) each for our plus package. We are booking onboard on Day 1 because between SH credit, Princess OBC, and TA OBC we each have $300 OBC per person to burn. So our net out of pocket is going to be $300 per person, or $30 per day for the plus package. For $30 per person per day, included is our daily service charge to dining room and room steward, which is $16 per day on Princess. Then, we get unlimited internet and the plus beverage package which includes many of the high end liquors that NCL charges for plus everything I mentioned above. There are other inclusions like fitness classes and sundaes but they are of no value to us. Plus, we don't have to worry about buying coffees and bottles of water, or port regulations, bar closures, upcharges etc. Our exposure is that Princess decides to raise the $60 package price prior to sailing. As mentioned above, everyone should do what makes the most sense for them. We don't believe NCL has the cheapest package in the industry is the point I was trying to make. It may make sense to shop around.

You are fortunate with the extras and obc. But in a straight price in UK, every cruise line is, way over the ncl price and offer less. Not sure what high end drinks you like but all the included spirits and wine and beer offerings are fine on ncl, unless you are a vodka and whiskey conesseuer and drink them neat or consume champagne. But as I said each to their own - and apart from the occasional brain fade ncl have been excellent over the years. All things change and a good friend who recently took a princess cruise in Australia said the food was poor and the ship falling apart😳

[insidecabin]

6 minutes ago, Centuryrace said:

Sorry fat fingers. It's 10 days as are the princess ones straight off their website. Been on msc, drinks are low grade brands. Not sure where you get your information. The ncl and beverage plus are for the same level of drink and at 15 dollar level, the even if you add the 15 dollar gratuity which I dont it's still half the price. Internet included is 150 minutes not sure where 300comes from. Unless princess are offering deals then it's way cheaper on Ncl for the package and with just as good a range of booze. 

 

NCL 300mins is for 18+ days.

 

10 days FAS is £199(some TA will knock £10 off that)   

 

You need to add grats(£155) to be compatible or what you would PAYG.

 

Princess plus would be £500 for 10n cruise or £250 for a 2024 one.

 

 Princess Premier is £649 for a 10n if using that you need to do FAS+ for NCL that's another £390

 

 

Been on MSC recently(March/April) their premium extra drinks package includes far more than the  NCL option.

[luv2kroooz]

5 minutes ago, Centuryrace said:

You are fortunate with the extras and obc. But in a straight price in UK, every cruise line is, way over the ncl price and offer less. Not sure what high end drinks you like but all the included spirits and wine and beer offerings are fine on ncl, unless you are a vodka and whiskey conesseuer and drink them neat or consume champagne. But as I said each to their own - and apart from the occasional brain fade ncl have been excellent over the years. All things change and a good friend who recently took a princess cruise in Australia said the food was poor and the ship falling apart😳

Oh no. I hope our Princess ship doesn't fall apart while we are onboard. Hopefully the life boats are in good working order. If not, I'm going down drunk. Lol.

 

I particularly enjoy Woodford and Talisker. The recent change to Grey Goose on NCL doesn't bother me. I prefer Belvedere which I am told is phasing out on NCL. Both Goose and Belvedere listed on Princess menus.

 

SO prefers Bailey's and Chambord which are up charges on NCL.

Edited May 22, 2023 by luv2kroooz

[insidecabin]

16 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

 NCL does not limit consumption of alcohol. Princess has a 15 drink per day limit on alcohol.

That can be a problem when both like a drink or two on a long sea day.

I can hit 15 but then I borrow from the OH allowance as a light weight. 

Another strategy is don't do the small beers(bottles cans) drink the biggest they do on the package. 

[SteveH2508]

20 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

<snip>

In full disclosure, NCL does not limit consumption of alcohol. Princess has a 15 drink per day limit on alcohol.

You might want to keep an eye out for a sneaky-ish trend in the Carnival brands. The 15 a day limit used to refer to alcoholic drinks only. It is now beginning to be amended to cover all drinks. HAL started this trend and P&O's new drinks packages seem to be incorporating this change.

 

I'll bet that Princess won't be far behind.

[luv2kroooz]

3 minutes ago, SteveH2508 said:

You might want to keep an eye out for a sneaky-ish trend in the Carnival brands. The 15 a day limit used to refer to alcoholic drinks only. It is now beginning to be amended to cover all drinks. HAL started this trend and P&O's new drinks packages seem to be incorporating this change.

 

I'll bet that Princess won't be far behind.

Thank you for this. I was not aware.

[Myfanwy60]

16 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

That can be a problem when both like a drink or two on a long sea day.

I can hit 15 but then I borrow from the OH allowance as a light weight. 

Another strategy is don't do the small beers(bottles cans) drink the biggest they do on the package. 

P&O have a 15 per day limit, but they don’t appear to count because I’ve gone over 15 on a sea day. I think they would enforce it if someone was getting out of hand. 

[insidecabin]

9 minutes ago, Myfanwy60 said:

P&O have a 15 per day limit, but they don’t appear to count because I’ve gone over 15 on a sea day. I think they would enforce it if someone was getting out of hand. 

On Princess unless you or the bar staff catch it the system started charging, it's been 11month since the last one they may have sorted out the system to make it easier to catch/count.

The main issue was they would put both drinks on the same card and not spread them across the cabin.

[SteveH2508]

1 minute ago, insidecabin said:

On Princess unless you or the bar staff catch it the system started charging, it's been 11month since the last one they may have sorted out the system to make it easier to catch/count.

The main issue was they would put both drinks on the same card and not spread them across the cabin.

We did a short Princess cruise last year with that medallion thingy. I heard waiters on several occasions letting people know when they were close to their 15 drink limit, so the system does count.

[insidecabin]

1 minute ago, SteveH2508 said:

We did a short Princess cruise last year with that medallion thingy. I heard waiters on several occasions letting people know when they were close to their 15 drink limit, so the system does count.

Yes but as the consumer there was no indication on the account, as I said it's starts charging if you go over and not every bar person was on the case.

[Myfanwy60]

5 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

On Princess unless you or the bar staff catch it the system started charging, it's been 11month since the last one they may have sorted out the system to make it easier to catch/count.

The main issue was they would put both drinks on the same card and not spread them across the cabin.

To be fair P&O are updating their packages, so probably all different anyway. 

[anniegb]

30 minutes ago, SteveH2508 said:

You might want to keep an eye out for a sneaky-ish trend in the Carnival brands. The 15 a day limit used to refer to alcoholic drinks only. It is now beginning to be amended to cover all drinks. HAL started this trend and P&O's new drinks packages seem to be incorporating this change.

 

I'll bet that Princess won't be far behind.

I thought the 15 a day limit only applied to alcoholic beverages on HAL's Signature Package not the Elite Package ??

[insidecabin]

3 minutes ago, Myfanwy60 said:

To be fair P&O are updating their packages, so probably all different anyway. 

Something I have learned in the last 18month is there are still a lot of changes.

Any information gathered from being on a cruise has limited life