Sharing drinks on NCL

[AlmiranteChurruca]

On the Norwegian Dawn next summer for a 10 days British Isles/Ireland itinerary. Three adults in one cabin. Adults 1 and 2 have Free At Sea package. Adult 3 does not drink much alcohol, so just purchased a soda package separately. However, this third adult likes to have just a mocktail or a glass of wine from time to time which, to the best of my knowledge, are NOT included in the soda package. If the three of us are sitting together at any bar will the ones with FAS be able to order a second drink to hand it over to that third guest? I know that NCL's policy is that packages are not to be shared, but what I really want to know is if that rule is REALLY enforced onboard somehow. In other words, could the two guests with FAS be in some trouble if we get a mocktail or glass of wine for that third guest? Also, could we ask during dinner at the MDR or at a specialty restaurant for an extra glass of wine with our FAS and be the third guest the one who actually drinks it? I would guess they are so busy with their regular duties that they would not really care so much about who the actual drinker is but who knows, maybe they are extremely strict on this matter. Anybody has first hand experience with this? Lastly, is bottled water included in the soda package or not? Keep reading some conflicting reports on this issue. Thanks in advance for your advice!

[European_CruiseGirl]

Bottled water is not included in the soda package. My DD loves sparkling water, she just gets club soda with her soda package and is completely happy. Still water she can always get from buffet for free (not in a bottle though). 
 

YMMV but I have noticed that NCL is very strict with the rules and no sharing is indeed allowed. This is particularly true for adults and with alcohol. For kids it seems to vary a bit: I have many times ordered a drink for myself and a mocktail for DD at the pool bar and have given both of our cards so they can charge her mocktail to her card. Some times they have just given her card back and said ”no need”. Other times they have promptly charged her card as they should. I’d say 90% of the time they charge the card and I fully expect that to happen 100% of the time I go to order. 
 

 

Edited February 11 by European_CruiseGirl

[ItsWani]

2 years ago on Gem, we were also 3 adults in 1 cabin: 1 and 2 had the drink package, 3rd did not.

On the first days of the cruise, we tried to go according the rules, and the 3rd passenger would try to buy their own drinks with their own card (and their own money), but the bartenders would not accept her card, and would instead put her drinks on the cards that had the drink package.. 😄 

 

I don´t think her own card was charged ever on the times we were ordering together. They would always just hand it back and use the cards that had the drink packaged.

Edited February 11 by ItsWani

[AlmiranteChurruca]

7 minutes ago, European_CruiseGirl said:

Bottled water is not included in the soda package. My DD loves sparkling water, she just gets club soda with her soda package and is completely happy. Still water she can always get from buffet for free (not in a bottle though). 
 

YMMV but I have noticed that NCL is very strict with the rules and no sharing is indeed allowed. This is particularly true for adults and with alcohol. For kids it seems to vary a bit: I have many times ordered a drink for myself and a mocktail for DD at the pool bar and have given both of our cards so they can charge her mocktail to her card. Some times they have just given her card back and said ”no need”. Other times they have promptly charged her card as they should. I’d say 90% of the time they charge the card and I fully expect that to happen 100% of the time I go to order. 
 

 

 

Thanks so much for the prompt reply! I thought there was a two drinks serve limit per order per person (please correct me if I am mistaken on this), so I was thinking the person without the FAS could just sit down and order nothing while another person with FAS orders two drinks (one for him-/herself and the other one for him/her) with just one card. From my POV there should be nothing wong with this. If am allowed to order two drinks, why should they care about what I do with them or who actually drinks them. I could even order them "because I can" and just leave them untouched on the table. Of course, I am just exaggerating here to try to show my point, you get te idea people. Now, I would really be surprised if they where effectively tracking down on a regular basis who the actual drinker is after the beverages have been served on the table and the one card with FAS has been swiped...

[AlmiranteChurruca]

12 minutes ago, ItsWani said:

2 years ago on Gem, we were also 3 adults in 1 cabin: 1 and 2 had the drink package, 3rd did not.

On the first days of the cruise, we tried to go according the rules, and the 3rd passenger would try to buy their own drinks with their own card (and their own money), but the bartenders would not accept her card, and would instead put her drinks on the cards that had the drink package.. 😄 

 

I don´t think her own card was charged ever on the times we were ordering together. They would always just hand it back and use the cards that had the drink packaged.

 

Good to hear this! 😃

[NillaB]

For what it's worth: last cruise I traveled with a friend in separate cabins. The first to arrive in a bar would often get the other a drink. I don't recall any of us being asked to show our own card once we arrived and started drinking it.

However, they may have assumed we were sharing a cabin and thus both had the drink package. (Which we did, btw).

[ready2cruzagain]

Just my two cents but I would hope the bartenders enforce the rules! Why some think it is okay to break the rules is beyond me!

[AlmiranteChurruca]

3 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Just my two cents but I would hope the bartenders enforce the rules! Why some think it is okay to break the rules is beyond me!

 

Finally! Was expecting a post like this. With all due respect, can you please be more precise as to how I would be breaking the rules? I mean, would I be breaking the rules if I ordered the two drinks per serve I am entitled to, left one of the glasses unattended on the table and one of my travel buddies decided to drink its contents? If NCL decides that pouring two drinks per serve is OK (I bet they are not losing money since they are included in the fare I paid), why should they care about what I do with them? Should I decide that I do not like them and pour them down the drain, would I also be breaking the rules because the liquid is not going to its intended final destination (bladder and brain 😆)? Said that, you are of course entitled to your very own POV on the matter and I will not even dare to try to change it, but I was not really looking for legal advice. With this post I just was trying to gather real life experiences from other cruisers to see how this issue is looking like in the daily NCL cruise practice and to know what I can expect on my upcoming cruise.

[European_CruiseGirl]

Well op I have to disagree with you on that. NCL, like all other cruise lines with drink packages, estimate how many drinks a person has per day in average. Lets say it’s 10. Yes you are allowed to order two drinks at a time. But for the cruiseline it makes a major difference if you then drink those two by yourself or if you always give the second to someone else because you most likely will be able to drink 10 drinks per day (5 orders of 2 drinks at a time) but you most likely won’t be able to drink 20 drinks per day (10 orders of 2 drinks at a time). But if you are sharing the 20 drinks with another person you again drink only 10 drinks a day which is doable even when you get 20 of them with your package. 
 

See NCL doesn’t have a cap of drinks per day like other cruiselines might have. For HAL they allow 15 drinks per person per day for their drink package. So for HAL one could say it wouldn’t make a difference if you order 15 drinks and give 14 of them to your 14 new best friends. You have maxed out for the day regardless of who drinks those drinks that you get with your package. If you want more you pay. But NCL doesn’t have a cap. If you always order 2 drinks and then give one away to your friend you are effectively ordering per day double the amount you would otherwise. And that for sure matters for NCL.

 

 

Edited February 11 by European_CruiseGirl

[ready2cruzagain]

29 minutes ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

 

Finally! Was expecting a post like this. With all due respect, can you please be more precise as to how I would be breaking the rules? I mean, would I be breaking the rules if I ordered the two drinks per serve I am entitled to, left one of the glasses unattended on the table and one of my travel buddies decided to drink its contents? If NCL decides that pouring two drinks per serve is OK (I bet they are not losing money since they are included in the fare I paid), why should they care about what I do with them? Should I decide that I do not like them and pour them down the drain, would I also be breaking the rules because the liquid is not going to its intended final destination (bladder and brain 😆)? Said that, you are of course entitled to your very own POV on the matter and I will not even dare to try to change it, but I was not really looking for legal advice. With this post I just was trying to gather real life experiences from other cruisers to see how this issue is looking like in the daily NCL cruise practice and to know what I can expect on my upcoming cruise.

 

If you read the Terms & Conditions you would see how you would be breaking the rules. 

 

 

[ready2cruzagain]

20 minutes ago, European_CruiseGirl said:

Well op I have to disagree with you on that. NCL, like all other cruise lines with drink packages, estimate how many drinks a person has per day in average. Lets say it’s 10. Yes you are allowed to order two drinks at a time. But for the cruiseline it makes a major difference if you then drink those two by yourself or if you always give the second to someone else because you most likely will be able to drink 10 drinks per day (5 orders of 2 drinks at a time) but you most likely won’t be able to drink 20 drinks per day (10 orders of 2 drinks at a time). But if you are sharing the 20 drinks with another person you again drink only 10 drinks a day which is doable even when you get 20 of them with your package. 
 

See NCL doesn’t have a cap of drinks per day like other cruiselines might have. For HAL they allow 15 drinks per person per day for their drink package. So for HAL one could say it wouldn’t make a difference if you order 15 drinks and give 14 of them to your 14 new best friends. You have maxed out for the day regardless of who drinks those drinks that you get with your package. If you want more you pay. But NCL doesn’t have a cap. If you always order 2 drinks and then give one away to your friend you are effectively ordering per day double the amount you would otherwise. And that for sure matters for NCL.

 

 

 

Thank you! Perfectly said!! 

[AlmiranteChurruca]

Once again, I CAN read and I have done so. If I decide to break the written rule and get caught by the onboard police then NCL's wrath will fall on me and I will be dragged down to Davy Jones' Realm. As I said, I just wanted to hear about real life experiences as to how this scenario is being EFFECTIVELY handled by the cruise line and if the written rule is really ENFORCED or not. Considering the answers maybe I should start now worrying more about potential whistleblowers sitting around me at the bars and reporting my practices to the local authority rather than about the crew members themselves. 🤪

[ready2cruzagain]

15 minutes ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

Once again, I CAN read and I have done so. If I decide to break the written rule and get caught by the onboard police then NCL's wrath will fall on me and I will be dragged down to Davy Jones' Realm. As I said, I just wanted to hear about real life experiences as to how this scenario is being EFFECTIVELY handled by the cruise line and if the written rule is really ENFORCED or not. Considering the answers maybe I should start now worrying more about potential whistleblowers sitting around me at the bars and reporting my practices to the local authority rather than about the crew members themselves. 🤪

Well do what you want but seriously you want people to condone it actually. Hope you do get caught and lose your package. Just saying

[AlmiranteChurruca]

Me wanting to c

Just now, ready2cruzagain said:

Well do what you want but seriously you want people to condone it actually. Hope you do get caught and lose your package. Just saying

 

Me wanting people to condone it is just your very personal and wrong interpretation of my post. One more time, anybody may be able to enlighten me and maybe others as to how things really work onboard regarding this issue? Thanks again! 😊

[AlmiranteChurruca]

Forgot to mention, thank you very much for the couple useful answers so far. Thanks indeed! 🤩

[havoc315]

For those condemning OP for daring to share a mocktail from their FAS package with their 3rd adult, have you ever driven 56mph in a 55mph zone?

 

There is a big real-life difference between, over a week long cruise, sharing 3-4 mocktails and 1-2 glasses of wine, versus 1 person getting FAS and sharing 5-10 cocktails per day. 
 

I’m not suggesting rules should be broken. But at the same time, not every rule is inflexible, written in stone, punishable by death. 
 

 

[G-DawgMN]

7 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

For those condemning OP for daring to share a mocktail from their FAS package with their 3rd adult, have you ever driven 56mph in a 55mph zone?

 

There is a big real-life difference between, over a week long cruise, sharing 3-4 mocktails and 1-2 glasses of wine, versus 1 person getting FAS and sharing 5-10 cocktails per day. 
 

I’m not suggesting rules should be broken. But at the same time, not every rule is inflexible, written in stone, punishable by death. 
 

 

 Better analogy would be are you ok stealing a candy bar once a week because you buy them the rest of the time? They’re stealing from NCL. I guess it just depends on where your moral compass points. To me it’s not a big deal to drop 10 bucks once in a while on a drink. 
 

  While they will probably get away with it. There’s always a chance that ncl will catch them. Worst case their drink package gets terminated and they are charged for all their drinks. 
 

  Another thing to ponder, NCL does read these posts and the OP has revealed a bit of information that might make them easy to track down onboard. 
 

  I’m not going to judge. I have my morals that guide me through life others have their own. Either way may have consequences depending on the saturation. 

[dbrown84]

17 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

For those condemning OP for daring to share a mocktail from their FAS package with their 3rd adult, have you ever driven 56mph in a 55mph zone?

LUV this!!!!!

[dbrown84]

The bartenders and servers will actually put the 3rd person's drinks on the card with FAS, even when it wasn't your intent to do so.  I've even had a server ask me if I minded buying someone an upgraded drink when I had the upgraded drink package.  Of course, I had no problem with it

 

Now, the question I have is how did the 3rd person manage to bypass the drink package?  Did they have a Dr. note?  One rule that NCL does apply strictly is that all adults in the cabin has to get the drink package if at least one does

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

I know that NCL's policy is that packages are not to be shared, but what I really want to know is if that rule is REALLY enforced onboard somehow.

 

1 hour ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

Once again, I CAN read and I have done so. If I decide to break the written rule and get caught by the onboard police then NCL's wrath will fall on me and I will be dragged down to Davy Jones' Realm. 

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic

 

So, if you are looking for people to condone fraud and stealing from the cruise line, you won't get it. You clearly state that you know that it is wrong.

 

Do you go into your local stores in Spain and just take what you want without paying... because there are others who have shoplifted and got away with it. And if you get caught by the "police" then the wrath of the Police will fall on you and I will be dragged down to Davy Jones' Realm.

 

Very simple and direct response: Sharing of drinks is not allowed and should not be done. If passenger 3 wants mocktails, just pay cash/room charge for them. 

[goldmom]

12 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

The bartenders and servers will actually put the 3rd person's drinks on the card with FAS, even when it wasn't your intent to do so.  I've even had a server ask me if I minded buying someone an upgraded drink when I had the upgraded drink package.  Of course, I had no problem with it

 

Now, the question I have is how did the 3rd person manage to bypass the drink package?  Did they have a Dr. note?  One rule that NCL does apply strictly is that all adults in the cabin has to get the drink package if at least one does

I was wondering the same thing.  When I had my 3 adult children in one cabin the first 2 got the FAS drink package and the third one had to buy the package, even though he doesn't drink.  I think that rule is in place to avoid the exact situation that the OP is asking about.

[seemoreroyals]

13 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

 

 

Now, the question I have is how did the 3rd person manage to bypass the drink package?  Did they have a Dr. note?  One rule that NCL does apply strictly is that all adults in the cabin has to get the drink package if at least one does

 

If NCL does not require everyone in cabin to purchase drink package I would say go for it.  It is not the same as stealing candy bars from the store or going 1 mph over the speed limit.  

[AlmiranteChurruca]

2 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic

 

So, if you are looking for people to condone fraud and stealing from the cruise line, you won't get it. You clearly state that you know that it is wrong.

 

Do you go into your local stores in Spain and just take what you want without paying... because there are others who have shoplifted and got away with it. And if you get caught by the "police" then the wrath of the Police will fall on you and I will be dragged down to Davy Jones' Realm.

 

Very simple and direct response: Sharing of drinks is not allowed and should not be done. If passenger 3 wants mocktails, just pay cash/room charge for them. 

 

Or anywhere on this planet for that matter! Do I sense here some kind of prejudice by indicating my country of origin? Just saying...🤨

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

Once again, I CAN read and I have done so. If I decide to break the written rule and get caught by the onboard police then NCL's wrath will fall on me and I will be dragged down to Davy Jones' Realm. As I said, I just wanted to hear about real life experiences as to how this scenario is being EFFECTIVELY handled by the cruise line and if the written rule is really ENFORCED or not. Considering the answers maybe I should start now worrying more about potential whistleblowers sitting around me at the bars and reporting my practices to the local authority rather than about the crew members themselves. 🤪

IOW, you want to know if you can break the rules with impunity?  You don't care what the rules say, you just want to get free drinks for  your friends.

 

You better bet that I would report  you for violating the rules.  I would also report crew members who let  you get away with this.

[dbrown84]

maybe the rule requiring all adults to have the package doesn't exist for European bookings.  I just noticed that the OP is from Spain.  I know the rules for gratuities are different