Bar set-up questions

[orchid72]

Hello,

 

We will be going on an Alaskan round-trip cruise with NCL this May (we liked the idea of “Freestyle” and wanted to try it). We have only sailed with Princess and Celebrity in the past. This is our first time with NCL and I did not realize their stringent alcohol policy. I do not drink myself, but my husband does and he likes to enjoy his wine and scotch once in a while.

 

Anyway, through this board, I’ve been finding out a lot about the “naughty room” and therefore do not even want to think of bringing on board 2 bottles of wine (which we are allowed to do with Princess).

 

I’ve been searching this board and have noticed people refer to a “bar set-up”. Can someone please explain what this is, and how can I go about ordering this? I am assuming that with a bar set-up, you can pre-order some hard liquor for consumption in your stateroom. (I am assuming this is similar to the Bon Voyage gifts you can purchase with Princess prior to your cruise.) Also, how do I go about ordering this bar set-up? I’ve searched the NCL website but could not find any info on it (or am I just not looking in the right place?):o

 

Thanks very much for your help. :)

[mbisson]

I think most (if not all) of those questions are answered in several posts on this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=738565

 

Don't fret-it's not a long thread at all

 

enjoy your cruise

[chrisbd1]

.

 

Anyway, through this board, I’ve been finding out a lot about the “naughty room” and therefore do not even want to think of bringing on board 2 bottles of wine (which we are allowed to do with Princess).

 

 

You can bring wine, just pay a $15 corkage fee.

[AFT_LOVER]

and LIQUOR is banned. So bring your wine, pay $15 corkage fee per bottle. If you want Vodka or other liquor that is $40-$55 a liter that you book in advance.

 

 

Hello,

 

We will be going on an Alaskan round-trip cruise with NCL this May (we liked the idea of “Freestyle” and wanted to try it). We have only sailed with Princess and Celebrity in the past. This is our first time with NCL and I did not realize their stringent alcohol policy. I do not drink myself, but my husband does and he likes to enjoy his wine and scotch once in a while.

 

Anyway, through this board, I’ve been finding out a lot about the “naughty room” and therefore do not even want to think of bringing on board 2 bottles of wine (which we are allowed to do with Princess).

 

I’ve been searching this board and have noticed people refer to a “bar set-up”. Can someone please explain what this is, and how can I go about ordering this? I am assuming that with a bar set-up, you can pre-order some hard liquor for consumption in your stateroom. (I am assuming this is similar to the Bon Voyage gifts you can purchase with Princess prior to your cruise.) Also, how do I go about ordering this bar set-up? I’ve searched the NCL website but could not find any info on it (or am I just not looking in the right place?):o

 

Thanks very much for your help. :)

[orchid72]

Been doing more research and decided to go with your suggestion of just bringing our own wine and paying the corkage fee (they do not carry the wine my husband likes).

 

As for the hard liquor, as much as it is tempting to get a bar set-up, I am quite concerned about NCL's inconsistencies as discussed on the thread noted below, so I think I will just pass on it. It seems the aggravation is just not worth it considering that neither one of us plans on consuming an inordinate amount of alcohol anyway. The convenience would have been nice, but we do not want to deal with the aggravation either.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=224400

 

thanks for all your help. I find that people on this board are so helpful.:)

[Toyz711]

personally, i would look into more recent posts about bar setups. those are from over 3 years ago....

the wine is easy, you should have no problem with that.

but you are right, if it's not that important to you, don't worry about it.

enjoy alaska!

i know if it hadn't been for freestyle, i would have missed 2 dinners on my alaska cruise. it's nice to not have a set dining time...especially witht the port times there.

[mbisson]

Been doing more research and decided to go with your suggestion of just bringing our own wine and paying the corkage fee (they do not carry the wine my husband likes).

 

As for the hard liquor, as much as it is tempting to get a bar set-up, I am quite concerned about NCL's inconsistencies as discussed on the thread noted below, so I think I will just pass on it. It seems the aggravation is just not worth it considering that neither one of us plans on consuming an inordinate amount of alcohol anyway. The convenience would have been nice, but we do not want to deal with the aggravation either.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=224400

 

thanks for all your help. I find that people on this board are so helpful.:)

 

If you don't think you'll drink much, that's probably a wise choice. As for that thread though it's about 2.5 years old and I haven't seen much mention of problems in quite a while.

 

Cathi beat me again! LOL

[Toyz711]

love ya, monte:D

very old thread, certainly not current info

[mbisson]

enjoy alaska!

i know if it hadn't been for freestyle, i would have missed 2 dinners on my alaska cruise. it's nice to not have a set dining time...especially witht the port times there.

 

 

And on my last couple of Alaska cruises, I would've probably had to choose between watching some whales that were near the ship or eating at an assigned time (more than once). I would've ended up in the buffet & I don't do buffets well

[Thrifty]

We and a related couple in another cabin each ordered bar setups. Theirs was in the cabin when they arrived and ours, which was not, arrived promptly after we presented an printout of our order at the reception desk. We think it's a wonderful innovation to discourage smuggling and would certainly do it again, but you must expect to drink most of a litre to make it worthwhile.

[Ms belp]

Considering the price per drink, we calculated it was worth it. If you both drink the same thing, it's even better.

[chrisbd1]

Considering the price per drink, we calculated it was worth it. If you both drink the same thing, it's even better.

And I took home what wasn't drank. I paid for that bottle, by golly and I was keeping it :D

[Lisa&Neb]

if you are traveling with friends... one person orders the drinks for both. Do this as there is a $3 per room set up charge. So if I order A bottle at 40 it is 43, and my friends do the same it is 43 or 86 for both. If I order both bottles it is 83. I just get them to give me the money!!

[WinterSky]

We did a bar setup for our March 8 cruise on the Gem. It was easy and convenient. Simply send an email to shipcoordinatorgem@ncl.com (substitute the name of your ship where we have 'gem') outlining what you want. In our case, we got an email back that included the coordinator's name and telephone number. We then telephoned, placed our order and gave our credit card information. The charges appeared on our credit card the week of our cruise. Everything was in our stateroom when we boarded.

 

The only thing I would do differently in the future is ask the coordinator to email me a confirmation of my order. In this way, if our order wasn't in the stateroom we could take the confirmation to the Reception Desk to have it filled. You will find staff at the Reception Desk do everything possible to take care of you.

 

WinterSky