Bringing Drinks Onboard

[miss-heli]

I have been reading with interest various posts regarding the 'smuggling' of alcoholic drinks onboard and also the comments regarding 'checking in' bottles of water and packs of soda etc.

Not wanting to be caught out and made to stupid I phoned NCL UK to check the position regarding wine and corkage and non alcoholic drinks.

A word of advice don't bother to try to get any info from the U.K. office unless you have a lot of time to spare !!

Eventually they confirmed wine and $15 corkage but contrary to many posts on these boards NO NON ALCOHOLIC DRINKS can be taken on board at Southampton !!

Not even a bottle of Ribena for the Kids ? No NO NO nothing.

As the guy I spoke to seemed hopeless I double checked with my TA in US and they with NCL US and it is correct.

So a warning to any of you who were planning to check-in soda , water, whatever.

IT WILL BE CONFISCATED

[2Cruise4Ever]

NCL customer service state-side says the same thing. But, they've been saying that for years. And, we still see cases of soda, water, juices, etc being brought on board with no issue. We always bring something with us and have never had a problem.

[terrymtex01]

I don't know why they are so restrictive with alcohol as opposed to water and soda, but we have brought soda and water onboard and they never flinched or said a word. Alcohol I do know they will take from you and return it back at the end of the cruise. We have been on three NCL cruises and so far they have never stopped us from bringing water or soda's.

[blackerbys17]

We brought a box of wine with us on our cruise last month in our carry on. Nobody said a thing to us when we went through security!

[navybankerteacher]

It's obvious: bars on board are a major source of revenue for NCL. Pay a little more for the cruise, and you can find a line which lets you bring wine on board with no charge; serve are probably higher priced lines which allow you to bring liquor on board. Finally, really premium lines often serve wine with no charge -- probably some mixed drinks as well.

 

You get what you pay for -- some folks want to pay the minimum and then play by their own rules.

[lambs2]

We brought a box of wine with us on our cruise last month in our carry on. Nobody said a thing to us when we went through security!

 

You got lucky! Guess whoever checked your luggage did not recognize, or missed, that this was an alcoholic beverage.

 

I have found that it is better to bring your sealed, unopened soda cans or water bottles with you as carry-ons. If they are packed in your checked luggage you stand a VERY high chance of having to waste your time, and dignity, going to retreive them in the "naughty" room.

[Toyz711]

i don't know how strict they are at the ports in UK, but here...yes, if you call they will say NO, they have been saying NO for the (over) 2 years i hve been on CC. but in real life, we have been doing it...everyone i have talked to has done it and the people at check-in don't care.

have brought sodas/water in check-in luggage and carry-on luggage..NCL hasn't blinked. i know they saw it in the x-ray photo.

as people have said, open cases of soda and water..they have just slapped a luggage tag on it and it has been delivered to the cabin. no hiding it.

if you search the NCL board, every time it's discussed..someone calls and gets the "no"...but at the ports it's acceptable, just don't over do it or try to use the soda bottles to smuggle alcohol. (NCL knows that trick)

[Fran Record]

If you drink rum, bourbon , etc (med brown stuff) try a listerine bottle. Nobody wants to sniff listerine! LOL

[yogimax]

If you drink rum, bourbon , etc (med brown stuff) try a listerine bottle. Nobody wants to sniff listerine! LOL

 

I would think they would be quite suspicious of filled one quart listerine bottles. No one has that much bad breath!:)

[Denlin]

We got off the Dream last Sunday (great cruise by the way) and we packed a small suitcase with cans of pop and water (probably equivalent to 4 cases (12 packs)). We hadno problem at all.

[garycarla]

To the poster that says "IT WILL BE CONFISCATED" >> How do you know that?

 

My point is, this information is based on a customer service rep, probably someone that has never been on a cruiseship.

 

I would surely trust what you read from real cruisers on these message boards. These people KNOW what is going on.

[lincslass64]

I have been reading with interest various posts regarding the 'smuggling' of alcoholic drinks onboard and also the comments regarding 'checking in' bottles of water and packs of soda etc.

Not wanting to be caught out and made to stupid I phoned NCL UK to check the position regarding wine and corkage and non alcoholic drinks.

A word of advice don't bother to try to get any info from the U.K. office unless you have a lot of time to spare !!

Eventually they confirmed wine and $15 corkage but contrary to many posts on these boards NO NON ALCOHOLIC DRINKS can be taken on board at Southampton !!

Not even a bottle of Ribena for the Kids ? No NO NO nothing.

As the guy I spoke to seemed hopeless I double checked with my TA in US and they with NCL US and it is correct.

So a warning to any of you who were planning to check-in soda , water, whatever.

IT WILL BE CONFISCATED

 

I am currently on the Jade and you can take soft drinks onboard,ie Ribena and squash even soda water cokes,however lots were stopped with alcohol.

[chrisbd1]

We've taken six packs of Cokes with our checked bags twice, no problems either times.

[macdays1]

I have put a sticky luggage tag right on a case of soda and water on each of seven cruises, and I've received the cases in my cabin every time. (Majesty)