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Sailaway Champagne

Traveling Bob

By Traveling Bob,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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hazeleyes

hazeleyes

Posted
Posted
Gem 12/20 will be our first NCL cruise. Does NCL allow passengers to bring aboard their own champagne / wine for sailaway like other lines?

 

You will get a free glass of bubbly when you board the ship. Enjoy. The Gem is a beautiful ship we loved it.

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AFAMILY

AFAMILY

Posted
Posted
Gem 12/20 will be our first NCL cruise. Does NCL allow passengers to bring aboard their own champagne / wine for sailaway like other lines?

 

Yup....$15 corkage fee per bottle. They charge it to your onboard account at the point you pass through security. They will put a sticker on your bottle indicating you paid.

 

Enjoy your cruise! :)

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yoyocruiser

yoyocruiser

Posted
Posted

The champagne they serve is very good. If you are in a balcony room you may get a bottle as a perk, maybe you also have to be Latitudes, anyway,for some reason we ahd a nice bottle iced down in our room. On top of that I did carry a bag in in my carry on, was asked to step to the table to pay the corkage fee (which I was prepared to do) and oddly enough they waved me through--but that is not the usual thing. It should be $15 for corkage.

If one glass is not enough, you can walk around the ship and pick up another. . .but the idea is to have one glass.

Cheers!

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terrymtex01

terrymtex01

Posted
Posted

Also, they have some very reasonably priced bottles of champagne onboard. I can't honestly remember the price.. I want to say between $30.00 and $40.00. I do remember thinking that by the time you bring your own onboard and pay the corkage fee, you might as well have just bought one of their bottles.

 

I do know they sell the little bottles that have like two glasses of champagne in them for $12.00. I remember that for sure.

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AFAMILY

AFAMILY

Posted
Posted
Also, they have some very reasonably priced bottles of champagne onboard. I can't honestly remember the price.. I want to say between $30.00 and $40.00. I do remember thinking that by the time you bring your own onboard and pay the corkage fee, you might as well have just bought one of their bottles.

 

I do know they sell the little bottles that have like two glasses of champagne in them for $12.00. I remember that for sure.

 

They used to sell the chocolate dipped glass of champagne with a strawberry in it at the Chocolate buffet. I don't recall seeing that this past May though. Do they still offer that? Anyone know?

 

Happy Cruising! :)

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mmeoww

mmeoww

Posted
Posted
They used to sell the chocolate dipped glass of champagne with a strawberry in it at the Chocolate buffet. I don't recall seeing that this past May though. Do they still offer that? Anyone know?

 

Happy Cruising! :)

 

We had that on the Star in 2005 and again on the Jewel in March 2008, it was GREAT both times :D

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ABC Cruisers

ABC Cruisers

Posted
Posted

We were on the Gem last week out of Barcelona. They give you a glass of champagne when you enter the ship, we saw people place their empty glass down and take another without anyone saying anything, it certainly didn't seem to be a problem if you wanted more than 1 glass. We had a courtyard villa and there was a bottle of white star chilled and waiting for us. Have a great time, the Gem is a beautiful ship and has a great crew.

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parothead

parothead

Posted
Posted

check out the $79 romance package on the NCL website under bon voyage gifts. you get 1 bottle of chanpaigne in your room with chpcolate dipped strawberris, dinner for 2 at le bistro and a bottle of wine at dinner. not a bad deal, we have done it several times. if you add up what it would cost separeately it is way more than that.

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VoyageVirgin

VoyageVirgin

Posted
Posted
check out the $79 romance package on the NCL website under bon voyage gifts. you get 1 bottle of chanpaigne in your room with chpcolate dipped strawberris, dinner for 2 at le bistro and a bottle of wine at dinner. not a bad deal, we have done it several times. if you add up what it would cost separeately it is way more than that.

 

That would be a bottle of sparkling wine - not champagne that is included with the romance package. :)

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Ron & Kristy

Ron & Kristy

Posted
Posted
The champagne they serve is very good. If you are in a balcony room you may get a bottle as a perk, maybe you also have to be Latitudes, anyway,for some reason we ahd a nice bottle iced down in our room. On top of that I did carry a bag in in my carry on, was asked to step to the table to pay the corkage fee (which I was prepared to do) and oddly enough they waved me through--but that is not the usual thing. It should be $15 for corkage.

If one glass is not enough, you can walk around the ship and pick up another. . .but the idea is to have one glass.

Cheers!

 

We were in a balcony cabin and are Latitude members and we did not get bubbly in our room. I have to say I don't think that's why you got it or else we got overlooked. I carried two bottles of wine onboard. I was prepared to pay the corkage fee upon boarding. The gal pulled me over, I thought to collect the fee. She stood there a minute, winked at me and then said, "it's just water, you're cleared to board, have a great cruise." I certainly wasn't going to argue with her. :D Apparently it's not so odd after all. I've heard of it happening to others too.

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raudacruise

raudacruise

Posted
Posted
Also, they have some very reasonably priced bottles of champagne onboard. I can't honestly remember the price.. I want to say between $30.00 and $40.00. I do remember thinking that by the time you bring your own onboard and pay the corkage fee, you might as well have just bought one of their bottles.

 

I do know they sell the little bottles that have like two glasses of champagne in them for $12.00. I remember that for sure.

 

NCL markup is pretty high. About 2x from prices here in Ohio (that are already marked up 20% by state law). For a bottle of sparkling wine (say a Korbel or Spanish Cava) - yeah it doesn't make sense to bring your own. You might save a few bucks but its probably not worth lugging it on. But for a decent champagne that costs about $45 NCL charges about $90 so it makes sense to pay the extra charge.

 

I had a snap shot of the old price list for champagne but can't find it. But I'm sure the prices did not go down.

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raudacruise

raudacruise

Posted
Posted

I did find the 2007 wine prices but can't post the link for some reason - I won't venture a guess why the URL gets filled in with ***** when I try to post it.

 

I'll try to provide an indirect link later.

 

I will give an example. Segura Viudas Aria Brut Nature cava from spain is $32 on NCL but costs $12 or so at Trader Joes (and is a very good sparkling wine). Is it worth saving $5 (after the $15 add on), no. But the Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label is $76 and can be had for ~$50 or less from any retail place.

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CaribQween

CaribQween

Posted
Posted
We were in a balcony cabin and are Latitude members and we did not get bubbly in our room. I have to say I don't think that's why you got it or else we got overlooked.

 

I believe the bottle of champagne is one of the suite perks, not all balconies. You get a tray of canapes every night also. Like the other poster pointed out, the Romance Package would get you a bottle of sparkling wine plus canapes on embarkation day.

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raudacruise

raudacruise

Posted
Posted
I did find the 2007 wine prices but can't post the link for some reason - I won't venture a guess why the URL gets filled in with ***** when I try to post it.

 

I'll try to provide an indirect link later.

 

I will give an example. Segura Viudas Aria Brut Nature cava from spain is $32 on NCL but costs $12 or so at Trader Joes (and is a very good sparkling wine). Is it worth saving $5 (after the $15 add on), no. But the Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label is $76 and can be had for ~$50 or less from any retail place.

 

 

Hmm, I think what I had was a fax form for 2007 for pre-purchase of wine/champagne. I don't know if you can purchase full bottles once you get on board anymore. You might have to go through the bar setup routine (keep in mind that its not just liquor but also wine). And you need to do that in advance.

 

We're carrying on our bubbly.

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Fishbait17

Fishbait17

Posted
Posted
Hmm, I think what I had was a fax form for 2007 for pre-purchase of wine/champagne. I don't know if you can purchase full bottles once you get on board anymore. You might have to go through the bar setup routine (keep in mind that its not just liquor but also wine). And you need to do that in advance.

 

We're carrying on our bubbly.

 

As of this summer you definitely could purchase full bottles, just like wine, onboard. But you hit the nail on the head with the higher priced bottles - especially if you have a favorite that may not be available. Unfortunately, I do not have a price list either. The only thought I have is that if you definitely want a cold bottle for sailaway, you might be better off bringing your own. I have had suites where I didn't get my complimentary bottle until long after sailaway, and I wonder if room service could provide fast enough service for this purpose. Of course, you could always just go to the champagne bar (if they have one on that particular ship) and simply order a bottle there - my guess is they will have it cold and ready. Or perhaps, if you dine in the main restaurant for lunch, you could get a bottle from them.

 

Robin

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