Have things changed with NCL?
 

Haven't sailed with NCL in several years.
My last cruise was with NCL (norwegian-cruise-lines.net). Can you still buy liquor by the bottle and take it to your stateroom? We recently experienced the ridiculous new RCCL policy on the Vision Of the Seas and can't believe that grown mature adults, that pay for a balcony, can't buy a bottle and have it at our leisure. Its their reaction to the lawsuits involving intoxicated passengers and we think its absolutely silly. We aren't hardcore drinkers but it would be nice to have a drink in our room when we want one, without having to pay "by the drink" for room service. With all of the choices in cruise lines now, I think that policy will come back to haunt them. If NCL still "trusts" its passengers to drink responsibly, I'll go back to them.

Any feedback or information will be appreciated.

Thanks.

I doubt you are allowed to buy liquor and bring to your cabin... There is a liability problem I'm sure, but many people sneak liquor aboard in their luggage.

I could be wrong, but I've always heard the reason for these policies is not liability, but profit.

If you buy a bottle and take it back to your room the line makes only a few dollars on the bottle. If they force you to buy your drinks one-at-a-time they make a few dollars on each drink, thus much more liquor revenue.

Nowadays you can buy a bottle of booze at a bar BUT you will pay a rediculous price for it. They make money when you buy a drink from them! Long gone are the days when you bought it on board and took it back to your cabin. Today you buy it and it is not delived to your cabin. You have to go get it- last two NCL cruises - at the lounge where they ask your name then they go find it snd give it to you. NCL also xrays ALL baggage. If you have booze, they hold that suitcase, tell you to come get it and you give them your booze which they keep til the last MORNING! Things have changed!

We sailed on NCL last summer to Alaska and experienced their liquor policy. I had put a bottle of wine in each of 2 suitcases but they only found the one bottle. We were told if we wanted to drink it they would bring it to our table and charge us a "corking fee" of, if I recall, about $10.00. As annoying as it was to have to pay, it was still cheaper drinking our own vs. buying a bottle of wine from them. The bottle we did get through we kept in our room and drank it at our leisure. We are going on a cruise in October on RCCL and am debating if we should try to smuggle on a bottle or just give up wine for a week!!!
Happy sailing!
Jber

The website given is a bit out of date. You might want to check out NCL's official website
www.ncl.com

I had my bottle of wine in our carry on - and a box in our checked luggage. (It was a 12 day cruise.) When NCL was checking my carry on they opened it and charged me the corkage fee but let me keep the bottle. This was 2 years ago. Didn't matter that we weren't taking the bottle to the dining room.

Forget NCL if you like fine dining..NCL changed their menu five months ago and it's awful.. few choices and poorer quality..

I agree with Hold... it's all about profit and not liability. Why else would other cruise lines not care? I personally can not imagine cruising on a cruise line that wouldn't let you openly bring your own liquor onboard, nor one that wouldn't even allow you to consume your own bottle on your own balcony. I think you're considering the WRONG cruise lines.

I think this topic has been done to death. (Please see the 800 previous posts on the same subject.)

Additionally, with all the new restrictions with what you can and can't bring on board airplanes & cruiseships, why take the risk of bringing something that is not allowed? Why not simply buy their wine by the bottle or glass? When you have dinner in a restaurant, do they simply allow you to bring your own wine in? (They charge a corkage fee, usually at least $15.)

Why does it have to be a "game" to figure out how you can beat the system? It's their system, and you can't beat it.

Sue...I was at a reception the other night....In one of the "clusters" there was a guy talking about his cruise last month.The biggest thrill of the week for him was having been able to sneak wine aboard.He was the star of the show and everyone around him was laughing and cheering.Imagine that.He spent $4K to be able to boast for th erest of the year.My, my! I was not impressed.But many were.I thought about asking him which travel forum he frequented.You know, where did he come up with the idea? But, then again, he might have been.......one of.....us! :D

It should be no surprise really. There will be those who find a thrill in "beating the game." Big deal. Move on.

Actually, many restaurants do permit a bottle of wine not on their list to be brought in and corkage fees run the gamut.

There are few lines that permit one to bring aboard wine. HAL is one.

Boxed wine on a cruise ship. Good grief! What is this world coming to. :S-

And speaking of unsophisticated palates allow me to ventilate a bit here please. My drink of choice is single malt Scotch whisky, particularly those distilled in the Hebrides and Islay malts especially. A fellow at our dinner table on the Tahitian Princess ordered a splendid Cragganmore WITh soda!! Good God! Any Scotch drinker worth their peat moss KNOWS single malts are to be taken either neat or with natures purest water. Never with soda and never with ice. Its enough to make a grown man cry. :S-

jacketwatch, at least they did not order it with coke, a real sin in my book...I prefer my single malt neat.

kfusto: For the most part I do too, esp. for the highland malts. Water with the heavier, more peated malts like Talisker and Lagavuilin can be enhancing IMO. Cheers and congratulations on your upcoming wedding. :-)