Corkage fee on NCL?

Does anyone know how one goes about carrying on wine with NCL? Is it the same corkage fee on a 750ml and a 5L box of wine? I know you can try to "sneak" it on in your luggage and take the risk of having your bags held hostage in "luggage jail." Anyone have stories to share?:D

this questions is asked/answered every week over on the NCL board

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

you can do a search or just read a couple of pages. yes, they have plenty of stories to tell:D

as fas as the $15, it just depends...on who is there to charge you. some say it $15 no matter what size, others say different.

I take my glass of wine to the dining room. There is no bottle to open and you can get a glass at any bar, hence no corkage fee. Once on NCL I was charged TWO corkage fees because I had a 'big' bottle in my carryon. I spoke to the bar manager about this and he reduced it to one fee. Usually take a box in checked lugggae and have not had a problem with that on NCL.

Thanks for the info about NCL. Do you pay a corkage fee on the box in your checked luggage? When do you pay and how much? I want to take on two boxes that are 3L. That would be good for our group for the week...will that be doable?

Last year was the first time that I took wine onboard with me. We didn't have to fly because we live in LA and sailed out of San Pedro. I took one bottle of wine and was charged a $15 fee. They took the bottle and when we went to dinner it was brought to our table right away. It was well worth the fee since you can't buy a bottle of wine on a cruise for $15. I carried the bottle in my carry on bag. Just before you board the ship they have a table set up where you pay the corkage fee. They take and keep the bottle for you. At dinner you give them your room number and they bring the bottle to your table. If you don't drink the whole thing, they cork it up and have it ready for the next time you want it.:)

A fellow passenger told me that she had tried to sneak some booze on in her checked luggage. Because they scan checked luggage as well as carryon luggage, she got caught.:eek: She was sent to the "naughty room" where they had her bag. They made her take the liquor out and give it to them. They told her she could get it back when she disembarked. She said she was pretty embarassed, but she didn't let it ruin her trip.

Word to the wise!

THANK YOU for taking the time to give me some helpful info. I think I'll stick with carrying on a couple of bottles and pay the fee.

I take my glass of wine to the dining room. There is no bottle to open and you can get a glass at any bar, hence no corkage fee...

This is bad information. You have to pay corkage fee no matter WHERE you drink it.

But, if you get your wine aboard without anyone stopping you, then you could take a glass of wine with you. But not because there is no bottle to open, but because you were not caught. The charge is not for opening the bottle, but for bringing it onboard.

This year 1/08, on Pearl, the process was similar. However, I took on 6 bottles. After paying the corkage fee (just sign voucher), each bottle got a sticker "corkage fee paid". I then carried them on. The room was not "ready", but I was able to put them in the room right away anyway.

This year 1/08, on Pearl, the process was similar. However, I took on 6 bottles. After paying the corkage fee (just sign voucher), each bottle got a sticker "corkage fee paid". I then carried them on. The room was not "ready", but I was able to put them in the room right away anyway.

You know what, maybe I was wrong. Now that you mention it, I believe I did get my bottle back with a receipt for the corkage fee. I think I remember taking it to the restaurant myself.:o

Are you able to bring wine on any of the cruises? I am sailing on the Spirit in June and being able to bring a bottle or two on would be great, even if we have to pay the corkage fee. I cannot find info on NCL's website but I thought I read in their brochure that you could not bring any liquer on board.

Are you able to bring wine on any of the cruises? I am sailing on the Spirit in June and being able to bring a bottle or two on would be great, even if we have to pay the corkage fee. I cannot find info on NCL's website but I thought I read in their brochure that you could not bring any liquer on board.

Yes, you can bring WINE on any NCL cruise, subject to the $15 per 750ml fee discussed above. You can not bring hard booze/liquor. I do not think you will not find the wine policy on the web, but trust the few hundred people that have shared their experience here.

hi, last year, we brought wine on board the Spirit. 1 large and 1 regular bottle in checked luggage, i regular in carry on. We paid for the carry on one right away at embarkation- they x-rayed us and sent us to a side desk,where we signed for it and got a sticker, no problem. When we went to our room later, a note on our door said to show up at library. There was a short line, asked what i had in bag, when i told them wine, they said good, and let me leave with my luggage, including wine and a sticker to put on it to take to the restaurants. The reason they said good, is because the people infront of us had their hard liqour confiscated and were none too happy. There was no stigma attached to having to pick up your bag with wine in it. Other people in the queue had very expensive wines and champages that they could not purchase on board. Waiters in the restaurants were happy to get our wine from storage, and we had no difficulty with that.

Took 13 bottles of wine on the Gem, January 5th. Paid the $15 per fee & all bottles received a "corkage paid" sticker. Had no problem bringing bottles to any restaurant except Mexican where waitress charged for corkage after throwing the bottle away. The restaurant manager asked to see my "receipt". Obviously, I didn't carry it around since the bottle had a sticker on it. He was persistant & called the office to confirm that I did indeed pay the fee. Needless to say, this was a little uncomfortable & insulting BUT it didn't ruin the trip. The waitress disappeared & the manager avoided us for the remainder of the cruise.:(

DH and I carried on 8 bottles on the Majesty 1/5/08. After the XRay, we were directed to the table. The steward was going to keep the wine locked up til after the cruise, but we explained we wanted to pay the $15 corkage fee. He was happy to oblige. They assume most people don't know that's allowed since it's an unspoken subject (If you call NCL, they will tell you bringing aboard wine is not allowed, same as pop.) We then took them to our cabin. No stickers were placed on our bottles and I'm not sure why. It could be Majesty doesn't do that, or that the steward neglected to do it.

We wanted the restaurants to have access to some of the wine, so we took 3 bottles with us to dinner the first night with our receipt. Three additional corkage fees showed up on our onboard expenses bill at the end of the cruise. Of course, Majesty was more than willing to take care of the mistake. Get stickers if they're available, keep your receipts, and really check your expenses, just in case. :)

If we get a bar setup in our room, can we bring our own mixers aboard?

Tonic? Club soda? If not does anyone know what the ship charges for soda? tonic? etc. Also, what does a bottle of domestic beer cost in the lounges?

Lots of questions, hopefully someone can help. We are sailing in two weeks on the Dawn.

If we get a bar setup in our room, can we bring our own mixers aboard?

Tonic? Club soda? If not does anyone know what the ship charges for soda? tonic? etc. Also, what does a bottle of domestic beer cost in the lounges?

Lots of questions, hopefully someone can help. We are sailing in two weeks on the Dawn.

Hi,

I am also sailing the Dawn for the first time in Sept. I read on another thread (the topic was bar setups) that you can bring your own mixers onboard. Also, someone wrote that the buy 5 get 1 free deal for beer once onboard is a better deal then the beer bar setup. The only thing is that they charge you a $5 deposit for the beer bucket.:D

we ordered bar set up on our cruise last week

we were able to bring our wine or mixed drinksmto any bar or restaurant without corkage fee

we did bring our mixers onboard

happy cruising:)

If we find wine in any of the ports, can we bring it on board and pay the corkage fee or does this only apply at the initial embarkation?

Thanks,

Sandy

If we find wine in any of the ports, can we bring it on board and pay the corkage fee or does this only apply at the initial embarkation?

 

Thanks,

Sandy

You can bring it on at any port. Sometimes they scan it and other times they don't. I've even had some scanned and been directed to the "corkage fee" table but nobody was there to collect. It's a crap shoot.

All right, buddy, that’ll be a ten-dollar corkage fee.”

You can bring it on at any port. Sometimes they scan it and other times they don't. I've even had some scanned and been directed to the "corkage fee" table but nobody was there to collect. It's a crap shoot.

We tried NCL again last year and decided we still don't like it. Our last cruise on NCL before that I had a bottle of wine. When we went thru security check I was charged the corkage fee even thought I wasn't on the ship or in the dining room or my cabin!

We tried NCL again last year and decided we still don't like it. Our last cruise on NCL before that I had a bottle of wine. When we went thru security check I was charged the corkage fee even thought I wasn't on the ship or in the dining room or my cabin!

Were you planning on drinking it in the terminal before boarding?

What happens if you have the UBP & still want to bring a bottle on board, do you still get charged? As you are actually saving them money by drinking your own wine.

What happens if you have the UBP & still want to bring a bottle on board, do you still get charged? As you are actually saving them money by drinking your own wine.

Logically, as the UBP does not include bottles of wine you would be charged the corkage fee.

In the real world the term corkage fee refers to a charge for their server opening and serving wine in their glass... To charge $15 per bottle for the privilege of allowing me to bring a bottle of wine to my room to open and consume without the need for service is a penalty fee plain and simple. It is NOT corkage! This is emblematic of the consistent nickel and dime you business model found on NCL.