Taking wine on board

Can anyone tell me if there is a limit on how many bottles of wine you can take. We are on the Epic 11/30/14 and are thinking of taking our own bottles but are not sure if there is a limit to what you can take.

Unsure of the limit but the cork fee is $15 no matter where the wine is consumed.

No limit to number of bottles. However, boxed wine is not allowed.

Full policy from NCL's FAQs:

Wine & Champagne Policy

Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below. 750 ml Bottle: $15.00 1,500 ml Magnum: $30.00 Wine or champagne sent directly to the ship by travel agents, friends, family, etc. or from another retail source, are subject to the same fees. Box wines are not allowed on board.

Can anyone tell me if there is a limit on how many bottles of wine you can take. We are on the Epic 11/30/14 and are thinking of taking our own bottles but are not sure if there is a limit to what you can take.

I took (12) and that seemed fine.

We had friends who brought 2 cases onboard.

I took (12) and that seemed fine.

Thanks for all the info. We'd never need 12 but it's good to know we could take that many if we needed too.

Thanks for all the info. We'd never need 12 but it's good to know we could take that many if we needed too.

At 15 bucks a throw I'd think they'd be glad to let you bring anything aboard. NCL is out of step with the industry on this. Most cruise lines allow you to bring two regular bottles of wine aboard with no charge if you consume them in your cabin.

Jim

At 15 bucks a throw I'd think they'd be glad to let you bring anything aboard. NCL is out of step with the industry on this. Most cruise lines allow you to bring two regular bottles of wine aboard with no charge if you consume them in your cabin.

 

Jim

And, as you said - only TWO BOTTLES.

For some, that is great. For others, that sucks.

Originally Posted by jasbo49 View Post

At 15 bucks a throw I'd think they'd be glad to let you bring anything aboard. NCL is out of step with the industry on this. Most cruise lines allow you to bring two regular bottles of wine aboard with no charge if you consume them in your cabin.

 

Jim

And, as you said - only TWO BOTTLES.

 

For some, that is great. For others, that sucks.

And don't forget the other downside to that particular wine policy...only to be consumed in your cabin.

So much for enjoying your favorite wine with dinner. :(

...plus "Most cruise lines..." is an extreme exaggeration.

...plus "Most cruise lines..." is an extreme exaggeration.

Can you define "extreme exaggeration"? I can define "most cruise lines": Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America and I believe Disney allow at least two bottles of wine without a corkage fee (correct me if I'm wrong). Royal Caribbean is even stingier than NCL. Last I heard it was "bring no booze, period."

And I've been known to pour a glass of wine in our cabin and take it to the MDR for dinner. Yes, we're thrifty, but that's how we have the money to cruise.

Jim

Can you define "extreme exaggeration"? I can define "most cruise lines": Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America and I believe Disney allow at least two bottles of wine without a corkage fee (correct me if I'm wrong). Royal Caribbean is even stingier than NCL. Last I heard it was "bring no booze, period."

 

And I've been known to pour a glass of wine in our cabin and take it to the MDR for dinner. Yes, we're thrifty, but that's how we have the money to cruise.

 

Jim

So you want NCL to change the rule to what some of the other lines do, so you can break that rule? They allow you the "free" wine in your cabin and then you take it to dinner so you don't have to pay for it? How would that help NCL? Thrifty is not the term I would use!:rolleyes:

Here we go again :rolleyes:

So you want NCL to change the rule to what some of the other lines do, so you can break that rule? They allow you the "free" wine in your cabin and then you take it to dinner so you don't have to pay for it? How would that help NCL? Thrifty is not the term I would use!:rolleyes:

Could not have said it better myself. In addition, I wonder how long those one or two bottles of wine last for a 7 day cruise?

But, then again how do you possibly convince someone of something that they only look at the ways they can circumvent?:rolleyes:

I do remember the days when all cruise lines allowed alcohol, of any kind, carried onboard for in room consumption. We all know what happened with that.

It is my understanding that each adult may bring ONE bottle at no charge assuming it is to be consumed in the cabin. Any other bottles are subject to the corkage fee no matter where they are consumed. As a sometimes solo cruiser I'd love to bring TWO bottles if I were paying the solo supplement but I haven't seen any that allow two per cabin as the rule.

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It is my understanding that each adult may bring ONE bottle at no charge assuming it is to be consumed in the cabin. Any other bottles are subject to the corkage fee no matter where they are consumed. As a sometimes solo cruiser I'd love to bring TWO bottles if I were paying the solo supplement but I haven't seen any that allow two per cabin as the rule.

 

 

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Your understanding of NCL's wine policy is wrong. You can bring unlimited wine on the ship, and drink it anywhere you please, but you must pay $15 for each bottle - no freebies.

Your understanding of NCL's wine policy is wrong. You can bring unlimited wine on the ship, and drink it anywhere you please, but you must pay $15 for each bottle - no freebies.

On HAL, you may bring 1 bottle each on board no corkage.

On RCI, same, as they have lifted the corkage fee.

On NCL as many as you wish, but you MUST pay $15 per bottle corkage, no matter where you drink it.

Hope this helps.

Have a good cruise.:)

It is my understanding that each adult may bring ONE bottle at no charge assuming it is to be consumed in the cabin. Any other bottles are subject to the corkage fee no matter where they are consumed. As a sometimes solo cruiser I'd love to bring TWO bottles if I were paying the solo supplement but I haven't seen any that allow two per cabin as the rule.

 

 

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Celebrity allows two bottles per CABIN, regardless of the number of passengers booked in the cabin. Consume in cabin only for no corkage.

But with their free alcohol package includes in the 123go promo, it's hardly worth the bother!

Here we go again :rolleyes:

No nasty back and forth from me. I just wanted to set the record straight on what someone said were "extreme exaggerations."

Jim

There have been tons of posts on this issue. I don't want to comment on the merits of a corkage fee, or smuggling wine, spirits or beer onboard, or how many bottles you can bring aboard other ships. What I do want to comment on is simply how much money we gladly hand over to the company without much thought.

First off, I do bring wine with me aboard ship, and GLADLY pay the $15 corkage fee. There are two reasons I do this, first the cellar aboard ship is terrible. The second is I hate pay the outrageously overpriced cost of wine aboard most cruise ships.

So when I saw this post this morning, I went to the NCL site and signed in to a reservation I have upcoming. I went to the Wine page under Gifts and More. There are 44 vintages available on that page. I selected six random bottles to compare retail shore-side prices with what NCL shows on its website. My intent is to show all who may be interested the hard numbers on the ship's mark-up on wine.

I've had to live in many places in the world in my career, and have developed some pretty specific likes and dislikes when it comes to wine. I typically bring between six and eight bottles aboard for a seven day cruise. I usually stop at a shop adjacent to Port Everglades in FLL that specializes in online sales with in-store pickup. There is another shop in North Miami. I have not added tax to the retail prices ashore nor the 15% gratuity aboard ship.

Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon: NCL $46.00 retail $9.45

Manishewitz Concord: NCL $25.30 retail $3.99

Wolf Blass Yellow Lable NCL $36.80 retail $13.49

Casa LaPostolle Merlot NCL $39.10 retail $10.49

Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel NCL $67.85 retail $33.99

Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling NCL $33.35 retail $ 7.97

I know I am getting a bargain by bringing my own dinner wine with me and paying the corkage fee, and knowing that I will enjoy the wine I personally select. ;)

Thank you for the information, as I travel on the Epic in 2 weeks…

I would gladly pay the corkage fee if I can bring a good bottle of wine, given the bottle prices onboard.

On a side note, as a solo traveler it can be complicated to bring a bottle other than to leave it in the cabin to pour myself a nice appetizer wine, as a sweet bordeaux region wine, Sauternes… When in the dining room, having different bottles opened (usually one red one white) and not finished by the end of the meal (lets not exaggerate consumption for the sake of enjoying fully the evening!), I can leave them there to be returned to me at the next meal. That is great.. unless you are like me and enjoy trying the other dining venues onboard, as I sometimes had to wait half my meal -or more- for them to get my bottles from wherever they were… That was not enjoyable. Yet I do not have much of a choice. I just cannot see myself going to, or leaving, a dinner table with a bottle or two in my hands and to walk across the ship to take them back to my room! Not very classy for a woman alone… LOL I do leave and walk around with my last glass of wine "for the road" into the evening show though :)

Question 1: Has anyone found a way around this?

Question 2: would the dining room keep bottles unfinished for the next meal, if these were not purchased on board?

And... there is the problem of getting the bottles through airports…Bottles are way cheaper here in France. I'm not going to spend my time running around Miami to find some good bottles that are going to be overpriced there anyway… Too busy drinking mojitos when there ;)

Being a wine lover and solo cruising can be more complicated than one would think! Still, not really bad "problems" to have, are they?

Happy cruising!

On HAL, you may bring 1 bottle each on board no corkage.

On RCI, same, as they have lifted the corkage fee.

On NCL as many as you wish, but you MUST pay $15 per bottle corkage, no matter where you drink it.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Have a good cruise.:)

That's what I said with regard to NCL! Please re-read above. PLEASE disregard my response. I believe you were not responding to my post..Sorry!

LaV:

We bring bottles onboard (and FYI: last time on HAL brought a case with no corkage fee. They charge the corkage fee if they open it at the table. Otherwise, it's all yours.) and have brought them to the table, had them opened (that's why, after all, it is called corkage [iMHO]) and then when we want to leave they store it for you just as they would any wine that they sell. We've ordered bottles for our room while on board and taken a bottle to dinner and the same thing goes. In my experience, as long as you've paid something somewhere to NCL (at the pier or via room service) they don't care. At least that was true in October.:o margretha

 

And... there is the problem of getting the bottles through airports…Bottles are way cheaper here in France. I'm not going to spend my time running around Miami to find some good bottles that are going to be overpriced there anyway… Too busy drinking mojitos when there ;)

 

Being a wine lover and solo cruising can be more complicated than one would think! Still, not really bad "problems" to have, are they?

 

Happy cruising!

I use something called a wine diaper or a jet bag to pack my wine in my suitcase. I have special vintages I bring from home. Haven't had a broken bottle yet:)

Can anyone tell me if there is a limit on how many bottles of wine you can take. We are on the Epic 11/30/14 and are thinking of taking our own bottles but are not sure if there is a limit to what you can take.

No limit, as discussed on a few different threads in the past two days.