SakeDad

As former crew (I was a Stage Manager and Officer) on several lines I can sympathize with you 100%! While I had great friends that worked GS I can also tell you many were CLUELESS and their "leaders" were anything but! Also a huge problem on all ships is there is a massive disconnect between ships and shoreside.....sometimes not communicating for days! I don't say this to excuse anything you experienced, but to say I am not surprised by any of it....and that is the saddest part of it all. I much prefer to be a guest now, but when challenges arise I try to deal with crew as if I was still crew....but it shouldn't be that way.

We arrive July 26 and overnight to disembark the 27th to go to a hotel for 2 nights. I know the Hop On/Hop Off Bus stops at this pier but I am hoping we can use the free shuttle to get to town with our luggage the 2nd day. Would be great to know how late it goes too as we want to go out for drinks on the 26th after dinner.

More than likely in the Officer's Bar where THEY could be served cocktails!

It was NEVER the UK policies....it was NCL being stupid

As a former crew member I have always found removing service charges abhorrent. But that was for DELIVERED services such as bars, waiters, stewards, etc. This is now service NOT delivered. I believe removing the service fees for those days is now 100% appropriate. Why am I tipping crew that are not delivering or working, especially at the direction of the cruiseline. Enough people have posted that crew and officers are either unwilling or unable to provide accurate information that this now lands on shoreside corporate. And if crew starts seeing their checks affected they will demand it gets fixed. Clearly all of our posts, emails and protests have had zero affect so far. Sorry crew....maybe time you find a line that backs you up instead of throwing you to the sharks.

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We will know tomorrow. But so far all the sales agents have no clue what's happening onboard and shoreside corporate offices have been lying to everyone while those onboard can't get any response from the officers...which more than likely means they have been getting the runaround from shoreside as well and have the same info we do. Incredibly horrible leadership by NCL CORPORATE

A great vlogger on YouTube called MIDSHIPS has taken up the NCL UK booze topic! Go search for him

Not surprising....love to hear their response if you ask for a refund

If that happened to me I would be DEMANDING a full refund on my drink package. No excuse for that.....and for the record I would NOT accept a future cruise credit as I will never sail you again! Only a refund would be accepted.

We'll know soon enough.

Can't wait to hear if there are any changes. NCL can no longer say "short notice" is the reason for not settling this with Customs/UK Govt

My TA is so frustrated as all the callcenter folks she speaks to are homeworkers in the Philippines and have no-one else actually with them to ask. So they just say whatever the last email from NCL tells them to say. It's why CC is so important. We get real news from people onboard. When is the next Southampton sailing??

Time will tell. And if it isn't fixed within a week or so the line about "not enough notice" becomes just another lie.

While I get all that....this is not NCL's first cruise from the UK. They have ZERO excuse for this happening, especially as all other lines had no issues!

Thanks....that's why I said "most" other lines. There are always exceptions. And SAGA serving alcohol in UK on a package just makes NCL look that much more problematic. I appreciate you sharing.

It's not "local regulations" causing the issue when EVERY OTHER CRUISE LINE has no issue serving alcohol in port. The big difference between most other lines and NCL is they don't have packages promising clients INCLUDED alcohol in their rates. As always, follow the money. I do believe this has gotten much bigger than NCL thought it would. After all, if it has happened in several ports over the last year and there was no outrage it is fair to think this one wouldn't get any either. The difference, as I see it, is this time they are the ONLY line imposing these restrictions while still happily collecting their monies for an undelivered product. Hopefully this gets fixed very quickly for all sides sake.

Did anyone bring their own wine and pour in cabin to drink onboard? I will if it's still in affect in July.

We have LOVED our times on Princess.....you will enjoy them. NCL may not miss you but I'm sure your fellow cruisers will.

Was it ALL the Free at Sea people that could use the package or just the ones that bought the premium PLUS package? Also, do you know if anyone who had brought on their own wines could use them? Thanks

Being former crew on a few lines.....I have no doubt!!!!! That truly means corporate shoreside has made these decisions and left the crew high and dry to deal with the fallout. Sad.

Sadly not surprised. It is what I was saying earlier about a true disconnect between crew and Shoreside offices.....they just don't communicate and it's the poor crew in Guest Services that get yelled at and they have zero power to fix things. At that point the last resort onboard is to speak with the Hotel Director who is over Food & Beverage and Guest Services. But talk to him/her IN PERSON and document everything said to report later.

That says what has ALWAYS been the case in ports across the world....bars can be open and sell but shops can never be open until sailing. This is nothing new.

But by SELLING daily drinks and if they know you can't get them, they are treading dangerously on being sued for false advertising.

Cruiselines read these boards. NCL has to know what a PR nightmare this will be if they don't correct it THIS WEEK. With all the YouTube influences out there more than 1 will love telling the stories. I have many stories of clueless corporate shoreside folks but the crew have got to be dealing with lots of complaints and angry guests this week onboard. That gets back to shoreside through reports. They can't ignore they are the ONLY line doing this to their guests. It's inexcusable.