nclsuncruiser

Arriving in Florida from Europe is a primary reason we TAKE a cruise like this. Love Florida!

But not on the Joy.

Each to their own, but I find the idea of trying to buy good service at the outset to be distasteful and patronising. I prefer to tip at the end, depending on authentic service, than "purchase" in advance. I

As already pointed out, NCL are likely stating the TRUTH that this is due to local regulations. What they are omitting to state, which creates the lie, is that it is likely due to local regulations requiring payment of certain duties which NCL have not done (or they are misinterpreting the rules). This is akin to a scenario that NCL state that they can't sail due to "regulations" requiring many forms of insurance, but having not paid the insurance premium. All true, but misleading. Good to hear when people say their wives agree with them though. God forbid they are just gullible and their wives are not abiding by "local regulations". 🙂

Why is it not for people that purchased beverage packages that might drink spirits to have the temerity to question "what the big deal is"?? It's entirely different. Everyone knows there may be issues in Saudi Arabia. With this Livorno rule, which doesn't seem to have existed a couple of months ago, it just gets introduced, and may impact on how you use your paid for package. By your logic, if every stop arbitrarily decided to ban spirits, NCL would have no obligations to compensate purchasers of the package in any way. That would not be true. I would agree with luv2kroooz - where are these bars near the port - you need a shuttle out of Livorno port. Lucky you. Tell that to the people that don't drink wine or beer, but drink spirits. It's not all about you, you know (but perhaps you don't!) That "official" comms from Norwegian is fine, but it doesn't deal with liability towards customers in the event of something preventing them providing the service that has been paid for. By above logic, if all ports banned all alcohol during a cruise, NCL would simply follow the rule (yes, they would have to) and have no liability as a result. Rubbish!!! Well done. Your view is "precisely" what NCL say in an attempt to get out of an argument. While one port making these arbitrary rules might not lead to a "win" in a claim towards compensation, if it became the norm, the cruiseline would have to make amends. Not being "able to foresee in advance what will be the restrictions prior to sail and arrive in a specific port" would not allow NCL to escape obligations. If a port said you couldn't land, they'd have to refund excursion monies. That exclusion wording is a bit open to interpretation, possibly meaning if they run out of spirits you can't substitute for....for what, I don't know, it doesn't say "No REFUND of package if guest cannot...". Again, if hypothetically, every port in Europe stopped sales of all alcohol on board, it's quite clear they couldn't rely on such an exclusion, which would likely fail in any court. Indeed, EU law is clear that contract terms that are unfair have no legal or binding force on consumers, and it's likely NCL would fail to defend based on such an exclusion. But once you're happy with beer and wine, the rest of us should be too. Clearly.

What do you propose to avoid this though? You go on a cruise ship, you need to accept the chance of getting covid at the moment. Hopefully the vaccine means you don't get seriously ill (and sounds like you didn't which is great), and you had a good cruise!

On the Star, sanitary bags nowhere to be seen in public toilets or cabin. Are they normally supplied?