Norwegian Sky Tips for first time cruisers

[kicia]

Thanks everyone for your quick answers. We leave next Monday.

[cruiseaholic76]

Just a few clarifications - LeBistro is $20 a person, not $15.

 

Also, the cost of the snorkeling equipment including the vest at Great Stirrup Cay is $21 (Fins and vest, $15.99 + snorkel vest, $4.99).

 

Also, while you cannot take alcohol onboard, are definitely allowed to bring wine onboard and will be charged a $15 per 750ml corkage fee.

 

I was told when I booked through ncl that you can bring a corkscew if you want to open the wine in your room. I hope this is correct.

[Demonyte]

I was told when I booked through ncl that you can bring a corkscew if you want to open the wine in your room. I hope this is correct.

 

It is correct - but you must pay the fee anyways if you bring your own wine, the fee is charged on embarkation (having the wine before embarkation) or when returning to ship (bought wine from the port).

 

Think of it as a compensation for the lost revenue for the cruise line and not literal corkage fee (although the crew member that returns the paid-sticker from your bottle, receives part of the fee for themself).

[jdvmd]

I was told when I booked through ncl that you can bring a corkscew if you want to open the wine in your room. I hope this is correct.

You, you physically can open the wine yourself BUT you are going to have to pay the corkage fee if you want to bring the wine onboard.

A corkage fee has nothing to do with opening the bottle, it is a way for the ship to make up for the lost revenue associated with you not purchasing a bottle from their inflated price list. They still make a bit of money and you still get to enjoy the wine that you brought onboard.

[cruiseaholic76]

Wow glad I found that out I would of been ticked. Carnival only charges the fee when you have them open it in the dining room or a lounge not if you open it yourself or call room service. I thought it was the same on ncl. I'll keep my wine home then. I guess NCL is a lot stricter like some have mentioned and here I was thinking I was saving money being able to bring a bunch of bottles onboard lol. Oh well thanks for the heads up.

[jdvmd]

Wow glad I found that out I would of been ticked. Carnival only charges the fee when you have them open it in the dining room or a lounge not if you open it yourself or call room service. I thought it was the same on ncl. I'll keep my wine home then. I guess NCL is a lot stricter like some have mentioned and here I was thinking I was saving money being able to bring a bunch of bottles onboard lol. Oh well thanks for the heads up.

 

Carnival only allows you to bring one 750-ml bottle onboard per drinking age adult. NCL's policy is extremely liberal - there is no limit to how much you bring on. Celebrity is two bottles per cabin; RCCL, NOTHING.

[spacepotatoes]

Carnival only allows you to bring one 750-ml bottle onboard per drinking age adult. NCL's policy is extremely liberal - there is no limit to how much you bring on. Celebrity is two bottles per cabin; RCCL, NOTHING.

 

Yep. HAL also allows wine, but will charge an $18 per bottle corkage if you want to have it in the dining room. And unlike Carnival, they don't just say they'll charge you, they actually do.

[beachpearl]

Does anyone know if I buy a bottle of wine in one of the upcharge restaurants and don't fi ihs it, do the recork it and save the rest for you to finihs the next evening and can I go to a different restaurant and request it?

[jdvmd]

Does anyone know if I buy a bottle of wine in one of the upcharge restaurants and don't fi ihs it, do the recork it and save the rest for you to finihs the next evening and can I go to a different restaurant and request it?

They certainly will!

[Demonyte]

Does anyone know if I buy a bottle of wine in one of the upcharge restaurants and don't fi ihs it, do the recork it and save the rest for you to finihs the next evening and can I go to a different restaurant and request it?

 

They certainly will!

 

Same goes also with the bottles that you brought to the ship yourself. We did just that on our last cruise, we even took two bottles of white to La Cucina in advance to get them chilled so that wine would be cool when we had reservation later.

[cruiseaholic76]

With all the money these cruiselines make from selling alcohol these charges are crazy. The wine I drink doesn't even cost $15 lol. The pcc that my friend booked with on NCL told her there was no charge if you open it in your room so she obviously was lying to my friend. What do they do check your bags to see if you have wine and then make you pay the fee right there at the bag checks? Otherwise how do they know.

[cruiseaholic76]

Carnival only allows you to bring one 750-ml bottle onboard per drinking age adult. NCL's policy is extremely liberal - there is no limit to how much you bring on. Celebrity is two bottles per cabin; RCCL, NOTHING.

 

Liberal as long as you pay $15 per bottle. If I'm opening it my room I don't feel they should charge that especially with all the money they make from the alcohol on the ships. I'd rather just buy the drinks at the bar instead of having to end up paying an extra $15 for a bottle of wine that probably only cost me $10. My friends pcc definately lied to her when she booked about this policy.

[cruiseaholic76]

Yep. HAL also allows wine, but will charge an $18 per bottle corkage if you want to have it in the dining room. And unlike Carnival, they don't just say they'll charge you, they actually do.

 

 

That's crazy.

[Demonyte]

With all the money these cruiselines make from selling alcohol these charges are crazy. The wine I drink doesn't even cost $15 lol. The pcc that my friend booked with on NCL told her there was no charge if you open it in your room so she obviously was lying to my friend. What do they do check your bags to see if you have wine and then make you pay the fee right there at the bag checks? Otherwise how do they know.

 

Well, you captured the beauty of it all. :) You can usually get the same wines cheaper from shore even with the corkage than buying the bottle onboard - so it's a win-win, You save money and cruise line gets at least a partial compensation for the lost revenue. And You do realize that You are effectively lowering the income from the alcohol if You bring Your own so saying that they get so much money anyways is a bit much, right?-) Bar sales are one of most important sources of revenue to cruise lines so no wonder that these policies exist. I don't mind at all - as I said it's a win-win because that way we can get just as good basic wines (last time we bought few bottles for $5-8 ea.) for much less than cheapest ones onboard.

 

About the bags, there is a security screening just like at airports (only less strict so you can have liquids, sharp objects, etc) so the bottles can be seen when the bags are x-rayed before checkin, same goes when returning to ship on ports, there are metal detectors and bag x-ray there too.

[cruiseaholic76]

Well, you captured the beauty of it all. :) You can usually get the same wines cheaper from shore even with the corkage than buying the bottle onboard - so it's a win-win, You save money and cruise line gets at least a partial compensation for the lost revenue. And You do realize that You are effectively lowering the income from the alcohol if You bring Your own so saying that they get so much money anyways is a bit much, right?-) Bar sales are one of most important sources of revenue to cruise lines so no wonder that these policies exist. I don't mind at all - as I said it's a win-win because that way we can get just as good basic wines (last time we bought few bottles for $5-8 ea.) for much less than cheapest ones onboard.

 

About the bags, there is a security screening just like at airports (only less strict so you can have liquids, sharp objects, etc) so the bottles can be seen when the bags are x-rayed before checkin, same goes when returning to ship on ports, there are metal detectors and bag x-ray there too.

 

I guess if your a big wine drinker than it still works out for you. I'm not so I'd rather spend my money on dod or something stronger than paying that extra $15;) I know about the whole xraying of the bags I've been on a lot of cruises what I'm wondering is if they stop you right there and say ok pay up or if they stamp something on your boarding docks and you pay at check in. I'm just wondering how they do this since I haven't cruised with ncl in almost 10 years. With the craziness at check in I'm just curious how they actually charge that fee without it being pure chaos.

[Demonyte]

I guess if your a big wine drinker than it still works out for you. I'm not so I'd rather spend my money on dod or something stronger than paying that extra $15;)

 

Actually I drink wine very rarely and even on the rare occasions I prefer white - it's the GF who likes to drink wine with dinner but I still can do the math. ;) I won't even start with vodka or rum for me, that's a whole different story and I rether wouldn't make too big fuss about it. :D

 

I know about the whole xraying of the bags I've been on a lot of cruises what I'm wondering is if they stop you right there and say ok pay up or if they stamp something on your boarding docks and you pay at check in. I'm just wondering how they do this since I haven't cruised with ncl in almost 10 years. With the craziness at check in I'm just curious how they actually charge that fee without it being pure chaos.

 

Compared to the total number of passengers, there are only few that carry wine onboard so it's really not that much of a chaos. There is a table set up sonewhere just after the security (just like on ship when boarding from ports) where you are directed when you have been noticed to have bottles in the carryon. In Tampa was first time we had wine and I didn't feel like that part of whole checkin would have been anymore chaotic than the others, probably even less as that was only place without long queue. :)

[jdvmd]

I guess if your a big wine drinker than it still works out for you. I'm not so I'd rather spend my money on dod or something stronger than paying that extra $15;) I know about the whole xraying of the bags I've been on a lot of cruises what I'm wondering is if they stop you right there and say ok pay up or if they stamp something on your boarding docks and you pay at check in. I'm just wondering how they do this since I haven't cruised with ncl in almost 10 years. With the craziness at check in I'm just curious how they actually charge that fee without it being pure chaos.

 

The table with members of the bar staff is immediately after going through security. This is where you pay the corkage fee, which is put on your sail and sign card and the "Corkage Paid" sticker is affixed to each bottle.

The screener knows exactly what is in your bag.

On the Dawn last week, we put our carry ons through the scanner and it nailed each bottle. Said, five bottles, three and two in this one."

[cruiseaholic76]

Actually I drink wine very rarely and even on the rare occasions I prefer white - it's the GF who likes to drink wine with dinner but I still can do the math. ;) I won't even start with vodka or rum for me, that's a whole different story and I rether wouldn't make too big fuss about it. :D

 

I didn't mean you. I just meant people in general that drink a lot of wine. If we weren't lied to by the pcc it wouldn't of ticked me off so much.

 

 

 

Compared to the total number of passengers, there are only few that carry wine onboard so it's really not that much of a chaos. There is a table set up sonewhere just after the security (just like on ship when boarding from ports) where you are directed when you have been noticed to have bottles in the carryon. In Tampa was first time we had wine and I didn't feel like that part of whole checkin would have been anymore chaotic than the others, probably even less as that was only place without long queue. :)

 

Ok that's what I was wondering about because like I've said I've only cruised on ncl once and that was years ago and back then I didn't even drink wine lol. I just didn't know how they went about charging you the fee for the bottles. Thanks for your help:D

[cruiseaholic76]

The table with members of the bar staff is immediately after going through security. This is where you pay the corkage fee, which is put on your sail and sign card and the "Corkage Paid" sticker is affixed to each bottle.

The screener knows exactly what is in your bag.

On the Dawn last week, we put our carry ons through the scanner and it nailed each bottle. Said, five bottles, three and two in this one."

 

Yeah I know. We've only brought wine with us twice and that was on Carnival. I'm going with a bunch of gf's for a Mom's only getaway so I'm going to pass this info on. For me I don't like wine enough to pay that extra fee I'd rather spend the money on stronger drinks;)

[beachpearl]

They certainly will!

 

Thanks!

That's great to know. My traveling companion isn't relly a drinker - I didn't want to waste a 1/2 bottle of wine. :p

[Zoey]

Here are some helpful tips for anyone going on a cruise on the Sky for the first time. I know many of the same questions are asked over and over again, hopefully this will help.

 

http://www.squidoo.com/norwegian-sky-cruise-tips

 

 

Great tips! Do you know why you can't get room service the first afternoon or night of the cruise? I've never cruised on NCL before and never been on a cruise where you had to wait until the second day to use room service.

[jdvmd]

Great tips! Do you know why you can't get room service the first afternoon or night of the cruise? I've never cruised on NCL before and never been on a cruise where you had to wait until the second day to use room service.

Not accurate. There are several things that the poster posted that are not correct. Example: Le Bistro is $20 per person, not $15. Yes. you can order room service.

[renebfl]

Going on the Sky Labor Day weekend. If you buy vodka from the duty free shop, when do they deliver it to your room?

[jdvmd]

Going on the Sky Labor Day weekend. If you buy vodka from the duty free shop, when do they deliver it to your room?

Did this same Labor Day trip almost two years ago and again this past February - you have to pick up your duty free purchase from 7 to 8:30 p.m. from a room near Guest Services.

[Chipster2]

On the Sky in just over 2 weeks. Thanks for posting all these tips.