NCL’s policy on Liquor…

[Bud McDutton]

Afterbooking our tour I got quite a shock when I looked at NCL’s policy on Liquor…pleasetell me that no reasonable company would not allowed at least SOME amount ofwine of beer on board without them wanting an outrages ‘corking fee’.

[champagne123]

As far as I know, all of the cruise lines charge a corkage fee...not just NCL. Solution? Don't bring the bottle to the dining room.

Edited March 25, 2018 by champagne123
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[Bud McDutton]

well from what i could see, to just bring the wine on broad, they want a fee? I just dont get it!

[champagne123]

well from what i could see, to just bring the wine on broad, they want a fee? I just dont get it!

No! Only if you take the bottle to the dining room. You can bring a glass if you want to...no charge...you can take the bottle anywhere on the ship...no charge. JUST the dining room.

[paul929207]

You will bebetter served if you post this on the NCL section for Cruise Critic. Every line has their own policies. Sometimes people confuse which line they are talking about

[fishywood]

No! Only if you take the bottle to the dining room. You can bring a glass if you want to...no charge...you can take the bottle anywhere on the ship...no charge. JUST the dining room.

 

Incorrect. NCL charges a corkage fee on every single bottle brought onboard.

 

https://www.ncl.com/faq#can-i-bring-alcohol-board

 

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 USD

1,500 ml Magnum: $30.00 USD

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.

And to the OP: $15 corkage fee is standard, not outrageous. Most lines do allow one bottle per adult with no fee and charge corkage on any additional. So NCL is only costing you an extra $15/pp.

No USA based line that I know of allows beer to be brought on board. Yes you can get away with bringing some in from an intermediate port on some of the less security-stringent ships. But never count on getting any on at embarkation.

[cb at sea]

Years and years ago, you could bring on ANY cruise line whatever drinks you wanted. Nowadays, they insist you spend BIG bucks on their booze and are charging premium prices for stuff that USED to be included in your fare. They do this so the fares SEEM low, but to have an experience that is more than camping, you will be spending more than you plan. Telling you upfront...PLAN TO SPEND ABOUT 1/2 your fare on "extras.

[NLH Arizona]

No! Only if you take the bottle to the dining room. You can bring a glass if you want to...no charge...you can take the bottle anywhere on the ship...no charge. JUST the dining room.

That is how Celebrity ($25) does it if you bring the bottle to a public venue, but they only allow 2 bottles per cabin to be brought on the ship, but on NCL, they charge the corkage fee ($15) to bring it onboard and you can bring as many bottles as you would like.

 

So on NCL, you will pay $15 per bottle, but on Celebrity, you can bring only 2 bottles and drink them in your cabin for free, but when they are gone, you'll pay cruise line bottle or glass prices for more wine, which is quite high.

Edited March 25, 2018 by NLH Arizona

[Shmoo here]

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No USA based line that I know of allows beer to be brought on board. ....

Disney cruise line does. Two bottles of wine OR 6 beers may be brought onboard by each passenger aged 21 and over on embarkation day and from ports of call.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Oceania: bring all the wine/spirits you want. No charge for consumption in cabin (nor any charge for sodas/juices/etc. to mix cocktails) Want to bring your wine to dinner? That's a $25 corkage fee.

Depending on the embarkation port, we will bring 6-12 bottles of exceptionally good wine aboard and replenish the stock at appropriate port stops. We bring the best of the bunch to dinners where the $25 corkage pales in comparison to what the bottle would cost onboard (if they even have those wines).

Depending on the length of the cruise, we may opt also for the prestige alcohol package (we do it primarily for cocktails on cruises under 18 days), which is any booze, anytime at $60/day (including tip and not required for purchase by both folks in the cabin). The package's wines by the glass are nothing to write home about. But, two double margaritas with el Tesoro anejo and Cointreau per day and you're ahead of the price game. BTW, we tend not to do the booze plan on longer cruises (>18 days) because it would be just too much alcohol.

 

 

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[All-ready2cruise]

No! Only if you take the bottle to the dining room. You can bring a glass if you want to...no charge...you can take the bottle anywhere on the ship...no charge. JUST the dining room.

 

Unfortunately, this is incorrect. NCL does not allow any wine to brought onboard without paying the "corkage fee" / service charge. Other cruise lines may allow wine to be brought onboard to drink in the cabin only, but not NCL.

[sanger727]

NCL does have a different policy than many other lines. I know carnival and celebrity allow 2 bottles per cabin to be brought in only, but they r free unless you take them to the dining room. No beer or liquor permitted. Some soft drinks are also permitted.

 

NCL also allows no beer or liquor. They allow an unlimited amount of wine to be brought on, but charge a $15 per bottle corkage fee when you board. They also allow no soft drinks to be brought on.

 

So while you may be peaved, in reality we are talking about a $30 difference. Hopefully you are happy enough with the tour you booked and the price you pay that you can accept a $30 difference for bringing your wine onboard.

 

 

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[calliopecruiser]

Not very strange........most mainline cruise lines do that. Corkage fee in the dining room is standard, even on land. If you don't want to pay all their fees, don't sail with them, but recognize that most mainstream lines make a lot of money from on-board sales and fees. That's how they keep their cabin prices so low. Sail with Seabourn or Regent and it won't be a problem.

[Keith1010]

Yes most cruise lines don't allow you to bring these items on board because it is part of their business plan to sell liquor/wine. This is one of the ways that they can keep cruise fares down.

 

Keith

[champagne123]

Wow. My sincere apologies everyone. I have never had to pay a corkage fee with wine upon boarding a ship, including the NCL Breakaway. Perhaps I just hit it lucky and did not get caught. Again...sorry for the misleading info OP.

[mjkacmom]

Wow. My sincere apologies everyone. I have never had to pay a corkage fee with wine upon boarding a ship, including the NCL Breakaway. Perhaps I just hit it lucky and did not get caught. Again...sorry for the misleading info OP.

You are supposed to go to a table after security to pay and get stickers. On our last Gem cruise, I didn’t even see the table, but it was fleet week and it was a little crazy.

[champagne123]

You are supposed to go to a table after security to pay and get stickers. On our last Gem cruise, I didn’t even see the table, but it was fleet week and it was a little crazy.

Even though I never plan on sailing with NCL again... good to know. I never saw a table or was instructed to pay anything. Perhaps it was because it was one of the first sailings when it came to NYC. I have no idea.

[spookwife]

well from what i could see, to just bring the wine on broad, they want a fee? I just dont get it!

 

 

yes that's NCLs policy. most of the other lines only charge a fee if you bring the bottle to any public area( lounge, bar, restaurant. consuming it in your cabin is fine.

 

BTW $15 is actually cheap.