No Alcohol in any UK ports - what! 😱

[belchro22]

Can anyone say if they are allowing people to bring their own bottles of wine on ship on embarkation in Southampton?

Edited May 14, 2023 by belchro22

[Pooston]

Just got off the Dawn in Southampton this morning. On embarking at Southampton NCL refused to serve alcoholic drinks. They did the same when in Portland.  They state that due to UK customs and excise restrictions they are unable to serve alcohol until out of British waters.

 

This is absolutely untrue. The truth is NCL refuse to pay the relevant taxes to enable them to serve alcohol out of those ports. 

 

All other cruise lines sailing out of Southampton are still serving alcoholic drinks whilst in port.  

 

I know alcohol isn't the be all and end all, but people have paid for a drinks package they cannot use.  

[rattla]

1 hour ago, cygnets said:

Just boarded the Dawn for the May 14-24 cruise and the no alcohol restriction is still in effect. 

Urghh, that’s naff!   I wonder what they will do in Scotland?  Would think they have the same HMRC/Customs rules?

I see Dawn is England 3 days and Scotland 3 days out of 10?!

[insidecabin]

50 minutes ago, belchro22 said:

Can anyone say if they are allowing people to bring their own bottles of wine on ship on embarkation in Southampton?

Southampton security don't care what's booze is in your bags.

 

(NCL might start paying them to check 😂)

[Greener123]

3 minutes ago, rattla said:

Urghh, that’s naff!   I wonder what they will do in Scotland?  Would think they have the same HMRC/Customs rules?

I see Dawn is England 3 days and Scotland 3 days out of 10?!

Going to be a lot of unhappy sailors if the drink package is useless for 6 out of 10 days… will the ship even leave UK waters since it’s only really going between UK ports - may not be until very late at night they cross the line in the sea if at all

[insidecabin]

5 minutes ago, rattla said:

Urghh, that’s naff!   I wonder what they will do in Scotland?  Would think they have the same HMRC/Customs rules?

I see Dawn is England 3 days and Scotland 3 days out of 10?!

IIRC it was just Southampton and Portland on the last cruise.

[insidecabin]

5 minutes ago, Greener123 said:

Going to be a lot of unhappy sailors if the drink package is useless for 6 out of 10 days… will the ship even leave UK waters since it’s only really going between UK ports - may not be until very late at night they cross the line in the sea if at all

They push off the coast fairly quickly as they need the cleaner water and be far enough off shore to discharge.

 

Leaving Southampton is slightly different as they end up in the channel shipping lanes

[ricksurf]

Time for everyone to telephone NCL and demand refunds for the all inclusive alcohol programs.  It's not the end all with the consumption of alcohol as stated above, but it's the false advertising that NCL is practicing in selling these packages, knowing that they cannot produce in these UK ports and supposedly in Italian ports, also.

Other Cruise Companies are not subjecting their customers to these problems.

[bobfoo]

2 hours ago, Greener123 said:

Obviously the port agent are going to know the rules… but I’d be surprised that the other lines are just eating that cost since none of them charge any extra taxes while in UK ports - and why would Belfast have been different? 
 

MSC are much cheaper than the other lines and aren’t shy in charging extras yet they don’t when the drinks are free flowing in Southampton. 
 

Why can’t NCL be open and honest and just admit they’re too cheap to pay some extra taxes so everyone else has to miss out

In terms of eating the cost, this probably comes down to a mixture of how many passengers have a drinks package and how cheaply you've sold them for.

 

Given NCL leans heavily on the whole Free at Sea thing it would not surprise me if NCL had a higher proportion of passengers with drink packages compared to your typical MSC out of the UK.

Given that you can price your individual drink prices based on the tax you expect to incur, this would make the cost more easily absorbed.

 

Alcoholic drink sales is probably quite high up on the list of money making activities, so I'm sure that they'd much rather be serving it. My gut feeling therefore is this is either a *****-up they don't want to admit, or they've been knowingly dodging tax and now it's caught up with them and that's why there was short notice.

[Barb Nahoumi]

Make these money back requests while still onboard the ship.  Once your cruise ends, and you disembark, it might be harder to get a refund.

[insidecabin]

3 minutes ago, bobfoo said:

In terms of eating the cost, this probably comes down to a mixture of how many passengers have a drinks package and how cheaply you've sold them for.

 

Given NCL leans heavily on the whole Free at Sea thing it would not surprise me if NCL had a higher proportion of passengers with drink packages compared to your typical MSC out of the UK.

Given that you can price your individual drink prices based on the tax you expect to incur, this would make the cost more easily absorbed.

 

Alcoholic drink sales is probably quite high up on the list of money making activities, so I'm sure that they'd much rather be serving it. My gut feeling therefore is this is either a *****-up they don't want to admit, or they've been knowingly dodging tax and now it's caught up with them and that's why there was short notice.

MSC drinks package(far superior to NCL*) is really quite cheap.

Our last few cruises March/April was £25pppd it's been as low as £15 on some cruises.

 

Loads of UK people take the MSC premium package and they hammer it.

MSC can board at 10am ships leave Southampton gone 8pm 

 

Given the recent massive price drops and zero solo sups on these NCL  UK cruises to get capacity up  could be a recovery exercise.

 

*It includes water, b2cup coffee in every bar, fresh juice, all beers most cocktails and a selection of champagne.

[goldmom]

I'm a bit surprised that they just haven't passed the extra cost on to the passengers.  There are several ports in the US where you have to pay a tax on drinks while in port even if you have the drink package.

 

 

[rattla]

1 minute ago, goldmom said:

I'm a bit surprised that they just haven't passed the extra cost on to the passengers.  There are several ports in the US where you have to pay a tax on drinks while in port even if you have the drink package.

 

 

This is the thing.  
one of the things I love whe. I board in the tern on is to get a cocktail and makes me feel like I’m on holiday then 😊

So to not be able to do that probably until the 2nd day is disappointing!  I’ll have to stick with a mocktail! 😑🤷‍♂️

[cygnets]

We would not mind paying the tax per drink in Southampton like we do in US ports if that is what’s needed. Sitting on a sunny deck right now and wishing for a mango meltdown. 

[Colin L]

staff to deal with the the very disgruntled guests. No information or explanation given. No one can say if this will happen again in Belfast. Rumours are that NCL are saving money by not paying local duty. Well that’s a goodbye from me and many others on board to future cruises with NCL. Not even an offer of a refund to the people who paid for drinks packages. Still no response to anyone from NCL. Officers and managers still in hiding. There will be a riot if the same thing happens in Belfast. NCL pay your taxes and stop treating your customers so badly or you will lose them all. 

[insidecabin]

9 minutes ago, cygnets said:

We would not mind paying the tax per drink in Southampton like we do in US ports if that is what’s needed. Sitting on a sunny deck right now and wishing for a mango meltdown. 

That can potentially cause an issue as in the UK all retail prices must include any duty and sales(vat) taxes.

 

Adding extra cost to a published menu price should not happen

 

[flamingo_fancies]

2 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

That can potentially cause an issue as in the UK all retail prices must include any duty and sales(vat) taxes.

 

Adding extra cost to a published menu price should not happen

 

But that's been the same for years. These aren't new ports of call, NCL have been sailing to and from them for years. Why all of a sudden have the last 3 cruises in the uk had these restrictions imposed by ncl when it's the same VAT and duty regulations that other lines comply with and that NCL has in the past.

[tony s]

Simple solution for getting your money back . Yank the DSC and tell them why as the service charge for the drink package is

non refundable . This will get their attention. As for those who believe it is screwing over the crew who gets this advice them to speak with the bar crew who are getting paid for service not rendered. It may be a nuclear option but it is something that would cause management to address issue and have us not out of pocket.

[Norwayfan1]

It doesn't really seem that NCL are doing anything about the issue.

 

The strategy seems to be:

 

1. Let passengers board, and read the 'no alcohol' notices at the bars.

2. Ride out any grumbles or complaints - offer a vague explanation, passing the buck, if pressed (knowing that people on holiday probably don't have the time, inclination or internet access to pursue it).

3. Wait for everyone to calm down a bit and they start to rationalise: 'it's only for a few hours; 'it's only for a couple of ports' etc etc.

4. Disembark the passengers, who will probably grumble a bit when they get home - but so what.

5. Embark new passengers and go back to stage 1.

 

If a lot of the passengers aren't Southampton regulars with knowledge of other cruise lines sailing from there, so much the better for NCL.

 

[insidecabin]

17 minutes ago, flamingo_fancies said:

But that's been the same for years. These aren't new ports of call, NCL have been sailing to and from them for years. Why all of a sudden have the last 3 cruises in the uk had these restrictions imposed by ncl when it's the same VAT and duty regulations that other lines comply with and that NCL has in the past.

There have potentialy been changes as when UK joined EU there was some vat concession to keep the cross channel ferries happy and it applied to cruise ships.

 

Since Brexit this may have changed.

 

Did the legislation crawl before not doing it again.

 

What is clear is NCL are the outlier when sailing from Southampton.

[Travelling2Some]

Since this nonsense has now happened in several European countries I have to wonder if we will encounter any similar "local restrictions" when the Dawn begins her Baltic cruises next month.  We are on the first sailing (June 13, Copenhagen to Stockholm) and first sailings seem to be particularly affected.  Does anyone have any knowledge of fees that need to be paid to any of the authorities in Baltic ports? 

[cybermirth]

It’s true.  I just boarded Norwegian Dawn today, May 14th, 2023 - NO ALCOHOL being served and I have a premium plus drinks package.  Garbage reason given by NCL.  LAST SAILING.

Edited May 14, 2023 by cybermirth

[flamingo_fancies]

2 hours ago, Colin L said:

staff to deal with the the very disgruntled guests. No information or explanation given. No one can say if this will happen again in Belfast. Rumours are that NCL are saving money by not paying local duty. Well that’s a goodbye from me and many others on board to future cruises with NCL. Not even an offer of a refund to the people who paid for drinks packages. Still no response to anyone from NCL. Officers and managers still in hiding. There will be a riot if the same thing happens in Belfast. NCL pay your taxes and stop treating your customers so badly or you will lose them all. 

It will more than likely be happening for the star in Belfast. This is what the Southampton port agent sent me when I questioned the restriction. So its a case of NCL not paying duty and VAT rater than the narrative they are trying to spin.

[flamingo_fancies]

3 minutes ago, cybermirth said:

It’s true.  I just boarded Norwegian Dawn today, May 14th, 2023 - NO ALCOHOL being served and I have a premium plus drinks package.  Garbage reason given by NCL.  LAST SAILING.

It's ridiculous. What reason have they given you?

[cybermirth]

This is at the bottom of the Freestyle Daily:  IMPORTANT “BEVERAGE NOTICE. Due to local UK customs and Border protection restrictions, Alcohol sales will be restricted during our stay certain ports of call.  Non-Alcoholic beverage services will continue throughout the entire cruise.”

 

Yes, the syntax/grammar is bad.

Edited May 14, 2023 by cybermirth