Can you bring your own alcohol on board NCL ships

[mooseII]

Sorry, but I have to give a small economics lesson.

 

If the cruise lines could charge, lets say, oh, $50,000 for an inside cabin for a week long cruise, guess what? They would. No one would be on the ship, which is why they can't.

 

If they thought they could get just one more dollar out of everyone, they would charge it. After all, it is a business.

 

They come up with their prices uses complex formulas, using years of research and some very fine actuaries with their own years of experience, in order to make the most profit.

 

When people say that the cruise price will go up or down because of people sneaking alcohol on board, they are wrong. By letting everyone bring whatever they want on board, they may get a few customers willing to pay more, but probably not enough for them to see a bigger profit, so they won't do it for now.

 

Maybe if they charged a little (or a lot) less for drinks, less people would feel the need to smuggle, buy more from the ship, and increase their profits.

 

Anyway, that my two cents.

[coondogg97]

I also emailed the ship's coordinator after reading your message, and she replied immediately. We decided to go ahead and order a bottle of our favorite (Beefeater's Gin at $40) for our 2/17 Pearl cruise rather than chance trying to smuggle anything. I agree with the OP that it's a shame we can't bring something on board with us to keep in our cabin, but it's not worth the humiliation of getting caught. Now my big dilemma is what about the tonic? Can we carry that on board without being chastised? Or will it be provided as part of the set up (fat chance, right)??

 

Nano,

 

Glad I could help. They will not provide the tonic, but you are allowed to bring as much on as you would like. Anything that doesn't make you loopy is free game!

[Nano]

That's good to hear. I'll probably bring a lime with me too. There's nothing better than fresh lime in a G&T!

[WinnieinWA]

Tonic is 2 bucks a can...the buffet always has cut limes/lemons around..just snag a few.

 

Have fun

 

Winnie

[katmash]

[quote name=salty dingo;13291523My point is if they can't make enough profit without some silly rules like the alcohol policy' date=' they should raise the fares so they can make a fair profit without burdening the people who are drinking in their cabin.

 

Now, the bar setup is a good idea - there are 20 driks per liter, but I do question if Grey Goose is going to be $40 a liter - I bet the premium brands are more.

 

Anyway, I realize lots of people will have different opinions on this... I just have a sore spot for being told what I can'd do in my cabin when it does not bother anyone else.[/quote]

 

I agree with you.

 

My problem with the bar setup is that they do not offer a premium vodka. I would gladly pay a premium price if they would offer a premium product but Stoli and Absolute is as good as it gets with a bar setup.

[wiz54]

Talking about the cost of booze always seems to make the sparks fly--I just was on the NCL Dawn and I did get a bar setup-$80 for 2 1liter bottles (Absolut and Canadian Club) plus a $3 "set up charge" mixers (tonic and diet coke) were $1.75 each. Drinks at the bars and casino were much less if you didn't get the drinks in the souvenier cups. 2 bahama mamas in the "fancy" glasses and 1 Diet and Jack cost $26.97 I think is also makes a difference with the drinks you order... vodka tonic in a regular bar glass was $4.03.. A person I know cruised Dawn in December and carried a large apple juice bottle full of booze and never had a problem -also someone carried on litler water bottles that they had filled with vodka instead of water. You can try what you like and just be aware of the possible consequences.I decided the next time I cruise I won't order the bar set up and just get them from the bar-- also a little note the drinks in the casino are definitely BETTER than the bars. Liz

[Nano]

Thanks for the scoop on the tonic (and limes) Winnie and Wiz54! One last question - where exactly do I find the tonic (if we don't bring our own)? Do I order it from the ships's coordinator as part of the bar set up service, call room service or request it from one of the bartenders? Sorry for all the dumb questions - this is our first time on NCL and dealing with the "no alcohol" carry on policy.

[Lisa&Neb]

WE are just going to bring cola on board (2 or 3 dozen) and then restock at Roatan and then at Cozumel. if you needed to buy it you should be able to at the bars would be my guess....

[B_K]

Thanks for the scoop on the tonic (and limes) Winnie and Wiz54! One last question - where exactly do I find the tonic (if we don't bring our own)? Do I order it from the ships's coordinator as part of the bar set up service, call room service or request it from one of the bartenders? Sorry for all the dumb questions - this is our first time on NCL and dealing with the "no alcohol" carry on policy.

 

On the Sun two weeks ago tonic was $1.75 in the mini bar. Coordinator does not have mixers. I asked room stewards to bring a couple extra cans which they did. If you are in a suite butler can also get it for you (and may not charge you). I just stopped in one of the bars and asked for a cup with some limes which they were happy to supply and I tipped him a couple bucks.

 

Trip was a failure though - when I got off the ship on Sat there were still probably two drinks left in my bottle of Beefeaters I got through bar set up.... I must be getting old.

[cruz4evr]

My point is if they can't make enough profit without some silly rules like the alcohol policy, they should raise the fares so they can make a fair profit without burdening the people who are drinking in their cabin.

 

 

But why should everyone else have to pay higher fares just so the drinkers can drink in their cabins? :D

[cruz4evr]

Quote:

"My point is if they can't make enough profit without some silly rules like the alcohol policy, they should raise the fares so they can make a fair profit without burdening the people who are drinking in their cabin."

 

 

But why should everyone else have to pay higher fares just so the drinkers can drink in their cabins? :D

__________________

[JudyJFLA]

So I can get my pepsi on board in my carry on, but if I am getting it straight They will nick me $15 a bottle to bring on my bottle of wine and my Asti? Or is it charged to open it in the dining room?

 

I don't want to get busted at security, but most times at security they really have not been looking close at the screen or cared that we buzz in the metal detector (Joint replacements). I just don't want to lug it to Miami and then donate it to the party stash for the TSA.

 

JudyJFLA

[JudyJFLA]

So I can get my pepsi on board in my carry on, but if I am getting it straight They will nick me $15 a bottle to bring on my bottle of wine and my Asti? Or is it charged to open it in the dining room?

 

I don't want to get busted at security, but most times at security they really have not been looking close at the screen or cared that we buzz in the metal detector (Joint replacements). I just don't want to lug it to Miami and then donate it to the party stash for the TSA.

13 Days on the Jade is a long time without a nip at night.

 

JudyJFLA

[canadarose]

judyj, The charge is actually to bring the wine on board, not just to open it in the dining room. We've been through security in several different ports, and they usually detect the wine (not always). They don't keep it. The choice is that they will hold it til end of cruise (as they do with hard liqour) or in the case of wine only, give you the choice to pay the $15 per bottle corkage fee. The only time they don't give back liqour at the end of cruise is if it's not in original container. Size of bottle fees appears to be more of a question. We've usually been charged 1 fee for 1.5 litre bottle, but once was charged $30.

[GrannyMouse]

We've never had trouble taking wine/alcohol on board as long as we use the wine boxes and the airline size alcohol bottles. We've done this on RCL, NCL and Princess with no problems. We still purchase drinks on the ship but like to have a drink in our room while relaxing before dinner.

[cruisingfromnh]

Grannymouse,

 

How do you take the wine boxes on board? Do you just put them in your packed luggage in the box or take the bladder out of the box and just pack that? We plan on purchasing at the NCL bar also but would like to have a drink in our room as well. We may just go with the bar set up but making plans now.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

We've never had trouble taking wine/alcohol on board as long as we use the wine boxes and the airline size alcohol bottles. We've done this on RCL, NCL and Princess with no problems. We still purchase drinks on the ship but like to have a drink in our room while relaxing before dinner.

[GrannyMouse]

One of our local grocery chains carries wine in small boxes - 3 glasses per box. I usually put the whole box in a zip lock bag just in case and pack it that way. I'm not a big drinker. Usually 3 boxes will do me for a 7 day cruise.

[liz_p]

I got a few strange looks a couple of years ago when I boarded my NCL cruise with 2 cases of my favorite soda on a wheeled luggage carrier (diet Code Red - no way I would find on ship or islands). In the soft sided cooler on top of it was 2 quart bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream poured into Starbuck's bottles and a 6pk of Fuze drinks (juice, no alcohol).

We also carried a few liter bottles of water and insulated covers for them.

Did we buy drinks on board? Yes. If I had not brought my our would I have spent a single penny on Bailey's? Not a cent.

[Planer's Edge]

I got a few strange looks a couple of years ago when I boarded my NCL cruise with 2 cases of my favorite soda on a wheeled luggage carrier (diet Code Red - no way I would find on ship or islands). In the soft sided cooler on top of it was 2 quart bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream poured into Starbuck's bottles and a 6pk of Fuze drinks (juice, no alcohol).

We also carried a few liter bottles of water and insulated covers for them.

Did we buy drinks on board? Yes. If I had not brought my our would I have spent a single penny on Bailey's? Not a cent.

 

You certainly went deep in the archives to dig up this can of worms. :eek:

 

PE

[BayStateguppy]

lol

 

It's an oldy but it's a perpetual topic.

 

The only problem I see is that recent information is of much more value than postings that are 2 years old.

[fin]

First post resurrects a 26 month old controversial topic? Smells troll-like.

[luddite]

First post resurrects a 26 month old controversial topic? Smells troll-like.

 

There's a good chance that she did a search and this is the most recent one she could find, since a LOT of hootch-smuggling threads get contentious and poofed.