Thread: NCL's Alcohol Policy

I just had a client ask me about bringing a bottle of wine or champagne onboard with them when they board the NCL Sky. I looked up their current policy and imagine my surprise when I saw this;

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
1,500 ml Magnum: $30.00

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.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that they can bring wine or champagne onboard, but they have to pay a 'corkage fee' even if they are just going to enjoy it in the privacy of their stateroom!! Can you imagine that? I don't know of any other cruise line with such a ridiculous policy.

Just another reason why I'm not a big NCL fan.

Pete

I've never seen the corkage fee geared to the size of the bottle either!!

This must be a new policy as my last NCL cruise Feb 2010, my online travel agent sent a bottle of wine to my room. It came with an inscribed corkscrew, a note saying where it came from, and we were not charged anything. Unless the agency paid the corkage fee too I doubt there was a fee back then.

Originally Posted by kirkz

This must be a new policy as my last NCL cruise Feb 2010, my online travel agent sent a bottle of wine to my room. It came with an inscribed corkscrew, a note saying where it came from, and we were not charged anything. Unless the agency paid the corkage fee too I doubt there was a fee back then.

When a travel agent orders a bottle from the cruise line the fee is included in the price they pay.

I have also never heard of charging a corkage fee for wine consumed in ones cabin. That one seems a bit out there.

I am wondering if the fee is enforced if you open the wine in your cabin?

Looking at the price, isn't it a bit excessive? Is there that much of a markup on a bottle of wine purchased on the ship for ship consumption?

Originally Posted by nealberk

I am wondering if the fee is enforced if you open the wine in your cabin?

Looking at the price, isn't it a bit excessive? Is there that much of a markup on a bottle of wine purchased on the ship for ship consumption?

You pay for what you bring on...no matter where you open it!

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.

No, I was asking about the logistics. Is there a price charged when you bring the bottles on the ship (i.e. they scan your luggage and charge for all the bottles they see? Or is it charged when you get the room attendant or waiter to open the bottle?

How about if you bring on your own bottle opener and do it yourself? How do they know?
(We are not wine drinkers so I have no idea on how this is done. It is a real question)

I would assume (and you know what happens when you assume) that like most cruise lines, if you put it in your luggage, they will catch it on the scan and call you down to the 'sin bin' to retrieve it - at that time they'd probably charge you the corkage fee.

If you bring it onboard with you in your carry-on bags, they would see it on the scan and charge your corkage fee at that time to your onboard account.

Obviously, I don't know if that's actually the case, as I'm just going by reading the policy. I've got no personal experience with this new policy, except to say when we did the Pride of America in Hawaii in June that we brought liquor onboard in our backpack and never had any problems.

But I think it's totally ridiculous to charge you a corkage fee if you plan to bring a bottle of wine onboard, open it yourself, and drink it in your cabin. Doesn't surprise me as they're getting like the airlines in charging for everything and anything, but it's still wrong.

Pete

It is a bit absurd........