Greener123

That seems to be their get around in Greece at least.

UK regulations say the advertised price has to include the taxes… they’d have to adjust all the menus constantly - or just absorb the cost like very other line does

What’s the mood onboard? Imagine big queue at guest services and lots of unhappy sailors?

It’s one of those things in life, it never hurts to ask

No, that was in the middle of the other two.

“Certain ports of call” 60% then 🙄

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

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

What was the lunch on the tour, the description made it sound like it would be good, did you not get to see the making of the fresh mozzarella? also while in Livorno are you seeing any of the signage about alcohol resections? Might be a bit early yet 🤣

this was from Naples today… sounds a bit odd. it seems like someone at NCL has misunderstood the laws around duty free, it doesn’t extend to bars but the sale of bottles in the shops. They’re going to the extreme of stopping everything when they clearly don’t need to.

I guess we’ll find out when Dawn is back in Southampton tomorrow.

But only for NCL…. Very strange people on Dawn reporting that no alcohol to be served or sold while in Portland, UK today… so definitely not a Southampton issue - or a late paperwork issue as others have suggested. Virtuosa was in Portland 2 weeks ago and had no issues with alcohol why is this exclusively a NCL issue.

Looking at the Star 11th May sailing Facebook page the bars opened around 9/9:30pm… lots of unhappiness and no explanations

Dawn was in last week and had similar issues I believe

It’ll be interesting to see what happens on Sunday with Dawn docked in Southampton with Anthem of the seas at the next birth, Arvia and Arcadia both in on the same day. See if there similar tales on any of those ships - due to customs and border restrictions. there’s no way any other line/ship/sailing would have had this issue and it not have been mentioned anywhere.

It can only be a NCL thing since no other line sailing out of Southampton has such restrictions? very strange, searching the topic the restrictions seem to almost exclusively a NCL issue in other ports too.

I do wonder what specifically it is about Indian food all the naysayers don’t like? not all Indian food is spicy, is it the “sauciness” of the dishes? The variety of spices? - many dishes have different blends of spices. There are plenty of high end Indian restaurants around the world, especially here in the UK and they would suit a specialty type upcharge just fine… even more so than the menus I see at Italian restaurants - Pizza and Pasta are two of the cheapest things to make.

100% this, I’d far rather have a nice Goan fish curry or some really good onion bhajis than grits or some dry “biscuits” and weird gloopy white “gravy” 🤣

Would love an Indian specialty, something a bit different from the standard Italian-French-Steakhouse on every other ship. not sure if they all do but P&O ships have Sindhu as an Indian speciality, not a fan of P&O more generally so not tried it yet.

Nope not new to cruising, this upcoming MSC cruise will be my 12th - I don’t think anyone could possibly claim that 400ml of beer for £8-£9 is among the lowest. saw elsewhere online a post from Grandiosa at more like €6.50, so about £6 which is more palatable - and higher than on shore which is expected, but £8-£9+ is extortionate

Is there a specific time window that upgrade bid become available, checking on the NCL app when going to cabin upgrades it says my booking isn’t found even though it shows fully everywhere else?

Anyone have any updated menu prices… those posted above seem rather expensive.

Cheers for this, just saved me £6 🙂