Bringing Wine aboard in Barcelona!

[oreomidnight]

I recently sailed the EPIC out of Miami and brought a lot of wine aboard and paid the corking fee. We are sailing the EPIC again for the Med cruise in May. I was wondering if anyone has sailed with NCL out of Barcelona before and brought wine? Is is also allowed there?

[Gregor4500]

We have, and yes, same corkage fee. We got some really good wines for 3 or 4 Euros.

[jdvmd]

Yes, you can. The NCL policy applies to all ships in the fleet. If you are staying in Barcelona ahead of the cruise, there was a great supermarket on La Ramblas. Wonderful selection of Spanish wines. Couldn't believe how cheap they were.

[housepeepers]

Oddly enough in Barcelona there is a wine/beverage shop after you go thru security and before you get on the ship. I bought 2 bottles of wine and a six pack of soda.The salesperson just motioned that we should put the wine in our backback. We enjoyed wine in our cabin and brought it to dinner. No one ever asked about corkage. Enjoy Barcelona; it is a wonderful city and that Western Med cruise is awesome. We are hoping to do it again next summer (2012).

[jdvmd]

Oddly enough in Barcelona there is a wine/beverage shop after you go thru security and before you get on the ship. I bought 2 bottles of wine and a six pack of soda.The salesperson just motioned that we should put the wine in our backback. We enjoyed wine in our cabin and brought it to dinner. No one ever asked about corkage. Enjoy Barcelona; it is a wonderful city and that Western Med cruise is awesome. We are hoping to do it again next summer (2012).

 

 

Yes, good to mention the wine store. I cannot remember the name of it but we also bought some bottles there.

[SuiteCruisin14]

We were on the jade last Oct and brought 6 bottles of wine on board. We bought them in Las Rambles at a huge department/grocery store. I had them in my carry on and we were fully prepared to pay the corkage fee as it was still cheaper than buying wine on the ship.

We put our carryons and day packs thru the conveyor and nobody asked us to pay anything or stopped us so we just kept on going. Our friends had one bottle of wine and were asked to pay the fee. I guess it's what ever happens when you board.

 

Lynda

[pex]

I believe there is a duty free store after security in Barcelona, too. The setup is similar in a few other Mediterranean ports, also. Just bring a backpack, and you're good to go.

 

Oddly enough in Barcelona there is a wine/beverage shop after you go thru security and before you get on the ship. I bought 2 bottles of wine and a six pack of soda.

[debt]

Yes, you can. The NCL policy applies to all ships in the fleet. If you are staying in Barcelona ahead of the cruise, there was a great supermarket on La Ramblas. Wonderful selection of Spanish wines. Couldn't believe how cheap they were.

 

Do you recall the name of the market? :)

[debt]

We were on the jade last Oct and brought 6 bottles of wine on board. We bought them in Las Rambles at a huge department/grocery store. I had them in my carry on and we were fully prepared to pay the corkage fee as it was still cheaper than buying wine on the ship.

We put our carryons and day packs thru the conveyor and nobody asked us to pay anything or stopped us so we just kept on going. Our friends had one bottle of wine and were asked to pay the fee. I guess it's what ever happens when you board.

 

Lynda

 

No one asked about some type of sticker?

[Carnac767]

Do you recall the name of the market? :)

 

Corte Ingles is probably the major department store in Barcelona. You'll find it at the end of La Rambla in the Plaza de Catalunya. You can't miss it. They have a very large supermarket on the bottom floor. We loaded up there.

 

The duty free shop in the terminal is your best bet for wine, um, smuggling. Like everyone else said, bring a backpack and put the wine in it to bring aboard. Sometimes the security personnel on the ship will ask you if you bought any alcohol in the duty free shop. Then it's time to act like a politician and deny, deny, deny.

[dijid]

Do you recall the name of the market? :)

There's a Carrefour Market on the west side of Las Ramblas, between La Boqueria and Placa Catalunya. It's a great place to pick up soda, snacks or anything else you might want to get before or after your cruise.

[debt]

There's a Carrefour Market on the west side of Las Ramblas, between La Boqueria and Placa Catalunya. It's a great place to pick up soda, snacks or anything else you might want to get before or after your cruise.

 

Will add that to my walking tour!

[dexddd]

The store after security also had water when we were there in 2008. At that time, there was a security desk setup to pay the corkage just past the store that they were collecting the fee although I can't tell you if they were keeping an eye on who was buying stuff in the store.

[quercus alba]

The store after security also had water when we were there in 2008. At that time, there was a security desk setup to pay the corkage just past the store that they were collecting the fee although I can't tell you if they were keeping an eye on who was buying stuff in the store.

 

So are the prices for stuff like water and soda comparable to airport conce$$ions, or only a small markup from market prices on La Ramblas?

[christiecruise]

The store after security had decent prices on alcohol, not sure about water and soda. Our friends bought rum and vodka and when they asked about paying the fee - were told by the salesperson that they could probably "just walk on and not worry about it" !! They put their purchases in a tote bag and were never questioned.

[Betsybill]

We were on the Jade in November. There is a duty free shop after you have your carry ons scanned, and before you get to the ship. There was a NCL person with a table "collecting" wine etc., but she looked awful lonely.

[Fishbait17]

FWIW, I have brought wine on board with me on all three sailings out of Barcelona. I have declared it upon check-in, and even questioned my butler who walked us on board, and have always been dismissed from paying the corkage fee. Don't know if it was because of having a suite, though... hey, I TRIED to pay lol...

 

Also, the grocery right on La Rambla, just below Placa Catalunya also had some decent inexpensive wines plus all the soda, mixers, etc we needed and was right next door to our hotel (le Meridien). We also found a good wine shop directly to the right of Lo Boqueria (on a side street).

 

Robin

[surmy555]

FWIW, I have brought wine on board with me on all three sailings out of Barcelona. I have declared it upon check-in, and even questioned my butler who walked us on board, and have always been dismissed from paying the corkage fee. Don't know if it was because of having a suite, though... hey, I TRIED to pay lol...

 

Also, the grocery right on La Rambla, just below Placa Catalunya also had some decent inexpensive wines plus all the soda, mixers, etc we needed and was right next door to our hotel (le Meridien). We also found a good wine shop directly to the right of Lo Boqueria (on a side street).

 

Robin

 

Does the store carry hard alcohol in addition to wine?

[jdvmd]

FWIW, I have brought wine on board with me on all three sailings out of Barcelona. I have declared it upon check-in, and even questioned my butler who walked us on board, and have always been dismissed from paying the corkage fee. Don't know if it was because of having a suite, though... hey, I TRIED to pay lol...

 

Also, the grocery right on La Rambla, just below Placa Catalunya also had some decent inexpensive wines plus all the soda, mixers, etc we needed and was right next door to our hotel (le Meridien). We also found a good wine shop directly to the right of Lo Boqueria (on a side street).

 

Robin

Robin, you have had great luck. We were in an AB Suite and it didn't matter. We still paid the corkage. Thanks for reminding me that the grocery store was next to LeMeridian. I couldn't remember the name of the hotel. We didn't stay there but went inside to inquire about something and they were wonderful even though we weren't guests.

[Fishbait17]

Does the store carry hard alcohol in addition to wine?

 

Sorry, I don't remember seeing hard alcohol, although I wasn't looking. We purchased some liquor duty free at our home airport for Barcelona, so didn't even look for it there.

 

Robin

[Canuck-Ottawa]

Does the store carry hard alcohol in addition to wine?

Yes, but not a great selection...vodka, rye, bourbon (JD), gin, etc. Most are Spanish made, so if you want something special (Grey Goose Vodka), forget about it. I did not see any beer.

I wanted Vermouth for Manhattans, and all they sold was Martini & Rossi (not my favourite, but it still did the job). They even had Seagrams VO Rye Whiskey from Canada. Most bottles are 750ml or 1 litre.

As everyone has stated, put it in your carry-on or backpack. If it's exposed in a duty-free bag, you may be stopped when entering the ship.

[erdoran]

Any local wines for sale at the port? I'm not necessarily looking for duty free (I figure local won't have duty!), just a decent price on local wines that perhaps I can't get elsewhere. Seems real convenient to be able to buy a few bottles while I'm waiting to board!

[Teechur]

I would like to buy Bacardi light rum before boarding, probably a 1 litre bottle. Did anyone notice what the approximate price would be? Also do they sell canned Pepsi there. I would like to try the caffeine-free, diet Pepsi with lime, that I read is sold in Spain. Sounds like the makings for a great Cuba Libre on my balcony!:cool:

Thanks in advance!

[pex]

Too funny!

 

Europe is so civilized--duty free shops after the x-ray screen. Come to think of it, the x-rays were staffed by port folks, not NCL staff. They probably don't give a hoot about bottles of wine in luggage.

 

There was a NCL person with a table "collecting" wine etc., but she looked awful lonely.

[Canuck-Ottawa]

Any local wines for sale at the port? I'm not necessarily looking for duty free (I figure local won't have duty!), just a decent price on local wines that perhaps I can't get elsewhere. Seems real convenient to be able to buy a few bottles while I'm waiting to board!

There's nothing at the port itself but the duty-free store. If you want REAL cheap prices, local wines and don't mind a walk (over a mile each way from the port entrance), go up Las Ramblas, almost to Placa Catalunya. On the left, there's a Carrefour store, where all the cruise ship crews shop, as well as many passengers. It's got lots of local wines (and hard liquor) with prices ranging from 1.5-7 Euros. That's as little as $2.25 for a bottle of wine, and they taste fine.