NCL, "strikes" for drinking?

[DawnCt]

One of my friends said that her son just docked on the NCL ship out of NYC. He went with a group of nine college age kids and it sounds like they did their share of maintaining the ship's bars. She mentioned that he got a "strike" for "wobbling". He told her that wasn't bad because other kids got 'two strikes'. Is this a new system or one that I have been fortunate enough not to know about? ;)

[KevinsCruising]

One of my friends said that her son just docked on the NCL ship out of NYC. He went with a group of nine college age kids and it sounds like they did their share of maintaining the ship's bars. She mentioned that he got a "strike" for "wobbling". He told her that wasn't bad because other kids got 'two strikes'. Is this a new system or one that I have been fortunate enough not to know about? ;)

 

It sounds to me like they were getting close to getting cut off from drinking. Does not sound like a system but more of a bartender decision.

[DawnCt]

It sounds to me like they were getting close to getting cut off from drinking. Does not sound like a system but more of a bartender decision.

 

No, because there are multiple bars on the ship and he was given a strike away from the bar.

[goose30]

Yes they put a "strike" on your forehead. LOL. How else would they enforce it?

[DawnCt]

Yes they put a "strike" on your forehead. LOL. How else would they enforce it?

 

I can think of a couple of ways;

 

You need your ship id to purchase alcohol. They could possibly restrict that ship wide.

You could be given future strikes which may mean that you would be forced to disembark at the next port.

You could be barred from cruising with NCL if they felt you were a disruptive passenger.

 

There were apparently a lot of "spring breakers" on this cruise. Whether the "strikes" are meaningful or have any consequence, I don't know, but considering the "lost at sea" tally over the years, it probably is a good idea to at least attempt to reign in the college age population.

[njhorseman]

Yes they put a "strike" on your forehead. LOL. How else would they enforce it?

 

I can think of a very simple way to do it. They enter the information into your on board account, and if accumulate "three strikes" when the waiter or bartender swipes your card the system won't accept it and you're refused service.

[dznymom]

I can think of a very simple way to do it. They enter the information into your on board account, and if accumulate "three strikes" when the waiter or bartender swipes your card the system won't accept it and you're refused service.

 

Which is good in theory, but we all know kids (we were once kids ;)) and they are very good at having some one else purchase drinks for them. I hope they do find a way to cut down on the over indulging, but drinking is definitely a big part of the culture onboard, and not just for youngsters!

 

As for offering all you can drink packages to kids, that is just plain silly and irresponsible. Maybe they were hoping the strikes would make the kids nervous and slow them down a bit.

[KevinsCruising]

Which is good in theory, but we all know kids (we were once kids ;)) and they are very good at having some one else purchase drinks for them. I hope they do find a way to cut down on the over indulging, but drinking is definitely a big part of the culture onboard, and not just for youngsters!

 

Maybe they were just using the strikes as a scare tactic. As a kid, it would have worked on me!

 

 

I agree :cool:

[Pendragoncruising]

One of my friends said that her son just docked on the NCL ship out of NYC. He went with a group of nine college age kids and it sounds like they did their share of maintaining the ship's bars. She mentioned that he got a "strike" for "wobbling". He told her that wasn't bad because other kids got 'two strikes'. Is this a new system or one that I have been fortunate enough not to know about? ;)

 

I dare say on any given cruise 50% of the cruisers overindulge at least once, are you sure the kid wasn't doing more than "wobbling" I can see the staff getting concerned if the kids were effecting other passengers after all groups whether they be kids or "adults" tend to migrate to the lowest IQ denominator when alcohol is involved

[Planer's Edge]

I dare say on any given cruise 50% of the cruisers overindulge at least once.......

 

 

I would love to see some statistics that might prove this outlandish opinion!!!!

 

PE

[BBTT]

Read a post the other day where RCCL was testing all you can drink card-three versions-1 was for beer and wine 2 was bar rail liquor beer and wine and the third top shelf or basically all available. ranged in price i think #1 was $40 something and each other cat. went up about $10. each. This was avail for anyone willing to pay the price not just groups. Dont get me wrong , i like a drink or few like most others but where do you draw the line . Security problems could get worse including sexual assault and worse-how does the bartender cut you off if you go to another bar or room and what about the # of familys possibly with young children on board that would be subject to a larger group of possibly obnoxious folks. The cruise lines always used the guise of being able to control the amount of alcohol consumed / smuggled onboard to keep EVERYONE safe including those that are and are not over or way over the limit. sounds like a quick fix to increasing alcohol sales and their bottom line as a lot of people are feeling the effects of the economy and maybe not spending quite as much as they used to.Don't get the wrong idea- i do enjoy a few drinks and do not chastize people for drinking and on ocassion having maybe one too many but should the mass market cruise lines offer an all you can drink option-looking for trouble in my opinion.

 

THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION AND I WELCOME OTHERS BUT IS IN NO WAY STATED TO START A 50 PAGE QUANDRY (sp)

[camz]

Wow I have been known to "wobble" while at sea and I don't drink alcohol! that would be funny if I got a strike. :D

[sparks1093]

Maybe he was talking about a strike in the bowling alley?;)

[terrymtex01]

One time in the casino on the Pearl, I believe it was, I would have gotten a strike for sure. I had been seeing this drink on the bar menus all week.. A Cherry Limeade.. OH it sounded so good. Had about three or four different alcoholic beverages in it. I finally ordered one about night five on the cruise while I was sitting at a slot machine playing. Man it was so good I slurped it down QUICK. It didn't taste all that strong. Just a nice tasty frozen drink. When I went to stand up.. BAMB .. it hit me like a ton of bricks.. My knees literally almost buckled... LOL.. I admit I am a light weight when it comes to drinking.. but BOY did that one hit me hard. I started ordering coffee every time the servers walked by.. LOL. I was afraid Doug would have to call someone to help get me to the stateroom which was at the other end of the ship because I KNOW he couldn't carry me.. lol.

[DawnCt]

I dare say on any given cruise 50% of the cruisers overindulge at least once, are you sure the kid wasn't doing more than "wobbling" I can see the staff getting concerned if the kids were effecting other passengers after all groups whether they be kids or "adults" tend to migrate to the lowest IQ denominator when alcohol is involved

 

I have no idea how wobbly he was but I did ask his mom to get the "particulars" since I had never heard of "strikes" before. When I find out how one gets them, how many they can accumulate and if you must trade them in for your own passage back home, I will report back. A lot of colleges and universities were off for March spring break and NYC is convenient to get to from the northeast. From what I understand there were a lot of spring breakers on this cruise.

[Pendragoncruising]

I would love to see some statistics that might prove this outlandish opinion!!!!

 

PE

 

Sorry :confused: 70%?

[sdmike]

Sorry :confused: 70%?

 

You're not the same person that said the Epic casino took up over 75% of deck 6, are you?

 

I only saw one person on our epic cruise that visibly had too much to drink one night. That's one out of 4,000 passengers. Granted I can't be everywhere, but if you see half the pax drunk I'd say you were running with a much more interesting crowd than me.

[DawnCt]

I asked the young man today, exactly what he got a strike for and it was for intoxication and having a glass in the pool area after being asked to remove it twice. He also said that he was never made aware of what the consequences were. Out of curiosity, I called customer relations and asked about "strikes". She said she would need to know the passenger's name in order to provide any information but in general their were disciplinary actions. She couldn't tell me how many strikes one would need to have consequences. She did say that the last two sailings out of NYC, I presume the Jewel, had a lot of problems. It was indeed college spring break in the North East. She said that there were "several passengers" on each sailing that were escorted off of the ship and had to find their own way home. There were others that are permanently restricted from sailing on NCL. Some of the problems they had above and beyond noise and serious intoxication (which cruise lines have a duty to protect passengers from) included "throwing furniture into the pool, and going to the bathroom in the elevators and vandalism".

[kristieokc]

My famly and I just got off the NCL Spirit this weekend, and either we missed the obnoxious spring break crowd by a week, or we just don't hang out in the areas (bars, I assume) where they must have been congregating.

 

Our only problem actually came the final morning on the ship before debarkation. We were eating the buffet breakfast in Raffles and a group of (appearing to be) college age kids, four boys and one girl, came and sat at the table next to ours. Not only were they loud (still drunk from the night before?) but they were foul. Bad language, every other word was "F" this and "F" that, and then gutter talk about their (ahem) sexual activity onboard ..... whether it was all bluster or not I don't know, but we didn't want our pre-teens and teenager to listen to it, so we simply got up and moved, dragging our breakfast plates along with us. As I watched, several other people got up and moved as well.

 

I'm sure I was an obnoxious little turd when I was younger, too, but I'd like to think I had even a small bit of tact and respect for the other people around me in public. (sigh)

[BahamaMama247]

I think your perception of how intoxicated other passangers can get all depends on where you are and how late you stay up along with other factors. I have seen many "wobbles" in the Blue Lagoon at 3 a.m but not so manny during morning Bingo ;)

No strikes here

[Jerseyboy1]

I can think of a very simple way to do it. They enter the information into your on board account, and if accumulate "three strikes" when the waiter or bartender swipes your card the system won't accept it and you're refused service.

 

I think this idea might work. Maybe give it a try, why not? I also think maybe they could set up the system to only allow your card to be swiped for one or two drinks per half hour. This may cut down on the volume of drinks one could get at a time and also discourage sharing of the card with the drink packages. Probably not a popular choice and may not even work. Who knows?

[sparks1093]

I think this idea might work. Maybe give it a try, why not? I also think maybe they could set up the system to only allow your card to be swiped for one or two drinks per half hour. This may cut down on the volume of drinks one could get at a time and also discourage sharing of the card with the drink packages. Probably not a popular choice and may not even work. Who knows?

 

I recall reading a post where the passenger bought a round of drinks for a group of people and then when he tried to buy himself a drink later he found out that he had exceeded his daily limit. Obviously no system is perfect but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that NCL does track this already.

[BahamaMama247]

My cousin is 19 and was ecstatic when we checked in and she did not get the corner cut off of her card. She ordered a drink and when they swiped it, it came up in the system that she was not old enough (went and got the parental consent signed after). So the cards do carry more information than just where to charge the money

[graphicguy]

I've seen some pretty "trashed" people on cruises, on various cruise lines (including an 80 year old man who was so sloshed on a HAL cruise that he kept losing his teeth just walking along...picking them up off the ground as he swayed to pick them up, and putting them right back into his mouth).

 

The worst one though was on RCCL Liberty of the Seas a few years ago. A "younger" person (I'd say mid-20s) was so drunk, at the pool area by noon the 2nd day at sea, he looked like a pin ball as he walked in a zig-zag fashion, actually falling into one of the pools. I suppose he fell asleep somewhere on one of the deck chairs as I saw him later that evening. When I saw him, he appeared to me to be very, very burnt.

 

He went ot one of the bars and ordered a drink, They refused him. He made a big stink about it until security escorted him somewhere (don't know where). I never saw him again. I had heard later in the cruise they took him to the infirmary, treated him for his sunburn, and the day after that, put him off the ship at the next port.

 

Again, hearsay but it sounds plausible.

 

Like the person who the OP referred to, I guess it depends how poorly a person behaves as to the severity or quantity of the "strikes".....to the point I suppose they can eject you off the ship.

 

From what I've observed, however, you have to be very drunk, very obnoxious, and very annoying, almost to the point you're going to injure yourself, or someone else before any actions are taken (or "strikes" given).