carrying on soda/water

[enewedding]

Hi

this is my second cruise and first time on NCL. My last cruise was in september 2008 on carinval.

At that time we were not allow to bring soda/water on board, is this a new thing or is has it always been this way on NCL?

 

how much are you allow to bring for 2 people on a 1 week cruise?

how do you bring it on? carry the case, the cans in bag, etc?

 

 

thanks

 

(is it bad that i had to edit cause i got the wrong year on my honeymoon cruise? LOL)

[bakerintn]

There has not been a limit posted by NCL and in general, there is no limit. Some people reinforce a case with tape and put a luggage tag on it and it arrived inside their cabin...Others carry in on themselves (a wheeled cooler seems to be popular) or in their carry-on luggage.

 

You can buy soda in the ports that you visit (although the taste will probably be different and zero-calorie and no0-decafe varieties are hard to find.

 

Most of us don't bother with bottled water because the ship's water is so good. However, maybe bring a few bottles that you can use and the refill for the week.

[rmurray847]

We sailed on the Jade in November. NCL is quite strict about alcohol...but there doesn't appear to be any limitations on other beverages, except the effort you're willing to put in. I agree that the water on the ship is great...maybe just take some empty bottles on board with you and fill up on the ship. If you like soda, bring a little bit and then buy at ports as needed. The refrigerators are pretty small, and space is enough of a premium in the room, I wouldn't want to store a case of soda.

[roger001]

We always carry two 12 packs of Diet Pepsi on board. I carry them in a small travel bag but leave it open checking in so it can be seen for inspection. We also use a small two wheeled carrier for our carry ons and the Pepsi rides on it.

[flowers44]

My daughter luggage tagged two 12 packs of diet Pepsie last October for our cruise to Bermuda. The soda never arrived at our cabin. I would suggest that you carry it on and leave it at your cabin when you get onboard. The soda never showed up. NCL did replace one of the cases for her. This was on the Gem out of New York City.

[STARFISH*4]

carried on soda last month and also have had soda delivered to my cabin in a soft sided cooler...no problem with either.

[fi'fi]

Hi

this is my second cruise and first time on NCL. My last cruise was in september 2008 on carinval.

At that time we were not allow to bring soda/water on board, is this a new thing or is has it always been this way on NCL?

 

how much are you allow to bring for 2 people on a 1 week cruise?

how do you bring it on? carry the case, the cans in bag, etc?

 

 

thanks

 

(is it bad that i had to edit cause i got the wrong year on my honeymoon cruise? LOL)

 

The hubby and I have cruised the epic and the pearl. We had a suitcase just for water and soda no problem getting it on board.

[FEckeT]

We put our soda and sport bottle water in a wheeled duffel. I think DH may have also placed his shoe bag in there.

 

I wrote "water and soda" on one of the NCL luggage tags that was mailed to us, placed it on the handle, gave it to the porter along with our other luggage at the pier and it was delivered to our room along with the rest of our suitcases. The only water we carry on, is the sport bottle we are drinking out of for our 2 hour drive to the NY pier.

 

Sailed twice on NCL, no problem either time.

 

:)

[QoFE]

I was on the Christmas cruise with NCL out of NOLA to the Western Caribbean; they don't allow any of your own liquids. If they allowed that, then they wouldn't be able to charge you for soda/alcohol at outrageous prices and charge you a 15% autogratuity.

 

We purchased wine from NCL the day of our cruise that was a cruise special: Buy today and get 20% off 6 or 8 bottles of wine.. seemed reasonable, but I thought the wines were a bit expensive, about 150% markup (100% mark-up is standard in a restaurant), but after the 20% off of each $80-95.00 bottle of wine, I was charged a 15% auto-gratuity (for having it delivered to my stateroom)! So much for the 20% savings. Buyer beware, I didn't see anything on the paperwork about being charged 15% for buying the wine. Very deceitful business practice imho, we got fleeced.

 

If you want to bring water or soda on-board, you'd better disguise it really well, else they'll take it and give it back at the end of the week.

[camz]

We have always brought some soda and water, all bottles, onboard. We just place the bottles in our suit case that rolls and luggage tag it. Then later it arrives with the other luggage.

[peg013]

I was on the Christmas cruise with NCL out of NOLA to the Western Caribbean; they don't allow any of your own liquids. If they allowed that, then they wouldn't be able to charge you for soda/alcohol at outrageous prices and charge you a 15% autogratuity.

 

We purchased wine from NCL the day of our cruise that was a cruise special: Buy today and get 20% off 6 or 8 bottles of wine.. seemed reasonable, but I thought the wines were a bit expensive, about 150% markup (100% mark-up is standard in a restaurant), but after the 20% off of each $80-95.00 bottle of wine, I was charged a 15% auto-gratuity (for having it delivered to my stateroom)! So much for the 20% savings. Buyer beware, I didn't see anything on the paperwork about being charged 15% for buying the wine. Very deceitful business practice imho, we got fleeced.

 

If you want to bring water or soda on-board, you'd better disguise it really well, else they'll take it and give it back at the end of the week.

 

How much water and soda were you trying to bring on? I've never heard of anyone not being able to bring soda and water onboard NCL. We bring 12 packs of soda and a few bottles of water every cruise.

[JMHAM1]

I was on the Christmas cruise with NCL out of NOLA to the Western Caribbean; they don't allow any of your own liquids. If they allowed that, then they wouldn't be able to charge you for soda/alcohol at outrageous prices and charge you a 15% autogratuity.

 

If you want to bring water or soda on-board, you'd better disguise it really well, else they'll take it and give it back at the end of the week.

 

This is concerning for me since we sail in 3 weeks on the Star. We have NEVER had an issue bringing on a case of Coke. We typically just roll it on in a soft sided cooler. Does anyone else have any recent experience being denied?

[FEckeT]

I was on the Christmas cruise with NCL out of NOLA to the Western Caribbean; they don't allow any of your own liquids. If they allowed that, then they wouldn't be able to charge you for soda/alcohol at outrageous prices and charge you a 15% autogratuity.

 

We purchased wine from NCL the day of our cruise that was a cruise special: Buy today and get 20% off 6 or 8 bottles of wine.. seemed reasonable, but I thought the wines were a bit expensive, about 150% markup (100% mark-up is standard in a restaurant), but after the 20% off of each $80-95.00 bottle of wine, I was charged a 15% auto-gratuity (for having it delivered to my stateroom)! So much for the 20% savings. Buyer beware, I didn't see anything on the paperwork about being charged 15% for buying the wine. Very deceitful business practice imho, we got fleeced.

 

If you want to bring water or soda on-board, you'd better disguise it really well, else they'll take it and give it back at the end of the week.

 

If you go to www.NCL.com and click on the tab "Get Ready For Your Curise" it will give you a drop down menu where if you click on "Bon Voyage Gifts" it will bring up items you can purchase prior to sailing. One of the items is wine. It says "download wine list". It is only a small list (there is a larger one available from the group event coordinator if you call and request one), but on the bottom of that list there is the following NCL disclosure: *Prices listed do not include 15% gratuity. Price listed is subject to sales tax when required by law. The person from NCL that is taking your order will tell you that a 15% gratuity will be added to the price of the wine.

 

Also, I pulled my wine list/order form out from our 9 day Jewel cruise this past May, which was "Viva Vino Wine Package - Purchase a minimum of 9 bottles from this list and get 20% OFF" ... right below where you signed for this wine was the following statement: A 15% gratuity charge will be added to your check. Wines are limited in quantity and are subject to availability.

 

After we boarded in New York we decided to check out the "wine" special that I missed the year before. We asked for the order form to decide, that is how I was able to type the above statement, because it was still with my paperwork. We decided not to purchase 9 bottles because they did not list the ones I would have ordered from home.

 

While we were eating lunch prior to our cabin being ready, we decided that we might as well order a bottle of wine for me to leave in the dining room and DH ordered his bucket of beers to take back to our cabin.

 

To my surprise, later in the week I noticed that we were charged NY sales tax :eek:. We decided then and there that this year, we will WAIT until we are out to sea to order a drink. NCL has nothing to do with sales tax, but the 15% gratuity is clearly marked. Even if you order the wine prior to sailing, the NCL representative will tell you that a 15% gratuity charge will be added, but it does not get added to a bottle of liquor if ordered prior to sailing to be delivered to your cabin.

 

I am not trying to make a big deal about this, because I would be angry if I were not aware, but it seems like NCL makes it very well known that a "tip" will be charged for drinks. Even in the spa, they let you know if there is a tip included in the price or not. On both of our cruises we were never surprised by a tip (the sales tax yes -- and of all ports New York -- YIKES).

 

So now does anybody know if we are charged a tax on drinks while docked 3 days in Bermuda? :confused: May have to prepare for that ;)

 

Iced tea for lunch this year until we pull away from New York :D

 

Here is the link to the wine list: http://www2.ncl.com/sites/default/files/NCL_WineList_2.pdf

 

 

[johnql]

I was on the Christmas cruise with NCL out of NOLA to the Western Caribbean; they don't allow any of your own liquids. If they allowed that, then they wouldn't be able to charge you for soda/alcohol at outrageous prices and charge you a 15% autogratuity.

 

We purchased wine from NCL the day of our cruise that was a cruise special: Buy today and get 20% off 6 or 8 bottles of wine.. seemed reasonable, but I thought the wines were a bit expensive, about 150% markup (100% mark-up is standard in a restaurant), but after the 20% off of each $80-95.00 bottle of wine, I was charged a 15% auto-gratuity (for having it delivered to my stateroom)! So much for the 20% savings. Buyer beware, I didn't see anything on the paperwork about being charged 15% for buying the wine. Very deceitful business practice imho, we got fleeced.

 

If you want to bring water or soda on-board, you'd better disguise it really well, else they'll take it and give it back at the end of the week.

 

This is concerning for me since we sail in 3 weeks on the Star. We have NEVER had an issue bringing on a case of Coke. We typically just roll it on in a soft sided cooler. Does anyone else have any recent experience being denied?

This is not the first report of this happening when boarding in NOLA. It appears to be specific to NOLA. I wouldn't worry about it on the Star.

[Scott2.0]

Do I need to put a case of bottled water in a suitcase/bag or can I just slap a luggage tag on it and have it brought to my room? Thanks in advance!