Norwegian- under 21 drinking

[NorwegianKat13]

Hello. We are sailing the end of November and my niece is the 2nd person in my sisters cabin. She is turning 21 the month after we sail. I know They can sign at guest services for her to be able to drink beer and wine. Has anyone had any experience lately with this? Anything I have looked up on these boards was from years ago. If they sign... do they then honor her to have the beverage package upgraded from the soda package or do they have to pay for the drinks out of pocket? My sister has the UBP and niece has soda pkg.  She just likes to have a few glasses of wine and isn’t looking for the hard liquor drinks. 

Thanks. 

Katerina

[Lbicklel]

 I don’t have personal experience but I recall reading that you had to be 21 in order to have the beverage package. So she would have to pay out of pocket. 

[kenzie]

Last time we did this was December 2017 & January 2018, my daughter could drink wine/beer but they will not give any alcohol package, she had a soda package - although her fare was the same as ours, who had the alcohol package. We were a party of 9 so had no trouble getting her wine/beer for her and I did not feel guilty for doing so as we paid for her fare same as anyone else. 

[kenzie]

Please note that your sister will have to sign as her mum, if they do not have the same surname, make sure they have something to show they are mother /daughter eg driving licences with same address or birth certificate and wedding cert if the mother has changed her name, as in our case, I had remarried and changed my surname and we had previously had problems with this, so we went prepared this time. 

 

[calmpets]

When we sailed on the Pearl in March, my stepson was 20 years old, and my husband signed for him to be able to drink beer & wine. He was not allowed to upgrade to the UBP, so he just had the soda package. He had to pay for his beer & wine. I think they just don't want under-agers to over-imbibe.

[NorwegianKat13]

Thanks everyone for your good posts. I didn’t think they would allow them to get the UBP for my niece. My sister has the package but I didn’t know if they would then give my niece the package to JUST be able to get the beer and wine since only one person in the room is utilizing the package and two can get any type of alcohol. Thanks. :)

[Named-Tawny]

This is so weird to me that a non-US company sailing in non-US waters with many non-US travellers would enforce a US drinking age at all.

TBH, it never would have even occured to me that somebody over 18 wouldn't be able to drink at their bars.  Good to note for the future if/when I have kids though.

[smplybcause]

5 minutes ago, Named-Tawny said:

This is so weird to me that a non-US company sailing in non-US waters with many non-US travellers would enforce a US drinking age at all.

TBH, it never would have even occured to me that somebody over 18 wouldn't be able to drink at their bars.  Good to note for the future if/when I have kids though.

 

I believe any cruise sailing from a US port does that, but I've only been on Royal and NCL. Royal, as far as I know, doesn't even have a waiver to allow beer/wine. I believe Carnival is also 21+ out of the US. 

 

When NCL sails out of Europe it's 18+. Seems they follow the law of the embarkation port (with possibly an exception of Canadian sailings also being 21+).

[Named-Tawny]

1 minute ago, smplybcause said:

 

I believe any cruise sailing from a US port does that, but I've only been on Royal and NCL. Royal, as far as I know, doesn't even have a waiver to allow beer/wine. I believe Carnival is also 21+ out of the US. 

 

When NCL sails out of Europe it's 18+. Seems they follow the law of the embarkation port (with possibly an exception of Canadian sailings also being 21+).

That makes sense, thanks!

I'm sailing out of Quebec City next year - I'll report back if 18-20 year olds seem to be drinking or not. 😉

[ColeThornton]

11 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

I believe any cruise sailing from a US port does that, but I've only been on Royal and NCL. Royal, as far as I know, doesn't even have a waiver to allow beer/wine. I believe Carnival is also 21+ out of the US. 

 

When NCL sails out of Europe it's 18+. Seems they follow the law of the embarkation port (with possibly an exception of Canadian sailings also being 21+).

 

 

Close but not quite.   On Alaska and Hawaii sailing you must be 21.  18+ is for Europe and Australia.

 

What is the minimum age for purchase and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages?

 

Passengers must be 21 years of age or older to purchase or consume alcohol. With the exception of Alaska and Hawaii itineraries, Norwegian permits young adults to purchase and personally consume wine and beer only while onboard and with the consent of an accompanying parent. Authorization will be given only when the accompanying parent completes the Young Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver form. This form can be obtained and completed at the Guest Services Desk upon embarkation of the vessel. However, passengers 18 years of age or older are permitted to consume beer and wine when sailing on round-trip European and Australian voyages without having to complete the Young Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver form.

[KeithJenner]

This is the NCL policy. It states that the 18+ rule without signing a consent form is just in Europe, but knowing NCL there may be different policies onboard:

 

Passengers must be 21 years of age or older to purchase or consume alcohol.

With the exception of Alaska and Hawaii itineraries, Norwegian permits young adults to purchase and personally consume wine and beer only whilst onboard and with the consent of an accompanying parent. Authorisation will be given only when the accompanying parent completes the Young Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver form. This form can be obtained and completed at the Guest Services Desk upon embarkation of the vessel. However, passengers 18 years of age or older are permitted to consume beer and wine when sailing on round-trip European voyages without having to complete the Young Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver form.

[smplybcause]

8 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Close but not quite.   On Alaska and Hawaii sailing you must be 21.  18+ is for Europe and Australia.

 

What is the minimum age for purchase and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages?

 

Passengers must be 21 years of age or older to purchase or consume alcohol. With the exception of Alaska and Hawaii itineraries, Norwegian permits young adults to purchase and personally consume wine and beer only while onboard and with the consent of an accompanying parent. Authorization will be given only when the accompanying parent completes the Young Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver form. This form can be obtained and completed at the Guest Services Desk upon embarkation of the vessel. However, passengers 18 years of age or older are permitted to consume beer and wine when sailing on round-trip European and Australian voyages without having to complete the Young Adult Alcoholic Beverage Waiver form.

 

By "does that" I was talking about it being 21+ not the waivers.

 

Hawaii sailings of course are strictly 21+ since they pretty much don't leave US waters. Alaska also makes sense when you think about how 90% of that cruise is in US waters too. A little surprised that the US/Canada sailings still allow the waivers given the Alaska exclusion. Interesting that the 18-20 can't drink liquor in Europe/Australia either. 

[Ticatraveler]

We bought and upgrade to the soda package for my 20 year old son. It allowed him to get beer and wine anywhere on the ship. 

I don't remember the name of the package. We purchased it at guest services when we signed the authorization form.