Bar service in Greek ports

[willetstravel]

1 minute ago, Peelie66 said:

I spoke to my booking agent who spoke to NCL directly. NCL have said they are aware of the posts on various sites and that they are all false. They assure that if the bar service was to be cancelled for any reason that they would contact us as soon as possible. And infact there is an english bar on the ship that serves alcahol 24 hours a day.

 

I mean, but at this point, that is just not true on the Gem.  People are live posting from the Gem showing the Dailies that say no bar service.  So NCL is not being transparent.

[KeithJenner]

4 minutes ago, Peelie66 said:

I spoke to my booking agent who spoke to NCL directly. NCL have said they are aware of the posts on various sites and that they are all false. They assure that if the bar service was to be cancelled for any reason that they would contact us as soon as possible. And infact there is an english bar on the ship that serves alcahol 24 hours a day.

Send them the copy of the freestyle daily that clearly states they aren’t serving alcohol.

Edited May 23, 2022 by KeithJenner

[kochleffel]

The group events coordinator on the Jade told me today that while in port in Greece the bars can only serve passengers who have beverage packages, so that no transaction charges are recorded, but that is all but about 200 passengers, many of whom don't drink at all.

Edited May 23, 2022 by kochleffel

[KeithJenner]

22 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

The group events coordinator on the Jade told me today that while in port in Greece the bars can only serve passengers who have beverage packages, so that no transaction charges are recorded, but that is all but about 200 passengers, many of whom don't drink at all.

That's interesting. I would imagine that a port like Santorini could cause a problem in that case as someone who just has a glass of wine with a meal, so therefore doesn't get the beverage package, could run into a problem if that is what they are doing.

Edited May 23, 2022 by KeithJenner

[couplelovestravel]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:49 PM, KeithJenner said:

When we sailed on the Jade back in April, we had read reports from the previous cruise, where there was no bar service on embarkation day until a while after we left Athens. There was talk that this would apply at all Greek ports, but that wasn't the case.

 

The following week, we experienced the same thing. No bar service on embarkation day until a while after sail away.

 

I haven't seen any comment on this since, so assumed that it had been resolved, but today I have seen a couple of posts on Facebook from people who are in Santorini today saying that there is no bar service there, and in other Greek ports.

 

Obviously, this is a significant thing for cruises around the Greek Islands, especially as there are some late port times in some places.

 

We never did work out what the problem was, and I don't know what can be done about it, but anyone sailing Greece in the coming weeks should be aware that this could be a problem.

Hello Keith.  We went on cruise on May 1.  We were allowed to have drinks while in port in Athens.  They told us if you already had the drink package you could order.  If you did not have a drink package or purchased once on the ship, you could not order drinks until out at sea.

[KeithJenner]

Just now, couplelovestravel said:

Hello Keith.  We went on cruise on May 1.  We were allowed to have drinks while in port in Athens.  They told us if you already had the drink package you could order.  If you did not have a drink package or purchased once on the ship, you could not order drinks until out at sea.

That sounds the same as was reported just above. Thanks for confirming.

[willetstravel]

7 hours ago, kochleffel said:

The group events coordinator on the Jade told me today that while in port in Greece the bars can only serve passengers who have beverage packages, so that no transaction charges are recorded, but that is all but about 200 passengers, many of whom don't drink at all.

Thanks for this post.  Wish NCL would just come out with a statement with transparency about all of this.

[Muckyduckway]

17 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

It could be interesting in Santorini today. Both the Escape (serving alcohol) and Gem (not serving alcohol) are there today.

And they're both in Piraeus today (the original port of contention) along with several other cruise ships! But mustn't be many cruise critics posters onboard.

[KeithJenner]

48 minutes ago, Muckyduckway said:

And they're both in Piraeus today (the original port of contention) along with several other cruise ships! But mustn't be many cruise critics posters onboard.

There are a few on Facebook. Apparently one person spoke to the HD on the Gem and asked why the Escape and Jade were serving but the Gem wasn’t. He told her that the other ships were breaking the law and he wasn’t going to do that. Someone else on the Escape confirmed they were serving.

[Muckyduckway]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

There are a few on Facebook. Apparently one person spoke to the HD on the Gem and asked why the Escape and Jade were serving but the Gem wasn’t. He told her that the other ships were breaking the law and he wasn’t going to do that. Someone else on the Escape confirmed they were serving.

It's a pity that person didn't pin him down on what law exactly he was referencing.  When it was just Piraeus, it didn't have too much impact but anything more than that would put quite the dampener on anyone who enjoys a drink.

I'm hoping you are right about licensing and it is all a distant memory soon, but feel sorry for those affected, especially as that service incurs additional cost.

[iloveglee]

Well curiouser and curiouser said Alice. I see the logic of packages are not ‘selling’ you a drink so makes some sense. Not good for those who drink little but enjoy a wine with their meal. I wish Greece had a website like the .yougov website here, where you can search for any law and read it in fine detail. Then again it’d be in Greek so not much help 

[KeithJenner]

Someone else has just said that on the Dawn in Liverpool last cruise they were only serving beer and wine (no spirits).

 

Obviously this isn’t as bad as the situation on the Gem, but it isn’t something I’ve ever heard of before. If that is true I do wonder whether NCL are trying to cut corners on the duty side to save some money.

Edited May 24, 2022 by KeithJenner

[TPS123]

Im on the Gem at the moment on the 9 day cruise where 5 ports are Greek. It’s a crazy situation. At the Captains meet and greet yesterday he more or less admitted the issue is that due to the Gem being redeployed from its original schedule, there has been a delay in procuring the required paperwork and that he hopes it will be resolved in the next couple of days. I hope so too! Lots of angry people on board who will be raising formal complaints…. me included. Keith’s idea is a good one. Copy the Freestyle Daily statement re alcohol not being served in Greek ports and get them to acknowledge there is an issue and see what they say!!!

My thought was to say for the people on the drinks package, we are not buying alcohol on board as it’s been pre-bought. The bar staff are merely delivering the drink to us. 

[willetstravel]

21 minutes ago, TPS123 said:

Im on the Gem at the moment on the 9 day cruise where 5 ports are Greek. It’s a crazy situation. At the Captains meet and greet yesterday he more or less admitted the issue is that due to the Gem being redeployed from its original schedule, there has been a delay in procuring the required paperwork and that he hopes it will be resolved in the next couple of days. I hope so too! Lots of angry people on board who will be raising formal complaints…. me included. Keith’s idea is a good one. Copy the Freestyle Daily statement re alcohol not being served in Greek ports and get them to acknowledge there is an issue and see what they say!!!

My thought was to say for the people on the drinks package, we are not buying alcohol on board as it’s been pre-bought. The bar staff are merely delivering the drink to us. 

 

Thank you so much for this update TPS!  NCL would be so much better off just admitting the problem so that all of us can quit speculating!  Facebook and CC are going rogue on this topic as people are very upset (as they should be!).  I would absolutely raise a formal complaint if I were on the Gem right now.  I am on the Jade in three weeks and stressing about it - even though it has largely been reported it is not an issue on Jade anymore, still makes me nervous.   People (us included) pay so much money for these cruises and we want it to be truly "all-inclusive."  Thank you again very much for your post.

Edited May 24, 2022 by willetstravel

[TPS123]

You are very welcome willetstravel. 
 

I think you will be fine on the Jade as from what I understand, they acquired their licence very quickly. 
 

Have a great holiday. 

[KeithJenner]

That is just spectacularly bad management. Did they think they could really just not serve, put something in the dailies, and it would just go away. This needed managing, and instead they have just made a bad situation worse, annoyed people even more, and highlighted the situation due to the amount of speculation about what is going on.

 

Add to that the shore staff lying to people (whether knowingly or not) and basically calling their customers liars it’s difficult to see how they could have handled it worse. Perhaps they will manage it by resisting calls for refunds on packages that people were unable to use.

Edited May 24, 2022 by KeithJenner

[SeaShark]

Telling to see the lack of ire directed at the Government(s) that are implementing the rules/regulations/laws that are the cause of the issue in the first place.

 

You still see people who sail on the PoA who are "surprised" and "disappointed" when they find out that there isn't a casino onboard. But you don't blame NCL for that...it is Hawai'i that made that decision. NCL just has to follow the laws.

[willetstravel]

11 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

Telling to see the lack of ire directed at the Government(s) that are implementing the rules/regulations/laws that are the cause of the issue in the first place.

 

You still see people who sail on the PoA who are "surprised" and "disappointed" when they find out that there isn't a casino onboard. But you don't blame NCL for that...it is Hawai'i that made that decision. NCL just has to follow the laws.

Well it is becoming apparent that it is not Greece - it is NCL not having the correct paperwork filed for the Gem.  If it was Greece and ALL cruise ships (and lines) were affected, I don't think anyone would be blaming NCL.

[SeaShark]

3 minutes ago, willetstravel said:

Well it is becoming apparent that it is not Greece - it is NCL not having the correct paperwork filed for the Gem.  If it was Greece and ALL cruise ships (and lines) were affected, I don't think anyone would be blaming NCL.

 

But do we know this for a verifiable FACT, or is this just yet another thing that was posted online that people are accepting at face value?

[willetstravel]

1 minute ago, SeaShark said:

 

But do we know this for a verifiable FACT, or is this just yet another thing that was posted online that people are accepting at face value?

Well that is another reason people are upset with NCL.  We have not received any official communication from them on this issue, so when people have tried to verify - they have not made that possible.  The closest thing, for me at least, is the report from the Captain currently on the Gem.

[KeithJenner]

20 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

Telling to see the lack of ire directed at the Government(s) that are implementing the rules/regulations/laws that are the cause of the issue in the first place.

 

You still see people who sail on the PoA who are "surprised" and "disappointed" when they find out that there isn't a casino onboard. But you don't blame NCL for that...it is Hawai'i that made that decision. NCL just has to follow the laws.

I’ve not been directing any ire at anyone, and we don’t know what the real reason is, but to just close the bars, put a little note in the daily and hope that will be the end of it is just crazy. How did they ever think that would work out?

[rjmols]

5 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

But do we know this for a verifiable FACT, or is this just yet another thing that was posted online that people are accepting at face value?

Well it does only appear to be affecting the Gem - people currently on Encore posting they are drinking.  We board Sunday and I will be pretty pissed off we can't drink !!!!  Especially with some of the very late departures on our itinerary. 

 

[willetstravel]

8 minutes ago, rjmols said:

Well it does only appear to be affecting the Gem - people currently on Encore posting they are drinking.  We board Sunday and I will be pretty pissed off we can't drink !!!!  Especially with some of the very late departures on our itinerary. 

 

Are you on Gem rjmols?  Fingers crossed for you!  Let us know!

[rjmols]

7 minutes ago, willetstravel said:

Are you on Gem rjmols?  Fingers crossed for you!  Let us know!

We board the Gem on Sunday !

 

[SeaShark]

17 minutes ago, willetstravel said:

Well that is another reason people are upset with NCL.  We have not received any official communication from them on this issue, so when people have tried to verify - they have not made that possible.  The closest thing, for me at least, is the report from the Captain currently on the Gem.

 

I haven't seen any "official communication" from the Greek authorities either. Wonder why people aren't asking them for an explanation? Maybe easier to blame than investigate? Who knows.