Wine on Board

[Queensland Girl]

:p Going on Pride of America 11/11/06. Does anybody know whether it worth taking wine on board and paying $ 15.00 corkage, or how much wine is on board. - We have been on cruises where it is worth carrying your own wine and paying corkage. Thanks.

[IndyMisty]

I was debating whether to ask this very question. Or actually, to try to find out if they allowed BYOW at all at NCL. I looked at the wine list on NCL.com and although the selection is impressive, the prices are kinda "out there." I couldn't find the rule that said you could bring your own, glad to know you got that far. I'm planning on bringing one (maybe more) bottles of my own. My favorite wine, Camelot Mead from Oliver Winery in central Indiana, costs about $5 at the local Walmart. So, I'm still ahead even after the $15 fee.

 

If you drink wine, have favorites, and want to save money, it makes sense to bring your own. Enjoy your cruise!

[marycang]

Do you still have to pay a corkage fee??? for wine you will open yourself and consume in your cabin?

[Kathy555]

We recently cruised on the Star. We purchased two large bottles of wine, one white and one red,and had to pay the corkage fee per bottle. It lasted the whole trip and it was nice to be able to sit on the balcony an have it whenever we wanted. Even with the corkage fee it was cheaper to do that.

[steviem1]

Today, 10:09 AM

steviem1

Cool Cruiser Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Farmington Hills, Mi,

Posts: 136

 

Alcohol on-board NCL

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hi,

 

We were on the Dream in the Baltics in May and we bought wine in London to take on board the ship for the cruise. The crew went through most of all the luggage as it arrived and tagged all the bags with booze. We received a notice that our luggage had been detained and to go and claim it. They confiscated our wine and kept it until the end of the cruise. We have been on many cruises, but not this line, and have always been able to bring our own spirits on board without being accosted by the liquor/wine police. Don't know if this policy is NCL ship wide, but we were surprised. I will say that we had packed 2 bottles of wine in 2 different suitcases and one did get by the liquor police. I'd like to hear from other people who have tried to take wine on board an NCL ship and see what their experiences were. Don't know if this was just one ship or the entire fleet policy. Wouldn't hesitate to try and get a bottle aboard on the next cruise. Worst case scenerio---you can drink it at the airport on your way home.

 

Stevie

[Kathy555]

Boxed wine in the checked luggage has a pretty good chance of getting through. We had 2 botles in our carry one and when it when through the x=ray they yell out code 7 or 8. They hve you go over to a deck where they ask you if you have any liquor. We said we knew about paying the corkage fee so we did. They put a sticker on it indicating you paid the corkage fee, I guess if you want to use it in the dining room. The couple behind had a bottle of scotch and the took it and told them they could have it back at the end of the cruise.

[mbisson]

Do you still have to pay a corkage fee??? for wine you will open yourself and consume in your cabin?

 

yes, unless you are creative ;)

 

-Monte

[steviem1]

Hi All,

 

If you can get a bottle, box, etc. through the wine police---you can open it in your cabin and drink it there without any additional fee. If you take it to a diningroom, you will pay a corkage fee on any cruiseline. Just depends if you need to drink wine with your meals.

 

Stevie

[Parker1]

We mixed smuggling with legal on the Star in August - ordering a bar set-up for my husband and smuggled wine for me. The wine was in our carry-ons, a box and some that I had transferred into a plastic bottle so that I didn't have to worry about breakage. I was prepared to pay the corkage fees if necessary, but got through without any problem. Perhaps because nothing was in a glass bottle?

 

We ordered wine in the restaurant and found that having them save your leftover wine for another night worked great. During the evening, we brought drinks from our room into the bars without any problem.

[Mekamax]

Back to the original question - yes you can bring a bottle or two of wine on board. Bring it in your carry on and they will catch it at the xray and you go to a desk and they tag it and take it - tell them you know about paying the corkage. You get a piece of paper to pick up your wine in the dining room. Since I wanted mine in the cabin I walked up to the person in front of the dining room the first night and she was happy to send someone to fetch the wine - took about 5 minutes. They did tell me about the corkage fee charged to my card and I said that was fine. Actually it was better than having to carry the bottles up that long gangway in Houston and onto the ship. Less weight to carry! :) Enjoy - don't try to smuggle in check in because one it is not worth it if they throw your luggage around (they do this!) and it breaks all over your clothes - can you imagine if it is red? Also they will take it instead of you paying the corkage fee. Which is well worth it for an mid range expense bottle of wine. I can buy a $25 bottle of wine from a local winery and with $15 corkage it is $40 BUT it would be about $80 on board for the same type wine. Don't smuggle and please please don't post it here if you do! Debbie

[Planer's Edge]

Misty, I may be wrong but I think 2inTul's post was directed at CruisinMatt. You did not admit to smuggling, but he did.

 

But, in the future I might be a little more careful about what I did admit to. :rolleyes:

 

 

PE<---will step back and watch the fireworks, or not...:eek:

[missjanet]

I have a different question about wine onboard. Each time we cruise, my TA has a bottle of wine sent to our cabin. The wine, of course, is from the ship's wine supply so can we bring that to the dining room without paying a corkage fee? My TA would have already paid the high price charged by the cruise line. I wouldn't necessarily want to drink it in the room, but I don't think it's fair that we get charged a corkage fee since it's NCL's wine.

 

Thanks again.

Janet

[mbisson]

Janet

If the wine comes from the ships supply I don't believe there would be any corkage and you should have no problems bringing it anywhere on the ship you please.

 

I bet shoreguy can give the absolute answer to this as he is the gospel of all things NCL.

 

-Monte

[shoreguy]

Janet

If the wine comes from the ships supply I don't believe there would be any corkage and you should have no problems bringing it anywhere on the ship you please.

 

I bet shoreguy can give the absolute answer to this as he is the gospel of all things NCL.

 

-Monte

 

You gave the absolute answer;) If you or your TA buy wine at onboard prices no corkage

[missjanet]

Thanks for the answer! I just wasn't sure the wait staff would know for sure that I didn't smuggle the wine onto the ship & that those exorbitant NCL prices HAD been paid!! I didn't want to be embarrassed or look like I was trying to put anything past them.

 

I have been trying to do some research on that extensive wine list & make some reasonable choices for the dining room. Shoreguy, I appreciate the recommendation for the Duckhorn Merlot - I'm sure DH & I would love it, but it's definitely a budget buster. If anyone has some mid-range wines they can recommend to us, I'd really love to hear about them. There are so many wines on that list that I've never heard from. I've got to spend the weeks leading up to my cruise doing a lot of research...if you know what I mean!

 

Janet

[mbisson]

I have the current prices so if you let me know champagne, red, white, or rose', I can give you a breakdown by price per btl.

 

Of course, I bet there are some (many) in the bar setup I might not have pricing on.

 

-Monte

[missjanet]

Monte,

 

DH & I drink red wines - merlot, cabs, zinfandel, shiraz for the most part. If you've got some recommendations for those, I'd love to hear them. I've printed out the entire NCL Wine List 2006 - I'm studying it & doing research on the internet. I don't think I've had any of the exact wines off that list yet, but I'm going to see if I can try some of them out before our Dawn cruise in November.

 

Thanks for your help or anyone else's who might like to jump in here with an opinion!

 

Janet

[mbisson]

For red-I've become partial to Syrah, but there's only one on the list I have and I'm not familiar with "Valley of the Moon" in Sonoma County $30 per bottle.

 

-Monte

[RichNY]

We were on the Crown out of NY last week and we carried a large bottle of White Zin on board. We paid the $15 corkage fee at check-in and a sticker was placed on the bottle to show that the fee had been paid and we took it to our cabin...

[Shawnee Indian]

I can not remember whether it was NCL or RCCL - That allowed you to bring a "special" wine onboard corkage free if A)It was not on the wine list and B)You were celebrating a "special" occasion on board?

 

If I remember, you had to get advance permission to do so.

 

Any info on this?

Was it NCL?

[2inTul]

I can not remember whether it was NCL or RCCL - That allowed you to bring a "special" wine onboard corkage free if A)It was not on the wine list and B)You were celebrating a "special" occasion on board?

 

If I remember, you had to get advance permission to do so.

 

Any info on this?

Was it NCL?

 

From Norwegian Cruise Lines:

 

http://www.ncl.com/more/contract.htm

Passenger is not allowed to bring on board the vessel without the previous written permission of the Carrier any intoxicating liquors or beverages…. ($15 corkage fee applies to wine and champagne brought onboard for consumption in cabin or restaurants.)

 

From Carnival Cruse Lines:

 

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Static_Templates/ticket_contract.aspx

 

Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on Carnival’s vessels for on board consumption. However, at the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day only, wine enthusiasts may bring fine wine or champagne on board. A $10 corkage fee per bottle will be charged should guests wish to consume this wine/champagne in the dining room, or a $14 corkage fee per bottle if consumed in the Supper Club.

 

From Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/cruiseDocsFaq.do;jsessionid=0000pxGWT5G_soOvG7cDcNg-qYg:10ktdmm42

 

Guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use.

 

From Princess Cruise Lines:

 

http://www.princess.com/legal/passage.html

Carrier kindly requests that You do not bring alcoholic beverages of any kind (except wine and champagne) on board for consumption. A corkage fee of $10.00 per bottle will be applied to wine and champagne consumed in the ship’s restaurant.

 

From Celebrity Cruise Lines:

 

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/pdf/faq/Alcohol%20Waiver%20_Celebrity.pdf

 

Guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use.

[Pirate Fred]

Hi Queensland Girl,

 

I live in Sydney and have just returned from a cruise on the Pride of America

 

I did not hear about the corkage issue but were told on several times you could not take wine on board with you.

 

At all port your bags are checked for alcohol and other things you I don't think it is worth the hassle even thought the price of wine on board is pretty expensive (I actually work for a wine company!)

 

Hpe this helps.

 

 

 

:p Going on Pride of America 11/11/06. Does anybody know whether it worth taking wine on board and paying $ 15.00 corkage, or how much wine is on board. - We have been on cruises where it is worth carrying your own wine and paying corkage. Thanks.

[Shiraz49]

Is it my imagination or have the threads on this post been savagely trimmed???

 

Seem to remember several posts that are no longer here???

 

To state again in summary (assuming it doesn't get the chop again ....

 

Rather than argue about the rights and wrongs on trying to get alcohol on board amongst cruise critic members .... vent your frustration at NCL (as 2inTul has kindly pointed out the seem to be charging higher corkage than the others ... write to them and let them know!!!!

 

I applaud responsible serving of alcohol and can think of nothing worse than sharing a cruise with a bunch of drunken lots (and that can happen via 'smuggled' or purchased on board alocohol).

 

Instead of concentrating on alocohol some lines would be better lifting their came in checking for 'recreational' (there is no such thing!!!) drugs.

[Shiraz49]

Is it my imagination or have the threads on this post been savagely trimmed???

 

Seem to remember several posts that are no longer here???

 

To state again in summary (assuming it doesn't get the chop again) ....

 

Rather than argue about the rights and wrongs on trying to get alcohol on board amongst cruise critic members .... vent your frustration at NCL (as 2inTul has kindly pointed out they seem to be charging higher corkage than the others ... write to them and let them know!!!!

 

I applaud responsible serving of alcohol and can think of nothing worse than sharing a cruise with a bunch of drunken lots (and that can happen via 'smuggled' or purchased on board alocohol).

 

Instead of concentrating on alcohol some lines would be better lifting their came in checking for 'recreational' (there is no such thing!!!) drugs.

[marycang]

I noticed the same thing. One of my posts is no longer here. First the wine police and now the posts police. Would nice to know the reason.