Major Changes to NCL Beverage Policy
 

A major change to Norwegian Cruise Line's Beverage Policy is taking effect beginning with all July 15th Sailings:

"Effective July 1, 2016, for sailings July 15, 2016 and beyond, guests are prohibited from bringing any beverages -- including liquor, beer and non-alcoholic drinks such as water, soda and juices -- on board either as carry-on or checked luggage, with the exception of purified or distilled water in factory-sealed containers for use in conjunction with medical devices or for the reconstitution of infant formula; and fully sealed and/or corked wine bottles for personal consumption onboard that is subject to screening and a corkage fee (for guests 21 years of age or older). Open beverages of any kind must be consumed or discarded at the security check-point, on embarkation day and at any port of call."

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/liquor-beverages

This is ridiculous.

Thanks for the heads up. I booked their around Hawaii cruise in January 2017.

Pardon my ignorance -why is this a major change - is it the soft drinks policy that has changed - you never could bring your own alcohol on board anyway?

Yes, you used to be able to bring on your own bottled water, soda, juice, etc. This is especially important to a friend of mine who is addicted to Diet Coke, because NCL only serves Pepsi products. She thought she could handle it her first cruise because she was trying to cut back, but in the first port they visited she had to go find a grocery store to buy Coke Light. The thing is it's a pure money grab. If it wasn't they wouldn't allow wine onboard with a corkage fee.

OT sorry - first cruise my wife and I went on - absolutely wonderful - enjoy - sans all the liquids of course!!!

Yes, pure money grab.

My first with NCL and probably my last.

OT - I also found out that NCL would not allow one to book a shore excursion without prepaying!

That is actually typical of many lines, or at the very least RCCL and Celebrity do the same. You are entitled to a refund though if you cancel at least 24 hours in advance. I don't actually mind this policy as it does have the advantage of making people truly think about what shore excursions they actually want before booking, instead of "I might want to do this one or maybe this one so I'll book all these and just cancel the ones I don't want to do later" denying people who really want to do that shore excursion the opportunity, or at least the opportunity to book it in advance, which may force them to change their plans.

NCL is said to be the worst example of money grabbing (not much included in the base are anymore) so why not go all the way? Hasn't hurt their bottom line, it seem.

^ I agree

Ok if you are based in the U.S. If one is using a foreign currency credit card, e.g., Canadian$, you end up losing money on the exchange because all shore excursions are in U.S.$. I suppose that I can get a U.S.$ credit card just for this purpose but there are not a lot of choices in Canada and AFAIK none carries any travel insurance. It becomes an issue if those tours are not paid with a credit card that has travel insurance coverage. So I would have to buy separate travel insurance:(.

Unless this changed, it can be done over the phone or through your TA, if you used one. You are correct that it cannot be done via the website.

This is a minor disappointment. We usually bring our own bottled water. It's not a huge expense, but just another of NCL's changes designed to drive me elsewhere.

I've only been on one cruise and it was a decade ago while in college. Royal Caribbean. At the time they had the no outside alcohol policy. I took Vodka and put it in water bottles to disguise it. I ran out of water bottles and put whiskey in my luggage in its original bottle. Nothing was taken from my luggage when it was delivered to my room. My belief is that it is very unlikely that the cruise line would actually take something from your checked luggage. Would if I had a $450 btl of McCallen 20 yr and they just took it?

On the other hand many people get on a cruise, realize how expensive the beverages are and try to buy alcohol at ports of call. They are stopped when trying to bring it back on the ship in their carry on bags. I can see them refusing to allow you to keep your beverages then. Anyone with direct experience having their checked luggage rummaged through and alcohol confiscated?

Absolutely. Happened to my cruise roommate once. While we were waiting in the "naughty" room for her luggage to be brought out, we watched as everyone in front of us had to open their suitcase and remove the offending liquor (in one case it was an iron so alcohol isn't the only thing they are searching for). And they already had carts full of confiscated liquor. I myself have had to go to the naughty room a few times, because something look suspicious on the xray (didn't actually have anything those times) and it was a similar situation each time. On those cruises, they were at least returning any confiscated items in original packaging at the end of the cruise. On spring break sailings, they frequently don't even do that.