SeaShark

Seems the narrative is bending that way...

Why would the unfinished wine be trash? You can always have them store it for you for another meal, or you can take it with you to your room...not need to trash it. And if you have the drink package, and you are truly worried about trash, why not just order by the glass? You don't need to try to save $$ ordering by the bottle.

Are you comparing picking up drinks for people who have the drink package with getting drinks for someone who does NOT have the drink package?

I would also suspect, given the current financial situation that the cruise lines are in as a result of the shutdown, that they will be a little more strict and a little less flexible about this type of thing than they might have been pre-pandemic.

Also...a little advice as you are new to Cruise Critic. The cruise lines can, and do, read things that are posted here. You only have a handful of posts so far, but the fact that Jeff and Alice from Bismark will be sailing on the Gem on Jan 16th isn't hard to figure out from the posts you have made. It wouldn't be difficult for the cruise line to figure out exactly who you are so that they can flag/monitor you for possible drink sharing. IOW, if you want to bend the rules, you may not want to broadcast your intent in public.

Well...aside from being forbidden by the T&C of the drink package, it is stealing. I think, though, that you already know this. NCL can cancel your drink package for a violation. They could also put you off at the next port. Just depends on who catches you and what kind of mood they are in that day. You also have to keep in mind that "the folks on Cruise Critic said it wouldn't be a problem" isn't really valid once you're onboard. That aside, from your parenthetical, I gather that "grabbing a bunch of extra liquor for people who didn't pay for it" is "BAD", while "an occasional soda or maybe beer/wine" is "GOOD". Out of curiosity, where exactly do we draw the line between the two? 3 drinks, 4, 5, 6? At what point does "GOOD" turn to "BAD"?

In the very first post when you stated that it was a corporate policy. You never indicated that this was "Pearl Only". And to your question about the crew lying to you...maybe they just made it up for attention. 🙄

TBH, nobody here is trying to draw that conclusion...the OP is the one that made the "fleetwide policy" claim outright.

We've already got confirmation from both the Regional VP of Fleet Hotel Operations and from the Fleet Beverage Manager confirming that the reported ban on mixed/layered shots is untrue. Not understanding why we need further "verification"...🙄 @Sthrngary is correct...if this were true, there would be many threads of people upset about it...not to mention that other cruise sites & blogs would be reporting it as well. Yet all we have is one person making a claim and hearsay evidence from another.

Interesting. If I may, my initial impression. You are lacking, in your words, "the excitement of cruising". Your concerns, however, seem to focus on watching television, watching movies, and being on the Internet. These are things that you can very much do at home...or on any given land vacation. Perhaps consider that the lack of "the excitement of cruising" comes because cruising is being reduced to being the same daily routine of television, movies, and the Internet. We vacation to "get away" from the same old same old...not to duplicate it at sea. Consider less television, movies, and Internet and substitute more cruising and see if that "excitement" doesn't return. It just sounds to me like you need to get out of your comfort zone.

Because, of course, you would stick Guest A with the entire bill. 🙄

It is marketing...and you have to look at the offer instead of "what it was before". I could have a $1000 cabin. Guest A $500 + Guest B $500. Market that cabin at "50% off" Guest A $250 + Guest B $250 Market that cabin at "2nd Guest sails FREE" Guest A $500 + Guest B $0 Which "sale" is better/legit?

As you can see, the thread continues, and people's panties are still in a twist. And you thought the definitive answer would ruin the thread. 😏

15 Cruises on Carnival is impressive. From your perspective, what is Carnival now lacking that is making you consider other options? IOW, what are you hoping to find in NCL that Carnival has failed to deliver for you?

I think what it really proves is how gullible people are and how quickly they will pile on and believe anything negative about a cruise line...no proof or verification of any sort required. Because people often misquote, misrepresent, and misunderstand...especially when they can get attention from it. To show how easily this happens, just go back one page in this thread where someone was ready to believe that they couldn't get any type of mixed drink....

I got that...it is you who has missed the point of my reply....simply because you don't quite get what it means to conclude a statement on CC with the 🙄 emoji. Everything that the cruise line pays is paid for with money that the guests onboard pay to the cruise line.

Go back to post #102 and read it. "Including" something will ALWAYS increase the cost...it has to be paid for somehow. There is no free lunch.

Thanks for all that you do.

You might want to read that again...I said no such thing. (and please don't tell me that you don't know what using 🙄 means on Cruise Critic)

It is exactly relevant. The very topic begs the question "increased from WHAT". The fact is that all fares have gone up to cover the free promotions. ALL. FARES. You are unsuccessfully trying to divert the topic by comparing prices without Free @ Sea (which, btw, still include the shore ex and wifi freebies) with those that include everything and then claiming that the fares were reduced...which they were not. The fact is that the statement was made that fares have gone up...something that FDR has plainly stated time and again...since the switch in marketing methods.

Nice try, but no. The fares without Free @ Sea are lower, but they are still up from pre-promotion. They just didn't increase as much. Not only that, but individual drink prices and specialty restaurant prices are also inflated. The free stuff costs everyone more....the costs are built into everyone's fare.

Like the fare that didn't increase when the Free @ Sea promotions started? 🙄

Of course, it wouldn't be CC if people's panties weren't in a twist. I'm actually surprised that this topic wasn't started by fstuff1...this is definitely his type of thread.

But your "out the door" price above is still $5...again, either way it turns out the same. Maybe the answer is to stop worrying about the philosophical questions in the first place. When you pay your fare, you don't worry about how it is divided up, so why worry so much about this?