NCL Beverage Packages vs paying per drink

[yucky007]

I like the package myself. I may not drink 6.5 drinks every day, BUT one of the best benefits IMHO is that you can try drinks you're not sure about. If you don't like it, just dump it. (not to encourage waste, but not all drinks are for everyone)

 

It's worth it for me because I drink enough - cruise drinks aren't typically very strong, and I don't have to worry about tallying my spending, and I don't have to worry about trying new drinks I may not like!

[Garyjames220]

Can someone tell me if they are a lot of cocktails over the 8.50

 

Also can you pay the difference for that cocktail or do you need to pay the whole drink in full

[Demonyte]

Can someone tell me if they are a lot of cocktails over the 8.50

 

Also can you pay the difference for that cocktail or do you need to pay the whole drink in full

 

There are some, like martinis from top shelf liqours etc. And yes, you need to pay in full for drinks over the limit.

[Mac15]

Just read post on here saying drinks package is not available over spring break. Why is the drinks package not available in March? Confused?

 

 

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[triptolemus]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_break

[Big Chippy]

Just read post on here saying drinks package is not available over spring break. Why is the drinks package not available in March? Confused?

 

 

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The package is not available from 1st March to 15th April, this includes cruises which "touch" either side of these dates. For example a cruise ending say 2nd March or starting 14th April would not have the package.

The "Spring Break" is the USA College holiday period and NCL's policy decision is to remove the offer of the UBP during this period fleet wide;)

[Mac15]

Thanks for explaining.

[thephillykid]

Obviously, with the dates of my upcoming Getaway sailing, we are in the blackout period for the drink packages. I plan on buying a few drinks a day on board. Can I purchase a soda package just for me, or do I have to get it for my wife as well. Will NCL allow us to carry on come 12 packs of diet coke? How about a case of bottled water? Is there a limit? My wife only drinks water and it would suck having to pay double.

Howard

[Demonyte]

Obviously, with the dates of my upcoming Getaway sailing, we are in the blackout period for the drink packages. I plan on buying a few drinks a day on board. Can I purchase a soda package just for me, or do I have to get it for my wife as well. Will NCL allow us to carry on come 12 packs of diet coke? How about a case of bottled water? Is there a limit? My wife only drinks water and it would suck having to pay double.

Howard

 

No need to buy the soda package for all passengers, only restriction is that for those it is bought, it must be bought for the whole duration of the cruise.

 

Yes, NCL will allow any amount of non-alcoholic beverages and water brought onboard in unopened containers.

[thephillykid]

FYi...

Having sailed on the Celebrity Reflection over the thanksgiving holiday and having their ultimate beverage package, almost every beverage on board the ship was included. Every bottled water, every coffee drink, every frozen drink, every spirit, every martini, every shot, all beers us to $12 a bottle, wine up to $12 a glass. It was a pleasure not having to worry about a bill at the end of the cruise.

NCL needs to get real with their drink packages.

Howard

[hbooden]

So I have never been on a cruise but we are thinking of the drink package for us ...can't decide! Can someone that has been on a cruise tell me how big the drinks are? And I have read twice now that they are on the weaker side?

 

 

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[Demonyte]

So I have never been on a cruise but we are thinking of the drink package for us ...can't decide! Can someone that has been on a cruise tell me how big the drinks are? And I have read twice now that they are on the weaker side?

 

After bartenders in beach resorts and bars in Caribbean I have found cruise ship bartenders being second in terms of generosity in their pours.

 

But then again, that is just my personal experience and here in Finland we are used to strict measurements for mixed drinks, wines, etc because of the great bureaucracy and law enforcement nitpicking. :D

 

What comes to the UBP, even though we drink several alcoholic drinks a day all around the ship, we have decided not to even try the UBP - it is just not worth it to us and just encourages to drink more than we possibly would just to get "our money's worth".

[hbooden]

After bartenders in beach resorts and bars in Caribbean I have found cruise ship bartenders being second in terms of generosity in their pours.

 

But then again, that is just my personal experience and here in Finland we are used to strict measurements for mixed drinks, wines, etc because of the great bureaucracy and law enforcement nitpicking. :D

 

What comes to the UBP, even though we drink several alcoholic drinks a day all around the ship, we have decided not to even try the UBP - it is just not worth it to us and just encourages to drink more than we possibly would just to get "our money's worth".

 

Thank you ! I can drink;) lol and that's why this is a difficult decision!!! And we are going without our kids!!!

 

 

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[lizwil10]

The package is not available from 1st March to 15th April, this includes cruises which "touch" either side of these dates. For example a cruise ending say 2nd March or starting 14th April would not have the package.

 

The "Spring Break" is the USA College holiday period and NCL's policy decision is to remove the offer of the UBP during this period fleet wide;)

 

 

My sailing is Feb 23 - March 2nd. I was able to purchase over the phone.

 

 

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[DGP1111]

The package is not available from 1st March to 15th April, this includes cruises which "touch" either side of these dates. For example a cruise ending say 2nd March or starting 14th April would not have the package.

 

See below . . .

 

.

 

My sailing is Feb 23 - March 2nd. I was able to purchase over the phone.

 

Ditto on that. :)

 

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[LrgPizza]

I like the package myself. I may not drink 6.5 drinks every day, BUT one of the best benefits IMHO is that you can try drinks you're not sure about. If you don't like it, just dump it. (not to encourage waste, but not all drinks are for everyone)

 

It's worth it for me because I drink enough - cruise drinks aren't typically very strong, and I don't have to worry about tallying my spending, and I don't have to worry about trying new drinks I may not like!

 

Yeah all that. We will purchase simply so that we can pay ahead of time and not have to worry about seeing it on our account during or at the end of the cruise. We aren't going to count to ensure we get our money's worth (although I'm sure we will!), or anything like that. We just like not having to think about what we are spending because it will already be spent.

[jessinphilly]

Hi there. While I know this thread is about UBP, I have a question about the bottled water. Why is it necessary to bring bottled water on board? Isn't all the water on the ship ok to drink? If I bring a refillable bottle (which I usually do for environmental reasons), isn't this enough? Is there some reason to specifically want the bottled water, such as the water on the ships is not really that good for you or tastes terrible? Thanks. First cruise on NCL.

[fyrmnjim]

Hi there. While I know this thread is about UBP, I have a question about the bottled water. Why is it necessary to bring bottled water on board? Isn't all the water on the ship ok to drink? If I bring a refillable bottle (which I usually do for environmental reasons), isn't this enough? Is there some reason to specifically want the bottled water, such as the water on the ships is not really that good for you or tastes terrible? Thanks. First cruise on NCL.

 

Sneaking Vodka on board! :p

[funpatty]

we have decide against the drink package, my husband is not much of a drinker, possibly a beer or a jack and coke per day, it would never be worth it. I like to drink but not enough to warrant spending all that money. We will pay as we go. We are bringing sodas and water for our room. Anyone know if we can bring unopened sealed snacks and half and half for our room? This is our first cruise and I have so many questions!!

[geegee1]

Hi there. While I know this thread is about UBP, I have a question about the bottled water. Why is it necessary to bring bottled water on board? Isn't all the water on the ship ok to drink? If I bring a refillable bottle (which I usually do for environmental reasons), isn't this enough? Is there some reason to specifically want the bottled water, such as the water on the ships is not really that good for you or tastes terrible? Thanks. First cruise on NCL.

 

Personally I just like the taste of bottle water better. And some brands better than others. If I remember correctly NCL serves Evian, and I'm not a fan of Evian.

[crystalspin]

@ jessinphilly

 

The water from the tap is fine. Desalinized and purified on the ship. As in any city it does have chlorine added and like many cities sometimes the chlorine smells stronger than others. The chilled water in the buffet is perhaps run through additional filter? some people prefer to fill their bottle there. You will see signs telling you not to fill your bottles! They don't mean not to use the water to fill your bottle, just don't hold the (potentially contaminated) opening of your bottle up to the dispenser -- take a clean glass and fill bottle with it. We did that once, but really the water from the bathroom tap tasted fine once cooled in the fridge.

 

You can put things you don't want from the minibar in your fridge on a shelf, or ask your room steward to take them away, to have room to cool your water.

[crystalspin]

@ funpatty

 

You may bring sealed snacks on board. No need to bring half-n-half, just ask your steward for extra individual containers. When you meet your steward, specify that you want half-n-half, and not non-dairy creamer. Ours on the Star brought both, randomly...

[DisneyFamily123]

So, if I'm reading all the posts and NCL literature correctly, no bottled water, no coffee drinks, no energy drinks and no fresh squeezed juice's are included in The Ultimate Beverage Package. Not very Ultimate IMHO. Did the Premium Alcohol Package On Celebrity and it pretty much included everything, even gave a 30% discount on bottled wine. Hopefully by next June NCL makes some changes, not holding my breath..lol

 

I hope NCL learns from Celebrity… I might not choose NCL if it means having a huge bill at the end of the cruise -- not just for alcohol drinks but also bottled water. It could be a deal breaker for us simply because I have to consider that when comparing costs.

 

As part of a special… Celebrity gave us the beverage package and we paid $11 more a day per person for their premium package that included everything. I drink a LOT of bottled water and I liked being able to get any drink and not worry about the cost so much. The NCL package is a big loser in my opinion. I want to go to the bar and get a drink, that I want. It's not relaxing if I have to sit there and have to figure out what's included or not. That defeats the whole purpose of a package for me. The other drinks included (specialty coffees, fresh juices, protein smoothies) was great! And when exiting the ship at ports, Celebrity had bottles of water ready for us on the way out.

[nyc511]

I started a similar thread a few weeks back; perhaps moderator can merge. Regardless, just got off the Gem and opted for the UBP. Questionable as to whether or not I would do it again. I drink mostly beer and I had to drink at least 10 beers a day, every day, just to break even - and the domestic beers were in 16oz cans, so you are really talking about 14 beers a day.

 

I assumed that because the beers were NYC prices, that the alcohol would be too, so I figured if I threw a couple of mixed drinks into the mix I would come out on top pretty easily. Unfortunately, the drink prices were too reasonable for this logic to work: call brand mixed drinks (Dewars and soda, for example) were about the same price as the beer, just over $5; in NYC that would be about $9. A few lower end single malts were also in the program (Glenfiddich) which will run you about $12 onshore; on board, just over $7.

 

In short, if I were travelling with a whole group of friends from the local pub, then yes, I'd do it again. Otherwise, probably not. As noted by a post on my thread, instead of worrying about how much I was spending I began to worry if I was getting value! Just traded one worry for another.

 

One final note: please be aware that although there is an automatic gratuity added to your bill when you place your order, when you participate in the UBP that gratuity as well as the charge for the alcohol is removed from your account when they reconcile the accounts at the end of each day. In other words, the staff is not getting tipped, so you might want to do so yourself.

[Demonyte]

One final note: please be aware that although there is an automatic gratuity added to your bill when you place your order, when you participate in the UBP that gratuity as well as the charge for the alcohol is removed from your account when they reconcile the accounts at the end of each day. In other words, the staff is not getting tipped, so you might want to do so yourself.

 

You paid 15% gratuity already when purchasing the package on top of the price of $49pp/day. This is not to say one couldn't tip extra on top of the 15%, I often do. :)