New to NCL

[tony35g]

Hoping all you CC'ers can help me with this. We are booked in January on the Dawn and are taking my brother and Sister in-law. They have never been on a cruise, or really any other vacation for that matter. We have the DOS and my wife and I are paying the bulk of the price so are taking the drink package that is included. My question is if my brother and his wife should buy a drink package or just pay for each drink. I really haven't heard what the prices are on a per drink basis for mid level beer, wine, soda, coffee, etc... Thank you!

[ryarger]

If you search the board you'll find photos of the drink menus. Most beer right now is $5.95 or $6.95, but they do have beer bucket specials.

 

Soda is I think $2.95. Water is free, with bottled water available in packs. Coffee is also free, but specialty coffee is available for I think around $5.95.

 

Wine varies from $5-$10/glass for most but they do have several more expensive options.

 

Liquor varies wildly, with a lot of cocktails between $10-$20.

 

They do offer a "Caps and Corks" package which is just beer and wine, if the full UBP is too pricey to be worth it. There's also a Soda package with just soda. No packages include specialty coffee or bottled water.

[NLH Arizona]

Hoping all you CC'ers can help me with this. We are booked in January on the Dawn and are taking my brother and Sister in-law. They have never been on a cruise, or really any other vacation for that matter. We have the DOS and my wife and I are paying the bulk of the price so are taking the drink package that is included. My question is if my brother and his wife should buy a drink package or just pay for each drink. I really haven't heard what the prices are on a per drink basis for mid level beer, wine, soda, coffee, etc... Thank you!

It depends on how much they drink. The drink package is $93.22* a day, so if they drink on average 8 (priced at $12) drinks a day, it would be to their benefit to purchase a drink package, if they don't drink that much not so much to their advantage. They could purchase a beer and wine package for $69.62* a day (sorry don't know what wine or beer costs on the ship) or a soda package for $8.85* a day (sodas are $3.41 each including gratuity). *includes gratuity.

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

 

Water is not included in any of the packages. You can purchase water on the ship (it is pricey) or drink the ship's water.

Edited September 30, 2016 by NLH Arizona

[tony35g]

That is the information I needed. Seems like most results in the search were from 2012 so wanted an updated view. Thank you!!

[4774Papa]

Hoping all you CC'ers can help me with this. We are booked in January on the Dawn and are taking my brother and Sister in-law. They have never been on a cruise, or really any other vacation for that matter. We have the DOS and my wife and I are paying the bulk of the price so are taking the drink package that is included. My question is if my brother and his wife should buy a drink package or just pay for each drink. I really haven't heard what the prices are on a per drink basis for mid level beer, wine, soda, coffee, etc... Thank you!

 

Whether or not to buy a beverage package depends on how much a couple drinks. The beverage packages are something like $70 per day pp, which to me is over the top. DW and I normally drink about $400 of alcohol for a 14 day cruise. We drink primarily wine. The red wine offered by the glass in the beverage packages is not to my liking. Also, unlike Celebrity, there are gratuities associated with the drink packages, even if you get them via the promo.

 

Check the details on the NCL website.

[TheDougOut]

Does the DOS come with the bottles of alcohol? I wasn't sure.

 

Edit: from NCL.COM about DOS...

Champagne, custom selection of liquor, fruit, bottled water and sodas.

Edited September 30, 2016 by TheDougOut

[tony35g]

Yes, the DOS allows us to select 2 bottles from a list of options. I have asked my brother what they think about paying per drink and informed them about the prices and they are contemplating the package. My wife and I have always bought the beverage packages just because it's more convenient and we feel it makes sense. I know Celebrity includes coffee and larger bottles of water which is always nice. Especially when leaving the ship on port days and grabbing a big bottle of water before heading out. We will see what they want to do but the problem also arises that if one buys it, they both have to so it is a bit of a price to add on for them when they don't really know how much they will use it.

 

Thanks again!

[tony35g]

On a separate topic, has anyone sailed the Dawn after the refurb and if so how is the wifi quality? They have a few kids at home and I they will want to contact them periodically. Wondering if the quality is good enough to use face time on their Apple phones or if wifi calling will work.

 

Thanks again.

[TheDougOut]

On a separate topic, has anyone sailed the Dawn after the refurb and if so how is the wifi quality? They have a few kids at home and I they will want to contact them periodically. Wondering if the quality is good enough to use face time on their Apple phones or if wifi calling will work.

 

Thanks again.

 

Check out this post from earlier today...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51195278&postcount=10

[tony35g]

Perfect thread. That is just what I was looking for. Thank you.

[NMLady]

Yes, the DOS allows us to select 2 bottles from a list of options. I have asked my brother what they think about paying per drink and informed them about the prices and they are contemplating the package. My wife and I have always bought the beverage packages just because it's more convenient and we feel it makes sense. I know Celebrity includes coffee and larger bottles of water which is always nice. Especially when leaving the ship on port days and grabbing a big bottle of water before heading out. We will see what they want to do but the problem also arises that if one buys it, they both have to so it is a bit of a price to add on for them when they don't really know how much they will use it.

 

Thanks again!

 

The beverage package on NCL does NOT include water.

[dexddd]

Yes, the DOS allows us to select 2 bottles from a list of options. I have asked my brother what they think about paying per drink and informed them about the prices and they are contemplating the package. My wife and I have always bought the beverage packages just because it's more convenient and we feel it makes sense. I know Celebrity includes coffee and larger bottles of water which is always nice. Especially when leaving the ship on port days and grabbing a big bottle of water before heading out. We will see what they want to do but the problem also arises that if one buys it, they both have to so it is a bit of a price to add on for them when they don't really know how much they will use it.

 

Thanks again!

 

That should still be 3 bottles unless they changed it recently. Also, the DOS gets unlimited in room (can't go to a bar and get it free) soda and bottles of water.

 

Which DOS are you in - the inner or outer ones?

[tony35g]

My mistake, there are 3 bottles in room. Didn't know about the soda and water so thank you for that update.

 

We are in room 12000 so mid section.

[atomax]

If your brother and SIL like wine and are picky about it, they may want to look into bringing their own bottles of wine on board. NCL will charge a corkage fee of $15 per bottle, but they don't charge gratuity and you can bring the bottle anywhere on the ship to consume (you can even bring them to the dining rooms and the staff will store any unconsumed wine for them).

[dexddd]

My mistake, there are 3 bottles in room. Didn't know about the soda and water so thank you for that update.

 

We are in room 12000 so mid section.

 

That will work out well for the other party as their room is basically an inside cabin located within the DOS for the inner two. If you had the outer two DOS they'd be sleeping in the living room and there is only one bathroom but I'm guessing you knew that and picked the inner. Let us know if you have any fogged windows.

[firstcarib]

The beverage package on NCL does NOT include water.

 

That is sooooo bizarre! You can drink yourself stupid on cocktails, beer, wine , spirits, but cannot get a bottle of water:eek::eek::mad: I know you can get water at table in MDR but really, the cost of a bottle of basic water(Cristalle??) is so small I really cant see why its not included in UBP. From a health point of view it is totally necessary to keep hydrated, especially after the alcohol & the salty food served.

[Guest]

Depending on what they like to drink they could think about just buying additional bottles. I did it once on the Sun and had a personal bottle of Grey Goose kept at the pool bar during the day and at the piano bar during the night. You can take it with you or deposit it at a bar over night. You get a couple of cans for mixers as well. I would do it again that way if I had no UBP through the booking promotion.