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Premium all inclusive

Torev

By Torev,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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  • 5 months later...
ellie1145

ellie1145

Posted
Posted

We sailed on Norwegian Star in September. We had all service charges included, plus drinks. We also received 2 large bottles of water a day in our cabin - a large carton of water appeared in our cabin the first night.

 

We paid absolutely nothing. It was amazing. We did not find it difficult to get a drink - we are not drinkers in the sense of 'getting our money's worth' just enjoyed a couple of drinks during the day and a couple at night. We found it easy to order in the MDR too.

 

When we went to the bar together the barman usually took just one card and made up drinks for the whole party from that one card. We didn't seem to need to give in each of our cards each time. That was a surprise. Drinks were generous and there was a great selection to choose from.

 

The only thing which wasn't so good was the speciality coffees as these seemed to be difficult to find, and usually only available from the MDR.

 

Maybe we were lucky, but it was far less hassle than we expected.

 

 

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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

Posted
Posted
We sailed on Norwegian Star in September. We had all service charges included, plus drinks. We also received 2 large bottles of water a day in our cabin - a large carton of water appeared in our cabin the first night.

 

We paid absolutely nothing. It was amazing. We did not find it difficult to get a drink - we are not drinkers in the sense of 'getting our money's worth' just enjoyed a couple of drinks during the day and a couple at night. We found it easy to order in the MDR too.

 

When we went to the bar together the barman usually took just one card and made up drinks for the whole party from that one card. We didn't seem to need to give in each of our cards each time. That was a surprise. Drinks were generous and there was a great selection to choose from.

 

The only thing which wasn't so good was the speciality coffees as these seemed to be difficult to find, and usually only available from the MDR.

 

Maybe we were lucky, but it was far less hassle than we expected.

 

 

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The beverage package is the same package as has been around for many years, and was generally available as a promo before premium all inclusive was introduced. Your experience was as expected on that one.

 

It’s good to hear that you got the water delivered daily. Previous reports were that it was all being delivered on the first day, which was an issue on long cruises.

 

The coffee is specifically MDR only. In my experience that has fairly limited value as it was rare to actually be charged for that beforehand.

 

 

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mypleasure

mypleasure

Posted
Posted

 

It’s good to hear that you got the water delivered daily. Previous reports were that it was all being delivered on the first day, which was an issue on long cruises.

 

 

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Recent cruise on Spirit. Opened the wardrobe to start hanging some clothes to find 20 1 Litre bottles occupying the shelves. We used a grand total of 2 and left 18 on the floor of the wardrobe.

 

I think it is delivered in one go or maybe they just use the ones left for the next cruise and replace those used.

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geegee1

geegee1

Posted
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yes, its a great deal, bottled water, drinks package, all gratuities for those, speciality coffee in restaurants... :)

Would trade my SDP for the bottled water and gratuities in a heartbeat. Heck, would trade it for the water alone.

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CazV

CazV

Posted
Posted

For those of you in the USA thinking you're missing out... our UK All Inclusive prices are generally higher than the price you guys pay. Not always obviously... just make sure you compare like for like though. Also booking terms and conditions in the UK are different, so be careful with that too.

 

I've actually booked my next cruise via a US travel agent as part of a group cruise, because it is more cost effective.

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fshagan

fshagan

Posted
Posted
Phone NCL UK or VPN to ncl.co.uk. You will pay in GBP, which you card company will convert into dollars.

 

Check also that you don't get hit with a "foreign transaction fee" (2 - 3%) in addition to a currency exchange fee. Some credit cards have those fees and some don't (my Amazon Prime Chase Visa doesn't have them, but my other Chase cards do!)

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Lobbylin Great Review Rare

Lobbylin

Posted
Posted

Here are a few comparisons on booking in the UK vs US. Just 2weeks ago I booked a 10nt cruise which is priced as “premium all inclusive” in the UK for £1219pp, which gives me gratuities, drinks package, bottled water, coffees in the MDR.

 

However, I actually booked with my longstanding USTA and for the equivalent of £1159pp got the premium beverage package, and 4 nights of speciality dining. Within this price I have prepaid the gratuities on the drinks and speciality dinner packages, and I have allowed for the daily per person service charge (gratuities)

 

So in essence it is all down to what you prefer in your deal... we like the speciality dining package over gettting bottled water every day, and I guess with the £60 saving I made, I can buy some coffees and some water if I want it, but am better off in that I now have the 4nts of speciality as well...

 

It’s a trade off....no cancellations in the UK or you lose your deposit and generally the fares are higher compared to the same cruise booked via a USTA, and all depends on your preference for what you want in your deal, and the prevailing exchange rate at the time.

 

With regards to water, we each have 500ml Brita Filter Water bottles, which we fill with tap water in our stateroom and refrigerate,,,,and the built in filter gives us great tasting water all day long (just keep refilling). We can also take these out on tour, so long as we bring the bottles back empty...so no liquids being brought back on the ship.

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ellis101

ellis101

Posted
Posted

So going forwards, as a U.K. resident, if I don’t want to book premium all inclusive (we don’t drink alcohol so Never take the beverage package) do I have to book via usa travel agent? If we booked our March cruise now, it would be almost double the price thanks to beverage package and gratuities. We booked and took the free gratuities option for this cruise so I don’t see this option as appealing to us one bit!

 

 

 

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Lobbylin Great Review Rare

Lobbylin

Posted
Posted (edited)
So going forwards, as a U.K. resident, if I don’t want to book premium all inclusive (we don’t drink alcohol so Never take the beverage package) do I have to book via usa travel agent? If we booked our March cruise now, it would be almost double the price thanks to beverage package and gratuities. We booked and took the free gratuities option for this cruise so I don’t see this option as appealing to us one bit!

 

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The saving isn’t huge, as the beverage package and dining package I got on the US terms was part of their Free at Sea deal, so the deal was a “free extra” if you understand what I mean. But in your case, you could switch beverage and dining package within the Free at Sea deal options to these other options: a $50 per cabin per port shore excursion credit, Free WiFi, 3&4 stateroom guest goes free on certain sailings, a dining package or the premium beverage package.

 

There are 5 choices on the US Free at Sea deal and it is always changing. It did once include gratuities, but I see that is not in the current offer. To say it is Free is not quite true, as at the end of the day, you are paying for it in your fare.

In an Oceanview or above you get to pick 2 options in the US deal. In a haven suite, you get all 5 options.

 

**Note the editing corrections I have made, from my original post**

Edited by Lobbylin
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Froggitt

Froggitt

Posted
Posted
So going forwards, as a U.K. resident, if I don’t want to book premium all inclusive (we don’t drink alcohol so Never take the beverage package) do I have to book via usa travel agent? If we booked our March cruise now, it would be almost double the price thanks to beverage package and gratuities. We booked and took the free gratuities option for this cruise so I don’t see this option as appealing to us one bit!

 

 

 

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Look at the Just Cruise thread I started yesterday.

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mypleasure

mypleasure

Posted
Posted

I don't like Premium All Inclusive at all.

 

We don't care about the bottled water. We cruised in November this year. Found 20 x 1 Litre bottles of water in the wardrobe on embarkation. Moved them to the floor of the wardrobe as we wanted the shelves for our stuff. 18 were left when we left. My sister used 2.

 

Included gratuities was nice but we budget to pay those anyway so nothing special there. I think they have done this to prevent UK customers removing service charge. Too many of them did this so NCL acted.

 

UBP. Well we tend to have one glass of wine usually with our dinner. We aren't drinkers, for me I rarely have more than 1 drink, sometimes 2. I would rather pay as I go.

 

I know Premium All Inclusive is a great deal for some but it isn't for us. I am just paying more for things I don't need, or want, and feel I am paying more to subsidise other peoples good time. I preferred paying for my cruise, paying my DSC and anything else I want as I go.

 

Just Cruise sounds great for me. Except I have 2 cruises in mind for 2018 and it isn't available on either. So I am going to not book and wait and see if this pans out onto more sailings in Europe or book via USA and take free at sea options such as dining package and one other as we always go balcony.

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Lobbylin Great Review Rare

Lobbylin

Posted
Posted

Since reading about Just Cruise ( and finding their Just Cruise notification email in my spam folder). I too went to see the Just Cruise price of my booked cruise.... and there were no prices quoted for the Just Cruise option so it is either selective or work in progress lol!

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Flatbush Flyer

Flatbush Flyer

Posted
Posted
Would trade my SDP for the bottled water and gratuities in a heartbeat. Heck, would trade it for the water alone.

 

 

 

This is hardly "all inclusive," which would mean also having excursions, unlimited specialty restaurants, top shelf booze and airfare as part of the package. And, in the final analysis, you still have to deal with chair hogs, smokers, photogs, art shows, "prom nights" and mediocre food.

 

 

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