Opinion: Free UNLIMITED DRINKS! not really “free”

[Moby0215]

Yeah but how do they know I’m having so many drinks that my tip needs to be $249, for example if My wife and I have 3 drinks a day each at $14 a drink I should tip 18% or 20% which is $2.80 approx. per drink per person per day that’s $117.60 in tips for the both of us for the 7 day cruise not $249.

 

 

 

Where I get aggravated is that they are basing the amount of tips to be charged based on how much they think I may spend in drinks not actual cost.

 

 

 

What if a restaurant charged you a $25 tip for your waiter the moment you walk in the door regardless of how much your actual meal was? Then if you have a $1,000 meal you really stuck it to your waiter and short changed them but If all you had was a sandwich you way over tipped them...just saying

 

 

 

The service charge is based on the price of the package. If there was no free at sea, and someone were to pay full price for the package, they would pay the exact amount in service charge as you are paying on the free package.

 

If it’s not worth it to you then by all means choose a different perk. For me and MANY others, this perk is worth its weight in gold! No $1000+ bar tab at the end of the cruise!!!

 

 

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[tallnthensome]

I can't believe there is ANOTHER thread like this and welcome to two years ago. If you and your wife can't drink $249 worth of beer, wine, liquor, soft drinks over a week ona cruise I'd have to laugh. My wife and I could cover that cost by 4pm on embarkation day ....... Stick with water and don't get the package although it's worth a couple grand to us ........ LOL @ $249 ........

[outtabux]

Exactly and to those that say just choose another package- you don’t get as good a deal.

 

For example the have a pick 5 deal going on now if you drink a lot you can pick all 5 packages including the drink package but if you don’t drink a lot you either get charged the $249 or you pick only 4 packages while the others get 5 perks instead of 4

 

Bait and switch is how I feel about it...

 

You might want to read the promos again. It's UP TO 5 offers. It depends what kind of room you book.

[lvdave]

We're booked on the Star for an 11 day cruise in November. We declined the beverage package for this reason. I enjoy my martinis, however my wife does not drink alcohol. Since both people in a cabin must get the package, my gratuity would come to $35 or more per day. There is no way I could drink that much and still enjoy all the other things going on on-board the ship. Therefore, I'll gladly pay per drink.

[DMH15]

We're booked on the Star for an 11 day cruise in November. We declined the beverage package for this reason. I enjoy my martinis, however my wife does not drink alcohol. Since both people in a cabin must get the package, my gratuity would come to $35 or more per day. There is no way I could drink that much and still enjoy all the other things going on on-board the ship. Therefore, I'll gladly pay per drink.

 

 

 

See? You made my point. You declined because you did not see value in this promo. You did not whine, rant or wear out the exclamation point on your keyboard.

 

Thank you!

 

 

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[bbryan5]

I can't believe there is ANOTHER thread like this and welcome to two years ago. If you and your wife can't drink $249 worth of beer, wine, liquor, soft drinks over a week ona cruise I'd have to laugh. My wife and I could cover that cost by 4pm on embarkation day ....... Stick with water and don't get the package although it's worth a couple grand to us ........ LOL @ $249 ........

 

 

Lmfao. Sounds like me and my wife!

[kodesthemoose]

Exactly and to those that say just choose another package- you don’t get as good a deal.

 

For example the have a pick 5 deal going on now if you drink a lot you can pick all 5 packages including the drink package but if you don’t drink a lot you either get charged the $249 or you pick only 4 packages while the others get 5 perks instead of 4

 

Bait and switch is how I feel about it...

 

I mean it's not really bait and switch. It's not like by declining the UBP they are upping the price of the cruise, you just don't get that perk. What you're really suggesting seems to be that NCL should offer you a different perk in place of the one you don't want.

[ColinIllinois]

Exactly and to those that say just choose another package- you don’t get as good a deal.

 

For example the have a pick 5 deal going on now if you drink a lot you can pick all 5 packages including the drink package but if you don’t drink a lot you either get charged the $249 or you pick only 4 packages while the others get 5 perks instead of 4

 

Bait and switch is how I feel about it...

 

I'm kind of thinking the only bait, but no switch, is the bait you are throwing out for this subject that has beaten to death a brazillion times over. Read the Terms and Conditions. Make an informed adult decision. Cruise, and have fun.

 

It's not rocket science.

[NLH Arizona]

Bait and switch is how I feel about it...

By definition, how is it bait and switch?

[Weetahbugdotcom]

We're booked on the Star for an 11 day cruise in November. We declined the beverage package for this reason. I enjoy my martinis, however my wife does not drink alcohol. Since both people in a cabin must get the package, my gratuity would come to $35 or more per day. There is no way I could drink that much and still enjoy all the other things going on on-board the ship. Therefore, I'll gladly pay per drink.

 

 

 

$35– that’s 3 cocktails per day. You wouldn’t drink that much?

 

 

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[smplybcause]

So does NCL. Say I book a sailaway at say $999, if I were to book the least expensive cabin, in the same category(interior, etc) that included the "free" things, that price is $1899.

Not always. I just booked bliss and sailaway was only $100 less and gty vs pick your room. Though I'm going with a group so I don't have to pay gratuity on UBP.

 

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[trex-de]

I can't believe there is ANOTHER thread like this and welcome to two years ago. If you and your wife can't drink $249 worth of beer, wine, liquor, soft drinks over a week ona cruise I'd have to laugh. My wife and I could cover that cost by 4pm on embarkation day ....... Stick with water and don't get the package although it's worth a couple grand to us ........ LOL @ $249 ........

 

 

 

Agreed

 

 

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[Something fun!]

OP,

Would it make you feel better if they gave you a free straw with each drink?:confused:;p

[Ronin23]

Being in Australia means it actually is free as we don’t pay the service charge that is added if you book in the US. Pretty sure it’s the same for the UK also.

 

Same goes for the specialty dining packages.

[mugtech]

Being in Australia means it actually is free as we don’t pay the service charge that is added if you book in the US. Pretty sure it’s the same for the UK also.

 

Same goes for the specialty dining packages.

Perhaps OP could move to UK or Austrailia and save that tip money.

[mugtech]

What about us folks who only drink water, milk and fruit juice? Why are we discriminated against? Why is NCL encouraging people to drink as much alcohol as they like for no increase in price?

[smplybcause]

You guys can choose one of the other perks.....

 

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[Weetahbugdotcom]

What about us folks who only drink water, milk and fruit juice? Why are we discriminated against? Why is NCL encouraging people to drink as much alcohol as they like for no increase in price?

 

 

 

 

I’ll just sit here with my popcorn watching the show where you try to explain how you are “discriminated against” for not drinking.

 

 

 

 

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[DMH15]

What about us folks who only drink water, milk and fruit juice? Why are we discriminated against? Why is NCL encouraging people to drink as much alcohol as they like for no increase in price?

 

 

 

With "mug" as your handle... no beer?

 

 

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[mugtech]

 

I’ll just sit here with my popcorn watching the show where you try to explain how you are “discriminated against” for not drinking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Of course I was not being serious, just demonstrating the "logic" of the original proposition. Enjoy your popcorn.

[mugtech]

With "mug" as your handle... no beer?

 

 

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Actually Mugtech is an imaginary institution of lower learning famous for its undefeated sports teams. You would be surprised at the amazing amount of uses for a mug.

[Moby0215]

What about us folks who only drink water, milk and fruit juice? Why are we discriminated against? Why is NCL encouraging people to drink as much alcohol as they like for no increase in price?

 

 

 

No discrimination. Just pick a different perk.

 

 

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[neverlaysup]

I was going to book the Encore online and the computer wanted to add $249.20 to my unlimited drinks package as a service charge. there is no way in my wife and I are going to drink enough drinks that we would spend $249.00 in tips for drinks alone!

 

In my personal opinion They are being totally unreasonable, assuming I spend $12 per drink which is not the case as soft drinks and house drinks are much cheaper at 18% tip that’s $2.16 tip per drink that means that based on their $249.00 drinks service charge I would have to have 115 drinks.....not gonna happen they should stop with this free at sea promotion it’s really not free in my opinion! FREE DRINKS WOULD BE FREE DRINKS AND THEY PICK UP THE SERVICE CHARGE AS WELL - that’s what free means.

 

Reminds me of the old TV commercials where some salesperson offers you a free product and say it’s FREE!!! Plus $11.95 shipping and handling lol... and that’s probably what the item is worth to begin with

 

I know I don’t have to choose the unlimited drinks package if I don’t drink a lot but it’s the way they stick the service charge based on their estimate of what I’ll drink that aggravated me.

 

So buyer beware - calculate on average what you actuallly drink on vacation it’s probably cheaper to pay for your drinks and tip as you go if you only drink a glass of wine with dinner or lunch for example.

 

Also what do they do with the left over tips if you don’t drink as much as they Estimated? do they refund it because they overestimated the tip??? Lol I’m sure they don’t. Remember the proposed in the online summary in my case of $249 was not for the package (if it was theN Yes it would be a good deal if you’re a heavy drinker) the drinks package was free the $249 was to tip the bar staff that’s why it doesn’t add up in my mind.

 

I also called NCL to clarify and the booking agent confirmed that the $249.20 service charge I was seeing is in addition to the regular service charge for waiter room attendant etc...they tried to reason with me that if I just had 4 drinks per day without the package I’d spend more than the $249.20 service charge, that may be true, don’t know, but then say it’s a reduced savings drink package it’s not really free! Maybe I’m in the minority in my feeling in this but thought I’d share my thoughts.

 

Your math is completely wrong. Yes, they will charge you a service charge of $249.20. If you divide that by 2 people and 7 days, it equates to $17.80 a day. If you drink 2 alcoholic drinks a day, you come out ahead versus paying for drinks individually. Throw in a few sodas and you really start to make this a good deal. If you don't want to pay this, chose a different perk and stop whining!

[mugtech]

With "mug" as your handle... no beer?

 

 

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You think THE Admiral is even an admiral?

[cruisin-m]

If you’re from Europe,UK or Australia... free really does mean free as our service charges are included with “free at sea”. :cool:;p Perhaps you could use a VPN and book with one of these regions? Usually the cost is higher than the US though so it negates the benefit of having it included;) (its probably already included without us knowing about it)

 

I think this is because of local regulations in these regions that the price you see is the price you pay and free has to mean “free”.

 

“Free at sea” is never really “free” anyway as the cost is worked into the cost of the room. If you book a sail away room they are usually $300-600per person cheaper at least, aka $49+ a day extra to cover the drinks and then service charges added later as well. Celebrity cruises do the exact same thing price wise except they are kind enough to include the gratuities for everyone :)