Have Never Sailed NCL...please be gentle!!

[GTO-Girl]

We usually sail Royal Caribbean, so I am totally clueless when it comes to selecting the extra perks.  It says X number are included in the price but then there is a large extra charge added to the balance.  So is free not free?

 

We love to sail in at least a balcony or a suite if reasonably priced.  We would love to have a drink and internet package as our extra perks.  Not crazy about the layout of the ship that sails from Canaveral, but would be willing to give it a try since we love to sail from there.

 

Any suggestions or advice would be welcomed

[BirdTravels]

What ship?

 

the package is free. You must pay the gratuities for the package. The beverage package is a great deal and you will enjoy it,,,, maybe too much. 

[CruiseGal999]

Well as you saw for yourself ... none of it is really 'free'.  It's much more expensive to sail and choose the 'free' perks than to sail on the lowest priced sail away cabins.  But price it all out yourself, and if you come out ahead ... it's a good deal for you. 

[GTO-Girl]

2 minutes ago, CruiseGal999 said:

Well as you saw for yourself ... none of it is really 'free'.  It's much more expensive to sail and choose the 'free' perks than to sail on the lowest priced sail away cabins.  But price it all out yourself, and if you come out ahead ... it's a good deal for you. 

 

The “sail away” are the guarantee cabins right?  

 

We would not want to book a guarantee because I am not willing to take the risk of being in a cabin under a pool, galley, etc.

 

we may have to bite the bullet and choose a higher price cabin..

[Roadsofa]

Having sailed both RCCL and NCL in the last couple years I would guess the best first response without being sarcastic would be nothing is for free. That being said, since both lines have implemented a "drink package" I have to say they are both probably an even break. When you add all the charges up, the overall cost of a cruise is about the same. Sometimes a RCCL fare seems cheaper at first, but, in my experience the drink package works out about the same. It seems RCCL has less restrictions on their "unlimited" drink package; fro me all my drinks were covered. NCL's "unlimited" package limits you to $15. Anything overthat you have to make up the difference. Fro example, my Manhattan's on NCL are usually a $1 or 2 over the $15 dollar "limit." on RCCL in Febuarary and April I never paid an addition charge for anything I drank; and I did my best to get my money's worth (I did!). Long story short, all cruises that I compared last year with similar itinerary's etc... would ultimately work out to be about the same charge when you added in RCCL package purchase and NCL's "gratuities and other charges). 

 

Ultimately, no easy answer. I like both lines for differing reasons. Enjoy whatever you decide.

 

Neil

 

 

[CruiseGal999]

1 minute ago, GTO-Girl said:

 

The “sail away” are the guarantee cabins right?  

 

We would not want to book a guarantee because I am not willing to take the risk of being in a cabin under a pool, galley, etc.

 

we may have to bite the bullet and choose a higher price cabin..

 

 

I just chose the sailaway/guarantee cabin for a TransAtlantic cruise and got upgraded to an excellent cabin.  Deck 10 ... sandwiched between 2 decks that are all cabins.  Mid-ship and it is for only 2 people ... so we don't have to deal with the bunks on the wall.  I couldn't ask for better from a guarantee/sailaway price.

[kochleffel]

The drink package is a good value if you will average three or more drinks per day, and maybe if your average is two. That is, the gratuities per day are less than the cost of three drinks (including non-alcoholic carbonated drinks and mocktails, but not including fancy coffee). I don't select it, because I tend to average fewer than two.

 

There is no additional charge for the internet package, unless you choose to buy more minutes or upgrade it to unlimited.

 

The $50 discount on shore excursions does not seem like a good value to me, because in most ports you can buy equivalent excursions directly for about $50 less than NCL's price.

 

The least expensive fare is the sailaway, for which you get no promotional offers and don't get to choose a specific cabin (but you might get a better one than the type you requested, never a worse one). Once in a while - it has happened to me - a combination of promotional offers makes another rate for the same type of cabin a better value.

[Sailing12Away]

Value and whether it is 'worth it' is subjective. Our last cruise with NCL in May we chose the beverage package and free 3rd guest. If you average 2-3 drinks per day it more than pays for itself. Each cocktail would have cost us $9-12 and you get the unlimited 'free' package for ~$19/day. Mimosa with breakfast, a beer with lunch, cocktail near the pool, cocktail while waiting for dinner reservations, wine with dinner... and they're begging me to not take that as my perk. I assure you, I was not drunk my entire cruise as the drinks are not huge, but it was absolutely lovely to pick a different cocktail every day without worry about wasting $12 on something I don't like. Getting to bring a 3rd guest nearly free of charge (taxes and port fees were all they paid) was an insane deal. What should have cost our 3rd person $1500 to come with us only cost $300.

 

Our upcoming cruise next month will just be 2 of us, so we picked the beverage and dining package. You pay gratuity on the dining package, but it was less than $40 per person for 3 meals each. Port excursion credits are truly free, no hidden fees - but not a good value to me. They are only $50 per ROOM per port, and most NCL sponsored trips start at $90+, so the savings isn't great and you're locked into using them exclusively or else wasting your freebie credits.

 

It's all subjective, but if you have a 3rd/4th person in mind to tag along that is a no brainer, otherwise we always opt for beverage and dining without even questioning the fees or 'hidden' charges.

 

Free airfare is sometimes a good option too, but it depends on the flight path you need to take. Again, our February cruise next month came with all 6 offers for free, so your NY - MIA flight is 100% free of charge (minus the transfers from airport-port). Our cruise in July had 'discounted' airfare from NY - Oahu. Cheapest I could find flights on my own was ~$1000 per person, NCL is getting them for us for almost half that. 

[c r u i s e]

19 hours ago, GTO-Girl said:

We usually sail Royal Caribbean, so I am totally clueless when it comes to selecting the extra perks.  It says X number are included in the price but then there is a large extra charge added to the balance.  So is free not free?

 

We love to sail in at least a balcony or a suite if reasonably priced.  We would love to have a drink and internet package as our extra perks.  Not crazy about the layout of the ship that sails from Canaveral, but would be willing to give it a try since we love to sail from there.

 

Any suggestions or advice would be welcomed

 

[c r u i s e]

Don't fall for NCL's "FREE" marketing gimmicks!

We've cruised enough with them (Platinum Plus Latitudes members) to know better.

But NCL's cheerleaders here will tell you otherwise.

Also, keep in mind that NCL and Royal Caribbean are NOT the only game in town.

[bakersdozen12]

“Free” is just a marketing gimmick. “Included” would be the correct term, because you are paying for what you get; it’s just rolled up into the cost of the cruise. 

[c r u i s e]

2 minutes ago, bakersdozen12 said:

“Free” is just a marketing gimmick. “Included” would be the correct term, because you are paying for what you get; it’s just rolled up into the cost of the cruise. 

👍👍 2 thumbs up 

Although I tell you NCL have perfected and mastered the art of tricking the suckers born every minute

that they are getting something for "free". 

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by c r u i s e

[brookie848]

If you usually sail in suites and the Epic is still sailing out of Port Canaveral, then consider booking a suite on the Epic. It is one of the best (if not the best) Havens NCL offers. When you book a suite, you receive all of the offers (but have to pay gratuities on the beverage and dining packages).

[Driberif1]

For us the taxes/additional fees are minimal compared to what you get out of it. First time we went on the Getaway was a couple weeks after it came out and at that time you were not able to even buy the drink package during Spring Break cruise and between three of us we built a $3,960 alcohol bill. We find the best way is to start the reservation and go through everything you want and whatever the final price is makes our decision. Using that method Royal has always had final total at the end for us about 30% higher, Carnival use to be about 20% lower but the last couple years it has been within a couple hundred dollars.