Price of drink package for sail-away rates?

[mimi7ccr]

We are debating whether to book sail away rate and buy the regular (not premium+) drink package in addition, or to 

pay $300/pp more and book a regular inside and get the drinks perk with "Free At Sea."  Does it work out about even?

We also have "cruise next" certificates to add to the mix.  Thanks for any advise.

 

[ColinIllinois]

Here is the prices/info for the various packages:

 

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

[Sauer-kraut]

For my 7 day cruise:  

Ultimate Beverage Package

$99 USD per person per day. Includes all cocktails, spirits, beer and glasses of wine, soda and juices.

• Price $831.60  

 

Dont forget to add the 20% gratuity charge into your calculations for your sail price.

[mimi7ccr]

Thank you for this information.  We will probably do the sail away rate and get the soda package for both of us.

 

[love2travel2146]

2 hours ago, mimi7ccr said:

Thank you for this information.  We will probably do the sail away rate and get the soda package for both of us.

 

What is the “sail away rate”?  New to NCL. 

[mimi7ccr]

The "sailaway" rate is the lowest price you see for a given category and it includes none of the perks, i.e. "free at sea," etc.

So if you want to include the Ultimate Beverage package or UPB the rate will be usually $300 and upwards for the same 

category.  Maybe someone else can explain it better.  There's lots of information about it on this forum.

 

[Phaedrus78]

3 hours ago, love2travel2146 said:

What is the “sail away rate”?  New to NCL. 

 

Basically the Sail Away rate gets you a guaranteed cabin in the general category (inside, ocean view, balcony, or mini suite).  It’s by far the cheapest way to get into the category, as people have said it’s about $300/pp or so cheaper than the standard rates. In exchange, you don’t get to choose your specific room, and you’re not eligible for any special offers. If you don’t want any of the special offers it’s a usually a really good deal. I’ve not done it, but many people swear by it. 

 

With the regular rates, you get to pick your room (unless you’re sailing guarantee) and you get the perks of the current Free at Sea promotion. How many of those perks you get depends on the category of room you’re booking. If you’re interested in the Ultimate Beverage Package, it’s generally going to be cheaper to book at the regular rate and take the perk (and any others you might be eligible for).  

 

The Ultimate Beverage package is priced exorbitantly high with NCL. Paying for it a la carte rather than getting it as a perk is... inadvisable. 

[love2travel2146]

Thank you! 

[robin13]

I thought about doing the sail away rate but when I saw how much the drink package was on its own I said no way!  I will gladly pay the extra $300 or so to get the drink package and to pick my cabin. 

[RedwingHockeyFan]

3 minutes ago, robin13 said:

I thought about doing the sail away rate but when I saw how much the drink package was on its own I said no way!  I will gladly pay the extra $300 or so to get the drink package and to pick my cabin. 

 

Yes, I did the math not that long ago and it is not a good idea to select a sailaway or guarantee rate and purchase the package.  Actually, if you plan on drinking only about 5 drinks per day it is still worth it to pick the regular rate and the UBP as a perk.  Anything less than that and you should just take the sailaway rate and pay by the drink.  The problem though is that the sailaway cabins sell out quite fast on certain sailings it seems.

[cdnsteelman]

There's always some confusion about this... all Sail Away cabins are GTY (i.e. X category) but all GTY cabins are not necessarily Sail Away. In my mind getting the free at sea perqs on a non-sail-away GTY (when you can find them) and saving a bunch of money is a great way to go if you don't need something specific in location (close to stairs, etc).

[Another ship trip]

I was disappointed that on my upcoming cruise, we didn't do sail away and we paid the extra  for the non-sail away rate, and still only got a guarantee cabin.  I see my assignment now and am not thrilled with the location.  But I did not have an opportunity to actually choose my cabin unless I chose a level of that category that was over 500-1000 a person more for the same category and cabin.  I always want to choose my location and should be able to when I don't book a guarantee, but it would not allow me to for this next trip.