Everything you wanted to know about the Premium Plus Bev Package....

[purpleally]

OP, you mentioned you had difficulty finding out where to upgrade. Where did you end up finding someone who would help?

also, can one order two bottles, one each at dinner?  The taking leftover back to the room is very appealing 

pretty sure I will do this for our February cruise

thanks

Edited April 15, 2019 by purpleally
Forgot a question

[slugg]

1 hour ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

So here's my thought....I am a fine wine/liquor distributor and I drink great wine ALL the time (yeah, I really hate my job...)  I am seriously debating this package if available, reason being my wife and I are booked in two separate cabins (connecting with kids).  She doesn't really drink a ton of wine, and we both drink a ton of bourbon.  I hate to "cheat the system", but would anyone say something at the bar if I order two "PPBP" drinks or two bottles of water at the same time????  I did get the PBP with my "Free at Sea", and did pay gratuities on that already.  It just seems overkill to have to spend $250 more pp, when I already paid....When we sailed RCL in July, we did pay $45pp plus gratuities, and definately got our monies worth.  

Not sure if I talked myself into it, or just talked myself out of it, because I'm pretty confident Bulleit is included, and I can drink a "regular" glass of wine at dinner, and if I wanna splurge on something like an Oberon, it's only a few bucks more...I think I can survive a week without "the great stuff"....  

I grew up in a household where my father was in the liquor industry for a majority of my life. I sympathize with you.

 

That said, since you work in the industry, I’m sure you know that most of the differences between top shelf and mid is purely marketing and brand imagery. Sometimes, even a bottom shelf can outperform a top shelf (look for expert blind taste tests of Popov vodka). This is a hard truth that you probably already know, most people don’t want to believe, and the industry won’t ever admit.

 

But there IS a difference, albeit a subtle one, between “premium plus” and “premium” liquor, as NCL puts it. Not much, but there is some. 

 

So here’s my take on this premium-plus package. You may or may not agree, but it’s just my personal recommendation. 

 

If you’re interested in liquor, just stick to the promo beverage package. Maybe start drinking with one or two upcharged beverages, as it’ll only be 3-4 bucks a pop, but once you have a buzz going, switch to what’s included. Your palate will be fatigued, your inhibitions will be lowered, and you will hardly tell the difference between a top bourbon and a decent bourbon. Let’s be honest - you will have your mind elsewhere!

 

As for wine, this is where I’d take an alternative approach. This is tricky. You can bring two bottles of wine per person per day for cheaper than the drink package upgrade. You do, however, need to factor in the purchase cost of the wine. I think there is a threshold where buying the upgraded package starts to make sense, but I think that’s pretty much only if you intend on drinking premium wine, lots of it, and nothing else. Otherwise, you’re better off bringing a few bottles on board for $15 a pop. 

 

I think if you’re drinking a mix of wine and liquor (or no wine at all), the package is not worth it and you should just selectively upgrade individual drinks.

 

So for example, I may start my bar crawl with one or two 18 year whiskeys, then drop down to whatever is included (12?) for the rest. It’s still a good time. 

 

But there is also value in freeing your mind from having to make these decisions. If $500 isn’t a big deal to you and you just want to go wild, then I suppose that could be fun. 

 

As for ordering two drinks and sharing it, you could (and probably will, I’ve seen it happen) get caught and not only will you be charged the full amount for the second person, but you risk getting banned or suspended from future travel with the cruise line. It’s not worth it. The ticket contract says they could disembark you, but that would never realistically happen. Most likely scenario is that you get charged the full amount of the drink package for the second person and get a stern talking to. Get it: stern? 😉

 

I hope this gives you some ideas. 

[kfnesq]

1 hour ago, purpleally said:

OP, you mentioned you had difficulty finding out where to upgrade. Where did you end up finding someone who would help?

also, can one order two bottles, one each at dinner?  The taking leftover back to the room is very appealing 

pretty sure I will do this for our February cruise

thanks

We ended up going to the bar outside of Jasmine's which is where (per the signage) you could also purchase the regular package, and the wine packages, etc.  However, the individual manning that booth, so to speak, really didn't know much about the upgraded package, and he had to call in a supervisor to figure it out.  Again, it's new, so I get it--just took a bit of extra time to get it all hammered out. Once we purchased it, we had to go to guest services to get new cards, as well. 

 

You know, I never thought about two bottles but one would assume you could order two, as both parties would have the package.  We didn't test that out actually--but I would think it would have to work that way.

[jakesnana]

Here's my take on it - you're already paying $20 pp/per day for the "free" UBP. Then you pay an additional $35 pp/per day to upgrade to the Premium. Basically you're paying $55 pp/per day for the SAME type of beverage pkg. that most cruise lines offer, for basically the same cost.  If you're a drinker and would purchase the beverage pkg. onboard another cruise line then you're back to comparing the prices of the cruises, since you're going to pay about the same to have an equal beverage pkg. on either cruise line.

[Meekofigaro]

17 minutes ago, slugg said:

 

 

As for wine, this is where I’d take an alternative approach. This is tricky. You can bring two bottles of wine per person per day for cheaper than the drink package upgrade. You do, however, need to factor in the purchase cost of the wine. I think there is a threshold where buying the upgraded package starts to make sense, but I think that’s pretty much only if you intend on drinking premium wine, lots of it, and nothing else. Otherwise, you’re better off bringing a few bottles on board for $15 a pop. 

You can bring as many bottles as you would like on Norwegian, you just pay the 15.00 corkage fee per 750ml bottle.  So the might work better then the upgrade if you have specific types you enjoy more. 

17 minutes ago, slugg said:

 

 

 

[kfnesq]

Just now, jakesnana said:

Here's my take on it - you're already paying $20 pp/per day for the "free" UBP. Then you pay an additional $35 pp/per day to upgrade to the Premium. Basically you're paying $55 pp/per day for the SAME type of beverage pkg. that most cruise lines offer, for basically the same cost.  If you're a drinker and would purchase the beverage pkg. onboard another cruise line then you're back to comparing the prices of the cruises, since you're going to pay about the same to have an equal beverage pkg. on either cruise line.

That's kind of how we saw it also.  We paid about $54 pp/per day for our last cruise on Royal, for what ends up being a pretty similar beverage package.

[slugg]

Just now, jakesnana said:

Here's my take on it - you're already paying $20 pp/per day for the "free" UBP. Then you pay an additional $35 pp/per day to upgrade to the Premium. Basically you're paying $55 pp/per day for the SAME type of beverage pkg. that most cruise lines offer, for basically the same cost.  If you're a drinker and would purchase the beverage pkg. onboard another cruise line then you're back to comparing the prices of the cruises, since you're going to pay about the same to have an equal beverage pkg. on either cruise line.

Wrong. You didn’t take into consideration that in order to get the normal package for $20 per person per day, you must spend 50% to 100% more on the base fare of the cruise in order to qualify for the perk, as compared to a sail-away (guaranteed) cabin fare. All other cruise lines, because they don’t bundle the drink packages into the base fares like NCL does, allow you to pay for the cheap cabin and still get the nice drink package for $55 a day. 

[slugg]

1 minute ago, Meekofigaro said:

You can bring as many bottles as you would like on Norwegian, you just pay the 15.00 corkage fee per 750ml bottle.  So the might work better then the upgrade if you have specific types you enjoy more. 

 

That’s pretty much what I said...

[Meekofigaro]

2 minutes ago, slugg said:

That’s pretty much what I said...

Sorry, I thought you said two per person , per day.  When there is no limit. 

 

[jakesnana]

3 minutes ago, slugg said:

Wrong. You didn’t take into consideration that in order to get the normal package for $20 per person per day, you must spend 50% to 100% more on the base fare of the cruise in order to qualify for the perk, as compared to a sail-away (guaranteed) cabin fare. All other cruise lines, because they don’t bundle the drink packages into the base fares like NCL does, allow you to pay for the cheap cabin and still get the nice drink package for $55 a day. 

 

That's what I said, IF you're the type of person who WOULD purchase the beverage pkg. on another cruise line, NOW you're back to comparing prices for the different cruises because basically you would be paying the same thing for an apples to apples comparison of the beverage pkgs.

[slugg]

24 minutes ago, jakesnana said:

 

That's what I said, IF you're the type of person who WOULD purchase the beverage pkg. on another cruise line, NOW you're back to comparing prices for the different cruises because basically you would be paying the same thing for an apples to apples comparison of the beverage pkgs.

I re-read what you said and I now see where I misunderstood it the first time. Sounds like we’re saying the same thing in two different ways. Sorry about that!

[WyomingGuys]

Has NCL already removed Veuve Clicquot from the "Wine By The Bottle During Dinner" list? It is still listed on the NCL site, but I don't see a little star by it on the menu. Nice that it is still be included by the glass, but not so easy to take with you after dinner.

 

Veuve Clicquot was $23 a glass before the new package was introduced, or an $8 upcharge. Before the new 50% price increase, a couple would have to drink 50+ glasses of Veuve Clicquot just to cover the new PPBP upgrade cost. Possible yes, but makes me wonder what else was artificially increased to make the package look appealing.  

[slugg]

You’d also think it would be included with the crazy Haven prices, but it is not. The again, you’d also think that espresso would be included with the base package. Blah. 

[jimdee3636]

What you have to realize about all beverage packages (not just NCL's) is that they may or may not save you money on any given day, but they give you a more relaxed cruise experience by removing a lot of the tiresome cost/benefit decision-making you'd have to make numerous times every day. ("Is this brand of gin worth $2.00 more than that brand?" "Do I really need those extra shots of espresso in my coffee?" "Should I buy that bottled water when I can go up to the buffet and drink the tap water for free?"). Who wants to be bothered by that kind of stuff when you're on vacation?

 

My wife and I just took a 30 day cruise on Holland America. We sprung for the "elite" beverage package (sort of like the Norwegian PPBP, but not as expensive). It cost something like $3800 for the two of us. When I signed the form on the first day of the cruise, my first thought was: "This is ridiculous! I can remember when I paid less than that for used cars!" But I'm glad we did it. It made the ensuing thirty days stress-free. Of course, you have to do some cost/benefit analysis before you buy the package. If only one of you is a drinker, or if neither of you would ever have more than one or two drinks a day, then you're probably wasting your money. But for most drinkers, the convenience and peace of mind is usually worth it.

[gmbhardy]

To the OP, great information and thanks for posting. As mentioned in other threads, I really wish the plus package was offered as a perk. We don’t need the shore excursion credit ($50 per cabin is a joke). As Platinum Plus, the two hours of internet time we receive is more than what we need to touch base at home and with the two meal Platinum dining  perk we don’t need the SDP especially if we’re staying in the Haven. With the exception of the PBP most perks have a cash value of about $150 - $200, so why not add the PPBP to the list of perks.

[YankeesFan4Life]

I just logged on to my reservation for August on Breakaway, and there is nothing on the new package.  Just the Premium Beverage Package (formerly known as Ultimate Beverage Package) and its $99pp/pd....is the PPBP available only on certain ships?  Or is it only available to purchase ON the ship??

[kfnesq]

1 minute ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

Or is it only available to purchase ON the ship??

As far as I can tell, it is only available for purchase ON the ship.  I believe it is now fleet-wide, though.

[happygolucky62]

4 days ago I booked 5 nights on Sun leaving December 22, 2019. I am sailing by myself in an Aft Penthouse.

I was given the Premium Plus Beverage Package as one of my add ons.

I also have a 7 day booked for December 2020 which I reserved a few months ago and it has the Premium Package.

As time gets nearer, I am hoping the Premium Plus will be offered and I can just ask for the upgrade at no cost. A girl can always dream....

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

To the OP, great information and thanks for posting. As mentioned in other threads, I really wish the plus package was offered as a perk. We don’t need the shore excursion credit ($50 per cabin is a joke). As Platinum Plus, the two hours of internet time we receive is more than what we need to touch base at home and with the two meal Platinum dining  perk we don’t need the SDP especially if we’re staying in the Haven. With the exception of the PBP most perks have a cash value of about $150 - $200, so why not add the PPBP to the list of perks.

I will take it a step further and say that if you're in a Haven suite, the PPBP should be an automatic.  On Celebrity, you automatically receive the Premium Beverage Package with higher level suites.  Classic package for others with the option to upgrade.  I enjoy NCL but I think they could learn from some competitors in the industry.

[gmbhardy]

35 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I will take it a step further and say that if you're in a Haven suite, the PPBP should be an automatic.  On Celebrity, you automatically receive the Premium Beverage Package with higher level suites.  Classic package for others with the option to upgrade.  I enjoy NCL but I think they could learn from some competitors in the industry.

 

Yes I totally agree. I just came off a cruise in the Yacht Club on MSC Seaside and you get a lot more amenities in the YC than the Haven. I am going to post a comprehensive comparison between the two, so stay tuned.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I will take it a step further and say that if you're in a Haven suite, the PPBP should be an automatic. 

 

I suggested the same when the PPBP first came out. My idea was that those who directly book a suite should get the PPBP and those who book a non-suite but win a bid on a suite should bet the "standard" package with an option to upgrade.