Beverage Packages

[Radarhog]

We are on a 16 day canal cruise. The premium beverage package runs 1900.00 per.  We will have seven days at sea, where we will drink more than excursion days. Plus the day long transit of the canal. Not to mention a day at their private island. Excursion days we will have a couple cocktails before dinner, bottle of wine with. And after dinner with shows more alcohol.

I imagine most that drink booze on a cruise know how expensive it is. But I am having trouble with adding nearly 4000.00 for the privilege of not worrying what your final bill will be. So to help me out, does any recent NCL guest remember costs of individual drinks.   

I hate to nickel and dime my bucket list cruise so help me justify the upfront costs of the premium beverage package

[tallnthensome]

Why are you not using the free at sea promo for your cruise? Nobody pays $4000 for a drink package on NCL. I paid $420 for my wife and I  total for our 15 day Panama Canal cruise on the Bliss in April. 

Edited September 15, 2019 by tallnthensome

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Radarhog said:

We are on a 16 day canal cruise. The premium beverage package runs 1900.00 per.  We will have seven days at sea, where we will drink more than excursion days. Plus the day long transit of the canal. Not to mention a day at their private island. Excursion days we will have a couple cocktails before dinner, bottle of wine with. And after dinner with shows more alcohol.

I imagine most that drink booze on a cruise know how expensive it is. But I am having trouble with adding nearly 4000.00 for the privilege of not worrying what your final bill will be. So to help me out, does any recent NCL guest remember costs of individual drinks.   

I hate to nickel and dime my bucket list cruise so help me justify the upfront costs of the premium beverage package

Most people would book a cabin class where the drinks package was free as part of the Free at Sea promo. Then you can drink to your heart's content. 

[Radarhog]

We took the 5 night specialty dining and free WiFi as our Free at Sea promo.

[ColeThornton]

If you are going to drink on a 16 day cruise I would definitely change my perks.  With drinks going for 10-12 bucks (and more) each it's a good choice to take the beverage package.

Edited September 15, 2019 by ColeThornton

[hladygirl]

Skip the other promos and get the beverage package! Get off line.the regular restaurants are fine.

Edited September 15, 2019 by hladygirl

[esm54687]

I second the opinion that the PBP is the better value as a perk...... 

[Rsavtechcruise]

WiFi unlimited for 16 days is less than 400 or pay 4000 for drinks for 2 for the cruise sounds like you might have picked the wrong perk

 

[Kalum]

Free wifi is only 250min...$125 or so

[KeithJenner]

Yes, if you are going to drink more than a few drinks per day then the beverage package is the best promo to take.

 

If you will be drinking enough to even be considering paying $4,000 for it then it is worth more than all the other packages put together (a couple of times over).

 

As a first step, consider which of the promos you would buy anyway and price them out to decide which ones give the best value.

[sparkmaster]

Echoing what fellow drunkards/NCL cruisers say; no one pays list price for the package. Everyone gets it via perk. You need to 100% roll with the beverage package. That drops the price from $120/day to $20/day.

[erdoran]

Simple arithmetic - are you even going to eat at specialty restaurants?  If yes, then keep that one (it is worth more than the 250 mins) and drop the internet pkg and replace with booze pkg.  Internet worth $125, one day of booze pkg and you are ahead!!  Plus if you really want internet you get discount for buying it before you sail.  No-brainer.

 

And yes, you should be able to change your perk selection.  

 

$20/pp/day for booze pkg so $40/day for you and wife, vs $240/day if you buy it.

[Radarhog]

 Thanks for all the advice. Even those that were a little snarky. We solved the issue.

NCL came out with two day sale. Those with a balcony class cabin. Which we have could get all five free at sea deals.

We kept the unlimited wifi. As the one on free at sea was limited to 250 min.  Got the $50 shore excursion credit. The Premium drink package included required you to pay taxes. Came to $317 pp.

No brainer. Picked that up and for  the much smaller fee we will be boozing it up. And it is the premium package which will allow me to explore all sorts of options at Maltings.

Already had five night specialty restaurants and added five more. 

So we are covered and looking forward to the cruise. We are in an accessible aft facing cabin. Since these are very limited feel lucky to snag that. Will be having cocktails on the stern watching whales and sunsets. 

Now where's that meet and greet. 

 

Scott and Marcia

[KeithJenner]

7 minutes ago, Radarhog said:

And it is the premium package which will allow me to explore all sorts of options at Maltings.

The premium package is the standard one. The upgraded package is the Premium Plus.

[Radarhog]

Actually they have, in order of upfront costs.

 

1. Corks & Caps Beer and Wine Package

2. Premium Beverage Package (formerly known as Ultimate Beverage Package)

3. Premium Plus Beverage Package 

The current free at sea offers number 2 as a choice. I read the list of bevarages available on number 2 and I shall be able to find plenty to drink.

Lets not all be so quick to correct. Sometimes I know of what I speak.

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, Radarhog said:

Lets not all be so quick to correct. Sometimes I know of what I speak.

I corrected nobody.

 

Corks and Caps has never been offered as the perk, so the fact that you mentioned that it was the premium package made me wonder whether perhaps you had (as have other people) been confused by the terminology. I didn't correct anything, just tried to clarify the difference.

 

But I apologise profusely for any upset that my attempt to help may have caused.

[bluesea777]

Whenever we book a cruise we always pick the booze one as one of the promos. The next promo would be either the dining one or the $50 excursion credit but it depend s on the itinerary.

 

If it is a port intensive cruise we pick the $50 credit promo - which in turn pays for the dining!

 

Our next cruise is a TA one with no ports, so we picked the dining one as the 2nd promo.

 

We do not pick the WiFi promo - too much hassle, slow, and we want to be off internet for a bit.

 

[All-ready2cruise]

22 minutes ago, Radarhog said:

Actually they have, in order of upfront costs.

 

1. Corks & Caps Beer and Wine Package

2. Premium Beverage Package (formerly known as Ultimate Beverage Package)

3. Premium Plus Beverage Package 

The current free at sea offers number 2 as a choice. I read the list of bevarages available on number 2 and I shall be able to find plenty to drink.

Lets not all be so quick to correct. Sometimes I know of what I speak.

I would love it if they offered the Corks & Caps Beer and Wine Package as a promo, however, they've never done that as KeithJenner has previously stated and likely never will.  

"Lets not all be so quick to correct."

 

Enjoy your cruise. 

[Radarhog]

• OK this is getting out of hand. I too never meant to correct. I just listed the beverage packages available on the cruise. I appreciate all the input on what to choose for free at sea. I am happy with my choices and grateful I saw the two day promo that got us what we wanted for a reasonable price. 
• Lets go cruising.