Perks or not!

[hockey1963]

Hi trying to decide if taking the  perks are worth It? I’m not a drinker my hubby will have a few. Huge price difference almost 1400. How much is the unlimited wifi for 14 days and how much is the speciality restaurants for at least 4 times? When choosing the sail away do we choose the room? Don’t need the shore excursions.Thanks.

Edited January 29, 2020 by hockey1963

[casofilia]

I can't really help with actual prices as they appear in NZD for me.   I would say that you would be better off perk free especially if the 1400 is each.

Edited January 29, 2020 by casofilia

[vince_g]

You do not choose cabin with a sailaway rate.

[gymbomb]

For me the perks frequently aren't worth a ton. But the ability to choose my own cabin is. I had a bad cabin once (woken up multiple times every single night due to very loud machinery noises right below our cabin) and will NEVER let the cruise line choose my cabin location again. Unless I am booking a type of cabin where I am really ok with the location of every single cabin in the category.

[mianmike]

1 hour ago, vince_g said:

You do not choose cabin with a sailaway rate.

 

Not always.  Once we were offered a very limited choice of cabins at the front of the ship.  We chose the cabin with a larger balcony.   No regrets and well worth the savings for us. 

[Mike_DeA]

2 hours ago, hockey1963 said:

Hi trying to decide if taking the  perks are worth It? I’m not a drinker my hubby will have a few. Huge price difference almost 1400. How much is the unlimited wifi for 14 days and how much is the speciality restaurants for at least 4 times? When choosing the sail away do we choose the room? Don’t need the shore excursions.Thanks.

 

Depending on how much hubby drinks, it seems like "no perks" will save you a lot of money based on a 7 night cruise:

 

Unlimited wifi is $35/night x 7 nights = $245

 

Dining package is about $110+pp + 20% gratuity x 2 = $260ish

 

That's just over $500, so hubby would have to drink $900 plus the added cost of the gratuity (approx. $20/day pp) or $280 for a grand total of nearly $1,300 in drink costs for the "perks' to be profitable for you.

 

You do not get to choose your room if you choose the sailaway rate.

 

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by Mike_DeA

[ziggyuk]

2 hours ago, hockey1963 said:

Hi trying to decide if taking the  perks are worth It? I’m not a drinker my hubby will have a few. Huge price difference almost 1400. How much is the unlimited wifi for 14 days and how much is the speciality restaurants for at least 4 times? When choosing the sail away do we choose the room? Don’t need the shore excursions.Thanks.

 

If your hubby likes wine you could take your own on board and just pay the corkage of $15 a bottle.

[Starry Eyes]

Well, perks on a typical cruise are not worth $1400 when only one person drinks a few.   I do not recall the prices for specialty dining package and unlimited Wi-Fi, but way less than that. 

 

You do not get to pick your cabin with the sailaway rate.  How important is picking your cabin location to you?  When you look at the cabin selection offered at $1400 higher fare, are you pleased with the available cabins?  I ask because sometimes all the cabin selections offered at a given fare may be undesirable (in my opinion) in which case, I’d rather take a gty than lock in a bad cabin.

 

If you are flexible about cabin location, you might book the less expensive sail away rate now.  Perhaps you will get an quick cabin assignment, which may give you incentive to stay put or incentive to upgrade.  You could also watch for price drops; you might be able to pay to upgrade to a better cabin and/or one with perks.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Starry Eyes

[ggTexasGal]

NCL covers most of the information in their "Terms and Conditions."

One only needs to scroll down a short way to find the link ... https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions

[tallnthensome]

All of this information can be found using Google ........and the NCL site. 

[lamchops]

On 1/30/2020 at 7:01 AM, mianmike said:

 

Not always.  Once we were offered a very limited choice of cabins at the front of the ship.  We chose the cabin with a larger balcony.   No regrets and well worth the savings for us. 

We just got off the Jewel on a new Zealand cruise and the sail away obstructed Oceanview allowed me to pick cabin8050. I researched the cabin and it had a small lifeboat instead of a tender so not really obstructed. It was $1500 cheaper than choosing a cabin with perks. I’ve booked sail away inside cabins for my last 5 Mediterranean cruises. I don’t drink and the other perks are cheaper to buy (which I don’t need) so I figured I’ve got to cruise 2 extra times with the savings. We’ve always been assigned a cabin at least 40 days out so if it’s a known bad cabin, I’ll use the upgrade bid option. We used to choose our cabins before all this “free perks” (not free) nonsense. Is it really free if you’re paying $1k+ for the perks and the choice of cabin? I prefer port intensive cruises so we spend a lot of time sightseeing. I chose to cruise more often and get to platinum faster where the perks are really free.

Edited February 1, 2020 by lamchops

[4774Papa]

On 1/29/2020 at 12:55 PM, hockey1963 said:

Hi trying to decide if taking the  perks are worth It? I’m not a drinker my hubby will have a few. Huge price difference almost 1400. How much is the unlimited wifi for 14 days and how much is the speciality restaurants for at least 4 times? When choosing the sail away do we choose the room? Don’t need the shore excursions.Thanks.

If you don't drink then you don't want the perks, especial for that much of a difference.

 

We don't book NCL anymore because we book early, when the no perk option never seems to be available and the NCL prices are not competitive with other lines.  We are light drinkers, and never spend more than $500 on alcohol for a 2 week cruise.   Find your own private shore excursions, you will save a lot.

[Nola26]

On 1/29/2020 at 1:11 PM, vince_g said:

 

If the perks aren't worth $1400 to you, don't book that offer. 

 

We book them, but skip the beverage package because we don't value it at the cost of the gratuities. 

 

NCL is Freestyle do works for you.

[latebloomer56]

Last April on the Gem I didn't get the drink package (about140. tax & tip a little less). Added what I drank up at the end and it was under 100. so will not bother in June either. You need to decide what works for you, it's you vacation and cash :).

Never have let the cruise line pick our cabin so not help sorry. I like certain areas of the ship and pay for these.

Have a great trip either way.

[mking8288]

All - calculated - based on current pricing on an upcoming sailing in about 2 months, subject to change w/o notice, YMMV ... yada yada:

 

Unlimited WiFi (non-premium/streaming) is NOT included, you only get 250 basic minutes to use; and, should get the offer to upgrade - get a $125 trade-up credit.  The math for a direct WiFi purchase: $25 a day ($30 for streaming/VPN ... not really recommended, mixed review on speed & connectivity, etc) x 14 days (shorter 7 or 8 nights cruise, etc. is $30/$35 per day) = $350 w/o any trade-up package (no $125 credit from 250 minutes).  Trade-up cost is $225 for 14 days.  Pre-cruise purchase w/o trade-up credit should get a 10% or 15% discount = $298, i.e. if you select the SailAway rate with no "freebies" included. 

 

If you have T/A issued OBC and NCLH stockholders (also non-refundable) OBC to use, do these upgrade onboard the ship, as they can't do the adjustment pre-cruise (you can ask & feel free to try).  Also, if you purchase these package onboard, you can - on a 14 days itinerary - skip up to 3 day's worth of unlimited WiFi, thus paying $25 x 11 days = pay only $275.  An OBC of $150 would reduce that chargeable amount to just $125.  

 

Current price for SDP for 3 nights at $118.80 p/p x 2 person; 4 nights at $136.80 x 2; or 5 nights at $154.80 x 2; and, so on.  The 20% gratitude/tips should be added already.

 

Here's a suggestion, depending on sailing date & unsold cabin inventory/deck plan & locations preferred, etc. - you can take a chance with selecting the less pricy SailAway option - I am guessing it is for at least an Oceanview with 2 choices or more; or, probably a Balcony or higher, to take it all (3+ choices).  There is a chance for NCL to assign you a cabin in a matter of days, as long as it is not a last minute cruise/booking - and, if you like the location, keep it & pocket the savings, spend it as you wish for whatever ... freestyle.  If you don't like the cabin, look at options and see if the prices are trending lower or higher - call in and upgrade to a higher category, hopefully for just a little more ... maybe even free - just make sure you can choose a specific & available cabin that you will then be happy with.  

 

When you "upgrade" to a higher category with the freebies, especially if - by then - less than $1,400 difference in costs, you can decline & opt out of the UBP option but keep the WiFi and SDP (14 days - I think (not 99% sure) you get 5 or more nights of specialty dining, not 3 for a 7 days or 2 on a 5 days cruise.  

 

Calculate the numbers - it's your money to spend.