Premium plus drink package. Thoughts?

[saltsandknit]

We are thinking of adding this mostly for the better wines but what brands  of sparkling waters are there and is Starbucks included. It also mentions wine tastings at a discount.  Anything else I should know? 

[Two Wheels Only]

Good thread here....

 

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by Two Wheels Only

[saltsandknit]

Thank you. I did a search but I got posts from 2007 and 2014. 

[BirdTravels]

From our perspective, it is a waste of money. It would take a lot of drinks over $15 and Starbucks to break even on the $30/day upcharge, let alone get ahead. 

 

[Sthrngary]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

From our perspective, it is a waste of money. It would take a lot of drinks over $15 and Starbucks to break even on the $30/day upcharge, let alone get ahead. 

 

No way to justify the price.  All I say is, "I AM ON VACATION!" 

[Zippeedee]

As the champagne selection has dwindled and prices increased, this is the best way for me to get what I really enjoy on vacation. Plus the water and decent coffee. Totally worth it for me.

[kidAR]

Veuve Clicquot is $35 a glass.  Doesn’t take many glasses of that to come out ahead.   And  with the wines offered…NCL charges $30-37 per glass.   Plus on many of those they will give you the bottle.     

[complawyer]

i'm just as happy with the package offered with the cruise and feel no need to upgrade. my wife doesnt drink that much, and i dont drink wine very often. as long as i can get a chivas with lunch and dinner and at the casino, a  mimosa with my breakfast, and a mojito during the day, i'm happy

[HowardK]

I think the standard package is well, on the premium one would be trying to force their money's worth and skipping the regular things in the process.

Plus a lot of alcohol is bad for you in the long run and can actually ruin your cruise.

 

[WarfRatWA]

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

From our perspective, it is a waste of money. It would take a lot of drinks over $15 and Starbucks to break even on the $30/day upcharge, let alone get ahead. 

 

I'm a fan of the Premium Plus drink package.  Like Gary I am on vacation.  Personally, I like the bottles of wine at dinner and I enjoy a premium well drinks.  Start your evening off with a Remy 1738 Side Car, coupled with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and a bottle of wine with dinner (2 people with the Premium plus package), and the package pays for itself.  Plus you get water, specialty coffee and energy drinks (enjoyable after a hot day walking around in port).  If you imbibe, its worth checking out.

 

FYI, this is an old flyer, see attached for the new update (and yes, bottles of Veuve Clicquote are included again).

 

 

premium-plus-beverage-package.pdf

Edited June 11, 2021 by WarfRatWA

[saltsandknit]

I love Starbucks I will probably drink 3 in a day as well as sparkling water. A bottle or 2 of wine with dinner is normal for us. I find the wine selection by the glass for the regular drink package limited. We almost always do a wine tasting.  When I sailed on the Bliss Starbucks was not included so we didn’t upgrade and we spent over 200$ just on coffee. These are the reasons I asked. I think it will be worth it. Especially since we won’t be doing a spa package on the Sky 

[DCGuy64]

8 hours ago, kidAR said:

Veuve Clicquot is $35 a glass.  Doesn’t take many glasses of that to come out ahead.   And  with the wines offered…NCL charges $30-37 per glass.   Plus on many of those they will give you the bottle.     

$35 a glass? Yikes! I can buy it myself and pay the $15 corkage fee and yet STILL come out ahead.

Having said that, I HAVE opted for Premium+ packages in the past on other lines and usually end up losing money or drinking too much, so this time we're sticking with the included package and maybe ordering the odd top-shelf stuff once in a while. But that's just me.

[CruisinCorey2525]

Lol.... anyone know what happens if you try to upgrade the last day? Can you get away with only paying that $35 and going to try to fancy wines/liqours for a day? 

[Sthrngary]

10 hours ago, kidAR said:

Veuve Clicquot is $35 a glass.  Doesn’t take many glasses of that to come out ahead.   And  with the wines offered…NCL charges $30-37 per glass.   Plus on many of those they will give you the bottle.     

Be very careful on which bottles NCL will give you.  They change them from time to time.  They are very specific on the bottles.  That being said, always a very nice selection.  Just limited.

[Sthrngary]

9 hours ago, complawyer said:

i'm just as happy with the package offered with the cruise and feel no need to upgrade. my wife doesnt drink that much, and i dont drink wine very often. as long as i can get a chivas with lunch and dinner and at the casino, a  mimosa with my breakfast, and a mojito during the day, i'm happy

That is why the have a Perk and a upgrade to the Perk.  You are making the right choice for you.

[RaftingJeremy]

To me it’s not worth the $. If I want something higher priced, I just buy it.  I typically don’t buy bottles but will enjoy a higher end scotch and cigar some nights. 

[Sthrngary]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

$35 a glass? Yikes! I can buy it myself and pay the $15 corkage fee and yet STILL come out ahead.

Having said that, I HAVE opted for Premium+ packages in the past on other lines and usually end up losing money or drinking too much, so this time we're sticking with the included package and maybe ordering the odd top-shelf stuff once in a while. But that's just me.

What I think we are all missing is nobody can really justify the expense.  If you take an excel spreadsheet and log all your drinks, compare to what it costs and make a financial decision; that is fine.  It is just not what I want to think about or do on a vacation.  What if, you say to your self. 1) I am fine with the Premium Drink Package and go with it. 2) I like the add-ons for the Premium Plus drink package and know it is not financially justified.  Isn't that a better approach.

 

Folks, if you ever took a brand excursion; You sure know what paying to much is all about.  Yet, we all seem to still take them.  My son's famous words, "Dad, you do you!" Cruise well every one. 

[DCGuy64]

When my wife and I have looked at unlimited beverage packages for our cruises, we typically DO use a spreadsheet method to calculate how much we'd likely drink over the course of, say, a 7-day cruise (which is what we always do) and see whether it's "worth it" to pay for the package or pay a la carte.

What we have found is that upgrading to Premium+ (or whatever the particular cruise line may call it) is most often NOT worth it. It builds in a rather perverse incentive to overdrink-heavily, because one is incentivized to drink a lot in order to break even or come out ahead vs paying as you go. This has been true on every single cruise we've done. I always get excited about upgrading and then I always regret it later.

So with the benefit of hindsight, I think we'll stick to the standard offerings and if I choose to opt for the occasional (emphasis on occasional, not 7-8 times a day every day for 7 days) fancy drink, I'll pay out of pocket. Time and experience have shown me that I drink less than I think I will during the planning stages, I don't want to overdrink just to get my money's worth, and I often, no, I always end up drinking high-end drinks WAY less than I think I will. There's only so much alcohol I can ingest before it ceases to be enjoyable and just verges on binge drinking, which isn't good for my health.

As @Sthrngary points out, this is always an individual choice and my personal experience should not be seen as a blanket endorsement of my decision for everyone.

[Phil265]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

$35 a glass? Yikes! I can buy it myself and pay the $15 corkage fee and yet STILL come out ahead.

Having said that, I HAVE opted for Premium+ packages in the past on other lines and usually end up losing money or drinking too much, so this time we're sticking with the included package and maybe ordering the odd top-shelf stuff once in a while. But that's just me.

You only come out ahead if you intend not drinking more than 5 glasses of champagne during the entire cruise if you bring your own bottle. I would never pay 35$ for just one glass of champagne, but when you consider the regular price for a whole bottle of Veuve is about 40$ on land then the upgrade is well worth it. You are on vacation…Just have a bottle of champagne each night during dinner, maybe another glass or two during the day, some starbucks coffee in the morning, fresh orange juice for breakfast, bottled water, maybe a premium cocktail at the bar after dinner and even at home all this would add up to more than 60$ per day. So the 29$ per day for the upgrade seems pretty much worth it to me. If you don‘t intend to drink that much champagne or premium stuff, then of course the upgrade will make u loose money in the end. 

[MNcruisingcouple]

We upgraded to Premium Plus on one cruise.  Partly because we had onboard credit to use and partly because we wanted to try it out.

We would start the day with a premium coffee, had sparkling water and wine with dinner and over the course of an evening my DH would drink doubles of Johnny Walker Blue and I would drink champagne or Botanist Gin martinis.  It didn't take long for the package to pay for itself.   In our experience we didn't drink any more than if we had the standard package, we just had much higher quality drinks.  

We didn't feel it will be necessary to always upgrade, but if we had OBC to use or if it was a special occasion we definitely would.  

People are talking a lot about the wine but the premium whiskey (Scotch, Bourbon, etc) quickly make the package worth while, if that's what you enjoy.  

[DCGuy64]

14 minutes ago, Phil265 said:

Just have a bottle of champagne each night during dinner

A BOTTLE? Every night? Yeah, no.....

I looked at the price of upgrading and it's $243.60 per person, i.e. $487.20 or close to FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS over the length of the cruise. My wife is an admitted "lightweight," I'm lucky to see her drink 3 alcoholic drinks in a single day. If it were just me, I might, might be persuaded to spring for the $29/day, but no way does it justify spending 1/2 a grand to have a couple of glasses of champagne-NCL won't allow just one person to get the Premium+, it has to be both (as far as I remember, anyway). The one thing I do enjoy is cappuccino, and while I personally hate the taste of Starbuck's, I can tolerate it. My wife does like fresh juices, so what I've done is create a savings account into which I put what I believe we will spend on beverages not included in the "regular" all-inclusive package. No way will we end up spending $58/day on fancy stuff. I only drink coffee in the morning, never at night because I get jittery and can't sleep. Interestingly, I've made all of the rationalizations you pointed out (I'm on vacation, I probably will drink X number of drinks, etc..). I've used all of those in the past to justify upgrading, and I've still regretted spending the extra money, every single time. No more. I'd rather use the money I save to do some nice excursions. But do what you feel is right for you and your preferences, and please allow me to make mine. Thanks.

 

PS I hate Scotch. Tastes disgusting (to me). And I'm not a premium brand drinker, I drink some beer, some cider, regular and fruity cocktails, and wine/champagne. That's it as far as alcohol. No brandy, cognac, Scotch, etc. But others have different tastes, and isn't diversity a wonderful thing? We don't all have the same tastes, and that's great!

Edited June 11, 2021 by DCGuy64

[MNcruisingcouple]

20 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

A BOTTLE? Every night? Yeah, no.....

I looked at the price of upgrading and it's $243.60 per person, i.e. $487.20 or close to FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS over the length of the cruise. My wife is an admitted "lightweight," I'm lucky to see her drink 3 alcoholic drinks in a single day. If it were just me, I might, might be persuaded to spring for the $29/day, but no way does it justify spending 1/2 a grand to have a couple of glasses of champagne-NCL won't allow just one person to get the Premium+, it has to be both (as far as I remember, anyway). The one thing I do enjoy is cappuccino, and while I personally hate the taste of Starbuck's, I can tolerate it. My wife does like fresh juices, so what I've done is create a savings account into which I put what I believe we will spend on beverages not included in the "regular" all-inclusive package. No way will we end up spending $58/day on fancy stuff. I only drink coffee in the morning, never at night because I get jittery and can't sleep. Interestingly, I've made all of the rationalizations you pointed out (I'm on vacation, I probably will drink X number of drinks, etc..). I've used all of those in the past to justify upgrading, and I've still regretted spending the extra money, every single time. No more. I'd rather use the money I save to do some nice excursions. But do what you feel is right for you and your preferences, and please allow me to make mine. Thanks.

 

PS I hate Scotch. Tastes disgusting (to me). And I'm not a premium brand drinker, I drink some beer, some cider, regular and fruity cocktails, and wine/champagne. That's it as far as alcohol. No brandy, cognac, Scotch, etc. But others have different tastes, and isn't diversity a wonderful thing? We don't all have the same tastes, and that's great!

 

This is why I struggle with the "is it worth it?" questions.  There isn't a one size fits all answer.  But if you do your research (which obviously @DCGuy64 has) you can decide if its worth it for you personally.  

This is the beauty of NCL.  Some people call it nickel and diming but, especially in this situation, it gives every one options to chose what's best for them personally.  

While we enjoyed the Premium Plus package, it wouldn't always be worth it for us. 

[Phil265]

28 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

 But do what you feel is right for you and your preferences, and please allow me to make mine. Thanks.

I never questioned your preferences. 

[DCGuy64]

4 minutes ago, MNcruisingcouple said:

While we enjoyed the Premium Plus package, it wouldn't always be worth it for us. 

Same here. One thing I do love about NCL is that when you buy a drink that costs more than the allotted $15, you only pay the difference, not the cost of the pricier drink. MSC makes you pay the whole thing. Our favorite of all time was our honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean, which was on Costa. 19 Euros a day for the all-inclusive. Those were the days.

 

5 minutes ago, Phil265 said:

I never questioned your preferences. 

My apologies, the way your post read, it came off sounding like you were challenging my rationale. I'm sorry I misread it.

[ljk76]

New NCL cruiser with a question...included perk  premium does not include bottled water or specialty coffee? Plus includes all bottled water, and premium coffee, which is Starbucks? Plus includes full bottles of wine at dinner and you can take remainder to your stateroom? Thanks for your help!