New to NCL

[latebuyer]

I'm new to NCL and have a few questions. Does anyone know what the risk free cancellation means that they advertise right now? How do their cruise certificates work if you decide to cancel a cruise? Is the promo right now very good or does it happen all the time? Is the beverage package worth it because the gratuities seem awfully expensive although i don't know if i'm being charged for 2 people as a solo. $192 for 7 days?

[hallux]

1 hour ago, christinand said:

Does anyone know what the risk free cancellation means that they advertise right now?

Covered here - https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/book-with-confidence#freedom-flexibility looks like 15 days with no penalty, for cruises through October.

 

1 hour ago, christinand said:

How do their cruise certificates work if you decide to cancel a cruise?

Are you asking about CruiseNext, CruiseFirst or just future cruise credit issued as a refund?

CruiseNext would be returned with their original expiration date.  If past the expiration, they won't be returned.

I imagine CruiseFirst would also be returned with their original expiration

FCC would be issued with its own expiration but I believe there is also an option to be refunded to original form of payment.  If that original form of payment was FCC, the FCC would likely be returned with the original expiration and may not be eligible for cash refund anymore.

 

1 hour ago, christinand said:

Is the promo right now very good or does it happen all the time? Is the beverage package worth it because the gratuities seem awfully expensive although i don't know if i'm being charged for 2 people as a solo. $192 for 7 days?

The Free At Sea promo has been going in one form or another since I started looking at NCL cruises in early 2019.  The gratuities are 20% of what the beverage package would cost if you had purchased it.  $192 is probably about right for one person

[latebuyer]

Thanks. What i'm wondering about is what if i cancelled a cruise before final payment. Do i get my deposit back? Good to know there is no rush to book.

[hallux]

Up until final payment I believe it's a full refund.  That seems to be what the link I posted above is indicating...

[UKstages]

4 hours ago, christinand said:

Is the beverage package worth it because the gratuities seem awfully expensive although i don't know if i'm being charged for 2 people as a solo. $192 for 7 days?

beverage service charge for one person on a 10 day NCL cruise runs $198.

 

on a 7 day itinerary, it would be only $138.60.

 

did you also take 2 free specialty dining meals on your 7 day cruise?  

 

if so, the gratuity on that would be $15.80, but i don't see how you would get close to $192 between the beverage package and meals.

 

some people purchase "travel protection" (insurance) either knowingly or unknowingly and sometimes people see the extra charges and assume that it's part of the service charges. perhaps that's what you've done?

 

in any case, all the fees should be clearly laid out in your cruise confirmation.

[Sailing12Away]

The drink package is 100% worth it if you plan on drinking. To break even with the gratuity charges you need 3 drinks a day. Anything more than that and they're losing money on you. If you're fine with just a single glass of wine with dinner or 1 cocktail by the pool and you're done - maybe pay as you go. Each drink is ballpark $10 each depending on what your poison is.

 

For comparison, with my upcoming RCC cruise I'm being charged $60/day. So the NCL drink package is half the price. Having the ability to try anything I want and not have to think about the cost is part of the fun for me.

[latebuyer]

I wonder if pride of America charges more for drink gratuities? I was definitely just left with around 15 or 20 dollars for gratuities when I removed it. 

[hallux]

5 hours ago, christinand said:

I wonder if pride of America charges more for drink gratuities?

No.  I just did a mock booking on POA and the drink gratuities were 138.60.

[deliver42]

I know people complain about the gratuity charge on the drink package, but it's still a bargain, especially when compared what other lines charge for the same package. By the way, the gratuities are included in those packages, but you're still paying them.

[alohayall]

deleted

Edited August 18, 2021 by alohayall

[JamieLogical]

If you cancel before final payment, your deposit is refunded. If you cancel after final payment, you get FCC, not a refund.

 

The "Free at Sea" promos have included drinks, specialty dining, and $50 shore excursion credit for a long time. The WiFi is a more recent addition, but seems to be sticking. The only ones that are still somewhat fleeting are 3rd & 4th guest free and 2nd guest flies free.

 

I have always found the drink package to be worth it. As others have said, if you drink 2-3 drinks per day, you will break even. I usually drink much more than that. Also, the included drink package covers drinks up to $15 and you only pay the difference on more expensive drinks. So even if you are on the picky side about what liquors are used in your drinks, it covers a lot.

 

That being said, I recently sailed Celebrity and found their included drink package to be a MUCH better deal. It only covers drinks up to $9, but you are not charged gratuities and you can pay the difference to upgrade to their Premium package (~$10/day). Their Premium package truly does cover just about everything available on the ship, and the out of pocket cost is significantly less than the included drink package on NCL.

[latebuyer]

They must charge a single supplement on the drink package then. Is there any way to get a free non-alcoholic drink package?

 

Wow! Even if i’m booking for 2023 i could get the full deposit refunded?

[hallux]

5 minutes ago, christinand said:

Wow! Even if i’m booking for 2023 i could get the full deposit refunded?

This post has info on the refund policies.  

If you book a 2023 cruise now and cancel before final payment you can get a refund, yes.

 

6 minutes ago, christinand said:

They must charge a single supplement on the drink package then

No, the drink packages are charged (or the grats on the FAS drink packages are) on a per-person basis.  When I did my mock booking for the POA cruise it charged $138.60 for the drink package gratuities.    You need to look at the details of the billing to see what's being charged.

[latebuyer]

Thanks. When i removed the drink package i was only charged 20.00 so its definitely the drink package that has the charge. Its driving me crazy. Anyways i'm inclined to just remove it as 170.00 for a drink package isn't worth it.

[JamieLogical]

11 minutes ago, christinand said:

Thanks. When i removed the drink package i was only charged 20.00 so its definitely the drink package that has the charge. Its driving me crazy. Anyways i'm inclined to just remove it as 170.00 for a drink package isn't worth it.

 

Still confused as to why it was charging you more than $20/day for the drink package. That is currently what the service charge for it should add up to. If you don't think you'll drink more than $20/day of drinks, then definitely better to just remove it.

[latebuyer]

I was just reading about the cruise first. Does anyone know if you can apply the cruise next to the cruise you are buying and use it as your deposit?

[latebuyer]

Also, the cruise next seems to be a pretty good deal. Are there any catches?

[JamieLogical]

9 minutes ago, christinand said:

I was just reading about the cruise first. Does anyone know if you can apply the cruise next to the cruise you are buying and use it as your deposit?

 

Not sure exactly what you are asking here. Both Cruise Next and Cruise First can be applied toward your deposit. You are not supposed to be able to combine Cruise Next with Cruise First.

[latebuyer]

Thanks. I thought i read somewhere that the airfare norwegian books for you can’t be changed. Is that correct?

[hallux]

7 minutes ago, christinand said:

Thanks. I thought i read somewhere that the airfare norwegian books for you can’t be changed. Is that correct?

Using the promotional airfare, that's pretty much the case.  Once it's ticketed you're locked in.  Someone said something in another thread about 'standby', I'm not sure if that was using the NCL-booked ticket or if they made their own arrangements.

[CardFanDubG]

11 minutes ago, hallux said:

Using the promotional airfare, that's pretty much the case.  Once it's ticketed you're locked in.  Someone said something in another thread about 'standby', I'm not sure if that was using the NCL-booked ticket or if they made their own arrangements.

I think that you may be talking about my post. LINK Yes I flew stand-by on the NCL Airfare purchased ticket. Did not have the airline or NCL change our flight. We just went to the airport early hoping to fly stand-by (space available) on an earlier flight.

[jkrislc]

11 hours ago, deliver42 said:

I know people complain about the gratuity charge on the drink package, but it's still a bargain, especially when compared what other lines charge for the same package. By the way, the gratuities are included in those packages, but you're still paying them.

My issue is that they've inflated the alleged value of the drink package to increase the amount you must pay for the related service charge. I'm not aware of any other cruise line that charges anywhere near what NCL charges and some offer a lot more (e.g., bottled water, sports drinks, and specialty coffees) for much less. As a result, we opted out of the drink package as it wasn't worth the service charge compared to just buying the soda package outright.

[Jarmo]

Brand new to NCL here.  Looking for info on what higher end vodkas/gins/bourbons are available with the included booze package.  TIA.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Jarmo said:

Brand new to NCL here.  Looking for info on what higher end vodkas/gins/bourbons are available with the included booze package.  TIA.

 

See the following thread...

 

The Premium is the promo package.

The Premium Plus is the higher end/more inclusive/cost extra package. 

[hallux]

it should also be noted (and it may be in the linked thread) that if the drink you wish to order costs more than the allotted amount for your beverage plan, you are only responsible for the difference + 20% gratuity...