Premium Plus worth it?

[DCGuy64]

5 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

I love CruiseCritic.com  We can take a simple question and make it all about how my side wins out because of my justifications.  

 

The question was, "Is the Premium Plus Drink Package with the upgrade?" Answer, "Yes/No".  Personal approach and preference.  

Exactly, LOL 😝 

As I said before doing this cruise, we opted NOT to upgrade the beverage package this time because it sometimes creates a perverse incentive to overdo it. I’m glad we stuck with the included package. It worked fine for us and we saved $$$. 

[4 cruisers]

We took premium and enjoyed a glass

of Verve champagne with our breakfast each morning!  A glass

of very premium wine with lunch!  Any fun

cocktail we wanted pre dinner.  Champagne and wine with dinners.  We are foodies (and wineo’s 😂🤣) and it made the cruise even more fun and decadent after a long Covid break!  Also it was a break from being responsible for my 92 year old Dad for 10 days😇!  You will enjoy either way!😉

[complawyer]

at the end of the day, it depends really on how much drinking you plan on doing. i'm relatively easy to please, glass of champagne or mimosa at breakfast, glass or 2 of scotch with lunch, afternoon mojito

if i'm just staying on board,or ice cold beer if just returning from an excursion, another glass or 2 of scotch with dinner, a glass of port wine after dinner, and maybe a couple more drinks if i'm in the casino. the regular drink package suits me just fine!

 

i dont need a $35 glass of verve to make me happy

[purpleally]

Yes, yes, yes, it was soooooo worth it. Best part of cruising NCL

[phillygwm]

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

i dont need a $35 glass of verve to make me happy

Perhaps, but 5-6 glasses almost certainly would 🤣

[Mizzoupoodle123]

Thank you for the replies!!! Between the bottled water, the coffee speciality drinks and the more expensive wines I think I would break even or come out ahead with the Premium Plus.  
 

😊🍾

Sylvia

[complawyer]

phillygwm: after 5 or 6, i doubt i would even care anymore

[WarfRatWA]

On 9/26/2021 at 1:30 AM, Mizzoupoodle123 said:

I am confused.  We received the beverage package on the holiday sailing of the Escape.  They are selling/ trying to sell a package upgrade for about 383. to each person in the cabin of legal drinking age.

Is this upgrade worth it?  Opinions are welcome!😊

 

Sylvia

 

If libations are part of your cruising style and if your wallet is willing...it is absolutely worth it.

[Sthrngary]

10 hours ago, Mizzoupoodle123 said:

Thank you for the replies!!! Between the bottled water, the coffee speciality drinks and the more expensive wines I think I would break even or come out ahead with the Premium Plus.  
 

😊🍾

Sylvia

All of what you said has merit.  Outside of making the "Plus" a value, it also for me gives me a feeling of freedom and convenience.  I am not the kind of person that will count my drinks to make sure I get my money's worth.  Not who I am.  I used to be until the next day I paid the price with a headache because I was hungover.  Instead, I simply want all the options possible and don't want to worry about paying for them, within reason.  I might break even or not.  What I won't do because I an kind of nuts, is always look for the drinks over $15.00 and avoid them.  I won't tell my wife, "No honey, I don't want to buy a $60.00 bottle of wine for the room with a 20% gratuity so you can have a bottle for a night cap.  I will go down stairs to a bar and bring you two at a time."  Instead, I have the "Plus" package.

 

That is my story and I am sticking to it.  What is funny, we have gone on cruises with friends and they choose not to do the "Plus" package.  You know, they had a great time also.  Just personal preference. 

 

Cruise well. 

[graphicguy]

Getting ready to sail the Encore.  Looked at the “upgrade” myself.

 

In truth, given the cabins have a coffee maker that can make hot water.  And,  I can bring my own Starbucks packets (not as good as a fresh latte, but not bad, either) to make in the room, I’m good with that.

 

I’m a bourbon drinker.  There’s nothing in the upgrade package I absolutely have to drink.  Matter of fact, the last time I was on an NCL ship, they had Buffalo Trace as part of the included “premium” drinks.  I love Buffalo Trace and can’t even get it at home.  As far as the rest, if there’s a specialty drink I’d like to try, I’m just as happy with the $15 ones as anything else.

 

Water?  The cruise ship’s water purifier is probably better than anything they put in bottles.  Further, I do bring my own little filter tumbler that those in the restaurants are more than happy to fill for me during meals, if I so choose.

 

Bottom line, you’d have to really want some of those other drinks, and a lot of them, in order to justify what I consider a crazy upgrade charge.

 

But, what’s not worth it to one, may very well be worth it to another.

[BoozinCroozin]

For me, there is no way I will pay $35 more per day for drinks. I am not a top-shelf guy and perfectly fine with the standards on the "free" list. If on the off-hand I wanted to try a higher version, I can pay the difference on a per drink basis. 

 

Only you can decide if the difference in drinks works out in your favor. At a high level, it is 5 drinks to break even to begin with. I do understand that people have higher standards and enjoy their premiums. It is good for them, then smile on!

[Goldconnection]

No way would we spend that kind of money on any kind of drink package. Then again my DH does not drink at all and I have a glass of wine or a daiquiri a a few times a year. On New Year Eve we have sparkling grape juice. We are not coffee drinkers and have sodas every blue moon. Water is our go to drink.  

[MoCruiseFan]

On 9/25/2021 at 7:30 PM, Mizzoupoodle123 said:

I am confused.  We received the beverage package on the holiday sailing of the Escape.  They are selling/ trying to sell a package upgrade for about 383. to each person in the cabin of legal drinking age.

Is this upgrade worth it?  Opinions are welcome!😊

 

Sylvia

 

"worth it" is highly subject to each person.  To get a basic answer simply do the math and see if it is "worth it" to you.

[DCGuy64]

On 9/26/2021 at 3:24 PM, DCGuy64 said:

Exactly, LOL 😝 

As I said before doing this cruise, we opted NOT to upgrade the beverage package this time because it sometimes creates a perverse incentive to overdo it. I’m glad we stuck with the included package. It worked fine for us and we saved $$$. 

Just as a follow-up to my own post, I *only* drank 5-6 drinks a day. Compared to the rest of you, I'm a rank amateur! 🤣 But seriously, I didn't need/want to do a lot of drinking on this cruise. I think cruising is about having a good time, and for this cruise, I took it easy on the drinking and am glad I did. The bartenders did a nice job and I got to try some tasty new things like raspberry/guava mojitos, a mudslide and the famous Painkiller. But I never overdid it and I'm glad. 😁

I also discovered that the free coffee was by Melitta, a German coffee company I really like. That was a happy find. I'm not a Starbucks fan so I saved money on my daily java(s). ☕

Edited September 28, 2021 by DCGuy64

[saltsandknit]

I had the premium plus package on my Gem cruise last week. My husband and I kept track of what we purchased that are plus package options. I drink a lot of coffee on vacation as well as sparkling water we also had a bottle of wine with dinner. I like bourbon he likes rum. We had a few glasses of Veuve and a Cabernet that was 29$ a glass. We spent s little over 900$  so we saved 400$ roughly on the plus package. It was a nice stress free addition for my vacation 

[LaCal]

We drink mainly vodka and Grey Goose and Belvedere are included in the regular drink package so for us it definitely wouldn’t be worth it to upgrade 

 

and I’ll have some shots of Patron or Jd once in awhile and they are included as well 

Edited September 28, 2021 by LaCal

[phillygwm]

23 minutes ago, LaCal said:

We drink mainly vodka and Grey Goose and Belvedere are included in the regular drink package so for us it definitely wouldn’t be worth it to upgrade 

 

and I’ll have some shots of Patron or Jd once in awhile and they are included as well 

This is why I love these "Premium Plus Worth It?" threads.  Half the people can't imagine going for it because what they drink is on the standard menu.  The other half couldn't imagine NOT going for it because "their drink" is on the Plus list so the breakeven is quite small.

 

What can I say, I like Champagne, so the bottle of Moet with dinner alone makes it a good value for me.  My friends like not terribly fancy wine by the glass or perhaps a beer, so they're perfectly fine with the basic package.  @DCGuy64makes a good point, though:  I remember when the beverage package was not a freebie and I felt it necessary to "get my money's worth."  Suffice to say, I'm not 25 anymore and if I try to drink the volumes I did in my young, foolish years, things won't end well 🙂  

Edited September 28, 2021 by phillygwm

[Calvin]

How about an opinion from a (relative) non-drinker? I will imbibe from time to time during the year but I am NOT a sophisticated drinker AT ALL.  I promise you I could take a blind taste test of the "bottom of the barrel" rot gut, supermarket, unknown brand of tequila and various upscale tequilas like Patron Anejo and Don Julio, and I would only be guessing at the "higher quality" brand.  The same goes for champagne.

 

There is a financial consideration as well as an emotional consideration.  Most don't "need" the premium plus package. Financially, I can easily rationalize the cost by saying I'll drink 2 glasses of Veuve Clicquot (@$35 each) with my breakfast to make it like a daily Sunday Brunch.  My wife enjoys Patron Anejo (@$25 each).  The added cost of the premium plus package is $58 per day for both of us, vs. the separate, non premium package drinks cost of $60.  The financial investment decision is easy to make.

 

Then there's the emotional consideration:  In my case, I've never ever been afforded the opportunity to drink an unlimited number of high end drinks, and though I'm a lightweight (even at 6'3" and 250 lbs.), I just want to feel like a King for a week because we are celebrating a huge event.  The premium plus package has already been ordered, and I will not regret it, despite the fact that I have never tasted Veuve Clicquot.  I did see a list of the premium plus drinks and noticed they had Inniskillin (Ice Wine) on there, and THAT I know I like!

 

LOL, "worth it" is such an incredibly subjective term. I'm sure you could ask the same question about cabins. IE Is a balcony, or suite, or Haven cabin worth it?  You will get a million answers, and that's part of what makes cruising, and lots of other things, great!

[phillygwm]

16 minutes ago, Calvin said:

How about an opinion from a (relative) non-drinker? I will imbibe from time to time during the year but I am NOT a sophisticated drinker AT ALL.  I promise you I could take a blind taste test of the "bottom of the barrel" rot gut, supermarket, unknown brand of tequila and various upscale tequilas like Patron Anejo and Don Julio, and I would only be guessing at the "higher quality" brand.  The same goes for champagne.

I say this as well but there are limits.  Here's what I'll propose:  Bring your complimentary bottle of Duc du Valmer to a bar.  Ask the bartender to pour you a glass, along with a glass of Veuve.  See if you can tell the difference in a blind taste test.  Hint: the one that doesn't make you retch is the Veuve 🙂

 

But I totally agree with your broader point.  I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I tasted Veuve.  Even Moet was last New Years Eve.  I live alone and rarely drink at all while home, let alone an entire bottle.  Most of my friends aren't fans of bubbly, so I rarely have occasion even when I'm out.  Reason # 72 why I'm looking forward to my cruise.

[fstuff1]

On 9/25/2021 at 8:36 PM, hallux said:

All the info you need is on the NCL page, only you can decide if it's worth it to you - https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

 

Premium plus list:

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/premium-plus-beverage-package-2021v2.pdf

 

Gentleman Jack is a Premium Plus?! you've got to be kidding me.

 

Anyway, from that list, which is the most expensive scotch?
and which is the most expensive whisky?

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by fstuff1

[Calvin]

1 hour ago, phillygwm said:

I say this as well but there are limits.  Here's what I'll propose:  Bring your complimentary bottle of Duc du Valmer to a bar.  Ask the bartender to pour you a glass, along with a glass of Veuve.  See if you can tell the difference in a blind taste test.  Hint: the one that doesn't make you retch is the Veuve 🙂

 

But I totally agree with your broader point.  I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I tasted Veuve.  Even Moet was last New Years Eve.  I live alone and rarely drink at all while home, let alone an entire bottle.  Most of my friends aren't fans of bubbly, so I rarely have occasion even when I'm out.  Reason # 72 why I'm looking forward to my cruise.

 

I guess I'll have to change my rating criteria to "retch" or "not retch" 😂. 

 

This may get me killed by the true wine/champagne connoisseurs but, honestly, I would normally prefer a Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante over any champagne (Oh, stop your booing) but, like I said, Big Papa wants to feel special, even if he has to fake it...

[DCGuy64]

16 hours ago, phillygwm said:

This is why I love these "Premium Plus Worth It?" threads.  Half the people can't imagine going for it because what they drink is on the standard menu.  The other half couldn't imagine NOT going for it because "their drink" is on the Plus list so the breakeven is quite small.

 

What can I say, I like Champagne, so the bottle of Moet with dinner alone makes it a good value for me.  My friends like not terribly fancy wine by the glass or perhaps a beer, so they're perfectly fine with the basic package.  @DCGuy64makes a good point, though:  I remember when the beverage package was not a freebie and I felt it necessary to "get my money's worth."  Suffice to say, I'm not 25 anymore and if I try to drink the volumes I did in my young, foolish years, things won't end well 🙂  

Haha, same here. My wife has to remind me of the "incident" that occurred on our RCL cruise back in 2017. I was having a whale of a time at the pool bar talking with some new friends from Canada and could barely walk back to our cabin. I totally missed dinner and it really embarrassed my wife. Not doing that again! 

Having said that, I would opt for the Premium+ package in the future if NCL made a few changes:

 

1. Had more champagne choices by the glass. From what I remember, the only premium sparkling wines were the Veuve and a California 'champagne' (which I had at Cagney's, it was so-so). Buying things by the bottle isn't a good plan for us, champagne doesn't stay bubbly for long and there's no way my wife and I could finish a whole bottle at one sitting (cue the "oh we can finish off a bottle in 15 seconds" crowd. Good for you. I'm talking about MY preferences.) 😉

2. Allowed JUST ONE person to purchase it. We would love to get the bottles of sparkling water, the fresh squeezed juices and the odd premium coffee, but at $29 pppd, it isn't worth it for both of us, but WOULD be worth it if only 1 of us did. Oh, I know why they have the rule (don't want people sharing, I get it), but $406 for the week (7-day cruise for 2) is just too expensive for us. 

 

As we all know, taste is VERY subjective. I despise brandy, cognac, Scotch (blech!) and Starbucks coffee. That all factors into it. If I had my druthers, I'd want some other offerings in terms of included red wines, but by no means was I dissatisfied with the free stuff last week. 

 

Of course, if we opted for a cheaper cabin that would offset the extra cost, we might go for it. But based on our cruise last week, we're fine with the included booze. 😄

As @Sthrngary says, "Cruise well everyone." 

[graphicguy]

14 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

Premium plus list:

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/premium-plus-beverage-package-2021v2.pdf

 

Gentleman Jack is a Premium Plus?! you've got to be kidding me.

 

Anyway, from that list, which is the most expensive scotch?
and which is the most expensive whisky?

 

Good point....looking at the list...

 

BEER

-Stella Artois

-Corona

-Blue Moon

 

Whiskey, Spirits, Tequila

-Bulliet

-Jack Daniels

-Patron

-Jose Cuervo

 

Apertif

-Limoncello

-Southern Comfort

 

Vodka/Gin/Rum

-Gosline

-Tanguerey

-Ketel One

-Bombay

-Capt Morgan

-Grey Goose

-Titos

-Bacardi

 

Wine

-Red

-White

-Pink

-"fizzy"

 

I bring my own coffee, and I filter my own water.

 

Yep....covered!

[Sthrngary]

14 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

2. Allowed JUST ONE person to purchase it. We would love to get the bottles of sparkling water, the fresh squeezed juices and the odd premium coffee, but at $29 pppd, it isn't worth it for both of us, but WOULD be worth it if only 1 of us did. Oh, I know why they have the rule (don't want people sharing, I get it), but $406 for the week (7-day cruise for 2) is just too expensive for us. 

First, thanks for the shout out.  Second, you can get the Premium Plus for just one person in your party.  A real world example so some other whom think I am telling a tall tail can chill.  I am on the Joy, end of November 2021.  Four folks (used to be 5) in our DOS for the cruise.  All legal age to drink.  Everyone has the perk (Ha, ha; perk that costs a bit still cool though) of the Premium Beverage Package.  My wife and I have the Premium Plus Beverage Package.  Interesting right.

 

Two ways to do this.  First, if you have FCC and you have booked all the future cruises you want OR excursions with those FCC for your upcoming cruise OR the upgrade for the internet for that cruise.  So you still have FCC left.  You can have NCL upgrade one or more of your party to the Premium Plus package.  Second, when you get onboard, when you check in, ask to upgrade one or more of your party.  

 

I hope that helps you and others.  The NCL app is completely not flexible.  They force all or no one to get this package.  Took a while for me to figure this out but happy I did.

 

Cruise well everyone. 

[Sthrngary]

13 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Good point....looking at the list...

 

BEER

-Stella Artois

-Corona

-Blue Moon

 

Whiskey, Spirits, Tequila

-Bulliet

-Jack Daniels

-Patron

-Jose Cuervo

 

Apertif

-Limoncello

-Southern Comfort

 

Vodka/Gin/Rum

-Gosline

-Tanguerey

-Ketel One

-Bombay

-Capt Morgan

-Grey Goose

-Titos

-Bacardi

 

Wine

-Red

-White

-Pink

-"fizzy"

 

I bring my own coffee, and I filter my own water.

 

Yep....covered!

I just went online and the document I came up with is different then yours.  I have attached it.  Interesting.  My document came from my online Joy reservation under, upgrade to Premium Plus Beverage Package.  

premium-plus-beverage-package.pdf