NCL Regulars that have tried other cruise lines- Alcohol

[tgloersen]

16 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I drink black coffee and ice water from the tap suits this steerage passenger just fine (it's probably filtered/purified more than what comes in that bottle).  I'll take the free!

Im with you, maybe the occasional beer.  Which im happy to pay as i go.

[Trimone]

I was about to try celebrity, then went to an NCL function and I was amazed how much more discounts you get these events…Booked on the spot! 
I was getting rather bored with NCLs itineraries 

[NCLGirl2013]

28 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

Celebrity has gratuities and unlimited wifi for two included, in addition to the drinks

Gratuities are nice but we usually get those free through our TA for our NCL cruises anyway. The WiFi is actually a negative perk for us because I don't want my work or family to be able to contact us throughout the cruise 😅😂

Edited April 3, 2022 by NCLGirl2013

[mscdivina2016]

22 hours ago, NCLGirl2013 said:

My husband and I have done multiple NCL cruises and have no complaints. We always have a fabulous time! Recently we have thought about branching out and trying a new cruise line just out of curiosity of differences. Specifically we have been looking at Royal Caribbean. When I price check, they seem to be pretty similar but what is a breaking point for us is the alcohol package. We always get the free beverage package on NCL and we use it to the full 😅 I usually have a couple Irish Coffees before my husband even wakes up for the day then we probably have 5/6 by the pool for hours then a cocktail or 2 before dinner. Then depending on how we feel, we go out after dinner too. So let's say 10 drinks per person per day. On NCL, we never have any problems and it's all included. On RCL or any other line we would be stuck by their package (TA says that is about $75/pp per day so that's pushing an extra $1,050 😳) or paying per drink which at let's say an average of $10/per drink and we drink probably 10 drinks a day..... that's even more. 

 

So my question is, any other couples that like to drink regularly and are well acquainted with the NCL beverage package, how do other cruise lines compare for your bar bill at the end of the cruise? 

We are bad onboard, usually 15+ each per day and we as a rule don't take 7 night cruises.

I hate to say this, but MSC is the best IMHO price wise.  I hate them, but I have done 5 with them in the past 4 months.

We have done NCL many times and the free booze package still comes with the gratuities. so for us that works out to be $600-1200 in the end.

RCCL is too expensive, CCL is also no longer a deal. Costa had different promos which are halfway decent and Princess is also decent for us but we only book suites on them and its included in the package.

[Sailing12Away]

16 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

We have done NCL many times and the free booze package still comes with the gratuities. so for us that works out to be $600-1200 in the end.

How are you getting charged that much for a drink package with NCL? Are you upping from the free package to the premium one? I just checked our 15 day cruise on the Joy and for 2 of us it's less than $600 total. So about $20/person/day - which can easily be fulfilled before lunch.

[pcrum]

22 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Not sure I’ve ever seen someone pick a cruise line by it’s drink package…

We sail NCL due to the drink package. I’m a numbers cruncher and when I look at other lines’ total cost including adding in a drinks package, NCL usually comes out ahead. Specialty coffees and bottled water don’t really matter to us so the fact that they are not included doesn’t influence our decision. Plus, have not sailed another line whose entertainment can beat Howl at the Moon or the Broadway shows shown on NCL. 

[mscdivina2016]

37 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

How are you getting charged that much for a drink package with NCL? Are you upping from the free package to the premium one? I just checked our 15 day cruise on the Joy and for 2 of us it's less than $600 total. So about $20/person/day - which can easily be fulfilled before lunch.

We usually do 30- 40 days worth of b2bs.  My upcoming 21 night Encore is 821.60

Upcoming Sun sailing is $1386 for 36 nights. Upcoming 16 night Spirit is $633.60

[oteixeira]

23 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

We usually do 30- 40 days worth of b2bs.  My upcoming 21 night Encore is 821.60

Upcoming Sun sailing is $1386 for 36 nights. Upcoming 16 night Spirit is $633.60

OK, so for a fair comparison what would 21 days on RCCL cost?  Or 36?  While I am jealous of your cruising style (One day I hope I can do that) I think most of us are not doing that many days at a clip.  :)  

Edited April 3, 2022 by oteixeira

[mscdivina2016]

8 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

OK, so for a fair comparison what would 21 days on RCCL cost?  Or 36?  While I am jealous of your cruising style (One day I hope I can do that) I think most of us are not doing that many days at a clip.  🙂

Last time I got a quote for a RCCL cruise for a 19 day cruise was about $2600 I think. Keep in mind that was in Europe.

[LGW59]

23 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Not sure I’ve ever seen someone pick a cruise line by it’s drink package…

Yea some people also need to do their research on each lines package, it’s very easy to find and then get out the trusty calculator, not hard to do 

[zackarykeef]

I think NCL still has the best value…you can pretty much get everything, save for fancier wines (if you’re a wine drinker) and scotches on the included package. That combined with it basically always included now and just having to add ~$250/2 people for taxes, it’s a no-brainer.

 

I have wanted to try RCCL as well, but having to add the $1000 each time for the package (I will only cruise with a drink package, because as one person mentioned earlier, I don’t want to think about it) has continuously steered me away from them. It’s a lot to add on top of the price. Plus…they NEVER have specials with the drink package included. Tells me how much the are catering to families with kids.

 

In addition, I did go on one RCCL cruise several years ago, and we added the package (base fare was a good deal). I found there were still a lot of drinks not included, and that really annoyed me. Most of their “signature” cocktails were over the package limit. Not sure if this is still the case.

 

I do have to say…MSC before (they recently switched it) had a really good deal. We had the middle beverage package, and it wasn’t that much more to upgrade to the top. We could drink ANYTHING we wanted on the ship. We drank them out of Veuve that trip, and had some of the best wines ever, as the Yacht Club sommelier brought us new bottles nightly. It was amazing, but they recently changed their package structure this past fall, and I don’t think the highest tier included everything anymore.

 

We are trying Celebrity for the first time in July, and are looking forward to the drinks with the premium package. I’m big into mixology, and I love the emphasis they put on that. I’ve loved NCL going in this direction as well.

 

I know that’s wordy, but I still think NCL is great in this sense. I, too, am getting bored with the repetitive itineraries, but the drinks and overall quality keep me returning. The Prima will keep the spark new, and I’m looking forward to trying X in a few months!

[mscdivina2016]

7 hours ago, zackarykeef said:

he Yacht Club sommelier brought us new bottles nightly. It was amazing, but they recently changed their package structure this past fall, and I don’t think the highest tier included everything anymore.

 

You are correct. I have done 5 YC sailings in the last 4 months and there were 5 bottles of booze excluded. JW Blue unfortunately was one of the not included ones.😪

[Lionkingrichard]

16 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Last time I got a quote for a RCCL cruise for a 19 day cruise was about $2600 I think. Keep in mind that was in Europe.

So the RCCL drink package would be $3000 vs $760 for NCL?

[mscdivina2016]

32 minutes ago, Lionkingrichard said:

So the RCCL drink package would be $3000 vs $760 for NCL?

$2600 vs $760 or something like that for comparable days.

But NCL charges more for the cruise.

Always figure a total when looking. Also internet if you need or want.

[lixogab]

NCL drink package is $20 p/ day p/person. But you can’t get it with IX/OX/BX and have to overpay around $16 p/ day pp to get a non-guaranteed cabin. That totals $36, roughly 3 cocktails or 1 bottle of wine or   5 beers. 
If you ( and your significant one) drink less than that and you are fine with guaranteed cabin - consider skipping the drink package.

Also, if you get shareholder benefit and free drinks it could be hard to find where to spend the benefit OBC ( prior to Covid I used to buy CruiseNext, but now the benefit can’t be applied to CruiseNext).

[mscdivina2016]

1 hour ago, lixogab said:

NCL drink package is $20 p/ day p/person. But you can’t get it with IX/OX/BX and have to overpay around $16 p/ day pp to get a non-guaranteed cabin. That totals $36, roughly 3 cocktails or 1 bottle of wine or   5 beers. 
If you ( and your significant one) drink less than that and you are fine with guaranteed cabin - consider skipping the drink package.

Also, if you get shareholder benefit and free drinks it could be hard to find where to spend the benefit OBC ( prior to Covid I used to buy CruiseNext, but now the benefit can’t be applied to CruiseNext).

$20 per person per day??? Where?

[lixogab]

10 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

$20 per person per day??? Where?

Beverage package gratuities.

[mscdivina2016]

Just now, lixogab said:

Beverage package gratuities.

Got it yes!

[LadyBerard]

I suggest you price out Celebrity where drinks, wifi, and prepaid gratuities are always included and drinks are unlimited, unlike Carnival, Princess, and Holland that only include 15 drinks per day.   And it does not just include beverages with alcohol.  It includes, iced coffees, specialty coffees, fresh squeezed OJ, energy drinks, water, etc.

[Wendelboe]

I stick to NCL because of the ease and price of the "free at sea" drink package.  Free is not free as it usually is between $100-200 PP for gratuities, but that sure beats the $1000+ for Royal/Carnival.  I would consider other lines depending on the itinerary.  If it is very port intensive and we would not be spending much time on the ship drinking, then I will pay as I go on another line.  That being said, the drink package is always a consideration on which cruises I choose.

[Lionkingrichard]

On 4/4/2022 at 12:14 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

$2600 vs $760 or something like that for comparable days.

But NCL charges more for the cruise.

Always figure a total when looking. Also internet if you need or want.

Yes I know how to price out a cruise. You didn't! You said a 19 day cruise cost $2600, but that didn't include the $3,000 drink package!

[ECCruise]

Honestly a bit in awe of how much people seem to be drinking.

 

10-15 each per day?  Can't even imagine it, and I am classified a "heavy drinker" by the medical community.

[t00thpix]

I am long term Celebrity cruiser.  In a moment of weakness I reserved a NCL cruise. I admittedly did not do my homework and my 1st thought after looking at all the additional fees and cruise cost   was "ouch".  Celebrity drink package about $60/day and NCL $100/day. Granted one can get a package with free drinks on both but on NCL you have to pay drink gratuities which is $40/day for a couple and the kicker is they don"t provide water

 

[KAYKAY121]

Last cruise in Dec, we upgraded to the Plus package which includes Starbucks and Veuve (by the glass) Moet by the bottle, lots of wine choices and the good liquors. If I was seated at the bar, I had Veuve in front of me and often times another drink. I probably drank 10 bottles of Veuve in 7 days. It was well worth the price for us. We will continue to upgrade the beverage package and will continue to sail NCL because of their beverage packages.  15 drinks including non alcoholic drinks is really not that hard to get to to. Everytime I have priced any other cruiseline, NCL comes out as the better price. 

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Yes I know how to price out a cruise. You didn't! You said a 19 day cruise cost $2600, but that didn't include the $3,000 drink package!

No, the drink package cost for 19 days was $2600 on RCCL. Cruise was about $4000 if I remember.😁