NCL Free Open Bar Promotion

[toby517]

Hi, just booked a cruise on NCL Joy in August with the Free open bar promotion. What does this include exactly? Gratuities were charged, does that mean when ordering a drink I don’t need to tip? I’m not a big drinker but thought what the heck, first real vacation in 8 years and traveling solo.

Thanks for any clarification.

Bruce

[trivimp]

Correct, you won't need to tip an additional amount.  (Some cruisers like to add a small cash tip, which may help ensure good service for the rest of the week; they are in the minority.)

 

The exception is, when you are in some US ports, you will be charged local taxes on your drink.  In Seattle, for example, it's 10.25%.  So, a buck & change per drink until you sail away.  For that, they'll swipe your card & have you sign a tab.  

[KeithJenner]

6 minutes ago, trivimp said:

Correct, you won't need to tip an additional amount.  (Some cruisers like to add a small cash tip, which may help ensure good service for the rest of the week; they are in the minority.)

 

The exception is, when you are in some US ports, you will be charged local taxes on your drink.  In Seattle, for example, it's 10.25%.  So, a buck & change per drink until you sail away.  For that, they'll swipe your card & have you sign a tab.  

Not just US ports. It happens in some other places as well.

[ColeThornton]

29 minutes ago, toby517 said:

Hi, just booked a cruise on NCL Joy in August with the Free open bar promotion. What does this include exactly?

 

 

 

Click on the promo on NCL.com.   On the next page scroll all the way down and click on "Terms and Conditions".   This will tell you all the details of the promo you booked under.

[MeHeartCruising]

50 minutes ago, toby517 said:

Hi, just booked a cruise on NCL Joy in August with the Free open bar promotion. What does this include exactly? Gratuities were charged, does that mean when ordering a drink I don’t need to tip? I’m not a big drinker but thought what the heck, first real vacation in 8 years and traveling solo.

Thanks for any clarification.

Bruce

 

Drink as many drinks (the ones that cost less than $15 each) as you want.  No need to tip, as you've already paid for that when you signed up for the promo.  You are free to tip a little more if so inclined.  Some do.  Most probably don't.  If you pick a drink that is more expensive than $15, you pay the difference plus automatic tip on the difference.

 

It's a nice way to drink without really worrying about how much you are spending onboard.  Try drinks you've never heard of.  Try another.  If you become unruly, they will shut you off.  🙂

 

Usually, you don't even need to sign a paper slip.  Sometimes you do.  

 

Enjoy your first real vacation in 8 years!

Edited April 26, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[gvgseg]

My wife and I are not big drinkers either so we always decline the open bar. Based on the ridiculous amount of gratuities that they are charging for it ($277 per person for my upcoming 7 night Alaska cruise on Encore), it works out to the equivalent of paying for about 13 drinks per day per person (assuming each drink is $15 and 20% gratuity.) 2 or 3 drinks in a day for me is one thing, but 13 PER DAY is crazy and not worth it in my opinion. Don't let the Free at Sea fool you.

 

Now Specialty Dining package... that is definitely worth it in my opinion. The food is noticeably better at the specialty restaurants than in Manhattan Room/Taste/Savor. I was on the Joy in January 2020 right before everything shutdown. We ate at Ocean Blue, Le Bistro, and La Cucina. The Hong Kong Style Snapper from Ocean Blue is in my top 2 of best things I've ever eaten on a cruise ship.

[PTC DAWG]

16 minutes ago, gvgseg said:

My wife and I are not big drinkers either so we always decline the open bar. Based on the ridiculous amount of gratuities that they are charging for it ($277 per person for my upcoming 7 night Alaska cruise on Encore), it works out to the equivalent of paying for about 13 drinks per day per person (assuming each drink is $15 and 20% gratuity.) 2 or 3 drinks in a day for me is one thing, but 13 PER DAY is crazy and not worth it in my opinion. Don't let the Free at Sea fool you.

 

Now Specialty Dining package... that is definitely worth it in my opinion. The food is noticeably better at the specialty restaurants than in Manhattan Room/Taste/Savor. I was on the Joy in January 2020 right before everything shutdown. We ate at Ocean Blue, Le Bistro, and La Cucina. The Hong Kong Style Snapper from Ocean Blue is in my top 2 of best things I've ever eaten on a cruise ship.

Your math is way off re the drinks..WAY OFF. 
 

2 drinks a day per person can easily cover the grats in most cases..
 

Edited April 26, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[billslowsky]

9 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Your math is way off re the drinks..WAY OFF. 
 

2 drinks a day per person can easily cover the grats in most cases..
 

There's also a differential in the room rate since it's typically a GTY room, but not 13 drinks per day..  And compared to pre covid, the differential appears less than it used to be.

[KarlChilders]

19 minutes ago, gvgseg said:

<snip> Based on the ridiculous amount of gratuities that they are charging for it ($277 per person for my upcoming 7 night Alaska cruise on Encore), it works out to the equivalent of paying for about 13 drinks per day per person (assuming each drink is $15 and 20% gratuity.) 2 or 3 drinks in a day for me is one thing, but 13 PER DAY is crazy and not worth it in my opinion. Don't let the Free at Sea fool you.

 

<end snip>

Bad math alert....277 / 7 = $39 a day. That is less than 3 drinks a day at $15 per. Many of us cover that by lunch time.

 

[PTC DAWG]

3 minutes ago, KarlChilders said:

 

I thought the $277 would been for 2 people…just under $20 pppd. Am I wrong? I see what your doing, we said the same thing…maybe they teach math differently in California. 🙂

Edited April 26, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[gvgseg]

17 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Your math is way off re the drinks..WAY OFF. 
 

2 drinks a day per person can easily cover the grats in most cases..
 

PTC - you are correct, I don't know what I was thinking. I mistakenly forgot to take into account the actual cost of the drink and not just the gratuity. It works out to be 2.2 drinks per day. My fault. Thanks for calling me out on it. Nevertheless, still not really worth the extra amount for my wife and I.

[NCLGirl2013]

1 hour ago, gvgseg said:

My wife and I are not big drinkers either so we always decline the open bar. Based on the ridiculous amount of gratuities that they are charging for it ($277 per person for my upcoming 7 night Alaska cruise on Encore), it works out to the equivalent of paying for about 13 drinks per day per person (assuming each drink is $15 and 20% gratuity.) 2 or 3 drinks in a day for me is one thing, but 13 PER DAY is crazy and not worth it in my opinion. Don't let the Free at Sea fool you.

 

Now Specialty Dining package... that is definitely worth it in my opinion. The food is noticeably better at the specialty restaurants than in Manhattan Room/Taste/Savor. I was on the Joy in January 2020 right before everything shutdown. We ate at Ocean Blue, Le Bistro, and La Cucina. The Hong Kong Style Snapper from Ocean Blue is in my top 2 of best things I've ever eaten on a cruise ship.

I think you may be off on your amount for the charge too. I just booked a 7 day NCL cruise and it is $138.60 per person so $277.20 TOTAL for two people for the gratuities for the whole cruise. That is $19.80 per day per person, so that would be 1 $15 drink + 20% gratuities per person to break even. So if you have more than 1 drink a day it makes more sense to do the drink package for $138.60 for the entire week unlimited drinks....

Edited April 26, 2022 by NCLGirl2013

[KarlChilders]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

I thought the $277 would been for 2 people…just under $20 pppd. Am I wrong? I see what your doing, we said the same thing…maybe they teach math differently in California. 🙂

Well I thought that was high too but just went with his figure, I know in the past we always figured it to be about 2 drinks a day, which is no problem for a Dawg on vacation.

[gvgseg]

6 minutes ago, NCLGirl2013 said:

I think you may be off on your amount for the charge too. I just booked a 7 day NCL cruise and it is $138.60 per person so $277.20 TOTAL for two people for the gratuities for the whole cruise. That is $19.80 per day per person, so that would be 1 $15 drink + 20% gratuities per person to break even. So if you have more than 1 drink a day it makes more sense to do the drink package for $138.60 for the entire week unlimited drinks....

For my room it was $554.40. I assumed that was for just my wife and I as the first 2 passengers, but I guess they were tacking it on for my 2 kids as well. That's crazy if they are charging the same gratuity amounts for the soda package!

[gknep]

I find the drinks package to be a pretty good bargain compared to what my bar bill might look like at the end of a seven cruise without it. You don't have to be a big drinker for it to pay off. I would never pay full retail for it but the gratuity charge is totally worth it for me. As will all things YMMV. 

[UKstages]

1 hour ago, gvgseg said:

 Nevertheless, still not really worth the extra amount for my wife and I.

 

bear in mind that the "free drinks" package includes a host of nonalcoholic beverages, like virgin pina coladas, virgin strawberry or banana daiquiris and so forth... as well as  sodas. i'm not a very big drinker, either, but i do enjoy a prosecco or pinot grigio (or two) with dinner and i very much enjoy a couple of frozen drinks (with and without alcohol) while sitting in the sun reading a book or by the pool or in the hot tub.

 

only you can decide if it's worth it for you. but i always get it, fully recognizing that i'll only have a few boozy cocktails a day, or sometimes none at all.

Edited April 26, 2022 by UKstages

[cruiserbear55]

44 minutes ago, gvgseg said:

For my room it was $554.40. I assumed that was for just my wife and I as the first 2 passengers, but I guess they were tacking it on for my 2 kids as well. That's crazy if they are charging the same gratuity amounts for the soda package!

   They're overcharging you by $143.64.

                                           2 Soda Packages at 7.95 per day             $ 111.30

                                           Gratuities on soda packages                          22.26

                                           Gratuities on beverage packages                 277.20

                                                                                          Total                $ 410.76

   Must have been an NCL computer glitch! Keep in mind that neither package includes water. That is , of course ,available. For an extra charge, of course.

                                          

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, gvgseg said:

For my room it was $554.40. I assumed that was for just my wife and I as the first 2 passengers, but I guess they were tacking it on for my 2 kids as well. That's crazy if they are charging the same gratuity amounts for the soda package!

 

Are the kids 21 or older?

 

If yes, they will have the PBP just as guest 1&2.

 

If they are under 21, they will get nothing (and be charged nothing). 

"Applicable to guests 1-8 on the reservation. If 3-8 guest is under 21 years of age, Premium Beverage package does not apply and soda package will not be given as a substitution."

 

Once their age is entered, the correct amount should appear under details. 

[KeithJenner]

Yeah, £554.40 is the gratuities for 4 people on a 7 night cruise, so it looks like all 4 guests have the adult package.

[gvgseg]

59 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Are the kids 21 or older?

 

If yes, they will have the PBP just as guest 1&2.

 

If they are under 21, they will get nothing (and be charged nothing). 

"Applicable to guests 1-8 on the reservation. If 3-8 guest is under 21 years of age, Premium Beverage package does not apply and soda package will not be given as a substitution."

 

Once their age is entered, the correct amount should appear under details. 

Thanks for clarifying this. Both kids are under 21 so in reality I should have only been seeing $277.20. Between this and my horrific math earlier, I could have saved myself a lot of embarrassment! 😜

[geleisen]

You could always book in EUR instead of USD. Here the Free at Sea is just a fixed rate based on the length of cruise, includes gratuities and is valid on sail away fares. It is not always cheaper, but I have found this to be a lot cheaper on some occasions. (particularly when the price difference between sail away and confirmed cabin is large) On a 7 day cruise, free at sea costs an extra 99 EUR per person, so in USD, that is about 15 USD per day, and it includes the drinks plus the dining and the other FAS as well. On my upcoming 13 day cruise, it is 149 EUR, so a total of like 12 USD per day, which is barely more than the soda package. 

[lexxfield]

That is very useful information. Is it possible for someone residing in the U.S. to book NCL on a foreign website?  

[geleisen]

24 minutes ago, lexxfield said:

That is very useful information. Is it possible for someone residing in the U.S. to book NCL on a foreign website?  

Indeed. You can either use a VPN to get NCL's EU site, or a travel agent. 

[lexxfield]

5 minutes ago, geleisen said:

Indeed. You can either use a VPN to get NCL's EU site, or a travel agent. 

Thank you again for this information. I didn't know it was possible.  If I book through NCL 's EU sire, will it be a problem booking with an American address and my Latitude's number?  I will have to research to find the best VPN. Also the European travel agent seems an easy possibility. 

[BirdTravels]

19 hours ago, gvgseg said:

My wife and I are not big drinkers either so we always decline the open bar. Based on the ridiculous amount of gratuities that they are charging for it ($277 per person for my upcoming 7 night Alaska cruise on Encore), it works out to the equivalent of paying for about 13 drinks per day per person (assuming each drink is $15 and 20% gratuity.) 2 or 3 drinks in a day for me is one thing, but 13 PER DAY is crazy and not worth it in my opinion. Don't let the Free at Sea fool you.

 

Now Specialty Dining package... that is definitely worth it in my opinion. The food is noticeably better at the specialty restaurants than in Manhattan Room/Taste/Savor. I was on the Joy in January 2020 right before everything shutdown. We ate at Ocean Blue, Le Bistro, and La Cucina. The Hong Kong Style Snapper from Ocean Blue is in my top 2 of best things I've ever eaten on a cruise ship.

The grats equal 2-3 drinks a day. One foo foo drink by the pool and glass of wine at dinner covers the cost of the package with unlimited additional adult and sodas.