NCL Free Open Bar Promotion

[Katarae]

At a regular bar on Sunday, drinking beers and ciders, my best friend and I had a bill of $85.. My DH doesnt drink at all, so when we book for NCL, I always get the Free drink package. The Gratuities for both of us is easy for me to make worth it. He does enjoy his sodas and juices with breakfast.. So he gets into it a bit, but I mainly make paying for both gratuities worth it hah

 

[MeHeartCruising]

2 hours ago, lexxfield said:

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. 

 

Make sure you fully know what you are signing up for if you do this.  I believe there are different rules in Europe around your consumer rights (often better), but the cruise lines protect themselves by making refund/change policies more strict than we have in the USA.   There are definitely different rules that apply from USA purchases.

Edited April 27, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[geleisen]

4 hours ago, lexxfield said:

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. 

Has never been a problem for me. I would refer you to my travel agent, but that is not allowed on here. I have made bookings in GBP, EUR and USD with my latitudes account, as I just go by whichever is best deal.
 

2 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

Make sure you fully know what you are signing up for if you do this.  I believe there are different rules in Europe around your consumer rights (often better), but the cruise lines protect themselves by making refund/change policies more strict than we have in the USA.   There are definitely different rules that apply from USA purchases.

Indeed. For instance, the deposit tends to be smaller but not completely refundable. You can make changes, but they may or may not charge 50 EUR fee. But final payment is also later, so can really take advantage of making changes after the price drops about 60-90 days in advance. Also some consumer protections, as EU has specific protections around package holidays. The Ts&Cs are also a bit more consumer friendly. 

NCL_Master_GTC_CE_ENG_11012021 NCL Ts&Cs.pdf

[cruisegal415]

I literally just posted this on another forum (Not NCL):

 

Let me preface this by saying, we just returned from a 7-day music themed cruise where we were at sea 5 of the 7 days and while we are not big drinkers, we opted for the premium beverage package because we were basically on the ship the whole time, going from venue to venue enjoying the music, drinking frozen drinks, having drinks during the shows, and bottles of water were included, as were fancy coffee drinks which I like.

 

We are doing a British Isles cruise next year, very port intensive.  We will be getting off the ship first thing in the am and returning right before sail away. We only have one sea day, and it is not in the warm Caribbean where we would be lying around the pool drinking fruity drinks. That said, our deal with NCL includes a "free" beverage package that adds about $400 in service charges, but when I looked at the beverage packages, the "free" one doesn't include bottled water, which we drink lots of, and doesn't include the coffee drinks.  They offer an "upgrade" to the premium plus package, but that would be another $348 per person, including the service charges.  So basically we'd be paying about $1100 for a beverage package, which is the regular price for the which seems quite excessive. 

 

Considering all of the above, would it be more cost effective for this cruise to pay-as-you-go for beverages? We would mostly be buying bottles of water every day, maybe fancy coffee once a day for one of us, and wine with dinner most days.  They do sell packages of water (12 liters for $36-outrageous when you can get it cheaper on land, but we are flying to London and don't know if we could pick up a case there). Of course, we can just buy a bottle of water at the port/on land, or even bring along our water thermoses and fill them up before we leave the ship.

 

I think I just talked myself out of the beverage package, but then I looked at the comments and am reconsidering.  If we just stick with the "free" beverage package, then, help me with my math.  The service charge is $398, call it $400 that we are paying for our "free" package.  For a ten day cruise, that's $40/day, or $20 per person.  That's basically one glass of wine per person with dinner, at a minimum.  So if we want two glasses of wine, or a drink with a show afterward, we come out ahead.  We would still have to pay as we go for a fancy coffee drink or a bottle of water, but i think we still come out ahead doing that rather than opting to pay an extra almost $700 for the Premium Plus package, right?

[rangeley]

It's 277 for 2 people. 138 a piece. The problem I have is there is no choice but to get the "free" offers. You can opt out of paying the gratuities but you are still paying for the drinks in your cruise fare. We booked on another cruise line and opted out of all the free stuff. Saved ourselves 1200. NCL does not give this option.

[Redsky5292]

We just bring empty water bottles onto the boat and get them filled at the bars, we ask the bartenders for glasses of water with no ice and fill the bottles.