Bailey's Not Included?

[graphicguy]

*sigh*
 

Someone disagrees with your view and all of a sudden you start with name calling and getting all hurt because we don’t see it the same way!

1 hour ago, Oxo said:

The same ole response! If you don't like it, don't say anything to provide your comments/suggestions. Just cruise another cruise line. SMH

Accept whatever they do and say. You are only paying for it. LOL

I concur.  I’ve been saying the same thing.  I pay the rate on the cruise I like.  I have no need or want to justify my choice.  If someone chooses not to sail NCL because of their drink choices, that’s their business.  It has nothing to do with those of us who choose to sail with NCL.

 

I like Celebrity, too.  As such, I understand their fate structure is generally higher to cover their different drink policies.  I still like them given I know that that.

 

BTW….Ritz prices are high in Chicago, too.  NYC and Chicago are the places I have experiences with them.

[The Traveling Man]

19 hours ago, kelib said:

Since we are talking about drinks, has anyone seen Limenchello on the ships? Did not see it listed and  I enjoy it with some deserts. 

We have had Limoncello when dining in La Cucina or Onda.  It was listed with the dessert menu.  It may not be available at other bars, restaurants, or lounges.

[The Traveling Man]

18 hours ago, CptAleSpill said:

That may well be, but it doesn't mean that NCL's agreements with their suppliers need to reflect that.  Flavored Vodka is crap, but marketed like it is something special.  That's a different marketing scenario than going toe-to-toe with other suppliers of good Vodka for the vast majority of ship revenue.  If NCL includes their product in the drink package, they will sell tons.  If they price it even $1 higher, they likely won't.  It's all business, and it doesn't have to make sense to the average consumer.

 

NCL: "hey Bailey's supplier, I'll include your product in our standard package if you sell it to me 10% cheaper"

Booze distributor: "nah, pound sand"

NCL: "we'll do that and talk to you again when you aren't happy with how much less we're buying from you"

 

Wash, rinse, repeat.

It's a case of supply, demand, and which items the seller thinks they can sell at a premium because of perceived value.  It's like the price of lobster in Le Bistro.  At one time the a la carte price for lobster was $38 while the price of halibut was $35.  If you used your dining package credit to pay for your dinner, however, the halibut was covered by the package credit but the lobster incurred a $25 surcharge.  Makes no sense, right?  But some number-crunching green eye shade type buried in NCL's cost accounting department figured out that they could get by with it, that people actually would use their credit plus pay an extra $25 because, by golly, they wanted lobster!

[CptAleSpill]

23 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

It's a case of supply, demand, and which items the seller thinks they can sell at a premium because of perceived value. 

Exactly.  That said, there is more than one tier to the supply/demand realm.  There is supply/demand at the wholesale booze level, and there is supply/demand at the POS to the consumer.  If I'm the wholesaler trying to sell more Bailey's to NCL, I may agree to a cheaper wholesale price if NCL agrees to include it in the PBP at no extra charge.

[The Traveling Man]

10 minutes ago, CptAleSpill said:

Exactly.  That said, there is more than one tier to the supply/demand realm.  There is supply/demand at the wholesale booze level, and there is supply/demand at the POS to the consumer.  If I'm the wholesaler trying to sell more Bailey's to NCL, I may agree to a cheaper wholesale price if NCL agrees to include it in the PBP at no extra charge.

Agreed.  As I said, bunches and bunches of green eye shade types buried down in the cost accounting basement, all crunching numbers ad nauseum.

[living at the beach]

Really, unless you are having multiple shots of Baileys, what’s the fuss about? And comparing to Celebrity, isn’t their basic booking price much higher? Yea,it’ll dislike the nickel and dimming on  Norwegian, but overall I like the vibe on NCL as opposed to  Celebrity and the total cost even adding in the extra nickel and diminish charges on NCL is less than Celebrity. Am I wrong? I’m not conceited so I’d be glad to learn otherwise 

[DaCruiseBug]

10 minutes ago, living at the beach said:

Really, unless you are having multiple shots of Baileys, what’s the fuss about? And comparing to Celebrity, isn’t their basic booking price much higher? Yea,it’ll dislike the nickel and dimming on  Norwegian, but overall I like the vibe on NCL as opposed to  Celebrity and the total cost even adding in the extra nickel and diminish charges on NCL is less than Celebrity. Am I wrong? I’m not conceited so I’d be glad to learn otherwise 

 

What's the fuss? The fuss is that they just announced another price increase for the beverage package and a basic drink like Baileys is no longer included. I don't care that it's only $1.20 each time I drink it...it's the principle.

 

Also, no...not necessarily about Celebrity having a higher price point. You'll actually find them quote comparable and you have the option of buying just the cruise or also the perks with it. Right now you can book a 5 night sailing on Celebrity for about $975 per person ($1,950 for the entire cabin) in a balcony cabin with a drink package, unlimited wifi, and daily gratuities included. Can you find anything cheaper on NCL that includes as much? I don't think so...

Edited October 8, 2022 by DaCruiseBug

[living at the beach]

34 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

What's the fuss? The fuss is that they just announced another price increase for the beverage package and a basic drink like Baileys is no longer included. I don't care that it's only $1.20 each time I drink it...it's the principle.

 

Also, no...not necessarily about Celebrity having a higher price point. You'll actually find them quote comparable and you have the option of buying just the cruise or also the perks with it. Right now you can book a 5 night sailing on Celebrity for about $975 per person ($1,950 for the entire cabin) in a balcony cabin with a drink package, unlimited wifi, and daily gratuities included. Can you find anything cheaper on NCL that includes as much? I don't think so...

 

[living at the beach]

Thanks for your input.

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, living at the beach said:

And comparing to Celebrity, isn’t their basic booking price much higher?

 

Not in my experience post-restart.

[graphicguy]

Mentioned this elsewhere…7 day Breakaway cruise(solo) all in with drinks (and other perks) in a Club Balcony Cabin for less than $600 out of NY.

 

Jamie…don’t know what deal you scored on the same cruise, but I agree tat Celebrity was offering very good deals right after start up.  They’re significantly higher when I’ve checked recently.  I do like Celebrity, though!

[living at the beach]

Wow, guess I was sending a message to either Christian, Muslim, or either religious people who  could check out simple questions that wanted some factual responses, but also living in the spirit of religious doctrines, saying  “ -don’t cast the first stone”, love each other as yourself, and treat each other as you would wish others to treat yourself. I just asked for an informed answer to my question, so sad to get emotionally negative responses with no real factual basis

[DaCruiseBug]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Mentioned this elsewhere…7 day Breakaway cruise(solo) all in with drinks (and other perks) in a Club Balcony Cabin for less than $600 out of NY.

 

How is that even possible? You have at least $150 in port fees. Another $140 in beverage package service fees. Plus another $30-40 in specialty dining service fees. So the cruise fare had to have been at the most $270-280 for a mini-suite which I am unwilling to believe unless shown some evidence.

 

Currently the cheapest 7 day NCL cruise for a solo traveler in a Club Balcony cabin is a New England cruise at the end of this month which shows a price of $589 plus port fees...and that's for a sailaway rate (no perks).

Edited October 9, 2022 by DaCruiseBug

[JamieLogical]

11 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Mentioned this elsewhere…7 day Breakaway cruise(solo) all in with drinks (and other perks) in a Club Balcony Cabin for less than $600 out of NY.

 

Jamie…don’t know what deal you scored on the same cruise, but I agree tat Celebrity was offering very good deals right after start up.  They’re significantly higher when I’ve checked recently.  I do like Celebrity, though!

 

You left out your FCC. I think the actual "sticker price" for your sailing was around $900? But in any case, that is one specific cruise. One that I am also going on because of the cheap solo fare. Generally, when shopping for cruises with my husband and some of the solo cruises I took post-restart, the all-in price with promos, gratuities, OBC, etc., I have found Celebrity to be cheaper than NCL for most of the times we have been looking to cruise. Our recent Alaska sailing was WAY cheaper on Celebrity than it would have been on NCL.

[graphicguy]

39 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You left out your FCC. I think the actual "sticker price" for your sailing was around $900? But in any case, that is one specific cruise. One that I am also going on because of the cheap solo fare. Generally, when shopping for cruises with my husband and some of the solo cruises I took post-restart, the all-in price with promos, gratuities, OBC, etc., I have found Celebrity to be cheaper than NCL for most of the times we have been looking to cruise. Our recent Alaska sailing was WAY cheaper on Celebrity than it would have been on NCL.

That’s the key…any sailing you might want, at any given time, on any given itinerary, on any given ship will probably have different fares when compared to another cruise line.

 

I think the fare for the cruise (10/30-Breakaway out of NY-7 days-Club Balcony) we are speaking about was $590 fare + $138 in drink tips + $18 in Specialty Dining tips + $226 in port fees and taxes.  So, all in for $992 in a nice Club Balcony Suite.  TA picked up my tips, so subtract $156 and I’m at $836 before any FCC.  Used my AMEX Platinum to pay and they gave me $200 OBC + a dinner at LeBistro with a bottle of wine.  My Latitudes status got me another 2 Specialty dinners plus another $75 OBC.  Got another $100 OBC for owning NCL stock. My “all in” fare got me another 2 Specialty Dinners.  That’s 5 Specialty Dinners.

 

-$375 total OBC subtracted from $836….that brings the out of pocket for this cruise to $461.  Not even using the TA’s “free tips” promo (not sure why I’d not take advantage of that) the out of pocket would be $617.

 

FCC is $420 for a price drop on my last cruise.  I wasn’t counting that.  But, if I did, that would bring the total to $197.

 

Just got a credit yesterday of $45 on my AMEX from NCL.  Not sure what that’s for, but I’m checking into it.  Not counting that (yet).

 

Some minor “perks”.  I get a free bag of laundry for sailing in a Club Balcony Cabin.  My Latitudes status gets me another free bag of laundry.  I don’t know if they still don’t do the “Behind the Scenes” tours for Latitudes, but if not, it’s my understanding they give $50 of OBC to make up for that.

 

There are some other “perks” they offer that don’t readily come to mind.

 

I don’t understand why it has to be “either/or”?  Why can’t someone like to cruise more than one line?  I know I sail Royal, NCL, MSC, Celebrity, etc.  To me, I look at my “out of pocket” total, not the cost of the drink package or Specialty Dinners, etc.  None of that matters to me as ultimately, it’s what I end up spending for the entire cruise.

 

Granted, this is probably the best deal I’ve ever scored.  But, it’s also on NCL, and not any other line.

 

So, I can’t make a blanket statement that my out of pocket is always higher on any cruise line vs another.  I shop.  For a while, Celebrity had better fares (so did Royal).  But, once you start adding everything up (not just drinks), NCL has been right there with them recently.

 

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by graphicguy

[DaCruiseBug]

3 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

That’s the key…any sailing you might want, at any given time, on any given itinerary, on any given ship will probably have different fares when compared to another cruise line.

 

I think the fare for the cruise (10/30-Breakaway out of NY-7 days-Club Balcony) we are speaking about was $590 fare + $138 in drink tips + $18 in Specialty Dining tips + $226 in port fees and taxes.  So, all in for $992 in a nice Club Balcony Suite.  TA picked up my tips, so subtract $156 and I’m at $836 before any FCC.  Used my AMEX Platinum to pay and they gave me $200 OBC + a dinner at LeBistro with a bottle of wine.  My Latitudes status got me another 2 Specialty dinners plus another $75 OBC.  Got another $100 OBC for owning NCL stock. My “all in” fare got me another 2 Specialty Dinners.  That’s 5 Specialty Dinners.

 

-$375 total OBC subtracted from $836….that brings the out of pocket for this cruise to $461.  Not even using the TA’s “free tips” promo (not sure why I’d not take advantage of that) the out of pocket would be $617.

 

FCC is $420 for a price drop on my last cruise.  I wasn’t counting that.  But, if I did, that would bring the total to $197.

 

Just got a credit yesterday of $45 on my AMEX from NCL.  Not sure what that’s for, but I’m checking into it.  Not counting that (yet).

 

Some minor “perks”.  I get a free bag of laundry for sailing in a Club Balcony Cabin.  My Latitudes status gets me another free bag of laundry.  I don’t know if they still don’t do the “Behind the Scenes” tours for Latitudes, but if not, it’s my understanding they give $50 of OBC to make up for that.

 

There are some other “perks” they offer that don’t readily come to mind.

 

I don’t understand why it has to be “either/or”?  Why can’t someone like to cruise more than one line?  I know I sail Royal, NCL, MSC, Celebrity, etc.  To me, I look at my “out of pocket” total, not the cost of the drink package or Specialty Dinners, etc.  None of that matters to me as ultimately, it’s what I end up spending for the entire cruise.

 

Granted, this is probably the best deal I’ve ever scored.  But, it’s also on NCL, and not any other line.

 

 

So basically your "all-in" fare wasn't "under $600" as you stated but close to $1,000. The perks from your TA, future cruise credits, and perks for status don't decrease the actual cost of the cruise as you suggested. Our Celebrity cruise in March was $2,400 in a balcony cabin with all their perks plus we got $450 OBC from our TA and it includes paid daily gratuities. We don't say that our cruise fare is ($2,400 - 450 - 200) $1,750 because we have those perks. That would be very misleading.

[graphicguy]

2 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

So basically your "all-in" fare wasn't "under $600" as you stated but close to $1,000. The perks from your TA, future cruise credits, and perks for status don't decrease the actual cost of the cruise as you suggested. Our Celebrity cruise in March was $2,400 in a balcony cabin with all their perks plus we got $450 OBC from our TA and it includes paid daily gratuities. We don't say that our cruise fare is ($2,400 - 450 - 200) $1,750 because we have those perks. That would be very misleading.

Not arguing with you anymore.  You wanted to see what the cost was of the NCL cruise I was speaking of.  I showed you.  

 

You clearly have a beef with NCL (as have I in the past, so I get it).  I don’t let that cloud a good deal, regardless of cruise line. However many greenbacks I pull out of my wallet for any particular cruise is what it costs….period.  I have to pay for tips, unless my TA offers that as a perk.  I have to pay for the NCL “dinner theater”, unless I have OBC that covers it.  The drinks on their drink package works great for me.  But, if I want something that costs $1 more, I won’t pull that $1 out of my pocket, as I have OBC that will cover it.

 

Heck, I sailed in the Retreat on the Celebrity Edge in July of 2021 and I had over $2K in OBC because of a price drop.  The fare was a bit over $4K at the time.  I was able to convert some of that OBC to cash (and the rest in one of the jewelry shops).

 

A deal is a deal.  They’re out there, on all cruise lines.  You just have to look for them.

 

Again, to me it’s the total out of pocket that matters, not paying an extra $1 for a drink I may want.

[JamieLogical]

10 hours ago, graphicguy said:

That’s the key…any sailing you might want, at any given time, on any given itinerary, on any given ship will probably have different fares when compared to another cruise line.

 

I think the fare for the cruise (10/30-Breakaway out of NY-7 days-Club Balcony) we are speaking about was $590 fare + $138 in drink tips + $18 in Specialty Dining tips + $226 in port fees and taxes.  So, all in for $992 in a nice Club Balcony Suite.  TA picked up my tips, so subtract $156 and I’m at $836 before any FCC.  Used my AMEX Platinum to pay and they gave me $200 OBC + a dinner at LeBistro with a bottle of wine.  My Latitudes status got me another 2 Specialty dinners plus another $75 OBC.  Got another $100 OBC for owning NCL stock. My “all in” fare got me another 2 Specialty Dinners.  That’s 5 Specialty Dinners.

 

-$375 total OBC subtracted from $836….that brings the out of pocket for this cruise to $461.  Not even using the TA’s “free tips” promo (not sure why I’d not take advantage of that) the out of pocket would be $617.

 

FCC is $420 for a price drop on my last cruise.  I wasn’t counting that.  But, if I did, that would bring the total to $197.

 

Just got a credit yesterday of $45 on my AMEX from NCL.  Not sure what that’s for, but I’m checking into it.  Not counting that (yet).

 

Some minor “perks”.  I get a free bag of laundry for sailing in a Club Balcony Cabin.  My Latitudes status gets me another free bag of laundry.  I don’t know if they still don’t do the “Behind the Scenes” tours for Latitudes, but if not, it’s my understanding they give $50 of OBC to make up for that.

 

There are some other “perks” they offer that don’t readily come to mind.

 

I don’t understand why it has to be “either/or”?  Why can’t someone like to cruise more than one line?  I know I sail Royal, NCL, MSC, Celebrity, etc.  To me, I look at my “out of pocket” total, not the cost of the drink package or Specialty Dinners, etc.  None of that matters to me as ultimately, it’s what I end up spending for the entire cruise.

 

Granted, this is probably the best deal I’ve ever scored.  But, it’s also on NCL, and not any other line.

 

So, I can’t make a blanket statement that my out of pocket is always higher on any cruise line vs another.  I shop.  For a while, Celebrity had better fares (so did Royal).  But, once you start adding everything up (not just drinks), NCL has been right there with them recently.

 

 

 

You quoted me so I don't know if you were addressing me when you said " I don't understand why it has to be an either/or?" I wasn't implying that it had to be. Someone asked if Celebrity's base fares are more expensive than NCL. I said that hadn't been my experience post-restart. Then you mentioned this one very excellent deal on the one NCL cruise, which I am also going on, because I also agree it is an excellent deal.... Where am I saying anything in that chain of conversation that there is an "either/or" required?

 

Edit: To clarify... every single time I have cruised post-restart with the exception of the B2B when my husband and I used up all of our COVID cancellation FCC and this upcoming NCL cruise with my brother, we/I have compared NCL and Celebrity sailings for the dates we were interested in and Celebrity has come out of top of NCL. For our upcoming Christmas/New Year's Panama Canal sailing, Princess came out on top of both Celebrity and NCL.

Edited October 10, 2022 by JamieLogical

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You quoted me so I don't know if you were addressing me when you said " I don't understand why it has to be an either/or?" I wasn't implying that it had to be. Someone asked if Celebrity's base fares are more expensive than NCL. I said that hadn't been my experience post-restart. Then you mentioned this one very excellent deal on the one NCL cruise, which I am also going on, because I also agree it is an excellent deal.... Where am I saying anything in that chain of conversation that there is an "either/or" required?

 

Edit: To clarify... every single time I have cruised post-restart with the exception of the B2B when my husband and I used up all of our COVID cancellation FCC and this upcoming NCL cruise with my brother, we/I have compared NCL and Celebrity sailings for the dates we were interested in and Celebrity has come out of top of NCL. For our upcoming Christmas/New Year's Panama Canal sailing, Princess came out on top of both Celebrity and NCL.

No…..not directed to you.  

 

We shop many cruises.  As such, we find the deals.  Sometimes it’s NCL, sometimes it’s Celebrity, sometimes it’s Princess, etc!

[JamieLogical]

On 10/8/2022 at 7:07 PM, living at the beach said:

And comparing to Celebrity, isn’t their basic booking price much higher?

 

I finally had a little time to do a mock booking with both lines. I decided to try for a Bermuda sailing in June, as my husband and I like to try to get to Bermuda at least once a year. 

 

I picked the cheapest June sailing to Bermuda our of NYC/NJ on each line (they were not the exact same week). Both are 7-day sailings. I chose an angled balcony on both ships, as that is what we always try to book, no matter which line we are sailing. Total check-out price on Celebrity was $3747.54. Total check-out price on NCL plus the $16/day/person DSC was $3849.38. So pricing is pretty comparable.

 

This has been my experience since the restart. My husband and I try to cruise together 3-4 times a year. We usually pick a month/time-range we are looking to cruise. Plug that into our favorite cruise search site, compare the basic prices and itineraries to get a rough idea of which cruises we are interested in, and then do a full mock booking to get an actual price for the specific cabin we would actually book. Every spreadsheet I have done to calculate the total price of a cruise (including flights/hotels/parking) has put Celebrity and NCL just about even, with the exception of our Alaska cruise we did the first week of September. That would have been MUCH more expensive on NCL, but also would have been on one of their newer ships and would have included Glacier Bay. We decided to just save the money and sail on one of Celebrity's older ships to Dawes Glacier.

[UKstages]

On 10/9/2022 at 9:38 AM, DaCruiseBug said:

 

So basically your "all-in" fare wasn't "under $600" as you stated but close to $1,000. The perks from your TA, future cruise credits, and perks for status don't decrease the actual cost of the cruise as you suggested. Our Celebrity cruise in March was $2,400 in a balcony cabin with all their perks plus we got $450 OBC from our TA and it includes paid daily gratuities. We don't say that our cruise fare is ($2,400 - 450 - 200) $1,750 because we have those perks. That would be very misleading.

 

no, his all-in fare was as stated, because of the choices he's made. yours would be very different because of the choices you've made. of course,  it kind of depends on what the meaning of the words "all in" are. do you mean to actually say "lowest advertised price?"

 

look, as with any vacation, every individual makes choices and every individual plays the cards that are dealt and takes advantage of whatever offers they have... a savvy shopper stacks as many offers as he or she can. it's no different than a supermarket shopper redeeming a $1 off coupon on an item on sale for $1.89 and going on a "double coupon" day and walking out of the store with the item for free. (the "all-in" cost was zero. the advertised price was $1.89. and the suggested manufacturer's retail price was probably closer to $3.00.)

 

some people who cruise are loyal. some have achieved elite status in their preferred program or their preferred casino players' club program. they will exploit that to get a good deal, perhaps one not available to others. elite status usually brings with it some benefits, whether it be a bag of laundry, extra specialty dinners or onboard credit. some travel agents offer special amenities, whether they be OBC, tip rebates or specialty dinners. some credit cards do the same. and some people who cruise own stock in their preferred cruise line and get even more onboard credit.

 

your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to maximize as many offers as you can so as to provide the best value for you personally. don't look at the fellow behind you... it's largely irrelevant. pay attention to what's happening in front of you and make the best decision for you.

 

it's not smoke and mirrors, nobody is playing fast and loose with the facts in an attempt to portray this cruise line or that as superior... it's just people saying, hey, this is what works for me and this is how i maximize my cruise spend... you can do the same if you so choose, although maybe not immediately. you, too, would have to get elite status and you, too, would have to find a TA that pays your tips, and you too, would have to buy stock... if these ideas resonate, then follow their lead. if they don't, keep doing what works best for you.

 

On 10/9/2022 at 9:55 AM, graphicguy said:

A deal is a deal.  They’re out there, on all cruise lines.  You just have to look for them.

 

thanks for saying in fewer than 20 words what i tried to say (more or less) in five paragraphs.

[Oxo]

FYI

 

https://www.cruzely.com/14-questions-answers-about-norwegians-drink-package-is-it-worth-it/

[graphicguy]

11 minutes ago, Oxo said:

FYI

 

https://www.cruzely.com/14-questions-answers-about-norwegians-drink-package-is-it-worth-it/

This is excellent.  I think the vast majority of guests take the “Free at Sea” packages.  That means you only pay for the tips on the drink package, which translates to $20/day.

 

I’ve done the math for myself using NCL’s published drink prices…

 

Morning-Bellinis or Bloody Mary=$12

Afternoon-a couple of beers….being conservative, let’s say I order a $6/ea beer=$12

Pre-dinner drink-usually bourbon=$12

Post dinner apertif=$12

Nightcap-bourbon=$12

 

That’s $60/day if I ordered them a la carte.  My tips are $20/day.  So, I do well with just paying the tips with the “Free at Sea”.

 

Plus, I’ve been known to try a “shot” of something that one of my fellow cruisers suggests and even have the occasional “Drink of the DAy”, which makes it an even better deal.

[DaCruiseBug]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

no, his all-in fare was as stated, because of the choices he's made. yours would be very different because of the choices you've made. of course,  it kind of depends on what the meaning of the words "all in" are. do you mean to actually say "lowest advertised price?"

 

He included future cruise credit in his calculation. That's like be going out and buying 2 cruise next certificates of $250 each and saying my cruise cost me $500 less than what it actually cost. No it didn't...you got a credit because you already paid that money. Same goes with any OBC you get from your TA. They may use the OBC to cover your daily gratuities but with Celebrity they're already paid for so you can just spend the money on excursions. You're clouding the cost/value of the cruise with all these other addons. 

[DaCruiseBug]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

I think the vast majority of guests take the “Free at Sea” packages.  That means you only pay for the tips on the drink package, which translates to $20/day.

 

Yes, because on most cruises the fare difference between the sailaway rate and a rate with perks is $100 per person or less. NCL inflates their cruise fares to already include the cost of the drink package. That's why you'll generally find that other cruise lines without any perks have much lower cruise fares. So while it's true that you're paying only the $20 per day in service fees it is also true that you paid a higher cruise fare to go on NCL compared to some of the other lines.