I added up all my drinks from my 5-night cruise

[FoggyEthan]

I think I may be confused about the real prices for the packages. Looking on the NCL website, for a 5 night cruise, a 5 meal package is $40 per meal per person, and the beverage packages are $109 and $138/pp/pd. Plus 20% to the above. This is much higher than what others are saying!

 

I've never sailed NCL before, so have no status. And I'm sailing on a charter "Sixthman" cruise on the Gem. I won't get a booking code from Sixthman until 6 weeks before the cruise, and so can't reach out to NCL to price anything until then. Then it becomes a mad race to book everything before everyone else does.

 

Is the consensus that the food quality is much higher in the specialty restaurants? One worry I have with the specialty restaurants and the meal package is that we end up meeting people on board who don't want to eat at the specialty restaurants, and then to eat with them we have to throw away pre-paid meals. Or we can't get a new reservation for additional people.

 

Thanks!!

[eileeshb]

@FoggyEthan
On a regular NCL booking they offer a package called Free At Sea, the inclusions in FAS vary depending on promos/length of cruise/category of cabin/location from which you are making the booking.

As I am in Ireland and generally book a studio cabin on a 7 day cruise the standard FAS package I get costs €149 which includes: Premium Beverage package (and gratuities), 1 special dining credit (with gratuity), 150mins of free internet and $50 excursion credit applicable to each NCL excursion at each port.

AFAIK USA customers don’t have a FAS package fee but do have to pay the gratuities associated with the beverage plan and specialty dining.

 

there is no limit on how many people can purchase the FAS package and there’s also now a FAS+ which you pay for to upgrade the beverage plan, get extra dining credits, more internet access and the $50 excursion credit is expanded to the 2nd person if you’re in a 2+ occupancy cabin.  
 

I have no idea if Sixthman cruises offer the FAS package but if they do it  should be more economical to buy that rather than the individual components unless you just don’t drink alcohol.

Edited February 4, 2023 by eileeshb
Adding tag

[FoggyEthan]

36 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

@FoggyEthan

I have no idea if Sixthman cruises offer the FAS package but if they do it  should be more economical to buy that rather than the individual components unless you just don’t drink alcohol.

 

 

Thanks, that explains it. We don't get FAS. Some cruisers with NCL status get discounts.

[debenson0723]

35 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

 

 

Thanks, that explains it. We don't get FAS. Some cruisers with NCL status get discounts.

You apparently won't get FAS because that is the way your charter is set up.  In the US, FAS is offered to anyone booking thru the NCL website or a travel agent...it has nothing to do with status. If you are a Platinum Latitudes member (or higher) you will get 2 additional dinners in a specialty restaurant, a bag of laundry and a few other perks but the only discounts are 10%-15% on shore excursions...nothing with the drink package.

[FoggyEthan]

27 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

You apparently won't get FAS because that is the way your charter is set up.  In the US, FAS is offered to anyone booking thru the NCL website or a travel agent...it has nothing to do with status. If you are a Platinum Latitudes member (or higher) you will get 2 additional dinners in a specialty restaurant, a bag of laundry and a few other perks but the only discounts are 10%-15% on shore excursions...nothing with the drink package.

 

Understood. We were told that people with NCL status would be offered some sort of discount on packages to make up for the lack of FAS, but not those of us without status.

[debenson0723]

5 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

 

Understood. We were told that people with NCL status would be offered some sort of discount on packages to make up for the lack of FAS, but not those of us without status.

So again, that is something that was set up with your charter company and NCL...not the norm.  Personally I would never pay outright for the drink package...I drink enough to cover the gratuities but not enough to cover the daily cost of the whole package.  A recent RCL cruise I took had the drink package at $89.99 a day plus 18% gratuities and it was a no brainer for me to skip that...made me appreciate the FAS even more.

Enjoy your cruise.

[FoggyEthan]

3 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

So again, that is something that was set up with your charter company and NCL...not the norm.  Personally I would never pay outright for the drink package...I drink enough to cover the gratuities but not enough to cover the daily cost of the whole package.  A recent RCL cruise I took had the drink package at $89.99 a day plus 18% gratuities and it was a no brainer for me to skip that...made me appreciate the FAS even more.

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Thanks! I agree it's tough to rationalize $138 + 20%. Then I saw that it included Veuve Clicquot and I wondered if maybe we could make it work after all. 😎