More At Sea is a downgrade if you had FAS+

[MB_]

So I wonder if the Free at Sea Plus changes were just poorly communicated, or if they received so much initial backlash that they scrambled and came up with this solution? It’s also kind of mind blowing how poorly this was all rolled out in general.

[rnfulk]

Not only is this a downgrade, but I just did the math and I would be losing money by keeping Free at Sea Plus for my cruise. 
7 nights x 2 people = $686

 

3 ports (1 was removed today) = $150 max value ShoreEx credit for us since we won’t do multiple excursions per port. 
 

Wifi = $209 + $35 ($5 per night extra device) 

 

Cover charge restaurants = $240 maximum for 2 people eating 2 nights at the most expensive 

 

Total without FAS+ = $634.93

 

I guess we’ll have to see how much this refund is…

Edited Thursday at 09:52 PM by rnfulk
Forgot about refund

[CurtandLeslie]

1 hour ago, rnfulk said:

I just received the official communication for my 3/9/25 cruise. No new information - 2 dining credits, unlimited WiFi, and shorex credit will be honored. We will get a refund for a portion of the beverage package (amount undisclosed), but it’s ok because the new more at sea package has many of the same offerings as the former Premium Plus beverage package. 🙄

Free at Sea Plus Package Discontinuation Email.pdf 14.42 MB · 13 downloads

 

I got my email, too. I had FAS+ on two cruises. One I paid in full last week because it sails in January. That refund will be applied to the original credit card. The other refund will be credited to my outstanding balance for the cruise next August.

 

The letter says both refunds will be processed within 30 days, but nothing about the amount. I can see keeping the letter generic because I should get a lower refund on my 7 day cruise than someone would on a 10 day cruise. But you'd think it would be easy enough to say something like $x of the $49 per day you paid was the beverage portion. Maybe they haven't decided yet.

 

In my mind, I always calculated FAS+ as $35 for the upgraded beverages plus $14 additional for all the other perks, since we had bought the Premium Plus beverage package before FAS+ was introduced.

 

My Free at Sea Plus is showing up under Purchased Items again on my vacation summary also.

[Happycrafter123]

The loss of Starbucks and water and bottles of wine sucks.  We always buy extra dinning packages too and do the ncl excursions.  I recently priced out a Norway trip between silver sea, azamira and ncl and had booked ncl but it’s still in the changeable window and if I update my spreadsheet for these changes pretty sure we’ll be transitioning away from ncl over to one of the others where price is all in and there is no penny pinching

[andychris]

Wonder how much the beverage portion is?

[WonderMan3]

I just looked at my 2026 reservation and Free at Sea Plus is still showing with the upgraded beverage package. I guess they haven't gotten to updating my booking yet. It looks like based on the charges in my invoice that the upgrade to premium beverage package was valued at $29per day plus gratuity. For my 14 night cruise that works out to $487pp that will be adjusted off my booking. The only negatives I see here are the loss of Starbucks and bottled water. But honestly, to get the Starbucks package and make it worthwhile we would have to drink at least two SB drinks per day (it's $277pp for our cruise), so we'll just buy them as needed and will save money. They have bottled water packages so we'll probably buy a case of 48 for $60. Maybe a bit more as there are 4 in our cabin. So in the end this looks like a savings for us.

[dock]

For us the FAS+ made sense on our 11 day cruise. $539 pp 

 

When you consider internet is $330 pp for the 11 days. 
I guess they crunched the numbers too and realised it didn’t make sense for them. 
 

Wont be purchasing the SBucks package and will also pay as we go and will have to buy bottled water. 

Will see how it all plays out but for now,

keeping my options open and already looking at X Apex to Norway/ Arctic Circle for 12 nights. 
 

 

Edited Thursday at 11:28 PM by dock

[ProfitsAndPoints]

According to a colleague who previously had received an alcohol exclusion on the FAS+, the difference in price for a 7 day cruise was  about $140 ($20/night). No guarantee that’s the case here, but it’s a good data point to predict.

 

For a 7-day cruise in 2025+ where a person booked FAS+ and that person plans on utilizing all the additional drink benefits beyond what MAS offers, they will have to pay an additional:

• $138.60 - Starbucks Package
• $41.94 - 3.5 water bottles per day (24 waters)
• $140 if you were to do a bottle of wine each night (conservatively $20/bottle)
• $??? for liquors that will appear on the new Concierge list that would previously have been covered under the Premium Plus package

 

A huge net loss. Wish they could’ve tossed some waters and a starbucks package at those that previously purchased at the very least.

[MB_]

Yeah I can’t wait to see the credits and also the new beverage menus. At this point all I am sure about is I’m not spending $280 on a 14 day Starbucks package. 

[WonderMan3]

8 minutes ago, ProfitsAndPoints said:

According to a colleague who previously had received an alcohol exclusion on the FAS+, the difference in price for a 7 day cruise was  about $140 ($20/night). No guarantee that’s the case here, but it’s a good data point to predict.

 

For a 7-day cruise in 2025+ where a person booked FAS+ and that person plans on utilizing all the additional drink benefits beyond what MAS offers, they will have to pay an additional:

• $138.60 - Starbucks Package
• $41.94 - 3.5 water bottles per day (24 waters)
• $140 if you were to do a bottle of wine each night (conservatively $20/bottle)
• $??? for liquors that will appear on the new Concierge list that would previously have been covered under the Premium Plus package

 

A huge net loss. Wish they could’ve tossed some waters and a starbucks package at those that previously purchased at the very least.

I have 3rd and 4th passengers in our cabin. They were only charged for the beverage package upgrade portion as they don't get the other FAS+ perks. So I can see what they were charged right on my invoice. It was $487.20pp for 14 nights or $34.80 per day. For a 7 night cruise it should be $243.60pp.

[Doc Dunga]

We are on a 14 nighter this coming January. Past the final payment/no penalty cancelation deadline. I called my TA and let her know this cancelation of FAS+ on the paid up trip is crappy when we’re stuck unable to cancel if we didn’t like it. At least not without paying thousands in penalties.
 

This is the response my TA got yesterday. The amount of condescending disregard in the tone of this reply is staggering. $50 OBC “for the inconvenience of rebooking” when we didn’t ask for any on an $18,000 cruise is laughable. Let alone how she reduces the argument to internet and Starbucks when there’s clearly more to it than that. “Upgraded” drink package ≠ “premium” drink package that is being canceled. So for the inconvenience of rebooking as she put it, and spending the same amount of money, you get….way less? Congratulations?!?!

 

Earlier in the thread, someone said the FAS+ are the wrong clients to piss off. I don’t know. I don’t think they care. 

 

Right now we’re gonna watch and wait. Luckily my other two bookings aren’t for a while so I might cancel without penalty if this January cruise is as disappointing as we’re worried it might be. 
 

Additionally, today’s email states the internet is kept unlimited and that the refund is partial to the premium drinks package that’s being canceled. ***** is is going on? I wonder if they’ll assess that internet fee of $839 out of the $1,372 refund.

 

 

[Generatedusername]

On 10/1/2024 at 4:41 PM, macewank said:

At the expense of:

 

Unlimited internet: $29.99 PPPD

Starbucks: $16.50 PPPD

(this is already more than $42 PPPD)

2 Specialty Dining: $120 (2x $60 under new pricing)
Fresh juice + bottled water:  no package inclusion. 100% a la carte.

And for those paying $49 PPPD:

a $50 per tour credit on excursions for the 2nd person in the room (1st person gets it with the regular FAS package)

 

For me, the basic unlimited Wi-Fi bundle was $109 for a seven-day trip, and the two specialty dining upgrades were $86. I was able to add FAS+ today for $294 on my seven-day, December 2024 cruise so let's see what happens.

 

On 10/1/2024 at 4:27 PM, macewank said:

....right? I mean, $42 in my case as a solo, but nobody's pretending there wasn't a fee. 

The issue here is that they made FAS better with MAS, and completely took away the upgrade FAS+ option.  For those of us that have historically sailed with FAS+, it's a raw deal because there are perks included in FAS+ that literally are not available in any package moving forward. Some of us made use of those perks.

 

edit:  And for those of us sailing in the next 3 months, we've lost the FAS+ package and will not have access to the upgraded MAS dining credit and beverage availability.

 

 

I was able to add FAS+ today to my solo balcony for $294 on a seven-day cruise in December 2024.

 

On 10/1/2024 at 3:39 PM, New2cruise2022 said:

I arrived at the same thought as OP when I first heard about it. I am a fan of FAS+. Sure, the premium alcohol was great — but I can get that on other lines. The real perk of FAS+ was the inclusion of Starbucks and bottled water. The Aqua Panna and San Pellegrino are nice perks. I would have them with every meal and just sitting in the buffet to have a snack and some nice water. The energy drinks (Red Bull) were also a nice inclusion. Not to mention the easy bundling for unlimited internet. 

 

I am only half-joking when I say that I can make up the whole cost of the package on the bottled water alone. I love mineral water and seltzer. At $6.50 a pop for Aqua Panna and San Pellegrino, I would need to drink seven a day to "break-even" on the FAS+ upgrade for a solo cruiser. That is easily doable without me even trying. I love the stuff.

 

On 10/1/2024 at 3:22 PM, Mississippian said:

The FAS+ has been stripped off my November cruise even though it is paid for. Every part of the package is important to me, from having drinkable wine, to unlimited Internet, to two specialty meals. Maybe they will honor it, but it doesn't show up.

 

I was able to add it on October 3 for my December 2024 cruise for $294 for a seven-day trip, and I booked on October 1, 2024.

 

On 10/1/2024 at 3:05 PM, macewank said:

I'd go into that with cautious optimism.  I hadn't booked FAS+ yet for my December cruise and it's no longer a purchasable option.  I'm pretty livid.

 

I was able to add it on October 3 for my December 2024 cruise for $294 for a seven-day trip, and I booked on October 1, 2024. It wasn't available earlier.

 

3 hours ago, CurtandLeslie said:

 

I got my email, too. I had FAS+ on two cruises. One I paid in full last week because it sails in January. That refund will be applied to the original credit card. The other refund will be credited to my outstanding balance for the cruise next August.

 

The letter says both refunds will be processed within 30 days, but nothing about the amount. I can see keeping the letter generic because I should get a lower refund on my 7 day cruise than someone would on a 10 day cruise. But you'd think it would be easy enough to say something like $x of the $49 per day you paid was the beverage portion. Maybe they haven't decided yet.

 

In my mind, I always calculated FAS+ as $35 for the upgraded beverages plus $14 additional for all the other perks, since we had bought the Premium Plus beverage package before FAS+ was introduced.

 

My Free at Sea Plus is showing up under Purchased Items again on my vacation summary also.

 

That freaking sucks. I want the Starbucks and mineral water.

 

On 10/1/2024 at 8:10 PM, moody cruiser said:

 

My cruise is coming up end of October.  Had the FAS+ sitting in my basket in my NCL online account.  This morning, before learning about More at Sea, I figured I should pull the FAS+ trigger for the premium brands, 2 additional specialty dining, Starbucks, etc.  The transaction would NOT go through!  I panicked.

 

Ended up calling NCL directly and they honored my request/processed my payment.  Since you booked your cruise before 10/1, I'm thinking they'll honor your request - at least I hope so.  Hopefully they'll honor it for me on my cruise.  The inconsistencies are no fun.

 

I used the website to add FAS+ on October 3 for my December 2024 cruise for $294 for a seven-day trip, and I booked on October 1, 2024.

 

On 10/2/2024 at 1:29 AM, ThomasNL said:

And fas+ also has drink options with prices of $50 and up

 

Pray tell!

 

 

On 10/2/2024 at 4:27 PM, ocdb8r said:

I've given up on speculating too much until an actual communication comes out from NCL on the FAS+.  My suspicion is that the main thing fundamentally changing is the drink packaging on board.  They can't (seem to) operationally manage both FAS, MAS and FAS+ at the same time (note, I'm not saying it's impossible....just that NCL "can't" do it for whatever reason....systems, training...who knows).  However, the other items (internet upgrade, shorex credit and extra dining) aren't really changing, just "how much" of each you get, so they can likely still operationally handle just letting you keep those items a la carte.  They refund some portion of the FAS+ attributed to the "Open Bar" and let you get anything else you still can a la carte (Starbucks package, water package...etc).  They likely believe this is a "reasonable" compromise.  However, as has been pointed out, it means no way to get unlimited high-end drinks, fresh juices or Pellegrino/Aqua Pana (the water packages is just standard bottled water). 

 

All that said, if the "refund" for the Open Bar is high enough, it still may be a decent compromise for many/most.  You can get Starbucks for $20/day (after gratuities) and  water for $1.25 - $2.00/bottle depending on how big a package you buy.  That could leave enough leftover to covers some of the left-out items.  No, for true "consumers" (especially of the higher-end drinks) it will not be as good....but for many, it may be good enough.

 

NCL could've avoided the controversy by making the changes only for cruises that could still be canceled without penalty.

[mike_42]

I’m confused that the internet package is listed since in the email I got from NCL it said the wifi was unlimited. 

[kmetz]

The loss of Starbucks... sucks. But the loss of bottled water... that's an issue for me. I enjoy a bottle or two of Pellegrino at dinner and for that to be taken away when even the Cheers package over at the FUN ship includes it... sad. I would've happily paid more for FAS+ instead of it being removed. It was the most "all-inclusive" feel for me personally. I hope they plan to release something comparable. Not just that, but the loss of Veuve Clicquot in Bistro makes me upset. If they don't come out with something comparable I will look elsewhere. As a solo traveler its tough but I'm sure there are other lines with solo options.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 06:38 AM by kmetz

[MiniJeffrey]

After thinking a bit about it, they probably weren't too happy with people doing this trick:

 

- one person has P+ and was able to get bottled water and the better bottles of wine + champagne for the whole table at dinner (at least: NCL waiters never made a problem of it to provide it to the whole table).

 

- people with P+ going to the bar to get two P+ drinks, sharing one with another guest who didn't have P+.

 

I can imagine they want to make thse things harder, thus why they exclude bottles water, bottles of wine, champagne out of MAS + they "upgraded" FAS to MAS in terms of beverages.

[mistertomatoe]

They claim they're making these changes after listening to guests and crews. I'm sure they got tons of feedback on the can/bottled water, Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Redbull, and fresh squeezed juice. The retail prices aren't much so why not just include them? The only thing I can think of it's still the nickel and diming NCL. They must be making a ton of money on them. There are people who think it's not a big deal to pay $3.50 for a can/bottle of water if they can take it off the ship and reclose the top. This is the same cruise line that say they're not supposed to give you cans of soda. I can get them from plenty of places but once in a while I get some server pouring them out or opening both cans before giving them to me. Really?!?!

[New2cruise2022]

4 hours ago, MiniJeffrey said:

After thinking a bit about it, they probably weren't too happy with people doing this trick:

 

- one person has P+ and was able to get bottled water and the better bottles of wine + champagne for the whole table at dinner (at least: NCL waiters never made a problem of it to provide it to the whole table).

 

- people with P+ going to the bar to get two P+ drinks, sharing one with another guest who didn't have P+.

 

I can imagine they want to make thse things harder, thus why they exclude bottles water, bottles of wine, champagne out of MAS + they "upgraded" FAS to MAS in terms of beverages.

It is a loophole this change will close. Also, FAS+ was 2 Starbucks per order while the Starbucks package is 1 per order

[scorpioncrawl]

Starbucks has never been included with FOS

[ThomasNL]

2 minutes ago, scorpioncrawl said:

Starbucks has never been included with FOS

It is in the fas+

[sailing_under_the_stars]

I have a question that I have looked everywhere to see if I could find the answer,,, and can’t!! So I know with the original FAS for sailings over 12 days in balcony and above you would get 3 speciality dinners, with the added FAS+ you would get 2 extra so 5 total.  With the More at Sea now you get 5. My question is with it saying you get to keep 2 extra specialty dinners are they going to “give” 5 and then we keep our 2 extra… or will it stay 3 and we get to keep our 2 for total of what MAS gives? 

[rnfulk]

52 minutes ago, sailing_under_the_stars said:

I have a question that I have looked everywhere to see if I could find the answer,,, and can’t!! So I know with the original FAS for sailings over 12 days in balcony and above you would get 3 speciality dinners, with the added FAS+ you would get 2 extra so 5 total.  With the More at Sea now you get 5. My question is with it saying you get to keep 2 extra specialty dinners are they going to “give” 5 and then we keep our 2 extra… or will it stay 3 and we get to keep our 2 for total of what MAS gives? 

You will get 5 total. You do not get the More at Sea dining benefit if you booked prior to 10/1/2024. If you booked after 10/1/2024 you cannot add FAS+. 

[SukiMolly]

On 10/3/2024 at 8:01 AM, AlexandNessa said:

So i may have a teeny bit of attention on X (Twitter).  I had 0 followers and exactly 3 Tweets (are we still calling them Tweets?), all related to my disappointment in FAS+ leaving. Now i have 3 followers. 😂

 

Please join me in making your displeasure known there, or any social media. I know, i know. I have an obviously minimal account that i primarily use for easier lurking and I understand many of you don't have or want to create accounts. However, NCL has never tried to reach out to me from a post here.  I came out of the shadows of this. It was worth it😄

 

 

On 10/3/2024 at 8:01 AM, AlexandNessa said:

So i may have a teeny bit of attention on X (Twitter).  I had 0 followers and exactly 3 Tweets (are we still calling them Tweets?), all related to my disappointment in FAS+ leaving. Now i have 3 followers. 😂

 

Please join me in making your displeasure known there, or any social media. I know, i know. I have an obviously minimal account that i primarily use for easier lurking and I understand many of you don't have or want to create accounts. However, NCL has never tried to reach out to me from a post here.  I came out of the shadows of this. It was worth it😄

 

Hate to break it to you but those are fake spam accounts that are following you.  Look at their inception dates and the types of posts they have.  Don't interact with them.  Better yet, report them for impersonating NCL.

[RocketMan275]

On 10/1/2024 at 12:52 PM, kmetz said:

Honestly I don't see how this could in any way be an upgrade for those that had Free at Sea Plus.

• Starbucks is gone
• Bottled water is gone
  • No more Pellegrino
• 2 extra specialty dining are gone
• No more freshly-squeezed juices

You forgot to mention that the extra $50PP PD also is gone.

[New2cruise2022]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

You forgot to mention that the extra $50PP PD also is gone.

This is true. But on FAS+ I was 4 coffees, 8 bottles of Aqua Panna, 4-6 bottles of water per day, and a bottle of wine with dinner, on top of the premium whiskey. 
 

The value always exceeded the cost. And that was before you account for intangibles of convenience and piece of mind. 

[RocketMan275]

18 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

This is true. But on FAS+ I was 4 coffees, 8 bottles of Aqua Panna, 4-6 bottles of water per day, and a bottle of wine with dinner, on top of the premium whiskey. 
 

The value always exceeded the cost. And that was before you account for intangibles of convenience and piece of mind. 

True, but if you want to compare the two, then you should include the pluses and the minuses.  

You've lost the coffees, the Aqua, water and wine, but in return you've gained the cost of the upgrade from FAS to FAS+.  That refund will offset much of those things you've lost.