Difficulty getting drinks with the Ultimate Beverage Package

I was on the Pearl earlier in the month this was the first NCL cruise I have been on since they started offering the ultimate beverage package as an option of the Freestyle Choice promo. All of the bars were very crowded and the bartenders seemed to be making the drinks really slow.There were always tons of people waiting and it took about 10 minutes to get a drink each time. In the dining rooms it was difficult to find a drink server and again took forever for the drinks to come. I am sure a lot more people are ordering drinks since they are included in the fare but I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this?

Was on the breakaway this past September with UBP promo and had no issues getting a drink anywhere I went.

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We noticed the wait for drinks on the 3-day Escape sailing a few weeks ago...but it was 3-day cruise and many seemed to have the UBP, so were taking full advantage. The pool bars and the bar in Spice even ran out of some of the more popular mixings - Baileys, pina colada mix - couldn't make some drinks. But again, 3-day cruise where many were enjoying!

We are expecting it to be less of a booze cruise on our 7-day sailing on the Escape in January.

We were on the Dawn last month, and after a couple of days figured out how to make it work best for us - - pick up a dinner drink on our way to dinner, strategically go to quieter bars at unusual hours, etc.... we always try to "zag" when others are "zigging" anyway, and especially with all of the UBP onboard the ship, made the strategy that much more important. So we hardly ever waited, but purposely avoided it, too.

UBP is a great perk.

I wonder if it's also because there are more and more time-intensive cocktails on the menu. Muddling and mixing five ingredients isn't quick. Pair that with the number of UBPs, and it's bound to result in some slow downs. Which is a bummer, but it's probably in my best interest. :-)

I will tell you a little story about a college bar i used to go to: They would advertise penny drinks from 9pm to midnight...they would charge you $10 to get in b/c of this wonderful deal. The bar was about 30 feet long...at first blush you would think WOW this bar is going to go bankrupt!!! not so fast....when you finally made it up to the Bar after 15 mins of waiting guess what? there was two bartenders...yes i said 2 bartenders serving about 75 college kids...Im out of college for about 15 years now and the more mature me realizes that the bar implemented this strategy to "slow the flow" of drinks for those three hours...

I wonder if the bars on NCL open at a certain time or if they are 24 hours like vegas?

best,

mark

I was on the Pearl earlier in the month this was the first NCL cruise I have been on since they started offering the ultimate beverage package as an option of the Freestyle Choice promo. All of the bars were very crowded and the bartenders seemed to be making the drinks really slow.There were always tons of people waiting and it took about 10 minutes to get a drink each time. In the dining rooms it was difficult to find a drink server and again took forever for the drinks to come. I am sure a lot more people are ordering drinks since they are included in the fare but I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this?

I don't consider 10 or even 20 minutes to get a drink being "forever for the drinks to come." I really don't remember any cruise ship that served drinks faster in over 20+ years of cruising. It's not meant to be like going to a fast food restaurant.

In the dining room, the best thing to do is immediately tell your waiter or waitress you would like to order cocktails and/or see a wine list the first time they come to your table and BEFORE placing your dinner order. You normally won't get a drink server unless you do this as it is the waiter or waitress who controls your table and who comes to it and when.

We have been on 10 NCL cruises over the past two years as the UBP program has been rolled out. We have not noticed any dramatic increase in wait times or crowds at bars.

We just got off of the Sky on Friday and didn't notice any problems. Even at dinner where others had complained about their drinks not coming we always had our glasses of wine in a timely manner. The pool area was a little slow, but if you didn't want to wait, just go up to the bar!

Was on the Star last week, no issues at all. The bar staff was very friendly and helpful.

Just off the Jade last week. Pretty much all wait staff are gone. Usually one and at most two in even the largest venues like spinnaker or the pool.

But the wait time at the bar wasn't excessively long.

I noticed a difference on the Escape 3-night. We'll see if it improves for my spring cruise.

Was on the Gem in June. Many had the UBP, we found that the pool bar was always rather busy, found it better to go elsewhere for a drink to get more relaxed and less stressed service. Also we tipped the wait staff well and they always remembered us and our choices and came around frequently.

The last cruise I was on the only thing I had trouble getting was sober.:rolleyes:

I was just on the Getaway. They have numerous bars so it was never a problem getting a cocktail.

No problem getting drinks last week on the Escape. There was the typical crush during embarkation and first day, but people settle down rather quickly on a seven-day cruise and realize they cannot maintain a weeklong bender.

I've sailed 3 times with UBP, and the only times I think drink service was slow was in the dining rooms, whether specialty or not. This would coincide with other cruises I've had on other lines. It seems drink service in dining rooms is always slow.

As far as waiting 10 minutes for a drink, that would be the longest I ever had to wait, and I don't see that as an issue, as that is what I would generally wait at a bar home. At least on the ship, if I don't want to wait that long, there are plenty of other options to visit for that drink.

We were on the Sky Nov 13-16 (very typical 3-day booze cruise). We anticipated busy bars and they were definitely crowded during peak times, but the bartenders were working their tails off.

The only thing I noticed that was a little annoying was around 6-7pm every night most bars would stop making any drink you requested and start sticking to the menu. We fell in love with the Mango Meltdown, but we were told no at most of the bars we frequented. You could get them at the pool bar, but that bar turned into a pseudo night club every evening and getting close to the bar was impossible. So we drank mango meltdowns during the day and martini's and shots of tequila at the atrium bar at night.

We were very impressed with the bar service in the dining room. We let our servers know immediately that we would be drinking, and they kept our wine glasses full.

No problems on the Epic in May or the Breakaway in November.

I love the people who suggest that everyone with UBP is an alcoholic lush :rolleyes: Im not a massive fan of food (other than i need to eat to sustain my existence) so I would never choose the dining package, and I can't abide the thought of sitting there looking at the internet when I should be out there enjoying myself and exploring the world, and we mostly do our own thing in port. Therefore, UBP will always be my package of choice.

Although I did laugh one day - I had a grand total of one orange soda, one mango meltdown, and one glass of prosecco. Really didn't get the benefit out of the package at all did I :)

The only "drunkenness" we saw was on the first day. Fortunately the idiots involved were so ill that the rest of their holiday was spent in bed, alone - which was very contrary to their graphic claims of the first night :D

No issues whatsoever in getting drinks quickly on the Getaway last month. Of course if a bar was super busy you might wait a few minutes. But no worse than before the UBP was introduced. I thought the staff went above and beyond to make sure you were taken care of. Very friendly and very liberal with the alcohol.

To echo what others have said:

1.) Go to the bars that aren't as busy, and

2.) It never hurts to tip a few dollars. Have it in your hand when you approach the bar, and you'll get immediate attention. On our last cruise, (Celebrity, not Norwegian) I made friends with one of the bartenders by tipping him nicely, and instead of drinking the bottom-shelf garbage my wife and I were entitled to with our beverage plan, he always reached for the top-shelf!

We fell in love with the Mango Meltdown, but we were told no at most of the bars we frequented. You could get them at the pool bar, but that bar turned into a pseudo night club every evening and getting close to the bar was impossible. So we drank mango meltdowns during the day and martini's and shots of tequila at the atrium bar at night.

Most of the bars on the ship don't carry the ingredients to make mango meltdown. The same goes for many drinks at many bars. For instance, if I went to the pool bar and ordered the spicy passion mojito I wouldn't get it. Or if I wanted a Havanas 'n Bananas in the theater, I wouldn't get it. Same difference. Not every single bar has every single possible drink ingredient, and you can't expect them to.

True. But when you can get a Mango Meltdown at the atrium bar at 5:45pm, but the same bartender at the atrium bar tells you 20 minutes later that he's only making what's on the menu, it's a little annoying. We adjusted and ordered martini's, no harm no foul. We did get mango meltdowns at almost every bar we went to during the day.

Part of the delay in getting quick service is the need to chop down a tree to produce two receipts for each order, unlike Celebrity's 21st century approach of just swiping your key card. A couple of ways around this are as follows:

1. Get to know your bartenders.

2. Tip them from time to time.

3. Order the same drink so that when you take care of numbers 1 & 2, they start preparing your drink when they see you coming/make eye contact/just give them a nod.

4. Order doubles. (And before anybody says you can't do this, see points 1 & 2)

All of the aforementioned greatly enhance the experience of the PDGBP (Pretty Darn Good Beverage Package, but not "Ultimate").

We never had a problem getting a drink on the Spirit this summer. I agree with the advice of picking up a cocktail before heading to dinner. Your waiter will appreciate it and you can go ahead and order your second one when seated but the waiter now has some breathing room to bring it to you.

NCL definitely flexes how many bartenders are out at busy venues. This was the pool bar the night of the White Hot Party.