Would UBP Be Worth It For Me?

Trying to decide if I should switch one of our free perks to the UBP. I don't drink a lot & my husband doesn't drink at all. So do you think I would still save $ getting the UBP which would cost us roughly $197 if I'm the only one drinking? (I know it also covers soda, but my DH basically drinks just water)

People on here have said it still saves money if you only get 2 drinks a day, but I don't see how if I'm paying the service charge for two of us. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Thanks!

It doesn't take very long to spend $200 on alcohol on a cruise ship when many drinks approach $10 each. I could spend $200 myself during the week just at dinner with my normal drink prior and one during the meal if I didn't touch a drop the rest of the cruise.

No, it probably isn't worth it for you.

The 2 drinks per day that people refer to is per person. Basically, you pay $14.22 a day in gratuity per person. Depending on what you drink, a single drink per day probably won't cost more than this amount (but can do), whilst 2 drinks are unlikely (probably impossible) to cost less.

Therefore, the thinking is that at 2+ drinks a day, for most people it is worth getting the Promo UBP.

This does of course ignore the value to you of the perk you would drop. If that is something which would have a benefit to you then that also has to be brought into the calculation.

Anyway, if it is just you drinking then you will need to be drinking the 2 drinks a day for both of you. If you are drinking relatively expensive drinks then 3 a day may make it worth it.

My thought is to look at all of the offers and decide which one you would get the most use out of when you sail. My DD, DGD and myself are sailing on POA and we chose free gratuities as our perk since we will be in a balcony. We also get platinum dinner tickets so specialty dining off is not needed. Good luck with your decision.

So hard for anyone to tell others what works best. Do the math to see what you end up with. Keep in mind, that even if you husband does not drink, he still pays the gratuity as if he did.

We had chosen UBP but I opted to switch to the dining package. One we are foodies :) But two, on our last cruise we found ourselves drinking too much to "break"even. This wasn't sustainable for us. So this go round, we can have a drink before dinner and be good :) Ok well maybe another at the pool ;) lol

My DH and I will be sailing on the Spirit in Aug 2018 with our two daughters. We really only like a glass or two of wine before dinner and, knowing this was a very port intensive cruise, we wouldn't be indulging much more than that. We decided the UBP was not worth it for us in this case, rather we are going to bring on some wine when we embark and just pay the corkage fee for it. Part of that will be covered by a small OBC we received from our TA. I usually stick to wine or hard cider when I have a drink so the expensive spirits or mixed drinks don't appeal all that much. Plus, we're on with our teenage daughters so I don't think it would set a good example for the parents to be actively trying to drink more to make the deal worth it! LOL

keep in mind that as a latitudes member, there are events where there are free drinks. I think if you are silver+, there are usually 2 events where alcohol is free. I don't drink alcohol, but I like the non alcohol drinks that they have. I go to town on those events and it suffices me.

But I don't like to drink my calories, I like to eat them. This to me is the biggest motivator not to get the drink package...b/c I will be tempted to drink too much sugar juices when I can have more dessert.

....Plus, we're on with our teenage daughters so I don't think it would set a good example for the parents to be actively trying to drink more to make the deal worth it! LOL

Good thought!

also keep in mind that on the UBP, you get sodas. are either of you soda drinkers??

Slightly OT , illl make it quick.

To all you UBP experts . Does the soda package cover any of the slushy drinks ( virg Daiquiri ect) ? Mom and dad getting the booze package in two different rooms and older teens do not drink pop in any form .

Bit of a quandary , 19/20 can switch from soda pack to beer wine offer?

Slightly OT , illl make it quick.

To all you UBP experts . Does the soda package cover any of the slushy drinks ( virg Daiquiri ect) ? Mom and dad getting the booze package in two different rooms and older teens do not drink pop in any form .

Bit of a quandary , 19/20 can switch from soda pack to beer wine offer?

Yes, it covers the Virgin slushy drinks, sodas, beer and wine. Your 19/20 can have all the above except hard liquor, once you sign for them to be able to.

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The UBP covers the slushy drinks and sodas. The soda package does not as far as I know.

Also, bottled water is not included in either package.

There is usually a drink of the day featured for about 8.00. You can buy a bottle of wine and have it re corked and delivered to you in any of the restaurants. So you can enjoy two cocktails and a glass of wine with dinner for less than 28 dollars you will be paying per day in tips.

For my niece and me: I had booked the GTY rate with no bonuses when it was just me sailing, figuring I wouldn't drink enough to make it worth while. When my niece joined me, we upped to the one with add ons. We were still a GTY, but we had two promos to choose from.

The difference between the GTY with no promos and the one with promos was 300.00. The gratuities made it darn near $500.00. 2 people, 7 days, we both had to drink about $36.00 a day to make it worth it. Sad to say, I think we did.

But, even if we didn't, we would have gladly paid the premium to not have to worry about it or keep track of who drank what when for how much.

There are pros and cons of both ways.

Good luck!

We drink several drinks per day but sometimes wonder if it's all worth it and know it's a total game by NCL to get people to pay rates they normally would never have before. We know it is in total $$ it's worth it but with the $14.22 per day AND it usually cost us more to get the beverage perk.... The sail away rates OX, BX, MX sometimes do not include additional perks but can be quite a bit cheaper than the other rates. If we have 4 in a cabin we need to have Free at Sea 3rd and 4th guest free perk so that means we have to have a balcony or mini suite in order to get TWO perks and the UBP perk in addition. So even more money. It all adds up and I think I totaled it to nearly $700 more on one cruise I was paying to get the UBP between the gratuity, extra charge for an unnecessary port hole so I could get to two perks, etc. Still we felt $700 was worth it for two UBP on 7 day cruise ($50 per person per day).

Trying to decide if I should switch one of our free perks to the UBP. I don't drink a lot & my husband doesn't drink at all. So do you think I would still save $ getting the UBP which would cost us roughly $197 if I'm the only one drinking? (I know it also covers soda, but my DH basically drinks just water)

 

People on here have said it still saves money if you only get 2 drinks a day, but I don't see how if I'm paying the service charge for two of us. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Thanks!

That is 2 drinks per person. In your case the two of you would need to drink about 4 drinks or glasses of wine per day to break even.

Slightly OT , illl make it quick.

To all you UBP experts . Does the soda package cover any of the slushy drinks ( virg Daiquiri ect) ? Mom and dad getting the booze package in two different rooms and older teens do not drink pop in any form .

Bit of a quandary , 19/20 can switch from soda pack to beer wine offer?

No, soda package only covers soda.

We enjoyed the UBP when the gratuity was included. My husband only drinks top shelf scotch. It is not included in the package. He would drink an occasional beer or glass of wine. I would have an occasional drink but can do without it. When NCL added the Gratuties to UBP for suites we took it off. It doesn't work for us now. I don't drink because of the calories. I'd rather have dessert instead of a drink. We're quite happy to pay as we go. Water is fine for me and top shelf scotch works for my husband.

I don't see it saving $$ of you guys. I would just buy drinks a la carte.

We had chosen UBP but I opted to switch to the dining package. One we are foodies :) But two, on our last cruise we found ourselves drinking too much to "break"even. This wasn't sustainable for us. So this go round, we can have a drink before dinner and be good :) Ok well maybe another at the pool ;) lol

Your next cruise is on NCL and 14.22 per day is already covered since you stated that you would have a drink before dinner and one at the pool. So why did you switch? :confused::confused::confused: