Unlimited Drink Options Included with other lines: will you still book Carnival?

Yes, other lines offer "free" drink packages, but are they really? You have to pay the gratuities (18-20%, and Carnival is still at 15%), and the cruise fare is almost always more than with Carnival. Plus, to get more freebies, you have to book more than just a basic interior room. We find it's basically a wash. Pay now or pay later. We were initially enticed by NCL's "Free at Sea" and we actually have 2 cruises booked with them, but only because we liked the itineraries. We recently sailed with Carnival, and, after drink packages were added, it was about the same price as a comparable NCL trip.

 

Don't be fooled! Book your trip based on where you want to sail from and where you want to sail to. NCL or Carnival, you're gonna pay about the same when you compare apples to apples.

If the price of the cruise on NCL without the package is the same (minus the service charge) what makes you think the price is included in the base cruise price for those who don't want it?

 

Common sense.

 

For those lacking, wait until the promotion ends and see if the price drops.

So you really believe that NCL can include for free something they retail at $80 pd/pp and still stay in business? My reason tells me that it has to be rolled into the cruise fare somehow.

How much of it? Let me put it his way again. The drink promo on our NCL 15 day Panama Canal cruise cost us like $475 ish. We will without a doubt drink a total of $2000 easily over 15 days between my wife and I. Our cruise was cheaper than Carnivals and I can tell you that they aren't adding $2000+ to my cruise fare to cover the hidden cost of the drink package and my perspective bill. Some people, maybe even most, may only cover the service fee cost being light drinkers. After the service charge how much is NCL adding to everyone's cruise price then? I understand what everyone is saying. That's like saying Guys Bugers and Blue Iguana have been added to all ships and their free .... Are they? I would need to know what the average amount of money a person with a drink package actually drinks in order to figure out how that cost is absorbed and redistributed. For long cruises and for people that love their wine, beer, cocktails like my wife and I we can rack up a bill. Like I said, Cheers was over $1800 on the other Canal option we looked at. Enough of this topic for me. I buy Cheers as well when I do sail Carnival.

Hi:

 

We are platinum on Carnival, but have taken a few years off from cruising. In the time we've been away, both NCL and MSC have started to offer fares with the Unlimited Drink Option included as a perk. Now that we are looking to book another cruise, I have to admit that these perks are very enticing and swaying us away from Carnival, whose drinks package is very expensive to book. I'm just wondering if others are feeling the same?

Actually no quite the opposite. The NCL included drink package makes the base cost of the cruise so much more that we jumped ship to Carnival. Mind you I don't plan to buy the drink package on this cruise.

 

Typically I would factor the drink package cost in as part of the cruise as we normally use it.

So you really believe that NCL can include for free something they retail at $80 pd/pp and still stay in business? My reason tells me that it has to be rolled into the cruise fare somehow.

Of course it is. That's why you have to do the math. I'm looking at a Celebrity cruise for next fall that includes a drink package and is less than both Carnival if I add Cheers and NCL.

How much of it? Let me put it his way again. The drink promo on our NCL 15 day Panama Canal cruise cost us like $475 ish. We will without a doubt drink a total of $2000 easily over 15 days between my wife and I. Our cruise was cheaper than Carnivals and I can tell you that they aren't adding $2000+ to my cruise fare to cover the hidden cost of the drink package and my perspective bill. Some people, maybe even most, may only cover the service fee cost being light drinkers. After the service charge how much is NCL adding to everyone's cruise price then? I understand what everyone is saying. That's like saying Guys Bugers and Blue Iguana have been added to all ships and their free .... Are they? I would need to know what the average amount of money a person with a drink package actually drinks in order to figure out how that cost is absorbed and redistributed. For long cruises and for people that love their wine, beer, cocktails like my wife and I we can rack up a bill. Like I said, Cheers was over $1800 on the other Canal option we looked at. Enough of this topic for me. I buy Cheers as well when I do sail Carnival.

 

Yes, there are some cruises where they have to lower the fare drastically in order to fill the ship, but they only do that as a last resort (in other words your result is not typical). Overall though NCL's prices do generally cost more than the competition and it's not because NCL's product is that much better. As I said, for a cruise next April NCL was twice what Royal was charging and that higher fare no doubt includes the cost of all of those "free" promos. A business can survive by giving something away now and then, but they cannot survive giving something away all of the time.

Lipstick on a pig is still lipstick on a pig. Clever marketing where they raise fares and offer options for “free” are just that. There is no free lunch, not before not now not ever.

 

 

Contempt prior to investigation is foolish. Do the math, and compare pricing on comparable ships, same time of the year and itinerary, same cabin type, and you will often, not always, find better deals with the free drink pkgs that other lines, including MSC offer.

 

I don't drink alcohol, but I find it amazing that some will think it's a bargain when they buy a drink package that almost doubles their cruise fare.

 

And I hope you are including Carnival in the no free lunch spiel, especially with their habit of raising fares and "giving" out OBC, "sales" that are just lower deposits, etc.

 

All cruise lines offer sales bait to gain or maintain customers. It's up to an informed consumer to do the math and check pricing for the best deals. Not always easy, certainly time consuming, but worthwhile if one wants to make an intelligent choice.

 

Carnival is not always the cheapest, or value added, purchase.

If the price of the cruise on NCL without the package is the same (minus the service charge) what makes you think the price is included in the base cruise price for those who don't want it? The way I read it is you are simply paying for the service charge of the UBP. You can speculate all you want but nowhere does it show that you somehow pay extra for it beyond that service charge. If you chose not to pick the UBP and the base price was lower than it would be clear that you are paying for it. Who's to say what Carnival hides or includes in their base fees. Like I mentioned before. The real value of NCL's drink package is on longer cruises . The more days the better the value vs. Cheers. Our 15 day Panama Canal on the Bliss with UBP was $600 less overall than the 14 day Panama Canal on Carnival with Cheers. Until someone can actually prove that NCL raises the prices for everyone on the ship beyond the service charge, then its all just speculation.

That is blatantly false. NCL offers lower fares if you don't take the drink package or other perks. All the cruise lines build the price of their perks into their prices.

 

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That is blatantly false. NCL offers lower fares if you don't take the drink package or other perks. All the cruise lines build the price of their perks into their prices.

 

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And if you can't find the base fare on NCL's website, go to one of the other well known cruise sites that will have the base fare prominently displayed without the add on perk included.

That is blatantly false. NCL offers lower fares if you don't take the drink package or other perks. All the cruise lines build the price of their perks into their prices.

 

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That's true. They do offer lower fares on certain cabin categories. The "Sailaway Fares", which don't include any booking perks are lower but they are guarantee cabins.

That's true. They do offer lower fares on certain cabin categories. The "Sailaway Fares", which don't include any booking perks are lower but they are guarantee cabins.

 

I posted a comparison between Carnival and NCL a few pages back. January 6th Getaway vs Magic.

 

Magic was about $1600, and even the non-perk Sailaway guarantee cabin on NCL only saves about $200 over their already expensive $2500 price. It came out to $2,322.46 with their "cheaper" sailaway cabin. The savings are so miniscule that you would be crazy not to take a couple of the perks, or really, just sail a better, more affordable option like Carnival.

 

It's just more evidence that NCL is much more expensive than Carnival (usually) and you pay for the perks whether you want them or not.

That's true. They do offer lower fares on certain cabin categories. The "Sailaway Fares", which don't include any booking perks are lower but they are guarantee cabins.

They offer lower fares on all categories if you don't take any perks.

 

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They offer lower fares on all categories if you don't take any perks.

 

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Please clarify your statement. It seems they only offer lower fares via guarantee (sailaway) cabins if you don't want the perks. But what if you don't want the perks and want to choose your cabin? Then you are still paying for the perks. All 3 of the major lines offer slightly cheaper guarantee cabins, and NCL's is only slightly cheaper as well.

 

Their perks are FREE perks. You can't lower the price for the same booking by not taking free perks. That's not how "free" works. So they do it with their guarantee cabins, and the pricing is definitely not lowered by the value of the perks, not even close.

Please clarify your statement. It seems they only offer lower fares via guarantee (sailaway) cabins if you don't want the perks. But what if you don't want the perks and want to choose your cabin? Then you are still paying for the perks. All 3 of the major lines offer slightly cheaper guarantee cabins, and NCL's is only slightly cheaper as well.

 

Their perks are FREE perks. You can't lower the price for the same booking by not taking free perks. That's not how "free" works. So they do it with their guarantee cabins, and the pricing is definitely not lowered by the value of the perks, not even close.

They do have lower rates without perks. Call and ask. Free is not really free.

 

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"Free" and "included in the Price" are totally different things. I too looked into the NCL offerings when comparing pricing and noticed the "administration" costs of the NCL packages added to the price.

That is blatantly false. NCL offers lower fares if you don't take the drink package or other perks. All the cruise lines build the price of their perks into their prices.

 

They offer lower fares on all categories if you don't take any perks.

Have you looked lately? The only cabins you can good without any "freebies" are guarantees.

I don't care about drink packages as I really don't drink a lot. Maybe one drink a day if that while on the cruise.

Have you looked lately? The only cabins you can good without any "freebies" are guarantees.

Not if you call.

 

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Ever since sailing on the Breeze back in January of 2013 with Cheers, I have had a drinks package on my last 10 cruises. Seven of them were built in on NCL, X and MSC, while I paid for Cheers twice and on RCI once. The Havana area is what has brought me back to Carnival and I have already paid for Cheers on my sailings next month and in August of 2019. I have gift cards purchased that will cover a good portion of two more LNG sailings in the future, but as usual, I will look at the offerings from the various lines regarding their new builds and make an educated decision. With the LNG ships from Carnival, the Leonardo Project ships from NCL, the World Class ships from MSC and the new builds from Virgin, there are plenty of new offerings to choose from over the next few years.

I went on 16 out of my first 20 cruises on Carnival, while only 2 of my last 11 have been on her. The rose colored glasses that many on this board still wear was thrown away years ago.

Yes, other lines offer "free" drink packages, but are they really? You have to pay the gratuities (18-20%, and Carnival is still at 15%), and the cruise fare is almost always more than with Carnival. Plus, to get more freebies, you have to book more than just a basic interior room. We find it's basically a wash. Pay now or pay later. We were initially enticed by NCL's "Free at Sea" and we actually have 2 cruises booked with them, but only because we liked the itineraries. We recently sailed with Carnival, and, after drink packages were added, it was about the same price as a comparable NCL trip.

 

Don't be fooled! Book your trip based on where you want to sail from and where you want to sail to. NCL or Carnival, you're gonna pay about the same when you compare apples to apples.

 

 

Exactly. Every time I've looked at the price of an NCL cruise it ends up being more than if I book another cruise line and purchase the drink package.

I went on 16 out of my first 20 cruises on Carnival, while only 2 of my last 11 have been on her. The rose colored glasses that many on this board still wear was thrown away years ago.

 

It would seem you traded yours in for a different shade of rose.

I hope Carnival never goes to an "all inclusive" fare. We have never been to an all inclusive resort because we are very moderate drinkers and would never get our money's worth. I don't believe our bar bill has ever been over $30 (we do bring 2 bottles of wine), even on a 12 day. I don't want to pay more to subsidize others' drinking. I think the Cheers program is great. You may even be subsidizing my cruise by purchasing it. I'm sure my rates would be higher if they didn't make so much profit on alcohol. Thanks!

 

I sure am in agreement with you. We bring our 2 bottles of wine which are mostly for me because my husband doesn't care for wine. I'll have a couple of Mocha Chocolate get-aways at the Plat/Diamond party, and also my free drink on a sea day. I might also buy a Mocha Chocolate Get-away 2 or 3 times, but that's a low bar bill.

This is how I feel about drinking at concerts. :) If I've paid 140 bucks for a ticket, I want to remember the show!

 

And you also hope you don't have a bunch of drunks sitting by you that will spoil it for you.

It would seem you traded yours in for a different shade of rose.

Bad attempt at humor since I am not a wine drinker. Keep drinking the Carnival Kool- Aid, while I will broaden my horizons and compare what other lines offer and make an educated choice as to what is best for me. Sometimes it may be Carnival and other times it will be others.

Overall you have to look at the total cost of everything. When I think of booking a cruise I add in specialty dining costs, gratuity, drink packages, cruise cost, etc. I always look at the final line.

 

For instance I had a cruise booked in March 2020 on NCL Escape with a drink package in a balcony for $3200 for 2 people. Royal Caribbean Harmony I did a balcony for $2100 and adding in the drink package would make it $2800. Most comparable ship with Carnival would be the Horizon, which is an 8 day cruise rather than a 7 day. For a cove balcony it is $3172.80, and that doesn't include the drink package, which adds another $900.

 

So that gets me a 8 day on the Horizon for $4000, NCL Escape for $3200 and the Harmony for $2800 - we booked the Harmony. There is a 6 day on the Horizon that comes out about equal to the Harmony, but it is a day shorter.

 

 

Not to mention other lines are getting better pricing per day for their drink packages. We were able to do the Allure for $45 a day, which for their drinks averaging between $12-$15, it was a no brainer to buy the package.