NCL - Wine package?

[Cheshire Lady]

Hi. Sailing on Spirit next Feb. Just wondered if NCL offer a wine package? Searched on their website but can't find anything :confused:

[4cats1house]

This is from our recent Pearl cruise in October.

 

From what I have read on CC, most ships offer something similar to this.

viva vino.docx

[katiepe]

We were on the Spirit just this past October 25 and yes there is a wine package. see the previous post for the list.

The Wine Package table was set up in the Atrium exactly opposite where where boarded the ship.

We got the mid price one and to be honest I wish I had gone with the cheaper one mostly because I didnt read the list properly and thought I could only choose from the middle list-the Aficianado. I actually like some of the cheaper ones better to be honest

[coffeecat]

Maybe someone can chime in, but I bought this previously when the ship was still in port (upon boarding) and I believe had to pay sale's tax. You might want to hold off a few hours and purchase when out at sea. The wine package is a great deal!

 

Have a fun cruise!

Coffeecat

[AussieKathy]

Usually on the first day you can get 20% of 6 or more bottles picked from wine list.

[Carinthalas]

The packages come in 3 levels at 3 sizes.

 

4, 6 or 8 bottles are the sizes.

 

We had the 4 bottle enthusiast package for $88, there is also the 15% gratuity for serving goes on top of this and I remember the charge being $101 for the 4 bottles.

 

All of the bottles where very good.

 

You can also buy more of the wine packages as the cruise went on, but only in incremenets of 4, 6 or 8 bottles (i.e you could not buy another 2 if you had already had the 4 to make it a 6)

 

This was on the Spirit this year. We will be doing this again for our Xmas cruise unless they have the All in clusive drinks pacakge on board the Spirit which they are currently trialing on other vessels.

[don't-use-real-name]

Is the 20% or so discount still currently available ?

 

-AND- the biggie - The $15.00 corkage fee INCLUDED in the purchase of

wine directly from NCL. This would be the tie breaker for buying this way !

[rochelle_s]

Hello all,

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.....but....

 

When we boarded the Jade on February 13, 2013 we had planned to purchase the 8 bottle package to start out. We boarded in Civitavecchia and did not see anywhere in the boarding area to purchase these packages. We did however see a table set up in the buffet area for this purpose.

 

We did not see the package that has been mentioned here and that we had reviewed online prior to our sail date. We asked about this package and were told that it was no longer available and that it had ended on the cruise immediately before ours. At that point we were not only disappointed but also felt that some type of notice should have been given or a phasing out done.

 

Some might feel otherwise, but given the vast difference in what is now offered and what was available I do think people need to be made aware.

 

I can't find the paperwork at the moment so I am going on memory only. If I recall correctly what is now offered are 6 or 8 bottle packages. The list was not extensive. I did not see anything on offer under $30 and the lower end seemed to be more at the $40 dollar mark.

 

That being said the old package of 8 bottles was $176. Now if you chose 8 bottles at the $40 price point, less the 20%, plus the 15% gratuity, you will be paying around $300 for a wine package. This equates to a package costing 50% more than what was previously offered and posted about here...something many might like to know before hand.

 

Personally at that price point I would select my bottles a la carte and with the menu in mind.

 

This is not to say that all wines on the ship have increased in price. There are certainly still less expensive wines available on the ship. They are just not part of the package that is on offer. At least not for out two sailings on the Jade (Feb 13 & 23).

 

If I find the list I will post it here.

 

Rochelle

[don't-use-real-name]

Rochelle:

 

Thanks for heads-up on the good news/bad news.

The wine packages does that INCLUDE THE CORKAGE FEE ?

That is all that is necessary to pirate beverages anyway one can.

[missy428]

Hello all,

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.....but....

 

When we boarded the Jade on February 13, 2013 we had planned to purchase the 8 bottle package to start out. We boarded in Civitavecchia and did not see anywhere in the boarding area to purchase these packages. We did however see a table set up in the buffet area for this purpose.

 

We did not see the package that has been mentioned here and that we had reviewed online prior to our sail date. We asked about this package and were told that it was no longer available and that it had ended on the cruise immediately before ours. At that point we were not only disappointed but also felt that some type of notice should have been given or a phasing out done.

 

Some might feel otherwise, but given the vast difference in what is now offered and what was available I do think people need to be made aware.

 

I can't find the paperwork at the moment so I am going on memory only. If I recall correctly what is now offered are 6 or 8 bottle packages. The list was not extensive. I did not see anything on offer under $30 and the lower end seemed to be more at the $40 dollar mark.

 

That being said the old package of 8 bottles was $176. Now if you chose 8 bottles at the $40 price point, less the 20%, plus the 15% gratuity, you will be paying around $300 for a wine package. This equates to a package costing 50% more than what was previously offered and posted about here...something many might like to know before hand.

 

Personally at that price point I would select my bottles a la carte and with the menu in mind.

 

This is not to say that all wines on the ship have increased in price. There are certainly still less expensive wines available on the ship. They are just not part of the package that is on offer. At least not for out two sailings on the Jade (Feb 13 & 23).

 

If I find the list I will post it here.

 

Rochelle

 

Rochelle, where were you sailing to? I think I read that is just not available on European cruises?

[missy428]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1810037

 

Here is the thread where people who have just returned from US crushes where still able to get the Viva Vino package

[meltingmoments]

Hello all,

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.....but....

 

When we boarded the Jade on February 13, 2013 we had planned to purchase the 8 bottle package to start out. We boarded in Civitavecchia and did not see anywhere in the boarding area to purchase these packages. We did however see a table set up in the buffet area for this purpose.

 

We did not see the package that has been mentioned here and that we had reviewed online prior to our sail date. We asked about this package and were told that it was no longer available and that it had ended on the cruise immediately before ours. At that point we were not only disappointed but also felt that some type of notice should have been given or a phasing out done.

 

Some might feel otherwise, but given the vast difference in what is now offered and what was available I do think people need to be made aware.

 

I can't find the paperwork at the moment so I am going on memory only. If I recall correctly what is now offered are 6 or 8 bottle packages. The list was not extensive. I did not see anything on offer under $30 and the lower end seemed to be more at the $40 dollar mark.

 

That being said the old package of 8 bottles was $176. Now if you chose 8 bottles at the $40 price point, less the 20%, plus the 15% gratuity, you will be paying around $300 for a wine package. This equates to a package costing 50% more than what was previously offered and posted about here...something many might like to know before hand.

 

Personally at that price point I would select my bottles a la carte and with the menu in mind.

 

This is not to say that all wines on the ship have increased in price. There are certainly still less expensive wines available on the ship. They are just not part of the package that is on offer. At least not for out two sailings on the Jade (Feb 13 & 23).

 

If I find the list I will post it here.

 

Rochelle

 

Thanks for the heads-up!!

This doesn't bode well for our Summer sailing on the Jade! :(

We felt the wine package was a good buy ( for us ) on our Epic trip last Summer!

[glittergal1]

Yes I too was expecting to purchase a wine package on my Jade cruise next week so now I am most annoyed

[kikki21]

Have a look at the wine list in the NCL Bon Voyage gifts, it may still be workable to order bottles off there or at least see what is on offer. I would have been interested to order 4 bottles of wine but it looks like you may as well carry on a few bottles and pay the $15 corkage.

 

Yes I too was expecting to purchase a wine package on my Jade cruise next week so now I am most annoyed

[missy428]

I emailed my cruise consultant and this is what she said:

 

"The details will be available aboard the cruise ship. There will be wine packages available to look into and purchase as soon as you board and walk into the main area of the ship."

[snowskisunsea]

Sailing 10/2/13 on the NCL Spirit, and wondered if the package is still an option (couldn't quite tell about US vs. Europe)? First cruise for me, and first trip to Europe EVER for both mom and I... so want to do it right!... (and if I can purchase things a little bit discretely / without mom seeing the price tag... well, all the better! :)

 

Any other tips appreciated too.

 

Thanks!

[Demonyte]

Sailing 10/2/13 on the NCL Spirit, and wondered if the package is still an option (couldn't quite tell about US vs. Europe)? First cruise for me, and first trip to Europe EVER for both mom and I... so want to do it right!... (and if I can purchase things a little bit discretely / without mom seeing the price tag... well, all the better! :)

 

There are two ways to get wine packages:

 

First is the "old" way of purchasing 4, 6 or 8 bottles for a fixed price per bottle by the chosen level (there are three different levels). You can find find the list and details in this post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38654811&postcount=9

 

The second one is the new "all you can drink" package that includes fountain sodas, draft and can/bottle beers to certain limits and wines that are under $10 per glass, this package ("Corks and Caps") costs $44pp per day plus 15% gratuity (plus possible taxes, especially if sailing from Barcelona).

 

The of course there is the full alcohol package (UBP, Ultimate Beverage Package) which also includes hard liqour up to $8.50 per drink on top of what's included in the previous package, the base price for that is $49pp per day. Also note that if purchasing either of the last two packages requires all adults in the cabin to buy it so if there is someone not drinking much, they are not that good choices.

[KeithJenner]

Sailing 10/2/13 on the NCL Spirit, and wondered if the package is still an option (couldn't quite tell about US vs. Europe)? First cruise for me, and first trip to Europe EVER for both mom and I... so want to do it right!... (and if I can purchase things a little bit discretely / without mom seeing the price tag... well, all the better! :)

 

Any other tips appreciated too.

 

Thanks!

 

I assume you are asking because of the posts above that suggested that the Viva Vino package isn't now available in Europe.

 

If so, I can confirm that it was available on the Epic in the Med earlier this year, after the above post. I'm not sure what was going on with the Jade, but its the only post I've ever seen saying that the package wasn't available.

 

I'd be very surprised if you can't get it on the Spirit.

[karoo]

I assume you are asking because of the posts above that suggested that the Viva Vino package isn't now available in Europe.

 

If so, I can confirm that it was available on the Epic in the Med earlier this year, after the above post. I'm not sure what was going on with the Jade, but its the only post I've ever seen saying that the package wasn't available.

 

I'd be very surprised if you can't get it on the Spirit.

 

 

It also depends on the length of your cruise. On the Jade in January it was 8 or 10 ( the cruise was 11days.) On the Epic in July you could get the 4, 6 or 8 package. (The length of cruise was 7 days.)

[rochelle_s]

I was on the Jade in February/March.

 

You could purchase a wine package but it was not the one available as listed in previous posts. The package price was higher, if I recall correctly around 50% higher.

 

Rochelle

[jdvmd]

To the poster above who asked about the corkage fee when buying wine from NCL: There is no corkage fee. The fee only applies to you bringing wine onboard from an outside source. Anything you purchase from NCL will be charged the 15 percent automatic gratuity but there is no additional corkage.

[meltingmoments]

The Viva Vino package was available on our sailing on 3rd August on the Jade. It was set up in the Atrium café and was giving a discount of 20%. I bought 4 bottles of decent white........the name escapes me right now, but it was a Pinot Grigio........and paid $101. A single bottle of the same wine was around $29 if I remember correctly. It was advertised in the Freestyle Daily and day 1, 2 3 4 and 5 offered 20% off. Day 6 offered 25% :)

[warrior69]

Thinking of taking Norwegian Dawn cruise from Tampa-Western Caribbean-Boston in April. Interested in getting info from anyone who's been on the Dawn. Particularly interested in comments on their handicap-accessible cabins and how helpful they are to passengers with limited mobility.