Free drinks or food which would you choose

[Family Travel Story]

With NCL offering free ultimate dining or drinks for the cruise which would you take on a seven or nine 9 nighter? Either way it's a huge bonus but certainly puts them above carnival and Royal.

 

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[LrgPizza]

I look at it this way... You get free food anyway, since so many dining options are included. The UBP is by far a better value for those who consume even a few drinks per day.

[triptolemus]

Drinks seems to be the better value.

 

There are plenty of options for free food on the ship. There are just one or two options for a free drink.

[roger001]

Going to totally depend on how much you drink. Then just do the math. Figure drinks averaging about $7 to $8 (beer about $5.50).

[MsTabbyKats]

We took the OBC because:

 

1. We only eat the "included food" (it's not free...it's included with the cost of your fare)

2. We don't drink

3. We go on excursions and DH is always buying me jewelry

 

Only you can decide what's a better value for you.

 

You can always get the OBC and use it towards various restaurants, some drinks...and other things...so you won't be tied down.

[hawkeyetlse]

Forget about the promotion for a moment. If you drank as much as you wanted, how much would your bar bill be after 9 days? If you could go to as many specialty restaurants as you wanted, how much would your dining bill be at the end of the cruise? Whichever one of these numbers is higher, that is the offer you should choose. If neither number is higher than the OBC they are offering for your cabin category, then take the OBC.

[DeltaOne]

We took the beverage package.

 

We like to have a few drinks each day, it was pretty easy to give up $200 OBC for free drinks. For the two of us that works out to $12.50 per day, or about 1.5 drinks per day (eight day cruise).

 

I'm sure we'll have more than 1.5 drinks per day. We're envisioning...a late morning Bloody Mary. A nice frozen drink after lunch. A before and after dinner drink. You get the idea...

[waxing witch]

we don't drink alcohol, so we really aren't considering the drinks option (we always bring some sodas to keep in the room and mostly drink included options). i added up the cost of the all the likely upgraded dining options that we would use and it adds up to $190 and DOES NOT include the a la carte options, which we would definitely want. for us the OBC makes the most sense. we'll likely use it to pay for things on the ship - like the a la carte options - and maybe an excursion. it's important to do the math based on your historical eating/drinking/spending habits.

[GeezerCouple]

we don't drink alcohol, so we really aren't considering the drinks option (we always bring some sodas to keep in the room and mostly drink included options). i added up the cost of the all the likely upgraded dining options that we would use and it adds up to $190 and DOES NOT include the a la carte options, which we would definitely want. for us the OBC makes the most sense. we'll likely use it to pay for things on the ship - like the a la carte options - and maybe an excursion. it's important to do the math based on your historical eating/drinking/spending habits.

 

The UDP *includes* the choices that usually cost extra, with the exception of Cagneys, where there is a charge for an *extra entree*, but not for the "extra charge" entrees.

 

I've seen FAQs that state that is the situation for Le Bistro also, but as of New Years, there were NO extra charges at Le Bistro.

However, there is also a FAQ stating this is the case for both Cagneys and Le Bistro.

(Okay, to be technically correct, the extra charges, for both extra-charge entrees and for extra entrees, were listed on the "bill", but then ALL of the costs were "zero'd out" by the UDP.)

 

We ate at Le Bistro several times, and never paid an extra cent, no matter what we ordered. And this included, in one fine meal at New Year's Eve, an "extra cost entree" as the entree, and an "extra cost entree" as an appetizer. All cancelled out by the UDP.

 

We'd only get the UDP if we had to choose, because our drinking is mostly ordering from among the higher-cost bottles of wine, which aren't included on any sort of special or package.

We aren't big drinkers, so we tend to have one bottle last two meals, unless we are dining with others.

For the rare cocktail, we just pay.

 

And because we hate Pepsi products :(, we have to bring on a duffel full of Diet Coke, and replenish at various ports.

I guess if NCL doesn't want to SELL us Coca Cola products, so be it. That forces us to bring it with us, at a much lower cost ;)

 

In the future, if we have an extra day in port before sailing, we'll check a local wine store to see if we can get anything nice that would be a better price point when we include the $15 corkage. I suspect that will be easy, given their pricing of bottled wines.

But at least they had some selections we very much enjoyed :)

 

GeezerCouple

[ncklhaus]

We took the Beverage Package. With the 2 adults and 1 child it is valued at over $900. Last cruise we purchased it ourselves. This time we only needed purchase the Dining Package at $119 per adult. Totally worth it for us.

We like to try the specialty restaurants and can always hit the free restaurants and buffet along the way as well. The Beverage Package is so worth it for us. We enjoy the alcoholic beverages as well as sodas.

[aquarianne11]

We picked the free UDP when we booked 2 weeks ago. Our daughter is also included in the free UDP. Since the Illusionarium (Cirque Show) is also included for the first night, we felt that it was the best option for our family.

 

DH does not drink alcohol and I only drink very little, maybe once or twice during a 7 day cruise.

[Family Travel Story]

We took the Beverage Package. With the 2 adults and 1 child it is valued at over $900. Last cruise we purchased it ourselves. This time we only needed purchase the Dining Package at $119 per adult. Totally worth it for us.

We like to try the specialty restaurants and can always hit the free restaurants and buffet along the way as well. The Beverage Package is so worth it for us. We enjoy the alcoholic beverages as well as sodas.

 

Does the $119 per adult allow you to go to a specialty restaurant each night also what do you do if you have a child do they need a special plan.

 

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[GeezerCouple]

Does the $119 per adult allow you to go to a specialty restaurant each night also what do you do if you have a child do they need a special plan.

 

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Yes, every night if you wish... that's the point :)

If you aren't going to eat at a specialty every night or most nights, then it might be less expensive to pay each time.

(To double check the "break even" number of specialty meals, look at the pricing for each specialty restaurant, as they aren't all the same. And then look at whether you are likely to order more than one entree - except at Cagney's, where there will be an extra charge. Also note that with the UDP, there is NO extra charge for the "extra charge" entrees; the bill will be zero'd out by the UDP when you "pay".)

 

Children can eat for free at the specialties if they order from a regular menu.

And IF I remember correctly, they can order from the specialty menu for half-price. But I'm not sure what ages work for this.

 

The food was mostly very good at the specialties we went to, but we also had some great meals at the MDR on the previous cruise.

 

GeezerCouple

[titangas]

Every situation is different.

For my upcoming cruise with my 16 year old DD obviously she would not benefit at all with the UBP, especially since she doesn't even drink soda.

I doubt I would have more than 1 or 2 drinks a day.

 

We chose the UDP as we would definitely eat at Teppanyaki, Le Bistro and Cagney's at least once, so there is $160 right there. We figure with it included we will throw in Moderno and then double up on one of the others to be ahead of the $200 OBC.

 

If it was with my wife maybe we would do the UBP, but not sure as we are not big drinkers.

 

 

For our Alaska 2016 cruise, we thought the benefits of a suite, and then getting all 3 -- made the 2BR suite worthwhile.

[SissasMomE]

With NCL offering free ultimate dining or drinks for the cruise which would you take on a seven or nine 9 nighter? Either way it's a huge bonus but certainly puts them above carnival and Royal.

 

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I think the free drinks is the better value!

[Cuizer2]

With NCL offering free ultimate dining or drinks for the cruise which would you take on a seven or nine 9 nighter? Either way it's a huge bonus but certainly puts them above carnival and Royal.

 

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I would go with the free food. NCL has lots of taste extra cost restaurants (and the food taste good too).

Edited January 25, 2015 by Cuizer2

[adbnva]

the food in the specialtys is very good (much better than main dining.) we eat filets or lobster about every night. did not like the Brazilian steakhouse as much as others and will skip that this time. my husband does not drink and I might try to get my moneys worth. not a good idea.

[SissasMomE]

the food in the specialtys is very good (much better than main dining.) we eat filets or lobster about every night. did not like the Brazilian steakhouse as much as others and will skip that this time. my husband does not drink and I might try to get my moneys worth. not a good idea.

 

We sailed Getaway within a month (I think??) of the inaugural, and the food was very good. I think the closer you sail to the inaugural, the better the food is. It was much, much different from the Epic. Also, it could have been the new menus as well.

 

We usually enjoy Le Bistro, but I wasn't impressed this last time. We will probably end up skipping it.

[Daghis]

i added up the cost of the all the likely upgraded dining options that we would use and it adds up to $190 and DOES NOT include the a la carte options, which we would definitely want.

Don't forget that the UDP does give you 20% off the a la carte dining, too. That would be a bit of extra savings in your favor if you chose that option.

[noche_caliente]

With NCL offering free ultimate dining or drinks for the cruise which would you take on a seven or nine 9 nighter? Either way it's a huge bonus but certainly puts them above carnival and Royal.

 

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Book a suite and get both along with the OBC!

[bbryan5]

"The more ya booze, the better ya cruise"

 

Take the drink package :D:D:D

[soccersharon]

We took the drink package. Better value for us (family of 4).

 

 

Sent from my iPad. Typos are inevitable.

[watchdiva]

Even though we got all 3 for upcoming cruises, if I had to choose it would be the UDP. We eat all dinners in the specialty restaurants (we prefer the smaller dining venues) and on our recent Pearl cruise ate in LeBistro 4 of the 11 nights. The food was fantastic!

 

 

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[L-in-CLT]

Breakaway 12 Day cruise I had UBP and UDP. I tracked costs....we used the buffet a few times and O'Sheehan's once for lunch otherwise we used specialty restaurants. We spent about $300 on dining and about $650 on drinks. We are NOT big drinkers but the UBP was the better deal if we were being given the choice of one or the other for free.

[DevCruise]

We don't drink, so it'd be the UDP and the OBC....