Coffee beverages on UBP

[erocrobro]

We are booked on the Getaway with the UBP promo. The fine print says it does not include "select Lavazza coffee beverages." Which ones are included? I know you can always get plain coffee in the buffet, but I enjoy lattes and mochas. Looking at the menu, they are well under the $11 limit, so are those types of drinks included?

[hpecorari]

We are booked on the Getaway with the UBP promo. The fine print says it does not include "select Lavazza coffee beverages." Which ones are included? I know you can always get plain coffee in the buffet, but I enjoy lattes and mochas. Looking at the menu, they are well under the $11 limit, so are those types of drinks included?

 

No, just normal everyday coffee

 

Harriet

[hawkeyetlse]

We are booked on the Getaway with the UBP promo. The fine print says it does not include "select Lavazza coffee beverages." Which ones are included?

I think what they mean is that all Lavazza coffee drinks are "select", not that only some "selected" Lavazza coffee drinks are concerned by the exclusion. They are all excluded, even though they all cost well under $11.

[kirsty_r]

No, just normal everyday coffee

 

Harriet

Very true - only drinks, no speciality coffees at all in the package, although I think an espresso martini is included... ask for the espresso without the martini ;)

[kayjaypea42]

Anyone else baffled by that? Not that I'm complaining too loudly; I'd rather have a 10 tiki drink comped than a 4 dollar coffee drink, but...it seems the coffee drinks would cost less to make than the tiki drinks. How come they're not included? Strange.

[hpecorari]

Very true - only drinks, no speciality coffees at all in the package, although I think an espresso martini is included... ask for the espresso without the martini ;)

 

LOL or ask for the espresso with the martini on the side!

 

Harriet

[hpecorari]

Anyone else baffled by that? Not that I'm complaining too loudly; I'd rather have a 10 tiki drink comped than a 4 dollar coffee drink, but...it seems the coffee drinks would cost less to make than the tiki drinks. How come they're not included? Strange.

 

Yep, it is strange.....just like bottled water is not included, yet, that costs less than actual drinks do.

 

Harriet

[timmo44]

I believe the speciality coffees are not included because they take too long to make. If 2000 people were all entitled to free ones, they'd have to have another 20 baristas + machines on board to cater for everyone.

 

Think about Starbucks etc where they have teams of at least three people to serve and make coffee in a small shop and you still have to queue most of the time. Then imagine it was free within the confines of a ship with thousands of people wanting/entitled to them. It would be difficult, require lots of queuing and would result in a lot of compaints.

[hawkeyetlse]

I believe the speciality coffees are not included because they take too long to make. If 2000 people were all entitled to free ones, they'd have to have another 20 baristas + machines on board to cater for everyone.

Espresso drinks are included in the unlimited beverage package on several other cruise lines and they apparently manage to serve everyone. On my last Princess cruise, there was also only one bar where you could walk up and order espresso drinks. But yes, they had more staff (3-4 baristas) and a large machine capable of making several drinks at a time.

 

You are probably right that NCL has more people with the UBP on every sailing than other cruise lines at this point, so there would be pretty long lines all the time at the espresso bar.

[LrgPizza]

That stuff isn't included because it's basically an alcohol package. Maybe it should be called the Ultimate Alcohol Package so that people didn't get confused.

[MisterFidgetpants]

Are any spiked coffees includes? Plain coffee but "Mexican" or "Irish" style?

[hawkeyetlse]

Are any spiked coffees includes? Plain coffee but "Mexican" or "Irish" style?

It may depend on the ship, but most of the bars don't have any coffee at all. You can bring a cup of coffee from the buffet or somewhere else and order a shot of something to pour into it. I don't know if they will do anything more complicated than that (i.e. take your coffee and use it as part of a cocktail recipe).

[hansolosmom]

Anyone else baffled by that? Not that I'm complaining too loudly; I'd rather have a 10 tiki drink comped than a 4 dollar coffee drink, but...it seems the coffee drinks would cost less to make than the tiki drinks. How come they're not included? Strange.

 

I was really surprised by this because when we did Celebrity and Royal their version of the UBP included coffee drinks and bottled water. Even better is they offer a non-alcoholic version which I got for my kids because they could get smoothies in addition to water (they don't drink soda)

 

Do they offer any kind of coffee card like Princess for specialty coffees? We're taking my mom on and she likes her cappuccinos and lattes.

[MisterFidgetpants]

It may depend on the ship, but most of the bars don't have any coffee at all. You can bring a cup of coffee from the buffet or somewhere else and order a shot of something to pour into it. I don't know if they will do anything more complicated than that (i.e. take your coffee and use it as part of a cocktail recipe).

Thanks for the tip. We are used to ordering these "international" coffees on Royal Caribbean in the dining room with desert. Was hoping it would be available in MDR on NCL.

[hawkeyetlse]

Oh, in the dining room they have access to everything (regular coffee, espresso, alcohol, mixers) so they should be able to make whatever you want. Whether they are willing to, and how/how much you will be charged for it, may vary depending on your server or whoever they pass the order on to.

[punkincc]

Thanks for the tip. We are used to ordering these "international" coffees on Royal Caribbean in the dining room with desert. Was hoping it would be available in MDR on NCL.

 

While an "international coffee" may not be available at the pool deck bar, I would think that any restaurant would be able to handle this simple request. They all have coffee, right? And they serve coctails, right? In fact, I am pretty sure we have ordered these with our dessert before. And, if memory serves, I would swear they have a few on the bar menus at least at some of the bars.

[MisterFidgetpants]

While an "international coffee" may not be available at the pool deck bar, I would think that any restaurant would be able to handle this simple request. They all have coffee, right? And they serve coctails, right? In fact, I am pretty sure we have ordered these with our dessert before. And, if memory serves, I would swear they have a few on the bar menus at least at some of the bars.

 

Would this be a part of UBP or do I just order a shot of what I want on UBP and dump it into coffee? DOesn't make a huge difference either way I suppose, but do like to know "the way". Thanks!

[Cauzneffct]

I believe the speciality coffees are not included because they take too long to make. If 2000 people were all entitled to free ones, they'd have to have another 20 baristas + machines on board to cater for everyone.

 

Think about Starbucks etc where they have teams of at least three people to serve and make coffee in a small shop and you still have to queue most of the time. Then imagine it was free within the confines of a ship with thousands of people wanting/entitled to them. It would be difficult, require lots of queuing and would result in a lot of compaints.

 

Do the coffees take longer to make than mixed or frozen drinks? Legitimately curious as to whether NCL has a lot of drinks/mixers pre-mixed or if they make them individually or in small batches.

 

Also, not to hijack the thread, but does anyone know what type of coffee is included with the in-room coffee machines? Is it Lavazza? Thanks!

[hhfarmer]

It is an interesting question. I have been reviewing numerous packages from different lines and almost all of the others include specialty coffee, water, and in some higher level packages even smoothies. Price wise they are all similar. Might be time to write a note to NCL to ask why.... might be as simple as they had never thought to include the beverages or something more realistic as they make more money by charging extra for coffee.

[rvsullivan]

It may depend on the ship, but most of the bars don't have any coffee at all. You can bring a cup of coffee from the buffet or somewhere else and order a shot of something to pour into it. I don't know if they will do anything more complicated than that (i.e. take your coffee and use it as part of a cocktail recipe).

 

Over the past four or five years we've been able to get coffee/alcohol drinks in every bar on each NCL ship we've been on. I drink a fair amount of Irish Coffee and have always been able to get it. Never had to fetch my own coffee.

[punkincc]

Do the coffees take longer to make than mixed or frozen drinks? Legitimately curious as to whether NCL has a lot of drinks/mixers pre-mixed or if they make them individually or in small batches.

 

Also, not to hijack the thread, but does anyone know what type of coffee is included with the in-room coffee machines? Is it Lavazza? Thanks!

 

How long it takes to make a drink has nothing to do with whether or not lattes, expresso, etc is included in the UBP. As someone noted, the UBP is an alcohol package. People who want their am expresso will still buy it, so why should they add it to the UBP and miss out on that revenue?;).

 

Just watch a bartender making a mojito and you can see how labor intensive they are. Each one made with fresh ingredients like fruit by hand.

 

As far as pre mix drinks, when they dumbed down the drink menus a while back, I suspected that those 5 or 6 martinis on the menu "live" in a pitcher in the fridge and they just add the alcohol and shake. Same way some bars will have a jug of margarita base and just add tequila. But, the cranberry juice, etc in most martinis comes from a carton anyway, so probably not much difference.

[erocrobro]

Thanks! I like the idea of just getting a coffee and then getting a shot of Bailey's for it.

[sail7seas]

Any chance I'll be able to get a decaf black iced coffee somewhere on Dawn?

 

[paulh84]

I was disappointed espresso drinks aren't included but I'll try to order a Baileys or whiskey to mask the taste if the cheap stuff is bad.

 

Bottled water not being included is going to be a tough one for us. On RCL we were ordering a bottle with nearly each round of drinks during the day. Had we not had their drink package I would imagine we would have spent another $200 between waters and coffee between the two of us.

[erocrobro]

 

I found this on an Internet search. I'm not sure if this particular bar menu is available on all ships or not, but it would seem that these drinks would be included since they are from the bar and not Lavazza. At least that's what I'm hoping. I will probably just have to pay for my morning latte, but these will be nice in the evenings and after dinner.