Are drinks packages worth the money?

[MelyNeil]

Hi I'm looking for advise on should we pre purchase a drink package ? It's almost the cost of another cruise. We are cruising on NCL Spirit doing an 11 day Mediterranean & Greece tour in Aug. We like to have a couple of glasses wine/beer but not huge drinkers. We will be going to port most days so not wanting to be suffering hangovers when trying to explore & see as much as we can once in ports.

Any other handy tips would be greatly appreciated ;)

[Atalante]

I suggest looking up the itinerary and drink prices and factoring that in. I've cruised with Royal, so this may or may not be helpful with NCL, but I generally feel I break even just having a few drinks throughout the day if I can get the drink package on sale. Considerations could include:

How many long port days vs. sea days do you have? (you will drink a bit more on sea days, even just the odd drink by the pool or wandering around may add up)

Would you have a breakfast cocktail? Pre-dinner cocktail or prosecco? 1-2 of glasses of wine with dinner?

Does the package cover anything else special such as bottled water? (we generally do a 1 bottle/1 drink request at the bar to ensure we're staying hydrated, so bottled water figures into this quite a bit. They're also nice to take to the gym or on shore)

 

I was a bit floored at the cost our first cruise, but then I heard stories from my friends on how the bar bill can add up without realizing. So in a way, I figured part of what I was paying for was the peace of mind of not knowing I would have a huge tab at the end of the trip. Plus I felt less guilty about setting aside drinks I ended up not liking.

 

Hope that helps!

[sparks1093]

If you don't receive the "free drink package" promotion NCL charges $79 per day per person for their package plus 18% gratuity. If you do receive the "free drink package" promotion then you will still pay the gratuity on the $79 per day per person amount. It doesn't sound like you would receive the value from the package.

[DirtyDawg]

If you are just have, say 2 drinks each per day that's bout $15-$20 per day in booze. What is the daily price for the package from NCL?

[Scrapnana]

You say you are not huge drinkers so probably the package would not be a good deal for you. On average (depends on the costs of the drinks and the package), you need to consume at least 5-7 alcoholic drinks per day (every day including port days) to break even.

[klfrodo]

For the most part, I dislike "Is it worth it" questions,

I have no idea what your like or dislikes are. I have no idea of your financial situation.

 

Having said that, drink packages vary from cruise line to cruise line.

Some packages include every type of drink you can imagine, to include water, soda, and coffee's.

So, I may only enjoy a beer or 2 a day,, may not be worth a drink package.

I may enjoy 20 drinks a day, may be worth a drink package

May enjoy no drinks a day, but go thru 10 bottles of water, 5 coffee's, and 4 sodas, may be worth a drink package.

May be on an extremely tight budget, no drinks package

May be on an extremely tight budget but a friend gifted the drinks package

Maybe budget isn't in my vocabulary, don't drink that much, but a drink package keeps me from having to even think about it.

 

Who knows if it's "worth it" to you

[DirtyDawg]

You say you are not huge drinkers so probably the package would not be a good deal for you. On average (depends on the costs of the drinks and the package), you need to consume at least 5-7 alcoholic drinks per day (every day including port days) to break even.

 

Not only will you break even but at 5 - 7 drinks of booze per day you might even fall over and break your arm!

 

Two breaks for the price of one!:D