UBP Price Increase

[BNBR]

Believe me, $20 a day each for booze for the Bride and I on a cruise is a drop in the bucket...

 

Except for the extra $1,000 you paid in your cruise fare for the "free" perks ;)

[Georgie562]

Next up: Daily Service Charge

 

Then: Daily Auto Gratuities

 

For sure.

[luv2kroooz]

If you are willing to book a guarantee cabin and accept some risk with cabin location, the sailaway rates are amazing. To me spending an extra $200 per person on the 7 day cruise fare plus an additional $140 of service charges per person for alcohol just isn't worth it. That is $680 for two people to drink for "free". I have been booking sailaway last four or five cruises. Room location is usually fine and rates have never been cheaper.

 

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[PTC DAWG]

Except for the extra $1,000 you paid in your cruise fare for the "free" perks ;)

 

 

I usually see the balcony 7 day cruise prices 2-300 higher, based on me being able to pick a cabin...fairly common on many lines for a guarantee.....

 

I have to add $ 700 or so to Royal for the math to work for the Bride and I. Sometimes it does, sometimes not, choices are good.

[PTC DAWG]

If you are willing to book a guarantee cabin and accept some risk with cabin location, the sailaway rates are amazing. To me spending an extra $200 per person on the 7 day cruise fare plus an additional $140 of service charges per person for alcohol just isn't worth it. That is $680 for two people to drink for "free". I have been booking sailaway last four or five cruises. Room location is usually fine and rates have never been cheaper.

 

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Agree, great prices, I like knowing no surprises upon disembarkment...I take the SDP perk too...I know...

[littlelulu01]

If Ncl’s history the past couple years holds true, they’ll likely be increasing everything here pretty soon. They tend to decrease value of perks, increase costs in lumps- bad press off like a bandaid. Then come November they offer up some rarely available and short lived perks. Pick all 5 for any category, dsc or taxes.... to attract new bookings.

 

The fees on ubp at $20/day really isn’t a deal breaker. Out of pocket non perk ubp at this point is only a good deal for those who can afford a new liver afterwards but $20/day for booze isn’t a bad deal for most on a cruise. Funny how the service fees on the packages at this point have pretty much morphed into just an extra charge. I suspect the bill will soon say something akin to the Jimmy Johns receipt that flat out states delivery fee is not a tip and no portion goes to the delivery person.

 

I’d rather the option to purchase items like lobster and king crab instead of a free specialty dining pkg with surf and turf that’s steak and shrimp in their finest venues. I hope they don’t decide the majority of customers now think Cagneys is a great burger joint instead of a steak house. The cutbacks I’ve seen since the free at sea offerings to everyone lead me to wonder how far they will go to “save” us thousands off list price before trashing the brand name.

[DZcreature]

Of course 20 dollars per day per person is a good deal for unlimited drinks. What I take issue with is that they keep raising what percentage they think a tip should be. They used to add 15% for a tip on drinks and services, and often I would add a little extra. Then they raised it to 18% which I was okay with. Now it is 20% whether the service is good or not. It is a little bit ridiculous. It will keep most be people from giving any extra that's for sure.

[mianmike]

If you are willing to book a guarantee cabin and accept some risk with cabin location, the sailaway rates are amazing. To me spending an extra $200 per person on the 7 day cruise fare plus an additional $140 of service charges per person for alcohol just isn't worth it. That is $680 for two people to drink for "free". I have been booking sailaway last four or five cruises. Room location is usually fine and rates have never been cheaper.

 

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Agreed, $97 a day for 2 people to drink "free" is a little steep. When did the "free" not be free anymore?

[Aesop081]

If you select ANY perk you have to pay more. For instance, MX category cabins receive no promotional add-ons. If you want a perk you must book a higher priced cabin to receive the perk. Nothing is free with NCL.

 

I'd go further on this. Nothing is free...ever with ANY cruise line. The cruise fare is usually a loss leader for most of the lower (below suite) fares. The nickle and dime, "fees", "tips", specialty restaurants, yoga classes etc, and extras are what they count on to make their money. Ships costing a billion bucks aren't cheap to own or run. The new big ones get about 12 inches to the gallon. They burn almost a 1000 tons...that's TONS of fuel an hour when cruising at 21 knots. So somewhere, some how they're going to get your money.

 

Take a main line cruise at main line pricing and you will pay extra every step of the way. Pay the big bucks for the cruise lines that charge nothing for "most" items. (e.g. Viking Sea) and you pay up front.

 

Just be used to what the end VISA bill will be when you get home. Understand it, accept it, and book again.

[Medtech2]

This makes zero sense to me. You cruised with NCL in a quest for better loyalty perks, but once you became eligible for those perks, you no longer want them?

 

Based on that logic, I understand your desire for Carnival. And don’t ask me what that means... as I have no idea.

 

If you read the whole sentence what I said was there is no reason to keep cruising to get to the next level. When we began cruising it was easy enough to reach a level with perks worth having, such as the free laundry and specialty meals. I never said I did not want those perks anymore. And yes, I did enjoy Carnival’s drink package much better, with its $50/drink limit where you could actually try something expensive, and its specialty coffees every morning, along with bottles of Gatorade to take on shore. If I looked at just price I wouldn’t be buying any package. What I want is the freedom to enjoy tasting different drinks without the added bother and the freedom to not finish one I don’t like and order a different one, without thinking about added cost, in much the same way prepaying gratuities makes people stress less about their cruise. Whether they prepaid or didn’t the cost is the same but psychologically they feel more relaxed that evrything is taken care of ahead of time....

[Two Wheels Only]

And yes, I did enjoy Carnival’s drink package much better, with its $50/drink limit where you could actually try something expensive...

I believe that Carnival is now a $20/ drink limit.....

 

"The following beverages are available within the CHEERS! program:

 

All spirits, including cocktails, cognacs, whiskies and other spirits, as well as beer (including self-serve beer stations) and wine and champagne by the glass, with a $20 USD or lower menu price per serving"

[Medtech2]

This makes no sense to me. Did you get to platinum for the status rather than the perks? Because now that you are platinum you get the perks on every single sailing. Go to Carnival and you won't have the free laundry, free dinners, etc.

 

There is no incentive to keep cruising exclusively NCL to get to Platinum Plus. I don’t know why people are latching onto the first part of the sentence without reading the rest. It was a simple comment alluding to the fact that more and more NCL is de-incentivizing the desire to stick with them exclusively, including pricing their drink package at a ridiculous level.

 

And this is coming from a former gung-ho NCL cheerleader. I have been a walking NCL commercial for the last 8 years.

[Shidah]

I must be one of the few, paid full price for the drink package on two occasions for the third person in our room. And it was still a good deal for them.

 

It’s well documented on the Carnival board that even though their package previously covered drinks to $50, they did not offer anything close to that $ amount onboard. Some feel with the change that Carnival may now start to stock higher priced items.

 

And I still say you could give me a free cruise on Carnival and I would pass. Vacations are too important me to waste my time.

[Seadog & Sea Hag]

This all makes the Princess alcohol package sound good

 

 

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[Casino Comp Chick]

Someone had to pay for the new paper straws.

;p

[newmexicoNita]

April, June, October, and December seem to be the popular months for these NCL increases. (DSC, service charge %, etc.)

 

I wonder what we'll see in 2 months...:confused:

I don't want to even think about it!!!! :eek:

[newmexicoNita]

Not to mention pretty horrible drink package with not much of anything included as compared to other cruise line's drink packages.

I agree about the choices. They should certainly include specialty coffees. I do think the selection of alcohol choices is just fine. Some lines have 2 tiered plans. At least with:loudcry: NCL we can choose to pay only the difference between $15 max drinks and ones over that. Now, lest's hope they don't change it to only 2 brands of everything.

[Cruisercl]

It's not quite the same thing, but I know that stores here have to buy from a distributor. There's a beer up in Minnesota that my wife likes, and that you can buy at Total Wine up there, so I asked the local Total Wine to order it and they said they can't, because it isn't carried by their distributor. When I pointed out that the Total Wine stores in Minnesota carry it, he said that didn't matter, because it's illegal for them to ship alcohol across state lines, only distributors can do that.

I'll be in Miami in Dec, what can I bring you? :cool:

[TheDougOut]

There is no incentive to keep cruising exclusively NCL to get to Platinum Plus.

 

 

What was your incentive to cruise exclusively NCL to get to Platinum?

[BNBR]

It's not quite the same thing, but I know that stores here have to buy from a distributor. There's a beer up in Minnesota that my wife likes, and that you can buy at Total Wine up there, so I asked the local Total Wine to order it and they said they can't, because it isn't carried by their distributor. When I pointed out that the Total Wine stores in Minnesota carry it, he said that didn't matter, because it's illegal for them to ship alcohol across state lines, only distributors can do that.

 

To elaborate on this just a little, not only do stores in Florida have to buy from a distributor, but distributors aren't allowed to compete with the same beers. Meaning, you can only buy Bud from 1 distributor in your zone. Miller from another. Etc.

 

HOWEVER. I believe the original question was if you can buy directly from the manufacturers (brewers). That answer is "yes" - as brewers can operate their own tasting rooms and sell their own products without using a distributor in the middle.

[4774Papa]

What was your incentive to cruise exclusively NCL to get to Platinum?

Platinum benefits are not so wonderful, a free meal with wine at Le Bistro or Cagney's and another without wine at La Cucina or Churrasco. Also, a free bag of laundry.

 

We are Elite on Celebrity and Diamond on Royal C. Both cruise lines have a great free happy hour that for us remove any need for a drinks package or purchasing significant alcoholic drinks.

[Gampy1967]

Someone had to pay for the new paper straws.

;p

 

And pay for for the drug rehab for the coke sniffing sea turtles.

[NLH Arizona]

Platinum benefits are not so wonderful, a free meal with wine at Le Bistro or Cagney's and another without wine at La Cucina or Churrasco. Also, a free bag of laundry.

 

We are Elite on Celebrity and Diamond on Royal C. Both cruise lines have a great free happy hour that for us remove any need for a drinks package or purchasing significant alcoholic drinks.

I'm also Elite on Celebrity and think both have good perks, however, if someone wants to have a drink before or after Celebrity's happy hour, NCL's drink package comes in quite handy, whereas you would have to pay for them on Celebrity.

 

Also, as one who only eats in the specialty restaurants on NCL, the two free dinners come in quite handy.

[rtkenmore]

I'd go further on this. Nothing is free...ever with ANY cruise line. The cruise fare is usually a loss leader for most of the lower (below suite) fares. The nickle and dime, "fees", "tips", specialty restaurants, yoga classes etc, and extras are what they count on to make their money. Ships costing a billion bucks aren't cheap to own or run. The new big ones get about 12 inches to the gallon. They burn almost a 1000 tons...that's TONS of fuel an hour when cruising at 21 knots. So somewhere, some how they're going to get your money.

 

Take a main line cruise at main line pricing and you will pay extra every step of the way. Pay the big bucks for the cruise lines that charge nothing for "most" items. (e.g. Viking Sea) and you pay up front.

 

Just be used to what the end VISA bill will be when you get home. Understand it, accept it, and book again.

 

Where are you getting your info? 1000 tons an hour in fuel?? A quick Google search shows shows research that puts this number closer to 250 tons a DAY... Not 1000 per hour.

 

RCCL's Freedom of the Seas only hold just over 3500 metric tons of fuel. By your figures, they could travel for 3.5 hours before needing to stop for gas. :-/

[beaucajun]

Where are you getting your info? 1000 tons an hour in fuel?? A quick Google search shows shows research that puts this number closer to 250 tons a DAY... Not 1000 per hour.

 

RCCL's Freedom of the Seas only hold just over 3500 metric tons of fuel. By your figures, they could travel for 3.5 hours before needing to stop for gas. :-/

 

Maybe he doesn't know the difference between tons and pounds. It should only be 10 tons per hour.