POA NEW Beverage Package - open bar?

[HBCcruiser]

I saw on my NCL POA booking that they are offering a new “Hawaii Beverage Package” at $99.00+ per person, which is the same price as the UBP.  For us it would be $915.00 each. The description is very sketchy, though. When I called NCL the rep had to speak to her supervisor to get clarification. She stated that it does include alcoholic beverages, but that restrictions apply. The terms are not very clear. 😳  It will be interesting to see what will truly be included. At $99.00 plus per person I would expect more than just sodas and juices! 

[BirdTravels]

Does not appear to include any alcohol, because that is against Hawaiian law. Does include bottled water and specialty coffees (not included in other Adult beverage packages). 

 

Open bar for non-alcoholic beer. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by BirdTravels

[HBCcruiser]

2 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Does not appear to include any alcohol, because that is against Hawaiian law. Does include bottled water and specialty coffees (not included in other Adult beverage packages). 

 

Open bar for non-alcoholic beer. 

The rep said they are trying to get around the law. If you book the Hawaii trip with the new promotion it states “Open Bar” as one of the perks. (See mock booking pic on right.) This is why I called to inquire if truly an open bar. I agree, though, it seems sketchy. I will not be paying $915 per person for sodas and juice drinks! 

[TheDougOut]

It includes alcohol.  I’m questioning whether the T&C are purposely vague and more-inclusive to skirt whatever Hawaii law prevented it previously. 

 

Check out the added verbiage at the end:

 

Hawaii Beverage Package is applicable to Pride of America sailings only.
Applicable to guests 1-2 on the reservation.
Eligible guests are entitled to two beverages per person per transaction.
Includes a variety of beverages up to $15 USD retail price.
Also includes fountain soda, freshly squeezed juice, bottled water (flat and sparkling), non-alcoholic beer, and specialty coffee (specialty coffee inclusion shall be limited to dining rooms only).
Does not include: specialty coffee outside of the restaurants, room service, mini bar purchases, or vending machines.
Guest's check may reflect applicable VAT and/or taxes for certain ports or itineraries.
Guest is responsible for 20% gratuities on the retail value of the Hawaii Beverage Package ($19.80 USD per person per day) prior to cruise.
Retail value of Hawaii Beverage Package is $99.00 USD per person per day. Package price is subject to change.
The purchase of any alcoholic drinks within the Hawaii Beverage Package may, in certain individual circumstances, be restricted in accordance with Hawaii’s Intoxicating Liquor Law and applicable local rules and regulations. No substitute for package if guest cannot consume all beverages included

[HBCcruiser]

I know right? Sketchy... We don’t sail until 2020 so I’ll wait to hear what folks say about it. 

[chengkp75]

This is to bring NCL into the same classification as the dinner/sunset cruises that offer an open bar as part of the ticket price.  That is how the dinner cruises can sell unlimited drinks.  They hedge their bet by including that they can restrict alcohol purchases "in individual circumstances" in "accordance with the Intoxicating Liquor Law" which means they can cut you off at their discretion.

[HBCcruiser]

7 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

This is to bring NCL into the same classification as the dinner/sunset cruises that offer an open bar as part of the ticket price.  That is how the dinner cruises can sell unlimited drinks.  They hedge their bet by including that they can restrict alcohol purchases "in individual circumstances" in "accordance with the Intoxicating Liquor Law" which means they can cut you off at their discretion.

Ahhh that makes sense! 

[AmazedByCruising]

17 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

This is to bring NCL into the same classification as the dinner/sunset cruises that offer an open bar as part of the ticket price.  That is how the dinner cruises can sell unlimited drinks.  They hedge their bet by including that they can restrict alcohol purchases "in individual circumstances" in "accordance with the Intoxicating Liquor Law" which means they can cut you off at their discretion.

 

Could you elaborate a bit more? Do you mean that when unlimited drinks were included in the ticket price instead of being sold seperately NCL wouldn't have to do this? So the ship is supposed to chose between "all passengers" or "none"?

 

I'd be surprised if there isn't such small print for beverage packages on any ship and itinerary, saying they can cut you off for whatever reason without telling what it is. Like "gets obnoxiuous after 10 beers, cut him off at 8" or "strongly suspected of buying drinks for other guests".

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

Could you elaborate a bit more? Do you mean that when unlimited drinks were included in the ticket price instead of being sold seperately NCL wouldn't have to do this? So the ship is supposed to chose between "all passengers" or "none"?

 

I'd be surprised if there isn't such small print for beverage packages on any ship and itinerary, saying they can cut you off for whatever reason without telling what it is. Like "gets obnoxiuous after 10 beers, cut him off at 8" or "strongly suspected of buying drinks for other guests".

Yes, they have ticket contract language to prevent intoxication, but rarely enforced.

 

Hawaiian law allows for "unlimited beverages for fixed price" if everyone gets it (included in price), since NCL's drink packages were optional, they were not legal in Hawaii.  This is why when NCL went to all-inclusive pricing in the UK, they included the beverage package, since everyone booking under UK rules got the same deal.  Hawaii law specifically prohibits promotions that "encourage excessive drinking" like getting unlimited drinks for a fixed price.  Hawaiian law also has specific language regarding serving people who are visibly intoxicated, so NCL has to skirt closely to the law, at least on paper.

[HBCcruiser]

Another question: Why is the package price higher on the POA than our other 7-day cruise? When I add up the $99.00 plus $19.80 per day gratuity I get $831.60 which matches the UBP price on our other cruise. Where does the other $84.00 come from?

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by HBCcruiser
Wrong pic

[chengkp75]

Some of this is the Hawaii state General Excise Tax (GET, in lieu of sales tax) of between 4% to 4.7%.  The rest is likely the Hawaii state excise tax on alcohol, which ranges from $0.93/gallon for beer to $5.98/gallon for spirits (no idea how they would quantify how much you would be taxed in reality), which is covered under the language of "Guest's check may reflect applicable VAT and/or taxes for certain ports or itineraries."

[DelanaeK]

What?? We just got off this cruise and now they offer this? Lol. But I have to say, I'm not sure how great a deal it is. Dh and I drink a decent amount, especially on vacation, and I think we spent about $900 combined on alcohol on the ship. Granted, on this cruise, you're at port more than you're on the ship, so we usually had breakfast on the ship, lunch and drinks somewhere at port, and then dinner and drinks once we got back to the ship. I'd say we each had 5-6 drinks a day on the ship (basically a few drinks walking around the ship and wine with dinner) and that amounted to about $100 per day for the two of us. So I'm not sure I'd pay $99 per day per person unless I planned to be on the ship most of the day (or just drank a lot at once!)

[HBCcruiser]

19 minutes ago, DelanaeK said:

What?? We just got off this cruise and now they offer this? Lol. But I have to say, I'm not sure how great a deal it is. Dh and I drink a decent amount, especially on vacation, and I think we spent about $900 combined on alcohol on the ship. Granted, on this cruise, you're at port more than you're on the ship, so we usually had breakfast on the ship, lunch and drinks somewhere at port, and then dinner and drinks once we got back to the ship. I'd say we each had 5-6 drinks a day on the ship (basically a few drinks walking around the ship and wine with dinner) and that amounted to about $100 per day for the two of us. So I'm not sure I'd pay $99 per day per person unless I planned to be on the ship most of the day (or just drank a lot at once!)

 

That is exactly the information I wanted to know. Thank you! We are mostly wine drinkers so plan on bringing wine onboard in O’ahu and just buy per drink. Do they offer wine packages onboard? 

[DelanaeK]

7 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

That is exactly the information I wanted to know. Thank you! We are mostly wine drinkers so plan on bringing wine onboard in O’ahu and just buy per drink. Do they offer wine packages onboard? 

That I'm not sure of. I'm going to say no since we are big wine drinkers too and I feel like we'd have gotten a wine package if we could have, but my husband did most of the planning so I can't say for sure. I know you can bring your own wine for a fee of $15 per bottle, but we decided not to do that.

[KeithJenner]

9 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

That is exactly the information I wanted to know. Thank you! We are mostly wine drinkers so plan on bringing wine onboard in O’ahu and just buy per drink. Do they offer wine packages onboard? 

 

Viva Vino was offered when we were onboard in August.

[KeithJenner]

9 hours ago, DelanaeK said:

What?? We just got off this cruise and now they offer this? Lol. But I have to say, I'm not sure how great a deal it is. Dh and I drink a decent amount, especially on vacation, and I think we spent about $900 combined on alcohol on the ship. Granted, on this cruise, you're at port more than you're on the ship, so we usually had breakfast on the ship, lunch and drinks somewhere at port, and then dinner and drinks once we got back to the ship. I'd say we each had 5-6 drinks a day on the ship (basically a few drinks walking around the ship and wine with dinner) and that amounted to about $100 per day for the two of us. So I'm not sure I'd pay $99 per day per person unless I planned to be on the ship most of the day (or just drank a lot at once!)

 

The full price for the UBP is a stretch to make pay even when on a cruise with lots of ship time if you are paying the full amount. It would be almost impossible for most people to make it pay on a Hawaii cruise, unless you totally ignore Hawaii.

 

When we went in August, we had previously booked before they introduced All Inclusive here, so I had to decide whether to cancel and rebook to get the UBP. The extra cost of doing so worked out to about $300, from memory (a bit more expensive than people in the US usually pay for the gratuity on the promo package).

 

Quite a few people on here suggested that it wouldn't be worth paying that extra due to lack of time on the ship, but we went for it, and it certainly was worth it for us. At a guess I think we probably got around $5-600 of value from the package between the two of us. That's quite a bit less than we usually drink when we have the UBP on other ships, but made it worth while.

 

So, speaking as someone who likes a drink on holiday, although I do tend to drink a few bottles of beer which cost less, this package would cost 3 or 4 times more than the value that we got from the package when on the POA.

 

Like the UBP on other ships, the cost now means that it really is only worth it for many (probably most) people if it is offered as a promo.

[HBCcruiser]

I plan on keeping track of my drink totals on our upcoming NCL cruise (it includes 3 sea days). That will allow me to decide if it could possibly be worth it. Thanks for everyone’s input! 

[AmazedByCruising]

21 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Yes, they have ticket contract language to prevent intoxication, but rarely enforced.

 

Hawaiian law allows for "unlimited beverages for fixed price" if everyone gets it (included in price), since NCL's drink packages were optional, they were not legal in Hawaii.  This is why when NCL went to all-inclusive pricing in the UK, they included the beverage package, since everyone booking under UK rules got the same deal.  Hawaii law specifically prohibits promotions that "encourage excessive drinking" like getting unlimited drinks for a fixed price.  Hawaiian law also has specific language regarding serving people who are visibly intoxicated, so NCL has to skirt closely to the law, at least on paper.

 

I found it, https://www.honolulu.gov/rep/site/bfsliq/Liquor_Commission_Study_Guide_2014.pdf "Sell, advertise or offer to sell “all the liquor you can drink” for a fixed price. 

 

Not sure about what kind of "dinner/sunset cruises" are offered in Hawaii, but at least in a few countries "sunset cruises" are regurlary openly sold as "a booze cruise". Then again, you can't really ban open bars altogether, the weddings would get awkward, so I see what they tried to do here. And how they meant bars on Hawaii, not bars on a ship. 

 

Anyway, I guess any other ship that is not flagged in Honolulu would be exempt as it would be the "inner workings of a ship flagged in Malta"?