How free is your drink package, really?

[cementhands]

Friends of ours always cruise NCL for the drinks package. Recently, New Year’s Eve, I made the mistake of trying to explain the true cost of the drinks package. You have to pay extra for the room. You have to pay the extra service fee. This can be as much as an extra $1,000.00 for a 11 or 14 nights cruise.

My point is that it’s not free. It might not even be worth it even if you drink a lot. If you’re going to be on a cruise with 5 island stops you are going to be ashore for a good portion of time.

 I also found it funny that they never saw Second City comedy onboard. They’ve been on like 6 Ncl cruises with second city. Must of been drunk and missed it. Second city comedy is no longer available.

Needless to say Ncl and Celebrity are competing with the land based all inclusive vacation.

I personally long for the days of yesteryear when passengers got drunk the first few days. When you paid for your drinks.

Got a copy of their bar tab.

And sobered up!

[JamieLogical]

This topic is new and fresh!

[ColeThornton]

No big deal missing Second City.  They were probably the worst act I've seen on an NCL ship, every time.

[FredZiffle]

4 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

No big deal missing Second City.  They were probably the worst act I've seen on an NCL ship, every time.

lol.  I thought I was the only one who hated Second City.

[Kmkub]

If you don't think the drink package is a good value, you shouldn't buy it.

[Tapi]

Every time I price out a cruise with the “free drink package” and without, I realize that the price difference is about what my bar tab would be if I paid for drinks as I go.

[JamieLogical]

Doing the math on my upcoming Escape sailing in April, as long as my sister and I each drink at least 4 drinks a day, we come out ahead, versus paying per drink. Plus we get $100 OBC, $50/port shore excursion credit, three Specialty Dining meals, 250 minutes of WiFi, and double Latitudes points versus the Sail Away rate. We also could have had free airfare to NYC, but opted to drive....

 

Oh! And I forgot to mention that since we got to pick our room, we were able to get one of the angled balconies on Deck 13.

Edited January 14, 2019 by JamieLogical

[phoenix1181]

Am I the only one who wonders why some people seem to have a need to tell others how they should spend their money?

 

[dcruiser50]

It's not free, just a perk when you select a cabin you like. Marketing 101, you are free to select a GTY cabin at a lower cost without any perks, if you like to choose your cabin location like me your willing to pay the cost and get the perks

[rbschultz]

Costs me $100-some-odd for a week of drinking. Even if I drink a really light amount it is still worth it to me. To each their own. If I consume 2 $10 drinks per day (for example a glass of wine at dinner and a drink by the pool during the day) I still come out ahead. This doesn't take into account drinking at the casino, during the evening dance parties, etc. 

[mjkacmom]

We actually paid for the USB when it first came out, before it was a perk. We always get our monies worth (and cruise with our kids, so definitely not a drunk fest). A 4 oz glass of wine is about $12.

[Phaedrus78]

55 minutes ago, cementhands said:

Friends of ours always cruise NCL for the drinks package. Recently, New Year’s Eve, I made the mistake of trying to explain the true cost of the drinks package. You have to pay extra for the room. You have to pay the extra service fee. This can be as much as an extra $1,000.00 for a 11 or 14 nights cruise.

My point is that it’s not free. It might not even be worth it even if you drink a lot. If you’re going to be on a cruise with 5 island stops you are going to be ashore for a good portion of time.

 I also found it funny that they never saw Second City comedy onboard. They’ve been on like 6 Ncl cruises with second city. Must of been drunk and missed it. Second city comedy is no longer available.

Needless to say Ncl and Celebrity are competing with the land based all inclusive vacation.

I personally long for the days of yesteryear when passengers got drunk the first few days. When you paid for your drinks.

Got a copy of their bar tab.

And sobered up!

Yeah.  I know it's not free.  I'm not a moron.  But I'm curious where you're getting your $1000 figure.  Might need you to break out the math on that one.  

 

But it that doesn't seem like the point of your post.  It seems like you might have a problem with people enjoying cutting loose and having a few drinks on their vacation, since you're longing for the days when people had their fun ruined by a massive bar tab and had to sober up.  

 

[KeithJenner]

As with everything, it depends on individual circumstances.

 

If you are the sort of person who is happy to just book a guarantee cabin, and doesn't mind where they are located, then the cost of the Free at Sea perks can be considerable when you take into account the additional cost of a cabin which qualifies for it compared to a sailaway.

 

If you would be happy to pay some extra for a specific cabin then you should take into account how much extra you would be willing to pay for that. For example, we always used to pay the extra to pick our room even before Free at Sea came along. I'm sure that the difference between the two has increased, but the fact that we were willing to pay more just for the room selection is relevant.

 

Alternatively, we almost always pick specific rooms, where guarantees aren't even an option. Most of our recent cruises have been in aft rooms, large balconies or on some ships particular rooms which we know have specific advantages to us. In those cases, sailaway rooms aren't even an option, and we are happy with the price we pay for that room. Therefore, the beverage package costs us nothing extra.

 

There is no one answer to questions like this.

[tallnthensome]

We paid less than $500 for the service charge for the free drink promo on our upcoming 15 day Panama Canal cruise on the Bliss. Drink packages on Royal and Carnival would cost $1500 to $1600 for a similar length cruise. With that being said and what we wanted, the NCL cruise was cheaper . Nothing is free, we all know that as this topic has already been beaten to death as this is thread 5286 on the subject. Only you can decide when the drink package is worth it comparatively speaking. The longer the cruise the better the value. What I can tell you is that you are paying full price for drink packages on Carnival and Royal, which we have done as well.

[newmexicoNita]

1 hour ago, cementhands said:

Friends of ours always cruise NCL for the drinks package. Recently, New Year’s Eve, I made the mistake of trying to explain the true cost of the drinks package. You have to pay extra for the room. You have to pay the extra service fee. This can be as much as an extra $1,000.00 for a 11 or 14 nights cruise.

My point is that it’s not free. It might not even be worth it even if you drink a lot. If you’re going to be on a cruise with 5 island stops you are going to be ashore for a good portion of time.

 I also found it funny that they never saw Second City comedy onboard. They’ve been on like 6 Ncl cruises with second city. Must of been drunk and missed it. Second city comedy is no longer available.

Needless to say Ncl and Celebrity are competing with the land based all inclusive vacation.

I personally long for the days of yesteryear when passengers got drunk the first few days. When you paid for your drinks.

Got a copy of their bar tab.

And sobered up!

Are you through with your rant?  How free is free? Of course it depends on how much you enjoy your drinks? If you only drink a glass of wine or maybe a couple of cocktails in the evening, of course it may not be a good deal, but otherwise it is. Remember even on port days, some people spend very little time off he ship: some people will still manage to drink several drinks a day and just to know everything is paid for in advance is worth the few $$S. As for the days gone by when everyone got drunk the first few days? that must have been before we started cruising in the mid 80s cause I have only been on a couple of cruises where people got drunk....On any ship we see a fee idiots that think getting drunk is part of cruising, but for the most part 80% of more of those cruising can enjoy themselves without over doing the booze. 

[newmexicoNita]

1 hour ago, ColeThornton said:

No big deal missing Second City.  They were probably the worst act I've seen on an NCL ship, every time.

Saw it in Vegas and loved it: saw it a couple of times on NCL and enjoyed it but nothing special; then we saw it on the Breakaway and if I was a little ruder I would have gotten up and left. It was awful and stupid. 

[Deptacon]

I price compare the cost vs other cruises everytime I book. With/without it included. I also tested a cruise where I didnt have the package and compared bar tabs. Hands down it saves me money....but more importantly, I do not THINK about money on the vacation...which too me is the best part.

As another poster mentioned. 4-5 mixed drinks in a day... it pays for itself. Hell on a sea day at the pool....Thats noon for me. A night out around the ship? thats from dressed at 5 to pre-show at 830.

[JamieLogical]

5 minutes ago, Deptacon said:

but more importantly, I do not THINK about money on the vacation...which too me is the best part.

 

I posted this on a similar thread a few days ago, but it is worth repeating:

 

So many people overlook the VALUE of not having to stress about how much you are spending on drinks. It is sooooooo much nicer to just swipe your card and go and not worry about it at all. Having to sign receipts, constantly keeping a running tally of how much your are spending, feeling like you HAVE to finish a drink to get your "money's worth", not being willing to try something new in case you end up not liking it.... All of that could seriously detract from the QUALITY of your vacation. Might you save a few bucks buying drinks individually and not getting the drink package? Maybe, but think long and hard what the additional stress will "cost" you in terms of enjoyment.

[NYcruzzer]

1 hour ago, cementhands said:

Friends of ours always cruise NCL for the drinks package. Recently, New Year’s Eve, I made the mistake of trying to explain the true cost of the drinks package. You have to pay extra for the room. You have to pay the extra service fee. This can be as much as an extra $1,000.00 for a 11 or 14 nights cruise.

My point is that it’s not free. It might not even be worth it even if you drink a lot. If you’re going to be on a cruise with 5 island stops you are going to be ashore for a good portion of time.

 I also found it funny that they never saw Second City comedy onboard. They’ve been on like 6 Ncl cruises with second city. Must of been drunk and missed it. Second city comedy is no longer available.

Needless to say Ncl and Celebrity are competing with the land based all inclusive vacation.

I personally long for the days of yesteryear when passengers got drunk the first few days. When you paid for your drinks.

Got a copy of their bar tab.

And sobered up!

Your friends are lucky you are so judgmental. Pointing at they  are unable to comprehend the true cost of the drink package or that they missed Second City  due to being drunk does them a tremendous service. BTW if they saw Second City's scripted shows more than once they were assured of seeing the same act over and over..Think blow up doll deflating routine.

[beerman2]

OP the "port days" argument is a joke itself, most ships leave port by 4 or 5 which means you are still on the ship 7-8 hours a day. Plus you can have a mimosa or two with breakfast.

 

1 drink an hour ISN'T excessive on a cruise, nor will you get stupid drunk. 

[cathi007]

Another troll trying to get a rise out of people. For me the drink package is free, I am on a group cruise, so I get the drink package and all my service charges are free. And I got a great deal on my mini suite. But, if it's not a good deal for you, don't get it, lol

[StolidCruiser]

2 hours ago, dcruiser50 said:

It's not free, just a perk when you select a cabin you like. Marketing 101, you are free to select a GTY cabin at a lower cost without any perks, if you like to choose your cabin location like me your willing to pay the cost and get the perks

 

Or better yet, know how to make a non-GTY booking without paying the inflated rate with the "perks".   The best of all scenarios - no perks, lower fare and still choosing my own cabin.

 

As many have said, it pays to know the true value of what you are getting balanced with what you want.  For some, "perks" are great.  For others, not so much.

[DirtyDawg]

My only issue with the OP is the timing of educating his/her friends. WOW, New Years Eve? The night which is always filled with unreality and self-dilusion should never be invaded with any kind of reality. My New Year's resolution is to lose 50 pounds is as likely to happen as the Bills winning the Superbowl anytime soon, but please don't burst my bubble on New Year's Eve, wait to January 2nd to knock me back into reality.

 

Telling someone that the drinks package is not free on New Years Eve is like telling a kid that Santa is fake on Christmas morning, while looking at a bare, presentless Christmas tree!

 

My sincere apologies for letting the Santa thing out of the bag to anyone reading this who still believes in Santa.

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by DirtyDawg

[NYcruzzer]

24 minutes ago, StolidCruiser said:

 

Or better yet, know how to make a non-GTY booking without paying the inflated rate with the "perks".   The best of all scenarios - no perks, lower fare and still choosing my own cabin.

 

As many have said, it pays to know the true value of what you are getting balanced with what you want.  For some, "perks" are great.  For others, not so much.

Do tell. How do you book a non-gty cabin without the perks.?.Are you booking  a "sailaway" rate and selecting a cabin ?

[david_sobe]

Nothing in life is free and this promo is also not one of them.  As one of the top executives at NCL slipped up by saying "the passengers THINK they are getting something free.   The promo does lots of things besides customers thinking they are getting something for free.  Many people don't drink that much and NCL makes money off those people.  If everyone drank like a fish, clearly NCL would not offer it as a promo.  They have done enough experiments and marketing studies to confirm all inclusive boosts overall income on a sailing even though actual alcohol sales may be less because most people have the UBP.