Not Happy with Liquor Up Charges

[gatordad1]

8 hours ago, jblackler said:

Not that I agree with over pricing drinks but how many of you drink the cheaper brands at home because you pay . For example if I were to drink vodka at home it would be Smirnoff or  Kirkland brand , so im not that upset that Grey Goose is pass the $15 limit . sure I may have ordered it if it wasn't but ill get over it .

kirkland is some damn good vodka!

 

[Tminish]

I am a little confused..I have the regular UBP that I received from the free at sea promotion for my cruise in October...So will I not be able to use that??? Or will I just have to stay below the min. drink amount? 

[SNJCruisers]

1 minute ago, Tminish said:

I am a little confused..I have the regular UBP that I received from the free at sea promotion for my cruise in October...So will I not be able to use that??? Or will I just have to stay below the min. drink amount? 

It's still in effect for you and will cover unlimited amounts of drinks up to a value of 15.00.  If you choose a drink that is say 19.95, you'll pay the 4.95 difference, plus another 1.00 for 20% gratuity.  This of course could all change over the next 9 months before your October cruise since NCL likes to shuffle the deck and change things up at times.

[samiam0403]

6 minutes ago, Tminish said:

I am a little confused..I have the regular UBP that I received from the free at sea promotion for my cruise in October...So will I not be able to use that??? Or will I just have to stay below the min. drink amount? 

 

Exactly as SNJCruisers stated above. The uproar here is because NCL has just increased the prices of a lot of the wines and spirits by quite a bit. Drinks that were previously included are now an extra charge - to the point where you could buy a bottle of wine or spirit for what they charge per drink. Or less. If you don't have top shelf taste, and/or aren't picky on your wine, you should be fine. 

[Tminish]

3 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

It's still in effect for you and will cover unlimited amounts of drinks up to a value of 15.00.  If you choose a drink that is say 19.95, you'll pay the 4.95 difference, plus another 1.00 for 20% gratuity.  This of course could all change over the next 9 months before your October cruise since NCL likes to shuffle the deck and change things up at times.

Thank you so much for your quick and nice response!!! This makes me a little more at ease. I was scared I'd be made to pay the uncharge to even get a drink. LOL!!!! Thanks again. 

[Tminish]

1 minute ago, samiam0403 said:

 

Exactly as SNJCruisers stated above. The uproar here is because NCL has just increased the prices of a lot of the wines and spirits by quite a bit. Drinks that were previously included are now an extra charge - to the point where you could buy a bottle of wine or spirit for what they charge per drink. Or less. If you don't have top shelf taste, and/or aren't picky on your wine, you should be fine. 

Thanks so much for your response. I started reading and after page like 13 I said let me just ask my question. LOL!!!! Thanks again! 

[Cruisehack]

Sad to report we just cancelled our 2021-12 day Panama Canal on the Joy.  I refuse to do business with companies that are heading the direction NCL is.  Hopefully, someone at NCL is reading these boards as we had two Haven Suites booked and have now gone to RCCL's Star Class.    

[luv2kroooz]

5 hours ago, Cruisehack said:

Sad to report we just cancelled our 2021-12 day Panama Canal on the Joy.  I refuse to do business with companies that are heading the direction NCL is.  Hopefully, someone at NCL is reading these boards as we had two Haven Suites booked and have now gone to RCCL's Star Class.    

This is the best course of action, in my opinion. I could afford their overstated prices, but have chosen to redirect my vacation funds where I find value. NCL can print whatever price they want on their menus. If they can't fill their ships, they'll figure it out in the end. RCCL offers a good experience, too. Hope you enjoy your your cruise.

[pete_coach]

On 1/22/2019 at 12:47 PM, nd53 said:

• i got the free at sea and chose the beverage package, now I wonder if that was a good choice at all.  alcohol is not that important that I need to pay $25 per drink for my 1-2 drinks per day.  I might have to reconsider how this works out with a pencil n paper.  I want to cruise to Alaska this fall, but maybe I need to get a different cruise line to take my $$ instead.  
• just sayin.  Leaving on the Gem this Sunday the 27th. I always tip extra with $2 bills for each drink, but now it looks like they get plenty in Gratuities  at the bars without the extra. maybe save it for the Room people. 

At 1 or 2 drinks per day, you are paying a lot for those drinks (because of the gratuities etc on the whole per). You would have been bitter off not to take the perk. I certainly do not tip extra for drinks if I have the package. Gratuities are already included.

[pete_coach]

19 hours ago, jblackler said:

Not that I agree with over pricing drinks but how many of you drink the cheaper brands at home because you pay . For example if I were to drink vodka at home it would be Smirnoff or  Kirkland brand , so im not that upset that Grey Goose is pass the $15 limit . sure I may have ordered it if it wasn't but ill get over it .

Well, at home I buy what I like to drink. I don't buy cheap or inferior spirits because they are cheaper. I want to enjoy what I drink.

[ninjanurse77]

31 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Well, at home I buy what I like to drink. I don't buy cheap or inferior spirits because they are cheaper. I want to enjoy what I drink.

exactly. I tend to only have a cocktail or two at home at a time and I'm going to spend the money on what I like, even if it is more expensive. I tend to drink cheaper when I'm out since I'm not going to was a good spirit with cruddy mixers or additions

[ksmcdonald]

On 1/27/2019 at 12:09 PM, erdoran said:

Do the arithmetic - the sum of the UBP  gratuities and premium pkg is what?  $54 or $55?  Kinda like buying a beverage pkg on another line up front, no free perk at all.

 

However, NCL’s individual drink prices are so ridiculous IMHO if you are having more than a couple of drinks a day then it gets so pricey you might as well pay for the UBP and be done with it.  I’m sure there is a lot of thought into NCL’s strategy for booze.  

 

Exactly!  NCL should just bring their individual drink prices down to a reasonable price and charge $55 a day for their drink package that includes everything (just like Carnival does, bottled water, spiked milkshakes, etc.)  Why are they trying to make it so difficult?  With the gratuity on the free perk and the upcharge of $29.99, they are charging $55 a day per person.  Quit trying to fool anyone that you have a free drink package, it's a bad look for NCL.

 

 

[Lionkingrichard]

20 hours ago, jblackler said:

Not that I agree with over pricing drinks but how many of you drink the cheaper brands at home because you pay . For example if I were to drink vodka at home it would be Smirnoff or  Kirkland brand , so im not that upset that Grey Goose is pass the $15 limit . sure I may have ordered it if it wasn't but ill get over it .

Kirkland brand is Grey Goose.

[jblackler]

1 minute ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Kirkland brand is Grey Goose.

I was waiting to see how long it took for someone  to catch on to that lol

[AtlantaAlly]

8 minutes ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Kirkland brand is Grey Goose.

This is correct - but our Costco in PA doesn't have the liquor store. 😞

[Kmkub]

19 minutes ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Kirkland brand is Grey Goose.

Grey Goose has a superior marketing team. 😉  There's nothing special about Grey Goose.

[dlewen]

Karl Muhlberger   KMuhlberger@ncl.com

Corp. Vice President Shipboard Hotel Operations at Norwegian Cruise Line

[Charliebox]

37 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

Grey Goose has a superior marketing team. 😉  There's nothing special about Grey Goose.

A bit off topic, but I did a blind vodka taste test a few years ago with my family members.  There were 5 of us. 

 

We had Grey Goose, Stolichnaya, Absolute, Prince Igor, and Crystal Head (out of Newfoundland.. by Dan Aykroyd). 

 

Crystal Skull earned 4 first place votes.  Soli got the other.  

 

Grey Goose finished anywhere from 3rd to 4th. 

 

Absolute was at the bottom of everyone's list except for one person. 

 

The overall order was: 

Crystal Head

Soli

Prince Igor (not joking)

Grey Goose

Absolute. (which isn't surprising.. it's gasoline).  

 

Grey Goose is truly all about the marketing.  Both Tito's and Kettle One are miles ahead of Grey Goose... and I drink extra dry Martinis.. like so dry that I only rinse the glass with vermouth.   I am much more frustrated that Belvedere is over the limit.  That is the best one of the four.. and I will probably reluctantly just pay the difference for martinis with it.  

 

As a side note, for the vodka snobs out there, get your hands on Crystal Head.  Hand's down best vodka on the market right now.  

Edited January 29, 2019 by Charliebox

[Cruisehack]

4 hours ago, blcruising said:

This is the best course of action, in my opinion. I could afford their overstated prices, but have chosen to redirect my vacation funds where I find value. NCL can print whatever price they want on their menus. If they can't fill their ships, they'll figure it out in the end. RCCL offers a good experience, too. Hope you enjoy your your cruise.

Thank you.  We are pretty bummed as we thought we had found our cruise line.  We love the way NCL ships are designed around the ocean, the food, entertainment and the service staff.  It's clear that the problem with NCL is the upper management.  

[PTC DAWG]

I'm a Tito's man myself..but folks are just using Grey Goose to show how out of hand the pricing has gotten on many of the go to liquors on NCL.....Could have just as easily been Woodford...or some type of Scotch.  

[ninjanurse77]

3 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I'm a Tito's man myself..but folks are just using Grey Goose to show how out of hand the pricing has gotten on many of the go to liquors on NCL.....Could have just as easily been Woodford...or some type of Scotch.  

exactly... Hendrick's isn't all that and it's $19.95 on the new menu, which is *crazy*

[kfnesq]

31 minutes ago, ninjanurse77 said:

exactly... Hendrick's isn't all that and it's $19.95 on the new menu, which is *crazy*

Agree.  I am a gin girl (when I'm not drinking wine) and while I do enjoy Hendricks, $19.95 seems.....excessive for a G&T.

[amyaacc]

On 1/22/2019 at 12:21 PM, Alegeeter said:

 

I'm not sure we can compare what they did on the Sun and Sky to this. On the all-inclusive ships, the UBP is included in the fare and the premium upgrade was offered as a perk. We took the upgrade as a perk (valued at $29 per day) and only paid the gratuities, which came to $23.20 total ($5.80 x 4). I can guarantee that if they made everyone pay the $29 + $5.80 per day it wouldn't have been so successful on these ships. 

 

What they should on all other shops is offer it as a perk as well. If you get 2 perks, maybe UBP is 1 and premium upgrade is a second perk. Basically, move the perks to a credit system and the premium beverage package costs 2 perk credits whereas SDP, regular UBP, Wifi, etc. cost 1 credit each.

we opted for the free at sea upgrade for our trip to Cuba coming up in April on the Sky.  Does this mean we now get bottled water and coffee drinks?  Are there other significant upgrades?  (I like a nice martini but not fussy about brands)  I have been trying to figure out if using our free at sea perk might be better served for Internet if most of the booze is already included??

 

[ninjanurse77]

18 minutes ago, kfnesq said:

Agree.  I am a gin girl (when I'm not drinking wine) and while I do enjoy Hendricks, $19.95 seems.....excessive for a G&T.

exactly

[mwolever]

Hi all,

 

This is a very hot topic for me, but while I like mixed drinks and am not happy about liquor changes, the biggest issue for me is the wine that is now covered under the UBP. All absolutely crap wines are kept on the list, and there is a HUGE discrepency between those and the next offered glass up 20-21$ per glass. That is so strategically screwing anyone who wanted to just have a decent glass of wine that was between 10-15$ prior. And all wines have been affected, so even if I'd like to try other types, the issue is the same across the board. This brings home the real problem: I book NCL because the UBP makes their slightly-higher prices and party atmosphere worth it for me. This change really affects that value.