Drink Package question

[Lou33]

What is the basis of the $118.80 pp/day price of the drink package?  Seriously, does "anybody" pay for the drink package if it isn't included as a "free" perk?  Are there people who would otherwise run up a bar tab of at least $118/day, every day, for bottom shelf drinks? I couldn't do that if I was 20 years old and on a spring break cruise, at least not every day.

 

It seems like they gave up on having people buy the package outright, and it is all about the free at sea perks.  They want people to feel like they're saving $1000 for a 10 day cruise, when in reality they're paying $200, not to mention the extra cruise fare to have the privilege to pay that extra $200.  

 

I think that the $69/pp/day price at Celebrity and other cruise lines is also very high, but the price at Norwegian just seems out of touch with reality.  

Edited December 30, 2019 by Lou33

[KonkyWonky]

13 hours ago, mianmike said:

 

But the $240 savings per person makes selecting the Sailaway rate a good value decision for them.  Many people just take the added beverage package service charge and not the added cost of the cruise into account when calculating cost.  We have twice been able to choose our cabin on the Sailaway rate.  Granted, the selection was very limited.  Surprisingly one of the sailaway rate cabins we chose had a large balcony.  On other times when we couldn't select our cabin we have been happy.  

 

Totally get that, if you are looking purely at the top line sail away will pretty much always win if you aren't planning on drinking during the cruise.  My point was that the op thinks they saved money by not paying the gratuities on the drinks package ($140) whilst then spending $150 on drinks.

[KonkyWonky]

10 hours ago, Lou33 said:

What is the basis of the $118.80 pp/day price of the drink package?  Seriously, does "anybody" pay for the drink package if it isn't included as a "free" perk?  Are there people who would otherwise run up a bar tab of at least $118/day, every day, for bottom shelf drinks? I couldn't do that if I was 20 years old and on a spring break cruise, at least not every day.

 

It seems like they gave up on having people buy the package outright, and it is all about the free at sea perks.  They want people to feel like they're saving $1000 for a 10 day cruise, when in reality they're paying $200, not to mention the extra cruise fare to have the privilege to pay that extra $200.  

 

I think that the $69/pp/day price at Celebrity and other cruise lines is also very high, but the price at Norwegian just seems out of touch with reality.  

 

The price is only high if you are paying for it, and like you suggest no one pays for it.  Those that want the drinks package will choose it as a perk as it is by far the best value perk available if you drink even moderately.  Even light drinkers break even just by having a couple of drinks a day.

 

It's clearly a marketing ploy, compare the whole package and the top line, if other cruise lines offer a better package (for you) at a lower rate then maybe NCL isn't for you.

[livinginyellow]

I wrote a blog post that breaks down the pricing as well as what is and is not included in each cruise line's beverage package: https://www.anyadventurewithyou.com/cruise-drinks-package-should-you-buy-one/

[smplybcause]

22 hours ago, Lou33 said:

What is the basis of the $118.80 pp/day price of the drink package?  Seriously, does "anybody" pay for the drink package if it isn't included as a "free" perk?  Are there people who would otherwise run up a bar tab of at least $118/day, every day, for bottom shelf drinks? I couldn't do that if I was 20 years old and on a spring break cruise, at least not every day.

 

It seems like they gave up on having people buy the package outright, and it is all about the free at sea perks.  They want people to feel like they're saving $1000 for a 10 day cruise, when in reality they're paying $200, not to mention the extra cruise fare to have the privilege to pay that extra $200.  

 

I think that the $69/pp/day price at Celebrity and other cruise lines is also very high, but the price at Norwegian just seems out of touch with reality.  

 

Unless we're talking beer, even bottom of the barrel drinks are $10 on NCL. There's maybe a few under 10 but it's mostly just the drink of the day. So it would be 12 drinks a day to breakeven if you bought. While a lot, and more than other lines drink packages (they seem to be in the 5-7 drinks per day range) it's not impossible to drink 12 drinks a day. On a sea day that's less than a drink an hour. If you got back on at 5pm and stayed up until 1am that's 8 hours to drink in - 12 would get you a good buzz but unless you chugged them all a normal person probably wouldn't be put on the floor drinking 1.5 drinks per hour especially if they eat dinner during that. Following the whole a liver can process 1oz of alcohol an hour -- if the bartenders are pouring strong then that 1.5/hour could get people. 

[Lou33]

54 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

So it would be 12 drinks a day to breakeven ...... it's not impossible to drink 12 drinks a day...... If you got back on at 5pm and stayed up until 1am that's 8 hours to drink in - 12 would get you a good buzz but....probably wouldn't be put on the floor 

 

Wow.  If I did that for one night, I think I would survive.  The next morning would be my worst nightmare.👾💀😈  But if I did that every single night, then please wheel me over to the Friends of Bill W meeting.  😊

Edited December 31, 2019 by Lou33

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

3 minutes ago, Lou33 said:

 

Wow.  If I did that for one night, I think I would survive.  The next morning would be my worst nightmare.👾💀😈  But if I did that every single night, then please wheel me over to the Friends of Bill W meeting.  😊

We would see you there...with a drink

[Suite Heart]

The wine lists were very helpful. Thank you!

Now...does anyone have a recent cocktail menu?

I've already got the "free" bev package; thinking of upgrading to premium plus, so I'd like to see what cocktail prices are.

 

Also, can I purchase the bev upgrade on-board? Or do I buy it before?

 

TIA!

 

[smplybcause]

13 minutes ago, Suite Heart said:

The wine lists were very helpful. Thank you!

Now...does anyone have a recent cocktail menu?

I've already got the "free" bev package; thinking of upgrading to premium plus, so I'd like to see what cocktail prices are.

 

Also, can I purchase the bev upgrade on-board? Or do I buy it before?

 

TIA!

 

 

You can buy on board or in advance - only difference is on board can use OBC if you have any.

 

The main difference with the package is in whiskey/scotch and wine plus the addition of bottled water, coffee, energy drinks. 

 

Most of the other liquors only have 2 or 3 options over the $15 range. Tequila has more than a few options, but not quite as many as the whiskey/scotch category. Wine has more by the glass options over $15 than under $15, plus the package has free bottles during dinner. 

[Suite Heart]

Thanks for the info!

And I'll wear my tee shirt that says: "Drink or drink not. There is no try." (Thanks, Yoda!)

[Waquoit]

From what I've gathered reading the threads, the upgrade is only worth it you drink more than 2 bottles of expensive champagne a day. Otherwise, just pay the difference as you go. Does that sound right?

[DinaS]

On 12/30/2019 at 4:21 PM, Lou33 said:

I'm very disappointed by the wine list above.  I'm surprised how few wines are available that would be included in the basic drink package, especially compared to other cruise lines like Celebrity.  There are very few, they all fall into the $8-9 range, and they don't look like they are very good.  If you want something a little better then you are forced to move up to the $16-18 range and they are no longer free.  Does anybody else find it "interesting" that there is "absolutely nothing" in the $12-15 range??  What is the point offering free drinks up to $15 if you only sell $9 drinks?

 

We like to have a few drinks and we selected the so called "free" package as a perk.  But we will have a hard time just breaking even since we paid the $20 pp/day 20% gratuity.  And that seems to be the point of Norwegian's marketing strategy.  I was already on the fence about selecting the "free" drink package, and if we had known about the weak selection in the wine list, we may have selected something else as a perk, or booked a sail away rate.

 

To me, this is another example of nickel and diming by Norwegian, and it's something we will consider when we book our next cruise.  Other cruise lines do not charge gratuities for their "free" drink package, and they also have a better wine selection, include bottled water, fresh juice, and specialty coffee.  Celebrity recently tried to add a $14/day surcharge.  That didn't go well and they quickly removed it.  https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4905/

 

 

 

If anyone is getting the drink package solely for wines - it would probably be better to just bring your own and pay corkage fees of $15 per bottle, or buy a few bottles on-board over the course of your cruise.  

 

I believe the best value of the drink package is for liquor, beer and soft drinks.

[casacaudill]

On 12/30/2019 at 4:23 PM, cementhands said:

Beer menu for district brew pub from an Alaskan Cruise.

Curious to see beers on Bliss Caribbean cruise.
Alaskan beer is great. Available recently in Phoenix. But not available East of Chicago.  Noticed lone star beer in the Q bbq and Pacifico beer elsewhere. Great selection in addition to Red Stripe.

I know this are the beers available on the Alaskan cruise, but it gives me hope for our Western Caribbean cruise next month. There are some very good beers on here under $10 that were only "available" on upgraded drink packages when we cruised with Celebrity last February. (I say "available" because even though they were on the menu, they didn't have any of them.)

[BostonGal35]

i believe 3 drinks per day is the break even amount.  we find it well worth the price.  and its nice not to have to constantly monitor what you are spending.