Premium Plus worth it?

[Mizzoupoodle123]

I am confused.  We received the beverage package on the holiday sailing of the Escape.  They are selling/ trying to sell a package upgrade for about 383. to each person in the cabin of legal drinking age.

Is this upgrade worth it?  Opinions are welcome!😊

 

Sylvia

 

[hallux]

All the info you need is on the NCL page, only you can decide if it's worth it to you - https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

[phillygwm]

1 hour ago, Mizzoupoodle123 said:

I am confused.  We received the beverage package on the holiday sailing of the Escape.  They are selling/ trying to sell a package upgrade for about 383. to each person in the cabin of legal drinking age.

Is this upgrade worth it?  Opinions are welcome!😊

 

Sylvia

Not sure of the currency you're referring to.  In USD, the upgrade is about $35/day inclusive of gratuity.  

 

There is no straightforward answer as to whether this constitutes a good value.  Check the additional labels included in the Plus package.  Do they appeal to you?  Do you want a bottle of wine (or Champagne) with dinner?  Do you like premium coffees/bottled waters?  If the answer to any of those is yes, and you feel it warrants an additional $35 pp/day, you have your answer.

[Sthrngary]

There are many threads on this topic in CruiseCritic.com.  Like every thing that you can upgrade, it is a personal preference.  The only way I can even give you a semi-good answer is to tell you why my wife and I ALWAYS get the Premium Plus Beverage Package. First the question should be, is the Premium Plus Beverage Package a good value, "NO".  Do we always get it, "YES".  Are we crazy, "Most Likely".  

 

• Bottles of Wine At Meals:  My wife loves Chardona.  She especially likes it in the cabin for pre-diner and after dinner on the veranda.  I used to go to the closest bar and get to glasses then bring it up to the room for her.  The "Plus" package allows for an entire bottle of selected wines to be served to you at your table at meals rather then a glass.  My wife takes the bottle that was not emptied back to the cabin and puts it in the refrigerator for later. This is a great benefit for her. 
• Bottles of Plain/Gas Waters:  You can go to any bar or restaurant and get a bottle of imported waters then take them back to your cabin. These items are not part of the Premium Beverage Package on NCL. We always get a bottle a meals vs. tap.
• Specialty Coffee:  Hotly debated issue.  When I cruise, I love a specialty coffee with desert.  This often has a charge.  No charge with the "Plus" package.  Starbucks on ships with it is also included. 
• $15.00 Drink Limit: The Premium Beverage Package has $15.00 limit.  Over that you pay the difference.  The "Plus" package does not "Kind Of".  If you want a "super high end" spirit, it is not included on any beverage package.  Using that as a point, I always try very premium (not super premium) brands just for fun when cruising.  
• Energy Drinks: Included on Premium Plus.
• Craft Manhattans: Included on Premium Plus.

 

There is more and you can download the document off the NCL site.  I want to add something here.  It will get debated however it is very true.  When I am traveling with my family, all adults in the same Haven Cabin. Everyone has the perk for the Premium Beverage Package as longs as they are over 21.  I only want to upgrade my wife and I; not the two adult children.  You can't do it on the online system however, you can do it onboard or like I just did; using FCC pre-cruise.  The "Plus" package would be a complete waste for my adult children.  

 

Enjoy the comments on your post.  I end again saying, is it worth it, up to you.  It is a value, "NO".  Do I do it, "YES".

 

Cruise Well.

 

[All-ready2cruise]

40 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

it is a personal preference

It really is up to you, @Mizzoupoodle123. No one can tell you if it's worth since everyone has their own tastes and preferences. 

 

Enjoy your cruise. 

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, Mizzoupoodle123 said:

I am confused.  We received the beverage package on the holiday sailing of the Escape.  They are selling/ trying to sell a package upgrade for about 383. to each person in the cabin of legal drinking age. Is this upgrade worth it?  Opinions are welcome!😊

Take the standard Premium Beverage Package. It covers the first $15 of drinks that you would order at the bar/dining (and that is the vast majority of the drinks that you would ever order). And if you want that special drink, pay the difference in price. There is no need to buy into the NCL marketing trying to entice you to paying more money.  

[Mizzoupoodle123]

Thank you all for your replies.  I’ve cruised 11 times, 4 times on Norweigan, but all before my husband passed.  I wasn’t the travel planner.  Now after a long absence from vacations during his illness and grieving him I thought a cruise would be the simplest option.  Freestyle cruising is a bit new but I think my 3 teen daughters will love it!  
I enjoy lots of specialty coffee drinks so I will need to balance that into this port heavy itinerary.

Thanks to all!

 

Question?  
how do you search for topics of a thread?

[ggTexasGal]

@Mizzoupoodle123  To search for topics of a thread, scroll up this page toward the top.

When you see your CC name on the right (towards the top of the page), there should be a long white oval "Search bar" with a small magnifying icon.  Type in your words to search and hit your Enter key.  Information will come up, and you can continue your search, or, refine your search terms to get further information.  Good Luck!

[ggTexasGal]

As for the Premium Plus Beverage Package:

I want to point out that the most currently updated version of the Premium Plus Package that I have been able to find is dated July 21 (per small print at the very bottom of the page).PREMIUM PLUS beverage - package 2021v2 July-2021.pdf

[phillygwm]

9 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Take the standard Premium Beverage Package. It covers the first $15 of drinks that you would order at the bar/dining (and that is the vast majority of the drinks that you would ever order). And if you want that special drink, pay the difference in price. There is no need to buy into the NCL marketing trying to entice you to paying more money.  

I always respect your opinion and appreciate your posts.  FOR ME, it was worthwhile.  But perhaps I'm not typical:  1) I'm a solo traveler, so it's $35/day, not $70; 2) I do enjoy Champagne and the bottle of Moet with dinner more than offsets the cost by itself.  Most other bottles would as well; 3) I'm not huge into "hard liquor" but hey, I'm on a cruise.  Since I'm not driving anywhere I tend to drink quite a bit more than the other 51 weeks of the year.  If there's something high end on the menu that's included, I'd be inclined to try it; 4) I do like sparkling waters, which ARE included in PP but not in the standard package, ditto for premium coffees.  I probably won't drink $35/day of Pellegrino (if I do, you'll excuse me while I run to the men's room for the 17th time!) but, taken in combination with everything else, it's just icing on the cake.

 

 

I certainly understand those who choose to stick with the standard package.  Depending on what they drink, the cost might not be justified.  But it's worth exploring depending on where your tastes lie.

Edited September 26, 2021 by phillygwm

[Carnac767]

For our upcoming Epic TA the cost for the Premium Plus upgrade is $522, so over a thousand bucks for the two of us.  Yeah, I don't think so.  

[Sthrngary]

21 minutes ago, Carnac767 said:

For our upcoming Epic TA the cost for the Premium Plus upgrade is $522, so over a thousand bucks for the two of us.  Yeah, I don't think so.  

Interesting.  I am on the Joy.  7-days, perk of Premium beverage Package.  Upgrade is $242.00 or so per person. 

[hallux]

42 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

Interesting.

Well, the Epic TA is 15 days, do the math...

[Sthrngary]

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

Well, the Epic TA is 15 days, do the math...

That makes complete sense. Thank you for sharing the difference. Cruise well

[xfer]

I don't know if this is true for Norwegian, but it seems to be the case on other cruise lines. If you wait until you are on the ship, you can usually upgrade just one person in the cabin. Also, you don't have to upgrade the first day. If you wait until you are out in international waters, you may be able to save a few dollars in taxes. 

 

I got the impression that you could upgrade your drink package anytime during the cruise. So folks on a longer cruise might be able to do the first half regular, and then upgrade the second half. Of course, things may have changed now, so it would be good to confirm with other travelers. 

[ColeThornton]

9 minutes ago, xfer said:

I don't know if this is true for Norwegian, but it seems to be the case on other cruise lines. If you wait until you are on the ship, you can usually upgrade just one person in the cabin. Also, you don't have to upgrade the first day. If you wait until you are out in international waters, you may be able to save a few dollars in taxes. 

 

I got the impression that you could upgrade your drink package anytime during the cruise. So folks on a longer cruise might be able to do the first half regular, and then upgrade the second half. Of course, things may have changed now, so it would be good to confirm with other travelers. 

 

 

"Packages must be purchased by all qualifying individuals residing in the stateroom or additional staterooms under the same method of payment for the entire length of the cruise."

 

https://www.ncl.com/terms/premium-plus-beverage-package-full

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, phillygwm said:

I always respect your opinion and appreciate your posts.  FOR ME, it was worthwhile.  But perhaps I'm not typical:  1) I'm a solo traveler, so it's $35/day, not $70; 2) I do enjoy Champagne and the bottle of Moet with dinner more than offsets the cost by itself.  Most other bottles would as well; 3) I'm not huge into "hard liquor" but hey, I'm on a cruise.  Since I'm not driving anywhere I tend to drink quite a bit more than the other 51 weeks of the year.  If there's something high end on the menu that's included, I'd be inclined to try it; 4) I do like sparkling waters, which ARE included in PP but not in the standard package, ditto for premium coffees.  I probably won't drink $35/day of Pellegrino (if I do, you'll excuse me while I run to the men's room for the 17th time!) but, taken in combination with everything else, it's just icing on the cake.

 

 

I certainly understand those who choose to stick with the standard package.  Depending on what they drink, the cost might not be justified.  But it's worth exploring depending on where your tastes lie.

Totally agree. If you can more than break even with the premium plus package, go for it.

 

For us, it is maybe a starbucks every other day and the occasional martini that would exceed the standard Premium package. Otherwise, all of our frozen umbrella drinks are all covered by the standard package. 

[xfer]

6 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

"Packages must be purchased by all qualifying individuals residing in the stateroom or additional staterooms under the same method of payment for the entire length of the cruise."

 

https://www.ncl.com/terms/premium-plus-beverage-package-full

Thank you for the link. I'm wondering if the rules might be slightly different if you purchase the package onboard instead of online. 

[Carnac767]

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

That makes complete sense. Thank you for sharing the difference. Cruise well

We'll usually bring a case or two of our favorite wine and just pay the corkage fee.  We still come out ahead.  We'll also bring a few bottles of Veuve, because who doesn't want to sit on their balcony and feel like big shots?  Veuve Clicquot is $115 a bottle on the ship (at least on our last cruise).  We get it at Trader Joy's for $42 or so.  Even adding the $15 fee, it's still a bargain.  And it is a great champagne, especially compared to the ubiquitous Duc that NCL uses.  There used to be long, long threads on this forum about booze smuggling.  Some of the methods cruisers used to sneak their booze aboard were quite inventive and very hilarious.  Since NCL started giving away the UBP, I guess booze smuggling became pointless.  I miss those posts, though.

[Sthrngary]

1 hour ago, Carnac767 said:

We'll usually bring a case or two of our favorite wine and just pay the corkage fee.  We still come out ahead.  We'll also bring a few bottles of Veuve, because who doesn't want to sit on their balcony and feel like big shots?  Veuve Clicquot is $115 a bottle on the ship (at least on our last cruise).  We get it at Trader Joy's for $42 or so.  Even adding the $15 fee, it's still a bargain.  And it is a great champagne, especially compared to the ubiquitous Duc that NCL uses.  There used to be long, long threads on this forum about booze smuggling.  Some of the methods cruisers used to sneak their booze aboard were quite inventive and very hilarious.  Since NCL started giving away the UBP, I guess booze smuggling became pointless.  I miss those posts, though.

This is a perfect example of an alternative approach to the premium plus beverage package. Again it is up to the person and what they want to do. Thank you for your comments.

[DCGuy64]

We just sailed the Norwegian Gem and did NOT upgrade the beverage package. It just wasn’t worth it to us. I dislike Starbucks and my wife doesn’t drink coffee, period. She also isn’t a big drinker and I wasn’t about to pay the upcharge just for the occasional fancy wine. I only splurged once for the Veuve Clicquot last night and it cost $23 including tax. We were happy with what we got. 

[gtaylor]

1 hour ago, Carnac767 said:

We'll usually bring a case or two of our favorite wine and just pay the corkage fee.  We still come out ahead.  We'll also bring a few bottles of Veuve, because who doesn't want to sit on their balcony and feel like big shots?  Veuve Clicquot is $115 a bottle on the ship (at least on our last cruise).  We get it at Trader Joy's for $42 or so.  Even adding the $15 fee, it's still a bargain. <snip>

 

 

If your Veuve is $42, plus 4% Georgia sales tax, plus the $15 corkage, that's just over $58 for you to share the one bottle.

 

The beverage package upgrade is $29/day, $58 for all of the glasses of Veuve you would care for and an unfinished bottle back to the room after dinner.

 

gary

[Carnac767]

23 minutes ago, gtaylor said:

If your Veuve is $42, plus 4% Georgia sales tax, plus the $15 corkage, that's just over $58 for you to share the one bottle.

 

The beverage package upgrade is $29/day, $58 for all of the glasses of Veuve you would care for and an unfinished bottle back to the room after dinner.

 

gary

I don't like it that much

[phillygwm]

10 minutes ago, Carnac767 said:

I don't like it that much

I think the larger point was, even if you were bringing a $20 bottle of wine aboard for each day, adding in tax and corkage, you're better off with the Premium Plus package not even taking into account the other perks to the package and the need to schlep your own wine/Veuve.

 

That said, if you're bringing your own because you like a specific wine that isn't available on board, then obviously that's a different issue.

[Sthrngary]

I love CruiseCritic.com  We can take a simple question and make it all about how my side wins out because of my justifications.  

 

The question was, "Is the Premium Plus Drink Package with the upgrade?" Answer, "Yes/No".  Personal approach and preference.