Are we the only ones who decline the free drink pkg on NCL?

[mpk]

On 5/6/2022 at 8:07 PM, pokerguy90 said:

when we booked our cruise our TA said  “your the first of her clients to ever decline that offer”.

 

"ever" ?    maybe it's the TA first day on the job  😀

 

We also decline the drinks package

Edited May 10, 2022 by mpk

[mskaufman]

We declined and the agent did not seem surprised

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, mpk said:

 

"ever" ?    maybe it's the TA first day on the job  😀

 

We also decline the drinks package

It does sound surprising. Maybe your explanation is correct. Or just maybe that TA does not explain how much one is charged for the "free" drink package.

[styles27]

On 5/6/2022 at 11:07 PM, pokerguy90 said:

My wife and I do not drink alcohol for religious reasons. So when we booked our cruise our TA said  “your the first of her clients to ev br er decline that offer”.  I told her we don’t drink alcohol because of religious reasons.  She said you can get Pop, or other non alcoholic beverages.  We said OK. Well then that could work.  The we noticed that we would prepay a 20% service fee on that drink package $140 each.  Our bar bills for the occasional mocktail or pop, juice never exceed $100 for both of us for the entire cruise.  For me to pay almost $300 is money wasted, we could not possibly drink that much pop in 7 days.  Boy was she  confused at us over this one.   

We sailed NCL for the first time last month and we declined the “free” (not free at all) package because it would have cost us $420 to add it. 🤔 Wait…I thought it was free? 

No way do we drink enough to justify that. Our bar tab for the week including some sodas for my grandson and a few Starbucks was about $120 so we definitely came out ahead on that one. 

 

Cruised on MSC November 2021 and accepted the all in Easyplus drinks and WiFi which cost us $160 total for the two of us for the week. Now that’s a big difference from NCL’s “free” drink package. 
 

I think NCL needs to drop the “pick up to 5 free at sea” lingo from their marketing because they’re far from free. 

 

[PATRLR]

On 5/10/2022 at 1:51 PM, cruiseny4life said:

No Capt. No Coke on board. 

Wait - they aren't carrying Captain Morgan on the ships anymore?  I know they used to have it.

[complawyer]

if you dont do a lot of drinking, it's in your best interests to pass on  the drink passage 

[cruiseny4life]

11 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Wait - they aren't carrying Captain Morgan on the ships anymore?  I know they used to have it.

I requested Capt at several bars on the Getaway. A few times the bartenders looked at me confused, so I explained and each time I was met with a resounding no. Rum and Pepsi just ain't a Capt and Coke.

[complawyer]

just curious, in a blind taste test, can you really tell the difference, and isnt bacardi better than cpt morgan?

[PATRLR]

3 minutes ago, complawyer said:

just curious, in a blind taste test, can you really tell the difference, and isnt bacardi better than cpt morgan?

Captain Morgan is a spiced rum - tastes entirely different and easy to distinguish between the two.

[PATRLR]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I requested Capt at several bars on the Getaway. A few times the bartenders looked at me confused, so I explained and each time I was met with a resounding no. Rum and Pepsi just ain't a Capt and Coke.

Wow.  I was expecting you to tell me they substituted some no-name spiced rum without telling you.  Sounds like they don't have any spiced rum?  Unbelievable just how low budget NCL is getting to be.

 

[Seafan22]

I think the "You're the first person to ever turn down the Free Drink perk" line is in the TA handbook as a way to make you feel odd and have you seriously reconsider your decision.

 

We never take the "Free Drink" offer.

[trivimp]

32 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Wow.  I was expecting you to tell me they substituted some no-name spiced rum without telling you.  Sounds like they don't have any spiced rum?  Unbelievable just how low budget NCL is getting to be.

 

 

They definitely had Captain Morgan at the pool bar on my last two cruises.  They also had Kraken Dark (which is my preferred spiced rum) at some bars, like Maltings.  They used to have Margaritaville-branded spiced rum in the Five O'clock Somewhere bars, but it tasted like it was just relabeled Capt.  

[PATRLR]

6 minutes ago, trivimp said:

 

They definitely had Captain Morgan at the pool bar on my last two cruises.  

How long ago was that?  I actually can say the same thing about Captain at many bars, but my last cruise was June 2018 on the Bliss.   Hopefully yours was more recent?

[trivimp]

1 minute ago, PATRLR said:

How long ago was that?  I actually can say the same thing about Captain at many bars, but my last cruise was June 2018 on the Bliss.   Hopefully yours was more recent?

October 2021, Gem

December 2021, Bliss 

[cruiseny4life]

Just now, trivimp said:

October 2021, Gem

December 2021, Bliss 

I was on Getaway, April 2022 - no Capt to be seen then. Maybe it was supply chain or that ship....I sure hope so! 

[phillygwm]

On 5/6/2022 at 11:07 PM, pokerguy90 said:

My wife and I do not drink alcohol for religious reasons. So when we booked our cruise our TA said  “your the first of her clients to ev br er decline that offer”.  I told her we don’t drink alcohol because of religious reasons.  

There are many people who don't drink, or perhaps drink so infrequently that getting the drink package isn't worthwhile.  A sailaway fare would seem to make sense in this instance, as the cost would be a lot less than the "regular" fare, even adding in the other perks.  But if you had your heart set on a specific area of the ship, that wouldn't work.

[jimc_usa]

I have been sober for 30 years and my wife only drinks the odd glass of wine. We have always refused the drink package

[paperposter]

me to never book it 

[couplelovestravel]

On 5/7/2022 at 10:29 AM, ChC said:

I drink little alcohol. I am the occasional drinker. And I prefer Coca Cola than Pepsi. I also refuse to pay overpriced water.

 

But I do take the drink package only because from UK point of sale there is no gratuities to be paid. Otherwise I will be the first one to refuse it. Not worth it. So I totally understand all you guys above me here.

We do not drink enough to warrant package, but I am curious about what you mean by UK point of sale.  We are doing British Isle Cruise in August

[KeithJenner]

43 minutes ago, couplelovestravel said:

We do not drink enough to warrant package, but I am curious about what you mean by UK point of sale.  We are doing British Isle Cruise in August

I assume they are talking about the way UK customers are charged, rather than what happens on UK cruises. We don’t pay the gratuities on the free at sea beverage package.

 

However, we do pay a fixed fee to get the free at sea offers, so unless they really get good value from the dining package/internet/excursions then they probably should decline. It currently costs £149 per person for a 7 day cruise.

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, ChC said:

 

As someone explained in this thread, if you purchase the cruise in UK and Europe, the package price inclusive of Gratuities. So no need to pay the 20% gratuities based on drinking package price of $99 per person per day. Point of Sale refers to marketing terms where the sale was conducted based on pricing terms. So cruise sold in UK market with sale currency in British pounds is considered as sold in UK (hence point of sale is UK). When you purchase the cruise in the USA with an US agent priced in US dollars is a cruise sold in USA market, then the point of sale is USA. There are complicated examples but I won't quote here. But where you book matters. British consumer protection (as well as many other European countries) requires price is inclusive of taxes and fees and must quote after tax price, hence all package price is what you pay without hidden charges. In USA there is no such requirement so the price you see is the fare only without taxes, fees and gratuities. It does not necessarily mean British or Europeans are paying less in total, it is just such gratuities for packages are priced in British and European point of sale already. Confusing? I hope it clears a bit.

Do you get enough benefit from the other free at sea items to justify paying the free at sea fee? I'd have thought it is difficult to unless you take a lot of excursions, especially with the recent price increase.

[hallux]

1 hour ago, ChC said:

For me, I am more than likely not to take it unless there are other factors influence my decision

In the US the free-at-sea is tied to getting to pick your room at the time of booking.  Some have had luck getting their "sail-away" room changed after it's been assigned and they didn't like it but I wouldn't count on being able to make the change if room selection is important.

[KeithJenner]

24 minutes ago, hallux said:

In the US the free-at-sea is tied to getting to pick your room at the time of booking.  Some have had luck getting their "sail-away" room changed after it's been assigned and they didn't like it but I wouldn't count on being able to make the change if room selection is important.

In the UK sailaway qualifies for free at sea.

[PATRLR]

50 minutes ago, hallux said:

In the US the free-at-sea is tied to getting to pick your room at the time of booking.  Some have had luck getting their "sail-away" room changed after it's been assigned and they didn't like it but I wouldn't count on being able to make the change if room selection is important.

Not always is free-at-sea tied to getting to pick your room.  I booked a BB category on Encore in November 2022 with no perks and got to pick my room.  Saved myself $700 after factoring in the cost to purchase a 2 meal package and internet.  We hardly drink and seldom do ship excursions, so no savings there.

[couplelovestravel]

23 hours ago, ChC said:

 

Depends. On Jade I took the package because I intended to do excursions in almost every port (that was 6 ports in 7 days until it was reduced to 4 in actual cruise). So that was a good saving. But, should I not plan to take more than 3 excursion in a 7 days cruise, or 4 excursion in a 10-12 days cruise, I would not take the package, not worth it since I am not a drinker. 

 

I guess everyone is different, for a drinker, the package is OK. For non-drinker, the calculation really is:

1, How many excursions you are to take? and

2, Are you intend to go to speciality restaurant for dinner and if so how many times?

 

For now, NCL Free at Sea is still a cheaper pricing point when you consider RCL is looking at £40-50 per person per day for a drinking package, and Princess is not far behind when you take out daily gratuities (crew appreciation as they call it). I guess people really need to look at their own needs and habits to come to their own conclusions. For me, I am more than likely not to take it unless there are other factors influence my decision (dream itinerary that I want excursions or travelling with a drinker who may take the package etc.)

you can still get the excursion package without getting the drink package.  There is no extra charge.