Sail away vs free at sea

[oracer]

Trying to research the pricing. If you purchase the sail away price, does NCL send you deals for the drink package and Specialty dining?  I see the standard for the drink package is $99 per day per person (and will add the gratuity) and the Specialty average out say $100 -200 per person per dinner. 
 

Trying to put together the best deal for us. This will be on the Breakaway 7 night cruise. 

[hallux]

I'm not sure I've seen anyone report that NCL was running a sale on the drink package, not like Royal does on theirs...

[casofilia]

@oracer

 

NO; if you buy Sail Away then you would have to buy drink or dining package as advertised, no discount.

[tallnthensome]

You're never going to get any deal better on the drink package then what is offered through the promo. I believe only 3 people in history have ever purchased the NCL drink package outside of the promo and were shamed into oblivion for making that pricey mistake. 

[phillygwm]

If you do not drink alcohol, period, then the Sail Away rate might be a good deal.  If you have more than 2 drinks a day, it is not.

 

Even if you don't drink, realize that the SA rate does not allow you to choose your stateroom, which is important to some, so you might want to take that into account.

[YVRteacher]

When I booked for a March 2022 cruise on the Bliss at the Sail Away rate (no single supplement!) I was also able to choose the Free at Sea promotion, so it does happen.

[tetleytea]

Originally I was going to book an MX balcony and the Free At Sea price was >$300 more, but then the same sailing had an MA balcony where the Free At Sea was essentially the same price.  So I booked the MA.   I don't know how that works.

[cruiserbear55]

2 hours ago, oracer said:

Trying to research the pricing. If you purchase the sail away price, does NCL send you deals for the drink package and Specialty dining?  I see the standard for the drink package is $99 per day per person (and will add the gratuity) and the Specialty average out say $100 -200 per person per dinner. 
 

Trying to put together the best deal for us. This will be on the Breakaway 7 night cruise. 

 

  You could buy a three day dining package for each of you for $238.00 plus 20% gratuity ( $285.60), or $47.60 person per meal.

   I will assume you're not heavy drinkers, and will work with 3 drinks per day per person. Bottled beer runs $6-7, cocktails $10-13. So let's average that out to $10 a drink. 7 days at 6 drinks per day equals 42 drinks for the week. 42x $10=$420.00.

  So now you're looking at approx. $705.60 for drinks and dining.

       When you book a cabin with free at sea, the cost is built into the fare.I think if you are happy letting NCL choose your cabin for you, you'll be ahead of the game. And if you go with free at sea, you 'll still have to pay an additional $277.20 charge for 20% gratuities on the drink package.

   Hope my math is correct. If not, I'm more than certain someone will pick me up on it!!

 

 

[Warm-Water Diver]

Looking to book "free at sea" on our next cruise with 3 adults Platinum with NCL and have a few ?s

 

 

1) If we choose beverage package, dining and shore excursion credits, do all 3 passengers get the beverage package (and pay for the package taxes) or is it just the first 2 in the cabin and I'd have to pay out of pocket for the 3rd bev. package?

 

2) How many dining credits for the "free at sea" do we now get for a 7 day cruise?

 

3) I believe that we get 2 dinners for 2 for Platinum status even though we have 3 Platinum members in the cabin?

[hallux]

2 minutes ago, Warm-Water Diver said:

1) If we choose beverage package, dining and shore excursion credits, do all 3 passengers get the beverage package (and pay for the package taxes) or is it just the first 2 in the cabin and I'd have to pay out of pocket for the 3rd bev. package?

 

2) How many dining credits for the "free at sea" do we now get for a 7 day cruise?

Both of these are answered in the NCL promo terms & conditions - https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

 

Beverage package is guests 1-8.  Dining credits are 1 or 2 depending on stateroom.

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

In my opinion, the promo is the way to go. The difference between the sail away and promo is less than adding the drink/dining package after.

[PTC DAWG]

Math, it's really easy.  

[oracer]

Thanks everyone. I just wanted to make sure their were not discounts that I was missing. I agree that drinks basically pay for themselves, but the airfare is the kicker. Especially if you get it when the fares are low on the NCL website add page. When we got the cruise airfare for my kids in Vermont was priced on the website as $348 (BOGO) and the cheapest I could find was $980 per person. That's a savings of over $1600 just for that perk alone. Add drinks and specialty, that's another $700.  The price difference was $500 for sail away vs free at sea. I feel better.