NCL Introduces new "Free At Sea Plus" Packages

[Dave994]

Has anyone recently added this who has the free air promo??? Still trying to sort out the truth on this plan. 

[Captshinn]

I'm trying to find the truth on this. I was told on the phone last week that I had to drop the air promo to book. I was told on chat today that I should be able to book. I'll call tomorrow I suppose.

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Captshinn

[Captshinn]

[Nicky Mouse]

1 hour ago, Captshinn said:

I'm trying to find the truth on this. I was told on the phone last week that I had to drop the air promo to book. I was told on chat today that I should be able to book. I'll call tomorrow I suppose.

 

In email from my PCC, it only applies to these booking codes:

 

The Free at Sea Plus Upgrade Program is applicable only to reservations booked with the Free at Sea promotion codes listed below: 

• ALL4CHO
• CHOALL4M
• CECHOALL
• UKCHOALL
• FAS4ALL
• FAS4ALLU

Amenities included under Program Code, FASUP:

• Premium Plus Beverage Package Upgrade
• 2 meal Specialty Dining Package Upgrade
• Unlimited Wi-Fi Package Upgrade (without streaming)
• $50 Shore Excursion Credit
  • Note: Single guests are not entitled to the additional Shore Excursion Credit

Amenities included under Program Code, FASUPS:

[Kenlorz]

Can anyone tell me if this plus package includes the gratuities for the beverage package upgrade at the $50pp per day rate? Or is there an additional 20% added on top?

[rbxlady]

7 minutes ago, Kenlorz said:

Can anyone tell me if this plus package includes the gratuities for the beverage package upgrade at the $50pp per day rate? Or is there an additional 20% added on top?

I added it for me and my husband for a 7-day cruise, and the cost was $686. They did not add on more gratuities.

[Dave994]

2 hours ago, Captshinn said:

Let me know if you successfully add it. I was told originally it was possible in chat, but then they couldn’t add it. I have called twice and both times have not been able to add it. Very frustrating for sure 

[Captshinn]

1 hour ago, Nicky Mouse said:

In email from my PCC, it only applies to these booking codes:

 

The Free at Sea Plus Upgrade Program is applicable only to reservations booked with the Free at Sea promotion codes listed below: 

• ALL4CHO
• CHOALL4M
• CECHOALL
• UKCHOALL
• FAS4ALL
• FAS4ALLU

Amenities included under Program Code, FASUP:

• Premium Plus Beverage Package Upgrade
• 2 meal Specialty Dining Package Upgrade
• Unlimited Wi-Fi Package Upgrade (without streaming)
• $50 Shore Excursion Credit
  • Note: Single guests are not entitled to the additional Shore Excursion Credit

Amenities included under Program Code, FASUPS:

These are our Promos on our reservation confirmation. I know we will have to drop the FASUDP since that is actually part of the upgrade.

[cruiseny4life]

11 hours ago, rbxlady said:

I added it for me and my husband for a 7-day cruise, and the cost was $686. They did not add on more gratuities.

Not to add on @Kenlorz, however I too was not charged gratuity. We were charged $490 for my husband and myself with no additional service charge or gratuity (I'm kind of expecting to get hit with a gratuity charge at some point for the additional).

[Captshinn]

15 hours ago, Dave994 said:

Let me know if you successfully add it. I was told originally it was possible in chat, but then they couldn’t add it. I have called twice and both times have not been able to add it. Very frustrating for sure 

I was to able to add it through chat but it knocked off the air promotion. I was told that I needed to call reservations to fix the issue because it should be combinable. The gentleman I spoke with did some digging and he, and his team, found that it is an issue in the coding and they will work to get it fixed. He said to call back next week to check if it has been resolved. There is hope on the horizon. 🙂

[cruiseny4life]

49 minutes ago, Captshinn said:

I was to able to add it through chat but it knocked off the air promotion. I was told that I needed to call reservations to fix the issue because it should be combinable. The gentleman I spoke with did some digging and he, and his team, found that it is an issue in the coding and they will work to get it fixed. He said to call back next week to check if it has been resolved. There is hope on the horizon. 🙂

This is great news, thank you! I'm going to remind myself...actually my husband 🙂 to contact his PCC to try again late next week.

[Dave994]

3 hours ago, Captshinn said:

I was to able to add it through chat but it knocked off the air promotion. I was told that I needed to call reservations to fix the issue because it should be combinable. The gentleman I spoke with did some digging and he, and his team, found that it is an issue in the coding and they will work to get it fixed. He said to call back next week to check if it has been resolved. There is hope on the horizon. 🙂

Thank you! I confirmed again today via chat that it indeed should be an option even with the air promo, so it really does sound like it’s a glitch in the system that hopefully will be resolved soon. 
 

 

[bortman23]

Any Canadians booked this? Interested in seeing the USD to CAD conversion rate etc

[Dave994]

5 minutes ago, bortman23 said:

Any Canadians booked this? Interested in seeing the USD to CAD conversion rate etc

Trying to. As I understand it, I think it was around $85 Canadian per day when I originally asked. If I ever get it added I will let you know . Lol 

[bortman23]

3 hours ago, Dave994 said:

Trying to. As I understand it, I think it was around $85 Canadian per day when I originally asked. If I ever get it added I will let you know . Lol 

TY; I called my PCC today and she said it was around $850 CAD for 7 nights. Which for me comes out as $60 pp? This seems slightly better than the current exchange rate on the USD to CAD Free at Sea Plus package cost for a 7 night cruise. Unless my math is way off or something... 

Edited July 26, 2022 by bortman23

[Happycrafter123]

It was $630 CAD per person, so $1261.60 for a couple, to add to a 10 day cruise for me in CAD.

 

has anyone tried or been successful to add the extra meals on top of this?  I mentioned it about a week ago and have not heard if anyone was able to do it, if so what code did they use?  I tried to add a 4 meal package and they could not get the system to accept it in combo with this.

[CielG22]

For those that have added it on where final payment is not yet due, is it an upfront payment or just added onto the cost of the cruise?

[scooter6139]

3 minutes ago, CielG22 said:

For those that have added it on where final payment is not yet due, is it an upfront payment or just added onto the cost of the cruise?

Just added to the cost of the cruise.

 

FYI - Added it last week, summary on NCL site still doesn't show it appropriately today.

[CielG22]

1 minute ago, scooter6139 said:

Just added to the cost of the cruise.

 

FYI - Added it last week, summary on NCL site still doesn't show it appropriately today.

 

Makes it easier for my to decide about adding it then. I was planning to upgrade the drinks and Wifi packages already. I'd probably also have ended up having to add the dining upgrade, too, so may as well go for it.

[Ken the cruiser]

What am I missing? We are booked on a 38 day B2B on the Jade starting in November and when I do the math, NCL adds on an additional $19 pp/day in gratuities for their "free" beverage package. We're in a Club Balcony and are only paying $18 pp/day for general gratuities which I'm assuming are split between the stewards and the dining room servers. As my DW only drinks water and I enjoy maybe 2 glasses of wine at dinner along with a triple Baileys when we go to the show, we passed on the "free" beverage package.

 

Is the "Free at Sea Plus" package so great that we need to rethink paying the ridiculous $19 pp/day beverage package gratuities charge so we can get all the "additional" perks from the upcoming "Plus" package as I'm sure that would be part of the upgrade requirement? FWIW we have 9 NCL excursions booked on each leg and currently have the $50 discount 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

33 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

What am I missing? We are booked on a 38 day B2B on the Jade starting in November and when I do the math, NCL adds on an additional $19 pp/day in gratuities for their "free" beverage package. We're in a Club Balcony and are only paying $18 pp/day for general gratuities which I'm assuming are split between the stewards and the dining room servers. As my DW only drinks water and I enjoy maybe 2 glasses of wine at dinner along with a triple Baileys when we go to the show, we passed on the "free" beverage package.

 

Is the "Free at Sea Plus" package so great that we need to rethink paying the ridiculous $19 pp/day beverage package gratuities charge so we can get all the "additional" perks from the upcoming "Plus" package as I'm sure that would be part of the upgrade requirement? FWIW we have 9 NCL excursions booked on each leg and currently have the $50 discount 

Disregard the above. I just did the math with regards to the additional $49 pp/day plus the original $19 pp/day (gratuities charge) to add the beverage package back in, and there is no way it would even come close to making sense to upgrade. 

[cruiseny4life]

4 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Disregard the above. I just did the math with regards to the additional $49 pp/day plus the original $19 pp/day (gratuities charge) to add the beverage package back in, and there is no way it would even come close to making sense to upgrade. 

I'm glad you did the math to determine if it is worthwhile to you. We did as well to determine that we would appreciate the extras. 

 

We did accept the Free at Sea beverage package, along with the daily gratuities, so this was a non-issue when determining if we wanted to upgrade. 

 

We upgraded to the Free at Sea Plus, because, for $49 pp/day, we received:

 

- $50 toward each of our shore excursions

- 2 additional specialty dining options 

- the premium plus which I will use to experiment with different liquors, cocktails, etc., and we'll definitely get Starbucks, which we didn't get on our last cruise

- WiFi, we don't care about that

 

While we may not get our money's worth, the value will be appreciated by us. 

 

Enjoy your cruise! 

[kfnesq]

I also just took this upgrade, as we would have upgraded the drink package and the wifi anyway, and will use the extra shore excursion money, so it was worth it for us.  I am booked through the casino so I called them to add the promotion.  The agent to whom I spoke had not yet applied it to any bookings before mine, but it worked and I got my email confirmation fairly immediately.  Also, for what it's worth, this booking is one that was a replacement for several cancellations - and the booking date is listed as 1/13/22 so I am outside of the 1/18 date (barely).  Also, for what it's worth, it was $49 per day for me but only $41 per day for my husband.  I was told because the wifi is only for the first person in the room - which seems odd to me but whatever.  Besides that bit of weirdness, it was pretty seamless.  I do have a couple excursions already booked, so I need to call to figure out how to get the extra $50 applied (or just cancel and rebook, I guess).

 

Also, for what it's worth, none of that shows up on my online booking yet, as I think others have reported.

Edited July 27, 2022 by kfnesq
Additional Info

[KKB]

Anyone know if this can be added once onboard?

I have $100 Shareholder OBC I'd like to use...

Edited July 27, 2022 by KKB

[dbrown84]

47 minutes ago, kfnesq said:

I also just took this upgrade, as we would have upgraded the drink package and the wifi anyway, and will use the extra shore excursion money, so it was worth it for us.  I am booked through the casino so I called them to add the promotion.  The agent to whom I spoke had not yet applied it to any bookings before mine, but it worked and I got my email confirmation fairly immediately.  Also, for what it's worth, this booking is one that was a replacement for several cancellations - and the booking date is listed as 1/13/22 so I am outside of the 1/18 date (barely).  Also, for what it's worth, it was $49 per day for me but only $41 per day for my husband.  I was told because the wifi is only for the first person in the room - which seems odd to me but whatever.  Besides that bit of weirdness, it was pretty seamless.  I do have a couple excursions already booked, so I need to call to figure out how to get the extra $50 applied (or just cancel and rebook, I guess).

 

Also, for what it's worth, none of that shows up on my online booking yet, as I think others have reported.

do you find that you getting drinks on the drink package that you couldn't get with the casino drink card?  I also book thru the casino, and I've always declined the drink package as I felt the casino drink card was good enough, especially since it includes water and soda.