Coffee and bottled water?

[bundtkate]

14 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Are you implying that you're not a fan of RCI's Dynamic Pricing policy?

RCI's pricing and I have a complicated relationship. I ultimately do prefer their beverage package and I can pretty much guarantee I'll never pay what NCL charges on RCI. All the same, the constant monitoring of prices is a pain and there's something to be said for just knowing what you're going to pay from the start, even if it is more expensive.

 

5 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

I am surprised that anyone would pay for something that one can get for free.

It's the convenience more than anything. We're staying in an aft-facing cabin so the hike to get my water bottle refilled would be not insignificant and I can't stand the taste of the water from the stateroom sinks on any line I've been on. If they'll let me fill a gallon jug at the buffet and stash it in my cabin for later, well, maybe we've got ourselves another option. 🤣

6 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

You do earn their reward Stars on the ship but cannot redeem them while on board.

Unfortunately, I don't drink Starbucks at home so not being able to redeem on board would mean this isn't much use to me. But! It's still super cool and I'm sure helpful for many. I wonder if the Starbucks on RCI ships are the same?

[coastcat]

5 hours ago, bazan said:

oh good to know... i guess in a way this route may be better for those of us who do not need the "3 a day" coffee fix to break even. And still able to accumulate starbucks stars is a plus. i am pretty sure while the package is unlimited starbucks but you cannot accumulate stars... and 3 starbucks a day for each of 2 persons  for everyday is many caffeine... lol. i wonder if this is for every ship... we will be on the Joy

That's a drawback to buying the Starbucks package; no stars earned. Although I wonder... you used to be able to scan your card to earn points and then use a different form of payment.

 

I've lost track of which NCL ships now have a full licensed Starbucks onboard. The Joy definitely has one - in fact, it has two. There's one by Guest Services on deck 6 and a smaller version in the Observation Lounge. For both locations, you're conveniently next to a bar in case you want that shot of Bailey's in your coffee.

 

43 minutes ago, bundtkate said:

 I wonder if the Starbucks on RCI ships are the same?

Yup. I only visited the Starbucks on Navigator once, though, since the Refreshment package covered my espresso habit nicely.

Edited August 6, 2022 by coastcat

[CruizinSusan70]

14 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

Not everyone is an American.  Why would non-Americans know about Oscars?

 

How many Swiss, Japanese, or Argentinian movie star's wives and their antics do you keep track of? 

The American box office has worked wide implications, unlike whatever movies come out of the three countries byou mentioned.  Like it or not, what happens in the US when it comes to a plethora of topics has world-wide implications, and that includes the movies that come out of Hollywood.

[CruizinSusan70]

6 hours ago, bundtkate said:

RCI's pricing and I have a complicated relationship. I ultimately do prefer their beverage package and I can pretty much guarantee I'll never pay what NCL charges on RCI. All the same, the constant monitoring of prices is a pain and there's something to be said for just knowing what you're going to pay from the start, even if it is more expensive. 

More expensive?   It's 20 bucks per day to cover gratuities on NCL.  On RCI, their drink package as you know fluctuates and was recently about 75 per day on the Oasis.  Nobody pays the 99 plus grats on NCL.

[KeithJenner]

15 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

Not everyone is an American.  Why would non-Americans know about Oscars?

 

How many Swiss, Japanese, or Argentinian movie star's wives and their antics do you keep track of? 

 

 

 

 

I’m quite sure that our media bang on about the Oscars. There was certainly a load of fuss about someone hitting someone else a while ago. I assume that that is the one being referred to here.

 

I’m fairly certain that most people here in the would UK know who Will Smith is. I’m just not interested myself.

 

I didn’t mean for this to be a discussion on who should know which celebrities. I was just interested in what the problem is with the water but it seems like the poster who originally mentioned it has disappeared now.

[bundtkate]

On 8/7/2022 at 1:02 AM, CruizinSusan70 said:

Nobody pays the 99 plus grats on NCL.

True. Doing a direct comparison really is tough. I last paid $55/day on Oasis for our 7-night cruise back in February. Total came out to ~$1000 for the both of us with grats I think? I wish I could remember the total cost of the whole cruise, but it's been too long. Looks like a similar itinerary on the Encore is ~$4k in a  balcony with FAS, which seems like it's in the ballpark of what I paid on RCI including the drink package. End of the day, perhaps it's all a wash.

[jsn55]

On 8/4/2022 at 4:20 PM, bundtkate said:

I am traditionally an RCI cruiser so I'm used to water and non-Starbucks specialty coffee being included in the drinks package and it seems that's not the case for the FAS package on NCL. I know you can get both specialty coffee and bottled water with the Premium Plus package, but I'm not interested in the extra included alcohol so that upgrade really isn't worth it. I noticed you can get a Starbucks package to cover coffee, but seems that does not cover water even at Starbucks and I did not find any sort of addon for water or non-Starbucks coffee. Am I missing anything? In my perfect universe, I'd like to add on something that lets me grab specialty coffee and bottled water from any bar instead of having to go to Starbucks, so I want to make sure I'm not overlooking an option before grabbing the Starbucks package and accepting that I'll have to pony up for water as needed.

I thought it was odd too.  So I just ordered a case of water for the cabin outside all the rest of the packages.

[ziggyuk]

On 8/7/2022 at 6:56 AM, CruizinSusan70 said:

The American box office has worked wide implications, unlike whatever movies come out of the three countries byou mentioned.  Like it or not, what happens in the US when it comes to a plethora of topics has world-wide implications, and that includes the movies that come out of Hollywood.

 

In fairness Will Smith was not mentioned, as someone who likes his films I worked out "Will" meant Will Smith from the double barrelled surname of his wife and surname of Jaden but I too have no idea who Jaden Smith or Jada Pinkett-Smith are.
I only know Jada visually from the Rock incident and I certainly don't know her name, ask me again tomorrow and I will have forgotten and still won't know who Jada Pinkett-Smith is.

[TJas]

Hello from a Brit who knows exactly who Will Smith and his wife, and Chris Rock are 🙂 

But here's what I don't know, having last cruised 20-ish years ago: Re the Flow package: are there refrigerators in all of the cabins with enough capacity for water bottles?

(We're big water drinkers, occasional alcohol drinkers, and definitely not big Starbucks lovers, so the Free at Sea package, topped up with the Flow deal, makes the most sense for us).  

And another question- we're going from Miami to Panama Canal- is the free water at the bars sourced from Miami for the duration of the cruise? Or is it topped up at each port? 

Sensitive English constitutions here, although we can drink US water no problem 🙂

Thanks! 

[jsn55]

On 8/4/2022 at 11:04 PM, KeithJenner said:

What should we make of this? (I don’t think I’ve heard of any of these people).

Well, I've heard of them all.  But why would I care about their relationship with water on a cruise ship?

[jsn55]

1 hour ago, TJas said:

Hello from a Brit who knows exactly who Will Smith and his wife, and Chris Rock are 🙂 

But here's what I don't know, having last cruised 20-ish years ago: Re the Flow package: are there refrigerators in all of the cabins with enough capacity for water bottles?

(We're big water drinkers, occasional alcohol drinkers, and definitely not big Starbucks lovers, so the Free at Sea package, topped up with the Flow deal, makes the most sense for us).  

And another question- we're going from Miami to Panama Canal- is the free water at the bars sourced from Miami for the duration of the cruise? Or is it topped up at each port? 

Sensitive English constitutions here, although we can drink US water no problem 🙂

Thanks! 

What a great question!  I want my water COLD.  Probably throw a couple of smaller empty bottles in my suitcase.

[PATRLR]

On 8/5/2022 at 9:16 AM, CruizinSusan70 said:

I wasn't the one that originally mentioned it, I was just gobsmacked that you never heard of Will Smith across the pond.  Six billion in box office and you think you may have heard of him.  SMH

I can only imagine what you think of me, someone on this side of the pond, who hasn't been in a movie theatre in at least 10 years (probably more like 15-20 since my daughter was very young) and no I don't have any streaming service to watch movies either.   I just don't care to watch movies, I don't care about Oscars and the only reason I know about "the slap" was because there was no way to not see the coverage of it around here when it happened.  

 

[IronRobi]

$136CAD pp for our upcoming cruise. That's just under $40/day. I just don't see the value in this package at all.

[CruizinSusan70]

15 hours ago, TJas said:

And another question- we're going from Miami to Panama Canal- is the free water at the bars sourced from Miami for the duration of the cruise? Or is it topped up at each port?

The cruise ship gets their power as well as their water supply from Miami.  The power comes from the extension cord that trails from the back of the ship and is plugged into the pier back in Miami.  🙄

 

Seriously, the water on board is primarily desalinated sea water.  here is a Cruise Critic article about it.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=4278

[alysonofagun]

19 hours ago, TJas said:

Hello from a Brit who knows exactly who Will Smith and his wife, and Chris Rock are 🙂 

But here's what I don't know, having last cruised 20-ish years ago: Re the Flow package: are there refrigerators in all of the cabins with enough capacity for water bottles?
 

 

Hi from a fellow Brit who also knows the Smiths and Chris Rock (and The Rock too, for that matter!)

 

I managed to fit 6 bottles standing in the fridge on the Epic (could've probably balanced one or two on top, but that's a lot of effort) and I think about the same on the Bliss. Just removed the 'pay-for-water' and topped up when needed! 🙂

[TJas]

8 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

The cruise ship gets their power as well as their water supply from Miami.  The power comes from the extension cord that trails from the back of the ship and is plugged into the pier back in Miami.  🙄

 

Seriously, the water on board is primarily desalinated sea water.  here is a Cruise Critic article about it.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=4278

The article is exactly what I needed to see, thank you 🙂 

Meantime, I've got a great image in my head now of a ginormous power cable wiggling its way around the world from behind the ship 🙂 🙂 🙂  

 

[TJas]

5 hours ago, alysonofagun said:

 

Hi from a fellow Brit who also knows the Smiths and Chris Rock (and The Rock too, for that matter!)

 

I managed to fit 6 bottles standing in the fridge on the Epic (could've probably balanced one or two on top, but that's a lot of effort) and I think about the same on the Bliss. Just removed the 'pay-for-water' and topped up when needed! 🙂

Good to know, thanks so much!! 🙂 

[jsn55]

7 hours ago, alysonofagun said:

 

Hi from a fellow Brit who also knows the Smiths and Chris Rock (and The Rock too, for that matter!)

 

I managed to fit 6 bottles standing in the fridge on the Epic (could've probably balanced one or two on top, but that's a lot of effort) and I think about the same on the Bliss. Just removed the 'pay-for-water' and topped up when needed! 🙂

As a Brit, you'll appreciate the fact that our cabin refrigerator on Queen Victoria actually kept drinks COLD.  First time we've ever experienced more than 'fairly cool' on a cruise ship!  Since Americans are used to being teased about our passion for ice by everyone, that was a very nice surprise. 

[Uff da]

On 8/5/2022 at 12:32 AM, roomba920 said:

Keep in mind this water company is owned by Jaden Smith (son of Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith). Make of this info what you will.

FYI...NCL switched from Just Water (the Jaden Smith company) to FLOW water, which is not a Smith company. 

[Uff da]

On 8/4/2022 at 6:52 PM, BirdTravels said:

Those are the old prices and NCL switched to FLOW water.