Unlimited Open Bar - Should I make a minor Guest 2 for free soda package?

[Sigyn]

One of the free promotions NCL is offering right now is the Unlimited Open Bar Package. There will be three of us cruising - my husband and myself and our 15 year old son. It seems like, based on this description, that I should make guests 1-2 myself and my son, and then guest 3 should be my husband. That way my son will still get the free soda package since he's under 21. Is there anything you can see incorrect about this decision, or should an adult be guest 2?

Unlimited Open Bar Package (Open Bar)
Unlimited Open Bar Package is applicable to all qualified sailings excluding Pride of America.
Applicable to guests 1-8 on the reservation. If 3-8 guest is under 21 years of age, Unlimited Open Bar Package does not apply and soda package will not be given as a substitution.
Guest 1-2 must be at least 21 years of age at time of sailing to qualify for the Unlimited Open Bar Package. Guests under 21 will receive the soda package. 

[n4w]

Your son can be Guest 2, your husband would get no drink package.  I wanted to make my son Guest 1 because he could make use of more of the excursion credits, but they said Guest 1 must be an adult.

[bluesea777]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but if Guest 1 gets the booze package then all adults in the same cabin must get/pay for theirs as well.

 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

18 minutes ago, njsmom said:

Applicable to guests 1-8 on the reservation.

 

Husband will still get PBP as guest #3. 

 

If the plan is...

 

Guest #1 - PBP

Guest #2 - Soda

Guest #3 - PBP

 

...it will work fine. 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Two Wheels Only

[Sigyn]

4 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Husband will still get PBP as guest #3. 

What is PBP? I don't know the acronyms. 

[Two Wheels Only]

Just now, njsmom said:

What is PBP? I don't know the acronyms. 

 

Sorry, PBP = Premium beverage package....alcohol and stuff. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

26 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Husband will still get PBP as guest #3. 

 

If the plan is...

 

Guest #1 - PBP

Guest #2 - Soda

Guest #3 - PBP

 

...it will work fine. 

Would guest #3 pay full price for PBP?

[Two Wheels Only]

2 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Would guest #3 pay full price for PBP?

 

No, he would only pay the 20% service charge (currently $19.80pppd....per person per day).

Edited September 27, 2022 by Two Wheels Only

[dbrown84]

yes, that was a change a little while ago, all guests (1-8) get the package, with minors getting the soda package.  Just have to pay the service charge

[ColeThornton]

51 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong but if Guest 1 gets the booze package then all adults in the same cabin must get/pay for theirs as well.

 

 

 

 

Incorrect.   

That's only if Guest 1 is paying for their package, not if it's the free promo.

[dbrown84]

14 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Incorrect.   

That's only if Guest 1 is paying for their package, not if it's the free promo.

actually, I think you're both correct.  Absolutely, if guest 1 is paying for the package, then all adults must get it.  Also, if guest 1 gets the free at sea, then all guest also get it.  the only part I'm not sure of is if guests 2 thru 8 can decline the free at sea drink package (thus not paying the service charge) if guest 1 accepts it.

[ChiefMateJRK]

This is like Calculus.  I need a drink.....  🐀

[Two Wheels Only]

28 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

actually, I think you're both correct.  Absolutely, if guest 1 is paying for the package, then all adults must get it.  Also, if guest 1 gets the free at sea, then all guest also get it.  the only part I'm not sure of is if guests 2 thru 8 can decline the free at sea drink package (thus not paying the service charge) if guest 1 accepts it.

 

If guest #1 or #2 gets the PBP promo, all other adults also get the PBP promo and pay just the 20% service charge. It's all or nothing.

 

If guest #2 is a minor, that minor would get the soda package. All other adults would still get the PBP. 

 

If a guest other than #2 is a minor, that minor gets nothing. 

 

 

[Grimix]

This might solve your drinking issue, but if you put him on as the second passenger then he is the one who will get the specialty dining offer.  

[Two Wheels Only]

4 minutes ago, Grimix said:

This might solve your drinking issue, but if you put him on as the second passenger then he is the one who will get the specialty dining offer.  

 

True but buying a SDP (specialty dining package) for guest #3 is the same price no matter who #3 is.  

 

Doing it the creative way gets the soda package for $1.99 per person per day instead of the full price of $9.95 pppd + $1.99 pppd. 

[fethiyeden]

We did this. I put our 17 year old daughter as guest 2 & she got the soda package included.

My husband as guest 3 got the beverage package included.

It saves a few dollars as not having to buy the soda package.

We then purchased an extra dining package for my husband, so we can all have speciality dining for 2 nights.

[PATRLR]

9 hours ago, Grimix said:

This might solve your drinking issue, but if you put him on as the second passenger then he is the one who will get the specialty dining offer.  

That's a great point, depending on the personality and tendencies of the 15 year old.  I know that on past cruises with my daughter, who is very outgoing,  ate dinner with friends she met many nights.  I wouldn't be able to count on her wanting to have dinner with us so I might not want to buy SDP for her (or for 2nd adult if we made daughter Guest#2).

Edited September 28, 2022 by PATRLR

[Sigyn]

13 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

No, he would only pay the 20% service charge (currently $19.80pppd....per person per day).

ah, okay, that's not a good deal. for some reason I thought guests 1-8 all got the PBP for free if they were 21 or over. I misread!

[Sigyn]

11 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

True but buying a SDP (specialty dining package) for guest #3 is the same price no matter who #3 is.  

 

Doing it the creative way gets the soda package for $1.99 per person per day instead of the full price of $9.95 pppd + $1.99 pppd. 

That's what I was thinking of - it saves on the soda package - everyone over 21 gets the package with alcohol for free, no matter their guest number, but then guest #2 gets the soda package much cheaper or free. and I'd be buying the extra SDP regardless since our son is young enough, as a 9th grader, to want to eat dinner with us. 

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, njsmom said:

ah, okay, that's not a good deal. for some reason I thought guests 1-8 all got the PBP for free if they were 21 or over. I misread!

 

The package is still "free" but the service charge still needs to be paid. This goes for everyone who takes the PBP promo. By taking the package and paying 1 service charge, the guest isn't charged 20% per drink the way that someone without the package is charged.

 

A person with the PBP can have 100 drinks and pay nothing extra.

[Sigyn]

I read the fine print about 5x before booking. I ended up making my son guest 2, so that he'd get the soda package, and my husband guest 3, so he'd get the PBP promo. It's very clear that only guests 1-2 get the soda package if they're under 21 as a replacement for PBP. Guests 3-8 will get PBP if they're 21 or older, but no soda package if they're under (or over) 21.