Crazy question?

[tidygirl]

Can you decline some of the free stuff when booking a cruise? The tips for the drinks and specialty dinner make the cruise more expensive than we want to pay.

And considering we won't do the dining nor do we drink it's pointless for us to get it!

[New2cruise2022]

2 minutes ago, tidygirl said:

Can you decline some of the free stuff when booking a cruise? The tips for the drinks and specialty dinner make the cruise more expensive than we want to pay.

And considering we won't do the dining nor do we drink it's pointless for us to get it!

You absolutely can remove it!

[asmit4]

YUP! It's optional. When I booked I was able to uncheck the boxes of things I didn't want (drinks/dining). 

[shof515]

on the website during the booking process you can uncheck the drinks, dining package and then you can see the price decrease in real time

[Two Wheels Only]

if it is available for you cruise, you can look at the Sailaway Rate. You will pay less but you won't be able to select your particular stateroom. 

[New2cruise2022]

Find what works for you. Be happy with your choices and you are sure to have a great time. 

[FlGoodShips]

We never take the beverage package. Save some money.

And the speciality dinners are only an extra $36 or $38. We do take that. But the beverage package saves a lot. Just like you...we don't drink.

[PATRLR]

Unless you are very sensitive to your cabin location, look at the "Sail Away" rates.  We've done it before but we don't care about where our cabin is located.   I am pretty sure you will find a decent cost savings with that rate.  

 

And fwiw, the cost of gratuity on the Specialty Dining is pretty cheap, well worth the money IMO.

[hallux]

10 hours ago, shof515 said:

on the website during the booking process you can uncheck the drinks, dining package and then you can see the price decrease in real time

Technically, the only cost decrease is due to the removal of the gratuities for the declined packages, there's no fare decrease because you're not taking them.

10 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

if it is available for you cruise, you can look at the Sailaway Rate. You will pay less but you won't be able to select your particular stateroom. 

If removing both dining and drink packages and you don't care about cabin location this is the best suggestion, then you can use the fare savings to pay for internet.  Unless it's one of the rare cruises where the sail-away is MORE expensive than the fare with FAS...

[KurtMo]

As others have said, you can certainly decline the beverage package if you don't drink.  I'd recommend taking the specialty dinners from a pure value and variety standpoint.

 

[YangtzeCruiser]

Firm believers in Sailaway - we don't drink enough, we get two nights of dinners for being Platinum Latitudes members, and we don't particularly care about the location of our cabin.

[Sailing12Away]

If you're booking online, just uncheck the boxes you don't want. If you're booking through a TA or on the phone with NCL, just ask them to remove what you don't want. You can't uncheck the shore excursions or wifi as there is no cost to you for those, so it's silly to decline them if you're not doing a sailaway rate.

 

For example, the screenshot below is for a 15 day Panama Canal cruise. Drink package is still costing a total of $654 for 2 people despite being "free", but that's still a lot cheaper than what I paid sailing on RCC so I'll take it. The dining is less than $50 for 6 meals, and each meal is easily a value of $100 each. So you pay $50 but get a $300+ value. Definitely worth it to have some options at that price, but that's just me.

 

[GeezerCouple]

On 12/1/2022 at 9:51 PM, tidygirl said:

Can you decline some of the free stuff when booking a cruise? The tips for the drinks and specialty dinner make the cruise more expensive than we want to pay.

And considering we won't do the dining nor do we drink it's pointless for us to get it!

 

Of course.

We might keep a meal perk because the extra cost is worth it to us.

But not any beverage package, because we don't drink enough "liquor" to make it worthwhile, and the nicer wines we like aren't included in the package.

It's really very simple.

 

Please keep in mind, if there are costs such as tax or tips or whatever, then considering the item "free" just is not accurate.  It doesn't matter what it's "called".  

==>> If you eventually have to pay something for it, then there's a cost to the "thing".

 

You answered it yourself... the "free stuff" makes "the cruise more expensive than [you] want to pay".

 

Make your own decision based upon the value to *you*, but if something adds money to the total, don't keep considering it "free".

[It doesn't matter if NCL or anyone else calls it "free".  IF the end result is it costs extra if I get it, then it isn't truly "free".  So we consider if the value to us is worth whatever it ultimately costs.]

 

GC