NCL alcohol changes

[Haddonqueen]

On 12/8/2022 at 3:21 AM, DaggoB said:

Bailey’s included in premium plus. In the duty free shop on the Bliss last week it was $26 for a liter. Amazing. 

£10 litre in U.K. supermarkets 

[UnorigionalName]

9 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I usually have it in a French 77, which is St. Germain, Lemon Juice, and Prosecco.

 

Would that make it an Italian 77? ...

[AstoriaPreppy]

23 hours ago, palpieha said:

 

And it's great they NCL hasn't so we can pick what we want! I just priced a Haven vs Celebrity Retreat for the same dates (7 day cruise) and similar cabins/ships, and Celebrity was an extra $8k for 2 people. I can add the premium beverage package and pre-pay DSC on NCL for less than $1k.

 

Your point is well-taken… lots of old-school Celebrity cruisers were annoyed when the line went to all-inclusive pricing. They’ve since gone back to cabin-only pricing for anything other than the Retreat, which is always all-inclusive, including OBC. 

 

Still, an $8k difference seems very itinerary-specific. From my experience, Haven/Retreat pricing is more often similar than not.

[fstuff1]

On 12/9/2022 at 10:25 AM, JamieLogical said:

 

I usually have it in a French 77, which is St. Germain, Lemon Juice, and Prosecco.

 

was informed by the bartender there's also a french 75, which is the same except with gin.

 

and there's a sparkling garden:

vodka, elder flower liquor, pineapple and lime juice, agave syrup, prosecco.

 

i liked sparkling garden the best.

also more of a buzz because vodka 😮

[mikemike404]

Does anyone know if Myers rum is considered to be an up charge. My wife and I usually get piña colada’s with a shot of Myers rum on top.

[JamieLogical]

23 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

was informed by the bartender there's also a french 75, which is the same except with gin.

 

and there's a sparkling garden:

vodka, elder flower liquor, pineapple and lime juice, agave syrup, prosecco.

 

i liked sparkling garden the best.

also more of a buzz because vodka 😮

 

Yeah, the French 75 is the more common drink by far. Most bartenders know what you are talking about when you ask for that. Few know a French 77. Luckily it's easy to explain.

[reeinaz]

On 12/11/2022 at 7:17 AM, fstuff1 said:

 

was informed by the bartender there's also a french 75, which is the same except with gin.

 

and there's a sparkling garden:

vodka, elder flower liquor, pineapple and lime juice, agave syrup, prosecco.

 

i liked sparkling garden the best.

also more of a buzz because vodka 😮

Sparkling Garden! That's the one that I like. I had it once as the drink of the day and only remembered it had elderflower in it. Thanks!

[fstuff1]

1 hour ago, reeinaz said:

Sparkling Garden! That's the one that I like. I had it once as the drink of the day and only remembered it had elderflower in it. Thanks!

it is now my favorite drink.

better than a Patron margarita (no salt) and gives more of a buzz 😮

[KarlChilders]

semi interesting story that ties in loosely with this topic.  Before our recent cruise I was posting to the cruise group on a particular social media site.  Someone asked what top brands were availble on the package so I mentioned several I had last december ie Grey Goose, Woodford Reserve, Bullitt, Titos, Bombay.... another poster mentioned that Woodford and Bullitt were now an upcharge so I went to the NCL website and saw they were no longer listed but Buffalo Trace was.  Now this was two days before we sailed.  Fast forward to nite 2 of the cruise, I go to the bar between Cagneys and Moderno and see a bottle of woodford sitting next to Grey Goose and Tito's which I know are included because my wife drinks them.  I order a Woodford and the Bartender says thats an upcharge, so I say what can I have that isn't. She says Buffalo Trace, which I like so I say great give me one of those please.  Wake up the next day, happen to look at our onboard account and see a charge for 21.60 for that drink (had to go to guest services to have it corrected).  So clearly Buffalo Trace isn't included anymore even though 2 days before, the website still said it was.

[RocketMan275]

9 minutes ago, KarlChilders said:

semi interesting story that ties in loosely with this topic.  Before our recent cruise I was posting to the cruise group on a particular social media site.  Someone asked what top brands were availble on the package so I mentioned several I had last december ie Grey Goose, Woodford Reserve, Bullitt, Titos, Bombay.... another poster mentioned that Woodford and Bullitt were now an upcharge so I went to the NCL website and saw they were no longer listed but Buffalo Trace was.  Now this was two days before we sailed.  Fast forward to nite 2 of the cruise, I go to the bar between Cagneys and Moderno and see a bottle of woodford sitting next to Grey Goose and Tito's which I know are included because my wife drinks them.  I order a Woodford and the Bartender says thats an upcharge, so I say what can I have that isn't. She says Buffalo Trace, which I like so I say great give me one of those please.  Wake up the next day, happen to look at our onboard account and see a charge for 21.60 for that drink (had to go to guest services to have it corrected).  So clearly Buffalo Trace isn't included anymore even though 2 days before, the website still said it was.

When last on Breakaway, I challenged the bartender that Bulliet was included and showed him a copy of the list on the website.  He checked with his supervisor and I got Bulliet without surcharge for the rest of the cruise.

Edited December 12, 2022 by RocketMan275

[cruiseny4life]

On 12/11/2022 at 7:17 AM, fstuff1 said:

 

was informed by the bartender there's also a french 75, which is the same except with gin.

 

and there's a sparkling garden:

vodka, elder flower liquor, pineapple and lime juice, agave syrup, prosecco.

 

i liked sparkling garden the best.

also more of a buzz because vodka 😮

Sparkling Garden sounds absolutely amazing. I'll be finding this and loving it in a few short weeks. Thank you!

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, KarlChilders said:

semi interesting story that ties in loosely with this topic.  Before our recent cruise I was posting to the cruise group on a particular social media site.  Someone asked what top brands were availble on the package so I mentioned several I had last december ie Grey Goose, Woodford Reserve, Bullitt, Titos, Bombay.... another poster mentioned that Woodford and Bullitt were now an upcharge so I went to the NCL website and saw they were no longer listed but Buffalo Trace was.  Now this was two days before we sailed.  Fast forward to nite 2 of the cruise, I go to the bar between Cagneys and Moderno and see a bottle of woodford sitting next to Grey Goose and Tito's which I know are included because my wife drinks them.  I order a Woodford and the Bartender says thats an upcharge, so I say what can I have that isn't. She says Buffalo Trace, which I like so I say great give me one of those please.  Wake up the next day, happen to look at our onboard account and see a charge for 21.60 for that drink (had to go to guest services to have it corrected).  So clearly Buffalo Trace isn't included anymore even though 2 days before, the website still said it was.

Yeah...that's an error on the bartender's part.  I don't think they have a specific key in for Buffalo Trace, but it isn't, nor or Bulliet and upcharge.  I do think NCL is revamping their drink packages, and there is some confusion on the front lines what is and isn't extra charge.

[KarlChilders]

8 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Yeah...that's an error on the bartender's part.  I don't think they have a specific key in for Buffalo Trace, but it isn't, nor or Bulliet and upcharge.  I do think NCL is revamping their drink packages, and there is some confusion on the front lines what is and isn't extra charge.

Well while I was handling the removal of the charge at guest services I saw the slip the GS agent printed out and it read buffalo trace $18, service charge $3.60 ( which would be 20% of a full price drink). The initial correction to my account removed $15 leaving a 3.60 charge on. A second trip to GS got that one removed when I showed them a screen shot of their page listing Buffalo Trace as included in the plan. More effort than I would normally put in for such a small amount but it was the principle of it!

[tallyho8]

On 12/11/2022 at 9:19 AM, mikemike404 said:

Does anyone know if Myers rum is considered to be an up charge. My wife and I usually get piña colada’s with a shot of Myers rum on top.

I don't even see Meyers on the new menu. If not, the best substitute for it is Gosling's Black Seal rum.

[DaCruiseBug]

1 hour ago, KarlChilders said:

Well while I was handling the removal of the charge at guest services I saw the slip the GS agent printed out and it read buffalo trace $18, service charge $3.60 ( which would be 20% of a full price drink). The initial correction to my account removed $15 leaving a 3.60 charge on. A second trip to GS got that one removed when I showed them a screen shot of their page listing Buffalo Trace as included in the plan. More effort than I would normally put in for such a small amount but it was the principle of it!

Just think of how many people don’t bother standing in line to get it corrected. All that extra $$$ charged by NCL incorrectly…how convenient.

[CruzinMel]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:44 PM, gingersvp said:

I don't drink Crown, but travel with a friend who exclusively drinks Crown. I can tell you that Crown has been difficult to find across multiple cruise lines including Virgin and Royal. We *only* found it on the pool deck of the MSC Yacht club (and no where else on the ship). I wonder if Crown is reducing it's availability to the industry overall. And yes, we've been on all of these cruise lines within the past 12 months. He's been very cranky.

Oh, Lord.  DH is like your friend.  He only drinks Crown, and he only drinks regular Crown - no fancy flavors for him.  

[graphicguy]

18 hours ago, KarlChilders said:

Well while I was handling the removal of the charge at guest services I saw the slip the GS agent printed out and it read buffalo trace $18, service charge $3.60 ( which would be 20% of a full price drink). The initial correction to my account removed $15 leaving a 3.60 charge on. A second trip to GS got that one removed when I showed them a screen shot of their page listing Buffalo Trace as included in the plan. More effort than I would normally put in for such a small amount but it was the principle of it!

Again, I would have turned that over to the Concierge and let them deal with it.  Clearly an error, and something the Haven Concierges are there to rectify.

 

Their billing is so convoluted on cruise ships, I almost expect there to be errors whenever I cruise, unfortunately.

[brad0576]

These are the menus on the Joy - Observation Lounge ( but same all over) taken on 12/13/2022

[mianmike]

On 12/8/2022 at 7:48 AM, graphicguy said:

Along with the price rise on Crown (which is by no means a premium liquor) and up charges for St Germain and Bailey’s, I wonder if this is the beginning of more of these price up charges on non-premium liquors?

 

This, in addition to the room service up charge increase, fees on what used to be free (like Putt-Putt on Prima), this sounds like a conscious effort by NCL to raise prices without raising fares, which is what most people look at when comparing cruise lines?

 

That's totally what's happening.  That has been spoken to during investor earnings calls.  They want to keep the price (before fees) as low as possible.  When people price compared cruise lines NCL was not coming up near the top so they introduced the Sail Away rate.  The Sail Away rate enticed people to NCL, but most end up booking the higher rate cabins.   By shifting more and more revenue from the base fare to ancillary fees enables NCL's initial prices to appear competitive.  But that can only go so far and thus the plethora of marketing gimmicks.   

[KarlChilders]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Again, I would have turned that over to the Concierge and let them deal with it.  Clearly an error, and something the Haven Concierges are there to rectify.

 

Their billing is so convoluted on cruise ships, I almost expect there to be errors whenever I cruise, unfortunately.

Sadly no concierge for those of us down in steerage 😉

[graphicguy]

26 minutes ago, KarlChilders said:

Sadly no concierge for those of us down in steerage 😉

sorry…thought you were in the Haven!  Irritating to stand in line to take care of an issue that is their fault!

[WIBadgerFan]

On 12/5/2022 at 4:56 PM, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

It's still hilarious to me that NCL doesn't give Haven passengers a premium beverage package as part of the stateroom (like Celebrity suites).

 

 

That planet is called a the meatpacking district in Manhattan... never an NCL cruise ship. 

Agreed, but having just sailed on X, their wine selection for the premium package was abysmal by comparison to NCL.  My local gas station has better wine options than Celebrity includes.  You will never see Veuve for instance.  Decoy is the best you're going to get for a red.  Oh, and no wine bottles and only one drink per card.  They do charge a bit less than NCL.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 12/8/2022 at 7:59 AM, pandncruisers said:

They ran out of clamoto for my bloody Caesar last month on the bliss on the 3rd day so yes anything can be out of stock. 

Last week on the BA they ran out of Bloody Mary mix and were using Clamato instead.  

[pandncruisers]

Wow that means they were making bloody as much or little spice as people wanted.  My husband likes his very spicy and I don't so he would be telling the bar tender to pour the spice in.

[disfan13]

We upgraded to premium plus last month and it was worth it for us. Otherwise the wines available and scotch were horrible in the premium package given with the free at sea. We upgraded to the free at sea plus for our 12 nighter on the Getaway for January. It makes sense for us. Otherwise I thought we would be paying upcharges every time we wanted a cocktail.