Nw getaway - bev package or 3rd cruiser free??!?!?!

Hello, my family - husband, daughter, and I, will be embarking on our first cruise experience January 2017 on the Norweigan Getaway. As we have never cruised before, I was unfamiliar with the average beverage consumption on a 7 day run, and chose their current promo ULTIMATE BEVERAGE PACKAGE over the third person sails free. Although the promo reads, "FREE BEV PACKAGE" we were still charged almost $70 each to cover anticipated gratuity of 18%. According to my calculations, they are approximating at least $350pp in beverage/alcohol consumption for drinks up to $11. Even at the highest premium of $11, that the package allows, that's an average of 63 drinks, or 8-9 $11 drinks on board per day. Our itinerary only has at "at sea" for two days, with 4 stops. I won't ask "is it really possible to drink that much in pop and alcohol?" because I am sure it is, but now am wondering if the better value would have been to elect the third cruiser for free? I anticipate that my husband will be the heavy drinker of both pop and alcoholic beverages; I myself drink water with dinner 100% of the time, and usually have just an alcoholic drink or two per day. My daughter will drink juice/water/lemonade. Would it be more beneficial to elect the soft drink package for him, and just pay for alcoholic drinks as we go considering the amount of time we will be on the ship/vs on land? $199 is the max credit we would receive for 3rd person sailing free.

I'm so confused. Experts, help! Please help me decide!

Welcome to cruise critic. You should definitely check out the NCL board, and the roll call for your cruise.

You are correct that the value of the "free" beverage package is $50 pp pd. So if only one of the three of you would have spent that much without the package you are kicking back cash to their mandatory service charge pool (and not to the servers) unnecessarily.

When trying to decide the best promotion among the choices given at booking you are almost always better off with one that either (1) reduces the gross up front fare; or (2) gives you onboard spend credit that can be used for anything rather than one program--unless it is a program that everyone on your booking is very enthusiastic about. I certainly would inquire about switching to a different promotion.

Also note that on NCL you cannot buy the soda card just for your husband; all persons in the cabin must be on the same beverage package--and if ordering the soda package in advance before sailing all persons under the same booking number must, even if in multiple cabins. You will see lots of posts about this subject on the NCL boards based on the new corporate administration's draconian policies regarding beverage and dining packages meant to exploit their popularity by adding new surcharges and restrictions even when given for "free" (sic).

Since you don't think you'll be drinking enough for the package to "pay" for itself, see if you can switch to the 3rd passenger "free", and just buy drinks as you want them.

Nothing is actually "free" on a cruise vacation....you pay for it one way or the other.

Yes, definetly don't want to lose out.

We have already been billed $120 for beverage gratuities.

Im still indifferent. Thanks for weighing in!

I'm not sure your math is correct. $350pp or $50 per day is about 4.5 drinks at the $11/drink price. I have never cruised with NCL and haven't looked into their packages so i am not familiar with them, but i would think that if they include most alcohol along with bottled water and soda you would easily go over the $50pp/day. Also not sure on how much the thrid person rate is, but if it is less than $700 you probably made the right choice.

Another "benefit" of the package is you wont have sticker shock at the end of the cruise after realizing that those pre/after dinner drinks add up quick. It helps with budgeting. It will also allow you to be a little more adventurous in your drinking, meaning you will probably be more apt to try something new because if you dont like it, at least you didnt "pay" for it.

Agree if you aren't a big drinker, another promotion may be better for you.