Ultimate Beverage Package now $68 service charge

Booked the Escape with this free promo back in March, now there is a $68 service charge ( 7 day cruise) added per person for this "freebie" as of today. Glad I got it when I did. My cruise on Escape has gone up $300+ since booking in March. I know this has been mentioned before but just a heads up for those seeking this promo but missed the change.

Simply put, this is the 18% gratuity. I see no issue with this. If it makes it more likely that the free UBP will be offered into the future, I can live with picking up the tips. $136 for two is the same as free for us. We have never had a cruise ship bar tab less than $136 on a seven night cruise.

But you could get the 12 drinks for the same price without the "free" drink package. Unless you are a really big drinker (4 or more per day) this probably does not make good economical sense. Just buy the drinks as you go 1-2 per day and you are in the same place financially.

$68 per person barely covers 1 drink per day.

I just changed my 2016 sailing to the UBP as well - even with a price adjustment of $258 (my kids sail free went from 0 to $129 pp) plus the $155 in UBP service charges, it's still less than the cost of 1 beverage package. I'm happy.

$136.... $11 dollar drinks comes to about 12 drinks for a 7 day cruise. Pretty cheap if you ask me. I'd have no problem paying that versus the couple hundred I'd have on my room bill.

On my last Cruise my bill was over $1000 due to drinking and the Internet lol

But you could get the 12 drinks for the same price without the "free" drink package. Unless you are a really big drinker (4 or more per day) this probably does not make good economical sense. Just buy the drinks as you go 1-2 per day and you are in the same place financially.

1 or 2 per day? This is a Cruise not a tasting lol

I am guessing they will not offer totally free UBP ever again now, since people would be mad I'm sure if they paid and others got it with grats included later on... sigh! :/

If a better promo comes along before final payment they can always switch. Also the point of promos is to get as many people to book as possible. I'm guessing in August they will do a "lame" promo" for a month then might do something like free or gratuity only UBP and UDP again, NCL know people watch the promos so it wouldn't surprise me if some kind of pattern came around of how often they feature a certain kind of promo.

As far as people getting mad it seems the biggest complainers are people who don't want the promos at all and believe that without them we would be seeing significantly lower base prices, which I don't believe would be true.

I also see that the "big drinker"/ "lots of drinks" comments have started. I love judgmental people! We're on vacation people! 4 drinks a day is not a lot when your on vacation!

I last cruised with NCL in October and here is what a normal person might drink in a day (probably less) and the prices.

1 daytime margarita ($10)

1 dinner glass of wine ($8)

1 beer at night ($6)

Total= $24

Plus 18% auto gratuity= $29.26

Assume that you do that for 6 days= $175.56 for a single person

Heck if you only had 1 margarita a day ($12.19 w/ auto-grat) the promo would still be saving you money as your final bill if you had just 1 margarita a day for 6 days would be $73.14.

Also the ubp gives you the ability to try new drinks without having to pay for them :)

But you could get the 12 drinks for the same price without the "free" drink package. Unless you are a really big drinker (4 or more per day) this probably does not make good economical sense. Just buy the drinks as you go 1-2 per day and you are in the same place financially.

You might look at your math. The 12 drinks are for two people so it's 6 drinks apiece for a seven day cruise, less than one drink per day. So for anyone that has at least one drink, it's still cheaper.

$68 per person barely covers 1 drink per day.

Glad someone can do math. Just figured it at about 1 drink per day each. I know that is a lot of booze, but you are on vacation.

I don't think NCL should be allowed to advertise something is free when it is not

The dining package, the soda and the beverage package are NOT free

There is a charge

FALSE ADVERTISING

LOL

I won a "Free" Boat years ago, then I found out I had to pay state and local taxes

Is the service charge the only additional fee? Wondering if NCL is still taking care of the 18% gratuities or if this is something we would have to cover. Seems the rules are changing too frequently. We were on the Getaway in May and really enjoyed the UBP. We didn't have to worry about any additional gratuities since it was included in the promo.

The $68 is the the gratuity. You don't have to pay anything else once this is covered. Its still a great deal if you drink on the cruise.

For us, if we were to give up our May reservations, to get the UDP promo, our fare would go up near $600 :o

No, thanks. I'll keep my OBC :)

For someone like us who will not cruise without UBP, and who have purchased it on our past 2 cruises, it's a no-brainer.

The $68 is the the gratuity. You don't have to pay anything else once this is covered. Its still a great deal if you drink on the cruise.

Called and confirmed. It is the gratuities on each of the packages. It's not taxes, or fees that go to NCL. It goes to the bar staff gratuities pool once you make final payment in that reservation.

I have a feeling the change from the free UBP gratuity included promo that was offered earlier this year to the new promo of free UBP plus a service charge has to do with the way the wait staff was getting their tips.

Under the old promo, to the best of my knowledge, each drink would be charged then reversed on the passengers bill so that a gratuity would be generated for the wait staff even though the passenger was not paying for the drink. And from what I have read some of the wait staff would charge a higher price for the actual drink (makes for a higher tip) and the passenger wouldn't care because the charge was being reversed.

Now I wonder if drinks will be charged a price at all for those with the UBP. NCL could just have the computer programmed to not charge the UBP passenger at all for each of his/her drinks and the prepaid service charge will account for the tips. This would eliminate the reversing of the charges but also eliminate calculating each drink's gratuity for the wait staff.

I have a feeling the change from the free UBP gratuity included promo that was offered earlier this year to the new promo of free UBP plus a service charge has to do with the way the wait staff was getting their tips.

 

Under the old promo, to the best of my knowledge, each drink would be charged then reversed on the passengers bill so that a gratuity would be generated for the wait staff even though the passenger was not paying for the drink. And from what I have read some of the wait staff would charge a higher price for the actual drink (makes for a higher tip) and the passenger wouldn't care because the charge was being reversed.

 

Now I wonder if drinks will be charged a price at all for those with the UBP. NCL could just have the computer programmed to not charge the UBP passenger at all for each of his/her drinks and the prepaid service charge will account for the tips. This would eliminate the reversing of the charges but also eliminate calculating each drink's gratuity for the wait staff.

I just booked my first NCL cruise with the UBP. How do they recognize that you have the package? Do you wear a bracelet or is it on your key card?

I just booked my first NCL cruise with the UBP. How do they recognize that you have the package? Do you wear a bracelet or is it on your key card?

Greetings

There is a sticker on your card that shows you have the package.

Good Sailing

Tom

EDIT: Nevermind.

We won our last cruise on a Facebook contest and had to pay taxes and port charges - then had to pay taxes on the prize at the end but it was still worth it to me as would be paying the service charge for the ubp

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Is the service charge the only additional fee? Wondering if NCL is still taking care of the 18% gratuities or if this is something we would have to cover. Seems the rules are changing too frequently. We were on the Getaway in May and really enjoyed the UBP. We didn't have to worry about any additional gratuities since it was included in the promo.

The service charge is the gratuities.

If you were to purchase the UBP, the 18% service charge would be added at the time of purchase. This really makes sense. A drink costs NCL maybe $1, so they really don't lose much with the UBP, but when they have to pay the gratuities to staff that is when they are not breaking even, so they are passing on the gratuity cost to the consumer. A very wise move by NCL, and one that may make the UBP promotions last a lot longer.

The service charge is the gratuities.

 

If you were to purchase the UBP, the 18% service charge would be added at the time of purchase. This really makes sense. A drink costs NCL maybe $1, so they really don't lose much with the UBP, but when they have to pay the gratuities to staff that is when they are not breaking even, so they are passing on the gratuity cost to the consumer. A very wise move by NCL, and one that may make the UBP promotions last a lot longer.

The service charge is the gratuities.

 

If you were to purchase the UBP, the 18% service charge would be added at the time of purchase. This really makes sense. A drink costs NCL maybe $1, so they really don't lose much with the UBP, but when they have to pay the gratuities to staff that is when they are not breaking even, so they are passing on the gratuity cost to the consumer. A very wise move by NCL, and one that may make the UBP promotions last a lot longer.

That could very well be the reason. They gave away a ton of UBP and UDP and then they had to pay the servers...it got expensive, so now we will pay for it. And yes, you are correct, a very wise move by NCL.

Exactly.

Exactly.

True, but we know how people like to complain that NCL is 'making them foot the bill /pass the buck'. [emoji57]