NCL Ultimate Drink Package Yay or Nay??

First time cruiser here! My boyfriend and I are cruising on the NCL Dawn and were told about the "Ultimate Drink Package". He's much more of a drinker than I am but I was told we both must have the package. I was also told I could turn into a "vacation drinker" quickly if I had it since they would already be paid for ahead of time. ha!

So...is it worth it? It will cost another $788.50 with tax and tip.

Thoughts? Advice? Hints?

I would go for it although it depends on the itinerary. I had it on a 11 day transatlantic with just one port day and it was no effort at all to get come out ahead even without being seriously drunk any night. Sunny days help to start early. If you are a wine drinker it is even easier.

If you can afford it why not just try it once for the fun of it.

It means you can try drinks you might not otherwise. I drank a lot of cocktails on the Breakaway last December because I knew that if I didn't like one, I wouldn't feel too bad about leaving it - there was only one I didn't like in the whole week as it turned out.

Just do out the math for both of you. Figure $6 per beer $7.50 per drink and $9 per glass of wine and multiply it out by home many drinks you think you’ll consume in a week. Don’t forget to add 15% for auto gratuity. If your itinerary is port intensive or you figure you may be drinking a lot while on-shore, it may be hard to max-out. That is what NCL counts on. I was told that they do make money on this program.

We haven't gone with it because even though we are drinkers on vacation we can't drink that much everyday. We find one of the wine bottle packages work better. We still try new drinks and get cocktails when we want but don't come close to the price of the UBP. Especially if there are a lot of ports.

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We have had it prepaid at resorts and on cruises with business group we travel with.

I always figured we were making it possible for other people to drink more, since there was no way we could put a dent in the allowance.

We did it on our last cruise and loved it! It was nice to know your bar bill ahead of time. On pervious cruises I was always worried checking our account every day or two to see how much we spent and if we were correctly charged for drinks, which ended up being a pain. So in my opinion its nice to know the cost ahead of time. Plus everything and anything we ordered was inlcuded. (not the souvenir cups) We drank grey goose all week which was awesome. I even ordered a few martini's and they were covered. I guess if you traveling on a budget maybe it isn't the way to go, however for us it was great!

Not worth it for us. We like to have happy hour on our balcony and it would be a pain to go get a drink, go back to the balcony (aft) go get a drink, go back to the balcony... DH drinks mostly beer so he just gets a bucket and I get the bar set up to be in the room.

As first time cruisers though I doubt you will be spending much time in the cabin even if you do have a balcony so it may be very well worth it for you.

We just got back from 9 days on the Gem with the UB package. It was well worth it!

Our embarkation lunch in the MDR included 2 rounds of drinks! We usually drink wine with dinner. Wine portions are pre measured pours of about 4 ounces. By the second night we had become friends with our waitress and she would pour us 2 portions each time. Our wine cost for dinner alone was over $80! Each individual pour was between $8.25 - $9.00 a portion. If you drink wine the UB pays off! it was such a pleasure to see no extra alcohol charges at the end of the cruise!

We've considered it for our upcoming Breakaway Cruise, but have decided against it.

With us being docked in Bermuda for 3 days, we'll spend basically 3 full days and two nights off the ship. We'd have to make up a lot of ground for us to get our money's worth when we'll be buying drinks on land as it is.

Since NCL still sells the package up to the 2nd day of the cruise, I'm betting they bank on people who go BIG on the drinks the first night. Buy the package, and then slow down over the rest of the cruise. Most can't keep up that kind of pace!

We'll probably get the 4 bottle Viva Vino package and then pay for the rest of the drinks as we go. Plus I'm REALLY looking forward to those buckets of beers :)

First time cruiser here! My boyfriend and I are cruising on the NCL Dawn and were told about the "Ultimate Drink Package". He's much more of a drinker than I am but I was told we both must have the package. I was also told I could turn into a "vacation drinker" quickly if I had it since they would already be paid for ahead of time. ha!

 

So...is it worth it? It will cost another $788.50 with tax and tip.

 

Thoughts? Advice? Hints?

Wow - that's a lot of money. Our bar bill for mixed drinks never comes close to that. I guess if yours does, then it's worth it!

We just got back from 9 days on the Gem with the UB package. It was well worth it!

Our embarkation lunch in the MDR included 2 rounds of drinks! We usually drink wine with dinner. Wine portions are pre measured pours of about 4 ounces. By the second night we had become friends with our waitress and she would pour us 2 portions each time. Our wine cost for dinner alone was over $80! Each individual pour was between $8.25 - $9.00 a portion. If you drink wine the UB pays off! it was such a pleasure to see no extra alcohol charges at the end of the cruise!

Do you happen to know if Prosecco is included? We usually drop $100 a dinner on board for Prosecco. That may make it worth it for us .... other than that, I don't think so!!

Do you happen to know if Prosecco is included? We usually drop $100 a dinner on board for Prosecco. That may make it worth it for us .... other than that, I don't think so!!

Prosecco is 9$ by the glass, so it is included :D

Have fun !

Prosecco is 9$ by the glass, so it is included :D

 

 

 

Have fun !

Thanks!!

800$ might sound hard to reach on a bar tab...it all depends on what you drink.

If you enjoy wine, most are between 7$ and 10$ ( so included ), martini's are mostly under the maximum allowed. Plenty of mixed drinks are also within the limits...it is very easy to drink 5 or more "servings" per day each.

Even in the morning, the Mimosa's are included. So one mimosa, 1 or 2 drinks with lunch, an other 2 drinks ( or wine glasses ) in the afternoon, again 1 or 2 with the dinner and maybe one last one in the evening... There you go...in the "saving zone ;) "

The error we did on our last cruise when we bought the UBP was to also bring with us a few bottles of champagne plus the one we had in our room as a gift...

Next time, no BYOW for us...just the UBP.

Example: You take a 3 day cruise. Friday you ship leaves at 4 pm at sea, Saturday your in port the next day, and Sunday you at dock at 7 am and the cut alcohol off at 2 am approximately. Not only do you feel like you just unpacked but the first and last day is limited or no drinking yet you paid to drink for two people for 3 days. Yes that is right, you cannot just buy one drinking package, everyone in the cabin has to have one.

quote=Gracieismydog;42707975]First time cruiser here! My boyfriend and I are cruising on the NCL Dawn and were told about the "Ultimate Drink Package". He's much more of a drinker than I am but I was told we both must have the package. I was also told I could turn into a "vacation drinker" quickly if I had it since they would already be paid for ahead of time. ha!

So...is it worth it? It will cost another $788.50 with tax and tip.

Thoughts? Advice? Hints?

...yay. That is all.

Rooden, you can board the ship at 11:30 am day 1 so that really is a full day & night plus 6 more full days/ nights. I think if it is not a port intensive cruise, it will be worth it for us. We usually do a few mimosas for breakfast, a few frozen drinks or beers during the day, 3 or 4 glasses of wine with dinner and a nightcap or two. We'll definitely get our money's worth on a Bahamas cruise where we'll only get off for a few hrs in Nassau and then GSC where the drinks are included in the package. Not sure it'll be worth it for our upcoming a Bermuda cruise though.

I think it depends on how many days are sea days too. On my upcoming cruise we have 6 sea days;) so plenty of time to have drinks with lunch and in the afternoon:) we are buying it !

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I say go for it. We have done it twice so far and each time it worked out in our favor. As others have said, it gives you the oppurtunity to try all kind of drinks. DOn't like it, get something else. Having a mimosa or bloody mary or other drink in the morning, then some during the day, then wine for dinner with after dinner drinks and nightcaps. It isn't hard to make it work.

A factor not mentioned - so you drink at meal times and a wait staff is available

to bring you your drinks - but what about other times you have to go a bar

that is open or a service area ?

Now it is very early or after hours will there be a bar open ?

I understand the UBP is NOT part of room service - not terribly convenient !

In order to maximize your use of the UBP will beverage point of service be convenient for you or for NCL ?

Another thing to consider is buying several bottles; perhaps 5, to have in your

cabin for your enjoyment at your pleasure. Bottles of hard booze purchased from

NCL between $80 to $120 with incabin bar setup might be a better way to

go.

There is another program called "Corks & Caps" similar to the UBP a bit less

expensive devoted to wine and beer.

Lots of ways to go - carefully consider the number of days you will be able to

use which plan you choose and where you can conveniently use it !

Yes, if you plan to do all your drinking in the wee hours, it may be best to buy bottles for your cabin. Although the casino bar will be open all night (if the casino is) and you can also use the UBP anytime at the 24-hour restaurant.

LOL, I guess if you do most of your drinking between 3am and 8am, you a re out of luck.

Do the wine machines stay open?

First time cruiser here! My boyfriend and I are cruising on the NCL Dawn and were told about the "Ultimate Drink Package". He's much more of a drinker than I am but I was told we both must have the package. I was also told I could turn into a "vacation drinker" quickly if I had it since they would already be paid for ahead of time. ha!

 

 

 

So...is it worth it? It will cost another $788.50 with tax and tip.

 

 

 

Thoughts? Advice? Hints?

You need to drink 7-8 drinks a day everyday to break even.

I say it's not close to worth it

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