"All In" Package

[mrte62]

We are booked on a 9-night Baltic cruise this September on the Star. We took advantage of the All-Inclusive Package.

 

While sitting home waiting out the blizzard, I called NCL and asked how do I book a shore excursion using the $200 credit without getting charged. Same question for reservations using the Ultimate Dining Package. I was told that because this package is an add-on, the computer system of NCL does not recognize it, even though pulling up the reservation, the package and what it includes is clearly spelled out. I was told that we would have to wait till we get onboard in order to make those reservations. "You need to get on board as earlier as you can and then make all the plans you can ASAP." That was the answer.

 

Is that true? If so it makes no sense. We could be shut out of a tour, a diner time/location (I know Freestyle) just because we purchased a package and not items a la carte?

[KeithJenner]

Very few things sell out before boarding, so I doubt you will miss out on anything.

 

It won't hurt to book things fairly soon after boarding though, if particular times and venues are important.

[Annmeat]

We have called and booked our excursions. I have received the confirmation and everything, After I did that, I called pre- concierge and was told that when it is 100 days out

I could call and book any dinners we wanted to pre- book. A. Call to the NCL regular phone number advised the same.

 

It is 90 days for non- suite guests.

 

Call The NCL number when it is the appropriate number of days prior to cruise and you and book the AI meals .

 

Incidentally, we have cruised without reservations and not had a problem. Also, the UDP guarantees a res if you make it 24 hours ahead.

No worries!

[DeltaOne]

While sitting home waiting out the blizzard, I called NCL and asked how do I book a shore excursion using the $200 credit without getting charged. Same question for reservations using the Ultimate Dining Package.

 

The $200 is on board credit, it's only good for purchases on board the ship. Purchases you make before the cruise can not be charged against on board credit.

 

I'm not sure why the cruise lines have this policy...it doesn't make any sense to me either.

[Annmeat]

The $200 is on board credit, it's only good for purchases on board the ship. Purchases you make before the cruise can not be charged against on board credit.

 

 

 

I'm not sure why the cruise lines have this policy...it doesn't make any sense to me either.

 

 

No, you can call and use the 200.00 excursion credit . I have already booked excursions and received the confirmations.

They bill it to your onboard account once you are on board, and then apply the credit.

 

Call the excursion number, they book it right away. The confirmation comes about 2 hours later, as they have a different system for inputting the All In ressies. You will then be able to see it under " booked items " on your NCL online account.

[jenf22]

Is the all inclusive package still available? How do I add it to my cruise? Thanks!

Edited January 27, 2015 by jenf22

[azgkrudi]

Is the all inclusive package still available? How do I add it to my cruise? Thanks!

 

ALLIN was bookable during a very short time window, August into September 2014. I tried like crazy to get our friends to book then, but they snoozed and losed. It was a no brainer to me, the list of complementary amenities we will get is amazing. Keep watching, though, because they may offer it again!

[L-in-CLT]

The finance side of the all in package was messy.We used in for our 12 day in January. The $200 is for excursions only and cannot be used for on board credit items. It can also not be credited back to excursions that were prepaid prior to the cruise.

[L-in-CLT]

My quick review (copied from a different thread and cleaned up a bit) of the All Inclusive from our 12 day on the Breakaway Jan 4-16.

 

So let me just say we would choose to do the all inclusive all over again. Financially, it was a benefit to us but just by the skin of our teeth. Before I get into the breakdown, a few thoughts:

 

• NCL needs to get cleaner on the financial execution on this. It’s a new program so will assume they will work out the kinks over time. From an account detail perspective, it was hugely messy to understand the debits and credits that showed up daily and without a spreadsheet, we weren’t quite sure things were being done correctly. Even Anoop had some confusion over the accounting during our stay. At the end of the cruise, we still weren’t completely sure it was all done accurately but decided to not worry about it – too much work to figure it all out.

 

• It took a day and a half for our water to show up. Our butler actually needed proof from us that we had the all inclusive to get whoever doles out the water bottles to release the water bottles. He took a picture of the personalized documents that were in our room outlining the all inclusive benefits. This wasn’t a big deal; I bring it up just to say that not all the systems within NCL are as connected as we would like so some patience is required with a new program :) And since I’m talking about the water – it was A LOT of water. I thought it would be little single serve bottles of water but it was liters of water. That was a shocker!

 

The breakdown of what was included in our 12 day cruise what we used...

- 10% off our cruise fair…this was goodness all the way around. And even better that when we booked there was a $400 credit for Haven bookings!

- UDP…Cost as a stand along option for two people is$400. We used $290.39.

- UBP (including gratuities)…cost as a stand alone option for two people is $1200…we aren’t huge drinkers so we knew this one would be a loss for us. We felt like we drank a lot with our total spend at $644.12.

- 24 bottles of water…cost as a stand alone option is $138. We didn’t use all the water but we enjoyed having it. We wouldn’t have bought water on our own – the ships water is fine with us.

- $400 shore excursion credit…good deal

- 40 photos of any size…we wouldn’t have used this at all but since we had it, we bought photos for us and many of our friends! A total benefit of $738 so well worth it but we wouldn’t have used it if it wasn’t there.

- 12 chocolate covered strawberries….they all arrive on embarkation day. Way too many for 2 people to eat in a day and they don't save well so we gave half to our balcony neighbors to enjoy :) Not sure how much these cost as a stand alone option. Because we were in a suite, we received chocolate covered strawberries several times so not really worth it

- 2 bottles of wine….a nice bonus. We brought them home

- 2 bingo sessions (6 games)…a stand alone cost of $78 and not something we would have done if it wasn’t part of the package. We’ve never played bingo before – and I won a game! $171 bonus (that was given right back in several Let It Ride hands in the casino)

- 2000 megabytes of internet (we were only expecting 250/pp but the onboard doc said 1000/pp) …a stand alone cost of $178 and not something we would have purchased on our own. We didn’t use all 2000 megabytes but did enjoy the access when we needed it. I’d consider purchasing a package in the future.

- Prepaid service charges….about $400 or so of stand alone cost

[Annmeat]

We got it for an upcoming cruise. The discount on the suite was 500$ for the 2 of us, bringing our 7 nite AI

Price down to $550 per person.

It was a no brainer for us!

 

The price of our Suite has gone up over 800 each since we booked.

Now it is like getting the AI for free'!

Thanks for the heads up on the glitches....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Stacy-b]

We were one of the first ones to cruise on the all-in package. It was great and well worth it!

 

Our only complaint was the shore excursion issue you mentioned. It all worked out for us. We booked them the first day of the cruise.

 

We were able to book our dining reservations online 90 days out.

 

Also, 20 pictures per person was a lot!! We felt like we posed so many times, but now I have 40 beautiful pictures of our 25th Anniversary cruise!

 

When you arrive in your cabin, there will be coupons for all your all-in perks. Very easy!

 

Enjoy!