Beverage Package VS Unlimited Dinning Package

[Pedro2400]

I just booked NCL ESCAPE for 2016 ,

But I am not sure which promo to pick.

Beverage Package VS Unlimited Dinning Package?

Me and my wife don't drink much , may be one or two drinks a day the most.

but we would love dinning at different restaurants , But at this time NCL is not sure which restaurants in ESCAPE will be included in this package ...

 

which one would you pick and which one have better value for money ?

[triptolemus]

Sounds like you answered your own question...

 

We don't drink much... and we would love dinning at different restaurants...

 

Seems pretty straightforward. Remember, "best value" for me may not be "best value" for you!

 

But when you consider the retail price of the beverage package, you have to drink around 8 to 10 drinks a day to break even.

Edited March 7, 2015 by triptolemus

[amarvel]

If you both order soda packages and a few alcoholic beverages than value wise it's probably the same as the dining package. So you might as well just get the one that you like the most which it sounds like you guys enjoy the restaurants. If you don't even drink enough to equal the dining package then it's a no brainer. Unless you were going to purchased a dining package anyway and it was already in your budget and you want to see how the beverage package is and you think you could get at least somewhat of value out of it then you can choose that.

[Guindalf]

Sounds like you answered your own question...

 

We don't drink much... and we would love dinning at different restaurants...

 

Seems pretty straightforward. Remember, "best value" for me may not be "best value" for you!

 

But when you consider the retail price of the beverage package, you have to drink around 8 to 10 drinks a day to break even.

 

No, you don't. To be ahead, all you need to do is drink more than the cost of the dining package, which is $120 for a 7-night cruise. Using $10 as the base, that's just 12 drinks for the entire cruise, not including soda, so less than TWO per day.

 

I rarely drink, but I found trying new cocktails and having a glass of wine with a meal was nice without having to worry about a big bill at the end of the cruise. We had both, but I would have happily paid the $240 for the UDP if I could only pick one. I doubt I would have paid the $850 for the UBP though!

[gymbomb]

You don't even have to drink more than the price of the dining package -- you just have to estimate if YOU and your travel companion would spend more on restaurants or on drinks (including soda and virgin cocktails). The one you would spend more on is a better value for you. We would never spend enough on either to make purchasing the packages worthwhile, but we probably spend slightly more on drinks than on specialty restaurants.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Valen9]

If Escape is like the other ships, then the UDP will apply to all the specialty dining except for the really expensive ones and the a la carte options, where you'll get a discount.

 

Are they still offering the OBC instead of either package? They're also offering pre-paid gratuities, I thought. If you don't think you'd eat (or drink) more than $12.95 per person per day, then the gratuities might save you the most money.

 

For our cruise we took the OBC. That means we could use the money for drinks OR dining, as we chose... though I ended up using mine to purchase a Future Cruise Certificate. :)

[Shadwick]

What is the regular price of a fountain soda. (For a child...if it matters) Just trying to decide if I should buy the unlimited for him or not.

 

Thanks in Advance

[FireEater]

Sounds like the dining package will fit your needs better. Am sure there will be plenty of choices for restaurants.

[SaveFarris]

But at this time NCL is not sure which restaurants in ESCAPE will be included in this package ...

 

which one would you pick and which one have better value for money ?

 

Already Free:

Taste

Savor

Manhattan Room

O'Sheehans

Garden Cafe'

 

Covered by UDP on every other boat so feel pretty confident they'd be covered here as well:

Cagney's

Le Bistro

La Cucina

Moderno

Teppanyaki

 

 

Not Sure, but I'd lean toward them probably being included:

Food Republic

Pincho Tapas

 

Most likely treated like Ocean Blue, where it's %off instead of 100% covered:

Bayamo

[jkneern]

If you have at least 2 drinks a day then UDP is best. most drinks after gratuity (now 18%) is added is $10+. Dining pkg was $119 for 7 days. We are not big drinkers at all but chose drinks and bought dining. We felt we made the right choice.

[Pedro2400]

If Escape is like the other ships, then the UDP will apply to all the specialty dining except for the really expensive ones and the a la carte options, where you'll get a discount.

 

Are they still offering the OBC instead of either package? They're also offering pre-paid gratuities, I thought. If you don't think you'd eat (or drink) more than $12.95 per person per day, then the gratuities might save you the most money.

 

For our cruise we took the OBC. That means we could use the money for drinks OR dining, as we chose... though I ended up using mine to purchase a Future Cruise Certificate. :)

 

 

Isn't on board credit only $50 per stateroom ?