UBP Not Accepted in the Specialty Restaurants???

[LrgPizza]

can anyone point me in the right direction as to where i will find the drinks menu (s) for the speciality restaurants at all :)

 

 

Google NCL Escape menus. You'll find the specialty menus. On those, you'll find each restaurant's signature drinks.

[Jofishes]

Google NCL Escape menus. You'll find the specialty menus. On those, you'll find each restaurant's signature drinks.

 

thank you :)

 

you've got me thinking i may bring a few bottles on board with me the reason being my son can drink a full bottle of the fizzy stuff all to himself so it could be a wise move on my part :D and looking at the duty free prices at heathrow i could grab two on my way out and then just pay corkage ;)

 

can i ask if i decide to do this would i take them on as hand luggage, declare and pay corkage at check in ???

Edited November 28, 2015 by Jofishes
spelling

[weltek]

Are drinks at Bayamo included in the UBP?

[GITC]

As they say there are exceptions to every rule: You will not be able to order the Veuve Clicquot in Le Bistro and have it covered by the UBP. Reason given is that they are calling it a 'promotion'. Not sure what kind of 'promotions' are printed right on the menu? Sounds like a permanent thing to me but it is what it is.

 

Even more confusing and not available with the UBP is a long pour glass of wine.

Rochelle

 

Our experience on the TA on Jade earlier this month was that we regularly ordered and drank long pours of wine in the MDR. This notion of long pours being a "promotion" is ludicrous.

 

Don't know about the availability of Veuve in Le Bistro as we never ate thaere but based on the foregoing I'd be skeptical. We regularly saw wait staff from Le Bistro at the Mixer's/Champagne bar getting glasses of Veuve. If those weren't included under the UBP, one need only walk a few feet from Le Bistro to get one that was or pick one up on the way into Le Bistro.

[hunterjackson]

Are drinks at Bayamo included in the UBP?

 

Yes, if they are under the $15 limit

[Moby0215]

Our experience on the TA on Jade earlier this month was that we regularly ordered and drank long pours of wine in the MDR. This notion of long pours being a "promotion" is ludicrous.

 

 

 

Don't know about the availability of Veuve in Le Bistro as we never ate thaere but based on the foregoing I'd be skeptical. We regularly saw wait staff from Le Bistro at the Mixer's/Champagne bar getting glasses of Veuve. If those weren't included under the UBP, one need only walk a few feet from Le Bistro to get one that was or pick one up on the way into Le Bistro.

 

 

I think I read on an earlier thread that the cost of the "promo" drink in Le Bistro is more than the UBP. One would be able to get a glass but would just need to pay the difference after the $15.

 

 

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[LrgPizza]

Are drinks at Bayamo included in the UBP?

 

Yes. The Sugarcane Mojito bar is actually the bar that services Bayamo. As a result, the bartenders in Sugarcane are dressed identically to the servers in Bayamo.

[welove2cruise2014]

I think I read on an earlier thread that the cost of the "promo" drink in Le Bistro is more than the UBP. One would be able to get a glass but would just need to pay the difference after the $15.

 

 

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It was our experience in October on the Dawn that the "promo" glass of Veuve featured on the Le Bistro menu was charged per glass, and not included in the UBP. We paid for each glass, not just what the "over $15" amount was or would have been.Can't remember if the actual cost was more or less than $15 per glass.

Edited November 28, 2015 by welove2cruise2014

[Moby0215]

It was our experience in October on the Dawn that the "promo" glass of Veuve featured on the Le Bistro menu was charged per glass, and not included in the UBP. We paid for each glass, not just what the "over $15" amount was or would have been.Can't remember if the actual cost was more or less than $15 per glass.

 

 

I meant what the regular full glass price is. Not the promo small glass price. I could be wrong. Just thought that's what I read earlier.

 

 

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[hawkeyetlse]

I meant what the regular full glass price is.

$22.25 on the Escape. So $9 for a small glass at Le Bistro is definitely a promotional price.

[rochelle_s]

Our experience on the TA on Jade earlier this month was that we regularly ordered and drank long pours of wine in the MDR. This notion of long pours being a "promotion" is ludicrous.

 

Don't know about the availability of Veuve in Le Bistro as we never ate thaere but based on the foregoing I'd be skeptical. We regularly saw wait staff from Le Bistro at the Mixer's/Champagne bar getting glasses of Veuve. If those weren't included under the UBP, one need only walk a few feet from Le Bistro to get one that was or pick one up on the way into Le Bistro.

 

Couldn't agree with you more about the ludicrousness of the 'promotional' long pour. Denying us the long pour did not mean we drank less. It just made more work for the server and in some cases longer waits for us.

 

As for our experiences with the champagne and Le Bistro, we did not pursue the issue or ask for further clarification. The option for glass or bottle was printed right at the top of the menu, with the glass price being $15. I do not recall what the bottle price was. Not exactly sure why you would be skeptical in regards to what I have said.

 

As for our experience being different from yours I am not at all surprised. In the last year I have been on the Gem x 2, the Jade x 2, the Pearl x 1 and the Star x 1. In every case I had the UBP. Never was the beverage service consistent from ship to ship. The poorest beverage service was hands down on the Star. The best far and away was on the Pearl.

 

On the Star I did not make formal complaints when I had to wait for a drink. Nor did I make contact with the the beverage manager to address my concerns as the problems were not specific to a quick fix. Sweeping overall changes need to be put in place. I did take the time to go through my bill with guest services on the last sea day to have the numerous beverage charges removed that were mistakenly on my bill. Finally I did take the time to sit down and write a note to the Hotel Director. I let him know how I felt about the overall beverage service on the ship and I also let him know how I had experienced the exact opposite on another ship of similar size just the week before. I suggested that they could benefit from having a look at how things are handled on the Pearl. I also stated I was not trying to be a Negative Nelly and told him of what was enjoyable about the trip as well.

 

If your experiences have been different and always positive that is wonderful. I wish I could say the same. I can say that if beverage service was handled on all ships like it was on the Pearl there would be a lot of very happy customers across the fleet.

 

 

Rochelle

[Moby0215]

$22.25 on the Escape. So $9 for a small glass at Le Bistro is definitely a promotional price.

 

 

That's what I thought. So it would be $7.25 if you have the UBP.

 

 

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[rochelle_s]

$22.25 on the Escape. So $9 for a small glass at Le Bistro is definitely a promotional price.

 

For our Star sailing (Nov 1-8, 2015) the price per glass as printed on the Le Bistro menu was $15.

 

That is a significant increase on the Escape which no doubt will continue throughout the fleet when Le Bistro goes a la carte in the new year.

 

 

Rochelle

[hawkeyetlse]

For our Star sailing (Nov 1-8, 2015) the price per glass as printed on the Le Bistro menu was $15.

Our Le Bistro menu on the Epic this month said $89 per bottle or $9 for a 3oz glass (same as the Spanish menu posted by BirdTravels here). For all wines sold by the glass, NCL charges about 25% of the bottle price for one regular-size glass. So if they were selling full glasses of Veuve for $15 on your cruise, this was still a promotional price. Yes, this should be indicated on the menu, but if it is indeed a promotion, then it is correctly excluded from the UBP.

That is a significant increase on the Escape which no doubt will continue throughout the fleet when Le Bistro goes a la carte in the new year.

The price I found for the Escape was from the menu for The Cellars (wine bar), and it is exactly 25% of the bottle price ($89/4 = $22.25). This bar offers more selection than NCL's fleetwide wine list, but the wines that appear on both also have exactly the same price on both lists, so as far as I can see there has been no increase at all in wine prices on the Escape.

 

I don't know if they still have a special price for Veuve Clicquot by the glass at Le Bistro on the Escape.

[SuiteCruiser]

Our Le Bistro menu on the Epic this month said $89 per bottle or $9 for a 3oz glass (same as the Spanish menu posted by BirdTravels here). For all wines sold by the glass, NCL charges about 25% of the bottle price for one regular-size glass. So if they were selling full glasses of Veuve for $15 on your cruise, this was still a promotional price. Yes, this should be indicated on the menu, but if it is indeed a promotion, then it is correctly excluded from the UBP.

The price I found for the Escape was from the menu for The Cellars (wine bar), and it is exactly 25% of the bottle price ($89/4 = $22.25). This bar offers more selection than NCL's fleetwide wine list, but the wines that appear on both also have exactly the same price on both lists, so as far as I can see there has been no increase at all in wine prices on the Escape.

 

I don't know if they still have a special price for Veuve Clicquot by the glass at Le Bistro on the Escape.

 

 

I didn't see the Veuve offer on the Escape, it was definitely on the Sky last month though.

[rochelle_s]

I didn't see the Veuve offer on the Escape, it was definitely on the Sky last month though.

 

Do you recall the pricing? Was this in Le Bistro?

 

 

Rochelle

[SuiteCruiser]

Do you recall the pricing? Was this in Le Bistro?

 

 

 

 

 

Rochelle

 

 

In Le Bistro on the Sky it was $9 for a glass, but not covered on the UBP. I'm not a huge champagne fan, so didn't pay much attention otherwise, sorry!

[cruiser076]

I had an identical experience on the Breakaway in early November. I was at dinner and was denied a "long pour" with the UBP. The price of a regular glass of our selected wine was $7.95 and a long pour was $10.95. A beverage manager came over to explain that the long pour is a "promotion" and that the UBP is also a "promotion." Given this, they are no longer allowing a "double promotion" (this is how he phrased it in his explanation to me). I stated to the manager that, with the UBP, I was always able to order a long pour at my dinners on two earlier cruises this year on the Breakaway. He stated that there was a new fleetwide NCL policy instituted within the past 3-4 weeks and this would no longer be possible. But he also stated that I could have as many glasses as I wanted.

 

In response to this, I stated (as has been mentioned in posts above) that there are sometimes long waits for a second glass in the restaurants. But my larger concern was that that the UBP policy from NCL simply states that glasses under $15 are included.

 

Note that in my situation the price of the long pour - which was billed as about 50% greater than a regular glass of wine - was only 38% more than the price of a regular glass - or a discount of 12%. Excluding this discount, the long pour would have still been less than $12 (well below the advertised $15 per drink threshold for the UBP).

 

Back onshore, I now see that "ship specific promotions" are excluded among the restrictions. See https://www.ncl.com/terms/ultimate-beverage-package . But I don't feel that the "long pours" which appear on the NCL wine menus strike me as an obvious “ship specific” promotion. So my conclusion is that there is either some confusion among staff or that NCL needs to revise their terms to make very clear what the new restrictions are.

[rochelle_s]

I had an identical experience on the Breakaway in early November. I was at dinner and was denied a "long pour" with the UBP. The price of a regular glass of our selected wine was $7.95 and a long pour was $10.95. A beverage manager came over to explain that the long pour is a "promotion" and that the UBP is also a "promotion." Given this, they are no longer allowing a "double promotion" (this is how he phrased it in his explanation to me). I stated to the manager that, with the UBP, I was always able to order a long pour at my dinners on two earlier cruises this year on the Breakaway. He stated that there was a new fleetwide NCL policy instituted within the past 3-4 weeks and this would no longer be possible. But he also stated that I could have as many glasses as I wanted.

 

In response to this, I stated (as has been mentioned in posts above) that there are sometimes long waits for a second glass in the restaurants. But my larger concern was that that the UBP policy from NCL simply states that glasses under $15 are included.

 

Note that in my situation the price of the long pour - which was billed as about 50% greater than a regular glass of wine - was only 38% more than the price of a regular glass - or a discount of 12%. Excluding this discount, the long pour would have still been less than $12 (well below the advertised $15 per drink threshold for the UBP).

 

Back onshore, I now see that "ship specific promotions" are excluded among the restrictions. See https://www.ncl.com/terms/ultimate-beverage-package . But I don't feel that the "long pours" which appear on the NCL wine menus strike me as an obvious “ship specific” promotion. So my conclusion is that there is either some confusion among staff or that NCL needs to revise their terms to make very clear what the new restrictions are.

 

Before experiencing this myself I was under the impression that what was being referenced as "ship specific" promotions were things such as wine and martini tastings, where they were serving a flight of various drinks. In a way this is a little silly when they will not serve someone with the UBP 6 mini martinis for $15 but they are more than welcome to sit in the exact same venue and order full size portions of each drink.

 

 

Rochelle

[hawkeyetlse]

Wine flights, martini flights, mojito flights, etc. when available can be ordered under the UBP with a 20% discount (like bottles of wine). Even if they consist of smaller servings, they add up to more than one drink.

 

The tastings are a different matter, because they are scheduled at a specific time and place, and you get a presentation by a staff member and usually other staff dedicated to serving you for the duration of that group activity. Sometimes there is food, I don't know if you still get some souvenir to keep afterwards. You are not only buying the drinks.