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Not Happy with Liquor Up Charges


gmbhardy
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16 hours ago, richstowe said:

 It annoys me that people seems to be happy that NCL might bring the price below the magical $15 limit . What a cynical sleazy move . Treat you customers badly and then make a small small rollback and have some feel grateful for it . 

 

3 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I am happy to hear on these boards from 2 sources that NCL is reconsidering their upcharge in the UBP.  Its rare for NCL to reduce any fee due to customer and public scorning and outcry. If its true, I applaud them for reconsidering and going back to the way things were.  

Perhaps you should write them a thank you note . :classic_ohmy: 

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14 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

At the same time they've raised the daily service charges multiple times and it used to be $79 per day for the UBP + 18% gratuity. Now it's $99 plus 20%. So even if you have the UBP included in your fare the service charges have gone up 40%.

We paid  around 125.00 for our free UBP a couple years ago (didn't realize the cost until after as was no cost the first time we received this) asked this trip what the cost of our free perk would be and TA said 138. that's up 13.00 in a couple years. I have no plan to get this as that is per person and my husband doesn't drink and no way would I drink 138. worth on a week long cruise with 3 days off the ship for the most part. Keep your free perks NCL we like going out of Boston so no plans to drop them at this time. Boston and NYC are our home ports and some vacations you just don't want the hassle of flying.

Some day Boston will wake up and more line will come in on a regular basis then who knows :).

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17 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Its a fail and they know it.  You are pretty much forced to buy upgrades that you dont want for the sake of picking a room.  For non heavy drinkers it doesnt work out at all.  

 

Absolutely 100% correct.  The only way NCL prices can compare or even be better is if you will be drinking a lot.  I couldn't go on a cruise without getting a drink package for my wife, she likes to party, so that means I would have to get it.  If we had to pay for it from another cruise line we would lose any savings there would be.  Choosing NCL with the UBP always comes out a little bit cheaper.

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30 minutes ago, Greenpea2 said:

There is a review from the Breakaway currently on the boards. He confirms that at least on the BA they have put Grey Goose and Patron Silver back to being included. 

That's nice, but they should also include martinis that use standard liquor on the list.  Most martinis at Shakers have  an upcharge.

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30 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Its a fail and they know it.  You are pretty much forced to buy upgrades that you dont want for the sake of picking a room.  For non heavy drinkers it doesnt work out at all.  

 

Yep. I just looked at an Latitudes Insider deal for a five day Pacific coastal cruise and the price for two at the sailaway rate for a balcony was just over $1,000, taxes and fees included. Choosing your cabin and getting the promos started at double that before the service fee add ons for the "free" promos. For us, the sailaway rate is the only way we will sail NCL again. That severely limits the types of cruises we will take with NCL just based on the cruise cost. We don't drink much so the service fee for the drinking package is not a good deal alone. Double the cruise cost and add the service fee and it's a large cost difference.

 

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Look at it this way,  you have two choices as a non heavy drinker.  Roll the dice on a sailaway and get a crappy room or buy what you dont want or need.  On our last cruise it was $600 more to pick a room and then you need to get the ubp for $230 or whatever in tips.  So over $800 more to pick a room.....crazy.

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We have an NCL cruise in May (Jade) out of Rome.  We were just on the Breakaway in November.  The alcohol prices were "ok" as far as what was included in the UBP, but the service was POOR.  So poor, in fact, I removed half of the pre-paid gratuities before I left the ship -- and I had never done that before.  If this new pricing scheme is in effect in May, and the service is similar to Thanksgiving, I highly doubt we'll be sailing NCL again.  

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1 hour ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

 

Absolutely 100% correct.  The only way NCL prices can compare or even be better is if you will be drinking a lot.  I couldn't go on a cruise without getting a drink package for my wife, she likes to party, so that means I would have to get it.  If we had to pay for it from another cruise line we would lose any savings there would be.  Choosing NCL with the UBP always comes out a little bit cheaper.

 

You are the perfect NCL customer. MSC and Celebrity both offer beverage packages included in their cruise fare. Also, Celebrity doesn't require everyone in the room to buy a beverage package even if you choose a fare that doesn't include a free beverage package and for 7 days the cost of the classic package is under $500. Keep telling yourself the "free beverage package" is amazing and you can only cruise NCL...you're exactly who they love!!!

 

Btw: A MSC Seaside Aurea Balcony with beverage package is cheaper then any other 7 night cruise i've seen out there on basically almost ANY week. Celebrity also usually comes out cheaper than NCL and they offer 2 perks.

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1 hour ago, davy jones said:

That's nice, but they should also include martinis that use standard liquor on the list.  Most martinis at Shakers have  an upcharge.

Do you know for a fact that a Grey Goose martini still has the upcharge? Because I took what the poster said as that is not the case, although perhaps you are right. I have requested clarification on this and will let you know. All I know is that even though the drink menu still has GG priced above what is covered by the package, several bartenders told him it no longer is and it is not yet reflected in the menu.  

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23 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

You are the perfect NCL customer. MSC and Celebrity both offer beverage packages included in their cruise fare. Also, Celebrity doesn't require everyone in the room to buy a beverage package even if you choose a fare that doesn't include a free beverage package and for 7 days the cost of the classic package is under $500. Keep telling yourself the "free beverage package" is amazing and you can only cruise NCL...you're exactly who they love!!!

 

Btw: A MSC Seaside Aurea Balcony with beverage package is cheaper then any other 7 night cruise i've seen out there on basically almost ANY week. Celebrity also usually comes out cheaper than NCL and they offer 2 perks.

 

You misunderstood my point.  I'm not saying it's great but it is better than paying per drink prices if I didn't select it as a perk.  I've looked at both Celebrity and MSC.  I'm intrigued but they still weren't cheaper.  MSCs drink plan only includes two types of beers and other certain well drinks.  To upgrade it cost about $30 per day per person.  That brings the cost right back up.  Plus, the Aurea Balconies you get to choose from are equal to the lowest tier NCL balcony, front/rear lower floors.  The last two NCL cruises I booked I did it from the ship with Cruise Next certs which saved me $250 plus I got a free stateroom upgrade.

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3 minutes ago, Greenpea2 said:

Do you know for a fact that a Grey Goose martini still has the upcharge? Because I took what the poster said as that is not the case, although perhaps you are right. I have requested clarification on this and will let you know. All I know is that even though the drink menu still has GG priced above what is covered by the package, several bartenders told him it no longer is and it is not yet reflected in the menu.  

 

If it takes time to change all the menus, I hope NCL communicates this policy fleet wide to all front line bartenders and servers so people aren’t caught having to argue for the inclusions.

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Look at it this way,  you have two choices as a non heavy drinker.  Roll the dice on a sailaway and get a crappy room or buy what you dont want or need.  On our last cruise it was $600 more to pick a room and then you need to get the ubp for $230 or whatever in tips.  So over $800 more to pick a room.....crazy.

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35 minutes ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

 

You misunderstood my point.  I'm not saying it's great but it is better than paying per drink prices if I didn't select it as a perk.  I've looked at both Celebrity and MSC.  I'm intrigued but they still weren't cheaper.  MSCs drink plan only includes two types of beers and other certain well drinks.  To upgrade it cost about $30 per day per person.  That brings the cost right back up.  Plus, the Aurea Balconies you get to choose from are equal to the lowest tier NCL balcony, front/rear lower floors.  The last two NCL cruises I booked I did it from the ship with Cruise Next certs which saved me $250 plus I got a free stateroom upgrade.

 

If you go with the Aurea you get the normal drink package which includes all sorts of drinks. On most weeks you can get an Aurea balcony for under $3,000 and it also includes access to the thermal spa and 1 free massage per person. If you book a standard balcony with the drinks on us promo you will end up paying about $1,600-1,700 for the entire cabin and the cost to upgrade your beverage package is about $150 per person. Still way cheaper than any NCL cruise i've priced lately.

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56 minutes ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

 

You misunderstood my point.  I'm not saying it's great but it is better than paying per drink prices if I didn't select it as a perk.  I've looked at both Celebrity and MSC.  I'm intrigued but they still weren't cheaper.  MSCs drink plan only includes two types of beers and other certain well drinks.  To upgrade it cost about $30 per day per person.  That brings the cost right back up.  Plus, the Aurea Balconies you get to choose from are equal to the lowest tier NCL balcony, front/rear lower floors.  The last two NCL cruises I booked I did it from the ship with Cruise Next certs which saved me $250 plus I got a free stateroom upgrade.

 

98% of the time Norwegian is the most expensive nowadays.

I currently have a cruise booked with Holland Caribbean cruise in December on their newest Nieuw Stantendam and I booked during their drink package promo and also a free specialty dinner in regular interior cabin. 

 

I priced a similar itinerary cruise on NCL during December cruise and surprise surprise (NOT) NCL is more expensive thanks to the fees!

 

No where on my HAL do you see such thing as beverage service charges  dinner gratuities charges because they truly do include it as a complimentary perk promotion. 

 

I used to like NCL and I want to keep liking NCL but right now I can’t because of all these outrageous changes and fees. II don't care how many bells and whistles this NCL ship has but I follow the savings $$. ll take my cruising vacation business elsewhere. 

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6 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

If you go with the Aurea you get the normal drink package which includes all sorts of drinks. On most weeks you can get an Aurea balcony for under $3,000 and it also includes access to the thermal spa and 1 free massage per person. If you book a standard balcony with the drinks on us promo you will end up paying about $1,600-1,700 for the entire cabin and the cost to upgrade your beverage package is about $150 per person. Still way cheaper than any NCL cruise i've priced lately.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that I am pricing for 3 people and not two, we bring our 10 yr old son.  I cannot make the Celebrity Cruise work right now.  It wants to charge $2400 for the third passenger, it is bringing the total to $5300 for a Veranda room.  February 2021 sailing.

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33 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Look at it this way,  you have two choices as a non heavy drinker.  Roll the dice on a sailaway and get a crappy room or buy what you dont want or need.  On our last cruise it was $600 more to pick a room and then you need to get the ubp for $230 or whatever in tips.  So over $800 more to pick a room.....crazy.

 

2 hours ago, resetjet said:

Look at it this way,  you have two choices as a non heavy drinker.  Roll the dice on a sailaway and get a crappy room or buy what you dont want or need.  On our last cruise it was $600 more to pick a room and then you need to get the ubp for $230 or whatever in tips.  So over $800 more to pick a room.....crazy.

I have to point out (twice 😉) that there is no guarantee of a crappy room . There are many many more good cabins then poor ones . The fear of getting one of these infamous cabins is great news for all cruise lines .They use this fear. On my upcoming cruise I purchased an assigned cabin . They called it a run of the ship- balcony. I received as good a cabin as you could get . 

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18 minutes ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that I am pricing for 3 people and not two, we bring our 10 yr old son.  I cannot make the Celebrity Cruise work right now.  It wants to charge $2400 for the third passenger, it is bringing the total to $5300 for a Veranda room.  February 2021 sailing.

It’s interesting you should say that.

 

The last cruise we booked, I looked at the various options from other lines on similar itineraries at the same time. For two people, NCL were more expensive than many of the others, but once we added our son, NCL were almost the cheapest.

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3 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

It’s interesting you should say that.

 

The last cruise we booked, I looked at the various options from other lines on similar itineraries at the same time. For two people, NCL were more expensive than many of the others, but once we added our son, NCL were almost the cheapest.

 

Yeah same here.  That is why I'm constantly confused when everyone keeps talking about the cheap fares on the other lines because I haven't found it that way.  I figured it was the third guest that was skewing the equation.

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There are too many assumptions.  Everyone is different.  Everyone has their priorities and what is, and isn't, OK for them.  The same sailing on different dates costs different!

 

To  make the best decision for YOU, price YOUR desired itinerary on whatever cruise lines suit your fancy.  In my case my DH will be so miserable if we aren't in Haven (or perhaps YC or equivalent on other cruise line) that we couldn't do a guarantee unless it was at that level (YC/Haven).  No point sailing if we roll the dice for cabin.

 

Booze - again for US, DH loved the UBP.  I will drink if it's included but I'm too cheap to spend more than $10-$15/day on booze otherwise - but with him, UBP or equivalent make sense.  I also require unlimited wifi to keep in touch with  my work.

 

So given those constraints, we can comparison shop different cruise lines for the same week/itinerary.

 

For those folks who are saying NCL is (or isn't) the right financial decision for them, I strongly recommend you do the same analysis:

1.  Do you HAVE to avoid a certain type cabin?  What's worst case if you can't choose your cabin (in your fare class)?  Annoyed?  husband/wife meltdown or crankiness?  No, of course there is no guarantee you will get a terrible cabin, but the possibility exists.  Would that ruin your trip?

2.  What perks are essential?  If you had to pay for them, what would it add to your fare? (consider "all-in", ignore what the cruise line calls a cost, just add up all the mandatory costs, and that is really the price to compare.  Irrelevant whether one cruiseline says "gratuity" and another says something else, it's the number on your bill that matters, nothing else does.

3.  How many people travelling?

4.  What's the total cost of everything - fare, perks ("free" or what you would spend without them), extra pax, mandatory gratuities, etc?  Compare dollar for dollar.  And don't forget plane fare if you are looking at the "free" airfare; don't forget transfers if you would be buying from cruiseline.

 

THAT is a valid comparison!

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