Free unlimited open bar

[Jerseygich]

It’s sll a matter of knowing your drinking habits and figuring out the actual costs.

Last February booked a last minute cruise on Epic for end of March. Booked the sail away rate so no Free at Sea offers. Itinerary was one we had not done and knew we would be off the boat for 3 days so figured would just pay for drinks rather than upgrade the room ($299pp) to be eligible for the UDP. Add on gratuity for both ($277)and looking at extra $876. 

 

Wife is not big drinker but she’ll have a few frozen drinks a day and a couple of beers.

Though this cruise she had a cold and did not drink as much, which worked out, and our drink tab was $530. Note that we did buy our drinks why we were in port the 3 days, about $160 for 3 days. So good decision not upgrading.

 

Fast forward to now. Just booked another cruise on Epic. Again last minute. Same time leaving, different itinerary with ports we have been to so may get off the ship once and that would be at Stirrup Cay.

Difference between sail away rate and room for eligible for freebie was only $150pp. Add the $277 UDP gratuities for both of us and the free UDP is costing $577. As we spent $530 on boat last cruise and was off the ship for part of 3 days and wife didn’t drink usual, it was worth it to upgrade and get the UDP

[4774Papa]

4 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

This is where everyone has to judge for themselves about what works best and where their value is. I am glad we have so many choices on cruises and cruise brands. Each has its own value. Oh btw I agree about the days they had no booze package but the wine package. We also always purchased it on board, then we got our free bottle and our TA always sent us one We drank very little other booze so our bar bill was lighter. They still offer the wine package. In fact the first day on the ship they push it pretty hard or did on the Dawn. I still enjoy the UBP because I don't have to think about what that extra martini is costing me or should I have a drink in the show tonight or in the casino? But that is me. 

I think NCL's beverage package doesn't include bottled water or soda.  We don't drink either.

 

The convenience of the beverage package is what appeals to many, however, I wonder how many people kept tabs on their total alcohol spending (we did on all our early cruises)  We never went over $500 total for both of us together for a 14 day cruise.

Of course, when I read that someone drinks enough before lunch to justify the beverage package, it show me that not everyone is like us.  We don't normally drink alcohol until happy hour.  It is a personal decision as one of health.  I had a friend die of liver failure at age 65 and he was one of those guys that had more before lunch that we did the entire day.

[Realdeal80]

1 hour ago, 4774Papa said:

I think NCL's beverage package doesn't include bottled water or soda.  We don't drink either.

 

The convenience of the beverage package is what appeals to many, however, I wonder how many people kept tabs on their total alcohol spending (we did on all our early cruises)  We never went over $500 total for both of us together for a 14 day cruise.

Of course, when I read that someone drinks enough before lunch to justify the beverage package, it show me that not everyone is like us.  We don't normally drink alcohol until happy hour.  It is a personal decision as one of health.  I had a friend die of liver failure at age 65 and he was one of those guys that had more before lunch that we did the entire day.

I'm not an alcoholic I'm just from Wisconsin!

[newmexicoNita]

23 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

I think NCL's beverage package doesn't include bottled water or soda.  We don't drink either.

 

The convenience of the beverage package is what appeals to many, however, I wonder how many people kept tabs on their total alcohol spending (we did on all our early cruises)  We never went over $500 total for both of us together for a 14 day cruise.

Of course, when I read that someone drinks enough before lunch to justify the beverage package, it show me that not everyone is like us.  We don't normally drink alcohol until happy hour.  It is a personal decision as one of health.  I had a friend die of liver failure at age 65 and he was one of those guys that had more before lunch that we did the entire day.

You bring up a good point. I think though it goes without saying, the package isn't for light drinkers except for convenience. Before they offered UBP as a perk we were very careful how much we drank and when. We stuck pretty much with sine. I would never pay the cost of the UBP but as a perk think it is the greatest thing to ever be offered. 

[RedwingHockeyFan]

So just crunching some rough numbers I figured out that if you are going to drink less than 6 drinks per day then you should go with the sail away balcony vs a regular balcony with the perks.  The price difference per person on a random 7 day cruise was $450.  Then I added the $140 service charge for the UBP and that made it $590.  Then I subtracted the $50 OBC per person on a two person sailing and that made it $540.  I assumed the average drink price plus service charge if you had to pay for them would be about $14.  $540 divided by $14 divided by 7 days comes out to about 5.5 drinks. 

 

It's just a rough estimate and you could still save if you went with drinks that were cheaper but it probably still wouldn't drop below 5 drinks over 7 days.

 

It wouldn't ever make sense to do a sail away and purchase the UBP.

[rabidstoat]

I wanted to note that bartenders will still decline to serve a severely intoxicated person, even if they have an unlimited beverage package. This is for liability and safety reasons. Seen it happen and the person was very upset (and drunk!) because they had unlimited beverages but they really needed to be cut off.

 

I have booked a cabin before that qualified for 'all the perks!' and I declined the UBP and instead bought the soda package out of pocket. I don't drink alcohol much at all, I might have 1-2 drinks for the entire cruise and sometimes I don't have any. But I drink way more diet soda than is healthy. The cost of paying out of pocket for the soda package and gratuities was cheaper than the gratuities alone on the 'free' UBP I declined!

[4774Papa]

2 hours ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

So just crunching some rough numbers I figured out that if you are going to drink less than 6 drinks per day then you should go with the sail away balcony vs a regular balcony with the perks.  The price difference per person on a random 7 day cruise was $450.  Then I added the $140 service charge for the UBP and that made it $590.  Then I subtracted the $50 OBC per person on a two person sailing and that made it $540.  I assumed the average drink price plus service charge if you had to pay for them would be about $14.  $540 divided by $14 divided by 7 days comes out to about 5.5 drinks. 

 

It's just a rough estimate and you could still save if you went with drinks that were cheaper but it probably still wouldn't drop below 5 drinks over 7 days.

 

It wouldn't ever make sense to do a sail away and purchase the UBP.

It is wise to do the analysis that you did.  The last NCL cruise that we did was NE/Canada from Boston last September.  We had no option of booking without the added promos that inflated the cruise fare.  I know NCL does frequently offer guarantee cabins after final payment the don't include promos and fares are sometime reduced, but we always book early.

 

We started cruising in 2010 and have take 10 Celebrity, 7 NCL and 1 Royal Caribbean cruise.  We have seen Celebrity and NCL move to the price bundling that we do not prefer. Prices have significantly gone up for those lines, while Royal has not (no price bundling).  Our next cruise is with Royal and we picked it over NCL for virtually the same cruise because of lower fares.

 

Also, the red wine we like is not offered on the NCL drink package.  We do better declining the drink package and bringing our own wine and paying the corkage.