No More "Free Open Bar" on Sun & Sky

[mushroom]

I was told that the confirmation of the drink package would not show up on my reservation until July 7 or 8.

[kyashblake]

23 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

The open bar is the only thing that made those Sun cruises even worth considering IMO. I've grabbed a few last minute weekend 3 nighters for $300 - $350 pp at sailaway rate (comes out to about $850 - $900 per cabin after the inflated taxes and "fees" and TA OBC) and even then do I barely consider that to be worth the money considering on top of that, the DSC is $20.50pp/pd. That puts you at $1,000+ for a 3 night trip to Nassau and GSC with no sea days in an interior GTY.  Sun is a nice, older refurbished ship, but there are better options out there. The open bar available at sailaway rate set the Sun apart from the competition.  With RC's new and improved Mariner of the Seas at Port Canaveral, I don't know how NCL thinks they are going to compete. 

The Sun is OK but NCL does have great night options. One thing RC lacked was a bar after midnight. My experience, everyone gathered at the pizza place (not good at all) or ate small sandwiches on RC cruise, has this changed? NCL has the sports bar that is open to 3am or later and serves a decent menu (wings, sandwiches, etc) and full bar. 

[hlb76]

I just booked the Sun yesterday for Nov 2019.  My second NCL so I'm far from an expert on any of this.    I was told by the vacation planner that as of today 6/30 that they will no longer be selling as the open bar ship.   It will still be a Free at Sea offer.   My confirmation say all 4 of us have the premium package and 2 of us have the Plus.  I'm still trying to make sense of it all of this. 

[momx8]

Wondering if anyone has seen a confirmation of the drink package on their reservation yet?  We originally booked a guarantee cabin because of the open bar, and have since been assigned a cabin but no sign of the drink package.

[CruisingNole]

5 minutes ago, momx8 said:

Wondering if anyone has seen a confirmation of the drink package on their reservation yet?  We originally booked a guarantee cabin because of the open bar, and have since been assigned a cabin but no sign of the drink package.

 

It doesn’t say it anywhere on the reservation. But it’s splashed all over the booking page. If you are on Sun or Sky before 9/7, drinks are inclusive. For everyone on the ships.

[marazad16]

If you pull up all sun and sky itineraries that are 3, 4 or 5 day you will see the free bar banner only a few sailings. The date I was looking at originally the open bar has been removed. I changed my date and it appears on the reservation and the banner prior to booking.

[DoctorWhoGirl]

1 hour ago, momx8 said:

Wondering if anyone has seen a confirmation of the drink package on their reservation yet?  We originally booked a guarantee cabin because of the open bar, and have since been assigned a cabin but no sign of the drink package.

I see it for our September 30th Sun sailing under the Onboard Packages tab. All 3 of us now have the Adult Beverage Package.

[momx8]

Thanks, I will keep watching. We sail on October 31.

[CruisingNole]

19 hours ago, marazad16 said:

If you pull up all sun and sky itineraries that are 3, 4 or 5 day you will see the free bar banner only a few sailings. The date I was looking at originally the open bar has been removed. I changed my date and it appears on the reservation and the banner prior to booking.

 

All sailings on Sun and Sky prior to 9/7 have open bar. It is discontinued after that date (unless you purchased your "open bar" cruise prior to the discontinuation announcement, which in that case, there are sailings after 9/7 where some folks will have the "open bar.") Moving forward, you'll have to book the more expensive category and use the "free perk" to get the UBP, as you currently do on all other NCL ships. 

 

It's a shame the open bar is going away, because you could book the sail away rate and still get the drinks included.

Edited July 11, 2019 by CruisingNole

[momx8]

Spoke with norwegian today and was told that they have decided not to grandfather in bookings made before July 1st as far as the beverage package . has anyone else heard this. We booked this cruise as a sail away because of the open bar program.

[FLcruisergrl]

1 hour ago, momx8 said:

Spoke with norwegian today and was told that they have decided not to grandfather in bookings made before July 1st as far as the beverage package . has anyone else heard this. We booked this cruise as a sail away because of the open bar program.

I have not heard this. The letter I received said that all people on our reservation get the UBP.

[tallnthensome]

1 hour ago, momx8 said:

Spoke with norwegian today and was told that they have decided not to grandfather in bookings made before July 1st as far as the beverage package . has anyone else heard this. We booked this cruise as a sail away because of the open bar program.

You must mean after July 1st, not before. I booked in June and my cruise confirmation says open bar ........ They can't do that.  You must have heard wrong. 

[momx8]

  I booked june 10th and the women on the phone said that we do not get the beverage package unless we upgrade  from a sail away cabin. I will call again tomorrow and speak to a supervisor, none was available today. Good to hear that others have received the open bar.

[mushroom]

Just today, I received confirmation that all three of us in our cabin will have the open bar on our September 19th sailing of the Sky. We booked back in March.

[CruisingNole]

[momx8]

9 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

 thank you for this information.

[nolatravelgirl]

Can someone help me understand what we would get. Looking at the August 29th sailing on the Sun. The sail away rate for ocean view  is 499 and the rate that includes the two perks is 679. What am I getting for 179 more dollars? It doesn’t seem to make mathematical sense.

Edited July 20, 2019 by nolatravelgirl

[gadaboutgal]

The Sailaway rate on the Aug 29 sailing includes the Free Open Bar as always before. 

The $679 rate that includes two perks:  you can choose any two of the options; however, if you do not choose the alcohol perk, you will still get the Open Bar along with your choice of the other two perks (ie free wifi).   

We have a Sailaway rate and will get free open bar but do not get to choose our cabin or any of the other "giveaways."

Edited July 21, 2019 by gadaboutgal

[JinxyB]

Deleted-wrong thread

Edited July 21, 2019 by JinxyB

[bobsfamily]

I just check and if you put in Sept.(or later) for a month there is no mention of open bar.. July/August there is the open bar banner at the top... and if you don't put a month it seems to be there as well (banner).

[bobsfamily]

56 minutes ago, nolatravelgirl said:

Can someone help me understand what we would get. Looking at the August 29th sailing on the Sun. The sail away rate for ocean view  is 499 and the rate that includes the two perks is 679. What am I getting for 179 more dollars? It doesn’t seem to make mathematical sense.

If you do book this date there is a roll call for it.  We are so looking forward to the cruise!

[nolatravelgirl]

26 minutes ago, bobsfamily said:

If you do book this date there is a roll call for it.  We are so looking forward to the cruise!

I didn’t see it can you link to it?

57 minutes ago, gadaboutgal said:

The Sailaway rate on the Aug 29 sailing includes the Free Open Bar as always before. 

The $679 rate that includes two perks:  you can choose any two of the options; however, if you do not choose the alcohol perk, you will still get the Open Bar along with your choice of the other two perks (ie free wifi).   

We have a Sailaway rate and will get free open bar but do not get to choose our cabin or any of the other "giveaways."

How many nights of specialty dining are included if we pick that? It still doesn’t seem like much of value.

[bobsfamily]

10 hours ago, nolatravelgirl said:

I didn’t see it can you link to it?

How many nights of specialty dining are included if we pick that? It still doesn’t seem like much of value.

You get 1 night

[tallnthensome]

12 hours ago, gadaboutgal said:

The Sailaway rate on the Aug 29 sailing includes the Free Open Bar as always before. 

The $679 rate that includes two perks:  you can choose any two of the options; however, if you do not choose the alcohol perk, you will still get the Open Bar along with your choice of the other two perks (ie free wifi).   

We have a Sailaway rate and will get free open bar but do not get to choose our cabin or any of the other "giveaways."

It makes you wonder why that booking offers the usual UBP as a perk? Why would anyone choose this if there is an open bar? I did a mock booking on the 29th (I'm on the 24th sailing) you can pick the UBP and then you get charged the gratuities as well. Is NCL hoping that people don't realize what they are doing ? There is no longer the option to make the open bar the premium plus package as a perk instead. NCL has this thing all screwy now ...... I know that my sailing had 3rd and 4th sail free and now they have a new category for 3rd and 4th for $99 ....... Glad I booked when I did......

[gadaboutgal]

In the past, people chose the UBP because it offers some additional premium liquors.  Worth it to some people, I guess.  However, we found that the Open Bar served our taste buds.  Also, it will be interesting to see how much the daily gratuities are.  They were always higher on Sun and Sky before to include the bar tips.  Wondering if they will reduce the daily when they are only offering the drink package free with the additional tips. Yep-all screwy now.    Glad we were given a heads up about the change when we were on in June so we booked Sept. 2 and 7 then.