Do "add-ons" ever go on sale on NCL?

[Paris334]

We've been on several cruise lines but our last two were on Royal. Each time they had various "sales" for things like shore excursions, beverage packages, internet, etc. Seriously, the prices fluctuated all of the time!  Kind of annoying and kind of fun to find a bargain, LOL.  Does NCL ever discount any of these items?  We have lots of freebies with our package but shore excursions are spendy for a family of four so if they ever offer discounts I'd like to watch for them!  So far I haven't seen prices change but we only booked a couple of weeks ago for a March 2020 cruise so it hasn't been long.

 

Thanks!

[shof515]

no

[casofilia]

Never seen anything like that on NCL.  The only way forward is UP!!!

[Gershep]

NCL has never done that as far as I can recall.

[Paris334]

1 hour ago, casofilia said:

Never seen anything like that on NCL.  The only way forward is UP!!!

Ha ha - I would have thought that of every line but was surprised by what a "deal" you could get on RCI. (Ha - still crazy expensive but it's better to pay $20 less than "full" price!)

 

Thanks for the answers - I'll go right ahead and make my decisions based on the prices I see!

[MrsKC08]

OP, we are frequent RCCL cruisers and preparing to go on our first ever NCL cruise in March on the Getaway. We are actually pretty surprised that they don't discount any of the "add ons" because we are used to getting deals and discounts for things on Royal. I'm absolutely shocked at the drink package prices on NCL. But.....we shall see how the two compare come March.

[esm54687]

53 minutes ago, MrsKC08 said:

OP, we are frequent RCCL cruisers and preparing to go on our first ever NCL cruise in March on the Getaway. We are actually pretty surprised that they don't discount any of the "add ons" because we are used to getting deals and discounts for things on Royal. I'm absolutely shocked at the drink package prices on NCL. But.....we shall see how the two compare come March.

The drink package price is all marketing to make you feel like you're getting a great deal if you take it as a free promo - almost no one pays the full price for it.

 

You also shouldn't fall into the trap and focus on "add on" discounts or PBP prices unless you do a complete comparison of cruise line items because there are items from NCL that are included in the fare price or cheaper than RCCL (and maybe Princess has cheaper things than NCL / RCCL)...... you are happy with the price you paid for this NCL cruise so don't compare apples to oranges and risk not enjoying yourself because it's not RCCL or WDW. 

[MrsKC08]

On 1/7/2020 at 8:27 AM, esm54687 said:

The drink package price is all marketing to make you feel like you're getting a great deal if you take it as a free promo - almost no one pays the full price for it.

 

You also shouldn't fall into the trap and focus on "add on" discounts or PBP prices unless you do a complete comparison of cruise line items because there are items from NCL that are included in the fare price or cheaper than RCCL (and maybe Princess has cheaper things than NCL / RCCL)...... you are happy with the price you paid for this NCL cruise so don't compare apples to oranges and risk not enjoying yourself because it's not RCCL or WDW. 

Yes, we could have chosen the drink package perk, however we chose the specialty dining because we wanted to experience their options of specialty dining on the ship. I certainly didn't expect a $99/day/person charge for the basic drink package. Which I'll add, doesn't include bottled water or specialty coffee (RCCL does)! And even at their highest price (paid on the ship and not pre cruise, Royal's deluxe drink package is not as high as that! I've also noticed that excursion prices for RCCL are less than that offered by NCL. Thankfully, the ports we are sailing to we have independent excursions/plans made so that isn't an issue for us, but it definitely is something to take note. I'll be curious to see what the per drink prices are on NCL vs RCCL and other cruise lines we have sailed as well.

You can bet  that I have been doing a full comparison and once I do my full review after the cruise, I'll be adding these points in there as well. So far, RCCL is still a better cruise bargain, but there is a full picture to be had...like activities, shows, food, and the complete ship/cruise experience.