Why NCL Premium PLUS Adult Drink Package?

[Nicky Mouse]

Just got off of 41 days on the Sun, and we ran out of Zacapa 23, Buble, Dows 2005 Port, and a couple of other things. (the Zacapa, Buble and Dows were my fault almost entirely)

 

[smk220]

Are milkshakes from Coco's included in the Premium Plus package? 

[akny]

On 11/26/2022 at 8:45 PM, Juncti said:

You're not kidding. I feel like it's disingenuous of NCL to sell this plus package, but then not stock the plus items in a reasonable quantity. I get having a few things run out due to supply chain, but to have no other options available like some people have said makes it feel more like theft. We'll sell you a package you have no way of making use of kind of deal. 

 

You shouldn't have to spend  your entire trip on a scavenger hunt looking for the items included with the package. If they can't stock things reasonably they should discontinue the package until such time as they can. 

Same complaints in this thread - "Life from Bliss LA to Mia Dec2". Bars dont have any FAS+ offerings. Only at dinner. That is bait and switch

[MNcruisingcouple]

22 minutes ago, akny said:

Same complaints in this thread - "Life from Bliss LA to Mia Dec2". Bars dont have any FAS+ offerings. Only at dinner. That is bait and switch

 

Did you read the same review I just did???  Because that is NOT what the review says. 

Yes, it's challenging to get the Premium Plus wines outside of a dining room and it's challenging to get high end liquor at a pool or buffet bar.  BUT that is hardly the same as your claim of no Premium Plus offering at any bars.

 

[Sthrngary]

20 minutes ago, akny said:

Same complaints in this thread - "Life from Bliss LA to Mia Dec2". Bars dont have any FAS+ offerings. Only at dinner. That is bait and switch

I wrote this threat some time ago.  I read all the posts and comments to it.  My wife and I always get the Premium Plus Beverage Package and did last week during our 7-day Cruise on the NCL Breakaway out of New Orleans.  

 

On that cruise, I was in a Club Balcony Suite, not in the Haven.  Now I might take issue with this program being a bait and switch; however some of every ones points are well taken.  I found in the past very few folks that are in a Haven Suite ever seem to have an issue with high end spirits and wine for this plan.  The issue is outside the Haven even in some Specialty Restaurants.  

 

Here is what I found:

• The betters bars open later in the day.  The Martini Bar, Whiskey Bar, A List Bar, all open up later.  Those are the places with the good stuff.  
• My wife likes white that is buttery.  The first few day, no issue.  The last few, no luck.
• Mixed Drink Shooters.  It seems system wide the little shooter drinks take to much time to make at a busy bar.  
• I heard a multitude of times on this cruise the excuses "Supply Chain" 

 

Would I purchase this program again, YES.  Do you have to have a strategy to utilize it correctly, SURE.  This is yet one more situation that I think, NCL is attempting to cut cost in.  They lost billions, the ships are now filled so time to cut a few corners.  Again, still I would buy this program in the future. 

 

Thanks for letting me give my two cents. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.  

 

[gmbhardy]

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

I wrote this threat some time ago.  I read all the posts and comments to it.  My wife and I always get the Premium Plus Beverage Package and did last week during our 7-day Cruise on the NCL Breakaway out of New Orleans.  

 

On that cruise, I was in a Club Balcony Suite, not in the Haven.  Now I might take issue with this program being a bait and switch; however some of every ones points are well taken.  I found in the past very few folks that are in a Haven Suite ever seem to have an issue with high end spirits and wine for this plan.  The issue is outside the Haven even in some Specialty Restaurants.  

 

Here is what I found:

• The betters bars open later in the day.  The Martini Bar, Whiskey Bar, A List Bar, all open up later.  Those are the places with the good stuff.  
• My wife likes white that is buttery.  The first few day, no issue.  The last few, no luck.
• Mixed Drink Shooters.  It seems system wide the little shooter drinks take to much time to make at a busy bar.  
• I heard a multitude of times on this cruise the excuses "Supply Chain" 

 

Would I purchase this program again, YES.  Do you have to have a strategy to utilize it correctly, SURE.  This is yet one more situation that I think, NCL is attempting to cut cost in.  They lost billions, the ships are now filled so time to cut a few corners.  Again, still I would buy this program in the future. 

 

Thanks for letting me give my two cents. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.  

 

I know you had Vibe passes for the Breakaway cruise. Did they have any premium liquor? I was also counting on having Veuve in Vibe for sail away. What’s the chances of that happening?

[Sthrngary]

16 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

I know you had Vibe passes for the Breakaway cruise. Did they have any premium liquor? I was also counting on having Veuve in Vibe for sail away. What’s the chances of that happening?

The Vibe Had some high end spirits but not many.  Tequila in particular was on hand. 

 

Sail-a-way is 5 PM if I am not mistaken.  Go to the bar in between Cagney's and the other steak house for the Veuve.  That is my best advice.  Stay flexibly and remember, cruises never go perfect however there are lots of perfect cruises.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[New2cruise2022]

@Sthrngary Did you find bars had bottled water outside of dining rooms? (Aqua Panna and Pellegrino?) 

[Sthrngary]

12 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

@Sthrngary Did you find bars had bottled water outside of dining rooms? (Aqua Panna and Pellegrino?) 

Yes, I would hit up a bar prior to going to the room.  Not all but the better ones especially if they were outside a nice restaurant. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Juncti]

On 12/16/2022 at 3:30 PM, gmbhardy said:

I know you had Vibe passes for the Breakaway cruise. Did they have any premium liquor? I was also counting on having Veuve in Vibe for sail away. What’s the chances of that happening?

I just got home, followed the cruise after Gary, also had Vibe. Not sure when you're cruising but if it's in the next few weeks the same head bartender should still be there (Lynn, I might be mispelling it). She was able to get 2 bottles of Veuve over the week for my wife. 

 

We did follow Gary's example of a starting tip day 1 and another to end the week. She's great.

 

As for other high end. I believe Patron is plus, I had numerous drinks with that over the week, as well as Woodford Reserve. Outside of that pickings are a little slim up there for plus. 

 

One day I hit the fresh juice bar (not much of a bar, only orange juice) and carried the juice over to the vibe and had some fresh squeezed patron tequila sunrises. 

 

Night 1 we had an issue where the plus package wasn't registering, so the full price of all the plus drinks hit our account, let's just say we drank the cost of the package in plus on day 1. So I'd probably get it again, though we probably won't be back for a year. So before we book I'll be checking here and seeing if the supplies have worsened. 

 

Don't forget to go get Starbucks, and order some sparkling or still bottled waters with your meals. 

[Sthrngary]

1 hour ago, Juncti said:

I just got home, followed the cruise after Gary, also had Vibe. Not sure when you're cruising but if it's in the next few weeks the same head bartender should still be there (Lynn, I might be mispelling it). She was able to get 2 bottles of Veuve over the week for my wife. 

 

We did follow Gary's example of a starting tip day 1 and another to end the week. She's great.

 

As for other high end. I believe Patron is plus, I had numerous drinks with that over the week, as well as Woodford Reserve. Outside of that pickings are a little slim up there for plus. 

 

One day I hit the fresh juice bar (not much of a bar, only orange juice) and carried the juice over to the vibe and had some fresh squeezed patron tequila sunrises. 

 

Night 1 we had an issue where the plus package wasn't registering, so the full price of all the plus drinks hit our account, let's just say we drank the cost of the package in plus on day 1. So I'd probably get it again, though we probably won't be back for a year. So before we book I'll be checking here and seeing if the supplies have worsened. 

 

Don't forget to go get Starbucks, and order some sparkling or still bottled waters with your meals. 

I love this review and thank you for the call out.  Lynn was awesome.  I hope I left some Tequila for you?  The crew in the Vibe were the very best to my wife and I.  Worth the money every time.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Auroraborealis8]

On 12/16/2022 at 3:01 PM, Sthrngary said:

I wrote this threat some time ago.  I read all the posts and comments to it.  My wife and I always get the Premium Plus Beverage Package and did last week during our 7-day Cruise on the NCL Breakaway out of New Orleans.  

 

On that cruise, I was in a Club Balcony Suite, not in the Haven.  Now I might take issue with this program being a bait and switch; however some of every ones points are well taken.  I found in the past very few folks that are in a Haven Suite ever seem to have an issue with high end spirits and wine for this plan.  The issue is outside the Haven even in some Specialty Restaurants.  

 

Here is what I found:

• The betters bars open later in the day.  The Martini Bar, Whiskey Bar, A List Bar, all open up later.  Those are the places with the good stuff.  
• My wife likes white that is buttery.  The first few day, no issue.  The last few, no luck.
• Mixed Drink Shooters.  It seems system wide the little shooter drinks take to much time to make at a busy bar.  
• I heard a multitude of times on this cruise the excuses "Supply Chain" 

 

Would I purchase this program again, YES.  Do you have to have a strategy to utilize it correctly, SURE.  This is yet one more situation that I think, NCL is attempting to cut cost in.  They lost billions, the ships are now filled so time to cut a few corners.  Again, still I would buy this program in the future. 

 

Thanks for letting me give my two cents. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.  

 

 

We just returned from 15 days on the Bliss where we were in Haven and had the Premium Plus package. I agree with the assessment of @sthrngary and others that the P+ package really shows its true colours in Haven. Our experience was that the Haven bartenders were extremely knowledgeable, and made some fantastic cocktails if given a bit of direction as to preference, and then allowed to experiment. I was introduced to a number of cocktails and high-end spirits that I would never have thought to try otherwise. For us, it was well worth the money. 

 

Having said that, I also found that the staff at the A-List bar especially had access to a very good selection of spirits, and would ensure that our cocktails were made with high quality ones when they saw that we had the Premium Plus package. At places like the Atrium bar, where we generally ordered simple drinks because of how busy it was, I would often ask for them to include the highest quality spirit they had (e.g: if a gin and tonic, then the highest quality gin). I also found that at many bars around the ship, even if they didn't have a certain wine or spirit listed on their menu, they might have it if asked (e.g: Atrium bar only has prosecco on its menu, but had a bottle of Veuve available when I ordered bubbles, ymmv). Part of it, for me, was realizing what bars catered to what an ordering accordingly (I certainly don't expect the bar at H2O to have a bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pape on hand, for example).

[miataman19]

We upgraded to the Plus option also. The Starbucks and the bottles of wine sealed the deal. The Inniskillin Ice wine by the glass is another plus.

[grobma]

8 hours ago, miataman19 said:

The Inniskillin Ice wine by the glass is another plus.

This is something I have not yet tried and want to - perfect (I have P+ for the Getaway in two days). On what ship did you have it and at what venue?

[reeinaz]

I’m looking for advice. My next cruise is a 9 day Panama Canal cruise on the Jewel with 3 sea days. There maybe an additional port or 2 that I might stay on the ship for. I’m not terribly picky when it comes to brands. Tito’s, Jameson, and Patron suit me just fine. However I want try some higher end whiskeys and bourbons. Not scotch 🤢. Would it be worth it to upgrade to the plus package? My main concern is that there will be a lack of different ones to try. I can definitely make use of the aqua panna water and get grand marnier floaters in my margaritas and sip some champagne. But that would be stuff I’d be doing just to get my money’s worth. 

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, grobma said:

This is something I have not yet tried and want to - perfect (I have P+ for the Getaway in two days). On what ship did you have it and at what venue?

Oh, I can't wait to hear all about your cruise!!! Enjoy and save some yummy booze for me. I'm boarding on 12/31. 

[Sthrngary]

13 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

I’m looking for advice. My next cruise is a 9 day Panama Canal cruise on the Jewel with 3 sea days. There maybe an additional port or 2 that I might stay on the ship for. I’m not terribly picky when it comes to brands. Tito’s, Jameson, and Patron suit me just fine. However I want try some higher end whiskeys and bourbons. Not scotch 🤢. Would it be worth it to upgrade to the plus package? My main concern is that there will be a lack of different ones to try. I can definitely make use of the aqua panna water and get grand marnier floaters in my margaritas and sip some champagne. But that would be stuff I’d be doing just to get my money’s worth. 

@reeinaz Hello, I am the author of this thread.  I would usually say to you and other, just go for it.  Based on what you wrote, I would suggest you stick with the Premium Drink Package.  I just got off the NCL Breakaway and the inventory of good wines, and spirits were lacking.  The words used were, "Supply Chain" every time.  I knew after I asked for a Crown and Coke and they had NO crown it was a real issue.  Just ask what the additional amount is when you want something special.  Just my two cents. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Juncti]

1 hour ago, reeinaz said:

I’m looking for advice. My next cruise is a 9 day Panama Canal cruise on the Jewel with 3 sea days. There maybe an additional port or 2 that I might stay on the ship for. I’m not terribly picky when it comes to brands. Tito’s, Jameson, and Patron suit me just fine. However I want try some higher end whiskeys and bourbons. Not scotch 🤢. Would it be worth it to upgrade to the plus package? My main concern is that there will be a lack of different ones to try. I can definitely make use of the aqua panna water and get grand marnier floaters in my margaritas and sip some champagne. But that would be stuff I’d be doing just to get my money’s worth. 

 

Not sure when this cruise is, but you might find value in the plus if you're looking to explore. I just looked up the ship to see what bars are onboard. There's a Champagne and Wine bar, Martini Bar, and Whiskey bar. So I suspect you'll be able to find plus options at all 3.

 

Martini bar on breakaway had some higher end martinis available, I spent copious amounts of time at the Whiskey bar enjoying some Woodford Reserve old fashions (anyone on the Breakaway at the Whiskey bar tell Joy Troy says hi), and we didn't have a Champagne and Wine bar officially but Prime Meridian by the restaurants is probably that ships equivalent.

 

Now was every wine in stock, no. Much like @Sthrngary mentioned, but if you don't have a specific request like a certain bottle you're looking for and instead are just looking to try any plus item to try something new, there should be offerings available.

 

For instance at Cagney's we tried to order a Plus bottle of a Pinot. They came back and said they were out of that one, but offered a few other similar plus level wines as alternatives. Not knowing much about wine I just tried anything to try something new.

 

Add in the ability to get bottled water (sparkling or still) at every meal, the water bottle cartons from any bar on the ship (stay hydrated people), energy drinks, sports drinks, and all the Starbucks you could possibly stomach. It's very possible to extract the value out of the package, even with the "supply chain" limitations. 

 

Basically I think it's easier to get value out of it if you don't have specific tastes you're looking to hit. I'd say depending on when you're cruising, look for threads about that specific ship and specifically people talking about having plus, and see how they're finding the supply on that specific ship.

 

Also two tips I learned the hard way this time around. Don't go nuts on day 1, I went in hard and paid for it on day 2. Tip 2, save the highest end stuff until you're out of taxable waters. Those taxes start to hit hard at 35+ dollars per glass. 

 

 

2 hours ago, grobma said:

This is something I have not yet tried and want to - perfect (I have P+ for the Getaway in two days). On what ship did you have it and at what venue?

 

On the sister ship Breakaway I had it twice, once at Cagneys the other at La Cucina. I'd assume Moderno and Le Bistro would also have it but didn't look. If you're not doing specialty dining try Prime Meridian at the back of the boat that serves the two steak specialty restaurants. 

 

It's very delicious, but also well deserving of it's tiny glass. Don't think I could have drank more than that little bit in a single serving without becoming ill. Very sweet, very rich. Great with desert. I had it alongside the Cagney's chocolate cake and it was quite the combo!

[mtrancher]

5 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Gary, on your most recent cruise did you attempt to share a bottle of wine with table mates, and if so were you successful?

[Niffernay]

14 hours ago, Juncti said:

Also two tips I learned the hard way this time around. Don't go nuts on day 1, I went in hard and paid for it on day 2. Tip 2, save the highest end stuff until you're out of taxable waters. Those taxes start to hit hard at 35+ dollars per glass. 

Both VERY helpful tips! Learned the first one the hard way (well hopefully I've learned) and would have undoubtedly learned the second one the same way. 😆 Thanks!

[JandC_Cruising]

11 hours ago, mtrancher said:

Gary, on your most recent cruise did you attempt to share a bottle of wine with table mates, and if so were you successful?

I can tell you from personal experience we have always been able to share the bottles of wine with anyone at the table.  Most recently, we sailed with 3 adult children.  We had the P+ and they only had the standard package.  We ordered two bottles of P+ wine with every dinner (typically one red and one white) and all enjoyed the wine of their choice.

On another cruise, we even once shared our bottle of Veuve at Le Bistro with a single mom who was with her young son sitting next to us.  We just asked the waiter if we could pour her the rest of the bottle and he happily ran to get a third glass.

 

[JM0115]

1 hour ago, Niffernay said:

Both VERY helpful tips! Learned the first one the hard way (well hopefully I've learned) and would have undoubtedly learned the second one the same way. 😆 Thanks!

If you sign up on Day 2 or after, do you pay less or do you still pay for the full cruise days for the P+?

[reeinaz]

@Juncti @Sthrngary Thanks for your responses. My cruise is in March and I've decided I will go ahead and upgrade. One thing that I am excited to do is see if I can find any unpeated scotch to try 🙂 

I'm also looking forward to experimenting with different wines.

[Sthrngary]

13 hours ago, mtrancher said:

Gary, on your most recent cruise did you attempt to share a bottle of wine with table mates, and if so were you successful?

No issue, the waiter will ask how many glasses you want.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[Niffernay]

3 hours ago, JM0115 said:

If you sign up on Day 2 or after, do you pay less or do you still pay for the full cruise days for the P+?

@JM0115, I don't know the answer to your question, sorry.  I sign up for the full shebang as soon as I can 😆