NCL Introduces new "Free At Sea Plus" Packages

[ceilidh1]

Does anyone know if you can upgrade if you booked BEFORE 1/18/2022? Would I need to cancel/rebook to get the upgraded deal? I usually upgrade the drink package anyway as well as add more dining and unlimited wifi, so seems like a no-brainer. Couldn't care less about shore excursion credit, but even without that the price is a bargain for my situation - UNLESS I have to cancel and rebook, as now the cost of my cruise had gone up significantly...

[KeithJenner]

39 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

it says for guest 1 and 2, so I'm reading it as you'll both get 2 more meals.

Yes, that is certainly what it is.

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, SeaShark said:

 

Besides, if you're only interested in ONE thing, it really makes no sense for you to comment on the value of the entire package at all...value in this, or any other, package comes from those who are interested in the entire package, not just one small part.

I didn't know I needed your permission to post an opinion. How silly of me.

 

In any case, if you want to continue this argument (while boring everyone on the board), go for it. I'm done with it.

[dbrown84]

14 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I didn't know I needed your permission to post an opinion. How silly of me.

 

In any case, if you want to continue this argument (while boring everyone on the board), go for it. I'm done with it.

there are much better things to argue about.  Like "HOW BOUT DEM COWBOYS!!!" 🙂 

[cameronp12]

Thinking of upgrading to this for my upcoming cruise in September. It's a 10 day Europe cruise and I have already booked all the excursions - spending ~$1500. Anyone know if this would retroactively give me money back on those (since it now applies to guest #2 as well)? If so, this is totally worth the money to me to upgrade.

[chillyw]

1 hour ago, cameronp12 said:

Thinking of upgrading to this for my upcoming cruise in September. It's a 10 day Europe cruise and I have already booked all the excursions - spending ~$1500. Anyone know if this would retroactively give me money back on those (since it now applies to guest #2 as well)? If so, this is totally worth the money to me to upgrade.

 

This is exactly the situation I'm in as well.  Going to chat in tonight and find out after work.  I'd do it sooner but in freaking zooms all day long. 😂

Edited July 13, 2022 by chillyw

[cameronp12]

1 minute ago, chillyw said:

 

This is exactly the situation I'm in as well.  Going to chat in tonight and find out after work.  I'd do it sooner but in freaking zooms all day long. 😂

Please come back on here and let us know what they tell you! I would chat with them now, but am in meetings all day as well.

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

I didn't know I needed your permission to post an opinion. How silly of me.

 

In any case, if you want to continue this argument (while boring everyone on the board), go for it. I'm done with it.

 

I never said you needed permission from me, or anyone else. Why would you make something up just to argue against it. THAT is what is silly.

 

In any case, what argument are you talking about? I just asked what the numbers were for your cruise, you responded that you had no idea. Since you really have no numbers, you have no basis to support your claim, so there isn't even anything to argue or disagree on.

[tetleytea]

So, $100 per cabin, per day?  $700 for a typical sailing.  And for that we get Starbucks, $100 off per ship-booked excursion, a couple more specialties.   The $$$ don't compute.

 

[Rob_H]

6 hours ago, SeaShark said:

This new deal only would cost me $294.00 for the same additional benefits. A savings of over 26%, which, IMHO should qualify as a bargain.

 

What are the numbers you see for your cruise?

 

For our 20 day Oct 11 on the Sun, we'd be charged $1,960 total for the "Plus" plackage (our base fare, before taxes and fees and gratuities, is actually lower than that!).  We don't have the drinks package.

 

Internet upgrade would be $354.50pp, (so $709) and let's be (very) generous and say we'd get to use the shorex credit for all 12 ports, a $600 benefit.  Two extra meals are $71pp.  Total benefits (assuming all ports have an NCL tour) $1451.  More realistic, with half of ports having an NCL tour, would be $1151.   

 

Really it's hard to see any value for anybody who doesn't have a drinks package, or who doesn't care about upgrading their existing drinks package. Still, that leaves plenty of people, especially the less budget-concious cruisers..  The similar Plus deal from Princess has been very successful (for the company), a majority of their new bookings pay for it.  

 

If this works just as well for NCL, we'll probably see "Free at Sea Plus Extra" in a year that also includes the daily service charge and a few prioirty/premium features, for a mere $99 per day.  Just like Princess have done.  It's sad that NCL are now copying rather than innovating.

 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

I use about 10 minutes of internet on a seven day cruise and consider the specialty restaurants to be highly overrated, so it will never make sense for me.   As long as Jack and Johnnie are under $15, I would have little use for the upgraded booze package.  But that's just one man's opinion.  If others want to pull out their wallets, that's great.  It will keep the revenue flowing for NCL, which is a good thing.

[joshgates]

This is fantastic (for me).  I'm always going to get the WiFi upgrade (non streaming) and the extra 2 dining, so that's already going to be $180.  For another $115 I can get my preferred gin, bottled water, and starbucks, which to be honest would pay the difference alone most weeks.  I'm all for this.

[SeaShark]

30 minutes ago, Rob_H said:

Really it's hard to see any value for anybody who doesn't have a drinks package, or who doesn't care about upgrading their existing drinks package.

 

Huh?

 

For one, this is an UPGRADE package, so you have to have the base benefits to upgrade, if you didn't have the packages you wouldn't even be eligible...so obviously you can't see value for someone without the package.  OTOH, if someone did care about upgrading, they wouldn't even be looking at this...and just because someone doesn't care about upgrading doesn't mean that there isn't value, it just means that person doesn't care to take advantage of the value offered.

[Rob_H]

28 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

For one, this is an UPGRADE package, so you have to have the base benefits to upgrade, if you didn't have the packages you wouldn't even be eligible...so obviously you can't see value for someone without the package.  

 

The drinks (and the meals) are optional in "free at sea", not everybody gets them.  When we get free at sea (rather than sailaway) we do get the meals, but not the drinks. On our 11 Oct cruise the "free" drinks would cost $792 (in gratuities). We don't drink often enough to make that worthwhile. Some people don't drink at all.

 

So, many people can (and do) have the free at sea package (for the internet, for the meals, or to be able to choose a room), but not have the drinks package.  We could in theory buy this upgrade - we do have the base package.  But, as I said, there's no point, financially, if you don't have the drinks part, even if you do have the rest of free of sea.

 

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Rob_H

[SeaShark]

7 minutes ago, Rob_H said:

 

The drinks (and the meals) are optional in "free at sea", not everybody gets them.  When we get free at sea (rather than sailaway) we do get the meals, but not the drinks. On our 11 Oct cruise the "free" drinks would cost $792. We don't drink often enough to make that worthwhile.

 

So, many people can (and do) have the free at sea package (for the internet, for the meals, or to be able to choose a room), but not have the drinks package.  We could in theory buy this upgrade - we do have the base package.  But, as I said, there's no point, financially, if you don't have the drinks part, even if you do have the rest of free of sea.

 

 

 

Who said anything about having Free at Sea?

 

Again...this is an upgrade package...you have to have the items to upgrade them. If you declined one or more while booking, you'd lose your eligibility and the rest wouldn't matter.

 

The T&C are your friend. 

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, tetleytea said:

So, $100 per cabin, per day?  $700 for a typical sailing.  And for that we get Starbucks, $100 off per ship-booked excursion, a couple more specialties.   The $$$ don't compute.

 

The upgraded beverage package offers far more than Starbucks, and is really the key to whether this deal is worth it. People already upgrade that package, so this will likely be of interest to them.

 

The number of excursions you take will also be a factor, as it could half the cost of the upgrade.

Edited July 13, 2022 by KeithJenner

[The Traveling Man]

8 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

So...that's essentially $100 more per couple, per day. That means for our upcoming 16 day TA, that would be an extra $1,600 for us. Not a bargain, by any stretch of the imagination.

It probably would not make sense for a cruise with lots of sea days like a TA.  For cruises with lots of port stops where you would plan on taking a tour booked through NCL, though, the extra $98 per couple per day gets you a $50 discount on the second passenger's shorex cost.  Plus you get unlimited WIFI instead of just a couple of hundred minutes.  Plus you don't have to worry about the extra few dollars of surcharge per drink for premium wines or liquors.  It all depends on your personal choices, how many tours you would be taking, how much time you intend to spend on your computer, and your drink preferences. 

[tetleytea]

31 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

The upgraded beverage package offers far more than Starbucks, and is really the key to whether this deal is worth it. People already upgrade that package, so this will likely be of interest to them.

 

The number of excursions you take will also be a factor, as it could half the cost of the upgrade.

One has to book excursions through the ship to make it work, and the cheaper excursions which go down to almost free fill up quickly.  Otherwise it's best to price vs. booking independently, and all this does is even that out.  So you're not really saving $100 per excursion.  

 

The MDR meals are already paid for, so the value of the "$85" specialty meals is certainly a lot less than $85.  

 

The internet is of no value if the internet service stinks.  

 

If this all comes down to drinks, and people are truly drinking that many drinks to make this worth it, then I wouldn't call it the Free at Sea Plus package--i would call it the Future Friends of Bill W package.

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by tetleytea

[coastcat]

9 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

It probably would not make sense for a cruise with lots of sea days like a TA.  For cruises with lots of port stops where you would plan on taking a tour booked through NCL, though, the extra $98 per couple per day gets you a $50 discount on the second passenger's shorex cost.  Plus you get unlimited WIFI instead of just a couple of hundred minutes.  Plus you don't have to worry about the extra few dollars of surcharge per drink for premium wines or liquors.  It all depends on your personal choices, how many tours you would be taking, how much time you intend to spend on your computer, and your drink preferences. 

It would make better sense for a sea-intensive cruise if you're solo and want the premium drinks. The upgrade doesn't include ShoreEx but we have that anyway, being Guest #1. For a 12-day transatlantic, it's $504 to get two extra specialty dinners, unlimited wifi, and the upgraded beverage package. The wifi + PPBP would be $54.79/day ($657.48), plus whatever the upgrade cost is for the extra dinners, compared with $42/day for this new package ($504 total).

 

It doesn't work well for me, though, since I'm happy with an ordinary mojito and prefer to upgrade to the streaming wifi. I am very pleased that NCL isn't penalizing solos with the pricing. That's a nice change.

[dbrown84]

26 minutes ago, coastcat said:

It would make better sense for a sea-intensive cruise if you're solo and want the premium drinks. The upgrade doesn't include ShoreEx but we have that anyway, being Guest #1. For a 12-day transatlantic, it's $504 to get two extra specialty dinners, unlimited wifi, and the upgraded beverage package. The wifi + PPBP would be $54.79/day ($657.48), plus whatever the upgrade cost is for the extra dinners, compared with $42/day for this new package ($504 total).

 

It doesn't work well for me, though, since I'm happy with an ordinary mojito and prefer to upgrade to the streaming wifi. I am very pleased that NCL isn't penalizing solos with the pricing. That's a nice change.

as a solo, I'm seriously considering this upgrade, especially since it's been reported that the quoted prices include gratuities.  I like Macallan, which NCL charges $30 a shot.  Just three a day makes the upgrade worth it for me, and I'll have at least 4 (two doubles) with my daily cigar   

[rnfulk]

46 minutes ago, tetleytea said:

If this all comes down to drinks, and people are truly drinking that many drinks to make this worth it, then I wouldn't call it the Free at Sea Plus package--i would call it the Future Friends of Bill W package.

 

Super classy. Your judgment of people who want upgraded drinks and the joke at the expense of AA is not necessary and not funny. 

[Kenlorz]

11 hours ago, BamaCruiser39 said:

Available immediately on new bookings as well as existing bookings.

Can you post a link to this? I can’t find this anywhere.

[swmichigan cruiser]

No matter what it is always great to have options and then you try to make the best decision for what is best for you. In our case probably would not do it but for others it might be a good thing to do. We probably wouldn't do it on the next few cruises. Next cruise is 21 nights on the Encore and we already have 7 free specialty dinners for each of us, have 620 internet minutes and we will do only a few NCL excursions plus already spent enough with NCL so not willing to spend almost $2100 more. But each case is different and somethings are more important to others than to us. 

[andychris]

How do you book this upgrade? I don’t see it on any of my reservations to upgrade. 
Thanks!

[Happycrafter123]

I was able to add this to my reservation today by calling them.  
 

in terms of the math, if you are planning to upgrade your drink package anyway (there are many separate threads on that) then the bump for this is only about $15pp per day which is easily covered off by excursions if you plan on those, the dinners and wifi.  
 

For me it works out to an $800 Canadian dollar savings, however that is for a Port intensive trip with only 1 sea day, and I had been planning to do the ncl excursions and wifi anyway.