NCL Newbie Alert

[DnA2010]

Hi All,

 

We have cruised on various cruise lines, but have not tried NCL- I was looking at a 5 day Mexican out of LA, and the price seems pretty good, considering it includes drinks and specialty dining...are there any details I should know about these packages? Thanks so much in advance!

 

[cruiseny4life]

7 minutes ago, DnA2010 said:

Hi All,

 

We have cruised on various cruise lines, but have not tried NCL- I was looking at a 5 day Mexican out of LA, and the price seems pretty good, considering it includes drinks and specialty dining...are there any details I should know about these packages? Thanks so much in advance!

 

If you purchase the fare that includes Free at Sea, know you'll need to pay gratuities on the package, which is 20% of the value. Same with specialty dining. Make sure you will drink enough to make it a good value for you. Or, if you just want an easier cruise, not checking your bill, get it as it'll be peace of mind. You can purchase drinks up to $15. If a drink is over $15, then you'll pay the difference (i.e $18 drink, you'll pay $3, plus 20% gratuity on the $3). The package does not include water, gassy water, Starbucks (unless you're in the Haven Restaurant as a Haven guest), fresh-squeezed juices, and probably something else I'm forgetting. 

 

As for specialty dining, you'll receive one free meal to use in any restaurant onboard, a la carte or cover charge. 20% gratuity added to your bill.

 

You will be able to see how much the gratuity is before purchasing the cruise. 

[BirdTravels]

19 minutes ago, DnA2010 said:

Hi All,

 

We have cruised on various cruise lines, but have not tried NCL- I was looking at a 5 day Mexican out of LA, and the price seems pretty good, considering it includes drinks and specialty dining...are there any details I should know about these packages? Thanks so much in advance!

 

You will [likely] get one specialty dinner at any of the restaurants. Make reservations online exactly 120 days prior to departure. 
 

The drinks package covers the first $15 of every drink (and unless you ask for top shelf stuff, most drinks are under $15). Unlimited drinks from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. Alcohol/No alcohol - does not include bottled water, energy drinks, specialty coffees. 

[DnA2010]

20 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

If you purchase the fare that includes Free at Sea, know you'll need to pay gratuities on the package, which is 20% of the value. Same with specialty dining. Make sure you will drink enough to make it a good value for you. Or, if you just want an easier cruise, not checking your bill, get it as it'll be peace of mind. You can purchase drinks up to $15. If a drink is over $15, then you'll pay the difference (i.e $18 drink, you'll pay $3, plus 20% gratuity on the $3). The package does not include water, gassy water, Starbucks (unless you're in the Haven Restaurant as a Haven guest), fresh-squeezed juices, and probably something else I'm forgetting. 

 

As for specialty dining, you'll receive one free meal to use in any restaurant onboard, a la carte or cover charge. 20% gratuity added to your bill.

 

You will be able to see how much the gratuity is before purchasing the cruise. 

 

8 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You will [likely] get one specialty dinner at any of the restaurants. Make reservations online exactly 120 days prior to departure. 
 

The drinks package covers the first $15 of every drink (and unless you ask for top shelf stuff, most drinks are under $15). Unlimited drinks from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. Alcohol/No alcohol - does not include bottled water, energy drinks, specialty coffees. 

 

 

Thank you for the replies, so 1 free specialty dinner, good to know thanks. I don't know if it made that clear. 

Do you pay the gratuities ahead? that's what it looks like? 

Only other cost would be the daily stateroom gratuities? 

[cruiseny4life]

Just now, DnA2010 said:

Thank you for the replies, so 1 free specialty dinner, good to know thanks. I don't know if it made that clear. 

Do you pay the gratuities ahead? that's what it looks like? 

Only other cost would be the daily stateroom gratuities? 

You pay the gratuities for Free at Sea when you book the cruise, so yep, ahead. You have the option of paying daily stateroom gratuities (look for the term daily service charge or DSC) after you've booked, but before you sail. Or, you can pay them at the end of the cruise. We always pre-pay to get it out of the way. 

 

Trust me, they don't make the 1 free specialty dinner clear. When I first started looking at NCL (back in February, so I'm certainly not an expert), I thought it was free specialty dinner every night of the cruise. Upon doing research I was pis$ed to find out NCL clearly lies in their marketing materials. You have to dive into those terms and conditions. Do that, by the way! Read the terms and conditions for every single thing you book. 

 

Even though I still sound like a whiny child about NCL, and their lying ways, I love the experience. Since April, we've taken two cruises and have a third booked for March. I might whine, but they have me locked in as a customer...or rather, my husband is worried about changing from a product we know (and enjoy) to another we may not enjoy.

[hallux]

Many questions can be answered by reviewing the T&C's for the promo - 

https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

[PATRLR]

16 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

If you purchase the fare that includes Free at Sea, know you'll need to pay gratuities on the package, which is 20% of the value. Same with specialty dining. Make sure you will drink enough to make it a good value for you.

The tips on the drinks package amount to about $20 per day, per person.  And both passengers in the cabin have to take the drink package (can't have just one passenger get it).  So long as you average 2 drinks per day, per person it makes sense to get the drink package.

We don't know what ship you are looking at, but activities like laser tag, go karts, etc are all additional cost.  NCL is very good at extracting additional money from you above and beyond the advertised cruise fares.

NCL MDR food is OK, specialty dining typically good, entertainment tends to be very good.