Beverage Package Clarification

[Maleficent's Dad]

I'm pretty sure I know the answers to these two questions, but I figured I'd come here and ask the experts.

We have friends cruising on the Joy this summer.  They have a balcony room - 3 adults (mom, dad, and adult son).  The wife drinks and wants the beverage package.  Her husband and son (who is 21) do not drink; thus the husband doesn't want to pay for 3 packages unnecessarily.  So with that said:

1. Can they buy one alcoholic beverage package and 2 soda packages?

2. If you buy the beverage package once you board the ship, can you do individual packages or is it still that everyone in the room must have it?  Her PCC said that sometimes they'll sell individual packages once on board.  I was skeptical.

3. I looked on the NCL website, and it says that all adults 21 and over on a reservation must buy the package.  Her PCC told her that they could "get away with" buying 2 packages for the first two adults in the room only.  Any truth to this?

 

Thanks for your help ahead of time.  Like I said, I probably know the answers already but just want to verify what I believe to be the case.

[adamnoone]

All adults in the room are required to purchase the package.

[mjkacmom]

Didn’t they get the free at sea package? Even if one person of the two who get the UBP doesn’t drink, it’s still a deal at only $20 a day for gratuities. Isn’t the UBP $100+ a day if you purchase it?

[cruiseny4life]

I'm not sure what the workaround was, but my husband's PCC was able to finagle the system in such a way that I had the Free at Sea Ultimate Beverage Package, while my husband had no package. We ultimately switched it all up. I dumped the beverage package, while my husband got the soda package. I had no package and had to purchase drinks when I ordered them.

 

Don't ask me the magic formula, but in August this was able to be done for our September cruise. 

[palpieha]

54 minutes ago, Maleficent's Dad said:

I'm pretty sure I know the answers to these two questions, but I figured I'd come here and ask the experts.

We have friends cruising on the Joy this summer.  They have a balcony room - 3 adults (mom, dad, and adult son).  The wife drinks and wants the beverage package.  Her husband and son (who is 21) do not drink; thus the husband doesn't want to pay for 3 packages unnecessarily.  So with that said:

1. Can they buy one alcoholic beverage package and 2 soda packages?

2. If you buy the beverage package once you board the ship, can you do individual packages or is it still that everyone in the room must have it?  Her PCC said that sometimes they'll sell individual packages once on board.  I was skeptical.

3. I looked on the NCL website, and it says that all adults 21 and over on a reservation must buy the package.  Her PCC told her that they could "get away with" buying 2 packages for the first two adults in the room only.  Any truth to this?

 

Thanks for your help ahead of time.  Like I said, I probably know the answers already but just want to verify what I believe to be the case.

 

If buying the package on the ship, that will be after turning down the "Free at Sea" promotion. Even if they let them buy just one package, that will be $109/day + 20%, so $130.80.

 

If they accept the Free at Sea package, it'll be $65.40/day (the 20% service charge) for all 3.

 

They should push the PCC to try to buy as few as possible (1 or 2), but even if required to get all 3 with FAS will be cheaper than buying 1 outright.

[RocketMan275]

44 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Didn’t they get the free at sea package? Even if one person of the two who get the UBP doesn’t drink, it’s still a deal at only $20 a day for gratuities. Isn’t the UBP $100+ a day if you purchase it?

The UBP isn't free.  Nor is it $100 a day if purchased.

I just checked a Feb cruise out of NOLA and by unchecking the 'Free Drinks", the cost of the cruise decreases approximately $300.

[PTC DAWG]

4 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

The UBP isn't free.  Nor is it $100 a day if purchased.

I just checked a Feb cruise out of NOLA and by unchecking the 'Free Drinks", the cost of the cruise decreases approximately $300.

Correct, as stated above it's about $20 PPPD...the math is not that hard.  Pick what suits you.  

Edited January 18, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[PTC DAWG]

6 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

The UBP isn't free.  Nor is it $100 a day if purchased.

 

IF purchased outside of the Free at Sea promotion, it's actually $109 PPPD.  Plus gratuities.  I have no idea why anyone would do this..as explained above by palpieha.

Edited January 18, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[RocketMan275]

13 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

IF purchased outside of the Free at Sea promotion, it's actually $109 PPPD.  Plus gratuities.  I have no idea why anyone would do this..as explained above by palpieha.

NCL advertises this in an attempt to convince you that you're getting a really good deal.  

It's like advertising the savings on a sale by comparing the current fare to the 'brochure' fare which no one ever pays either.

[PTC DAWG]

Just now, RocketMan275 said:

NCL advertises this in an attempt to convince you that you're getting a really good deal.  

It's like advertising the savings on a sale by comparing the current fare to the 'brochure' fare which no one ever pays either.

I've paid $80 plus on Royal...like I said earlier, do the math, make a decision that suits you.  

[mjkacmom]

10 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

NCL advertises this in an attempt to convince you that you're getting a really good deal.  

It's like advertising the savings on a sale by comparing the current fare to the 'brochure' fare which no one ever pays either.

I’d much rather pay an extra $300 plus $20 a day for the UBP than save $300 but pay $130 a day for the UBP. It’s a math problem.

[CruizinSusan70]

47 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

The UBP isn't free.  Nor is it $100 a day if purchased.

I just checked a Feb cruise out of NOLA and by unchecking the 'Free Drinks", the cost of the cruise decreases approximately $300.

The gratuity portion for two people for the drink package for a 7 day cruise is about the 300 you mentioned.  But, if you have the sail away rate and buy the drinks package, it's around 130 per day including the 20% gratuity.

[CruizinSusan70]

31 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

NCL advertises this in an attempt to convince you that you're getting a really good deal.  

I will have to infer that you are a teetotaler or a very light drinker.  The drinks package on RCI fluctuates because of their dynamic pricing policy and can easily hit over 80 a day.  For two people 1100 for 7 days is feasible and substantially more than the 300 that NCL charges for the gratuity. That's 800 more on RCI, so unless NCL is charging more than that for the cruise fare, it's a savings when you factor it all in by sailing on NCL.

[Maleficent's Dad]

1 hour ago, palpieha said:

 

If buying the package on the ship, that will be after turning down the "Free at Sea" promotion. Even if they let them buy just one package, that will be $109/day + 20%, so $130.80.

 

If they accept the Free at Sea package, it'll be $65.40/day (the 20% service charge) for all 3.

 

They should push the PCC to try to buy as few as possible (1 or 2), but even if required to get all 3 with FAS will be cheaper than buying 1 outright.

This makes a lot of sense.  Thank you (and everyone else who responded)!

[RocketMan275]

8 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

I will have to infer that you are a teetotaler or a very light drinker.  

No, I am not, but I do recognize that 'Free at Sea' isn't 'free'.  

I haven't said that FAS isn't a good deal, just that it isn't "Free".  You are paying for all that 'Free' stuff.

[PTC DAWG]

2 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

No, I am not, but I do recognize that 'Free at Sea' isn't 'free'.  

I haven't said that FAS isn't a good deal, just that it isn't "Free".  You are paying for all that 'Free' stuff.

Not much, if anything, in life is free. 

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

No, I am not, but I do recognize that 'Free at Sea' isn't 'free'.  

I haven't said that FAS isn't a good deal, just that it isn't "Free".  You are paying for all that 'Free' stuff.

Yes, but sometimes the price difference between the FAS and the Sail away rates is small.  The bottom line is that you just to compare the total price of the FAS package compared to what you'd pay on Royal and Carnival with their a la carte drink packages added.  Of course you also need to factor in what the 250 free wifi minutes are worth to you as well as the specialty meal or meals.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

Not much, if anything, in life is free. 

How about opinions on Cruise Critic?  😉😉

[New2cruise2022]

I would take the FAS. Even for the non drinkers, this means all of the soda obviously, but also mocktails and virgin drinks. So, there is some added value without them drinking alcohol. 
 

It is all personal. If the one drinking will only order a few cocktails a day, there is certainly a savings to refuse the deal. 

[mjkacmom]

46 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

I would take the FAS. Even for the non drinkers, this means all of the soda obviously, but also mocktails and virgin drinks. So, there is some added value without them drinking alcohol. 
 

It is all personal. If the one drinking will only order a few cocktails a day, there is certainly a savings to refuse the deal. 

Not really, 3 cocktails will cost more oop per day than the unpaid gratuity.

[New2cruise2022]

3 per day for one person should be less than FAS for 3 people. 🤷🏿‍♂️ 

[mjkacmom]

19 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

3 per day for one person should be less than FAS for 3 people. 🤷🏿‍♂️ 

But is free at sea only for the first 2 passengers? That would be $40 a day, drinks averaging around $12 each, throw in some virgin drinks and it’s worth it.

[carohs]

Like PTC said, it's a math problem. If you're not drinking than booking a lower base fare on another line might suit you. NCL obviously factors the cost of the average cruisers beverages into their base fare and markets it as "free". If you're only comparing NCL prices then it's easy to see the value of FAS vs adding on the package separately. 

[New2cruise2022]

28 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

But is free at sea only for the first 2 passengers? That would be $40 a day, drinks averaging around $12 each, throw in some virgin drinks and it’s worth it.

I personally agree it is worth it. I think it’s easy to find good value in it. 

[SunshineGal2022]

I still wish NCL had a non-alcoholic drink package like MSC does.  The FAS package would include sodas, mocktails, and juices; the Plus version would add in bottled water, Starbucks, and energy drinks.  I think NCL assumes non or lite drinkers will pay the current Plus rate anyways, but it’s hard to justify the $243/person upgrade for a 7 day cruise when you don’t drink much/any alcohol.  I would find value in a plan that was priced between the Starbucks upgrade rate and the current FAS+ upgrade rate. 
 

I know they read these boards so I hope they listen…