I’m a newbie to NCL. I need a “Free at Sea” tutorial.

[Ken the cruiser]

12 minutes ago, si_boy said:

Have read with interest as we will soon be on our first Norwegian cruise and have the Free at Sea pass.
I understand all the benefits but can someone confirm you pay 20% gratuity per day (e.g. 20% of the $109 per day). That seems to add up on a 12 night cruise.

Using the link above I read the T&Cs and read it is included, so now confused.

Also, are service charges additional.

Here's a price summary of a 12-day cruise which shows the Open Bar Gratuities ($21.80 pp/day) for two people, which confirms your numbers, you must prepay to get the "free" Open Bar FAS perks. 

 

 

 

[si_boy]

Thank you @Ken the cruiser confused me at first, but as in UK what we see is different.
There is no mention of the gratuities on the perks in the price breakdown that we see.
I just did a pretend booking. 

Hopefully someone in UK can confirm.

I can see the service charges payable when I log into the booking and can pay these upfront. 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, si_boy said:

Thank you @Ken the cruiser confused me at first, but as in UK what we see is different.
There is no mention of the gratuities on the perks in the price breakdown that we see.
I just did a pretend booking. 

Hopefully someone in UK can confirm.

I can see the service charges payable when I log into the booking and can pay these upfront. 

We initially would decline to pay the FAS Beverage gratuities to get the "free" drinks package because my DW only drinks bottled water and hot chocolate from Starbucks, and I only drink a few glasses of wine at dinner. However, when the FAS Plus program was implemented last month, we are now happy to pay the FAS beverage gratuities (along with the SD gratuities) so we can get the FAS Plus perks for an additional $49 pp/day. 😉

 

[QueSeraSera]

Wow, lots of helpful info above.  We will be taking our first NCL cruise in February in Hawaii on the Pride of America.  Neither wife nor I have ever been there.  Does the free at sea Hawaii drink package differ in any meaningful way from what has been explained above?  And, for future reference, can we consider the Pride of America a typical (or not typical) NCL ship?  TIA

[ggTexasGal]

9 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Wow, lots of helpful info above.  We will be taking our first NCL cruise in February in Hawaii on the Pride of America.  Neither wife nor I have ever been there.  Does the free at sea Hawaii drink package differ in any meaningful way from what has been explained above?  And, for future reference, can we consider the Pride of America a typical (or not typical) NCL ship?  TIA

Pride of America is somewhat typical to the NCL ships built around the same time.

Otherwise, there would be some noticeable differences, mostly based on the demographics of the ship's crew (American in Hawaii).

 

• The purchase of any alcoholic drinks within the Hawaii Beverage Package may, in certain individual circumstances, be restricted in accordance with Hawaii’s Intoxicating Liquor Law and applicable local rules and regulations.

[GLYNAGP]

22 hours ago, si_boy said:

Have read with interest as we will soon be on our first Norwegian cruise and have the Free at Sea pass.
I understand all the benefits but can someone confirm you pay 20% gratuity per day (e.g. 20% of the $109 per day). That seems to add up on a 12 night cruise.

Using the link above I read the T&Cs and read it is included, so now confused.

Also, are service charges additional.

The free at sea package for us in the UK is different from the US ,

We pay once dependant on the length of cruise for my next cruise its £149 for 11 days

for that I’m getting :-

 

Premium Drinks Package including the gratuity

$50 credit per excursion (only 1 credit per cabin, I travel solo so that's a bonus for me)

4 x Specialty Dining

250 minutes Wi-Fi

 

I booked the cruise over a year ago when the deal was much better, on later bookings of the same duration I’m paying £199 and only getting 1 Specialty Dining and 150 minutes Wi-Fi plus the drinks and excursion credit. Even then IMO its still a great deal

 

There is no more to pay, gratuities on the package are paid (unless you wish to tip extra)

 

In some ports you may find a small change on drinks where local VAT is chargeable when in port .

 

For me its a no Brainer, I’ve booked and paid for 4 excursions which has already saved me £177, all my drinks on board will be free so I will probably have a zero on board bill at the end of the cruise.

[si_boy]

Thank you @GLYNAGP for your helpful explanation.
i was starting to go mad thinking we would be paying $$$ extra.

All makes sense now, I checked back to original invoice and there is a charge for all at sea, £249 each for 12 nights.
Still seems like a good deal.

[GLYNAGP]

15 minutes ago, si_boy said:

Thank you @GLYNAGP for your helpful explanation.
i was starting to go mad thinking we would be paying $$$ extra.

All makes sense now, I checked back to original invoice and there is a charge for all at sea, £249 each for 12 nights.
Still seems like a good deal.

I think is an amazing deal , I‘ve done 4 NCL cruises in the last year and taken to Free at Sea Deal on all of them .I pre-purchase my excursions on the NCL app which deducts the Excursion $50 credit (or equivalent in UK£), I don't do Spa’s and there's little or nothing I need from the onboard shops so I leave the ship with a zero (or close to zero ) onboard balance

Enjoy your cruise

[Sailing12Away]

Wifi is free minutes. You need to login and logout each time you want to do something, or the minutes go quick. It's decent enough to quickly check emails, or send messages back home. Uploading photos though.... not so good. It's free, so better than nothing.

 

Drinks - NCL package is much cheaper than RCC. You have to pre-pay the gratuities, but that works out to about a price of $20/pp/day. Cheapest we've paid on RCC was $59/pp/day. All drinks up to $15 cost are included for free, anything more expensive you pay the difference. (the espresso martini is worth the $2 upcharge). If you enjoy an occasional breakfast mimosa, a frozen drink at the pool, a beer with lunch, wine with dinner, and after dinner cocktail before the show.... you're ahead of the game with the package. Cocktails are about $10-12 each, so having the package lets you try them all without feeling guilty if you don't like one. Just move on to the next one on the list.

 

Dining package - to me it's a no brainer. You pay again up front for gratuities, but I believe it's about $20 total for your 2 free meals. What you get depends on the restaurant, but generally speaking the value of the meal is $100 that you get for $20. So it's nice having options, the food is good, and it's a minimal 'upcharge' for the gratuities. 

Excursions are not free, you get a $50 discount on them at each port of call. If you like the security of doing NCL excursions, it can add up to some decent savings on a port intensive trip. If you tend to book your own private stuff, there's no charge for taking it as a perk so it just won't provide value. But sometimes it's good for the smaller ports where you can use it for a cheap city transfer or to rent an umbrella on a beach.

 

You can always decline some of the perks if you didn't want to accept the ones that come with a fee.

[MCMC100]

You pay a 20% gratuity on the cost of drink package, which is $109 per day/person. That equates to $21.80 per day.  If one person in the cabin wants the package everyone 21 and older in the stateroom must also get the package (it’s designed to prevent two people from sharing a drink package).  It adds up quickly, however, the break even point is 2 drinks per person/per day. Remember that because it’s an all or nothing stateroom package, if only one person drinks, the “drinker” has to also consume 2 drinks for each non-drinker in the cabin to break even. 
 

You also pay a separate 20% gratuity on the FAS speciality dining plan. This is based on the number of meals (cruise length and cabin type determinative). There is a wealth of information posted above regarding the SDP so I won’t rehash the particulars. 
 

The gratuity for the drink package and specialty dining package included with FAS is paid at the time of booking. The daily service charge ($20 per person/day for most cabins) is a separate item. It can be prepaid or added to your final bill and paid at the end of the cruise. The daily service charge is a topic of frequent discussion on CC, but generally, it’s  designed to reward room stewards and other service employees not covered by the dining or drink gratuity (wait staff in the main dining room and buffet for example).  In theory it is optional, but in practice, it’s just another cost of the cruise. 

[MCMC100]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:04 PM, si_boy said:

Have read with interest as we will soon be on our first Norwegian cruise and have the Free at Sea pass.
I understand all the benefits but can someone confirm you pay 20% gratuity per day (e.g. 20% of the $109 per day). That seems to add up on a 12 night cruise.

Using the link above I read the T&Cs and read it is included, so now confused.

Also, are service charges additional.

My response above was intended to address your question. For some reason the quote function didn’t work. I noticed after I posted that you may be in the UK, which of course may change everything for you because your rules are different.
 

So not only did I not properly post my response, I may have provided you with completely irrelevant information for your personal situation.
 

I’m going to call it a day and go enjoy my personal ultimate drink package on my deck!

[Girr]

On 8/3/2023 at 12:04 PM, si_boy said:

Have read with interest as we will soon be on our first Norwegian cruise and have the Free at Sea pass.
I understand all the benefits but can someone confirm you pay 20% gratuity per day (e.g. 20% of the $109 per day). That seems to add up on a 12 night cruise.

Using the link above I read the T&Cs and read it is included, so now confused.

Also, are service charges additional.

20% on $109 comes to $21.80 a day or about the same as two drinks per day, so at least in my case it makes sense.  However, based on the number of passengers in your cabin (remember if one elects the package all must take) and what they drink the math may not add up.  

[darkhorizon]

Can you cancel or change the specialty dining reservations you book well in advance?

 

Are infants allowed in specialty dining restaurants?

[ggTexasGal]

Just now, darkhorizon said:

Can you cancel or change the specialty dining reservations you book well in advance?

 

Are infants allowed in specialty dining restaurants?

Yes, but would likely need need to be done immediately upon embarkation.  Yes, infants are allowed in all restaurants.

[insidecabin]

On 8/4/2023 at 7:23 PM, si_boy said:

Thank you @GLYNAGP for your helpful explanation.
i was starting to go mad thinking we would be paying $$$ extra.

All makes sense now, I checked back to original invoice and there is a charge for all at sea, £249 each for 12 nights.
Still seems like a good deal.

 

The old UK prices were really good then they changed to get it closer to the US cost.

 

The sweet spots number of nights with UK FAS are 5,8,11,14,17.

 

 

Sail Length FAS Upcharge GBP Per Person

3-5 Nights £99

6-8 Nights £149

9-11 Nights £199

12-14 Nights £249

15-17 Nights £299

18+ Nights £349

 

Keep an eye out for the 50% FAS in the UK makes it a real bargain on top of the cheap fares.

(The last one finish Monday 31July)

[Asawi]

28 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

 

The old UK prices were really good then they changed to get it closer to the US cost.

 

The sweet spots number of nights with UK FAS are 5,8,11,14,17.

 

 

Sail Length FAS Upcharge GBP Per Person

3-5 Nights £99

6-8 Nights £149

9-11 Nights £199

12-14 Nights £249

15-17 Nights £299

18+ Nights £349

 

Keep an eye out for the 50% FAS in the UK makes it a real bargain on top of the cheap fares.

(The last one finish Monday 31July)

Interesting that UK FAS are the same in pounds as the EU prices in Euro. Even though the pound isn't far off 20% higher than Euro. Being in EU I'm not complaining though. And I did manage to get half price FAS on my October cruise.  😄

 

[si_boy]

On 8/4/2023 at 7:40 PM, GLYNAGP said:

I think is an amazing deal , I‘ve done 4 NCL cruises in the last year and taken to Free at Sea Deal on all of them .I pre-purchase my excursions on the NCL app which deducts the Excursion $50 credit (or equivalent in UK£), I don't do Spa’s and there's little or nothing I need from the onboard shops so I leave the ship with a zero (or close to zero ) onboard balance

Enjoy your cruise

@GLYNAGP Slightly off topic, on the app there is mention of the service charges, do you pay these upfront so they don’t appear on your onboard account and therefore you have zero balance?

[insidecabin]

2 hours ago, Asawi said:

Interesting that UK FAS are the same in pounds as the EU prices in Euro. Even though the pound isn't far off 20% higher than Euro. Being in EU I'm not complaining though. And I did manage to get half price FAS on my October cruise.  😄

 

Something to consider worth checking prices in UK, EU, US prices to see which is best total.

 

One I have booked,  Viva TA.

 

quick look the base cruise price inside.

EU €622 (£537)

UK £497

US $700 (£549)

[GLYNAGP]

24 minutes ago, si_boy said:

@GLYNAGP Slightly off topic, on the app there is mention of the service charges, do you pay these upfront so they don’t appear on your onboard account and therefore you have zero balance?

This is a bit of an emotive subject for me at the moment. Until recently I always prepaid NCL’s service charge. However I find the recent increase from $15 to $20 PP Per day unacceptable and will not be prepaying on future bookings and making a decision on board as too how much I’m prepared to pay and advising customer services to adjust my onboard account accordingly.

[Sailing12Away]

On 8/4/2023 at 10:25 PM, MCMC100 said:

My response above was intended to address your question. For some reason the quote function didn’t work. I noticed after I posted that you may be in the UK, which of course may change everything for you because your rules are different.
 

So not only did I not properly post my response, I may have provided you with completely irrelevant information for your personal situation.
 

I’m going to call it a day and go enjoy my personal ultimate drink package on my deck!

A for effort! 

[BirdTravels]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:04 PM, si_boy said:

Have read with interest as we will soon be on our first Norwegian cruise and have the Free at Sea pass.
I understand all the benefits but can someone confirm you pay 20% gratuity per day (e.g. 20% of the $109 per day). That seems to add up on a 12 night cruise.

Using the link above I read the T&Cs and read it is included, so now confused.

Also, are service charges additional.

If you on a cruise soon, you have already paid the gratuity. Look at your receipt. 

 

If you read the terms and conditions to see what the package includes... 

 

• Guests are responsible for 20% gratuities on the retail value of the Unlimited Open Bar Package ($21.80 USD per person per day) and/or Soda Package ($1.59 USD per person per day) prior to cruise

[darkhorizon]

Are all bars included in the FAS drinks package? What about the drinks you order at specialty restaurants?

 

Also, when the ship is in port, and you drink with your FAS package, do you have to pay taxes? Any difference in US ports or Foreign ports in this regard?

[ggTexasGal]

2 minutes ago, darkhorizon said:

Are all bars included in the FAS drinks package? What about the drinks you order at specialty restaurants?

 

Also, when the ship is in port, and you drink with your FAS package, do you have to pay taxes? Any difference in US ports or Foreign ports in this regard?

All bars that you have access to are included, but "experiences" and "flights" have fees.

If there are port fees, the bartenders are pretty good at informing everyone ahead of ordering.

[DCGuy64]

On 8/8/2023 at 12:02 AM, BirdTravels said:

If you on a cruise soon, you have already paid the gratuity. Look at your receipt. 

 

If you read the terms and conditions to see what the package includes... 

 

• Guests are responsible for 20% gratuities on the retail value of the Unlimited Open Bar Package ($21.80 USD per person per day) and/or Soda Package ($1.59 USD per person per day) prior to cruise

And this brings me to one of my favorite topics. To me, buying the UBP in effect pays for most of my cruise. The UBP alone now costs $109 per person, per day before the gratuities are added. For our upcoming cruise (10 days), I'd pay $1090 per person without gratuities. What I paid for the whole cruise was $1634 per person (that's for a Club Balcony suite, including port fees and dining gratuities, but not beverage package gratuities). So in effect, it's as if I paid full price for the UBP and only had to pay $544 per person for my room and board. To me, that's a heck of a deal!

[jcathers1]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:55 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

We initially would decline to pay the FAS Beverage gratuities to get the "free" drinks package because my DW only drinks bottled water and hot chocolate from Starbucks, and I only drink a few glasses of wine at dinner. However, when the FAS Plus program was implemented last month, we are now happy to pay the FAS beverage gratuities (along with the SD gratuities) so we can get the FAS Plus perks for an additional $49 pp/day. 😉

 

 

Is this upgrade offer offered at the time of booking? I don't recall seeing anything like it when I booked. If it helps, it is a Haven room on an Alaska cruise...