Free at Sea Plus for One Person

[rbxlady]

I know this has been asked and answered, but I promise I really tried looking for this and couldn't find it. I can't get the search terms right, I guess.

 

I just booked a cruise for late 2025 on the Joy for me, my husband, and our two kids, who will be 12 and 14 by then. We're usually Haven people, but this time we are booking two connecting club balcony suites with my husband with one child in one cabin and me in the other. We get to double up on double up CruiseNext, and all four of us get FAS, so this works out really nicely for us. (We were going to do the non-Haven 2BR suite, but it's interior.)

 

Anyway, my husband and I typically upgrade to FAS+ and buy the kids soda packages, but since our kids are under 21, can we each buy FAS+ for ourselves since we are each the only adult in our two cabins?

[ggTexasGal]

*** Minors are not entitled to Premium Plus Beverage Package in turn will receive soda package only
  Edited May 4 by ggTexasGal
did not load correctly the first time

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, rbxlady said:

Anyway, my husband and I typically upgrade to FAS+ and buy the kids soda packages, but since our kids are under 21, can we each buy FAS+ for ourselves since we are each the only adult in our two cabins?

 

Since the kids are both guest #2 in the staterooms, the kids should already have the soda package and the SDP with the standard Free At Sea promo. 

 

I think that the question is asking if the adult can upgrade to Plus but not the child in each stateroom? 

 

The added SDP meals, Wi-Fi, and excursion credit aren't worth the cost of the upgrade for the child if NCL forces them all to upgrade.  

 

 

[rbxlady]

8 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Since the kids are both guest #2 in the staterooms, the kids should already have the soda package and the SDP with the standard Free At Sea promo. 

 

I think that the question is asking if the adult can upgrade to Plus but not the child in each stateroom? 

 

The added SDP meals, Wi-Fi, and excursion credit aren't worth the cost of the upgrade for the child if NCL forces them all to upgrade.  

 

 

 

Right, the way I read this is that if I buy FAS+, I am forced to upgrade my son at the lower rate ($29/day vs. $49/day). That is the crux of my question. I understand he wouldn't get upgraded beverages, but since he has the soda package with regular FAS, as you say, it might not be worth it.

 

My husband and I would unfortunately need to upgrade to unlimited internet for professional reasons, so if we're also forced to buy in for the kids on an internet-only upgrade, then we might just bite the bullet and buy FAS+. I don't care that much about the extra specialty dining credits, but we do like getting the premium drinks, sparkling water, and unlimited Starbucks, although we could live without those. I'll have to sit down and do the math.

 

I wish the non-Haven suites were not interior because that would make this a lot easier! The Haven more than doubles the cost for this cruise, so that's a no-go. I have justified the cost on past cruises but cannot do it for this one.

Edited May 4 by rbxlady

[Bulk-head]

Free at Sea Upgrade Plus Program (priced per person, per day in USD)

 

Free at Sea Plus Upgrade		FAS Program Prior to 1/18/22		FAS Program After 1/18/22
Base Upgrade (if guest 1 & 2 are adults)		$49* for Guest 1  $41 for Guest 2 per person		$49**
Guest 1 or 2 (if guest 1 or 2 are minors)		$49 for Adult  $21 for Minor***		$49 for Adult  $29 for Minor***
Solo Upgrade (1 guest traveling in stateroom)		$42****		$42****
Cost to add streaming (guest 1 & 2)		$10.00 per person, per day		$10.80 per person, per day

* 1 Unlimited WI-FI Package Upgrade Plan only
** 2 Unlimited WI-FI Package Upgrade Plans
*** Minors are not entitled to Premium Plus Beverage Package in turn will receive soda package only
**** Single Guests are not entitled to the additional Shore Excursion Credit

[JandC_Cruising]

@rbxlady

Based on the above pricing chart, each cabin would pay a net $78 per day.  (Adult at $49/d and minor at $29/d)  

That nets to $546 total upgrade cost for a 7-day cruise for each cabin

With this upgrade you will receive

- Premium Plus Beverage package for the adult

- 2 extra specialty dining meals each  (adult and minor)

- upgraded WiFi for both (adult and minor)

- Extra $50 ShorEx credit

Compare to purchasing upgrades a la carte:

- Upgrading adult only to Premium Plus - $243.60 (7day @ $29 + 20% per day)

- 2 extra specialty dining means for adult and minor - $82.80pp = $165.60

- Upgraded Wifi for both adult and minor - $109.93pp = $219.86

Total upgrade of $629.06  and that doesn't include the extra $50 Shorex credit (if planning on using )

 

Looks like Free-at-sea plus is the better deal if all the perks are desired.

Enjoy!

Edited May 4 by JandC_Cruising

[lisa928]

This is exactly what we do with our twin girls.  Are you platnium?  If so it is even better as you both get dining certificates since you are in seperate cabins!

 

Do you both need the internet at the same time, as my husband and I share one package, just cannot be logged in at the same time.  Kids also often "borrow" it.

Edited May 5 by lisa928

[rbxlady]

11 hours ago, lisa928 said:

This is exactly what we do with our twin girls.  Are you platnium?  If so it is even better as you both get dining certificates since you are in seperate cabins!

 

Do you both need the internet at the same time, as my husband and I share one package, just cannot be logged in at the same time.  Kids also often "borrow" it.

Unfortunately we aren't platinum, but I'm not worried about the dining certificates so much. I probably wouldn't be able to share my internet package because honestly I need to be logged in all the time to be able to check in with the office, for our dog sitting company to check in with me, to check in on my dad (complicated health issues), etc., and not all of those people have iPhones that would allow communication even if I didn't have wifi. Our kids didn't have internet at all on our cruise last month, so they'll be just fine with 150 minutes each. It's definitely a real possibility for most people to share if they don't need to be connected all the time, though-- I'm a bit of an outlier there.

[rbxlady]

15 hours ago, JandC_Cruising said:

@rbxlady

Based on the above pricing chart, each cabin would pay a net $78 per day.  (Adult at $49/d and minor at $29/d)  

That nets to $546 total upgrade cost for a 7-day cruise for each cabin

With this upgrade you will receive

- Premium Plus Beverage package for the adult

- 2 extra specialty dining meals each  (adult and minor)

- upgraded WiFi for both (adult and minor)

- Extra $50 ShorEx credit

Compare to purchasing upgrades a la carte:

- Upgrading adult only to Premium Plus - $243.60 (7day @ $29 + 20% per day)

- 2 extra specialty dining means for adult and minor - $82.80pp = $165.60

- Upgraded Wifi for both adult and minor - $109.93pp = $219.86

Total upgrade of $629.06  and that doesn't include the extra $50 Shorex credit (if planning on using )

 

Looks like Free-at-sea plus is the better deal if all the perks are desired.

Enjoy!

 

Thank you-- I really appreciate your doing the math for me! I don't care too much about the additional specialty dining, so if I deduct that, we're still roughly $82 ahead going à la carte, not counting shorex. However, it would only take two shore excursions to come out ahead with FAS+, and we do plan on taking shore excursions (there are four ports), and then if we want to do a third or fourth specialty dining meal, we can.

 

I wish NCL didn't require you to get FAS+ for the second passenger if only the first passenger wants it, but I understand that if they didn't, it would be easy to abuse. It makes sense to require it and get the extra revenue. Honestly, as the kids become teenagers and young adults, we're just going to have to get used to eating the cost of upgrades for them as well as ourselves.

[rbxlady]

Actually, in thinking about it, it would only take one shore excursion to be ahead because that would be $50pp. We'll definitely exceed that.