Free At Sea Promo

[Keith1951]

NCL, what does Free at Sea mean?  When I am looking at cruises to reserve, I see this...FREE UNLIMITED OPEN BAR, FREE SPECIALTY DINING.
If I unclick the Free at Sea button, the price of the cruise goes down.  So, if I choose to use that promo, it will cost me.  How is this free at sea?

[CruisnDeb]

18 minutes ago, Keith1951 said:

NCL, what does Free at Sea mean?  When I am looking at cruises to reserve, I see this...FREE UNLIMITED OPEN BAR, FREE SPECIALTY DINING.
If I unclick the Free at Sea button, the price of the cruise goes down.  So, if I choose to use that promo, it will cost me.  How is this free at sea?

Free At Sea is free--what you are seeing is the cost of the gratuities that are added on for the dining and drink part of the package.  So if you decline the free at sea, then they need to remove those gratuities, so the price appears to go down.  The way I look at it, it's like getting a drink package for about $150 for a 7 day cruise--well worth it for me.

 

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

Edited May 14 by CruisnDeb

[UKstages]

think of it as the "for a small fee at sea" program.

 

it doesn't change the value proposition.

 

Edited May 14 by UKstages

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, Keith1951 said:

NCL, what does Free at Sea mean?  When I am looking at cruises to reserve, I see this...FREE UNLIMITED OPEN BAR, FREE SPECIALTY DINING.
If I unclick the Free at Sea button, the price of the cruise goes down.  So, if I choose to use that promo, it will cost me.  How is this free at sea?

Nothing is ever 'free'. It would be more accurate to say "included".

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Keith1951 said:

NCL, what does Free at Sea mean?  When I am looking at cruises to reserve, I see this...FREE UNLIMITED OPEN BAR, FREE SPECIALTY DINING.
If I unclick the Free at Sea button, the price of the cruise goes down.  So, if I choose to use that promo, it will cost me.  How is this free at sea?

 

Normally, if you buy a beverage package (PBP), it has a cost of $109 per person per day PLUS a 20% "gratuity and beverage service charge". If you take the promo, the package is given to you but you have to pay the 20% "gratuity and beverage service charge".

 

Once on the ship, you will not be charged the 20% "gratuity and beverage service charge" on each individual drink. If you do not have a PBP, you will be charged the 20% on each drink. The PBP covers most drinks up to $15. If your drink is over $15, you pay the difference plus 20% on that difference. A $20 shot will cost you $6 ($5+20%) if you have a Premium Beverage Package. 

 

If you compare the total with and without the drink promo, you can see if it is better financially to take the promo or to not take the promo and pay for drinks à la carte with the added 20% for each one. 

 

The specialty dining promo is similar. Normally, the dining package has a cost plus 20%. If you take the promo, you will pay the 20% of the cost of the package. The cost of the package depends on how many meals and with the promo, the number of meals depends on how long the cruise is and what stateroom type that you book. For example, a 2SDP (2 meals) cost $99 plus $19.80. With the promo, you would pay the $19.80 for 2 meals. Again, it would be up to you to decide if it is worth it to take the promo or pay à la carte at the specialty restaurants. 

 

In either case, buying a package and paying the 20% without the promo isn't a good deal compared to taking the promo and only paying the 20% extra. 

[Ellis1138]

If you don't drink any/much alcohol or soft drinks, then unchecking the "Free" Open Bar part of Freee At Sea is a good idea. No use paying for what you won't use.

 

The Free At Sea parts are
Free drinks under $15 except for specialty coffee and carton water (I'm not totally sure about the water.) But you DO have to pay a 20% gratuity on what NCL thinks the package is worth, so yeah, not free in the sense of being totally free. Just discounted. You can uncheck this.

Free 150 to 300 minutes of basic internet. These are free, no gratuity added.

The $50 shore excursion discount for the first person on the reservation. Just a discount, unless you choose all $50 or cheaper excursions.

Free Specialty dining. So it saves like $80, but you have to prepay the 20% gratuity. Still a pretty good deal. You could uncheck this if you only want to eat at the complimentary venues.

[graphicguy]

I tell folks regularly that if they feel the $22/day/pp for tips for the drink package is too much, just don't add it to the cruise.

 

This has gone round and round in these threads for years.  Either you want to have it or you don't.

 

Free at Sea (FAS) is made up of....

 

-free drinks, but you pay for the gratuities

-free specialty dining, but you pay for the gratiuites

-free internet (but it's limited by the number of free minutes you can use)

-free excursions...there are some that will be free after the $50 excursion credit, but way more are more expensive, in which case they deduct $50 from the price

 

If you look at drink prices, a cocktail will run roughly between $10-$12.  A beer will cost $8-$10.  A glass of wine will cost somewhere in the $9 to $15 range.  Sodas don't cost anything.  Fruit juices don't cost anything.  Bottled water they charge for, but the filtered water out of the tap is probably more pure than anything in a bottle.

 

So, you figure if you drink a couple of drinks/day, and paying for the tips on just the drink package is worth it.

 

Hope that helps.

[gizfish]

To clarify, the statement above that sodas don't cost anything is incorrect.  Soda on NCL is not free unless you have a soda or alcohol drink package.  Fruit juice is only available at breakfast.  After that the buffet machines contain sugar free sweetened flavored water.  Iced tea is available free in all venues.  I believe lemonade is also an option, but I may be wrong on that.

[obmarcr]

On 5/14/2024 at 11:51 AM, Keith1951 said:

NCL, what does Free at Sea mean?  When I am looking at cruises to reserve, I see this...FREE UNLIMITED OPEN BAR, FREE SPECIALTY DINING.
If I unclick the Free at Sea button, the price of the cruise goes down.  So, if I choose to use that promo, it will cost me.  How is this free at sea?

I spoke with a cruise specialist for more information on an NCL cruise to Alaska. She was quoting me a price and while saying "service fee" I asked her what that was all about...NCL charges $172.00 per person for the "FREE AT SEA" promotion. I just laughed. I did not book the cruise. The final total price quoted ended up being twice as much as the advertised stateroom with all the fees, gratuity, and taxes being charged.

[IAcruising]

16 minutes ago, obmarcr said:

The final total price quoted ended up being twice as much as the advertised stateroom with all the fees, gratuity, and taxes being charged.

 

That sounds about the right for my "advertised" price on Royal Caribbean last August. It's just a game they all play.

 

[Envelope21]

NCL sure likes to use that "F" word in all its advertising. 

[mjkacmom]

15 hours ago, obmarcr said:

I spoke with a cruise specialist for more information on an NCL cruise to Alaska. She was quoting me a price and while saying "service fee" I asked her what that was all about...NCL charges $172.00 per person for the "FREE AT SEA" promotion. I just laughed. I did not book the cruise. The final total price quoted ended up being twice as much as the advertised stateroom with all the fees, gratuity, and taxes being charged.

Sounds like most cruise lines with taxes and port charges. The free at sea gratuity charge is well worth it for my family!

[obmarcr]

6 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Sounds like most cruise lines with taxes and port charges. The free at sea gratuity charge is well worth it for my family!

There are still gratuity charges on top of the "Free and Sea" fee.

[mjkacmom]

Just now, obmarcr said:

There are still gratuity charges on top of the "Free and Sea" fee.

It’s 20% of the ubp charge and dining charge. Then there is the daily service charge for each passenger ($20 pp pd) like most cruise lines. Then port charges and taxes.

[graphicguy]

Service charges are for the waitstaff in the MDRs, Buffet, room stewards, etc. If you order a drink without the Free at Sea package, you will be changed individual tips for individual alcoholic drinks and sodas.

 

The Free at Sea alcohol, sodas, etc tips are for exactly that...free.  Tips are not.  It's based on the cost of the package, or 20% of the package cost.  So, the package is free.  The tips are added to it.

 

Either way you look at it, if you like sodas, beer, wine, liquor, and you plan on drinking 2 or more a day of any of them, you'll generally be way ahead with Free at Sea, which also includes some internet, a $50 excursion credit and Specialty Dining (add tips for those, too).

Edited May 22 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

18 hours ago, obmarcr said:

I spoke with a cruise specialist for more information on an NCL cruise to Alaska. She was quoting me a price and while saying "service fee" I asked her what that was all about...NCL charges $172.00 per person for the "FREE AT SEA" promotion. I just laughed. I did not book the cruise. The final total price quoted ended up being twice as much as the advertised stateroom with all the fees, gratuity, and taxes being charged.

Just curious, which ship, date and itinerary were you looking at?

[Keith1951]

7-day Escape, April 27, 2025, Caribbean: Great Stirrup Cay & Dominican Republic

[obmarcr]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Just curious, which ship, date and itinerary were you looking at?

NCL Encore September 29, 2024 to Alaska 

[graphicguy]

3 hours ago, obmarcr said:

NCL Encore September 29, 2024 to Alaska 

That‘s a great ship and itinerary.

 

Just looked up a balcony fare and Free at sea.  About $350 for 2 for tips on SDP and drinks.  Or, about 10% of the fare.

 

Good deal on a great cruise!  

 

It will cost 2X for just drinks on Royal!

[BirdTravels]

14 hours ago, obmarcr said:

NCL Encore September 29, 2024 to Alaska 

That is a great itinerary. We'll be on the Encore and that itinerary in August. The 9/29 cruise is end of season, so the prices should be a little more reasonable. And having the Free at Sea package is the only way to cruise. 

[Liljo22]

On 5/21/2024 at 8:47 PM, obmarcr said:

I spoke with a cruise specialist for more information on an NCL cruise to Alaska. She was quoting me a price and while saying "service fee" I asked her what that was all about...NCL charges $172.00 per person for the "FREE AT SEA" promotion. I just laughed. I did not book the cruise. The final total price quoted ended up being twice as much as the advertised stateroom with all the fees, gratuity, and taxes being charged.

Sometimes NCL is cheaper even with the FAS fees and sometimes they are not.  For this cruise, its doesn't look like its cheaper.  The Ovation OTS is about $800 cheaper for similar sailings that week.  The Ovation does start in Seattle and end in Vancouver so don't know if that is an issue. 

 

Also, the RCCL beverage package is currently $62.99+18% on that cruise which adds $1,000 and the Chops plus is $122.99pp.  If you want to make it an apples to apples comparison, the NCL cruise is actually cheaper.  

 

 

Edited May 23 by Liljo22

[graphicguy]

^^^^^^^^^

 

Have said the same over and over.  It's not the cost of a single package or perk, it's the cost of the entire cruise that matters.

 

Fares will sometimes lure you to look at a cruise line (although, Royal seems to have high fares recently).  But, when you add up the cost of the drink packages, specialty dining, etc, the out of pocket usually shifts.

 

NCL's Free at Sea packages are usually less expensive than all the others out there since you only pay for their gratuities. 

 

You're NCL example is $345 for drinks and specialty dining.

 

Royal's is ~$1,000 for the same.  So, their total out of pocket is higher than NCL's, even with NCL's higher fare.

 

Matter of fact, for $1,000 more than Royal's Balcony cabin with drinks, I can book the Haven with Free at Sea on NCL if I shop a bit.

 

 

Edited May 23 by graphicguy

[Asawi]

40 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

^^^^^^^^^

 

Have said the same over and over.  It's not the cost of a single package or perk, it's the cost of the entire cruise that matters.

 

YES!!!! And however much NCL is "nickle and diming" (according to posters here), when hunting for a good cruise with an attractive itinerary  I simply can't find better value than NCL for ME, a solo traveller. All I care about is the final amount, and the distribution between different parts. So if line x has a lower daily service fee or line y has free soda without a package but still come out more expensive than NCL well they won't get my money!

This is the situation for me. For someone else, maybe a couple, looking for a 7-day Carribean cruise out of Miami it may turn out differently. But either way, it's the total cost that should matter!

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, Asawi said:

YES!!!! And however much NCL is "nickle and diming" (according to posters here), when hunting for a good cruise with an attractive itinerary  I simply can't find better value than NCL for ME, a solo traveller. All I care about is the final amount, and the distribution between different parts. So if line x has a lower daily service fee or line y has free soda without a package but still come out more expensive than NCL well they won't get my money!

This is the situation for me. For someone else, maybe a couple, looking for a 7-day Carribean cruise out of Miami it may turn out differently. But either way, it's the total cost that should matter!

For us, we look for the “best value”. Which is really what everyone should be looking for. When you buy something that is “cheap” you often get what you paid for. And then you sit and complain about the product you bought. I very rarely go “low bid”. 
 

When buying a cruise, I never buy the cheapest line. We never buy the cheapest room on a ship. 

Edited May 23 by BirdTravels

[mexico8]

On 5/21/2024 at 9:47 PM, obmarcr said:

I spoke with a cruise specialist for more information on an NCL cruise to Alaska. She was quoting me a price and while saying "service fee" I asked her what that was all about...NCL charges $172.00 per person for the "FREE AT SEA" promotion. I just laughed. I did not book the cruise. The final total price quoted ended up being twice as much as the advertised stateroom with all the fees, gratuity, and taxes being charged.

We have the "Free at sea" for a cruise in November but we declined the beverage package because we prefer to order wines that we enjoy and not only what they offer in the package.   We can have the other free at sea options  without the beverage package.