Norwegian Cruise Lines says they want to give you “more”. And to be fair they are giving you more, but the catch is you have to pay more – a LOT more in fact!
For years they have had the “Free at Sea” promotion going and while anything but “Free” it did give you a decent unlimited drink package and a number of specialty dining nights depending on the length of your cruise. Here is their promo video to show you the idea they are trying to sell us on:
- More drinks and better quality drinks on the package.
- More specialty dining with options – depending on your cabin choice.
- More free wifi time – a little more that is.
With the above they are also eliminating the MAX $15 drink price from the old package. They are also giving you the option to have more appetizers and desserts at the specialty restaurants. You can read more on the NCL site here.
Are you impressed? No? Yeah, me either!
NCL is going to all Starlink internet and having used it on a number of ships now it is amazing but why is NCL not going with unlimited Wi-Fi like so many other cruise lines? The log-in and log-off with every use is a real pain and frustration. Also, NCL gives you so much food i.e. portions I would never want more than one appetizer and dessert at any of the specialty restaurants so I don’t get who asked for this?
Now let’s get down to the nitty and gritty – just how much is this going to cost us? A bunch more. Take a look at the NCL Getaway 7 day cruise and compare the “Free at Sea” vs. the “More at Sea” prices for December 2024 vs. January 2025:
Yikes right! For the drink package you are now paying $30 per person per day vs. under $22 per day on the old one for the gratuities on the package. That folks is a staggering 38% jump in cost for your drink package!
The specialty price jumps a ton as well. With the old Free at Sea you got 2 visits on a 7 day and it cost you about $20 each. Now you are getting 3 visits but the price jumps to $60 each. The simple math on that is 100% price jump!
Just disgusting NCL!
Bottom line is NCL wants you to Pay Much More at Sea to enjoy their new promotion. Is it worth it? For me the drink package is still a winner as it does not take more than a few drinks a day to come out ahead and not have to worry about paying a big bill at the end of the cruise. As for the specialty dining I may, for the first time ever, opt out of that since as a Diamond I already get two visits per cruise free anyway. Paying an extra $10 to visit a specialty restaurant is worth it but $20 per night when main dining is already very good?
The real winners here are those who have already booked cruises for 2025 and beyond as you are locked in at the old rates but get all the extra goodies of the “More at Sea” promotion without having to pay for it. The other news is NCL is updating their phone app and that is a big plus because the old one was all but worthless compared to just about every other cruise line at sea.
What do you think of the new NCL promotion? Do you like paying upfront to get more-ish? – René
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It still is a good deal compared to how many Carnival and Royal charge for their packages.
Nasty nickel-and-diming gotchas like this make me happy my cruising days are largely over. With the way prices for everything are getting jacked up the cruise lines are doing well and don’t need my business anyway.
I’d be interested in reading a post about finding value in cruising these days. It truly seems to me that the experience is drastically worse than a decade or two back unless you’re willing to fork out for lots of extras.
@Christian – While I agree with most of what you said… using points to pay for a cruise (i.e. read the blog) can make even these kinds of negative changes less painful if you use points to pay for everything! 🙂