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@@barbarahernandez4713 You think so? I didn't think it was all that bad. The water package has it less than $2 for 1/2 liter. Now that's the package. Not buying it one bottle at a time at the bar.
Havent cruised NCL but recently cruised RC. I was really surprised we didnt get bubble water with our enhanced drink package. Weird when you can get whatever soda you want at the bar. I think it did cover coffee in their coffee shop but not Starbucks.
My next NCL cruise is not until 2026 and it was booked prior to the changeover. I had already declined the beverage package as we are sailing around Hawaii and will be off the ship most of the time. With 2 scheduled overnight ports and most of the sailing between the island occurring while we are sleeping, it made sense to remove it. In speaking with previous cruiser who also sailed on the same itinerary, many also removed the WIFI package. Currently, Cagney's is my favorite for specialty dining. I haven't been to Le Bistro yet, but I heard it's amazing.
I have Free at Sea for my February 2025 15 day Panama Canal Cruise and I am glad that I didn't have to upgrade to More at Sea. I chose the Starbucks Package for only $233.00 and not the inclusive beverage package since I am not a drinker but love my coffee. The stand-alone Starbucks Package would be about $295.00 with More at Sea. Further, my upgraded WIFI package with unlimited minutes will cost me only $230.00 with Free at Sea instead of $450.00.00 with More at Sea. Also, the additional specialty dinner doesn't mean much to me since I upgraded my specialty dining package to include two additional dinners for just $83.00 with Free at Sea. Since I am traveling solo sticking with the Free at Sea makes sense to me. However, future NCL cruises will mean added costs for me with a limited upside, if any.
Thanks for the explanation of the changes. It is very helpful. We are booked on an 11 night cruise on NCL in April. We were happy to hear about getting the enhanced drink package for free. Favorite specialty dining options are Moderno, Food Republic and Ocean Blue.
I wish NCL would create a package "Dry at Sea". This is for adults and under 21s who either don't drink or are light drinkers. For many years, I could not drink, for health reasons. Right now, I can drink, but it's very limited--one at most per day. I would happily pay for a "Dry at Sea" package if it had mocktails, because I actually prefer them to soda.
@@dBsound100 I hope this is a drunken response. I don't have a problem with people consuming Adult Beverages. It is abundantly clear that YOU have a SERIOUS problem. You are an intolerant You are an intolerant a$$hole.
We have a 7 day cruise booked for end of April under the free at sea, so far Norwegian has upgraded our wifi and drink packages with no extra costs. Just no 3rd specialty dining night. Thanks for your videos.
Thanks for your very detailed explanation of the "More at Sea" package. Adding specialty coffee and water would make the program really complete. We did "Free at Sea" in 2022 to Europe and it was great. Our favorite specialty dining was the Brazilian place Moderno? I abused the green card
Great video, I only sail NCL and have a cruise booked for March of 2025. I had not taken the time to fully unfold More at Sea. But thanks to you, I feel informed.
Considering the per diner cost of a la carte meals in specialty restaurants, which can reach $100 USD pretty quickly, makes the fee per meal in the "More at Sea" package a good value. Also, one does not need to consume anywhere near 15 alcoholic drinks per day to break even and make the fee for the liquor benefit a net financial bonus.
Cagney has been the best on NCL! What I do know about NCL after cruising for a decade, they will change things to benefit them as they did with the latitudes program.
We love Free at Sea! We never upgraded to the Free at Sea plus so More at Sea works for us! We load our Starbucks card, screenshot our digital Starbucks card, and use it at the Starbucks onboard. We feel that the cost of the open bar on NCL is cheaper than paying for a separate drinks package on other ships. Plus included speciality dining!!! We are not picky drinkers and we love the all-inclusive feel of NCL with these packages. It should cost more to get more and there is always the option to opt out🤷🏾♀️
We spent the extra money per cabin and got priority access. We had breakfast and great coffee in our cabin every morning. Fantastic benefit! Plus we were on the ship early to enjoy everything the first day. We pre purchased bottled water for a small fee and used our own water flasks for excursions. We were OK with no sparkling water, we had the Free at Sea. We're going on a 10 day Alaskan cruise and purchased more at Sea. Thanks for your video describing the differences.
I have a cruise departing in December and is still sailing in January. If you look on their website it says "More at Sea" but if you do a mock booking it says "Free at Sea." The other noteworthy thing is More at Sea cuts your minutes in half from what Free at Sea had. You can upgrade to unlimited.
Our favorite restaurant so far is Cagney's. We've been pretty invested in NCL, mainly due to the Free art Sea options. I'm pretty glad not to have to worry about the cost of drinks again.
We cruise in January for 16 days. The drink pkg is fine for us either way, but very glad we still have 300 mins of wifi. 150 works okay on 7 night cruises, but over that, 150 seems light. I'm sure it's to get us to upgrade. I am a little bummed we only have our original 3 specialty dinners, but that's okay, we can pay for any others we want.
We booked a January 2025 NCL 11-day, with the premium Plus package. Definitely confusing having booked their Cruise under one package and then them switching to another package, but we have finally figured it out
I'm so glad they named it properly. I respect that. Free at sea was never free.and it actually infuriated me when they advertised it as such. More at sea means yes you can add a package for more $$. And I wouldn't call them perks. Perks refer to a status one is entitled to if they meet certain criteria.
I booked the free at sea plus prior to October 1( for my April 2025 cruise) .. I don’t like that I’m no longer getting unlimited Wi-Fi , $50 shore excursions credit for both 1st and 2nd passenger as well as Starbucks and bottler water .. people who had free at see plus are getting screwed.. we should have been grandfathered in for the entire 2025 sailing.
We just completed a 21 day Panama cruise on the NCL ship Encore. By far the best specialty restaurant was Le Bistro, it was the best meal we had on the entire cruise. Next would be Cagney the Prime Rib was exceptional. Followed by the Ocean , food republic then the Tapenyaki
Tepanyaki and Cagneys have been my favorites. I took my first cruise on NCL years ago. I'll need to really see how more at see stacks up. We've been sailing on Celebrity lately and I'm kind of struggling to go back. We'll see.
we have never sailed on NCL yet. But you are making it look good. We have been Diamond with Carnival for a few years now but are looking at other lines to enjoy. Love your videos.
Have you sailed Princess? Their Princess plus and Princess premiere seem more worth it to me. It's been a while but when I was on NCL, the drinks were really small and were mostly ice. Maybe with their new packages they made the drinks bigger and with less ice since most people have the drinks included anyway.
Free at Sea plus also included upgraded (unlimited) internet, which is one of the reasons we selected it. I really wish cruise ships would just include the Wi-Fi.
Great video. I’ve been looking at NCL but the reviews and CDC scores are low. I wouldn’t get the drink package just because I don’t drink very often. If coffee and Starbucks was included sure. I could drink it all day.
I think it's worth it. Even though I love my whisky, I have never bought the top drinks package because it's _so_ much more expensive. With more at sea, I'll get that top shelf whisky and loving it. Going on NCL Joy for 15 days through the Panama canal in a month. My favourite specialty dining is Cagney's. I have three Specialty Dining credits. I'll probably do Cagney's twice and Los Lobos once. Regarding specialty coffee. I love Celebrity's Café al Bacio. It was pretty normal for me to have six or seven Vanilla Lattes over the course of a day. On NCL I would just have an entire pot of coffee at breakfast.
They have to do something with bottles water and wifi... Im going on a repositioning Transatlantic cruise in January, the wifi is still only 150 min for 13 DAYS!
My favorite NCL specialty is Moderno. No worries about how many of this or that, a great salad bar and lots of meats. With the wifi, this reduces my amount as a solo. Since I don't drink alcohol, specialty coffee or juices and the ship water is fine, More At Sea is no different for me. More at Sea is best for people who used to get Free At Sea but not Free At Sea Plus.
We were affected by this change. We had purchased the Free at Sea plus for our 14 day cruise because of the Starbucks, water and premium alcohol. NCL only returned our cost of the ‘alcohol’ part of our Plus purchased. We lost the Starbucks and water package addition when this happened. So out of the $1300+ we paid for the Plus package, we received $550 back. If we wanted the Starbucks back, they wanted us to pay $277 per person. I feel we were not treated fairly as they kept the gratuities on free at sea…$589 and gratuities for the dinners $55. I don’t understand the charges. BTW we haven’t even paid the ‘trip’ gratuity. What a mess. If we wanted a refund for the total sea plus, we would have to cancel the trip and rebook. Ridiculous! So we ended up eating approximately $800. We are Shaphire level , but big deal, haha. This will make us look at other cruise line for sure as we were loyal NCL cruisers.
Hmm interesting changes, I’m not sure I like them. We always chose free at sea plus. 😢 We genuinely like the main dining room a lot, and don’t typically go to the specialty restaurants except to use our FAS upgrade. But of the choices I like Cagney’s and Le Bistro.
We have a 7 day NCL cruise booked for Feb 2025 and purchased before the More at Sea change. We upgraded to FAS plus for $343 per person. We only received a refund of $180 per person for the alcohol portion. If we want to buy back Starbucks and bottled water, we have to pay an additional fee. We lost 2 specialty dining credits and lost the unlimited wifi. I did however receive an email from NCL stating that the unlimited wifi from FAS plus would still be honored, but it is not noted anywhere in my online booking details. For those of us with FAS plus, it is very unclear on what perks remain.
@@PeterRinn-x5h Thanks! I will give them a call. I have the basic 150 min wifi and 2 specialty dinners, but the upgraded portion I paid for under FAS+ was lost.
I am a little disappointed about Starbucks and bottled water being excluded. I booked my first cruise ever with NCL and this change didn't set well with me. I have other cruises booked in the next couple years (MSC, Princess, and Celebrity). It will be interesting to see how these other cruise lines operate.
They could come up with a specialty coffee add-on.😭. I'm getting the package it's still a `pretty good deal. You described the package in great detail. Thanks. Very good video.
I think that the specialty dining package is not really a good deal because a 20% gratuity and specialty service charge will be automatically added to the cost of your dinner
I liked NCL's FAS . I'm liking the way MAS is laid out so far, but I won't have full use of it for some time- my next 2 cruises are already booked! ⛴⛴ But I think the people complaining about the coffee have never really had truly horrid coffee. I was on the Breakaway and found the coffee both in the MDRs and in the Buffett decent enough. It wasn't horrible. I'm not really sure what they consider "bad" or what they consider "good". I don't drink flavored coffee, I don't drink cold brew, I don't drink frappes or cappuccinos or espressos- I like drip coffee with milk or cream and a sweetener. So the coffee that is offered, I think, is actually strong enough and enjoyable. I would LOVE it if NCL made Cafe Colombiano! Which is my absolute favorite type of coffee. Much richer, stronger and flavorful. I wonder about the new internet package. I think it makes sense. Instead of limiting the service to just the first 2 people, everyone in the cabin has the same set number of minutes. i get that some people did use up more time than others. But I think that ALL the cruise lines are price gouging on the packages. Honestly though, I didn't understand the FAS package at first and thought my husband and I had to share 150 minutes and so I hardly used the service! Believe it or not, it was great! There was so much to do, I was hardly on my phone at all anyway. Also, NCL's onboard internet kept going down- I think it was offline 3 times during our 7 day cruise. So, I even had to resort to calling him on the in cabin phone to get a hold of him, because the extra pay messaging app couldn't work. And when it was online, it was glitchy. I guess for me the real perk of FAS is the same one for MAS, the drink package. On carnival and royal the drinks packages are as much as an entire cruise! Here you're only paying a percentage. Much better!
I am sad about the fact that there's no upgraded package anymore. We really needed the unlimited wifi because unfortunately we do need to work to some degree while we're away, but buying Free at Sea Plus made a lot of sense to us because it wasn't that much over and above the cost of unlimited wifi, plus we got the added benefits of unlimited Starbucks and unlimited bottled/boxed water. Now those options have all been taken away, and we have to buy them à la carte, though we'll probably just pay as we go with Starbucks, since we don't buy complicated coffees. I do like having a bottle of sparkling and flat water on hand, and I know they have water packages that include flat water, but I don't know if they have one for sparkling.
Always compare the total costs when booking cruises. No matter whether it's a BOGO, kids free, etc, the overall total is rarely less. Remember these are marketing gimics, they are still charging you. And if everyone got free wifi, many would still bitch about the price.
My husband and I don’t drink. We are not big soda drinkers as well so we always decline the beverage package because it doesn’t make sense for us to pay such a high gratuity for a few sodas over a 10-12 day cruise. I wish NCL would improve their complimentary coffee in the restaurants and buffet. In my last 10 day cruise on the NCL’s Viva, I refused to drink their coffee. I am wondering if they purposely offer “bad” coffee to they can make more money on their Starbucks sales. I like that their dining package now allows up to 3 appetizers. It used to be one just appetizer. In the past, I would ask for two appetizers and declined dessert and I was accommodated. Listening to people’s comments in past videos, it seemed that more people wanted a smaller beverage package but NCL did the opposite!🤷🏻♀️
This might be a noob question. But is the gratuities already included in the fare with More at Sea? Just curious on what additional fees I may be hit with at the end. I did prepaid gratuities to help in the budgeting. Please be kind, this is my first cruise. TIA
We have a 7 day cruise planned for July 2025, we always did the free at sea plus, because my husband likes his Starbucks and cappuccinos and the unlimited WIFI. Now, we are really torn if we should do this trip, or switch to something else. We've only put the deposit down.
I have always left an additional gratuity at the specialty dining restaurants on NCL. I guess I will stop doing that. Also, while excursions get more and more expensive, the $50 credit stays the same. I am disappointed with that. I am NCL, Sapphire. Generally I am happy with them, but they certainly don't give you something for nothing.
January will be my first cruise and I am going on NCL. I did get the new package. I did book two nights free for dining. I hope the drink part of the package will be worth it.
I’m contemplating another cruise line. I’ve really like traveling NCL. Our next cruise is NCL next year and we received notification about the drink package. It benefits us next year but not sure how it will play out on the next one.
My favorite specialty restaurant is Moderno... and if I could eat there nearly every night during a cruise without becoming a blimp, I would probably do it. Also: Cagney's isn't that distant of a second place!
Great video! One con is that you can't buy extra specialty dinning packages. As I understand it the specialty restaurants are going to be a prefix instead of ala cart. Is that true?
so on the more at sea, for dining, you get 3 apps, 1 entree and 3 desserts. But like at Cagney's, sides are separate also. Do we get any sides included at Cagney's or is it additional?
It’s great we do like grey goose and it’s available with other lines drink packages. The drink package is always a must bloodys by the pool at 9am there is no way it doesn’t save us tons of money
Very nice video, thank you! Have you ever discussed anything about cruisers in wheelchairs? I have a family member who uses a power wheelchair. Are there places on board they can't go? Any tours they can't go on because of restrictions on getting to a port? How hard is it to get a handicap-accessible cabin on the different cruise lines? TIA! 🙂
I’m not doing another Norwegian cruise until September 2026 and the change has been as clear as mud. Well, semi-clear shyest. 😅 I get part of it, but I wish this was as simple as the Princess Plus and Premiere (I’m doing Princess for the first time next year). With Premiere I get alcohol, water, juices, specialty coffee and unlimited wifi. NCL being stuck back in 2000 where they limit your wifi unless you really need more (I know it varies), or not offering water in the new prices or even a Starbucks discount is what has given them the reputation of nickel and dime-ing folks. I’m not going to stress over it until I’m a year out anyway, but it did give me something to think about after 2026. I have enjoyed NCL but I’m looking for bang for my buck. There are way too many cruise lines to try as I grow older (good grief I might even do MSC Yacht Club) so NCL might slip further down my preference list. It just seems that each time they come up with a way to allegedly save the passenger more, it ends up costing us more. Why do I have a feeling we’ll get yet another “at sea” program before I sail with turn. 😂
I'm doing a Princess cruise first time also next year even if I have NCL platinum. I also will consider MSC since they status-match to non-related companies (at least for now)
We went on a NLC cruise years ago. The ship had metal cabinets in the cabin painted pink. The bathroom flooded or cabin. I swore I would never go on another one of their cruises. I think I told them that on the survey. 😂 There was a lot wrong with that cruise. We did get to go to Roaton on that cruise though. It was so primitive then. No where to even shop. It is tempting to try them again, I think the package sounds reasonable, and you do get a few minutes of internet in case there is an emergency.
May I ask which ship you were on? I will not go on thieir old, smaller ships. I was on the Joy last year, and we stopped in Honduras. Had a blast on the Joy. However, I did not enjoy the Gem, the smallee, older ship.
@@lifelove6164 I don’t remember, I’m sure it’s been scraped by now. We took our boys on that trip, they was high schoolers at the time, now they are in their 40s.
Unfortunately this seems to be the trend across most cruise lines. “Nickel and dime” and upsell at every turn. It’s understandable that business is business but when will the trend level out. 20+ years ago you paid your cruise fare (port taxes/ fees) and you enjoyed the experience.
More At Sea says it all. We'll all pay more! Even Carnival includes specialty coffees with their packages. On a very long cruise, of 20 + days, we were receiving 300 minutes each for Wi-Fi. Now on such a cruise we'll be very limited at 50% of what we once had. The decision for me is that once all the Cruise Next credits are used, I'm done with NCL even though I am almost Diamond level.
Thank you for this 😊 I got an email last week for 2 Transatlantic trips I'm taking on the Bliss at the beginning of the year. I had the free at sea, but they're changing to the More at sea, I don't pay any more but get the new program. I just want to know if that means good coffee 😅 Ok, no coffee but I get 5 specialty dinners, that's cool.
You may want to double check.. Being a transatlantic may be different, but it was announced you would get the new beverage package, but nothing else unless you booked after Oct 1, or you reprice to get the new stuff.. You should not get more dinners..
@@barbarahallowell2613 I booked a 12 day cruise for April 2025 and I booked under the free at sea program. However, when I looked at my account, I am not getting 5 specialty dining credits for a balcony cabin. I will have to call them to check.
I don’t understand why NCL has a much better of offering than Oceania (same owners) We booked on Oceania and they honored our future bookings under Simply More…..but took most everything away on any bookings after 10/1/2024……😂
I've never gone on an NCL cruise, but if I do, I think I would get that. I'd rather not have to think about how much I'm spending and keep track of all that lol.
Off topic but I’m curious about December (& my birthday) travel. I’ve only done 2 Dec cruises & both on RC, is there a brand that does not get carried away with Christmas music during the month? All we heard was Christmas music, it was a bit overwhelming after 7 days and 2 weeks before the holiday itself.
As a solo traveler could you repeat is it a pro or con for me? I would be doing a 5 or 7 night cruise, and also in a solo room can they make the shower safe for me as a disable?
I thought the Free-At-Sea was a great deal, until I realized I was the kind of person who would have 3-4 alcoholic drinks one day, and none for the next 3 days, and the limited Wi-Fi almost didn't work in time for return flight check-in. Specialty dining seemed worth it.
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Curious, would you do a Haven experience so those interested could see the difference?
We don't drink enough to use the drink package, but I wish they offered a separate specialty coffee and water package.
I'm pretty sure you can still purchase a Starbucks package and a water package separately. It's still showing available on my cruise for Jun 2025.
@@nightowlgirlthe price of the water is ridiculous.
@@barbarahernandez4713 You think so? I didn't think it was all that bad. The water package has it less than $2 for 1/2 liter. Now that's the package. Not buying it one bottle at a time at the bar.
Havent cruised NCL but recently cruised RC. I was really surprised we didnt get bubble water with our enhanced drink package. Weird when you can get whatever soda you want at the bar. I think it did cover coffee in their coffee shop but not Starbucks.
I think they know people don’t drink enough so they sell it to earn profit
You should do a video comparing carnival, NCL, princess, alcohol Wi-Fi add-ons, including price differences who has the better deal.
@@rcchar that’s a good suggestion
My favorite dining on NCL are the La Bistro, Cagneys, and Moderno restaurants. Awesome video Ilana!
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you liked it, and I love Cagneys too.
That NCL - DBP is a deal. RCL - DBP starts @ $70.00-$73.00 per day for 7 days, per person plus 18% gratuities = approx $1200.00
My next NCL cruise is not until 2026 and it was booked prior to the changeover. I had already declined the beverage package as we are sailing around Hawaii and will be off the ship most of the time. With 2 scheduled overnight ports and most of the sailing between the island occurring while we are sleeping, it made sense to remove it. In speaking with previous cruiser who also sailed on the same itinerary, many also removed the WIFI package. Currently, Cagney's is my favorite for specialty dining. I haven't been to Le Bistro yet, but I heard it's amazing.
I have Free at Sea for my February 2025 15 day Panama Canal Cruise and I am glad that I didn't have to upgrade to More at Sea.
I chose the Starbucks Package for only $233.00 and not the inclusive beverage package since I am not a drinker but love my coffee. The stand-alone Starbucks Package would be about $295.00 with More at Sea. Further, my upgraded WIFI package with unlimited minutes will cost me only $230.00 with Free at Sea instead of $450.00.00 with More at Sea. Also, the additional specialty dinner doesn't mean much to me since I upgraded my specialty dining package to include two additional dinners for just $83.00 with Free at Sea.
Since I am traveling solo sticking with the Free at Sea makes sense to me. However, future NCL cruises will mean added costs for me with a limited upside, if any.
I'm new to NCL, so I found this super helpful as I consider them for a Med cruise next year! Thanks!!
So glad it helped!
Thanks for producing this video. This helped us so much in understanding “More At Sea”. Keep up the good work!!!
@@JamesAnderson-l1f my pleasure! There’s a lot of details - so glad it was helpful
Love NCL! We've cruised with NCL 7 times and have 2 more booked. Favorite specialty dining, Madurno.
Ours too
@@larryhudson3930 yum! That’s a popular one
We have 3 favs. Cagneys, Tepanyaki, and LeBistro. Go to all 3 at least once per cruise.
Thanks for the explanation of the changes. It is very helpful. We are booked on an 11 night cruise on NCL in April. We were happy to hear about getting the enhanced drink package for free.
Favorite specialty dining options are Moderno, Food Republic and Ocean Blue.
My favorite restaurant is Le Bistro. My husband, son and I absolutely loved it. We also enjoyed the Teppanyaki restaurant.
I wish NCL would create a package "Dry at Sea". This is for adults and under 21s who either don't drink or are light drinkers. For many years, I could not drink, for health reasons. Right now, I can drink, but it's very limited--one at most per day. I would happily pay for a "Dry at Sea" package if it had mocktails, because I actually prefer them to soda.
You just don’t get the package my parents hardly drink and the price went down
Just order one drink and pay for it. Simple because w more at sea you have a large gratuity to prepay. You still come out ahead.
Good thing you don't represent the world, and they don't cater their program to you.
@@dBsound100 just my opinion isn’t that what comments are all about
@@dBsound100 I hope this is a drunken response. I don't have a problem with people consuming Adult Beverages. It is abundantly clear that YOU have a SERIOUS problem. You are an intolerant You are an intolerant a$$hole.
We have a 7 day cruise booked for end of April under the free at sea, so far Norwegian has upgraded our wifi and drink packages with no extra costs. Just no 3rd specialty dining night.
Thanks for your videos.
@@Wintersbite awesome!
Thanks for your very detailed explanation of the "More at Sea" package. Adding specialty coffee and water would make the program really complete. We did "Free at Sea" in 2022 to Europe and it was great. Our favorite specialty dining was the Brazilian place Moderno? I abused the green card
Great video, I only sail NCL and have a cruise booked for March of 2025. I had not taken the time to fully unfold More at Sea. But thanks to you, I feel informed.
Considering the per diner cost of a la carte meals in specialty restaurants, which can reach $100 USD pretty quickly, makes the fee per meal in the "More at Sea" package a good value. Also, one does not need to consume anywhere near 15 alcoholic drinks per day to break even and make the fee for the liquor benefit a net financial bonus.
Starbucks & water bottles need to be on the perk list!!!! NCL needs to revisit!!!!! Great video! Thanks!
Seems a lot of people feel this way. Thanks for watching
Agreed
It’s included with HAL if you add the Have it All package.
Cagney has been the best on NCL! What I do know about NCL after cruising for a decade, they will change things to benefit them as they did with the latitudes program.
We love Free at Sea! We never upgraded to the Free at Sea plus so More at Sea works for us! We load our Starbucks card, screenshot our digital Starbucks card, and use it at the Starbucks onboard. We feel that the cost of the open bar on NCL is cheaper than paying for a separate drinks package on other ships. Plus included speciality dining!!! We are not picky drinkers and we love the all-inclusive feel of NCL with these packages. It should cost more to get more and there is always the option to opt out🤷🏾♀️
@@nrs525 thanks for sharing this :)
I thought you couldn't use the Starbucks App on the ship to pay for coffee?
We spent the extra money per cabin and got priority access. We had breakfast and great coffee in our cabin every morning. Fantastic benefit! Plus we were on the ship early to enjoy everything the first day. We pre purchased bottled water for a small fee and used our own water flasks for excursions. We were OK with no sparkling water, we had the Free at Sea. We're going on a 10 day Alaskan cruise and purchased more at Sea. Thanks for your video describing the differences.
@@reniedavisson8532 awesome! Have an amazing time
We really love NCL!! They have the Best prices!! Great music!! And great shows 🎉😊👍🏼
Huh, I never find a good deal on ncl. Your lucky
And they gave truly lovely staff.
I have a cruise departing in December and is still sailing in January. If you look on their website it says "More at Sea" but if you do a mock booking it says "Free at Sea."
The other noteworthy thing is More at Sea cuts your minutes in half from what Free at Sea had. You can upgrade to unlimited.
Our favorite restaurant so far is Cagney's. We've been pretty invested in NCL, mainly due to the Free art Sea options. I'm pretty glad not to have to worry about the cost of drinks again.
Your hair looks nice. And your valuable information is appreciated.
@@MrGilperc thanks so much / on both 😂
My favorite dining venues are both Le Bistro & Ocean Blue..especially outside!! Nice explanation...
Thx for the info regarding more at sea vs Free at sea! Great presentation!
We cruise in January for 16 days. The drink pkg is fine for us either way, but very glad we still have 300 mins of wifi. 150 works okay on 7 night cruises, but over that, 150 seems light. I'm sure it's to get us to upgrade.
I am a little bummed we only have our original 3 specialty dinners, but that's okay, we can pay for any others we want.
Cagneys is our favorite with Le Bistro second
My favorite is Le Bistro with Cagneys in second place.
Planning to try the tepinake on my next cruise (booked for 2026)
Going on my second NCL cruise this year. Will be celebrating my 42nd birthday on the Bliss.
Happy birthday!!
@@LifeWellCruised thank you
We booked a January 2025 NCL 11-day, with the premium Plus package. Definitely confusing having booked their Cruise under one package and then them switching to another package, but we have finally figured it out
Glad it’s been figured out. It should get better at least as we go
I'm so glad they named it properly. I respect that. Free at sea was never free.and it actually infuriated me when they advertised it as such. More at sea means yes you can add a package for more $$. And I wouldn't call them perks. Perks refer to a status one is entitled to if they meet certain criteria.
I booked the free at sea plus prior to October 1( for my April 2025 cruise) .. I don’t like that I’m no longer getting unlimited Wi-Fi , $50 shore excursions credit for both 1st and 2nd passenger as well as Starbucks and bottler water .. people who had free at see plus are getting screwed.. we should have been grandfathered in for the entire 2025 sailing.
We just completed a 21 day Panama cruise on the NCL ship Encore. By far the best specialty restaurant was Le Bistro, it was the best meal we had on the entire cruise. Next would be Cagney the Prime Rib was exceptional. Followed by the Ocean , food republic then the Tapenyaki
they should let you use the earlier package if you paid for it.
Last time we sailed NCL, we opted out of the beverage and specialty dining packages and didn’t miss any of it. The WiFi change is perfect.
We have done exactly the same on our upcoming cruise in November 2024 on NCL
Le Bistro and Cagney’s are our favorites. We’ll be sailing next month on the Prima and looking forward to eating at Onda by Scarpetta and Palomar!
Tepanyaki and Cagneys have been my favorites. I took my first cruise on NCL years ago. I'll need to really see how more at see stacks up. We've been sailing on Celebrity lately and I'm kind of struggling to go back. We'll see.
@@andreajacksonmccrimmon7224 very interesting
we have never sailed on NCL yet. But you are making it look good. We have been Diamond with Carnival for a few years now but are looking at other lines to enjoy. Love your videos.
Have you sailed Princess? Their Princess plus and Princess premiere seem more worth it to me. It's been a while but when I was on NCL, the drinks were really small and were mostly ice. Maybe with their new packages they made the drinks bigger and with less ice since most people have the drinks included anyway.
Free at Sea plus also included upgraded (unlimited) internet, which is one of the reasons we selected it. I really wish cruise ships would just include the Wi-Fi.
Favorite NCL specialty dining: Onda by Scarpetta on Encore. And Le Bistro.
Great video. I’ve been looking at NCL but the reviews and CDC scores are low. I wouldn’t get the drink package just because I don’t drink very often. If coffee and Starbucks was included sure. I could drink it all day.
Hi! I have sailed with NCL just one cruise but we had a suite so a lot of that was included and that was quite a while ago. I think Free is worth it!!
I think it's worth it. Even though I love my whisky, I have never bought the top drinks package because it's _so_ much more expensive. With more at sea, I'll get that top shelf whisky and loving it. Going on NCL Joy for 15 days through the Panama canal in a month. My favourite specialty dining is Cagney's. I have three Specialty Dining credits. I'll probably do Cagney's twice and Los Lobos once. Regarding specialty coffee. I love Celebrity's Café al Bacio. It was pretty normal for me to have six or seven Vanilla Lattes over the course of a day. On NCL I would just have an entire pot of coffee at breakfast.
They have to do something with bottles water and wifi...
Im going on a repositioning Transatlantic cruise in January, the wifi is still only 150 min for 13 DAYS!
My favorite NCL specialty is Moderno. No worries about how many of this or that, a great salad bar and lots of meats.
With the wifi, this reduces my amount as a solo.
Since I don't drink alcohol, specialty coffee or juices and the ship water is fine, More At Sea is no different for me.
More at Sea is best for people who used to get Free At Sea but not Free At Sea Plus.
Seems I may want to add the Starbucks package. Does NCL offer a discount on the Starbucks package if you purchase it when you are on the ship?
We were affected by this change. We had purchased the Free at Sea plus for our 14 day cruise because of the Starbucks, water and premium alcohol. NCL only returned our cost of the ‘alcohol’ part of our Plus purchased. We lost the Starbucks and water package addition when this happened. So out of the $1300+ we paid for the Plus package, we received $550 back. If we wanted the Starbucks back, they wanted us to pay $277 per person. I feel we were not treated fairly as they kept the gratuities on free at sea…$589 and gratuities for the dinners $55. I don’t understand the charges. BTW we haven’t even paid the ‘trip’ gratuity. What a mess. If we wanted a refund for the total sea plus, we would have to cancel the trip and rebook. Ridiculous! So we ended up eating approximately $800. We are Shaphire level , but big deal, haha. This will make us look at other cruise line for sure as we were loyal NCL cruisers.
Wow, really? That does seem complicated. I thought you could remove free at sea and add more at sea if you wanted
Do you know what is included in the Connoisseur Collection?
@@LauraBayles no not yet
Thank you for responding. If you do see the connoisseur collection list, please let me know. Thanks again @LifeWellCruised
Los lobos really surprised us on the Prima. I think it’s my new fave.
Hmm interesting changes, I’m not sure I like them. We always chose free at sea plus. 😢 We genuinely like the main dining room a lot, and don’t typically go to the specialty restaurants except to use our FAS upgrade. But of the choices I like Cagney’s and Le Bistro.
@@ToriE1073 I wonder if we’ll see this evolve…
We have a 7 day NCL cruise booked for Feb 2025 and purchased before the More at Sea change. We upgraded to FAS plus for $343 per person. We only received a refund of $180 per person for the alcohol portion. If we want to buy back Starbucks and bottled water, we have to pay an additional fee. We lost 2 specialty dining credits and lost the unlimited wifi. I did however receive an email from NCL stating that the unlimited wifi from FAS plus would still be honored, but it is not noted anywhere in my online booking details. For those of us with FAS plus, it is very unclear on what perks remain.
Call Norwegian. Your WIFI and specialty dinners should not have been lost.
@@PeterRinn-x5h Thanks! I will give them a call. I have the basic 150 min wifi and 2 specialty dinners, but the upgraded portion I paid for under FAS+ was lost.
I am a little disappointed about Starbucks and bottled water being excluded. I booked my first cruise ever with NCL and this change didn't set well with me. I have other cruises booked in the next couple years (MSC, Princess, and Celebrity). It will be interesting to see how these other cruise lines operate.
I wish royal would make their pricing like this. I like this a lot more. With royal, I'm always having to check the prices and reprice.
Cagney’s was fantastic! Not just the food, the service was great. Unfortunately, this was one of the only high points of our family cruise with NCL.
Haven was my specialty rest. on Bliss trip to Alaska and Mexico Rivera.
Food Republic is the best specialty restaurant on NCL. I had a non seafood sushi, and it was delicious. The fried rice and noodles, OMG!!
Yum!
I always op out of the drinks pkg and the fees for it are also removed. You just have to ask!
They could come up with a specialty coffee add-on.😭. I'm getting the package it's still a `pretty good deal. You described the package in great detail. Thanks. Very good video.
I think that the specialty dining package is not really a good deal because a 20% gratuity and specialty service charge will be automatically added to the cost of your dinner
I liked NCL's FAS . I'm liking the way MAS is laid out so far, but I won't have full use of it for some time- my next 2 cruises are already booked! ⛴⛴ But I think the people complaining about the coffee have never really had truly horrid coffee. I was on the Breakaway and found the coffee both in the MDRs and in the Buffett decent enough. It wasn't horrible. I'm not really sure what they consider "bad" or what they consider "good". I don't drink flavored coffee, I don't drink cold brew, I don't drink frappes or cappuccinos or espressos- I like drip coffee with milk or cream and a sweetener. So the coffee that is offered, I think, is actually strong enough and enjoyable. I would LOVE it if NCL made Cafe Colombiano! Which is my absolute favorite type of coffee. Much richer, stronger and flavorful.
I wonder about the new internet package. I think it makes sense. Instead of limiting the service to just the first 2 people, everyone in the cabin has the same set number of minutes. i get that some people did use up more time than others. But I think that ALL the cruise lines are price gouging on the packages. Honestly though, I didn't understand the FAS package at first and thought my husband and I had to share 150 minutes and so I hardly used the service! Believe it or not, it was great! There was so much to do, I was hardly on my phone at all anyway. Also, NCL's onboard internet kept going down- I think it was offline 3 times during our 7 day cruise. So, I even had to resort to calling him on the in cabin phone to get a hold of him, because the extra pay messaging app couldn't work. And when it was online, it was glitchy.
I guess for me the real perk of FAS is the same one for MAS, the drink package. On carnival and royal the drinks packages are as much as an entire cruise! Here you're only paying a percentage. Much better!
I am sad about the fact that there's no upgraded package anymore. We really needed the unlimited wifi because unfortunately we do need to work to some degree while we're away, but buying Free at Sea Plus made a lot of sense to us because it wasn't that much over and above the cost of unlimited wifi, plus we got the added benefits of unlimited Starbucks and unlimited bottled/boxed water. Now those options have all been taken away, and we have to buy them à la carte, though we'll probably just pay as we go with Starbucks, since we don't buy complicated coffees. I do like having a bottle of sparkling and flat water on hand, and I know they have water packages that include flat water, but I don't know if they have one for sparkling.
Always compare the total costs when booking cruises. No matter whether it's a BOGO, kids free, etc, the overall total is rarely less. Remember these are marketing gimics, they are still charging you.
And if everyone got free wifi, many would still bitch about the price.
Thanks for the advice! I have to say you're looking especially lovely. Did you change your hair? Whatever, it's really working!
@@maetherabbit9999 haha some days are better than others 😂
My husband and I don’t drink. We are not big soda drinkers as well so we always decline the beverage package because it doesn’t make sense for us to pay such a high gratuity for a few sodas over a 10-12 day cruise. I wish NCL would improve their complimentary coffee in the restaurants and buffet. In my last 10 day cruise on the NCL’s Viva, I refused to drink their coffee. I am wondering if they purposely offer “bad” coffee to they can make more money on their Starbucks sales. I like that their dining package now allows up to 3 appetizers. It used to be one just appetizer. In the past, I would ask for two appetizers and declined dessert and I was accommodated. Listening to people’s comments in past videos, it seemed that more people wanted a smaller beverage package but NCL did the opposite!🤷🏻♀️
@@dorayoung1073 interesting. Lol for included coffee, we’ve found it to be similar access many lines
I have to agree about the coffee. The worst coffee anywhere is on NCL.
I want more than unlimited drinks.
What if I’ve purchased additional Specialty dinners. My cruise is 1/2/25. Will I keep or lose those!
@@Sam1965Moore i believe that things only change in January
As long as you keep your Free at Sea Package, you will not lose the upgraded two extra dinners package that you purchased.
This might be a noob question. But is the gratuities already included in the fare with More at Sea? Just curious on what additional fees I may be hit with at the end. I did prepaid gratuities to help in the budgeting. Please be kind, this is my first cruise. TIA
We have a 7 day cruise planned for July 2025, we always did the free at sea plus, because my husband likes his Starbucks and cappuccinos and the unlimited WIFI. Now, we are really torn if we should do this trip, or switch to something else. We've only put the deposit down.
I have always left an additional gratuity at the specialty dining restaurants on NCL. I guess I will stop doing that.
Also, while excursions get more and more expensive, the $50 credit stays the same. I am disappointed with that.
I am NCL, Sapphire.
Generally I am happy with them, but they certainly don't give you something for nothing.
At least it is 50 for each excursion rather than just one..
I saw you on Tony’s Vlog on the Sun Princess! Awesome! I follow you both. Tony was the 1st one I found
@@blush1967 that’s awesome! That was a busy but fun cruise!
January will be my first cruise and I am going on NCL. I did get the new package. I did book two nights free for dining. I hope the drink part of the package will be worth it.
@@SamanthaStogner-sc1gf very exciting! Honestly NCL drinks are good 🥂
I’m contemplating another cruise line. I’ve really like traveling NCL. Our next cruise is NCL next year and we received notification about the drink package. It benefits us next year but not sure how it will play out on the next one.
@@LisaBeeman-u5u thanks for sharing
Does NLC have any other real espresso coffee options instead of Starbucks? Starbucks is not coffee!
@@marylooby2635 I believe in the restaurants
My favorite specialty restaurant is Moderno... and if I could eat there nearly every night during a cruise without becoming a blimp, I would probably do it. Also: Cagney's isn't that distant of a second place!
Halfing the WIFI minutes from 300 to 150 each is a downer for us on a 14 day cruise .Free @ Sea was a better deal.
Where can I get the dress you have on with cap sleeves
@@neldalewis1511 if you look at my channel videos, I have one from the summer with dresses :)
Great video!
One con is that you can't buy extra specialty dinning packages.
As I understand it the specialty restaurants are going to be a prefix instead of ala cart. Is that true?
Prefix is true. For a lot of diners, prefix should be better. A la carte quickly adds up. Just depends on what you order.
so on the more at sea, for dining, you get 3 apps, 1 entree and 3 desserts. But like at Cagney's, sides are separate also. Do we get any sides included at Cagney's or is it additional?
It’s great we do like grey goose and it’s available with other lines drink packages. The drink package is always a must bloodys by the pool at 9am there is no way it doesn’t save us tons of money
That’s awesome
Very nice video, thank you! Have you ever discussed anything about cruisers in wheelchairs? I have a family member who uses a power wheelchair. Are there places on board they can't go? Any tours they can't go on because of restrictions on getting to a port? How hard is it to get a handicap-accessible cabin on the different cruise lines? TIA! 🙂
@@beadbird great question. I have talked about this within videos, but not done a separate video
Great information video.. Where were you when I was still selling cruises???
@@osgoodehuskies1 I appreciate that! Travel agents do a great job
I’m not doing another Norwegian cruise until September 2026 and the change has been as clear as mud. Well, semi-clear shyest. 😅 I get part of it, but I wish this was as simple as the Princess Plus and Premiere (I’m doing Princess for the first time next year). With Premiere I get alcohol, water, juices, specialty coffee and unlimited wifi. NCL being stuck back in 2000 where they limit your wifi unless you really need more (I know it varies), or not offering water in the new prices or even a Starbucks discount is what has given them the reputation of nickel and dime-ing folks. I’m not going to stress over it until I’m a year out anyway, but it did give me something to think about after 2026. I have enjoyed NCL but I’m looking for bang for my buck. There are way too many cruise lines to try as I grow older (good grief I might even do MSC Yacht Club) so NCL might slip further down my preference list. It just seems that each time they come up with a way to allegedly save the passenger more, it ends up costing us more.
Why do I have a feeling we’ll get yet another “at sea” program before I sail with turn. 😂
I'm doing a Princess cruise first time also next year even if I have NCL platinum. I also will consider MSC since they status-match to non-related companies (at least for now)
Is premiere really worth it for $90 per day per person? That's $630 extra for a 7 day cruise, $1260 for a couple.
@@roan6125It includes gratuity as well.
@@smoothsketch I’m also Platinum with NCL but I also love how MSC will match your status with other lines. 😊 Plus that Yacht Club 😀
What about the changes to the Specialty dining changes to Prix Fixe instead of ala carte?
@@michelleshanks yup - $40,50, 60 depending on the restaurant
Great video, I cruise with Princess but after this I will give NCL a look.
We went on a NLC cruise years ago. The ship had metal cabinets in the cabin painted pink. The bathroom flooded or cabin. I swore I would never go on another one of their cruises. I think I told them that on the survey. 😂 There was a lot wrong with that cruise. We did get to go to Roaton on that cruise though. It was so primitive then. No where to even shop. It is tempting to try them again, I think the package sounds reasonable, and you do get a few minutes of internet in case there is an emergency.
May I ask which ship you were on? I will not go on thieir old, smaller ships. I was on the Joy last year, and we stopped in Honduras. Had a blast on the Joy. However, I did not enjoy the Gem, the smallee, older ship.
@@lindak1768 that’s true. Lol at least these days the ships are nice 😂
@@lifelove6164 I don’t remember, I’m sure it’s been scraped by now. We took our boys on that trip, they was high schoolers at the time, now they are in their 40s.
Unfortunately this seems to be the trend across most cruise lines. “Nickel and dime” and upsell at every turn. It’s understandable that business is business but when will the trend level out. 20+ years ago you paid your cruise fare (port taxes/ fees) and you enjoyed the experience.
Absolutely fantastic! Well done!
More At Sea says it all.
We'll all pay more!
Even Carnival includes specialty coffees with their packages.
On a very long cruise, of 20 + days, we were receiving 300 minutes each for Wi-Fi. Now on such a cruise we'll be very limited at 50% of what we once had.
The decision for me is that once all the Cruise Next credits are used, I'm done with NCL even though I am almost Diamond level.
What I don't like NCL drink package are not included in bottled water and coffee.
I don't drink alcohol much less than one beer and 1-2 soda a day.
Thank you for this 😊 I got an email last week for 2 Transatlantic trips I'm taking on the Bliss at the beginning of the year. I had the free at sea, but they're changing to the More at sea, I don't pay any more but get the new program. I just want to know if that means good coffee 😅
Ok, no coffee but I get 5 specialty dinners, that's cool.
You may want to double check.. Being a transatlantic may be different, but it was announced you would get the new beverage package, but nothing else unless you booked after Oct 1, or you reprice to get the new stuff.. You should not get more dinners..
@@barbarahallowell2613 I booked a 12 day cruise for April 2025 and I booked under the free at sea program. However, when I looked at my account, I am not getting 5 specialty dining credits for a balcony cabin. I will have to call them to check.
What was that yellow frosty drink you showed @7:22? That looks good.
@@AccordingToRobin mango colada :)
@@LifeWellCruised Thank you
I don’t understand why NCL has a much better of offering than Oceania (same owners)
We booked on Oceania and they honored our future bookings under Simply More…..but took most everything away on any bookings after 10/1/2024……😂
I've never gone on an NCL cruise, but if I do, I think I would get that. I'd rather not have to think about how much I'm spending and keep track of all that lol.
It is a good plan overall. Lol agree
Are mocktails and non-alcoholic wine included in the More at Sea beverage package? I cannot find an answer on the NCL website.
I would think they should be included as they include soft drinks and juices.
Off topic but I’m curious about December (& my birthday) travel. I’ve only done 2 Dec cruises & both on RC, is there a brand that does not get carried away with Christmas music during the month? All we heard was Christmas music, it was a bit overwhelming after 7 days and 2 weeks before the holiday itself.
@@firesunearthmoon8999 truthfully I’m not sure
As a solo traveler could you repeat is it a pro or con for me? I would be doing a 5 or 7 night cruise, and also in a solo room can they make the shower safe for me as a disable?
@@pasha21k overall it’s great for solos, for your other question please call NCL or your travel agent as I don’t want to steer you wrong
Are the tips included in the more at sea drink package
@@neldalewis1511 only tips on the packages
Do they have a water package and how much is it?
I thought the Free-At-Sea was a great deal, until I realized I was the kind of person who would have 3-4 alcoholic drinks one day, and none for the next 3 days, and the limited Wi-Fi almost didn't work in time for return flight check-in. Specialty dining seemed worth it.
The good thing is you can opt out of the beverage portion