5 tips to SAVE MONEY on your NCL cruise!
We all know the feeling: you’ve booked the cruise, you’ve started to look through the website and you’re starting to feel like every time you breathe onboard a cruise ship, you’re going to spend money. Well, if you fall into this category, you’ll be delighted when I tell you that there are lots of ways to SAVE money on a cruise - I’m a huge believer in the fact that it doesn’t need to cost you a fortune when you’re onboard! A few of these money saving tips will apply to multiple cruise lines, but in this post today, we’re talking specifically about 5 ways you could save some cash on your Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) cruise.
The last Norwegian Cruise Line ship I cruise on was Norwegian Escape, and so the photos that you’ll see throughout this post are from onboard that ship. If you do enjoy this post, then click here to sign up to my newsletters to be kept ‘in the loop’ with all things Fraser at Sea!
Anyway, let’s get started!
1. Free at Sea - consider the package!
Welcome to the wonderful world of cruise line ‘packages’. At the point of booking, you’ll be able to add ‘Free at Sea’ to your cruise booking (I believe that you can actually add/remove this up until 24 hours before departure, but don’t cut it too tight incase you miss out!). ‘Free at Sea’ is the main package offered onboard NCL ships, and comes with 2 options to choose from: ‘Free at Sea’ and ‘Free at Sea Plus’. Costs vary for each of these - you’ll usually find the standard package retailing at around £199 (or the $ equivalent), but this price will vary with promotional offer from time to time - always best to check for your specific price when you’re planning to book your trip! Here’s what you’ll find as part of each:
Drinks
Free at Sea:
The standard package with NCL will allow you to drink select, premium cocktails, spirits, beers and wines (under $15 each), in addition to unlimited soft drinks and juices. You’ll also be eligible for a 20% discount on all bottles of champagne and wine.
Free at Sea Plus:
This more premium package will offer you all ‘top-shelf’ cocktails and spirits, all beers, wines, and also NCLs exclusive brand of Rose champagne by the glass. You’ll also get unlimited still & sparkling bottled water (we’ll come back to this later - I was surprised that cartons/bottles of water weren’t included within the ‘standard’ package!), and also unlimited Starbucks coffees/drinks and energy drinks.
Speciality Dining
Free at Sea:
The ‘standard’ Free at Sea offer allows you to have varying numbers of meals in the onboard Speciality restaurants. To make this as clear as possible, here’s the breakdown, straight from NCL’s website:
3-6 nights (all room types): 1 meal per passenger
7-11 nights (Balcony & above): 2 meals per passenger
7-11 nights (Studio/Inside/Oceanview): 1 meal per passenger
12+ nights (Balcony & above): 3 meals per passenger
12+ nights (Studio/Inside/Oceanview): 2 Meals per passenger
These promotions are applicable to the first and second guests only.
Free at Sea Plus:
The ‘upgrade’ to the Plus package in this area is really simply - you’ll get yourself an addition 2 Speciality meals per passenger!
Excursions
Free at Sea:
The standard ‘Free at Sea’ offer offers you $50 per tour (for the first guest).
Free at Sea Plus:
This upgraded package offers you an additional $50 per tour (for the second guest).
Wi-Fi
Free at Sea:
Okay, this is where it gets a little bit awkward. NCL state that they offer you ‘150 minutes’ of internet on the standard ‘Free at Sea’ package, but you need to be mindful that this isn’t a premium internet plan. This is a standard, limited package, where you won’t be able to stream etc. If you’d like to do that, you can exchange this offer for a discount on the premium internet package. From memory, this offered me a $100 voucher, so made my purchase of ‘Free at Sea’ instantly worth it!
Free at Sea Plus:
You’ll get unlimited internet on the ‘Plus’ package - easy peasy!
So, hopefully your head isn’t too fried with all of that! My honest advice is that I found the standard ‘Free at Sea’ package to offer me more than enough drinks, and it saved me an absolute fortune while I was on the ship. An example I’d give you before we move to the next tip - I absolutely LOVED my meal at Cagney’s, the onboard steakhouse. This meal alone would’ve cost me around $100 from the a la carte menu, and the ‘Free at Sea’ package fully covered this, so almost made the package worthwhile from just this meal! If you’d like to learn more about these packages, you can do so over on the Norwegian Cruise Line website. Also, I created a YouTube video while onboard to talk to you about both packages - you can watch that via the below link!
2. Take advantage of ‘themes’ in the buffet
Ok, this one might be a little strange, but hear me out! I hear people often explaining that they find cruise ship buffets to be ‘boring’ or ‘repetitive’. In my opinion, this claim is often absolutely ridiculous, and my advice to combat this is to avoid going for the ‘50 nationalities on one plate’ approach, and instead think about how to have ‘different’ meals at the onboard buffet. For example, why not have Chinese tonight, then Italian tomorrow? One thing that NCL are really good at is offering ‘specials’ up there, meaning that you’ll be treated to different speciality counters each evening.
For example, you’ll maybe find that one night of your cruise will be ‘Mexican night’, another might be ‘Steak night’, and so on. This, in my opinion, will keep your buffet trips interesting - nobody wants to be eating the same pile of slop every night - choose carefully up there, and take advantage of the ‘one off event’ options!
3. Like the spa? Use it on port days!
Ok, you like a massage, and you enjoy using thermal suites, but you don’t like the look of the price tag on the spa menu. Well, here’s a way to save some money on your visit to the spa, while having exactly the same experience (arguably a better experience as the ship will be much quieter!).
On most ships, you’ll be offered various degrees of discounts if you plan to utilise the onboard spa facilities while the ship is docked in port. The reason for this is that a huge volume of passengers will leave the ship, and so the cruise line needs to offer something to entice you to stay and spend money on the various facilities. In the past, I’ve seen some fantastic deals, with some lines offering 40%-50% discounts on some services if you use them while the ship’s docked - a level of discount not to be scoffed at!
One thing that some people don’t like about using a ship spa on a port day is that you often won’t get the ocean views up there while you relax, and will instead be looking out over a port of call. This isn’t something that’s ever bothered me - I’d much rather have the peace and quiet in there than have an ocean view while sharing it with countless other people!
So, long story short… When you get onboard your ship, head to the spa and ask about what discounts they’re offering on the port days - this might not even be advertised, so one that those ‘in the know’ will often capitalise on!
4. Does your room have additional (FREE) facilities?!
Yes, that’s right - some rooms on Norwegian Cruise Line ships will come with benefits that you don’t pay for! For this one, let’s not discuss the Haven - yes, you get more included in there, but let’s face it - you’re spending MUCH more for your room in the first place! For my example here, let me tell you about my Studio cabin onboard Norwegian Escape.
A ‘Studio cabin’ on an NCL cruise ship is a room designed specifically for one traveller. Believe me, after spending a week in there, it’s a great room but you wouldn’t want a second person (or their luggage) in this room with you…! One of the huge perks to booking the small Studio cabins is that you get exclusive access to what’s called the ‘Studio Lounge’, a private lounge in the same area as the Studio cabins where solo travellers can meet. Now, I know what you’re thinking: how can this lounge save you money? Well, let’s talk food and drinks!
In the lounge, you’ll be able to get a machine-made coffee, alongside a range of snacks (think fruit, pastries etc), and this will be kept ‘stocked up’ all throughout the day. You’re also going to find large iced water and juice decanters in here, so it’s easy to keep hydrated free of charge! As a solo traveller, you’ll save money onboard by not buying your ‘fancy’ coffees at the coffee shops - you can just grab one in here, and either relax with your fellow solo travellers, or go exploring with your mug of fresh coffee! A real luxury, right?!
5. Water - be clear on how to get it for FREE!
Ok, I mentioned earlier that I’d come back to this point, but it really did blow my mind that water wasn’t included on the standard ‘Free at Sea’ package. In my opinion, if you’re able to get beers, wines and cocktails on your package, you absolutely should be able to get a bottle of water. However, these are only covered in the ‘Plus’ package, or able to be purchased one by one.
This could clearly cost you a fair bit of cash while you’re on your cruise, but it doesn’t need to! There’s a number of ways to get FREE drinking water while you’re onboard, and keeping this in mind could save you some money on your vacation! Also, if you really would rather have bottles (or cartons) of water, you can pre-order these via the online system, and they’ll be waiting in your room for you on embarkation day. Here’s how to get water for FREE to stay hydrated:
At the buffet restaurant, you’ll find drinking water available 24/7
In the Studio Lounge, you’ll find water decanters - I found these were topped up well during the day, but would be a gamble after about 9pm
Every bar on the ship can offer you FREE water - you just need to purchase it by the glass
In the Dining Rooms and Restaurants, you don’t need to buy sealed cartons/bottles of water - you’ll be able to get ‘by the glass’ totally free of charge!
So, there you go - some ways to save some money while you’re on your cruise. If you’d like to see more from Norwegian Cruise Line, why not come and support me on YouTube? It would be AMAZING if you’d think about subscribing over there - you can get there by searching ‘Fraser at Sea’, or just click here. Thank you!