Norwegian Cruise Line has promised to give its passengers more onboard offerings and more value for their cruise fares.
"We have invested a lot of time listening to our guests and our travel partners…and we've found that what they want is to see more, do more and enjoy more when they vacation with us," David J. Herrera, president of Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement. "They also want to do so with ease and simplicity. ..."
But its latest promotional effort may have come up a bit short of that promise, according to some cruisers who are posting on social media.
As of Oct. 1, Norwegian Cruise Line replaced its Free At Sea cruise package of onboard inclusions with a package called More At Sea.
While More At Sea offers more perks and premium inclusions than Free At Sea does, it eliminates an upgraded, optional add-on package that apparently was important to many Norwegian passengers.
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More At Sea applies for all reservations made on or after Oct. 1, 2024, for sailings beginning Jan. 1, 2025. Norwegian passengers sailing in 2024 will still get their current Free At Sea benefits.
Passengers sailing in 2025 and beyond who booked prior to Oct. 1, 2024, will get both their current Free At Sea benefits plus the new More At Sea beverage package at no additional cost.
Those passengers also have the option to reprice their reservations at prevailing rates and prevailing promotions to take advantage of More At Sea, as long as they are more than 120 days prior to sailing.
Details of Norwegian's new premium package
The new More At Sea package offers Norwegian passengers more included beverages, specialty dining meals and enhanced high-speed Wi-Fi powered by Starlink from Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The Wi-Fi package will continue to have a minute limit for each passenger but will offer faster and stronger connectivity than the current offering.
An expanded unlimited-beverage package within More At Sea will include more premium brands across every spirit category, such as Grey Goose vodka, Casamigos Tequila, Woodford Reserve bourbon and more.
The $15 price limit for included beverages will no longer apply and passengers can choose from more than 100 cocktails.
Passengers sailing on cruises of seven nights or longer will get more specialty dining meals included with the More At Sea package. They will also be able to enjoy more appetizers and desserts with as many as three of each included at each meal.
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More At Sea will continue to include Free At Sea package benefits including a $50 credit per shore excursion for the first guest in a stateroom, free airfare for the second guest, and an offer that enables the third and fourth guests to sail free on select cruises.
Norwegian's new More At Sea package has a downside
For some Norwegian passengers, the drawback to More At Sea is that the Premium Plus Beverage Package and Free At Sea Plus optional add-on packages are being discontinued.
Passengers booked on sailings after Jan. 1, 2025, will lose their upgraded packages and their payments will be refunded.
With Free At Sea Plus, passengers could pay $49 per person per day to upgrade their Free At Sea offers to add the Premium Plus Beverage Package, two additional specialty dining meals, an additional shore excursion credit and unlimited Wi-Fi.
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When More At Sea goes into effect, passengers who want the Free At Sea Plus Package's additional specialty dining meals, select premium bottles of wine and champagne with dinner, bottled water, Starbucks drinks, and unlimited Wi-Fi will have to purchase those things individually.
Passengers who want to dine at specialty restaurants beyond the number of dining nights included with More At Sea will have to pay the restaurants' cover charges.
Since Starbucks and bottled water are not included in the More At Sea beverage package, passengers will have to buy those drinks individually or through separate Starbucks and bottled-water packages.
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To upgrade their Wi-Fi packages, passengers can purchase the Voyage Wi-Fi Pass (1.5MBPS) for $29.99 per stateroom per day and Streaming Voyage Wi-Fi Pass (5 MBPS) for $39.99 per stateroom per day.
The Free At Sea Plus package also came with an additional shore excursion credit. That will no longer be offered in More At Sea.
Disgruntled Norwegian passengers sounded off on the new program.
"For people that have already booked a cruise for 2025 and paid for Plus and now you took away and refunded," Lisa Ford posted. "For us to get the More at sea we have to pay more now. How is that logic."
And Pierre Alexandre Casavant posted: "We will need more clarification on this. Right now it get me a little frustrated. We can’t upgrade anymore like the free at sea plus.
"This is a huge problem since you’ve cut down all I wanted and was ready to pay extra to made them included. This will make me reconsider sailing with you to the profit of another cruise line."
