Norwegian Brings Back Free at Sea Plus Package With Enhancements

December 17, 2025 Randy Young

Norwegian Cruise Line is bringing back a fan favorite option as an add-on to your next sailing, the Free at Sea Plus package.

The Free at Sea Plus package originally launched in January 2022 and offered a higher-end, more all-inclusive experience for guests willing to upgrade. While the package had a very vocal fan base, at least according to social media, Norwegian leadership later said overall utilization was lower than expected.

When Norwegian shifted from Free at Sea to its newer More at Sea pricing model, the Free at Sea Plus package was discontinued. Now that Norwegian has moved back to Free at Sea, the cruise line is also bringing back Free at Sea Plus, this time with some meaningful enhancements.

What Are the Benefits of the New Free at Sea Plus?

Daily Service Charge and Gratuities

The biggest change to the Free at Sea Plus program is that it now includes daily service charges.

These gratuities typically range from:

$20 per person per day for standard staterooms
$25 per person per day for suites

This alone significantly changes the value equation compared to the original version of the program.

Free at Sea Plus Beverage Package

The upgraded beverage package includes everything in the standard Free at Sea drink package, plus several notable enhancements:
Starbucks beverages are included
Bottled water, both standard and premium
Top shelf spirits
Premium wines and champagne by the glass, or 40% off other bottles
Energy drinks and fresh juices
The drink package works at Great Stirrup Cay

Norwegian has also confirmed that the standard Free at Sea beverage package will no longer be valid at Great Stirrup Cay as of March 1, 2026, making this benefit more valuable for sailings that stop there.

Wi-Fi

The standard Free at Sea package includes 150 minutes of Wi-Fi per guest.

Free at Sea Plus upgrades this to unlimited streaming Wi-Fi for one device at a time.

Excursions

There are no additional shore excursion benefits with Free at Sea Plus.

Guests with the standard Free at Sea package still receive $50 off each shore excursion for the first guest. Under the original Free at Sea Plus program, the second guest also received $50 off, but that benefit has not returned.

Dining

Guests with Free at Sea Plus receive 50% off the cover charge for any additional specialty dining reservations beyond what is already included in the standard Free at Sea package.

Under the previous version of Free at Sea Plus, guests received two additional specialty dining meals per sailing. That benefit has now been replaced with the 50% discount model.

norwegian free at sea plus flyer dec 2025

Norwegian’s Free at Sea Plus Cost

Free at Sea Plus costs $49.99 per person per day. Guests must already have a sailing booked with the standard Free at Sea dining and beverage package in order to upgrade.

For cabins where the first or second guest are under 21, they’ll pay a lower rate of $40 per person per day. Children aged 3-12 will get the prepaid service chargers and streaming Wi-Fi. Children 13-21 get those benefits plus the 50% off specialty dining.

How to Book Free at Sea Plus

Free at Sea Plus goes on sale December 18, 2026.

It is available for all sailings departing on or after February 2, 2026.

Is Free at Sea Plus Worth It?

Overall, Free at Sea Plus is a surprisingly strong value, but how much you save depends heavily on how you cruise.

The inclusion of daily gratuities is what really elevates this package. While the sticker price is $49.99 per day, subtracting roughly $20 per day in service charges means the effective cost is closer to $30 per person per day.

If You Were Going to Buy Unlimited Wi-Fi Anyway

Since you already have 150 minutes of Wi-Fi included with the Free at Sea package, you’ll usually have to pay $10-$20 per day to upgrade to unlimited streaming Wi-Fi (pricing varies per sailing).

Assuming the Wi-Fi upgrade costs $20 per day and adding in the $20 per day in daily gratuities, it’d be just $9 per day to break even. That could easily come from 2 premium coffees, 3 bottles of water, or an extra specility dining on your sailing.

If You Were Going to Buy the Starbucks Package

Frequent coffee drinkers often consider the Unlimited Starbucks Package, which costs about $20 per day once gratuities are included.

When you factor in daily service charges, the incremental cost of Free at Sea Plus drops to around $10 per day. For that, you also get unlimited Wi-Fi, bottled water, and expanded beverage options.

If You Love Specialty Dining

The specialty dining benefit is weaker than it was under the original program. Instead of additional meals, guests now receive 50% off cover charges.

Cover charges generally range from $40 to $60, which means savings of roughly $20 to $30 per additional meal.

On a 5-day sailing, guests typically receive 2 specialty meals through the standard Free at Sea package. If you booked specialty dining for the remaining 3 nights, you could save around $75 total.

For a 5-day sailing, Free at Sea Plus would cost about $250. Subtracting $20 per person per day in gratuities reduces the effective cost to $150. With $75 in dining savings, that means you would get unlimited Wi-Fi, Starbucks, bottled water, and Great Stirrup Cay cocktails for roughly $75 for the entire sailing.

My Take: A Surprisingly Solid Offering

As someone who does not need top-shelf liquor and cannot stand coffee, I never really understood the appeal of Free at Sea Plus in its original form.

However, adding daily gratuities completely changes the value proposition. Personally, I always need Wi-Fi while sailing (It is hard to run a cruise website without it). For me, this upgrade is a much more compelling option, and I think many other cruisers will come to the same conclusion.

Including gratuities is the single biggest improvement here. Princess Cruises already does this with its Princess Plus and Princess Premiere packages, while Celebrity and Carnival, even with their newer value plans, do not.

For the right cruiser, Free at Sea Plus has quietly become one of the best bundled upgrades at sea.