All-inclusive cruises from Philadelphia: what Norwegian's Free at Sea covers and costs

Philadelphia has no all-inclusive cruise of the kind where drinks, tips and specialty dining come with the fare. Every sailing from the port is Norwegian Cruise Line, and Norwegian sells those extras as a package called Free at Sea. This guide covers what Norwegian's fare includes, what the package adds, what it costs a day, and what is in the fares on this site.

The prices below come from Norwegian's own US pages and documents. Each one carries the date of the document or the day we read it, because Norwegian says its rates can change at any time.

Are there all-inclusive cruises from Philadelphia?

Not in the fare. All 82 sailings on the schedule we track are Norwegian Cruise Line, and Norwegian's fare covers the cabin, meals in its complimentary restaurants and the shows. Alcohol, specialty restaurants, Wi-Fi and a daily service charge cost extra, or come through the Free at Sea package, which has a daily gratuity of its own.

No other line sails from Philadelphia on this schedule, so there is no line here whose fare includes drinks and gratuities. The Royal Caribbean and Carnival guide covers where other lines sail instead.

What does a Norwegian cruise fare from Philadelphia include?

The cabin, meals in the complimentary restaurants and buffet, regular coffee, tea and water, the shows, the pools and the kids' clubs. Norwegian's fare FAQ, read on 3 November 2026, lists these as included and puts alcohol, specialty restaurants, internet access and the service charge outside the fare.

In the fare	Not in the fare
Your cabin	The daily service charge
Meals in the complimentary restaurants and buffet	Meals in specialty restaurants
Regular coffee, tea, iced tea and water, and some juices at breakfast	Alcohol, sodas and specialty coffees
Shows and entertainment, apart from dinner theater	Internet access
Pools, hot tubs and the fitness center	Spa, casino, shore excursions, photos and laundry
Kids' and teen programs for ages 3 to 17	The room service convenience charge

Those rules are fleetwide. On Norwegian Pearl, which sails 59 of the 82 trips, Norwegian's dining page lists two main restaurants, Indigo and Summer Palace, the Garden Café buffet and O'Sheehan's, open 24 hours, as complimentary. Specialty restaurants such as Cagney's Steakhouse, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki and Moderno Churrascaria carried a cover charge of $40 to $60 per person on that page on 3 November 2026.

Norwegian Gem sails from 20 April 2028 and Norwegian Dawn from 5 September 2028, under the same fare rules.

What is Norwegian's Free at Sea package?

Free at Sea is Norwegian's package of an open bar, specialty dining, Wi-Fi and shore excursion credit. It covers bookings made on or after 5 November 2025, when it replaced More At Sea for new bookings, and Norwegian's blog says earlier More At Sea bookings keep that package. Norwegian's US comparison sheet, dated March 2026, lists:

• An unlimited open bar on board, and at Great Stirrup Cay where it applies, with premium spirits, over 100 cocktails, wine and beer, soft drinks and juices, plus 20% off bottles of champagne and wine.
• Specialty restaurant meals for the first and second guest on the booking, set by trip length: one meal on 2 to 4 nights, two on 5 or 6, three on 7 or 8, and four on 9 or more.
• 150 minutes of Wi-Fi for every guest in the cabin, whatever the length of the trip, on one device at a time.
• A $50 credit per shore excursion booked through Norwegian, for the first guest on the booking.

There are conditions. Guests 1 and 2 must be 21 or older for the open bar, and under 21 they get the soda package instead, according to Norwegian's January 2026 drinks flyer. Everyone in the cabin must take the same offer. Children under 13 eat free from the kids' menu and pay a $20 cover charge to order from a specialty menu.

Great Stirrup Cay is Norwegian's private island in the Bahamas, and 5 sailings from Philadelphia call there. The Bahamas page lists them.

Norwegian's blog says you can add Free at Sea to an existing booking in your online account, under the upgrades tab, at least three days before the cruise.

What does Free at Sea cost on a cruise from Philadelphia?

Norwegian's announcement of 5 November 2025 says guests pay only the gratuities. Its March 2026 sheet sets the open bar gratuity at $28.50 per person per day for every guest aged 21 or over in the cabin, and $12.50 a day for juice and soda for guests aged 3 to 20. Children under 3 are free.

The sheet calls $28.50 the pre-cruise price and says the onboard price will vary.

The daily service charge is separate. Norwegian's FAQ, read on 3 November 2026, gives $20 per person per day in Club Balcony Suites and below and $25 in suites and The Haven, for every guest aged 3 or over, on bookings made since 1 January 2023. You can prepay it up to 24 hours before sailing. Norwegian's Free at Sea Plus FAQ says prepaid service charges do not cover bar, beverage or specialty dining gratuities.

On a 7-night Bermuda trip, each adult in a standard cabin who takes the open bar pays this on top of the fare, at those rates:

Per adult, 7 days	Rate	Total
Daily service charge, standard cabin	$20 a day	$140
Free at Sea open bar gratuity, age 21 or over	$28.50 a day	$199.50
Both	$48.50 a day	$339.50

For two adults that is $679. On 3 November 2026 the lowest 7-night Bermuda fare was $549 per person, for the cheapest cabin listed with two sharing, taxes and port fees included.

Free at Sea Plus

Plus is Norwegian's paid step up. Its FAQ, read on 3 November 2026, prices it at $49.99 per person per day, with $15 off for guests who already have prepaid service charges, and the March 2026 sheet calls that the price of upgrading from Free at Sea. Plus adds top-shelf spirits, wine and champagne by the glass from Norwegian's signature list, Starbucks drinks one per visit, energy drinks, bottled water, unlimited streaming Wi-Fi, a discount on extra specialty dining nights and the prepaid daily service charges.

Over 7 days the upgrade comes to $349.93 per person, or $244.93 with the service charges already prepaid. Norwegian's newsroom release of 17 December 2025 opened Plus to sailings from 1 February 2026.

How many specialty meals come with each cruise length from Philadelphia?

Three on a 7-night trip, the length of 46 of the 82 sailings, two on a 5-night trip and four on anything of 9 nights or more. The meals go to the first two guests on the booking. The Wi-Fi stays at 150 minutes per guest whatever the length.

Trip length	Sailings from Philadelphia	Free at Sea specialty meals each, guests 1 and 2	Lowest fare on 3 November 2026
5 nights	3	2	$719
7 nights	46	3	$549
8 nights	6	3	$819
9 nights	1	4	$1,279
10 nights	11	4	$609
11 nights	12	4	$1,029
12 nights	2	4	$899
14 nights	1	4	$1,269

Fares are per person for the cheapest cabin listed, two sharing, taxes and port fees included, and they do not include Free at Sea's charges. The cruise length page lists every sailing by number of nights.

How do Free at Sea's charges compare with paying as you go?

Norwegian's own figures give a rough comparison. Its Free at Sea blog says drinks on board average $15 each, so the $28.50 daily gratuity matches about two drinks a day at that average. On Pearl, three specialty meals at the listed cover charges of $40 to $60 would cost $120 to $180 per person on a 7-night trip.

The other parts are harder to price. The pages we read give no Norwegian list price for the 150 minutes of Wi-Fi, and the $50 excursion credit applies only to tours booked through Norwegian, for the first guest. Someone who drinks little and skips the specialty restaurants pays the daily service charge either way.

Is Free at Sea included in the fares on this site?

No package charge or gratuity is in our fares. They are the cruise fare from Cruisebound, the booking site our fares come from, for the cheapest cabin listed, per person with two sharing, with taxes and port fees added. Cruisebound's pages do not say whether a booking made there also carries Free at Sea's perks, so we cannot tell.

Cruisebound's page for the 21 November 2026 Pearl sailing, read on 3 November 2026, lists meals, water, juice, coffee, tea and shows as included in the fare. It lists a non-alcoholic drinks package, an alcoholic drinks package, gratuities, Wi-Fi and specialty dining as add-ons "available for purchase after booking". Its pages for the 6 May 2027 Pearl sailing and the 4 May 2028 Gem sailing read the same way.

Before paying, ask Cruisebound which Norwegian package, if any, comes with the fare. After booking, check the reservation in your Norwegian online account, where Norwegian's blog says Free at Sea can be added at least three days before sailing.

Can I get Free at Sea on a 2026 cruise from Philadelphia?

Yes, on a booking made since 5 November 2025. The schedule has 5 sailings left in 2026, all on Norwegian Pearl, from 21 November 2026 to 23 December 2026. The lowest fare on 3 November 2026 was $549 per person, cheapest cabin listed with two sharing, taxes and port fees included.

Norwegian's January 2026 drinks flyer says its rates can change at any time, so check the open bar gratuity and the service charge when you book. The last-minute cruises page lists the sailings leaving soonest, and the Norwegian page lists every departure by ship.