What is included and what isn't?

I've been researching Oceania and appreciate the information that I've gotten on here. Initially I had the impression that Oceania was all inclusive but that appears not to be the case. What is included?

Oceania is NOT all inclusive although some think it may be moving in that direction.

And what is included can depend on your level of past cruises (I gather you are a newcomer) and what your TA, if you have one, provides.

However, meals are free with two slight exceptions: on Marina and Riviera there are two "paid" venues, one is La Reserve, which is a wine pairing dinner for a maximum of 24 people, and the other is Privee, which is a private dining room -- 8 to 10 people for $250, meals are ordered from Toscana and Polo.

The specialty restaurants (four on Marina/Riviera, two on the "R" ships) are free. Also free is the buffet restaurant (Terrace), the Grand Dining Room and Waves (morning/afternoon by the pool meals).

Non-alcoholic drinks are also free. You can buy a liquor package if you are so inclined ($60pp a day for the unlimited version), otherwise buy drinks individually. In top suites there is a liquor set-up of 6 bottles, mix and match.

You can bring on your own liquor for consumption in your room. If you bring a bottle of wine to a restaurant there will be a $25 corkage fee.

I'm sure others will fill in with what I have missed!

Mura

Also free:

soft drinks and bottled water from your "fridge" in your room and at bars and in restaurants and near the pool, etc. We drink sparkling. Last cruise I noticed them at enrichment lectures too.

coffees including cappuccino at meals and in the coffee bar {Barista}

Waves - casual food near the pool - great burgers, smoothies, milkshakes, etc.

water bottles when going ashore

afternoon tea - every day but embarkation day

gala buffet

terry bathrobes for your trip

And no extra fee on the menus for steak, etc. (Saw these fees on other cruise lines in the past few years.)

This is pretty cool then. Since my girlfriend and I don't drink alcohol and enjoy sparking water and the specialty restaurants are included along with airfare, if we choose that option we will barely have to open the wallet once we get onboard. I think I'll like this a lot. !!!!!!

And thank you for you efforts to assist.

Steve, don't forget touring in ports. This will be dependent on your itinerary, of course. But they will cost ...

Many of us prefer private tours -- usually smaller groups and less expensive than ship's tours. Others prefer the relative "safety" of a ship's tour ... the ship won't sail without you if you are late getting back!

If you just want to use the ship as your destination, then this isn't a consideration.

I suggest that you find the Roll Call for your cruise. It's a good way to meet up with fellow passengers in advance. If you want to do private tours, this is an excellent way to find others who want to do what YOU do. And there is usually a Meet & Greet towards the beginning of the cruise, another good way to meet your fellow shipmates.

Mura

On some promotions you get excursions included... a certain number depending on the length of the cruise as well as pre paid gratuities & internet

as mentioned all non alcoholic drinks are included everywhere

The specialty restaurants are included but are limited as to how many seatings you can get depending on you cabin Cat

Spa deck access is included for Concierge cabin & above

spa treatments are extra $$ some exercise classes have a fee

I am sure there are other things included but cannot recall them at the moment

<snip>

The specialty restaurants are included but are limited as to how many seatings you can get depending on you cabin Cat

But if available, even the travellers in the cheapest cabins can score more free reservations once on board!

Frances

If you love sparkling water (like I do) ask your room steward to stock your fridge with it! They don't think anything of requests like that. Also, you will always have a supply of 1L bottles of purified water in your room, which is a nice touch.

I'll add to things that aren't free:

Laundry: There are self-serve machines which cost $4 for a wash and dry load, and there is send out service, which is honestly pretty reasonable for a ship. They also run specials sometimes (e.g. 15 items washed and pressed for $20, etc.). Higher suites get some garments pressed complimentary.

Internet: Some cruises offer unlimited or x number of minutes, as do suites and concierge (not unlimited though)... or it may be thrown in by your TA. Unlimited costs $28 a day on shorter cruises. We paid $24 on our last 16 day on Marina. Also, keep in mind that is for ONE device... So two people in the stateroom can't be online at the same time...

Culinary Classes: (Marina & Riviera)... these run about $69 if I recall correctly

Since you don't drink, you probably should skip La Reserve (Marina & Riviera) since it's really a wine tasting with lots of food. We love it though.

Also, be aware that the Oceania excursions tend to be on the high side of things (sometimes ridiculously high!) which is why so many O cruisers tend to book their own stuff (bonus: they are much smaller groups, too!). We usually take an O excursion if it's a very off-the-beaten-track port where we can't really find anything, or if it's a culinary excursion that includes some hands on. We've done a few of those and they are really a good time.

Note that you can take a $ credit instead of the "free" air tix.

The new O Life promo provides free tips, internet and several excursions (number based on cruise length). If you book before the end of this year, most (if not all) summer 2016 cruises have O Life.

This is pretty cool then. Since my girlfriend and I don't drink alcohol and enjoy sparking water and the specialty restaurants are included along with airfare, if we choose that option we will barely have to open the wallet once we get onboard. I think I'll like this a lot. !!!!!!

Now, O is starting to include some shore excursions with their O-Life promo which sounds great, but... O comes up short on shore excursions and is the single biggest universal complaint about the line. I really wish they would rethink the O-Life idea in this regard. Now O-Life does include unlimited Internet and pre-paid gratuities in the fare price (despite the marketing material saying they're "Free"). FWIW, I prefer to arrange my own shore excursions.

The other big pluses about O are great food, and no formal nights or photographers.

And yes, I always take the credit for free air as I tend to fly business or first and use a combination of paid one-way fares, Around the World fares, and/or FF awards.

This is pretty cool then. Since my girlfriend and I don't drink alcohol and enjoy sparking water and the specialty restaurants are included along with airfare, if we choose that option we will barely have to open the wallet once we get onboard. I think I'll like this a lot. !!!!!!

Don't think that will happen----keep the wallet ready, you'll want something.

Rick

So happy to find this thread! We, too, are looking for our first Oceania cruise.:)

While I've seen O-Life including gratuities, I've not seen what they normally cost? Can someone post that? Thanks!

Cheers!

What is your gratuity policy?

How much you choose to tip is a personal matter and completely at your discretion. For your convenience the following gratuities are automatically added to your shipboard account.

FOR SAILINGS PRIOR TO THE 2015-16 WINTER SEASON:

• For guests occupying staterooms, gratuities of $15.00 per guest, per day will be added.
  
• For guests occupying Penthouse, Oceania, Vista or Owner's Suites where Butler Service is provided, gratuities of $22.00 per guest, per day will be added.
  
• In addition, an 18% service gratuity is automatically added to all beverage purchases, spa services and dinner at La Reserve. Naturally, guests may adjust gratuities while on board the vessel at their sole discretion.
  

FOR SAILINGS BEGINNING WITH THE 2015-16 WINTER SEASON:

• For guests occupying staterooms, gratuities of $16.00 per guest, per day will be added.
  
• For guests occupying Penthouse, Oceania, Vista or Owner's Suites where Butler Service is provided, gratuities of $23.00 per guest, per day will be added.
  
• In addition, an 18% service gratuity is automatically added to all beverage purchases, spa services and dinner at La Reserve. Naturally, guests may adjust gratuities while on board the vessel at their sole discretion.
  

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/faq/

Golly, that was FAST.:eek:

Thanks LHT28!

Guess those included gratuities are well worth it!

Other things that are free --

Room service -- some lines (like NCL) now charge for it.

Some other items depend on number of past cruises --

At no 5 -- you get additional OBC ($200)

At no 10 -- you more OBC ($400) and your gratuities are paid for which is a big plus.

More details ---

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/experience/oceania-club/levels/

I also am exploring Oceania, and this type of thread is always great. I've cruised quite a bit on the more mass-market brands and it is always a challenge to find out what is included and what isn't. Cruise Critic should consider making a chart of all the lines. I know cruise lines would hate this, because they use what is and what is not included as a way to compete with each other. I liked what NCL is doing lately by offering several perks and letting people pick. They can have free drinks, discounted excursions, free gratuities, or Free internet. On the last voyage I took it seemed most of these were equally split across the people I spoke with.

Of perks people always seem to make a big deal over the free alcoholic drinks as if it is such a big cost to the ship. We had a chance to speak to the head of the restaurant on the cruise and he told us that 12-15% of people on a cruise take the free alcohol option, and this option rarely costs the cruise line all that much money. he said maybe they charge $15 for a drink, but he said it doesn't them 10% of that.

 

Of perks people always seem to make a big deal over the free alcoholic drinks as if it is such a big cost to the ship. We had a chance to speak to the head of the restaurant on the cruise and he told us that 12-15% of people on a cruise take the free alcohol option, and this option rarely costs the cruise line all that much money. he said maybe they charge $15 for a drink, but he said it doesn't them 10% of that.

We recently did our first all inclusive cruise (France with Uniworld on the Rhone) and we did not drink any more than we would have had we been paying for drinks. For us, not a big deal and it would not influence our choice of cruise line.

We have done one cruise with O and really enjoyed the lack of photographers; the lack of aggressive selling of products and services on board; the all adult demographic; the lack of announcements; the overall quality of food, service and accommodations; the smaller number of passengers. We stopped cruising mass market about 8 years ago and now mostly take river cruises but would consider another cruise with O. Windstar, Crystal and Paul Gauguin are other lines that interest us for ocean cruising.

I really like the "no photography" idea as well. On a recent NCL cruise, it got old fast while at dinner. Almost everyday while eating, the photographer was there. I'm not sure if the mood on this is changing, but they took lots of pictures, but I saw people buying VERY FEW. Much much less than I have seen in the past. Pictures were $25, and they must have taken 20 of us during the cruise. We never bought one. These have to cost them at least $0.50 each, so buy one and they make money, but few did.

Another annoyance is the singing/dancing waiters. Not a problem on NCL, but a big annoyance on Carnival and RCL. Hopefully O is a no-dance-zone. :D

Art auctions is another annoyance. Please tell me Park West isn't on board selling Peter Max limited edition prints? :p

I really like the "no photography" idea as well. On a recent NCL cruise, it got old fast while at dinner. Almost everyday while eating, the photographer was there. I'm not sure if the mood on this is changing, but they took lots of pictures, but I saw people buying VERY FEW. Much much less than I have seen in the past. Pictures were $25, and they must have taken 20 of us during the cruise. We never bought one. These have to cost them at least $0.50 each, so buy one and they make money, but few did.

 

Another annoyance is the singing/dancing waiters. Not a problem on NCL, but a big annoyance on Carnival and RCL. Hopefully O is a no-dance-zone. :D

 

Art auctions is another annoyance. Please tell me Park West isn't on board selling Peter Max limited edition prints? :p

No dancing waiters, no cheesy art sales also no obnoxious pool games. Cruising on an O ship is very low key compared to the mass market lines. However, if you enjoy art, there are beautiful art pieces on display on all of the ships, as well as some of Frank Del Rio's personal art collection.