ITGuyMD

As pinotlover said, unless you are looking to buy something that is domestic to Asia, either bring your own or pay for the Premium Bev package. I found the premium bev package was well worth it and everything except for wine was extremely expensive in the ports of Italy and France. I finally broke down on the last night at Polo Grill and paid $20 outside of my bev package for what was maybe a 2 finger pour of Lagavulin 16....when a full 750ml here costs me just $60. In the EU ports that same bottle ranged from 80E-110E.

DW and I just got back from a Mediterranean cruise on Oceania and did 3 of the same ports OP will be visiting:

Marseille - We did a long O excursion to Aix-En-Provence and then a quick Marseille bus tour to the Cathedral Notre Dame De La Garde. Aix-en-Provence was wonderful and well worth it, about 2 hours of walking to see the town and a few churches, time to spend in 2 beautiful open air markets (one crafts, one food), then 2 hours to lunch and shop. The bus took us next on a harrowing path through the streets of Marseille to the Cathedral which overlooks the port. Talk about some insane driving and traffic, but somehow we made it in a bus. We spent about 1.5 hours there, pretty views of the city, but the Cathedral itself was not that spectacular and did not allow photography inside from what I remember. We then had the option of spending about 30 mins (4:30pm) in the main harbor downtown, or telling our tour guide we would make our own arrangements back to the ship. We spent another hour or so shopping the street vendors, visiting the big indoor mall complex, and eating various snacks/treats. If we didn't ditch the bus and stay longer, I never would have discovered Cassis Sorbet, which is amazing! We then walked back to the old fort/embattlement area of the harbor where Oceania was running a shuttle bus (about 10 minute walk from the Ferris Wheel in the middle of the harbor) and that drove another 10 minutes or so to the ship. It was not a long 45 min ride or ugly container area as one person described.

Monte Carlo - Wonderful and tiny city, easily walkable. We tendered in and from where we were dropped off, we were able to walk to the Casino while stopping to snap pictures in about 20 minutes. It is uphill a good portion of the walk, but the weather in Monte Carlo is wonderful and everything is so pretty and well kept. Supercars everywhere and my wife commented that even their construction workers looked like Versace or Prada models. A cardiology center we passed looked like a 5 star hotel. There's some beautiful views overlooking gardens and we got some great pics with Riviera as well. If you want to cab it, I would cab on the way there, then walk downhill on the way back. As for the Grand Casino and Hotel/Café De Paris, I think its worth seeing just for the spectacle and again, the supercars. We had a lovely dejeuner at the Café De Paris that wasn't as expensive as one might expect. The shopping is also worthy for anyone looking into ultra luxury brands, my wife bought a Louis Vuitton Neverfull for considerably cheaper than the US even before the dubious duty-free rebate. We also stayed in port late enough (12am) that many friends we met on the ship went back into town to gamble at the Grand Casino (men need to bring a jacket if they're interested), so if you get dressed up you'll definitely want to cab it. Also, for the very adventurous and spendy, apparently there is a tour that lets you drive supercars for an hour along the Grand Prix course......

Livorno- We also booked the Florence/Pisa excursion through O and really enjoyed it. We spent most of the day in Florence walking and sightseeing, Brunelleschi's Duomo, Santa Croce's square, Pontevecchio, then had about 1.5 hours to eat and shop. This was the only city I felt it was really crowded/claustrophobic enough that you had to worry about pickpockets. We left around 2pm, then drove to Pisa where we had an hour to take pictures of the Leaning Tower and the Square of Miracles and to do some shopping. Plenty of time, you just can't go inside the Cathedral or go to the top of the Tower.

Overall I was really happy with the O tours. The buses were big, clean, super AC'd (compared to the rest of Europe) and the bus drivers were REALLY professionals. The driver in Marseille for example might as well have been a stunt driver. The only downside is when folks are late, walk slowly, or just flat out ignore meeting times and hold the rest of the group up. Very inconsiderate to make so many wait, but that really only happened once, the 2nd time the guide just left them behind and they had to make their own arrangements. But the upside of the big groups is you have a chance to meet some really cool folks on your ship, which is what happened in our case where we ended up spending a lot of time chatting with some folks we met on the 2nd day.

YES

 

The house select is only at meals for Wine/beer

 

 

The prestige package is anytime anywhere

That's correct, however there are liquors like the Limoncello Tasting Flight in Toscana and a selection of single malt Scotch in Polo Grill that are not included in the Premium package that will incur a surcharge. The Sommelier will tell you that your choice isn't covered in the premium package to let you decide if you still want to order, but usually that's not enough to deter the avid imbiber. :)

My personal opinion is that the House Bev Package is not worth it, you're better off buying by the drink at Lunch/Dinner as you'll only really have time for 1-2 glasses per meal. If you drink 4+ drinks a day, the Premium Bev Package is well worth it in my opinion.

can you explain wifi dongle? i know wifi and dongle, but not paired. would you use this on cabin's laptop?

 

thanks!

 

of course, no lightening thingy for my iphone....right?

Hi, sorry I forgot about this post but if you have a laptop, you can buy a USB dongle that is normally a Wi-Fi dongle that can also double as a soft Access Point, ie. instead of a Wi-Fi receiver, it can also be a Wi-Fi transmitter. Then you connect to it using the SSID and WPA2 Key the same way you would connect to your router or an Access Point like Star bucks etc.

It takes some configuration and software installation, but the one I have works wonderfully. The speed is still limited to the speed of your internet (slow on Oceania apparently) but you can connect multiple devices without having to log on/off, just connect the Master Laptop to Oceania's Wi-Fi with the dongle and then any number of number of slave devices can then connect to the broadcasting dongle's SSID.

Here's the one I own, only $13:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704140&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Network+-+Wireless+Adapters-_-N82E16833704140&gclid=CjwKEAjw07nJBRDG_tvshefHhWQSJABRcE-ZTCpQL-wA1bBcUz8S9TNlX0uXbq_7YoGImnd7dMyB-BoCbk7w_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

And here is how you connect to the internet:

http://www.tp-link.com/us/faq-767.html

Crocs to the rescue!!! Unfortunate situation, but that's why one of our carryons is a garment bag with everything even a few pairs of underwear!!!

You forgot #5 - don't worry.

One of the delightful things about Oceania is that it's casual and easy. People will be drawn to your personality more than your clothes!

Unless you're the guy who is so laid back, you try and wear shorts, crocs and a t-shirt and aren't allowed into the dining room to wow everyone with your personality! :D

Good god this is crazy. It's starting to look like the Cunard board with their obsession on dress.

If people really can't figure out what to wear in a nice but casual environment then how do they figure out how to get to the airport, board a flight, and get to the cabin?

 

It's amazing that there are people in the world who are performing brain surgery while others are trying to figure out what to wear on a cruise.

It doesn't look like folks on Cunard are coming back with comments about how disappointed they are in the state of dress on that cruise line though, maybe the fact they have a pretty clear cut dress code and attract cruisers that "obsess" over what they wear has something to do with it!

In any case, this thread has drawn quite a few views and lots of great opinions stated, I know I looked for similar when we finally decided on Oceania (for the itinerary, food, and overall value) and was trying to research the dress code.

Anyways, from what most people have said about O's dress code I've gathered:

• 1) No shorts, no flip-flops/slides, preferably no jeans, no t-shirts/tanktops (on men), no sloppy attire of any kind please in the formal dining rooms and specialties.
  
• 2) Suits, ties, jackets are never required for men. Cocktail dresses for women aren't either. But hey, feel free to class the place up if you like!
  
• 3) Wear what you're comfortable wearing to a nice dinner or restaurant in your home city/town. Business casual is a good place to start, but feel free to add some cruise/vacation flair to those baselines.
  
• 4) When in doubt, take a look at O's marketing material for "aspirational guidance" on what they consider "Country Club Casual" and go down from there!
  

Can one of two devices be used as a blue tooth hot spot whereby the second device can access the internet through the first one without using a second log on? Is that possible?

I plan on bringing a USB wi-fi dongle that doubles as a wi-fi hotspot. They're cheap, like $20 or so and I already had one for awhile. I'm not expecting earthshattering speeds, but the ability to just receive email etc. on multiple devices at once without logging on/off will be worth it.

The office wear is either Capris and sandals with a good pedicure (summer) or jeans and plain closed leather shoes (winter), with the same plain tops.

 

I know the jeans are out for dinner, but still have no idea about what I'm supposed to wear. Is business casual okay for women? West coast business casual, because apparently that's a thing, too.

 

I'm about at the point where I just plan to have dinner delivered every night because it's stressing me the heck out.

Your business casual/conference clothing should be a safe base for dinners, but this is a cruise/vacation, a chance to have some fun with your wardrobe and add some pieces and colors that are out of your work comfort zone. Who knows, maybe you expand your wardrobe to 4 kinds of clothes:

I have three kinds of clothes:

* Don't wear it out of the house

* Wear it to work

* Wear it to conferences

* Wear it for a special occasion or a night on the town

Your office wear sounds like it would be fine for excursions or daytime casual wear, but again, don't be afraid to spice it up a bit!

I think being underdressed or inappropriately dressed tends to stress people out, but no need to fret over it, everyone will end up wearing what they are comfortable wearing within a specific dress code anyways and you've probably given more thought and preparation than most. :)

Two points itguymd:

 

You are correct that the current Oceania market is north of 60. But they (we) are dying off. The new target is not Millenials but baby boomers (dob 46-64) not the much younger generations. The boomers have the time and money to cruise.

Secondly, we still have the geographical variations. Here in the Northwest the Millenials are into t shirts, jeans and fleece. Actually, everyone is. I think your generalization about Millenials is wrong.

 

Robbie

 

 

 

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I'm not sure where I'm off here, Baby Boomers are going to be roughly 50-70, which is right on target for Oceania's roughly 60+ AVG age. Is this the "younger generation" people are referring to? The downside of that conclusion is that most of Oceania's target market is actually what many seem to be complaining about in terms of dress code and it will only get worse for at least a few decades. :D

As for NW Millenials, I'm sure they fall more on the hipster end of the spectrum than the dandy end, but they probably still spend more time grooming their rugged, yet metro, lumberjack bearded look (complete with conditioner and pomade) than previous decades. Still, it is without a doubt the Millenials that have brought style back to a point where clothing actually fits compared to the 70s, 80s, 90s, and as someone caught between those X/Y/Millenial generations, I thank them for it!

News flash folks... As younger 'less socially mature' cruisers enter the O level cruise market, there will be changes to dress and general attire. Case in point, go make a sales call at Amazon. You will experience a virtual carnival like atmosphere of dress, social interaction and yes, even workers or 'associates' in the PC world, leavng and entering 'work' with their dogs and pets. I don't know how they get anything done! Pinotlover nailed it - "Times are changing." Like it or not, it's coming.

 

The point is the younger crowd will replace the current culture to some degree simply due to the evolution of their perception of what is acceptable socially and what is acceptable today in the work place. Many could care less if you or I don't particualrly care for their view of what we consider proper or acceptable. 'Country Club Casual' today, will certainly be different in the coming years.

 

The cruise lines will have to flex as time evolves to accomodate a completely new generation of upper market clientele simply because the younger generations perception of acceptable dress is potentially different. I can say this, it will be interesting to witness... that is if I live long enough! Oh yeah, and one more time... 'Cause every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man... and every guy crazy 'bout a well dressed gal! Well then, maybe there is hope after all! ;)

Sorry as one of the "younger generation" I'm going to have to take issue with that comment. :D

But seriously, is that what is really happening here, relaxed dress codes because of younger generations? The research I've done on Oceania indicates the crowd is generally "older generation" with average cruiser age well north of 60 years of age. The O CEO was even quoted as saying their average age was 67 and their target market was total net worth of $1 million or something to that effect. Has their target demo changed that much in recent years?

Personally, I've seen plenty of the "older generation" that doesn't seem to care about style and appearance and are perfectly happy in their golf attire 24/7/365 with button down short sleeve dress shirts, cargo pants and Crocs, but now I guess I'm overly generalizing. :) Meanwhile, the hipster millenial dandies I see in around the DC metro and I would guess, most large metro cities, are the trendy ones that have been watching too much Mad Men/Suits and leading the current resurgence of style with slimmer cut pants and jackets, pocket squares, moustaches, pomade etc. ie. all the stuff that WASN'T on trend during the fashion backward decades of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

In fact, I'm willing to bet the younger generation that might go on a cruise full of young singles like Celebrity X with more of a party culture make much more of an effort to dress to impress and stay on trend, but that's just my general guess.....

Well ... I'm not sure where to start.

 

For real starters, no one will stare at you if you have a suit and tie, sports jacket, whatever. You seem to be emphasizing the "casual" ... I'm not sure you should. And if I am wrong, I apologize!

 

Casual is nice, that's all. Not too formal, not too informal, and if you want to dress up because it's your anniversary, I don't think anyone will criticize.

 

I remember on our first Renaissance cruise -- also "country club casual" -- we saw a group of 8 who were in formal dress, and we just thought it was charming. I liked seeing them all gussied up even if I didn't want to do so myself.

 

If you are in a restaurant at dinner, you will NOT find yourself in a "sea of jeans" ... unless you are at the buffet where that is fine.

 

If you want to wear your sport jackets, whatever, you really won't be alone.

 

I am reminded of the night some years ago when we shared a table with another couple. He was in a suit and tie. One of his first questions to us was about the dress code! So I informed him that he didn't need the suit and tie. The next night we saw him in one of the specialty restaurants and he was happily without the suit jacket and tie. (He was dressed in case you are curious!)

 

Really, don't obsess about the dress code!

 

Mura

I think we are getting at the same point, when you use the word casual, people have different viewpoints of what casual is and as already mentioned, not everyone belongs to or has experience of country club dress codes. So they fall back to what they think casual is.

I guess that's why formal invitations/events of any kind set dress codes, because they know there's going to be variations of dress no matter what they do, and there's tons of guides that outline this and yet there's still variation.

Formal: you'll have anything from black tie (high), suits (midrange), sportscoats/blazers (lower mid) to slacks/button downs (low)

Cocktail/semi-formal: Same as above, but suits slide up to (high) and you go down from there

Country club/elegant casual: sportscoats become high, slacks button downs (baseline), jeans and whatever people can get away with = new low.

I think the slippery slope begins with jeans, I've seen people comment on it before too, they say hey I paid $200 for these designer jeans, why can't I wear them to dinner? In the end I'm not too worried about it, as I said earlier go to dinner in what you're comfortable wearing, but there's no doubt what each individual chooses to wear overall sets the tone and culture for any cruise liner. So while O may say "Country Club Casual" I think returning cruisers have just as much influence on what that actually means as O. :)

Maybe they should change the wording of the dress code to "elegant casual"

Not everyone belongs to a Country club & if they do different clubs have different dress codes

Or maybe just have a page with photos of what to wear VS what not to wear in the Blue Book ;)

JMO

I think elegant casual would definitely be a good starting point. The funny part of it was I mentioned the O brochures and promo photos where most of the men were wearing jackets, and that's where people started jumping in and saying jackets aren't necessary or expected and that O should update their promo media to reflect that!

I guess the point is, you're going to get a wide range of dress regardless, if you start lower, you're going to get lower with folks pushing the limits.....which many have noticed hits the bottom with jeans, baseball caps, shorts, flip flops etc.

I think this partly - but not entirely - can be explained by the changing demographics on Oceania. There are many first time O cruisers that come from mass market lines where this dress code is acceptable. Not all are members of CC where this topic is discussed and thus they may not be as aware of the dress code on O as those that post here.

JMO.

That may be true but the general vibe I get even from these CC threads is that many of the return cruisers prefer to keep it casual. I personally think that's the biggest problem, is that O's dress code of country club casual is very loose to begin with and enforcement is even more lax. Personally, I think if you start at a "casual" baseline you're going to get a wider range that has a floor of...jeans and hats and whatever else. Even most of the looked-down upon mass market cruises have "formal nights" where guests have the choice to dress up.

I remember even in some of the threads I posted in, people were somewhat surprised with even a discouraging tone when I said I planned to pack a few sports coats/blazers for dinner, and while I'm a first time cruiser on O, I don't mind being the guy that sticks out in a sea of jeans because that's not uncommon for any of the nicer restaurants we go to in our home city. :)

I guess the more long-time/return cruisers dress it up a bit can have a lasting impact on the overall culture on O and set the baseline for newbies. Just a thought. :)

I think the general rule of thumb for "sandals" is something you would wear on the sand/beach is probably not OK, flip flops, slides, fisherman sandals etc. Dressier open toe sandals with heals etc are fine. My wife bought a few pairs just for the trip (MK and RL).

As for the rest of the dress code, I think you'll be fine with anything you would wear to a nice restaurant with entrees in the $30-$60 range. Personally I am planning to pack a couple sports coats/blazers because that's what I wear to nice restaurants when we have dinner dates and cocktails here. No ties, just a few pocket squares. Just wear what you are comfortable wearing imo, I've never felt uncomfortable dressing up or being around folks who dress it down, most places in the DC metro have a wide range of dress attire which makes it interesting!

My wife and I booked a Mediterranean cruise in August of 2017 including air only because it seemed like a good deal. We did not book directly through Oceania and, regrettably, didn't do our homework before booking; the result is it seems we'll get what we get relative to the air. We're in the dark regarding how many stops there will be on the flights between the US and Europe (going and returning home), what carrier we will be flying on, and the time between when the plane arrives vis-?-vis when the ship sails at the beginning of the cruise and the time between when the ship docks at the last port (Barcelona) and when the plane departs Barcelona. We are assuming the air will be "economy" (not a days that probably means some when not in the "main cabin" (?). We were told-- an "oh by the way"--Oceania doesn?t include transfers, so we will fend for ourselves in this regard.

 

We wanted to modify the air travel at the end of the cruise to remain in Barcelona a few days.

When we telephoned the TA we used (and subsequently Oceania), we got the same answer: there will be the deviation fee for each of us plus some "unknown difference" in cost of the Oceania air fare and what we want (which is a flight a few days later). We were told we could amend the booking and not have to pay the deviation fee but this required us to book a hotel in Barcelona through Oceania. When we checked this option it was crazy costly. We have decided to take whatever it is we get and know not to book "air included" in the future.

 

You should really contact Oceania through your TA or directly and start the Air Deviation request process. There is NO DOWNSIDE as you do not get charged until you commit and confirm the dates to your satisfaction.

The process for me exceeded my expectations honestly, I just gave them preferred departure/arrival windows, airports and hard dates on when we were flying in and flying out. There was no non-stop option regardless even on the carrier websites, and only 1 layover on both flights that we got back from O.

Also, no difference in flight cost differential even though we chose to stay 4 nights longer in Rome and flew out on a Sunday instead of a weekday. Very pleased with the process overall, and as I said, a lot of your concerns could've been addressed if you just put in a request and see what they can do for you!

A touch too simple...

What is missing from the equation is what may be lost by using O's air. For example:

Depending on the airline (most of them), you will not be able to use O's fare class to upgrade to business class using your FF points. (And O's cost of upgrade to business class is obscenely expensive).

You may also not accrue any FF points (again depending on airline) associated with the mileage traveled nor will the trip count toward "premier" status levels.

If you use an airline credit card (e.g., United Explorer Visa) for your cruise (including flight cost), you will not get double (or possibly triple) points for purchase of that airline's ticket since it is packaged in an Oceania charge.

For intercontinental travel (e.g., US-Asia), the total "points" at risk could possibly equate to the value of a free domestic round trip ticket.

Of course, this won't work for everyone. But, it remains important to recognize that there are multiple factors to consider beyond the ticket cost.

 

BTW, there are occasions when O's air credit equals/surpasses the retail tix price. Always do the math.

 

 

 

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We looked at booking through Amex but of course the fare increases far outweighed the difference between 3x points offer and standard 1%. We generally don't tie ourselves to any particular airline or airline card for rewards, but we do get FF miles through the various alliances. I've never had any issues getting miles accrued for those even for business travel, they don't really seem to care who/how you paid for the trip and give you credit as long as you bother to provide your FF#.

We're getting points/rewards regardless though since we charged the trip on the Amex, so the difference of $40 or so was nothing compared to the higher rates Amex was quoting over booking directly through the airlines, which were still more than booking through Oceania.

But yes, always do the math and due diligence and see what works best for you!

What about luggage drop-off? I've seen/read there's a luggage holding area you can drop your luggage off and they'll bring it to your room. I wouldn't mind walking around Civitavecchia but not if that means lugging our luggage around.

You do Not have to use their air at all to receive any of the O life benefits....

Jancruz1

Correct, you can pay for the promotional fare, and they will give you an airline credit, but you still end up paying for the Olife benefits.

For my cruise

Olife Promo fare = $5150

Airline credit = $1100

Shipboard credit = $300

Cruise only fare = $3750

So while you could get an airline credit of $1100 if you chose the Olife Promo fare, you still end up paying the $300 for Olife benefit + free internet (1 account).

Generally the Olife benefit is at least as good as what you pay for it ($300 shipboard credit, $400 House Bev package, 3 excursions) but this also varies by cruise.

Included airfare was actually a major consideration for why we decided to cruise Oceania. I compared some open market flights direct with airlines to/from Rome and found the difference in pricing, airfare only credit, and OLife benefit was still the better buy even after the $175 Air Deviation Request. We didn't get the $99 upgrade and I'm not sure how much extra the Business Class upgrade factors in, but for our cruise it looked something like this:

Airfare-excluded

---------------------

$3750 Cruise-Only Fare

$1600 open market Airfare

=========

$5350 cost per person

Airfare-Included

--------------------

$5150 Promo Fare

$175 Air Deviation

($300) Olife Promo cash value

============

$5,025 Cost per person

I guess a simpler way to look at it, is Oceania would give us an $1100 airfare credit if we chose to book our own flights. The difference in the carriers I looked at was roughly $500, so even with a $175 Air Deviation fee per person, it was still better to just go with the Olife and included airfare promo package and get the Air Deviation.

Overall the experience was easy and problem-free, we sent a list of dates/time windows and carriers we preferred to fly through our Oceania TA and they sent us back some times and airlines. There was no fee incurred until we approved and committed to the times. The turnaround for quotes was 1-2 days between Christmas and New Year's Eve, so pretty good speed given it was the holidays.

Whether it makes more sense for your cruise will vary of course where you are flying to/from, but I am sure Oceania also varies the amount of airfare credit in their promo package accordingly.

And they are justifying that additional corkage cost exactly how? Does it take some sort of extra strong corkscrew? Two people? A cork is a cork and people here are lecturing others about "nickel and dimeing" on so-called mass-market cruise ships.

Corkage fees are not uncommon even at nicer restaurants on land that serve wine, I think the idea is mutual benefit and to politely accommodate patrons who want to drink their own wine instead of limiting themselves to the restaurant's selection. Of course the restaurants are going to resist a completely open BYOB policy for numerous reasons, an important one being alcohol/wine is going to be a major source of profit for any nice restaurant.

In the end it is a compromise that satisfies both guest and restaurateur.

here's a link to Bar menus with prices for comparison:

http://www.thepreismans.com/china_japan_menus.htm

Happy Cruising

Thanks for the link, the food pictures are even more helpful than the menus! :)

You are approaching this far too analytically, ITGUY.

It is as simple as this:

Any item which is listed on the Bar Menu is included in the Prestige Package; anything that isn't is only served a la carte.

This is a link to the Bar menu:

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/1694/Waves-Bar-list.pdf

Great thanks! That certainly makes it simple!

Forgive my correction. but there is no "Premium" Package. The basic Package is known as "House Select" and the deluxe Package is known as "Prestige".

 

The House Select Package includes beer and wine in any Restaurant during luncheon and dinner meal times. Room Service lunches and dinners, taken in the cabin, are also included, but the meal must be ordered in tandem with the booze. Bar or Lounge service is specifically excluded from this Package.

 

The Prestige Package includes everything except the highest end Cognacs and most expensive single malts, anywhere on the ship, at any hour when any bar is open on the ship.

Cabin service is included, as is deck service and service in any bar or lounge.

Thanks for the info and that Cognac presentation you posted looks wonderful!

A bit more insight would be appreciated on the Cognac/single malt Scotch tiers if you don't mind.

-I imagine all 10 YO Scotch would be covered, generally in the $30-50 per 750ml price range.

-12-14 YO can be priced in the $50-70 per 750ml range. Are these included in the Prestige as well?

-16-18 YO are usually the $100+ range per 750ml. I imagine these are NOT covered in the Prestige. Do they surcharge you a difference or is it strictly ala carte?

I'm not as familiar with Cognac but I would expect similar price per ml segments to be included ($50 or less per 750ml).

Having cruised on Princess, their pours are small as well. For my husband to have a pre dinner drink would be a triple Scotch. Pretty much paid for the beverage package in one drink.

I don't think I could complain about that! I saw the oceania menu had a number of scotches, some don't seem as If they would be complimentary, any guidelines on free vs. paid Scotches with the premium patckage?

Personally I bought the prestige package for myself since I have no doubt I will get my money's worth. My Wife will do a la carte since she may only do 1-2 drinks at dinner, not even worth the house package.

I guess that's why I didn't pay too much attention to pours, but I will say most US cocktail books call for at least 2 oz. of main spirit with .5-1oz of aperitif or alcoholic mixer, for 2.5-3.5 oz of actual alcoholic beverage. 2/3 for primary and 1/3 for mixer ratios are common.

We will probably bring a few bottles of wine from each port and a bottle of bourbon or two for pre and post-dinner drinks, just in case!