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Drink Package


suni
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Trig to decide if there is value to the drink package. We are sailing on Nautica. We typically would have a glass or two of wine at dinner and on a rare occasion an after dinner drink later in the night. We do not drink during the day. Seems expensive to commit to the drink package. Thoughts?

Edited by suni
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Trig to decide if there is value to the drink package. We are sailing on Nautica. We typically would have a glass or two of wine at dinner and on a rare occasion an after dinner drink later in the night. We do not drink during the day. Seems expensive to commit to the drink package. Thoughts?

 

If you do not drink very much do not buy the package

 

It is a no brainer

 

What I am trying to ask is this:

 

Have you found that you have benefited from the drink package ?

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What I am trying to ask is this:

 

Have you found that you have benefited from the drink package ?

 

personally NO

 

we may have a glass of wine in the cabin some days

we may go to happy hour a couple of times

DH may have a daily G & T

so for us

it is better just pay as you drink

 

YMMD

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What I am trying to ask is this:

 

Have you found that you have benefited from the drink package ?

 

We just came back from a 14 day trip on the Riviera. My wife and I drank as much as we wanted. Our bar bill was 800$ The cost of the drink package for two was about 1680$ so you can see it was of no value to us. I think it depends on what you drink, ours was beer and rack vodka drinks. We had two glasses of "House Brand" sparkling wine in the Italian rest for 25$. My take on that is if you like good wine you could go broke!! Some people say they get it because paying as you go seems tacky to them, that has no effect on me.

Edited by hypercafe
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We just returned from 10 days on Riviera, and certainly broke even, and probably came out ahead. (Note: we bought the Prestige package at the earlier $54.95 price.) It was nice not having to keep signing chits.

 

Neither my wife nor I consider ourselves big drinkers. We can easily go weeks without at home with maybe wine only at a nice dinner or at a restaurant. So in assessing our drink package experience we looked at the per-drink cost rather than the number of drinks. For starters, the $15.50-per glass champagne was very nice. We'd typically have that or Prosecco before dinner, then 2 glasses of wine (@ $ 8-9) with dinner. And because it was vacation, Bailey's or Sambucca after.

 

Another really important thing to bear in mind is that the Prestige package includes the 18% gratuity - and that can really add up.

 

A further variable would be port days vs. sea days. With O's typically port-intensive itineraries, there would be many days when the chance to imbibe wouldn't begin till late in the day. On the other hand, our next O cruise will be Miami to San Francisco with an unusually high number of sea days for O, and I'm thinking of those Bloody Mary's for breakfast......

 

As always, everyone's mileage will vary. Even at the current price, I will do the Prestige package again for our next cruise with all its sea days. If we found ourselves on an itinerary with no sea days at all, we would likely reassess.

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My wife and I will typically have a cocktail before dinner, a couple glasses of wine with dinner, plus we sometimes substitute their dessert wine for a dessert, plus a glass of cognac or brandy afterwards. So on a typical port day, the package is always at least a breakeven, and on sea days it saves us money as we sit around the pool.

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For those who have just returned from Riviera can you give a price for say a G&T and say a frozen cocktail, and a glass of wine with dinner. I think this may then let the person working out the costs easier.

 

From last years cruise I think you needed to have a least six drinks per day to break even. Then again drink prices may have risen in the past twelve months, I notice the drinks package has gone up to $59.99 per day for the ordinary package.

 

Thanks

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For those who have just returned from Riviera can you give a price for say a G&T and say a frozen cocktail, and a glass of wine with dinner. I think this may then let the person working out the costs easier.

 

From last years cruise I think you needed to have a least six drinks per day to break even. Then again drink prices may have risen in the past twelve months, I notice the drinks package has gone up to $59.99 per day for the ordinary package.

 

Thanks

 

Two points:

1) It is the Prestige Package which costs $59.95 per day, the ordinary or "Standard" Package is $39.95.

 

2) I'm a big proponent of the Beverage Packages, but according to the original Post in this thread, Suni is not drinking anywhere near enough to make either one worthwhile. It's not even close enough that the cost of each individual cocktail would come into the equation.

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...

From last years cruise I think you needed to have a least six drinks per day to break even. Then again drink prices may have risen in the past twelve months...

 

I don't think that's true. And as Stan said, the price for the Prestige package is $59.95, not for the standard package.

 

On Riviera, we had the prestige, and we drank what we wanted. I worked my way through the white wines, and then stuck with what I liked best, without thinking about the price. At dinner we had white or red, or even beer, plus after dinner liqueurs. We had cocktails when we wished, and were usually served doubles, and husband had beer whenever he liked. But we did not have six drinks a day. With the 18% added, we probably broke even, or better, although I did not keep track.

Edited by Wendy The Wanderer
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For those who have just returned from Riviera can you give a price for say a G&T and say a frozen cocktail, and a glass of wine with dinner. I think this may then let the person working out the costs easier.

 

From last years cruise I think you needed to have a least six drinks per day to break even. Then again drink prices may have risen in the past twelve months, I notice the drinks package has gone up to $59.99 per day for the ordinary package.

 

Thanks

 

From what I remember a Bud was 7$, a rack Vodka drink was 10$, a double 20$ and two glasses of very cheap wine 25$.

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I think a G & T with Bombay was about $12 with the 18% included with standard gin it was under $10 with the 18% included

 

Average wine prices were about $10-$12

 

I had a drink of the day I think it is about $6 with the tip added

 

If you have 1 or 2 drinks a day the drink package is really not worth it even for the convenience factor

I am not opposed to signing my name on the chit

 

Everyone has different priorities & ways they choose to spend their money ;)

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With breakfast outside on the terrace on a beautiful sunny morning at sea, a spiced-up Bloody Mary seems essential. A cold beer at Waves for lunch with their incomparable Wagyu burgers is a must: as is a frozen drink with an umbrella whilst lying about poolside, or maybe two. Naturally I like to enjoy an Old-Fashioned with my trivia team before dinner. It's nice to have a glass of white with my appetizer and a deep red with my main course and the only really civilized way to finish a good meal is with a generous serving of vintage port with my cheese course. A couple of nightcaps in the Casino Lounge and Horizons later and it's been another day in paradise with Oceania.

 

I like the Prestige package myself.

Edited by S O B
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For me the package does not work

 

Why? Well the length of the cruise is a huge factor. On 10 and 14 day cruises it might be worth it having 6 to 10 drinks a day... So a $1200 to $1400 drinks package ( for 2 total) might be good

 

However, for those taking 21, 28, 34 day cruises. the package could run $3600-4000 ! ..almost 25% of the cruise fare.

Because of the ALL or Nothing I don't think is practical that one could maintain such a heavy drinking schedule for a solid month or more....I mean I could not drink what amounts a gallon of hard liquor a week!! Short trips possible, longer trips...no. Well for me any way.... If you can fine..

 

So the question is really not so much how much you will drink as it is for how long can you drink that much

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With breakfast outside on the terrace on a beautiful sunny morning at sea, a spiced-up Bloody Mary seems essential. A cold beer at Waves for lunch with their incomparable Wagyu burgers is a must: as is a frozen drink with an umbrella whilst lying about poolside, or maybe two. Naturally I like to enjoy an Old-Fashioned with my trivia team before dinner. It's nice to have a glass of white with my appetizer and a deep red with my main course and the only really civilized way to finish a good meal is with a generous serving of vintage port with my cheese course. A couple of nightcaps in the Casino Lounge and Horizons later and it's been another day in paradise with Oceania.

 

I like the Prestige package myself.

 

As Hawaiidan says " how long can anyone keep up a pace like that". Most livers would shut down from such a schedule.

Edited by orchestrapal
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With breakfast outside on the terrace on a beautiful sunny morning at sea, a spiced-up Bloody Mary seems essential. A cold beer at Waves for lunch with their incomparable Wagyu burgers is a must: as is a frozen drink with an umbrella whilst lying about poolside, or maybe two. Naturally I like to enjoy an Old-Fashioned with my trivia team before dinner. It's nice to have a glass of white with my appetizer and a deep red with my main course and the only really civilized way to finish a good meal is with a generous serving of vintage port with my cheese course. A couple of nightcaps in the Casino Lounge and Horizons later and it's been another day in paradise with Oceania.

 

I like the Prestige package myself.

 

I love this post!!! Made me smile.

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So then , my next question is what are Oceanias guidelines about bringing alcohol onboard from a port?

Officially three bottles of wine at embarkation. If you want to drink outside of your stateroom the there is a $25 corkage charge when the bottle is first opened.

 

Unofficially you can bring more wine. Unofficially you can bring other spirits but that must only be consumed in your stateroom.

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As to why people book the expensive ships cruises........ In both cases there is no need for research . You take what is offered and smile.. Many, just like everything cut and dried, packaged and that is worth the price....whatever that might be. It is why guided tours are more popular than independent to many.......... No need go furthur

Edited by Host Tyler
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As to why people book the expensive ships cruises........ In both cases there is no need for research . You take what is offered and smile.. Many, just like everything cut and dried, packaged and that is worth the price....whatever that might be.

 

Do you honestly feel that is why people book those ships? When we are spending a significant amount on a cruise, we are not foolish enough to go into it blindly. Research is a priority.

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Do you honestly feel that is why people book those ships? When we are spending a significant amount on a cruise, we are not foolish enough to go into it blindly. Research is a priority.

 

We have virtually the same cruise history as you do, and you know as well as I do that some people with whom you've had cocktails on those ships were delightful and informed, while others were, there are no other words for it, obtuse and entitled.

 

Not everyone is interested enough in the World around them, to do research.

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We have virtually the same cruise history as you do, and you know as well as I do that some people with whom you've had cocktails on those ships were delightful and informed, while others were, there are no other words for it, obtuse and entitled.

 

Not everyone is interested enough in the World around them, to do research.

 

I continue to be amazed by the truth of your last sentence which applies to cruises and tours at all price points. While a few are ignorant of the idea that they could do research, many just do not care so I wonder why they are traveling at all. Sadly they will not be insulted by these messages because they are not reading this anyway. And yes, I have noticed that the same questions are asked over and over again by newer researchers but I am not the only one who reads and comments when these questions are asked yet again.

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I continue to be amazed by the truth of your last sentence which applies to cruises and tours at all price points. While a few are ignorant of the idea that they could do research, many just do not care so I wonder why they are traveling at all. Sadly they will not be insulted by these messages because they are not reading this anyway. And yes, I have noticed that the same questions are asked over and over again by newer researchers but I am not the only one who reads and comments when these questions are asked yet again.

 

Sometimes I smile when I read questions that have a history of being asked a lot. Then I remember when we first started cruising and how amazed I was by the whole experience. Many years later I'm still amazed, and research and planing is half the fun!

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and I am smiling reading this thread -- I (in my "other" life) am also a Destination Expert on Trip Advisor. Same thing happens over there. People ask the same question over and over again without bothering to look it up to see if it has already been answered. Either they think they have some original or (more likely) are too lazy to make the effort.

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