Review Mediterranean cruise on Oceania Riviera 5-12 August 2015

[BritishLandS]

Thank you for posting this review. We are about to embark Rviera for a 12 day trip. The tax on drinks is most confusing. We do like a bottle of wine and the odd cocktail but don't want to drink ourselves stupid on a beverage package. If it had been thrown in as an incentive it would have been welcomed but to buy it seems a bit tacky!

 

How many bottles of wine can you bring onboard? And what about spirits to drink in the cabin? Also bit of silly question but do they provide bathrobes? Oh, and how dressy is the cocktail party?

 

Thank you!

[LHT28]

Yes But how are the taxes assessed and how does the cruise line calculate payments, Having investigated further it seems tax is only payable on a return trip to a Spanish port or in Spanish territorial waters.

According to Travel weekly it should be 8% not 10%.

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Insights/On-Europe-cruises-getting-acquainted-with-VAT

The article is a yr old they probably upped the tax since it was paying so well ;)

[LHT28]

How many bottles of wine can you bring onboard? And what about spirits to drink in the cabin? Also bit of silly question but do they provide bathrobes? Oh, and how dressy is the cocktail party?

 

Thank you!

 

 

as many as you can carry if you take wine to the dining venues you pay $25 corkage fee per bottle

 

Spirits you can take to drink in your cabin ..no problem

 

Yes there are bathrobes

 

Cocktail party

Dress nicely & you will be fine ..no shorts , T shirts or bathrobes please

[Mura]

Deleted -- Lyn beat me to it.

 

Mura

Edited August 23, 2015 by Mura

[rallydave]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_waters

 

 

 

DON'T BUY ANYTHING ABOARD UNTIL YOU ARE OUTSIDE THE 12 MILE LIMIT !!!

 

This might be the answer

 

 

That won't work in some cases. Only way to know is to ask the purser how they will charge yo after you board. There are many different descriptions if you google the subject and different variances depending on your ports and depending on how your cruise line interprets the rules and not only Spain but Italy charges vat as well so quite a few ways to collect the tax and don't think 12 miles is one of the considerations

[BritishLandS]

Thanks for the advice!

[Flatbush Flyer]

Thank you for posting this review. We are about to embark Rviera for a 12 day trip. The tax on drinks is most confusing. We do like a bottle of wine and the odd cocktail but don't want to drink ourselves stupid on a beverage package. If it had been thrown in as an incentive it would have been welcomed but to buy it seems a bit tacky!

 

 

 

How many bottles of wine can you bring onboard? And what about spirits to drink in the cabin? Also bit of silly question but do they provide bathrobes? Oh, and how dressy is the cocktail party?

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

To break even on the prestige beverage package, there's no need to "drink yourselves stupid." The $60/day includes the 18% gratuity. So, if you drink the better spirits and better wines-by-the-glass, you're talking about an average of four drinks per day.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Flatbush Flyer

[PSULion]

To break even on the prestige beverage package, there's no need to "drink yourselves stupid." The $60/day includes the 18% gratuity. So, if you drink the better spirits and better wines-by-the-glass, you're talking about an average of four drinks per day.

 

There always seems to be a trend among non-drink package buyers that ANYONE that buys the drinks package must be a raging alcoholic and the package buyers are going to ruin the cruise and turn it into Carnival. I agree, 4-6 (perhaps a few more for me :) drinks a day makes it well worthwhile). I plan on purchasing it with OBC in December.

 

John R.

Edited August 24, 2015 by PSULion

[NewbieCruiserNL1234]

Thank you so much for your review. My husband and I (mid thirties) are trying to decide between 2 cruises now:

1. Oceania Riviera with the following ports:

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy, Amalfi/Positano, ItalyCatania, ItalyArgostoli (Cephalonia), GreeceKotor, MontenegroSplit, CroatiaKoper, SloveniaVenice, ItalyVenice, Italy

2.Celebrity Reflection with the following ports:

Civitavecchia, , IT, Messina, , IT, Valletta, , MT, Mikonos, , GR ,Rhodes, , GR ,Santorini, , GR ,Athens, , GR ,Naples, , IT, Civitavecchia, , IT

We are struggling to decide. We really enjoy food - and the restaurants look terrific on the Oceania and we really like that they are included in the price. I haven't heard of some of the ports on this cruise though. I am sure they are beautiful, it just makes me nervous to not go to see the sites I expected to see on a Mediterranean Cruise.

I am a bit nervous about the food on the celebrity and they fact that the specialty restaurants are additional charges. I am unsure what kind of cost for food we will be looking at in addition to the cruise.

We like to have a few drinks on vacations and would likely get the drink package on either cruise. Did you find selection better on one cruise vs. the other?

Would you have any tips or suggestions? Have you been to any of the ports? Are you able to tell me what you thought of the celebrity food?

Sorry for all the questions !

Thanks!!

[travellerin1984]

Hi!

 

Sorry I haven't answered before, have been busy. I think both cruises sound really interesting. Reflection has some very nice ports: Santorini and Mykonos are really beautiful. Athens, Rome and Naples have some of the biggest tourist attractions in the Mediterranean. I think Oceanias ports are really nice too, more laid back. Venice is definitely a highlight, Kotor too. It depends if you want to do a lot sightseeing and see the monuments or if you want to walk around and feel the smaller places without too much stress and long days.

 

When it comes to food Oceania is better but we like Celebritys dining too. If you can afford Aqua class on Celebrity do that, it is really nice. You can eat at the specialty restaurants couple of times during the cruise, it is possible to get 20-50% discounts so it is not that expensive.

 

When it comes to cocktails and wine we actually prefer Celebritys premium package. The biggest difference is the atmosphere. We felt that on Oceania the bars were empty after 9PM so you didnt feel like staying up at the bars. We went to bed 10.30 PM every night. Celebrity has more things to do and younger crowd. We dont stay up that late but enjoy looking at people and shops and taking a walk and just relax after the dinner. That is much nicer on Celebrity. So if you mostly like to eat dinner and go to bed choose Oceania but if you like to socialize or dance choose Celebrity.

 

By the way, I really liked the outdoor pool on Oceania. Celebrity outdoor pools are always really crowded!

 

Enjoy your cruise! :)

[LHT28]

We felt that on Oceania the bars were empty after 9PM so you didnt feel like staying up at the bars. We went to bed 10.30 PM every night.

Enjoy your cruise! :)

Gosh I guess the Med cruises on O are very boring :eek:

 

guess we will stick to the Northern Europe & Caribbean cruises where people stay up past 9pm & the bars are busier later in the evenings ;):evilsmile: