Just booked for next year ..

[jillmoyra]

Hello everyone - just booked for the Rustic Charms cruise on Riviera next year out of Monte Carlo on 12th August. A whole year to look forward to it. We are loyal cruisers but not loyal to any one cruise line. Maybe we should be as we could be missing out on benefits! We have cruised with Oceania before - on Nautica. Last cruise was Celebrity. Interesting to read all the many comments about OBC and drinks packages. Just wondering what to go for. My other half doesn't drink alcohol so is very happy that the soft drinks are included. I drink a little and was expecting the basic package to be good for me but I see, unlike Celebrity, that the basic package is just for drinks with meals and wouldn't cover for a cocktail before dinner or a liqueur after - either (but not both) I may choose to have on holiday. Looking at the current prices it may be best to buy the Premium package. So difficult to work it out. I can buy it just for me can't I? Also, I have read that one can take wine on board and drink it in the restaurants by paying 20 dollar corkage per bottle. That seems a reasonable deal. Do many people do this and is it accepted - or looked down upon?

[PaulMCO]

If you do the drink package -- both people in the cabin have to do this. So in your case it is likely a waste of money.

 

The corkage fee is a good deal. It is $25. After uncorking you can have them store the wine with your cabin number and access it later.

[JimandStan]

If you do the drink package -- both people in the cabin have to do this. So in your case it is likely a waste of money.

 

The corkage fee is a good deal. It is $25. After uncorking you can have them store the wine with your cabin number and access it later.

 

Both people have to take the drinks package if you take it as an Olife Benefit, but if you take the credit and buy the package onboard, one person may purchase it.

[blambition]

May I suggest you take the onboard credit, and once on your cruise decide whether or not you want to buy the drink package for yourself. I believe it is $60 a day to cover any drink that you want, and from how you say you drink it may not even pay for itself! Figuring you may only be drinking two or even three drinks A day even with 18% gratuity it will probably only cost you $30-$45.

I have given this some thought, because we are in the same category as neither my husband nor myself drink very much. I am very content with bottle waters and the coffee drinks.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[LHT28]

not sure if you noticed that the House drink package offer with O Life Choice is just beer & wine at meals

 

I would take the OBC & pay as you or if you drink more than 5 drinks a day the Prestige Package would be a better deal

You have weigh your options then decide

[Flatbush Flyer]

Hello everyone - just booked for the Rustic Charms cruise on Riviera next year out of Monte Carlo on 12th August. A whole year to look forward to it. We are loyal cruisers but not loyal to any one cruise line. Maybe we should be as we could be missing out on benefits! We have cruised with Oceania before - on Nautica. Last cruise was Celebrity. Interesting to read all the many comments about OBC and drinks packages. Just wondering what to go for. My other half doesn't drink alcohol so is very happy that the soft drinks are included. I drink a little and was expecting the basic package to be good for me but I see, unlike Celebrity, that the basic package is just for drinks with meals and wouldn't cover for a cocktail before dinner or a liqueur after - either (but not both) I may choose to have on holiday. Looking at the current prices it may be best to buy the Premium package. So difficult to work it out. I can buy it just for me can't I? Also, I have read that one can take wine on board and drink it in the restaurants by paying 20 dollar corkage per bottle. That seems a reasonable deal. Do many people do this and is it accepted - or looked down upon?

 

 

The $60/day "prestige" package is basically unlimited and includes the 18% tip. Four drinks per day (less if you order double pours - essential with those small jiggers) and you break even.

[jillmoyra]

Thanks so much for your responses! I hope that it is possible for just me to buy a package if I want one when I get on board. I suspect that if you take it as a part of a package then it has to be both of you. Surely, however, that will be ok. What if an adult is sharing a cabin with a child - they wouldn't force them to buy a package. There must be lots of cruisers who don't drink alcohol

[LHT28]

Thanks so much for your responses! I hope that it is possible for just me to buy a package if I want one when I get on board. I suspect that if you take it as a part of a package then it has to be both of you. Surely, however, that will be ok. What if an adult is sharing a cabin with a child - they wouldn't force them to buy a package. There must be lots of cruisers who don't drink alcohol

If you choose a perk from O Life Choice offerings both parties must choose the same perk whether it is the OBC, the Beverage package or the excursions

it is noted in the fine print

 

If you want to BUY either beverage package it will be PP & if only one person want the package that is fine

 

It is really not as complicated as some make out

Edited August 29, 2016 by LHT28

[DrHemlock]

While there's no way to be sure what O's policy will be a year from now when you board your cruise, the policy now is exactly as LHT28 states above. If you want the package for only one of you, then purchase it yourself rather than choosing it as an OLife perk.

 

We just got off the Marina a few days ago. Drinks packages for the remaining days were advertised almost daily in the Currents newsletter, so there is no need to order and pay for it now. You can, indeed, buy it onboard without penalty (assuming O's policy does not change before your cruise).

 

Wait until you sail, then drink as you wish for a day or two and see how much you're spending. If you're under the daily fee for the package, which sounds likely, then stick with your a la carte ordering system. If you find that you're exceeding the daily package fee, then buy the package for the remainder of your cruise. Easy peasy.

[Hawaiidan]

If you do the drink package -- both people in the cabin have to do this. So in your case it is likely a waste of money.

 

The corkage fee is a good deal. It is $25. After uncorking you can have them store the wine with your cabin number and access it later.

 

Paul must be thinking of of another line....No the 2 dont have to get the same or any package..

 

The Prem package is by far a better valus,,, because some good wines are $18 per glass with grat. You can order nice ports that cost $26 a glass...

Very very very easy to spend way more then the 60 cost of the package,,,,, very very easy

 

I now always get it and my wife dosent....no problem

[Caroldoll]

But I do like at least two martinis in the evening. Oceania has a VERY small pour, and then there is the 18% they add on. You should purchase your package on board and get it just for you. Do the Premium package. That way you can have a decent sized drink and not worry. So in short I agree with Jim/Stan and Hawaiidan

[jillmoyra]

You are leading me in to bad ways you lovely people. It just seems a humongous amount of money to spend on drinks.;) Would have been happier if the OBC would have covered the package and the grats but cruise not long enough/cabin not good enough. We will still have a fab time though!

[Hawaiidan]

You are leading me in to bad ways you lovely people. It just seems a humongous amount of money to spend on drinks.;) Would have been happier if the OBC would have covered the package and the grats but cruise not long enough/cabin not good enough. We will still have a fab time though!

 

Drinking $60 a day on O is not hard to do... The OBC for the basic $40 covers only wine and beer at dinner or lunch... no liquors, no nothin extra.

The pours/measures on O are as mentioned are very small... I think 1 oz ve the normal 1.5 oz Thus most of us order a "double" which is only slightly larger than many normal bars. Getting a double bombay sGin or Hendricks gin tonic will cost $25 with tip A Schramsberg Sparkiling wine is $18 a a glass along with the better wines by the glass So it adds up very very fast you will be very suprised A newcastel brown will run $7.75 a bottle

So 1 double gintonic or a martini will be about $25 add one class of Cham and one glass wine and your over $60....

Have 2 cocktails and your at $85 ......Have an after dinner port and your over $100 for the day ( 2 wine 2 cocktails and 1 port..)..

 

AND if you have sea days, the tendency to drink socially rises rapidly....

Hey I was recently in Venice at Hotel Regina and had 2 drinks...$75.00

 

Go your first day and see how fast the numbers roll in... drinks on O are not discount they are top shelf stuff and about what better bars and restaurants in the USA charge..... and cheaper than many London bars I have been to.

[pinotlover]

The regular package is kind of worthless. It's only for wine and beer at lunch and dinner. If you have a port extensive cruise, then you are mostly gone at lunch and get no benefit from that part of the package. Therefore, the $30 must come from wine or beer at dinner. A couple of glasses of the better stuff can get one there, but I've also heard people complain about how the staff sometimes slows down on re-orders for those with that package. The staff picks up pretty quickly on who has which package! I also get the premium package, and along with the wine I bring aboard (and pay corkage on), we are always happy! :D

[Hawaiidan]

The regular package is kind of worthless. It's only for wine and beer at lunch and dinner. If you have a port extensive cruise, then you are mostly gone at lunch and get no benefit from that part of the package. Therefore, the $30 must come from wine or beer at dinner. A couple of glasses of the better stuff can get one there, but I've also heard people complain about how the staff sometimes slows down on re-orders for those with that package. The staff picks up pretty quickly on who has which package! I also get the premium package, and along with the wine I bring aboard (and pay corkage on), we are always happy! :D

 

I too noticed that people on the "basic" package get, shall we say, slower service because its time sensitive.. only while your sitting at the table. My experience is that with the Premium package there is no delay in service and no restriction as to time...

 

On port intensive cruises I would wait to see for either package.

 

However on sea days in warm climes I have seen modest drinkers, without the prem package, sitting about the pool and enjoying life , ring up $150 a day pp bar bills without really trying... Yea..it adds up real fast.

My next few cruises of 20 days, each have 8 to 9 sea days... I am taking the package.

I am a "pragmatic" wine lover, I can enjoy just about any wine on its own merits. Many of the wines on the "wine by the glass, can be found in places like the French Laundry in Napa... You may not like them , but they are not poor in quality... besides wine is made to be drunk and enjoyed not worshiped....

[pinotlover]

Dan;

 

I don't believe the statement concerning drinks " only while you are sitting at the table" is totally accurate. At least it wasn't in 2013.

 

For reference: July 2013, Copenhagen to Stockholm, Marina, Terrace Restaurant, out side of Rostock.

 

We came back medium early from a walk around town and decided for a late lunch (around 2:30ish) at the Terrace. A group sitting next to us on the Terrace deck had been there quite some, probably since opening. Upon getting ready to leave , the cruisers became agitated, with the waiter, because they had been charged for at least a couple rounds of drinks (beer and wine) each. The dining room manager came over to the table and listen to their argument. The manager was very straight forward, the waiter had deemed them to have ended lunch an hour and a half earlier, and since then they were just drinking. The waiter had no way of knowing which package, if any they were on, until he got their cards prior to their departure, and then adjusted/split the bill up. The manager flat out told them, with everyone else to hear, they can not come in at restaurant opening and sit and drink until close on the Standard Package. We could see their face fall, in that it was very evident that was indeed their intentions. They argued that they should be able to drink from the package as long as they "sat at the table"! It wasn't so!

 

I cannot personally account for any current policy that may have occurred since then, and haven't personally seen the situation arise again. But at that time and place, the restaurant manager made the policy very well known.

[Mura]

Pinot,

 

That sounds very similar to an experience we had with a friend on a land trip to Belize back in 1996. They gave us one "free" horseback ride. Our friend booked a second ride thinking it was still free.

 

It was NOT.

 

Mura

[Hawaiidan]

Some times, taking the cheapest or most economical approach to something and then trying to squeeze it to the limit, dosent always work out as the best plan after all and ends up costing far more....

 

 

the Law on unintended consequence in action

[pinotlover]

Just don't believe that Oceania wants those on the Standard Package to consider its restaurants as being Lounge Bars. Can you image the havoc that would occur if several groups decided to camp out for the evening in one of the Specialties, say the Polo Grill, under the guise of using their drinks package as long as they "sat in their seats"? :eek: Those attempting to be cheap occasionally have to be brought to heel.

[Mura]

I have often said here that we aren't interested in the booze package. That's because (1) my husband really doesn't drink and (2) I prefer wines by the bottle, not by the glass. Since DH doesn't drink, we tend not to go to the bars for cocktails.

 

But if we WERE to take a package, it would be the premium one. I don't see any use for a package that gives us drinks only at meal times. But that's me!

 

For the relatively small surcharge between packages, there's no question that we'd take the more expensive one.

 

Mura

[rloke]

Just don't believe that Oceania wants those on the Standard Package to consider its restaurants as being Lounge Bars. Can you image the havoc that would occur if several groups decided to camp out for the evening in one of the Specialties, say the Polo Grill, under the guise of using their drinks package as long as they "sat in their seats"? :eek: Those attempting to be cheap occasionally have to be brought to heel.

 

While I personally would not consider being a lounge lizard in the restaurants with the house select package, it is kind of sad to hear that Oceania would actually "deliberately slow the service down" for folks on the house select package. If I were to be on the house select package, I would at least hope that I could get a glass for my appetizer and another one for my main course.

 

Or do you folks mean "slow service" for refills? And not slow in such a manner that we would not see the sommelier again to order a drink for the main course.

[LHT28]

While I personally would not consider being a lounge lizard in the restaurants with the house select package, it is kind of sad to hear that Oceania would actually "deliberately slow the service down" for folks on the house select package. If I were to be on the house select package, I would at least hope that I could get a glass for my appetizer and another one for my main course.

 

Or do you folks mean "slow service" for refills? And not slow in such a manner that we would not see the sommelier again to order a drink for the main course.

My take away on this is that some people have finished eating but just sit at the table ordering more drinks

I could be mis reading this

Yes of course you can ask for wine with Appy then with the main course then one for dessert/coffee course if that is what you want

I have read the the Sommelier will recommend wines to go with each course if you ask

[rloke]

My take away on this is that some people have finished eating but just sit at the table ordering more drinks

I could be mis reading this

Yes of course you can ask for wine with Appy then with the main course then one for dessert/coffee course if that is what you want

I have read the the Sommelier will recommend wines to go with each course if you ask

 

Nice...that would be my impression of how Oceania usually operates.

 

Just a bit irked by the comments that service slows down for those on the house select package...

[LHT28]

Nice...that would be my impression of how Oceania usually operates.

 

Just a bit irked by the comments that service slows down for those on the house select package...

Since most people do not put their card out until the end of the meal not sure how that works either unless the sommelier know you from another evening

 

We rarely drink wine at dinner but when we have the waiter does not ask for the card until our main course is over

[Hawaiidan]

Since most people do not put their card out until the end of the meal not sure how that works either unless the sommelier know you from another evening

 

We rarely drink wine at dinner but when we have the waiter does not ask for the card until our main course is over

 

O is hip to people dragging out a seating to get more wine or been... You can not zip in the first second they are open and sit till they close.... No way jose.

As was posted elsewhere, the waiter cut off a group dogging it at the table They complained and the manager came over and very loudly informed them that they were clearly not entitled to more because they were dragging out the meal..... The got cut off.

So its clear, after what O considers a reasonable time to dine/eat with the Basic package they will stop service... No joke. They are NOT about to let you park your keester for hours upon hours to keep drinking.... Nope they have that all figured out... dont be suprised after an hour or so... And yes O staff knows that the basic is time sensitive, and its in their best interest to slow don the service and speed up your departure for m the table.