Prestige Bev Package

[ITGuyMD]

I was told by Oceania that if you took the O-Life beverage package perk, either person in the cabin could upgrade to the Prestige. The other person did NOT have to upgrade.

That is correct, however you both have to take the base bev package and then upgrade from that. You are better off just taking onboard credits and paying for a prem. Bev package with it then going ala carte for the other person but it really varies by itinerary and drinking habits. Personally beer and wine at lunch and dinner only (we had lunch onboard once on the sea day) is not even worth paying for or forsaking the onboard credit for.

[St Paul Girl]

That is correct, however you both have to take the base bev package and then upgrade from that. You are better off just taking onboard credits and paying for a prem. Bev package with it then going ala carte for the other person but it really varies by itinerary and drinking habits. Personally beer and wine at lunch and dinner only (we had lunch onboard once on the sea day) is not even worth paying for or forsaking the onboard credit for.

Well said. We took the 8 included tours as for our 21 day cruise, it saved us $1300 on tours. I don't drink alcohol but my other half will most likely buy the Prestige package on board. We have more OBC from our TA, he will decide on the first or second day of the cruise. Most likely he will buy as his daily scotch is at least 3 oz of a single malt and a couple of glasses of wine.

[ChucktownSteve]

You are better off just taking onboard credits and paying for a prem. Bev package with it then going ala carte for the other person but it really varies by itinerary and drinking habits. .

 

I've been trying to see how your suggestion would work on our three cruises and am having difficulty seeing it. Correct me if I'm wrong please (this excludes the guy from NYC)

 

On a 10 day we would receive $600 OBC but that would be taken up totally by the Prestige package for one person. Then all drinks for the other person are real $$.

 

If we select the beverage package then the upgrade for one person would be $200 and the other person drinks at no extra charge at lunch and dinner.

 

We also have a 14 night and a 16 night and those numbers appear to be worse not taking the beverage package.

 

14 nights gets $800 OBC and the Prestige pkg costs $840. The upgrade for one person is $280. 16 night gets $800 OBC but the Prestige pkg is $960 for one person. The upgrade for one person is $320.

 

It appears taking the beverage perk is the better option for us instead of the OBC. Am I missing something?

[MarkieMarkNYC]

Math is hard.

[ChucktownSteve]

Math is hard.

Apparently so is being a decent person. I'm glad not everyone from New York are jerks. But you must be striving to be the biggest troll.

Edited July 29, 2017 by ChucktownSteve

[ORV]

I've been trying to see how your suggestion would work on our three cruises and am having difficulty seeing it. Correct me if I'm wrong please (this excludes the guy from NYC)

 

On a 10 day we would receive $600 OBC but that would be taken up totally by the Prestige package for one person. Then all drinks for the other person are real $$.

 

If we select the beverage package then the upgrade for one person would be $200 and the other person drinks at no extra charge at lunch and dinner.

 

We also have a 14 night and a 16 night and those numbers appear to be worse not taking the beverage package.

 

14 nights gets $800 OBC and the Prestige pkg costs $840. The upgrade for one person is $280. 16 night gets $800 OBC but the Prestige pkg is $960 for one person. The upgrade for one person is $320.

 

It appears taking the beverage perk is the better option for us instead of the OBC. Am I missing something?

 

My math works like yours.

[MarkieMarkNYC]

I think you forgot to carry the 3.

[Chris86]

I've been trying to see how your suggestion would work on our three cruises and am having difficulty seeing it. Correct me if I'm wrong please (this excludes the guy from NYC)

 

On a 10 day we would receive $600 OBC but that would be taken up totally by the Prestige package for one person. Then all drinks for the other person are real $$.

 

If we select the beverage package then the upgrade for one person would be $200 and the other person drinks at no extra charge at lunch and dinner.

 

We also have a 14 night and a 16 night and those numbers appear to be worse not taking the beverage package.

 

14 nights gets $800 OBC and the Prestige pkg costs $840. The upgrade for one person is $280. 16 night gets $800 OBC but the Prestige pkg is $960 for one person. The upgrade for one person is $320.

 

It appears taking the beverage perk is the better option for us instead of the OBC. Am I missing something?

 

In my case the first 5 days are intense port days (including overnight) so only need the bev pacakage for the last 5 days.

 

In this case it works in our favour to take obc. Since 5 days on the prestige is 300usd. We have another 300usd to use for ala carte drinks for the two of us. (We will not drink much the first 5 days) then my partner can use the rest for drinks on the last 5 days.

 

We will also receive an extra 100usd onboard since we are buying a future cruise certificate. We will use this for a spa treatment. Assuming the above we should only run over by 50 to 100 usd onboard.

[Caroldoll]

We do Oceania mostly. TC is absolutely correct. The drinks they pour are SMALL. Very small. You can upgrade your O-Life package on board for $20 a day, I believe. This is worth it in my opinion and we do not drink heavily. Also, if you are cruising in a port where there is a VAT tax, Spain, Italy, etc., they will add that plus the 18%. Also if you start in Italy, I believe, not positive, they will add the VAT as well.

[ITGuyMD]

I've been trying to see how your suggestion would work on our three cruises and am having difficulty seeing it. Correct me if I'm wrong please (this excludes the guy from NYC)

 

On a 10 day we would receive $600 OBC but that would be taken up totally by the Prestige package for one person. Then all drinks for the other person are real $$.

 

If we select the beverage package then the upgrade for one person would be $200 and the other person drinks at no extra charge at lunch and dinner.

 

We also have a 14 night and a 16 night and those numbers appear to be worse not taking the beverage package.

 

14 nights gets $800 OBC and the Prestige pkg costs $840. The upgrade for one person is $280. 16 night gets $800 OBC but the Prestige pkg is $960 for one person. The upgrade for one person is $320.

 

It appears taking the beverage perk is the better option for us instead of the OBC. Am I missing something?

Sorry didn't get the notification but deciding which benefit to take will definitely vary by person, cruise and itinerary. Also, I shouldn't have said just take the OBC, in our case we actually took the free 6 excursions which came out to a higher dollar value and also happened to be the 3 main cities/ports we felt we would need a guided excursion. We did a 10-day so it made more sense for us to just pay the $600 for my premium package and then pay as we went for my wife since we knew we would rarely do lunch on the ship and 1-2 glasses of wine at dinner hardly seemed worth foregoing either OBC or the excursions (which came out closer to $1000 in retail value).

 

I guess we looked at it this way:

 

Olife Bev Package value = $400x2 + $200x1 to upgrade to premium. The normal bev package was basically useless to me (I drink beer at bbqs and wine at dinner, but always prefer cocktails and spirits when available), so we would have to spend $200 no matter what to upgrade me. We felt the $200 would be better spent on whatever my wife wanted to drink wherever she wanted to drink, she basically had a $200 bar tab and we used about $60 of that on a bottle of wine that lasted her most of the trip at dinner. She had a few other cocktails, but overall we did much better by not taking the free Bev package, which imo, is worth much less than the face value of $400, while the Premium Bev Package is probably undervalued if you drink 4-5 doubles a night and drink mostly cocktails or spirits.

 

The OBC is basically same as cash, so face value is face value, and that's also probably why the face value is the lowest.

 

The excursions imo offered the "best value" provided you are willing to live with the non-exclusive nature of a large tour bus and group. While their actual value is probably higher than face value (many seem to find similar private excursions for 4-6 people at the $100-150 range), these O arrangements take almost no effort on your part and I actually felt they were really good as long as the itinerary matched your interests. We didn't want to deal with the hassle of arranging private tours and we were travelling as just a couple with no other friends/relatives, so the total dollar amount of our 6 free tours made the most sense instead of spending ~$1000 out of pocket or having to pay surcharges for more excursion options.

 

Going back to your case, it will still depend on how much the other person plans to drink and when they plan to drink. Combined with the frequent 2-for-1 happy hours and after-show special on Horizons, if one person in your party is only doing 1-2 drinks a night, you may still be better off taking OBC or taking the free excursions.

 

"14 nights gets $800 OBC and the Prestige pkg costs $840. The upgrade for one person is $280." To me, if only one person is interested in the Prestige package, this is $240 out of pocket you could use on the other person to buy whatever they want. 2 bottles for dinner that follow you around and another $120 or so for cocktails/wine whenever.

 

"16 night gets $800 OBC but the Prestige pkg is $960 for one person. The upgrade for one person is $320." This is definitely a tougher call since the OBC didn't increase, but you are still looking at roughly $160 difference to buy what you like. Also it would depend on itinerary, if you are port heavy or sea day heavy. If you are sea day heavy, my advice if you plan to drink would be to take the bev packages and upgrade them since relaxing by the pool and drinking whatever you prefer is a great way to pass the time. Definitely weigh all variables and make the right decision for you, your travel companion based on itinerary and Olife perks offered!

 

Last benefit of buying the Prestige Package outright is it gives you a 20% discount for La Reserve, was about $25 for the Odyssey tasting dinner we enjoyed, and definitely worth it!!! I don't believe it applies if you take the Olife + upgrade. Not something I would base my decision off of unless you did La Reserve a lot, but the discount is there!

[ChucktownSteve]

It makes sense for your numbers. The 16 day is Panama Canal. The 14 day is NY to London. The ten day is Alaska. All drinking cruises in my book. [emoji481][emoji485][emoji485][emoji108][emoji3]

 

I just arrived in Edinburgh to board the Azamara Journey tomorrow. Then I'll have something to compare the next O cruises. My account asked me what I was saving my money for but I couldn't answer him so I guess I'm spending it LOL

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[ORV]

Sorry didn't get the notification but deciding which benefit to take will definitely vary by person, cruise and itinerary. Also, I shouldn't have said just take the OBC, in our case we actually took the free 6 excursions which came out to a higher dollar value and also happened to be the 3 main cities/ports we felt we would need a guided excursion. We did a 10-day so it made more sense for us to just pay the $600 for my premium package and then pay as we went for my wife since we knew we would rarely do lunch on the ship and 1-2 glasses of wine at dinner hardly seemed worth foregoing either OBC or the excursions (which came out closer to $1000 in retail value).

 

I guess we looked at it this way:

 

Olife Bev Package value = $400x2 + $200x1 to upgrade to premium. The normal bev package was basically useless to me (I drink beer at bbqs and wine at dinner, but always prefer cocktails and spirits when available), so we would have to spend $200 no matter what to upgrade me. We felt the $200 would be better spent on whatever my wife wanted to drink wherever she wanted to drink, she basically had a $200 bar tab and we used about $60 of that on a bottle of wine that lasted her most of the trip at dinner. She had a few other cocktails, but overall we did much better by not taking the free Bev package, which imo, is worth much less than the face value of $400, while the Premium Bev Package is probably undervalued if you drink 4-5 doubles a night and drink mostly cocktails or spirits.

 

The OBC is basically same as cash, so face value is face value, and that's also probably why the face value is the lowest.

 

The excursions imo offered the "best value" provided you are willing to live with the non-exclusive nature of a large tour bus and group. While their actual value is probably higher than face value (many seem to find similar private excursions for 4-6 people at the $100-150 range), these O arrangements take almost no effort on your part and I actually felt they were really good as long as the itinerary matched your interests. We didn't want to deal with the hassle of arranging private tours and we were travelling as just a couple with no other friends/relatives, so the total dollar amount of our 6 free tours made the most sense instead of spending ~$1000 out of pocket or having to pay surcharges for more excursion options.

 

Going back to your case, it will still depend on how much the other person plans to drink and when they plan to drink. Combined with the frequent 2-for-1 happy hours and after-show special on Horizons, if one person in your party is only doing 1-2 drinks a night, you may still be better off taking OBC or taking the free excursions.

 

"14 nights gets $800 OBC and the Prestige pkg costs $840. The upgrade for one person is $280." To me, if only one person is interested in the Prestige package, this is $240 out of pocket you could use on the other person to buy whatever they want. 2 bottles for dinner that follow you around and another $120 or so for cocktails/wine whenever.

 

"16 night gets $800 OBC but the Prestige pkg is $960 for one person. The upgrade for one person is $320." This is definitely a tougher call since the OBC didn't increase, but you are still looking at roughly $160 difference to buy what you like. Also it would depend on itinerary, if you are port heavy or sea day heavy. If you are sea day heavy, my advice if you plan to drink would be to take the bev packages and upgrade them since relaxing by the pool and drinking whatever you prefer is a great way to pass the time. Definitely weigh all variables and make the right decision for you, your travel companion based on itinerary and Olife perks offered!

 

Last benefit of buying the Prestige Package outright is it gives you a 20% discount for La Reserve, was about $25 for the Odyssey tasting dinner we enjoyed, and definitely worth it!!! I don't believe it applies if you take the Olife + upgrade. Not something I would base my decision off of unless you did La Reserve a lot, but the discount is there!

 

Good post, the biggest takeaway for me is that each person or couple needs to assess each cruise as it applies to their situation. We usually take either the excursions or the beverage package and then upgrade it, but not always on the first day. It depends on the itinerary. We both drink a bit, get quite of bit of OBC due to loyalty level and also have grats paid due to loyalty level.

 

If you're paying grats out of your OBC or pocket then it's a different set of circumstances. If you're not at least bronze then you have to take that into account also on amount of OBC available for you to spend.

 

My favorite choice was a SA cruise that gave us all three Olife options. You don't see those very often.

[pinotlover]

Oh, but the math can even be more complicated. We have always taken or now upgraded to the Premium Package. However, we have an upcoming 10 day cruise, with only one day at sea. So nearly zero pre happy hour drinks. Plus, of the 10 evenings aboard, two dinners are booked at LaReserve , plus one special wine Dinner some of us are doing in Privee. Now we are down to seven dinners. So, for the first time we are taking the ship OBC, along with more from our TA, and paying by the drink. Happy hour, with 2fers, and free drinks at the various receptions, will actually mean something this cruise and everything not being just bib . It'll be an interesting experiment.

[janecambridge]

Part of our booking deal is Prepaid gratuities,Will this cover the bar grats?

[LHT28]

Part of our booking deal is Prepaid gratuities,Will this cover the bar grats?

NO

PPG are for Housekeeping & wait staff

Any alcoholic drinks there is an 18% gratuity added to each drink

If you have the Beverage package it is included in the package price

[ORV]

Part of our booking deal is Prepaid gratuities,Will this cover the bar grats?

 

No, just the daily amounts. I think it's around $23 per person a day for a suite and $16 pp a day for others.

 

It doesn't cover grats in Canyon Ranch nor La Reserve either.

[maccrate]

Question about wines on the Prestige Bev Package. Are all wines served by the glass as part of this package, or could you get a bottle to take back to your room?

 

Thanks.

[ITGuyMD]

Question about wines on the Prestige Bev Package. Are all wines served by the glass as part of this package, or could you get a bottle to take back to your room?

 

Thanks.

Only by the glass but you do have an option to buy a wine package, there are restrictions that I don't remember the particulars of but it did not seem like a great deal.

 

I feel at that point you are better off bringing your own wine onboard especially in a wine rich itinerary and then either drinking in your room or paying corkage fees in public areas.

[Rome2016]

Can you have a glass of wine or a drink from Prestige Pkg ...ordered to your room ???

[pinotlover]

Do you have a Butler?

 

Otherwise, it's regular room service. Might get terribly thirsty waiting for it to show up! But you can order drinks from room service.

[ITGuyMD]

Can you have a glass of wine or a drink from Prestige Pkg ...ordered to your room ???

Yes you can but I found it faster to just walk to a bar

[kreastman]

If you have the package and a butler and are dining in your cabin, do you just call him each time you want another glass of wine?

[pinotlover]

A smart Butler will bring you a couple at a time, which is different from room service. Remember that Butler has a number of other cabins he's tending to and won't be running back and forth to the bar bringing you single drinks!

 

Let me add that cabin dining in the the perfect time to have that bottle you carried on. The Butler will open it for you and provide the proper glassware.

[capegirl]

With prestige package can one order a bottle of wine at dinner or have to have a long wait for the sommellier to refill glasses! We get very thirsty!

[LHT28]

With prestige package can one order a bottle of wine at dinner or have to have a long wait for the sommellier to refill glasses! We get very thirsty!

The package deal is "wine by the glass"

You are free to order a bottle of wine for a fee or

 

bring your own bottle & pay the corkage fee

 

They do have a 7 bottle package that is about $47.50 per bottle ...you will find the list in your cabin when you board

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/experience/value/wine-packages/