New to O, have some questions, appreciate any help

[BigNance]

On 1/23/2019 at 3:27 PM, NoWhiners said:

 

OMG, this is a real thing??? I feel my normal salad for lunch slipping away....

Yes. And you Do want to order it. 

More than once. 

And order a fresh made fruit smoothie while you are waiting mmmmm

a little tot of dark rum in the smoothie is an excellent lunch accompaniment

n

[victory2020]

On ‎1‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 8:37 PM, NoWhiners said:

 

yes, I did see that many people brought their own wine on but it wasn't clear how much or if they were paying a corkage fee. I just read Oceania's new policy, which now says we can bring 6 bottles on  In the past, on other lines, we just brought wine on from a port, left it in our backpack and it was fine. Just not sure what to expect from O, so trying to get our bearings.

 

And I agree about bringing glasses of wine to the dining room, we've seen that a lot on past cruises. We won't be doing that 

 

thanks

So you can't buy a glass of wine in a bar & bring it into dinner?

[Mura]

Sure you can.  This discussion concerns wine that you have brought on board yourself.  In that case, to take it to dinner you would need to pay the corkage fee.  The point is that wine you have brought on board that you purchased elsewhere is intended for consumption in your room, not in a public venue. 

 

Not sure if I've clarified the question for you!

[victory2020]

15 minutes ago, Mura said:

Sure you can.  This discussion concerns wine that you have brought on board yourself.  In that case, to take it to dinner you would need to pay the corkage fee.  The point is that wine you have brought on board that you purchased elsewhere is intended for consumption in your room, not in a public venue. 

 

Not sure if I've clarified the question for you!

Yes, you have. It appears though, that if I carry in a glass of wine I will be looked down upon - they don't know if I got the wine from a bar or my room.

[Paulchili]

6 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

Yes, you have. It appears though, that if I carry in a glass of wine I will be looked down upon - they don't know if I got the wine from a bar or my room.

They do - the wine glasses are different 

They also like to treat their customers as responsible adults that obey the rules.

[pinotlover]

Incorrect, the servers do know. The glassware provided in your cabin is totally different from the glassware utilized in the bars and dining venues. Likewise, Housekeeping swipes up any and all empty bar type glasses daily from the cabins. Walking into any venue with a cabin glass is immediately detectable not only by the staff but likewise by one’s fellow cruisers! Expect a bit of scorn when one is seated at a sharing table for dinner while they’re obviously carrying a cabin glass full of wine

 

So to be a low life and cheat the system, one would have to buy a glass of wine from a bar or dining venue, then take it back to the cabin for refills. Unless they enjoy drinking from dirty glassware, they’d have to do that daily otherwise that wineglass would get fairly grungy after a short while. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by pinotlover

[ORV]

3 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Incorrect, the servers do know. The glassware provided in your cabin is totally different from the glassware utilized in the bars and dining venues. Likewise, Housekeeping swipes up any and all empty bar type glasses daily from the cabins. Walking into any venue with a cabin glass is immediately detectable.

 

So to be a low life and cheat the system, one would have to buy a glass of wine from a bar or dining venue, then take it back to the cabin for refills. Unless they enjoy drinking from dirty glassware, they’d have to do that daily otherwise that wineglass would get fairly grungy after a short while. 

It has been my experience that housekeeping will not touch any glass if it has liquid still in it. I've learned if I want them to take a glass away that I need to completely empty it. This goes for glasses I've got in bars all over the ship. 

 

Apparently the practice is not to take away a drink that a guest might still be drinking. 

[pinotlover]

ORV;

 

Disagree on two aspects. Housekeeping does clean up the cabin during the morning. So if a glass of wine, bubbly, or cocktail is left unfinished sitting in the cabin during the day, it’s cleared away. One doesn’t come back from a shore tour and find that partial glass of wine or martini still sitting on the night stand from the night before. So leaving a small amount of wine in your glass will not allow you to keep the bar glass.

 

 

[victory2020]

OK, I'm a rule follower, almost to a fault & obey all cruise etiquette, but I don't want the rule police to nab me if I run up the stairs in a bathrobe to the spa. I hope Oceana is not that type of cruise line.

Edited January 28, 2019 by victory2020

[pinotlover]

LOL. !

 

You’d have to get in line to be nabbed for that! People often go to the Spa and the swimming pool in their bathrobe.

[ORV]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

ORV;

 

Disagree on two aspects. Housekeeping does clean up the cabin during the morning. So if a glass of wine, bubbly, or cocktail is left unfinished sitting in the cabin during the day, it’s cleared away. One doesn’t come back from a shore tour and find that partial glass of wine or martini still sitting on the night stand from the night before. So leaving a small amount of wine in your glass will not allow you to keep the bar glass.

 

 

Hmm, I don't know what happened to my post. 

 

I was saying we'll have to agree to disagree. My experience has been the opposite. On my previous cruises if any liquid is left in the glass they haven't picked it up at the morning cleaning, once I dump it they disappear. It certainly isn't my first rodeo on this. 

[LHT28]

IME  if I have  a drink  in the Grand Bar (O class)  & head to the GDR with a part glass of wine  a waiter will usually take it to the GDR with me  then it is handed to the water that escorts you to the table

but it may not always happen to others

[pinotlover]

Lyn’s service is mostly reserved for the elegant attractive ladies. We scruffy old guys rarely get that type of attention! 😂

[NoWhiners]

15 hours ago, BigNance said:

Yes. And you Do want to order it. 

More than once. 

And order a fresh made fruit smoothie while you are waiting mmmmm

a little tot of dark rum in the smoothie is an excellent lunch accompaniment

n

 

That sounds like a great combo. Can you get the rum right at the smoothie place or do you have to go to a bar and get it?

[Mura]

I'm a big fan of the smoothies ... whenever we have lunch at Waves I get one.  Or two.

 

Never thought of ordering a shot of rum -- but the bar is right around the corner.  It shouldn't be a problem to get an injection into the smoothie.

 

Mura

 

 

[NoWhiners]

43 minutes ago, Mura said:

Never thought of ordering a shot of rum -- but the bar is right around the corner.  It shouldn't be a problem to get an injection into the smoothie.

 

I wouldn't have thought of that either, so it's a great suggestion by BigNance! Maybe get the shot first and take it to the smoothie place? This is all new to me, so I am unsure of the correct protocol 

[Heartfelttraveler]

Are the six bottles of alcohol that are included with the Oceania Suite for in room consumption only?  Or can they be carried into dining venues?

[BigNance]

7 hours ago, NoWhiners said:

 

I wouldn't have thought of that either, so it's a great suggestion by BigNance! Maybe get the shot first and take it to the smoothie place? This is all new to me, so I am unsure of the correct protocol 

I always got the smoothie first, but, I don’t see why you couldn’t do the reverse. I just popped over to the pool bar to get my rum infusion😉

i figured the extra steps helped work off some of the rum calories;-)

 

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

Are the six bottles of alcohol that are included with the Oceania Suite for in room consumption only?  Or can they be carried into dining venues?

If you choose  wine  they can be taken to the  dining venues

Spirits  I would think not

Just guessing on my part

[Flatbush Flyer]

20 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

If you choose  wine  they can be taken to the  dining venues

Spirits  I would think not

Just guessing on my part

No personal spirits are allowed outside of your cabin, though I know of some folks who carry small atomizers filled with spirits unavailable onboard to complete the recipe for cocktails not on the bar menu (e.g., absinthe for a Sazerac or Creme de Violette for an Aviation).

Corkage at dining venues for your personal wine is $25 (including gratuity).  

[pinotlover]

If the ship provides the wine, the unopened bottle can be taken to the dining venues without corkage. We have taken our unopened Oceania provided bottle of champagne to dinner on several occasions for sharing with no corkage. The waitstaff all day they recognize and bottle and it’s source.

 

I have no clue on spirits. I’d never ever consider carrying any drink ( spirits or wine) into any venue that’s in a glass from our cabin! 

 

Even though it’s possible, I’ve never seen anyone carry a bottle of any spirits into a dining venue or bar on Oceania! Hard to imagine someone showing up with a bottle of bourbon or vodka at the PG, ship provided or not!

Edited January 29, 2019 by pinotlover

[ORV]

4 hours ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

Are the six bottles of alcohol that are included with the Oceania Suite for in room consumption only?  Or can they be carried into dining venues?

There is no real official policy on your question, other than the wine. Most of the answers you're getting are just common sense, personal opinion  and usual practice. 

 

I personally feel like if you've paid for an OC then you've paid for the booze. It's a bit different than booze you bring on yourself.

 

Although others disagree I see nothing wrong with getting a smoothie, stopping by your room that has an included 6 bottles, and topping it off with whatever. 

 

Bringing your bottle out to the pool and sitting it down on the table is another story completely. 

[Mura]

Speaking from personal experience, you CAN take the OC-provided wines to a restaurant.  No corkage fee.  The bottles are clearly marked so the wait staff knows where they came from.  I never tried carrying a glass of wine (or liquor) that was poured in the room and then was taken outside of the room.  We just took the unopened bottles of wine to a restaurant.

 

[newbiewaves]

Still slightly in shock at comments of good value wine prices at $49. Maybe in UK we are spoilt with very good 13.5% Australian Shiraz that would be $3 retail. Can just imagine paying $25 corkage on that!  To us a £10 / $13 price tag buys a great wine. Currently looking at a cruise with the house drinks package but for us pauper Brits an upgrade will be necessary even if we also bring in a few bottles from duty free (which will probably cost x4 what we usually spend on a bottle....)

 

[swigso]

On 1/28/2019 at 5:32 PM, pinotlover said:

Incorrect, the servers do know. The glassware provided in your cabin is totally different from the glassware utilized in the bars and dining venues. Likewise, Housekeeping swipes up any and all empty bar type glasses daily from the cabins. Walking into any venue with a cabin glass is immediately detectable not only by the staff but likewise by one’s fellow cruisers! Expect a bit of scorn when one is seated at a sharing table for dinner while they’re obviously carrying a cabin glass full of wine

 

So to be a low life and cheat the system, one would have to buy a glass of wine from a bar or dining venue, then take it back to the cabin for refills. Unless they enjoy drinking from dirty glassware, they’d have to do that daily otherwise that wineglass would get fairly grungy after a short while. 

I just know I am going to love Oceana 👍🏻🍸🍷