Riviera La Reserve

[TomOG]

We are on Riviera on May 15. Does anyone know the per person up-charge for dinner at La Reserve? Thanks.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, TomOG said:

We are on Riviera on May 15. Does anyone know the per person up-charge for dinner at La Reserve? Thanks.

Depends on which of the menus- anywhere from $95 to $165 per person. This late in the game you may find no reservations left. Look on your online account under manage this booking to pre-purchase.

 

[LHT28]

The Dom Perignon dinner  is $295 PP  for  another option

[KatieBelle]

49 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Depends on which of the menus- anywhere from $95 to $165 per person. This late in the game you may find no reservations left. Look on your online account under manage this booking to pre-purchase.

 

 

28 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

The Dom Perignon dinner  is $295 PP  for  another option

 

We are also on this sailing.  There are 3 dates available for 3 different menu offerings.  Each menu carries a different pp charge.  The prices listed above are $95 for La Cuisine Bourgeoise and Discovery menus, $295 for Dom Perignon. ($165 for Connoisseur which is already closed and is no longer listed on the O website.)  Be advised that these prices do not include the 18% gratuity which will also be assessed.  

 

All that said, it is a truly wonderful evening and a memorable experience.  Since we are about 2 weeks from sailing, the online option of pre booking may disappear 7-10 days prior to sail date.  Giddy up!

 

-Katie

[babysteps]

FYI depending on the (length?) of your cruise, there may also be a Dom Perignon wine bar offered in La Reserve, with by-the-glass food & wine pairings available.  No reservations, and not quite a full meal even if you have the flight of 3 pairings, but *very* tasty.  The dinner was even more impressive, although it helps if you love champagne!  Iirc for the Dom wine bar, one glass of Dom with the food pairing started at $45, a selection of 3 (including the rose) plus food pairings was $125.

 

On our 18 day cruise there were also two (non-Dom) wine bar evenings, with the 'regular' wines-by-the-glass list, plus the opportunity to have wines from the 'connoisseur' collection by the glass (usually by the bottle only), or a flight of 3 small pours from the 'connoisseur' list (you select whichever 3 wines you like for a set price, $18?? or so iirc).

 

Anyone onboard please correct my pricing!

 

LIM to NYC Mar/Apr 2019, there were just 8 of us at the Dom dinner; the following NYC to Southampton cruise (the snow crossing) we were told they had 22 pre-reserved before boarding.  Obviously things can vary quite a bit cruise-to-cruise!

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, KatieBelle said:

the online option of pre booking may disappear 7-10 days prior to sail date.  Giddy up

It may well be 14 days prior to sailing?

[Hawaiidan]

4 hours ago, KatieBelle said:

 

 

We are also on this sailing.  There are 3 dates available for 3 different menu offerings.  Each menu carries a different pp charge.  The prices listed above are $95 for La Cuisine Bourgeoise and Discovery menus, $295 for Dom Perignon. ($165 for Connoisseur which is already closed and is no longer listed on the O website.)  Be advised that these prices do not include the 18% gratuity which will also be assessed.  

 

All that said, it is a truly wonderful evening and a memorable experience.  Since we are about 2 weeks from sailing, the online option of pre booking may disappear 7-10 days prior to sail date.  Giddy up!

 

-Katie

If you have the  prem beverage package  you can knock off 20% for the La reserve price.

[Hawaiidan]

3 hours ago, babysteps said:

FYI depending on the (length?) of your cruise, there may also be a Dom Perignon wine bar offered in La Reserve, with by-the-glass food & wine pairings available.  No reservations, and not quite a full meal even if you have the flight of 3 pairings, but *very* tasty.  The dinner was even more impressive, although it helps if you love champagne!  Iirc for the Dom wine bar, one glass of Dom with the food pairing started at $45, a selection of 3 (including the rose) plus food pairings was $125.

 

On our 18 day cruise there were also two (non-Dom) wine bar evenings, with the 'regular' wines-by-the-glass list, plus the opportunity to have wines from the 'connoisseur' collection by the glass (usually by the bottle only), or a flight of 3 small pours from the 'connoisseur' list (you select whichever 3 wines you like for a set price, $18?? or so iirc).

 

Anyone onboard please correct my pricing!

 

LIM to NYC Mar/Apr 2019, there were just 8 of us at the Dom dinner; the following NYC to Southampton cruise (the snow crossing) we were told they had 22 pre-reserved before boarding.  Obviously things can vary quite a bit cruise-to-cruise!

Dom  is a very highly over raited ..... Now  Rodier Krystal is a step above.... vintage say 2005

[Shawnino]

9 hours ago, babysteps said:

...

 

On our 18 day cruise there were also two (non-Dom) wine bar evenings, with the 'regular' wines-by-the-glass list, plus the opportunity to have wines from the 'connoisseur' collection by the glass (usually by the bottle only), or a flight of 3 small pours from the 'connoisseur' list (you select whichever 3 wines you like for a set price, $18?? or so iirc)...

 

Are they doing a decent job of letting people know when these are on?

On our November cruise on Riviera we mostly found out after-the-fact...

[pinotlover]

Shawnino;

 

The answer to your question is No! They do advertise the Dom tasting nights well, but not the other nights. I have no explanation as to why! 

 

Dan;

 

You probably missed my review of the Dom Perignon La Reserve meal but it is absolutely fabulous. The dishes served are the best food we’ve ever had on any O ship. Completely in a different class. The wine pairings and dishes came from Dom’s Head chef at the estate. All perfect pairings. 

 

Best of all, which creates a huge upgrade for Oceania, is that Dom Perignon demanded that O hire and have on board a real certified Sommelier instead of the glorified wine servers they had before with marginal training. This has made a significant difference in the quality of their wine seminars and other La Reserve events. He even worked our private wine dinner in Privee. Huge upgrade for the two O class ships! 

[TomOG]

Thanks for all of the replies!!

[Kate-AHF]

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Shawnino;

 

The answer to your question is No! They do advertise the Dom tasting nights well, but not the other nights. I have no explanation as to why! 

 

Dan;

 

You probably missed my review of the Dom Perignon La Reserve meal but it is absolutely fabulous. The dishes served are the best food we’ve ever had on any O ship. Completely in a different class. The wine pairings and dishes came from Dom’s Head chef at the estate. All perfect pairings. 

 

Best of all, which creates a huge upgrade for Oceania, is that Dom Perignon demanded that O hire and have on board a real certified Sommelier instead of the glorified wine servers they had before with marginal training. This has made a significant difference in the quality of their wine seminars and other La Reserve events. He even worked our private wine dinner in Privee. Huge upgrade for the two O class ships! 

Huge help.  I was thinking "ummm, no" until I read this.  Then I got to thinking, we'd spend that if we had dinner at the Inn at Little Washington, so.... I need to reconsider.  Many thanks.

[Hawaiidan]

12 minutes ago, Kate-AHF said:

Huge help.  I was thinking "ummm, no" until I read this.  Then I got to thinking, we'd spend that if we had dinner at the Inn at Little Washington, so.... I need to reconsider.  Many thanks.

A good  way to view things.... consider a  top quality restaurant in the US or Europe  is going to run you over $250- to $500 pp with wine  La reserve is a deal .    Prior to the actual dinner they will have a reception with wine and amuse on deck by  Lar Reserve.        All that aside  great food  wine is the good old human interaction  with your fellow diners... That is what many take away as more pleasurable than the cuisine.

[babysteps]

21 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Dom  is a very highly over raited ..... Now  Rodier Krystal is a step above

Dom isn't my favorite champagne either, but it is quite good.  Onboard we especially enjoyed the 2004 rose (insert accent on the "e" lol - this keyboard doesn't make that easy). 

 

Cristal isn't bad either, but you do pay a premium for the pretty bottle (see also: Louis XIII). 

 

Actually I like Tattinger or Krug better than either, but any champagne in a storm 🙂  Not to mention Deutz Cuvee Louise and Pol Roger Winston Churchill...so many great choices, and don't forget the "growers" champagnes either.  But I digress...the chance for several vintage champagnes with amazing food cooked before your eyes at sea -  who can complain??

[Kate-AHF]

Because of this thread, I looked to see if booking La Reserve was open for our Dec 2019 B2B.  It is. 

 

The first leg of this B2B has a lot of unsold cabins, the second leg, very few.  So I was worried that if I booked the Dom P. evening on the first leg, and it was cancelled because not enough signed up, would we be able to get in on the second leg at that point.  

 

So, I called O.  When I mentioned this issue, the rep stated "We will not cancel the Dom P evenings.  Period."

 

So I am booking on the first leg with as much confidence as I can, allowing for mis-information from the O reps.  Thought others would be interested in this policy as well.

[Shawnino]

1 hour ago, Kate-AHF said:

Because of this thread, I looked to see if booking La Reserve was open for our Dec 2019 B2B.  It is. 

 

The first leg of this B2B has a lot of unsold cabins, the second leg, very few.  So I was worried that if I booked the Dom P. evening on the first leg, and it was cancelled because not enough signed up, would we be able to get in on the second leg at that point.  

 

So, I called O.  When I mentioned this issue, the rep stated "We will not cancel the Dom P evenings.  Period."

 

So I am booking on the first leg with as much confidence as I can, allowing for mis-information from the O reps.  Thought others would be interested in this policy as well.

 

You have a lot more faith in shoreside employees' assertions than I ever could.

[Mura]

34 minutes ago, Shawnino said:

 

You have a lot more faith in shoreside employees' assertions than I ever could.

Except ... there was a recent comment that La Reserve on one leg of a B2B only had about 8-9 diners and they didn't cancel.  Also, at the price for the Dom P. dinner, it may be worth it to O to do it even with only one table.

 

I admit, we've done about 4-5 La Reserve dinners which were always full -- maybe once there was an empty seat.  I remember sitting next to a woman who was traveling solo, although i believe our table for 8 was full.

 

PLUS it has been said that if you can gather a group together and request a La Reserve dinner it can happen.  I don't know how the wine dinners in that same space would impact on that ... and I never tried to book an unscheduled dinner myself.

 

Mura

 

[Kate-AHF]

Well, perhaps.  But at some point you just have to do whatever due diligence you can, and stop stewing about it.  If she's right, I'm happy.  If she's not, well, I'm still on a cruise - so how bad could that be.

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, Kate-AHF said:

Well, perhaps.  But at some point you just have to do whatever due diligence you can, and stop stewing about it.  If she's right, I'm happy.  If she's not, well, I'm still on a cruise - so how bad could that be.

That’s the right attitude Kate - enjoy the cruise & “The Dom” experience.

[su-arizona]

On our Riviera cruise Oct-2019, we booked La Cuisine Bourgeoise in La Reserve by calling Oceania.  This La Reserve option didn't appear online in La Reserve dining - it had to be booked by telephone.  Perhaps this has changed now, but our June Riviera cruise doesn't show it online either (it may not be offered, haven't asked).

 

We thought the dinner and the wine pairings we excellent, and the dinner is certainly worth the price.  The wines alone are worth the price, and they are very generous with the pours.  I'm sure the "Dom" dinner is fabulous, but don't overlook the other options - they're great too!

[Mura]

I'm not sure at all if there was some sort of glitch in terms of your trying to book La Reserve online, but we have ALWAYS been able to book La Reserve online.  We were on Marina in November 2019, just a month after your Riviera cruise, and booked quite early.

 

I have to confess the ship sort of screwed up by somehow losing our reservation even after they had confirmed it.  But our butler -- once he heard us say we were going to La Reserve that night, and knowing that he hadn't seen our names on the list -- fixed the problem.  We'd reserved Cuisine Bourgeoise and they replaced it with Connoisseur at no extra charge to us, so we didn't have any complaints ... other than that we've never had the opportunity to have the Bourgeoise dinner.  OTOH, we were happy to repeat Connoisseur at a reduced price!

 

Mura 

[aquidneck1]

We are on a Riviera cruise in December and only the Odyssey La Reserve showed up until this week.  Now they have added the La Cuisine Bourgeoise and the Dom Perignon.  The Odyssey is now showing not available but possibly because I booked it.  Either they have updated their system to include the newer menus or they do a slow release.   When I originally called, they informed me of the dates for all 3.   

[babysteps]

On our Mar/Apr 2019 Riviera cruise 18 days Lima to NYC, we had signed up for the Dom dinner before the cruise, it was scheduled for something like day 4 of the cruise.  It was cancelled for low sign-ups, but an additional Dom dinner was announced for later in the cruise and was held, with 8 participants.

[Kate-AHF]

4 hours ago, babysteps said:

On our Mar/Apr 2019 Riviera cruise 18 days Lima to NYC, we had signed up for the Dom dinner before the cruise, it was scheduled for something like day 4 of the cruise.  It was cancelled for low sign-ups, but an additional Dom dinner was announced for later in the cruise and was held, with 8 participants.

 

Ruh-roh.  

[LHT28]

Just now, babysteps said:

On our Mar/Apr 2019 Riviera cruise 18 days Lima to NYC,

 are you sure you were on the Riviera ??