Wine with Ultimate Dining Package

[hammo]

I asked this in another thread but didnt get a reply so thought I would try again here .

We have the ultimate dining package on an Oasis Cruise which offers a 40% discount on bottles of wine under $100 . Will they then add the 18 % service charge to that , making the discount really 22% ?

[long time lurker]

Yes, any purchase will incur a “gratuity.”  Just remember that $100 bottle would also have a gratuity making it $118, so it is still a 40% savings.

 

[killsport]

So, for my feeble brain is it 18% gratuity on full price or 18% on the reduced price?

Ex: bottle is $80

If gratuity on $80 = $14.40

So is it 40% off $80, then add the gratuity? ($48 + $14.40 = $62.40)?

Or is it 40% off total (40% of the total of $80 + $14.40 = $56.64)? 

I know, these are first world problems, but I prefer to know the out-of-pocket cost of something before I purchase it. Any experience to be able to guide me?

Thanks!

[hammo]

Thanks for applying this logic to my question - maybe someone has experience of this as I like to know in advance also .

[long time lurker]

It is 18% on the reduced price. $100 bottle of wine, reduced to $60.  $60 * 1.18= 70.80 will be your cost. 

[hammo]

Thankyou Long time lurker 

[Pandamonia]

Just remember that that 100 USD wine with 18$ Tip is likely a bottle from the supermarket for under 10$ and the wines in the package some are so bad they couldnt be used for cooking. 

 

The wine strategy on royal is to serve such bad wine on the package that people need to upgrade to bottles which are 10x the price of a shop even though you paid for the *ultimate* package. 

 

Normally you can find one decent wine in each venue which is passable but be prepared to make sure they keep a bottle in stock for you if the rest suck. 

 

Ive never understood the logic in this but im guessing there are enough pretentious people wanting to be seen ordering 100$ bottles of wine to make the scam work fleet wide. 

[hammo]

Yes I understand Pandemonia - we have a winemaker son who often cruises with us and as you say , the dollar to quality ratio is obviously geared to the cruise lines benefit to the craziest  degree. Sadly we get it that the wine we purchase is not the wine we would prefer to drink - I hate feeling scammed  - just trying to minimize the "rip-off" the best way we can . 

[Pandamonia]

36 minutes ago, hammo said:

Yes I understand Pandemonia - we have a winemaker son who often cruises with us and as you say , the dollar to quality ratio is obviously geared to the cruise lines benefit to the craziest  degree. Sadly we get it that the wine we purchase is not the wine we would prefer to drink - I hate feeling scammed  - just trying to minimize the "rip-off" the best way we can . 

 

Yes im also cursed by working for a wine company in a previous job. You can find one or two decent ones just be prepared to take a sip and send it back for a different one if you have to and feel no shame about wasting it because Royal should not be buying it! 

 

Only on Royal have i ever had a bad wine. i didnt think it was possible to find one in a restaurant until i found cruising

[MikeBayAreaCa]

We have always enjoyed the wine on Royal.  Are they serving high end reserve wines?  No.

Are they better than the local restaurant house wine?  We believe so.  We are not wine experts, but are club members in a number of wineries and we enjoy fine wines, but have no issues with the wine on board.  The Duckhorn Merlot in Chops is certainly not marked up 10 times.  

Everything is more expensive, but we are booking cruises for similar are less prices than we did years ago.  
 

 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Pandamonia said:

I've never understood the logic in this but I'm guessing there are enough pretentious people wanting to be seen ordering 100$ bottles of wine to make the scam work fleet wide. 

Or, perhaps, some folks have different palettes.

[Pandamonia]

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Or, perhaps, some folks have different palettes.

 

Or some peoples palettes are directly linked to the price tag but without the price tag couldnt tell the difference between Ribena and Shiraz. 

 

Palettes have nothing to do with an ultimate drinks package and wines which are 100$ up charge for supermarket grade wine.

 

I should know given i saw the Lindemans wines i used to sell for 25 quid a box of 6 for 100 USD a bottle. - where does palette come in to that exactly?

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, Pandamonia said:

I should know given i saw the Lindemans wines i used to sell for 25 quid a box of 6 for 100 USD a bottle. - where does palette come in to that exactly?

Some people, you know, non wine snobs, actually like that $10 bottle of wine - it has nothing to do with price.

[Hogbay]

You can bring Two bottles of wine , and if you are a solo traveller and then you  meet on board the love of your life ....😇

[Pandamonia]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Some people, you know, non wine snobs, actually like that $10 bottle of wine - it has nothing to do with price.

 

I love the 10$ wine. there isnt a 100$ wine that tastes better than a 10$ bottle.

 

The issue is the 100$ wine IS the 10$ wine!

[RedIguana]

5 hours ago, Pandamonia said:

Just remember that that 100 USD wine with 18$ Tip is likely a bottle from the supermarket for under 10$ and the wines in the package some are so bad they couldnt be used for cooking. 

 

1 hour ago, Pandamonia said:

I love the 10$ wine. there isnt a 100$ wine that tastes better than a 10$ bottle.

 

The issue is the 100$ wine IS the 10$ wine!

I find the the markup on Royal similar to most of the Florida restaurants. I just looked at the cabernet "supermarket" quality wine prices on the Adventure from Bird's posting, the 10-12 dollar wines (total wine prices) are low to mid 30's, the $15-17 are going low to mid 40's.