How to get the best wine selections?

[kjbacon]

Last week, we disembarked Regent Explorer and the included wines were very good. Our first Oceania cruise is in March so it should make for an interesting comparison.

 

14 hours ago, sofietucker said:

So we discovered the fab WINE BAR that somehow is under-advertised! La Reserve, we thought, was just for scheduled tasting events and pairing dinners. Not so! You can go in any time they're open (except when they're having an event) and get some GREAT wines by the glass for about $9. And wine flights! Both regular and "connoisseur"--including brunello and amarones! (Yes, I saw the list published here, but again, thought it was only available during those events.) They provide a really nice selection of tapas to go with. Just a really fun option--and lovely to sit in their open-air section.

You really caught my attention here!! Please tell me as much as you can about this. We took a cruise several years ago to Cuba and the wine bar was our absolute favorite spot on the ship. Can you tell me if the wines by the glass in this venue are included in the drink package or only with cash or do they sell by the bottle? Thanks so much!

[sofietucker]

13 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

Last week, we disembarked Regent Explorer and the included wines were very good. Our first Oceania cruise is in March so it should make for an interesting comparison.

 

You really caught my attention here!! Please tell me as much as you can about this. We took a cruise several years ago to Cuba and the wine bar was our absolute favorite spot on the ship. Can you tell me if the wines by the glass in this venue are included in the drink package or only with cash or do they sell by the bottle? Thanks so much!

It's located across from the GDR so irs easy to have a glass before dinner... guessing NOT in the drinks pkg--but we didn't have that, having brought a bunch of our own wine. If not, it likely would just be a charge for the difference.The one thing I will say is, if you buy one of their bottles, take it with you. We had them keep ours and it took forever for the sommelier to locate when we went to dinner.. (The passengers' wines are kept in a central location; it was inconvenient for us to carry it back to our stateroom at that time. But LR doesn't usually store purchased bottles )

[kjbacon]

1 hour ago, sofietucker said:

It's located across from the GDR so irs easy to have a glass before dinner... guessing NOT in the drinks pkg--but we didn't have that, having brought a bunch of our own wine. If not, it likely would just be a charge for the difference.The one thing I will say is, if you buy one of their bottles, take it with you. We had them keep ours and it took forever for the sommelier to locate when we went to dinner.. (The passengers' wines are kept in a central location; it was inconvenient for us to carry it back to our stateroom at that time. But LR doesn't usually store purchased bottles )

Thanks for the quick response! We will be new to Oceania so would you mind explaining what you mean by charging us for the difference in a glass of wine?

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, sofietucker said:

It's located across from the GDR so irs easy to have a glass before dinner...

I am confused

Are you talking about the wine bar in La Reserve  which is located on the pool deck outside the port side entrance to the Terrace  on the O class ships?

Or on another ship?

 

On our last cruise 2019  they did advertise the :wine bar"  from 5-8pm in La Reserve  but only a few nights during the cruise

you will see them setting up stands in the area next to La Reserve later in the afternoon  4 ish

 

[ORV]

35 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I am confused

Are you talking about the wine bar in La Reserve  which is located on the pool deck outside the port side entrance to the Terrace  on the O class ships?

Or on another ship?

 

On our last cruise 2019  they did advertise the :wine bar"  from 5-8pm in La Reserve  but only a few nights during the cruise

you will see them setting up stands in the area next to La Reserve later in the afternoon  4 ish

 

The only bar outside of the GDR is the Casino or Grand Bar. It's on deck 6, as well as Martinis. But you know that. 

 

I think Sophie got the GDR confused with The Terrace, which of course La Reserve is right outside of. I've never made it to the wine special they have there. I prefer to have wine with a meal as opposed to on it's own, unless it's Champagne. 

[cruisingxpert]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

The only bar outside of the GDR is the Casino or Grand Bar. It's on deck 6, as well as Martinis. But you know that. 

 

I think Sophie got the GDR confused with The Terrace, which of course La Reserve is right outside of. I've never made it to the wine special they have there. I prefer to have wine with a meal as opposed to on it's own, unless it's Champagne. 

They serve  tapas along with the wine.  Would that change your mind?😄

[ORV]

5 minutes ago, cruisingxpert said:

They serve  tapas along with the wine.  Would that change your mind?😄

I could be persuaded. Maybe no Mojitos in the afternoon before I go. 

 

I have read mixed reports as to whether the drink package works for it. I'd like to know for sure from someone that has been there and used it, or not. 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

. I've never made it to the wine special they have there. I prefer to have wine with a meal as opposed to on it's own, unless it's Champagne. 

me either

I have been past it & the offerings for snacks look good but did not want to spoil my dinner  but maybe on a night when a light dinner  it would work  😉

 

[sofietucker]

19 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

me either

I have been past it & the offerings for snacks look good but did not want to spoil my dinner  but maybe on a night when a light dinner  it would work  😉

 

They have olives, charcuterie, cheeses, nuts, crackers

[sofietucker]

5 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Thanks for the quick response! We will be new to Oceania so would you mind explaining what you mean by charging us for the difference in a glass of wine?

So--again, we didn't get the drinks package so this is solely speculation: On other lines such as HAL and Celebrity, if one orders a glass/bottle of wine (or top-shelf liquor) above the allowable amount in the package, you are charged  only for the difference in price. So for instance, if you had the premium package but wanted an $18 glass of wine outside the parameters of say, $12 a glass, you would only pay the $5 difference. That being said, in 34 cruises, I've never seen a brunello or amarone offered by the glass, except at La Reserve! 

[sofietucker]

7 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Last week, we disembarked Regent Explorer and the included wines were very good. Our first Oceania cruise is in March so it should make for an interesting comparison.

 

You really caught my attention here!! Please tell me as much as you can about this. We took a cruise several years ago to Cuba and the wine bar was our absolute favorite spot on the ship. Can you tell me if the wines by the glass in this venue are included in the drink package or only with cash or do they sell by the bottle? Thanks so much!

They sell by glass, by flights of 3 (a tad less $), and by bottle. They had something like 6 whites, & 6 reds for about $9 each, and may be 3-4 each red & white "connoisseur" wines for $18 a glass or as a flight (still a deal compared to a bottle, lol). I vaguely remember being asked if we had a package but don't know the significance: would it then be included, or discounted?

Edited January 14, 2022 by sofietucker

[GrammieK]

5 hours ago, sofietucker said:

So--again, we didn't get the drinks package so this is solely speculation: On other lines such as HAL and Celebrity, if one orders a glass/bottle of wine (or top-shelf liquor) above the allowable amount in the package, you are charged  only for the difference in price. So for instance, if you had the premium package but wanted an $18 glass of wine outside the parameters of say, $12 a glass, you would only pay the $5 difference. That being said, in 34 cruises, I've never seen a brunello or amarone offered by the glass, except at La Reserve! 

 

On Oceania (and HAL) if you order something not included in the beverage package, you are charged the full amount, not the difference. 

[sofietucker]

4 hours ago, GrammieK said:

 

On Oceania (and HAL) if you order something not included in the beverage package, you are charged the full amount, not the difference. 

Hmm, good to know.  That's not been our experience on HAL, maybe to do with suite privileges? Dunno.

[Clutj]

Riviera Nov 2021.  A little fuzzy, don’t know why…

 

downloading this may be clearer IMG_1673.HEIC

 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Clutj

[kjbacon]

Thank you, thank you! This is all so helpful and we have (finally!) made our wine decision 🍷 We are going to cancel the drink package and order our wines ala carte. I’ve already signed up for two of the La Reserve dinners. Definitely, we will check out the wine bar and taste test the tapas!! We will also bring a couple of our favorite reds from home. If we drink them in our cabin, there isn’t a corkage fee, correct? On the other hand, if we bring a bottle of the wine that is complimentary to our suite to a venue, there isn’t a corkage fee?

[GrammieK]

8 hours ago, sofietucker said:

Hmm, good to know.  That's not been our experience on HAL, maybe to do with suite privileges? Dunno.

We’ve always had the beverage pkg on HAL (in Neptune Suites) and were aware that drinks above the $ limit allowed would be charged in total to the onboard account. 
On O, so few drinks are not included in the drink pkg, but I’m pretty sure that wines by the glass are either included or  not included. No partial payments. 
that’s been my experience. 

[sofietucker]

4 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Thank you, thank you! This is all so helpful and we have (finally!) made our wine decision 🍷 We are going to cancel the drink package and order our wines ala carte. I’ve already signed up for two of the La Reserve dinners. Definitely, we will check out the wine bar and taste test the tapas!! We will also bring a couple of our favorite reds from home. If we drink them in our cabin, there isn’t a corkage fee, correct? On the other hand, if we bring a bottle of the wine that is complimentary to our suite to a venue, there isn’t a corkage fee?

Correct. Keep an eye on them, though: once in the GDR, they almost served us someone else's wine--pouring a glass without verifying with us, until we saw the label. The suite number was off by a digit. They must have had a bunch of the complementary wine and just grabbed one.

[sofietucker]

2 hours ago, GrammieK said:

We’ve always had the beverage pkg on HAL (in Neptune Suites) and were aware that drinks above the $ limit allowed would be charged in total to the onboard account. 
On O, so few drinks are not included in the drink pkg, but I’m pretty sure that wines by the glass are either included or  not included. No partial payments. 
that’s been my experience. 

Yep--just took a look at a recent HAL thread wherein a couple of folks noted that Celebrity--and RCCL--charge only the difference. My bad, as the kids say; thanks.

[terrydtx]

We have the O Life Beverage package for our Baltics cruise in August on the Marina. My understanding is that this is for the House Select beer and wine with lunch and dinner and that we can order any wine by the glass with meals that are offered. Is it possible to upgrade to the Prestige Select package once onboard and would we get a better selection of wines by the glass? We are primarily wine drinkers, but we do enjoy a martini before dinner, and we are trying to figure out if we need to upgrade. Our cruise has no sea days and is very port intensive so we will not be spending a lot of time on the ship for having more drinks. This is our first time on Oceania and the website has very little information on the bev packages and how they work, it is very confusing.

 

Thanks for any help.

[LHT28]

11 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We have the O Life Beverage package for our Baltics cruise in August on the Marina. My understanding is that this is for the House Select beer and wine with lunch and dinner and that we can order any wine by the glass with meals that are offered. Is it possible to upgrade to the Prestige Select package once onboard and would we get a better selection of wines by the glass? We are primarily wine drinkers, but we do enjoy a martini before dinner, and we are trying to figure out if we need to upgrade. Our cruise has no sea days and is very port intensive so we will not be spending a lot of time on the ship for having more drinks. This is our first time on Oceania and the website has very little information on the bev packages and how they work, it is very confusing.

 

Thanks for any help.

You get the same  wine by the glass  on either package

the difference in the package the times

House select with lunch & dinner  ONLY

Prestige  ANYTIME -any bar/dining venue

 You can upgrade onboard for  $20 per day per person

 

Uf port intensive you may want to opt for pay as you drink

Pick up bottles of wine in port if possible & pay the corkage to take it to dinner

They have Happy Hour  daily 5-6 pm &  10;30 pm

plus the captains welcome party with free drinks

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

You get the same  wine by the glass  on either package

the difference in the package the time

House select with lunch & dinner  ONLY

Prestige  ANYTIME -any bar/dining venue

 You can upgrade onboard for  $20 per day per person

Thank you for helping clear this up, is the House Select good in all specialty dinning venues?

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Thank you for helping clear this up, is the House Select good in all specialty dinning venues?

AFAIK it is for all dining rooms including Waves & the Terrace

We either buy as we drink or buy a bottle onboard

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

AFAIK it is for all dining rooms

We either buy as we drink or buy a bottle onboard

Sounds like good advice. 

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

They have Happy Hour  daily 5-6 pm &  10;30 pm

plus the captains welcome party with free drinks

Is the happy hour for free drinks?  I had not heard about this.

[LHT28]

Just now, terrydtx said:

Is the happy hour for free drinks?  I had not heard about this.

no  sorry it is 2 for 1

So you can get 2 glasses of wine for the price of 1   some exclusions apply

Check the back of  the CURRENTS newsletter

We will sometimes take the 2nd glass to dinner