Robjame

Recently on Riviera:

Hair shampoo and cut with service charge - $154.80 and yes, he did push the products to buy.

Manicure with removal of gel, no pedicure with service charge - $94.80 - No products pushed.

19 hours ago, shepherd really said:

The drink service seemed acceptable at lunch

Ditto on Riviera at lunch.

‘’Suggestion: when the wait staff come to give you water (usually directly after you sit down), ask them to send the sommelier to your table. The sommelier will get you any cocktail usually available, or wine or beer. Have ordered draft Heineken (available from Waves/Pool bar). 
Do you know about I-95?
 

I would add that things have changed since January 4 2023 on Riviera. Talking to bartenders and from our experience cards are swiped for beverage packages every time. Perhaps several drinks are bundled during a drinking session but cards are swiped.

‘There is a small machine like a credit card machine at each drink venue where the wait staff enters your order, gets a receipt and puts it in their own container (often a glass). Why? This is the way they get their gratuity. If you look at one of these receipts it says 10% because the other 10% is pooled by the bar tenders. (According to the staff). Apparently the bar tenders get their gratuity once they have reached a certain plateau.

On Riviera, for 39 days, our card was not swiped on one day only when the machine (system) was down and sommeliers and wait staff manually copied the numbers on a sheet of paper.

As Lynn says, the choice of brand of spirit is free with Prestige. I can taste the difference between Smirnoff (the well vodka) and Grey Goose. So my double Grey Goose and tonic would cost me (if I were paying by the drink) $7.20 more. (2 x $3 plus 20% gratuity)

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

we can drink a lot of martinis for $540 each.

IMO you are going about the decision-making correctly.

The $30 per day per passenger to increase to Prestige Beverage Package will buy you about 2 classic martinis (remembering that the 20% gratuitity is included in your package).

Now factor in these things:

‘Do you plan on any La Reserve dinners?

Do you like your martini made with Grey Goose (+$3) or is Smirnoff fine?

Do you prefer doubles?

People are still considering OBC as their OLife. Choice. You don’t have to take any OLife. The cost of OLife will equal what Oceania is allowing you for OBC. (Unless this has changed) So why do it?

On 2/4/2023 at 8:54 AM, terrydtx said:

While sitting in a dining venue for a meal and with the House select beverage package, can you sit down before dinner and enjoy a wine or beer before ordering and can you linger after the meal enjoying more wine or ports? 

The Oceania description of House Select that I have seen is:

“Unlimited Champagne, wine and beer with lunch and dinner”

I think that little word “with” gives Oceania a lot more restriction than any of us would care for. Your use of “before” or “after” would put you outside “with”, IMO.

We saw different attempts on board, to circumvent the intent of Oceania’s liberal liquor rules and I am certain we are all going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. 

On 2/2/2023 at 9:57 PM, LHT28 said:

Daily 5-6 pm   some exceptions apply  & 10:30-11:30 pm in Horizons

In a recent Riviera voyage, Horizons was a quieter and more relaxing place during these Happy Hour times. We found Casino and Main bars to be quite a bit busier with some guests becoming frustrated with the delivery time of ordered drinks. The bars became quite crowded as the time for the HH came to an end with people trying to get the last orders in before dinner or pay their bill.

This was our experience but you may find things different.

Without question the waiters remember those who give them $1 or $2 when they come around with drinks.

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

However, I get the updated “complete detail” printout

Even better.

It is much easier to solve problems when on the ship IMO.

On 2/1/2023 at 10:52 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

In any case, yet another good reason to always bring proof in writing. In fact, not a bad idea to have appropriate duplicates to provide staff with a copy of the evidence of what is owed to a passenger. 

Similarly get in the habit of checking your account on the room TV every day (updated overnight). We discovered several errors or omissions that had to be changed, usually requiring Reception to contact Miami. One day our drinks were charged to our account even though we had the drink package.

It gets particularly confusing if you had to cancel anything (La Reserve, excursions,) and it is much simpler to deal with unknown or confusing charges directly after they are posted. Spa charges are particularly confusing and Reception will require you to check with them.

I

12 hours ago, honumaui said:

We were very pleased with the beverage service too. Usually did not have to ask for refills. They

I agree - the service by the “sommeliers” during meals was for the most part excellent. We made a habit of talking to them, getting to know them and asking their opinion for food/wine pairings. It is fascinating getting to know their background and training.

Say hello to “Zimbabwe” (his home country) on Riviera.

12 hours ago, LHT28 said:

if  management is not doing anything to curb the abuse it will continue

Unfortunately that is the excuse being used by the cheaters. 
The solution is very simple for Oceania, especially when they are looking for ways of making money.

3 hours ago, sunlover12 said:

If too many people break Oceania’s generous alcohol policy we could find ourselves under the same restrictions as the mainstream lines who will seize your bottles. Follow the rules for the enjoyment of all aboard. 

+1

and we are seeing passengers doing this every day

1 hour ago, AMHuntFerry said:

There is also the Drink of the Day (~half price) all day and sometimes a wine of the day (although I don't think I saw any on our September cruise).

I don’t recall seeing drink of the day anytime during the last 37 days though I could have just missed it. They ran a Bloody Mary spiff at lunch time for quite awhile at various times - even to the point of having one whole end of the buffet at Terrace covered with vegetables - $10 and then jumped up to $12.

Also no V8 on board though there is Caesar mix. One guest was complaining that there was no Lea & Perrins.

1 hour ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Oh, right, I forgot about that. Do you have a Currents from this month's cruise with a Happy Hour "ad"? If so, can you post a pic? I

Ad from 2 days ago

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

I did not see it in the online description but  do you get a  discount on bottles if you buy the Prestige package ??

I agree. Nor do they mention the wine tasting events - only La Reserve.

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Scroll down to the Beverage Package  link 

If you are planning on La Reserve dinners as well, ordering one of the packages first will trigger your 20% saving. The sequence of these events is important.

1 hour ago, alainciao said:

Uh oh.  I thought with the Prestige Package you just showed your card, and someone even said after a while they know if you have the card and don't ask for it.  If what you say here is true, my main reason for getting the package (which is to avoid waiting and signing

I may have confused you. You always present your World Card now, whether you are paying or on a package.

So at a bar you order your drink and plop down your card. The barman swipes it no signing if you have Prestige. Without a package he returns with a slip to sign.

‘Same in a restaurant or one of the lounges, though the sommelier leaves the card until you indicate you are done. 
 

We are seeing a number of waiters using masks. In talking to them, apparently the fluff is starting to come up on the new carpets (we have noticed this in the stateroom as well) and allergies are playing up. If you are allergic to dust or this type of thing, you may want to pack appropriate meds.

As Lynn has said

House Select - any beer or wine found on any bar menu at lunch and dinner

Prestige - anything on any bar menu anytime - including room service

We got in the habit when the wine server (sommelier)  came around at mealtime with a wine list to sell wine by the bottle, we always say that we are on wine by the glass so that we avoid any surprises. If we see him open a new bottle - same thing.

Two more days on Riviera if anyone wants additional pictures, information.

BTW spoke to the culinary director and the practise of each participant having a work station is going to continue. Disappointing to us as we enjoyed working together at one station.

Our 39 day cruise was broken up into 4 segments and each upgrade to Prestige lasted for only that segment so if you found it was something you didn’t want, you could drop it and you would be left with the OLife House select. Does not have to be committed when you first board.
 

A segment is like a cruise that people could book. Ours was 12, 10, 10, 7

1 hour ago, roadmaster said:

I did opt out of that and took the Olife house package rather than OBC on the advice of our Oceania Sydney rep. We will upgrade on board.

IMO if you intended to get the Prestige package, that is good advice. Taking OBC as OLife is a wash - no  financial advantage. 

4 hours ago, SSFrance69 said:

Where did you do this? At guest relations? I try to avoid the long lines on embarkation day, so was wondering if you can upgrade elsewhere. I'm sailing in a standard veranda, so no concierge.

Guest relations. It does not have to be done first day so maybe choose to do it second day (pro-rated price) and utilize the $30 for drinks on embarkation day. Not sure if there is a 2 for 1 happy hour on embarkation day but someone here will know.

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Yes having to issue a new card it is probably easier at reception

From something Aloha said on another thread, I think the World Card has gained a new importance. We have had to surrender it each time - waiter leaves it until end of meal. Even those purchases by the glass they take the card and return with a bill to be signed. The waiters file these receipts in their own cup so I am guessing their portion of the auto-tip requires this slip.

Sorry Lyn - I know this is really SSFrances question