Rare Caroldoll Posted November 30, 2011 #1 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Since I know Oceania reads these posts, I thought I would post from my perspective. My husband and I are NOT DRINK GUZZLERS and we would be hard pressed to use the ridiculously high drink package EVER. However, since we have mostly cruised other lines we have found that we much prefer not having to have a check for a drink. We are accustomed to the Owners Suite and feel that we pay a sufficiently high amount for our cruise that this offensively priced package is an additional insult. We wonder why Oceania, since they have these elegantly appointed ships could not just include liquor in the price of the cruise--or maybe in just the top suites? Additionally last Christmas we found the price of a thimble sized martini at $8 to also be ridiculous! We are going to be on Oceania in the future, but are trying Seabourn in a couple of weeks. We might decide to change cruises, but it is a shame since Oceania does have nice ports and the two new ships are exquisite. This is our opinion only. Others will disagree--that is all right. Everyone should be entitled to an opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted November 30, 2011 #2 Share Posted November 30, 2011 If you are always in an Owner's Suite, then you DO get a liquor set-up -- at least in your cabin. We were in a Vista on Marina in October and we benefited from this. There was no way we would drink up everything they gave us. I didn't even finish the one bottle of vodka they gave us although we did knock of the two bottles of wine. My only complaint was that they don't include bourbon! (One bottle each of rum, gin, vodka and scotch, all top brands, plus a bottle of red and a bottle of white.) This IS relatively new to Oceania. I personally don't mind signing a chit when I get a drink, whether I'm in a top suite or not. (Usually we are in a PH.) But I agree that the packages are ridiculously overpriced, although from the few times I've checked prices for such prices on other lines they were equally overpriced. I like a cocktail or two before dinner and wine with but my husband drinks alcohol very rarely, no more than an occasional glass of wine. There's no way a package would be cost effective for us! Mura P.S. I believe it is Owner's and Vista Suites on the "R" ships and OS, VS and OC on Marina that get the liquor set-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ORV Posted November 30, 2011 #3 Share Posted November 30, 2011 It's an option, it's not mandatory. You can always buy by the drink. I agree Oceania is expensive, I would hate to see what they think their cruises would be worth if they went all inclusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted November 30, 2011 #4 Share Posted November 30, 2011 The same sort of debates went on over on the Celebrity board when they introduced their "All you can drink" liquor packages... By the way, the Oceania prices are not out of line with the Celebrity prices... I have always argued strongly that it makes little sense to buy these packages--Generally, on Celebrity, one had to down about six drinks per day just to "break even"... And realize that you are not necessarily even on the ship all day--Remember that you may drink in port--off the ship--during lunch, during tours of wineries, etc. So, it is six drinks per night in addition to any of that... I have never found that I really drink all that much on a cruise...maybe a drink before dinner, one during the show and one late night--if I am up...and that would be a big drinking day for me...On my recent Marina cruise, we were in an Oceania suite...and we had that in-suite bar set up and I did most of my drinking in the room...My bar tab elsewhere on the ship was pretty negligible... Signing a tab for each drink isn't really that big a deal, is it? You do it when you stay in a nice hotel...and it is not like you have to deal with cash and tips and all...it's all pretty automatic... At the end of the cruise, you pay for whatever you actually drink...and you have the freedom to drink or not drink and not worry if you've gotten your money's worth... To those people saying they wish Oceania just included alcohol in the cruise fare, with this package, that is pretty much what they are doing--except that they are not making the non-drinkers and moderate drinkers subsidize the heavy drinkers...You can opt in or opt out of the increased price... And, in setting the prices, they are no fools...They know what the average person drinks...and what the heavy drinkers drink...and they have to set their rates to cover that...No way any cruise line loses money by giving deals on alcohol...Alcohol is one of the main profit centers in any hospitality business... When you book a suite, they really don't give you "free" booze...It is figured into the price for the suite... Some folks claim they like the pre-paid packages because they don't have to worry about the size of the bar tab they may be running up...But, really, how many Oceania cruisers are that concerned about their onboard account totals? I don't think about it any more that my credit card bills while at home...I let my common sense and lifestyle dictate what it is I buy and charge and it takes care of itself...I generally know what I am drinking on a cruise... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted November 30, 2011 #5 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Since I know Oceania reads these posts, I thought I would post from my perspective. My husband and I are NOT DRINK GUZZLERS and we would be hard pressed to use the ridiculously high drink package EVER. However, since we have mostly cruised other lines we have found that we much prefer not having to have a check for a drink. We are accustomed to the Owners Suite and feel that we pay a sufficiently high amount for our cruise that this offensively priced package is an additional insult. We wonder why Oceania, since they have these elegantly appointed ships could not just include liquor in the price of the cruise--or maybe in just the top suites? Additionally last Christmas we found the price of a thimble sized martini at $8 to also be ridiculous! We are going to be on Oceania in the future, but are trying Seabourn in a couple of weeks. We might decide to change cruises, but it is a shame since Oceania does have nice ports and the two new ships are exquisite. This is our opinion only. Others will disagree--that is all right. Everyone should be entitled to an opinion. LOL, this post reminds me of a very old cruise joke: Passenger #1) "The food on this cruise is just disgusting. Poorly prepared, under seasoned, too fatty, and half the time it comes out of the kitchen cold. Passenger #2) I agree with you 100%, but you haven't mentioned the worst thing, the portions are FAR TOO SMALL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAexNY Posted November 30, 2011 #6 Share Posted November 30, 2011 LOL, this post reminds me of a very old cruise joke: Passenger #1) "The food on this cruise is just disgusting. Poorly prepared, under seasoned, too fatty, and half the time it comes out of the kitchen cold. Passenger #2) I agree with you 100%, but you haven't mentioned the worst thing, the portions are FAR TOO SMALL! It's also a very old Catskills joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruzmaven Posted November 30, 2011 #7 Share Posted November 30, 2011 It's also a very old Catskills joke. As retold by Woody Allen in the opening of "Annie Hall". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIRGINIA ARTIE Posted November 30, 2011 #8 Share Posted November 30, 2011 My husband and I don't drink. We previously cruised with Regent, but when they included alcohol , it was not worth the price for us. One way or another , you will pay a price if you can drink any amount you want. The price will be determined based on the maximum amount a person can drink. Oceania has covered it both ways. What a great way to handle the situation!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetiredFL Posted November 30, 2011 #9 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I wonder if you can buy the packages by the day so you can pick which days to go on a bender!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissing Seahorses Posted December 1, 2011 #10 Share Posted December 1, 2011 With the package program, I don't necessarily think that it is a given that you wouldn't have to sign a chit, since some folks are on the program and others, not, I would expect that they would present a check to everyone and then take care of this as a bookeeping item. Otherwise, they might have to resort to brightly colored wristbands or some other hideous system to designate who is in the program and who is not. I personally think that this new program favors only heavy daily drinkers, certainly not those who enjoy fine wines with meals and may have a cocktail or two before dinner. I am glad that it is an opt-in program rather than the mandatory all-inclusives of many luxury cruiselines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted December 1, 2011 #11 Share Posted December 1, 2011 What is interesting is how the introduction of the Marina class has seemingly put Oceania into the map for a whole new group of potential passengers from those luxury cruiselines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining Clem Posted December 1, 2011 #12 Share Posted December 1, 2011 With the package program, I don't necessarily think that it is a given that you wouldn't have to sign a chit, since some folks are on the program and others, not, I would expect that they would present a check to everyone and then take care of this as a bookkeeping item. Otherwise, they might have to resort to brightly colored wristbands or some other hideous system to designate who is in the program and who is not. On Celebrity's Constellation, earlier this year we each had small stickers on our plastic credit card-like Sea Passes. One just gave the card to the wait staff, it was swiped, and (s)he returned it with your beverage. I got a non-alcohol package and my husband had one with limited wine & beer. When the staff saw the stickers, they would ask if I wanted a glass or fancy coffee under the more expensive program (in other words 2 glasses of wine charged to his card). Being light/non drinkers, they made $$ on us, and we both agreed we would probably not get a package again. One drink or glass a day was average, with Diet drinks for me by the pool. We did look at other lines with their all-inclusive alcohol packages included in the fare, and concluded that we did not want to pay for others drinks. This 2 package choice, sounds like a reasonable way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissing Seahorses Posted December 1, 2011 #13 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Jim and Stan- You are correct. In our case, we never considered Oceania before the introduction of Marina class ships, nor Seabourn, before they introduced larger ships. We have sailed on Crystal 20+ cruises and have been happy for the most part but are looking forward to a somewhat scaled back (entertainment, lectures,formal dress etc.)version of that on Oceania, in addition to the wonderful variety of specialty restaurants, larger accomodations and varied itineraries on Oceania. We are looking forward to our first cruise in Feb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biker1972 Posted December 2, 2011 #14 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Put all of this in a dollars and sense way of thinking; it makes sense if I have a bar bill of more than $700 for a two week cruise (never happen in the past). For two of us $1400 in two weeks (omg:eek:). My liver couldn't take it and my billfold would be way too light when I got off. I'll continue to buy wine by the bottle and an occasional pre-dinner drink ala carte. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilrr Posted December 2, 2011 #15 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Put all of this in a dollars and sense way of thinking; it makes sense if I have a bar bill of more than $700 for a two week cruise (never happen in the past). For two of us $1400 in two weeks (omg:eek:). My liver couldn't take it and my billfold would be way too light when I got off. I'll continue to buy wine by the bottle and an occasional pre-dinner drink ala carte. biker1972 - I totally agree with you. See my post in the other thread about this issue, you will have a good laugh...:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted December 2, 2011 #16 Share Posted December 2, 2011 My brother & SIL would do very well with the package deal I think O would lose money on them ;) I guess time will tell if it is a good deal or not Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trina2 Posted December 6, 2011 #17 Share Posted December 6, 2011 [...]we have found that we much prefer not having to have a check for a drink. [...] We wonder why Oceania, since they have these elegantly appointed ships could not just include liquor in the price of the cruise--or maybe in just the top suites? Unless we are talking about the whole ship becoming all-inclusive, which would be a shame (especially for light/non drinkers), I cannot see how this system could work. Even if Oceania did include all drinks for top suite passengers only, you would still have to provide your card as proof and probably sign anyway, so that Oceania would know cards were not being lent to friends in a lower stateroom category. Additionally last Christmas we found the price of a thimble sized martini at $8 to also be ridiculous![...] This may have changed - drink sizes last June were very generous. [...]To those people saying they wish Oceania just included alcohol in the cruise fare, with this package, that is pretty much what they are doing--except that they are not making the non-drinkers and moderate drinkers subsidize the heavy drinkers...You can opt in or opt out of the increased price... And, in setting the prices, they are no fools...They know what the average person drinks...and what the heavy drinkers drink...and they have to set their rates to cover that...No way any cruise line loses money by giving deals on alcohol...Alcohol is one of the main profit centers in any hospitality business... While the above is true, I don't think the prices of drinks on board are unreasonable. And you don't have to pay full price all the time (or even any of the time, if you really put your mind to it.) There are a number of options for saving money on drinks on Oceania. 1) Unlike most lines, you can bring alcohol on board to consume in cabins [or for the special bottle (with $20 corkage) to enjoy in one of the restaurants.] 2) Happy Hour - very generous with their terms. We usually only like the one drink before dinner, so I was very pleasantly surprised that we were charged 1/2 price for my 1 glass of bubbly ($3.47) and 1/2 price for DH's 1 beer ($2.50 Heineken Draft) 3) Happy Hour - not only includes 2 for 1 drinks but don't forget there are at least 3 cocktails of the day at around $4.25 - choices change daily. Where else can you get a cocktail for $4.25? 4) First time cruisers with Oceania don't qualify for Captain's cocktail party to welcome returning guests but there were at least 4 other occasions where Oceania supplied free drinks. (on 18 night cruise) 5) At least 2 opportunities to buy discounted wine to be stored in your "account" for restaurants - with some very good deals. For me, the new packages aren't cost effective and I'm not in favour of all-inclusive (= increased fares) but I applaud the option now being available for those who can make use of it. Lastly, [...]Oceania has covered it both ways. What a great way to handle the situation!! Now those who really like their drinks can get a good deal as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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