are wine packages gone?

[clcmdse]

We returned this week from a fabulous trip on Marina to the Baltics!

 

We were surprised to learn that there were no wine packages for sale (discounts on a certain number of bottles from a preset list). No wine stewards on decks 6 and 12 selling the packages the first day. We thought perhaps the sale had gone "subtle" and we had missed it, but we were told at dinner that they were not available.

 

Is this a new policy? or just our cruise? Or perhaps our prior O sailings with wine packages were the experiment?

 

PS: It did not deter us from ordering wine at dinner! Or buying wine in port and paying corkage at dinner. But I think with the packages, they may have been able to "upsell" our choices.

[StanandJim]

Were you on one of those 7 day itineraries?

[CAG]

No wine packages available on our 16 day transatlantic from New York to Dover on board Marina in May.

 

Cenia

[StanandJim]

No wine packages available on our 16 day transatlantic from New York to Dover on board Marina in May.

 

Cenia

 

It does make sense that as the Beverage Packages gain acceptance, that there would be less need for the individual Wine Deals.

 

Centralizing consumption around the "by the glass" offerings probably lowers unit costs too.

 

Ah well, Ta Ta Wine Bazaar!

 

[Goldmann]

Per Sr Exec Cellar Master embarkation day and mid-cruise wine sales have been discontinued for all ships. Sales were not available in our late February '14 trip.

[findacruise]

Bummer. Another nice option gone.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JPR]

No, the Wine Bottle Discounts involved higher-end bottles of wine, not the mediocre plonk that is served by the glass as part of the overpriced beverage packages. No comparison. Big loss to those of us who enjoy better quality wines.

[OzAbroad]

No, the Wine Bottle Discounts involved higher-end bottles of wine, not the mediocre plonk that is served by the glass as part of the overpriced beverage packages. No comparison. Big loss to those of us who enjoy better quality wines.

 

Agree completely but then I am developing an obsessive dislike of drinks packages but it seems that the Drinks package strategy has claimed another casualty. On a very recent 12 day cruise I saw no wine bottle auctions or discount offers either. Add the loss of wine bottle discounts to a reduced and less diverse wine list (its still pretty diverse but not what it once was - sommelier confirmed), and what seemed to me to be slower service for those of us that still want bottles of wine.

Edited July 26, 2014 by OzAbroad

[Mura]

I'm sorry to hear this. When we did the BCN-Rio cruise we were in a suite that gave us a booze package in the suite but I still purchased several bottles of wine upon boarding. I didn't look to see if this was still available when we boarded in May for the NYC-Dover cruise because I brought on a few bottles of wine from home (it's easy to do when the departure port is also your home city).

 

I was hoping to take advantage of buying a few bottles for our consumption on next April's Lima-NYC cruise since we won't be in a cabin category that gives us the "freebies".

 

So I guess I'll have to shop on land beforehand for a few bottles of wine ... we don't imbibe so much that we need a case (!) and I don't mind buying from the wine list in the restaurants. But I did get spoiled on our recent cruises ...

 

Before the daily drink package was introduced there were often sales mid-cruise of various wines. We never took advantage of them because the prices didn't seem enticing to us -- we aren't oenophiles, we just like reasonably good wine. Are these also gone? I'm assuming they are.

 

Mura

[StanandJim]

and what seemed to me to be slower service for those of us that still want bottles of wine.

 

Try tipping the Sommelier, mid cruise , you'll get service like you never knew existed ;)

[clcmdse]

Thanks everyone for the confirming responses on the lack of wine packages and mid-cruise wine sales. I thought I missed the secret handshake!

 

Since beverage packages are the way Oceania seems to be going, perhaps Oceania may consider "upscale wine packages by the glass" for us who do not partake in cocktails, but like to indulge in good glasses of wine. Similar to some restaurants around the country that offer many great bottles of wine by the glass.

 

Now that's a beverage package I could get behind!;)

[Hambagahle]

No, the Wine Bottle Discounts involved higher-end bottles of wine, not the mediocre plonk that is served by the glass as part of the overpriced beverage packages. No comparison. Big loss to those of us who enjoy better quality wines.

 

I cannot agree with this! We took the Premium Beverage Package and found that there were many really decent - and a couple of really good - wines on the "By the Glass" list. And we live in Switzerland and are well used to good wines.

 

We have taken the same package for our next cruise. It worked very well for us! Santé!!

[JPR]

None of the wines by the glass included in the Beverage Package is a high-end, high-quality wine. Some are quite quaffable, of course (the whites more so than the reds) but the obvious reason that Oceania is pushing the Beverage Packages and has dropped the discounted bottles and trimmed its wine list is obvious: HIGHER PROFITS!

 

They no longer have to stock lots of higher-end wine, only to have to discount it when it doesn't sell fast enough from the list. Since my wife and I enjoy good red wine (and I mean bottles in the $30-60 retail range, not expensive Bordeaux or overpriced cult California Cabernet), this is a real disappointment for us.

 

Now if, like the Swiss poster above, you enjoy the wines by the glass, by all means by the package. Or if you like to drink 4-5+ cocktails per day, buy the full package including spirits. But if you're like us, it's now down to a choice of either ordering from Oceania the Wine List or BYOBs from shore...

Edited July 31, 2014 by JPR

[robbie21]

We are currently in England and will be boarding on Saturday, the Nautica. Based on the information provided here we will be visiting a wine shop today to stock up. Oceania has always been weak on mid range wines and, of course, prices are high. The wine sales have been a blessing. Too bad they are gone.

[BenMurphy]

:mad:

We are currently in England and will be boarding on Saturday, the Nautica. Based on the information provided here we will be visiting a wine shop today to stock up. Oceania has always been weak on mid range wines and, of course, prices are high. The wine sales have been a blessing. Too bad they are gone.

 

Bad news about the wine .....................maybe we'll buy in Southampton too.

Josie

[robbie21]

:mad:

 

Bad news about the wine .....................maybe we'll buy in Southampton too.

Josie

 

Josie, there is a Majestic wine store (like Total Wines at home) in Southampton. We will be buying at the one in Stow in the Wold (love that name) today as we expect to arrive late tomorrow in Southampton.

 

See you soon, Robbie

[JPR]

You can often get really good prices in England on the moderate to expensive Australian reds because Australia is part of the Commonwealth. We like Mollydooker, D'Arenberg, Elderton, Peter Lehman, Torbreck, and many others.

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

I cannot agree with this! We took the Premium Beverage Package and found that there were many really decent - and a couple of really good - wines on the "By the Glass" list. And we live in Switzerland and are well used to good wines.

 

We have taken the same package for our next cruise. It worked very well for us! Santé!!

 

I have to agree with you!

 

I am a little old fashioned in that I tend to choose my wine to compliment what I am eating, so I would never have considered prepurchasing any wine.

 

A la vôtre!

[ohmark]

Sorry; a technical problem with this post.

Edited August 1, 2014 by ohmark

[ohmark]

Very disappointed in the discontinuance of wine bottle packages. Completely uninterested in a beverage package. If management assumes that the wine bottle package purchaser will gravitate to the beverage package, I think they will likely be surprised.

[newbie60]

Very disappointed in the discontinuance of wine bottle packages. Completely uninterested in a beverage package. If management assumes that the wine bottle package purchaser will gravitate to the beverage package, I think they will likely be surprised.

 

Agree completely! We rarely have a glass from the 'by the glass' menu but do occasionally when we are with friends in the bar before dinner. It would be very tiresome to have only those wines on any length cruise. We have purchased lots of wines during both the sail day sale and the mid-cruise wine bazaar. In many cases, especially at the mid-cruise sale, these were wines that were no longer on the list and were in short supply - a great way to clean up their list.

 

We always bring a case of wine from home when leaving from a US port - will now have to carve out time for wine shopping at other embarkation points.

[Mura]

While we haven't often taken advantage of those "bottle sales" we did so recently and found it very convenient -- rather than lugging wine from home. Because when we're in a foreign port, even though we tend to arrive a few days early, somehow we never find time to buy a few bottles of wine.

 

And we ARE talking about a few bottles. Definitely NOT a case!

 

When I leave from our home port (as we did on our last cruise) this wasn't a problem.

 

I don't mind paying a corkage fee and in the past I have just bought bottles from the wine list and nursed them through several days. (DH doesn't imbibe more than a sip or two from my glass.)

 

From reading this thread it appears to me that O may be making a mistake here. (Not that it will drive them to bankruptcy.) Lots of people seem to prefer those sales. And we seem to be the people who do NOT feel that the alcohol package is worth the price.

 

I personally like to have some vodka or bourbon in my cabin for cocktails -- since DH doesn't drink, we don't go to the bars except very occasionally. So I'll have a cocktail in the cabin. And I do like wine with dinner. But this doesn't justify the package price these days ... Not for me.

 

On occasion we've been in a top suite that gave the hard liquor as a perk, but that probably won't be happening again any time soon.

 

Mura

[ginabab]

Hi Oceania and All,

 

I really like the wine packages

 

When we dine we may have 2 or 3 bottles open and we taste and comment on them all

 

I like choosing the wines and look forward to seeing which I like better

 

We had fun last cruise comparing the California wines to the Bordeaux

 

Please bring them back

[pinotlover]

From a friend just returning from a Med cruise, he said that the wine sales have indeed stopped. However, on his cruise certain wines, that the ship intended upon discontinuing were on sale, by the bottle, in the different restaurants. So the ability to buy the discounted wine still seems to exist, but now on a bottle by bottle case, not as a package. My thought is perhaps diners should, early in the cruise, ask which, if any bottles, are on special, and then buy then before they disappear.

 

One of the somms additionally told him that the higher shelf wines were migrating to La Reserve when time for closeout came. People would enjoy the wines, at that venue, and swiftly scarf up what was left of the inventory.

[robbie21]

FYI - currently on Nautica. There was a wine sale yesterday. Not a very good selection and no extra discount as there used to be. But still it was a sale [emoji3]