Cost of Liquor Aboard Viking Orion

[SabreSailor]

Trying to figure out where the break-even point is on cost of individual drinks in a bar aboard a Viking Ocean ship vs. the beverage package.  How much is a typical premium spirits drink (say a Tanqueray martini, or a Cutty Sark on the rocks, or Absolut and tonic, as examples)?

 

Also, if you are in a Penthouse Junior Suite, I understand you get liquor supplied in your minibar.  How much liquor (presume this is those tiny bottles?) per day and do you get to choose what you want supplied?  Name brands?

 

Thanks so much!

[Senior Gators]

SabreSailor,

 

Can't speak to your first question, but we can to your second one. The standard ration of hard liquor in a PSJ on Viking cruises we have been on is four "nips"; one each of rum (Bacardi), scotch (Dewar's), vodka (Smirnoff) and gin (Beefeater) per day.  It may be possible to get the number of each changed around to suit your preferred liquor tastes.  If you leave some from one day to the next, the wine steward stocking your mini bar/refrigerator will only top you off to bring the total number of nips back to four.  

 

Hope this helps.

 

Senior Gators

[Peregrina651]

This is a frequent topic of discussion and there are numerous threads on the topic, some of them even have photographs of the drinks menus.

 

 

Viking Ocean drinks packages

Drink packages

Silver Spirits Package

Silver Spirits Beverage Package Option

Trying out Viking.. acouple of questions on drink packages

 

 

 

[agnesd]

I don't have the Silver pkg.  Wine at meals is fine for us. If I want a soda or iced tea is there a charge?

[knoxclone]

no charge for non alcoholic beverages at meals.

[RetroRod]

Here is a bar  menu I found from an older that appears to be for River. It may help in your decision process. 

http://wpc.475d.edgecastcdn.net/00475D/mvj/onboardbeveragemenu_europe.pdf

Edited July 10, 2019 by VJMAZZ

[Peregrina651]

8 hours ago, agnesd said:

I don't have the Silver pkg.  Wine at meals is fine for us. If I want a soda or iced tea is there a charge?

 

Just to clarify...

 

Coffee (any variety as long as it doesn't include spirits)/tea/ hot chocolate are available free 24/7. Available at any bar from the bartender, from the machines in the World Cafe, at meals and from room service. I believe this also includes iced tea.

 

House Wine/house beer/soda are available for free at lunch and dinner. Outside of meal time there is a charge.

 

Mini-bars are replenished daily in all cabin categories except Veranda cabins for free. DV is soda only. PV and above includes alcohol. For all categories, anything not included in the daily replenish can be purchased; there will be an order form in your cabin.

 

Silver Spirits package does not cover the mini-bar or wine by the bottle. BYO is encouraged; there is no corkage fee in the dining room.

 

Carafes of filtered water are in your cabin. Changed twice a day. Sparkling and/or still.  Bottled water is available as you depart the ship each day.

 

 

[SabreSailor]

7 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Just to clarify...

 

Coffee (any variety as long as it doesn't include spirits)/tea/ hot chocolate are available free 24/7. Available at any bar from the bartender, from the machines in the World Cafe, at meals and from room service. I believe this also includes iced tea.

 

House Wine/house beer/soda are available for free at lunch and dinner. Outside of meal time there is a charge.

 

Mini-bars are replenished daily in all cabin categories except Veranda cabins for free. DV is soda only. PV and above includes alcohol. For all categories, anything not included in the daily replenish can be purchased; there will be an order form in your cabin.

 

Silver Spirits package does not cover the mini-bar or wine by the bottle. BYO is encouraged; there is no corkage fee in the dining room.

 

Carafes of filtered water are in your cabin. Changed twice a day. Sparkling and/or still.  Bottled water is available as you depart the ship each day.

 

 

BIG help - thanks so much!

[Squawkman]

If I remember correctly, sparkling water is also available 24/7 along with coffee/tea/chocolate at the World Café.

[Peregrina651]

6 hours ago, Squawkman said:

If I remember correctly, sparkling water is also available 24/7 along with coffee/tea/chocolate at the World Café.

 

Sparkling filtered water yes, even at the bars. Branded bottles, I believe not. 

[Capt_BJ]

a couple of comments

 

the "included beer & wine" at meals is what they are pouring that day .... "house".  For wine there is a red and a white ... beer a light draft (Carlsberg draft on our last trip) and a dark ..... not 'call your brand'.

 

with the SS package the discount on a bottle is something we never used .... most of the wines were available by the glass and most nites we saw a bottle of our choice being opened fresh for us.  Their pour is generous, 2 glasses each and we killed the bottle . . . . 

 

For us, the daily charge is low as compared to most other line's package .....

 

OTOH if happy with the includeds they are always willing to 'top off your glass' b4 you leave the dining room, glass in hand.

 

************************

At EXPL' lounge there were pitchers of still and sparkling water always available ..... ships filtered and they 'spark it' themselves . . . same stuff they stock your room with

[terrydtx]

We have the SS package for our VO cruise next year and the cost was only$18pp per day which was unbelievable compared to lines like HAL where the cost per day is around $50pp with a $11 drink cost cap. This is the best bargain at sea for  drink package. 

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We have the SS package for our VO cruise next year and the cost was only$18pp per day which was unbelievable compared to lines like HAL where the cost per day is around $50pp with a $11 drink cost cap. This is the best bargain at sea for  drink package. 

 

Not denying that it is a good deal, if you drink 2 cocktails a day or if you are a wine drinker interested in sampling the various premium wines and will drink three glasses of wine per day. Soda drinkers will have to drink 5 sodas per day -- outside of meal times.

 

People buy the drinks package for two reasons: because they are looking to save money on the bar bill or else because they like the convenience and don't care about the cost. 

 

Regardless of reason, to avoid disappoint and misunderstandings, you should read the fine print of the package and understand what the package does and does not cover. This is not an unlimited drinks package; there are restrictions and exclusions. 

[NewLondonNed]

Inform your room Steward of your nip bottles preference and s/he will see to it as well as mixers preference.  I though drink prices quite reasonable at the bars throughout ship - would have to drink quite a bit each day to meet the costs of the SS package.

Edited July 18, 2019 by NewLondonNed

[duquephart]

We penciled it out and came to the conclusion that you'd have to hit it pretty hard to make the SS package worthwhile. We've always been satisfied with the included wines and beers and a cocktail before dinner won't break anybody. If you want premium wines and like cocktails (multiple) before and after meals you might want to consider the package. In our experience the package types tended to be barflies.

 

Your room steward will be happy to arrange the restocking of mini bar to suit your preferences.

[terrydtx]

16 hours ago, duquephart said:

We penciled it out and came to the conclusion that you'd have to hit it pretty hard to make the SS package worthwhile. We've always been satisfied with the included wines and beers and a cocktail before dinner won't break anybody. If you want premium wines and like cocktails (multiple) before and after meals you might want to consider the package. In our experience the package types tended to be barflies.

 

Your room steward will be happy to arrange the restocking of mini bar to suit your preferences.

At our cost of $18pp per day, one $15 glass of better wine and one martini before dinner puts us ahead of the game with the SS drink package. I don not consider that hitting it pretty hard.  So yes the SS is well worth the cost. Compare that with the Classic Beverage Package on Celebrity for $9 max drink cost at $59pp per day and Viking is a bargain. On Celebrity we would have to be pretty soused to break even or better. 

Edited January 19, 2020 by terrydtx

[bbtondo]

Viking is a real bargain when they include the SS upgrade as a perk!  Thanks Viking!

[Peregrina651]

2 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

Viking is a real bargain when they include the SS upgrade as a perk!  Thanks Viking!

 

I'd rather they take it off my cruise fare than to give me any perk that I wouldn't be buying for myself in the first place.  Great for some but not for others. 

[deec]

Bbtonddo.....I NEVER see the SS package on an incentive other than the WC.  Next time you snag one or see it posted please alert us on the board or was the package/perk  from your Travel Agent?

 

 

[bbtondo]

A small group of friends booked directly on Viking Ocean.  We got the SS package upgrade, a few category upgrade and some OBC as perks from the Viking rep.  This was a special where you had to book by New Years.

 

Agree that some people would not be interested in a SS package upgrade, but we are and are very happy.

[Clay Clayton]

On our firs Viking cruise, we had an abundance of OBC that paid for our gratuities, the SS package and a haircut and a massage.  While we enjoyed the convenience, the (slightly) upgraded wine selections at meals (I don't recall many of the wines on the package being  more than $8 a glass) and had more drinks than usual, since then our travel agent provided OBC had only been enough to cover gratuities with $180 left over.  That amount has provided us with a predinner cocktail, an after dinner cordial and we only end up with a very small (if any) balance due at the end of the cruise.  Obviously, YMMV!