Beverage Package question

[bluesplayer]

We have not cruised Oceania (mostly Holland America and Celebrity).  From my understanding if you select the "beverage package" as your free perk you are served beer and wine at lunch and dinner?    Can you upgrade this package to include cocktails?  If so how much per day?  I could not find this info on their website.  Can you choose one of the other perks and purchase a premium beverage package on board?    I like wine and wonder if I am able to upgrade the to a premium beverage package is the wine selection expanded to nicer wines?   We are looking at a Transatlantic to enjoy some sea days.  Thank you for any information.   Looking forward to giving Oceania a try.

[LHT28]

If you take the  House select you can upgrade once onboard   it is $20 PP PD

It is  any wine by the glass  on the menu

cocktails etc  some exceptions apply

 You can view some of the older menus  to get an idea of what is available

https://www.thepreismans.com/marina19_menus.htm#Bar

 

Of course the wine menu  could change once the ships are back to sailing

 

Yes you could choose another  perk & pay for the Prestige package 

 

[samiam0403]

Looks like your questions have been answered, but I just wanted to chime in with a reminder to do the math before purchasing. My first Oceania cruise was a solo cruise, and I initially took the House Select beverage package perk, with the intent to upgrade on board. Then I started doing more research and realized if I did that, I would be out of pocket ~$150 due to the $20 pp/pd charge. But if I switched my perk to the OBC and used that to buy the Premium package outright, it was only $20 out of pocket total. Obviously, the numbers will work out differently for everyone, and mine was largely because I was solo, but still something to look at. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

If you take the  House select you can upgrade once onboard   it is $20 PP PD

It is  any wine by the glass  on the menu

cocktails etc  some exceptions apply

 You can view some of the older menus  to get an idea of what is available

https://www.thepreismans.com/marina19_menus.htm#Bar

 

Of course the wine menu  could change once the ships are back to sailing

 

Yes you could choose another  perk & pay for the Prestige package 

 

Prestige package get you all spirits but a few top shelf single malts and cognacs. Wines by the glass are not spectacular. But, on Oceania you can bring as much of your own wine as you want for in-cabin consumption or $25 corkage at dining and other public venues. You can also bring spirits for in-cabin consumption and O provides mixers at no cost.

[YoHoHo]

3 hours ago, bluesplayer said:

 I like wine and wonder if I am able to upgrade the to a premium beverage package is the wine selection expanded to nicer wines?

Others already have given you good information on the packages and O's position on drinks. Just to be clear in regards to this specific question, the basic and the premium packages both offer the same selection of wines so no difference if you upgrade your package.

 

That said, if you buy the package and feel like something better on occasion they do give a 20%(?) discount if I recall correctly, on bottles (or they did do this). If you decide to not take a drinks package and instead buy better wines by the bottle they offer packages and sometimes "bin-end" sales. Others have more experience on this - it been a while since I have done that and a more limited experience on wine selections.

 

3 hours ago, bluesplayer said:

select the "beverage package" as your free perk you are served beer and wine at lunch and dinner?    Can you upgrade this package to include cocktails?  If so how much per day?  I could not find this info on their website.

Yes, the upgrade is $20 per person per day. Once started must be purchased for the rest of that voyage.

Can I upgrade my OLIFE House Select Beverage package? – Oceania Cruises (zendesk.com)

 

3 hours ago, bluesplayer said:

Can you choose one of the other perks and purchase a premium beverage package on board?

Yes, the premium package is US$60 pp/pd including tip. Or it was. Looks like they have pulled the page. Their faqs were always hard to find info and now seems to be shortened further. Searched for Prestige only finds the $20 upgrade price. 

 

I also assume they have not changed the upgrade purchase so that while both in a cabin must choose the same perk, both do not have to buy the upgrade. A nice option if one is a light drinker and happy with wines only with a meal and the other prefers a cocktail. if one is happy with the wines by the glass and only ordering in a dining venue *with their meal* (emphasis added as one cannot just order a glass of wine by itself unless with a meal on that package even in a dining room) , the other person could purchase the upgrade and in addition to ordering cocktails, they can order cocktails or wines by the glass anytime a bar is open.

 

O's drinks are small and expensive if you are not on the premium package. They had a couple of 2/1 happy hours most days but the very popular 5 pm is too crowded for me. Consequently, if I choose the drinks perk then I automatically buy the premium upgrade - I prefer a cocktail before dinner and a seat. Or I take no perk at all. One nice consideration of the premium drinks package is the "included" aspect and not even thinking about signing a chit or thinking of the cost of this glass or that drink and just enjoying what one feels like at the time. Makes me feel like I am on a cruise vacation 🙂

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Prestige package get you all spirits but a few top shelf single malts and cognacs. Wines by the glass are not spectacular. But, on Oceania you can bring as much of your own wine as you want for in-cabin consumption or $25 corkage at dining and other public venues. You can also bring spirits for in-cabin consumption and O provides mixers at no cost.

I an aware of that  

I guess the OP will appreciate the extra info

[LHT28]

20 minutes ago, YoHoHo said:

Yes, the premium package is US$60 pp/pd including tip. Or it was. Looks like they have pulled the page. Their faqs were always hard to find info and now seems to be shortened further. Searched for Prestige only finds the $20 upgrade price. 

 

 

listed under  ULTIMATE VALUE tab

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value

[MAGSMFC]

Does anyone know whether it is better to buy the premium package on the ship or before you sale.  Do they do special offers for it once you are on board.

 

Many thanks

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, MAGSMFC said:

Does anyone know whether it is better to buy the premium package on the ship or before you sale.  Do they do special offers for it once you are on board.

 

Many thanks

Does not matter either way

Buying onboard  you can wait a few days to see if it is worth it for you

If you do not drink much  it may be better to pay as you drink

 

We take  something for the cabin  DH does like his cognac/scotch before bed 

we will have a bottle of wine in the cabin as well

so just depends on your drinking habit if the package works for you or not

 

 

[bluesplayer]

Thank you all for the information and suggestions.  Very helpful.  Upgrading makes sense to me as gives you options other than wine.   A big thanks for the menu link from LHT28!   The menus look amazing and you did me a big favor as that will easily convince the husband!!   Thank you all for your input and hoping we can all sail again soon!   Much thanks from Seattle 

[pinotlover]

40 minutes ago, MAGSMFC said:

Does anyone know whether it is better to buy the premium package on the ship or before you sale.  Do they do special offers for it once you are on board.

 

Many thanks

This was recently asked. None of us have ever seen a sale on a beverage package.

 

If one selects the OLife shore tours package , they can pre-buy either drinks package or wait until aboard.

 

Historically, one could not upgrade from the basic drinks package, as the OLife selection, to the Premium package until once aboard. Likewise, historically, OBC could only be used once aboard . The latter has now changed, so perhaps the former has likewise, I can’t say from experience, since I still wait until boarding.

[jimdee3636]

7 hours ago, bluesplayer said:

Thank you all for the information and suggestions.  Very helpful.  Upgrading makes sense to me as gives you options other than wine.   A big thanks for the menu link from LHT28!   The menus look amazing and you did me a big favor as that will easily convince the husband!!   Thank you all for your input and hoping we can all sail again soon!   Much thanks from Seattle 

I'm not sure if others have pointed this out, but  the advantage of paying for the upgrade is not only that you're getting access to hard liquor drinks, but that you can have anything you want in any venue that serves alcohol, at any time they're open (not just wine and beer in the dining rooms at lunch and dinner).

[YoHoHo]

16 hours ago, LHT28 said:

listed under  ULTIMATE VALUE tab

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value

Thanks. Good to know

[ORV]

1 hour ago, jimdee3636 said:

you can have anything you want in any venue that serves alcohol, at any time they're open

Actually no, there are spirits in Horizons that are not on the drink package, there is high end scotch in Polo that is not available, there is Sake & some beer that is not available in Red Ginger and sometimes there will be local beers in the Terrace that are not on the package. 

 

Here is the rule, if it's on the Bar Menu it's available, otherwise probably not. Sometimes a bartender might let you get away with something not on the menu, but that would be the exception, not the rule. 

 

There might be a drink not on the menu, but if can be made with spirits listed on the menu, then that's fine. 

[diane2242]

On 1/23/2021 at 11:40 PM, samiam0403 said:

Looks like your questions have been answered, but I just wanted to chime in with a reminder to do the math before purchasing. My first Oceania cruise was a solo cruise, and I initially took the House Select beverage package perk, with the intent to upgrade on board. Then I started doing more research and realized if I did that, I would be out of pocket ~$150 due to the $20 pp/pd charge. But if I switched my perk to the OBC and used that to buy the Premium package outright, it was only $20 out of pocket total. Obviously, the numbers will work out differently for everyone, and mine was largely because I was solo, but still something to look at. 

If you take the upgraded package do you have to sign each time for a drink or do you get a card or something to identify you have the package?

[basor]

Just now, diane2242 said:

If you take the upgraded package do you have to sign each time for a drink or do you get a card or something to identify you have the package?

The room cards have intiials on them indicating if you have the House or Prestige beverage package.  The server will take your card and return with no slip to sign.  We find that the servers generally learn quickly that you have a beverage package and do not even take the card.

[pinotlover]

5 hours ago, basor said:

 We find that the servers generally learn quickly that you have a beverage package and do not even take the card.

This is typically not the case. As I understand it, a ticket must be signed for gratuity credit to be earned. If the staff is quite busy, one with bib might not get a ticket to sign, but normally they do.

[janecambridge]

Keep an eye on your bill for everything using the tv and logging in to your account.3 times we had someone else’s bill on our account.We had a prestige packet,We had to prove we weren’t in Polo one night and not drinking hard liquor at midnight in Horizons.! 

[jennybenny]

5 minutes ago, janecambridge said:

Keep an eye on your bill for everything using the tv and logging in to your account.3 times we had someone else’s bill on our account.We had a prestige packet,We had to prove we weren’t in Polo one night and not drinking hard liquor at midnight in Horizons.! 

Well, that's disappointing!! I guess mistakes happen, but that would really irritate me! 😞 I guess one always has to be ultra viligent with the onboard charges! 

[LHT28]

16 minutes ago, janecambridge said:

Keep an eye on your bill for everything using the tv and logging in to your account.3 times we had someone else’s bill on our account.We had a prestige packet,We had to prove we weren’t in Polo one night and not drinking hard liquor at midnight in Horizons.! 

This  is probably why they should be swiping your card  when you order drinks

The waiters have good memories for the most part  but  they may get people confused at times

[samiam0403]

On 2/4/2023 at 1:00 PM, diane2242 said:

If you take the upgraded package do you have to sign each time for a drink or do you get a card or something to identify you have the package?

Looks like your questions got answered before I got to it! No signing for drinks with the Prestige package. And the servers/bartenders pretty quickly figure out that you have it. The downside to that is when they start pouring your normal drink as soon as you walk up to the bar when you had intended to order something else! 🤣 

[Robjame]

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.

[diane2242]

thank you everyone for the information. Much appreciated.