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Duty Free Liquor Onboard

Wyatt Cruiser

By Wyatt Cruiser,
in Oceania Cruises

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Wyatt Cruiser

Wyatt Cruiser

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My wife and I are sailing on Nautica on the March 24, 2008 Beijing to Hong Kong cruise and are very much looking forward to experiencing Oceania for the first time. We've sailed on most all the others and are ready for the next step up in amenities and service.

 

Just a quick question. Is there a duty free liquor shop on board the ship that we may make a purchase to take to our room, thus eliminating the need to pack bottles all the way from California? I'm aware of the bar set up option, but we really don't need all the soda that's included.

 

Otherwise, are the duty free shops in the Beijing Int'l Airport accessible to arrivals?

 

Thanks for your input and looking forward to the cruise.

 

Ed and Donna

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Rickey 88

Rickey 88

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We sailed Beijing to Hong Kong on the Nautica last year and enjoyed every bit of it....

 

However, Oceania does not have any alcohol for sale on board ship. However, there will be some small bottles available in your fridge, but you will be charged for them.

 

You will find duty free shops after you have exited the Arrivals hall with your luggage. Follow the signs, and if you have nothing to declare, exit that door. There is also money exchanges, so be sure to have some chinese currency (yuan) for your purchases....

 

[ATTACH]65111[/ATTACH]

 

Enjoy your cruise.....

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  • 2 weeks later...
spindrift

spindrift

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We did the Beijing to Hong Kong a couple of years ago, and we just brought our liquor onboard with us. That is the real plus of Oceania. I just checked the "gift" section of the Oceania website to see about just ordering our liquor to be in our stateroom for our Sydney to Bangkok trip in February when we arrived, only to find out that 1 litre of Scotch was $110. CAN YOU BELIEVE? And a bottle of Jack Daniels was $100. Guess we will take our own liquor on board this time.

 

Actually, the last time we were aboard we went to the bar and ordered a bottle as we had just run out. It was delivered at a premium price, but no where the Bon Voyage gifts are being charged.

 

Even tho we bring on our liquor, we still patronize the bars, but I don't want to keep running to the bar to grab a drink while getting ready for lunch or dinner.

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2kiwis

2kiwis

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While the wine list is OK, you might like a change so one really big plus worth remembering is that you can take your own wine to the various dining rooms.

They charge $20 corkage but we still found that to be OK given the price of duty free wines. You dont have to drink the bottle either as its kept in the ship cool store for later consumption. A very good service overall.

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HappyCruiser44

HappyCruiser44

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Sorry to ask all these questions but I'm new to this board -

 

What is the bar set-up option?

 

Don't all the suites have a fridge?

 

Does anyone have the price list for beer, soda and water from the bar fridge? or do you order these from room service? If so, what are their rates? Even approx. idea of what is charged would be helpful for planning.

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

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Wyatt Cruiser

Wyatt Cruiser

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Oceania offers various liquors and mixes to be delivered to your stateroom as part of their Bon Voyage Gift offerings. You can find them on the Oceania website under "Already Booked" and then click on "Bon Voyage Gifts".

 

In addition to providing 1 litre of your favorite, they include six cans of mixers. Personally, we don't use mixers (Scotch & rocks) and aren't much on soft drinks as well, so that option does not appeal to us. And, as Spindrift noted, $100 to $110 is a bit of a stretch for a $25-30 bottle of liquor.

 

We're planning on hitting the Beijing duty-free upon arrival and then carry our choices on board.

 

Donna and Ed

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Rickey 88

Rickey 88

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Sorry to ask all these questions but I'm new to this board -

 

What is the bar set-up option?

 

- There is no "bar set-up option". You may be thinking of another cruise line such as Regent who has a set-up.

 

Don't all the suites have a fridge?

 

Only the Concierge level staterooms and above have a refriderator.

 

Does anyone have the price list for beer, soda and water from the bar fridge? or do you order these from room service? If so, what are their rates? Even approx. idea of what is charged would be helpful for planning.

 

I don't remember the actual individual prices but they are similar to that which hotels charge.

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hondorner

hondorner

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...Does anyone have the price list for beer, soda and water from the bar fridge? or do you order these from room service? If so, what are their rates?

Soda (Coke products) costs $2.50 per can plus an automatic 18% gratuity, for a total of $2.95 each, in the bars. From 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM each afternoon, sodas are available 2 for 1 in certain bars as part of the Happy Hour pricing.

 

I have not ordered from room service, but would assume the prices are similar, because they would get it from a bar. Even though we have had a fridge in concierge level, I have never used any of the mini-bar products. I assume Cokes and Diet Cokes would be similar in price, perhaps without the gratuity since it's self service, but I don't know for certain.

 

I can only help with the soda, because I have never purchased beer or water on the ship. I have purchased sodas, but only when I run out of my own supply of Diet Pepsi (bought ashore and brought on board), and even then, I only buy at Happy Hour.

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Rickey 88

Rickey 88

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Sounds like setting up a bar is pretty pricey - makes more sense to bring your own refreshments onboard.

 

You're absolutely correct! Some people have seen "bar set-up included" in some luxury cruise line brochures and mistakenly thought that Oceania did the same thing.

Such an attraction, while an attractive benefit, is in no-way a "Free" benefit. There is no such thing as "Free" - in one way or another, it has to be paid for, whether as an additional charge or hidden as an increase in the overall cruise cost.

As Oceania charges "retail" for liquor purchases made on board, you are much better off to make your purchases at a duty-free shop, and bring it along with you. Just remember that if your preference is for wine, there is no cost, if you drink in your stateroom, but if you bring a bottle to dinner there will be a corkage fee.

Actually, I much prefer the Oceania method - including "free" drinks in the cruise fare basically means that we all are paying for someone's drinking whether we like it or not..... ;)

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Rickey 88

Rickey 88

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Rickey 88 -

 

I agree. Don't like subsidizing someone else's consumption of liquor although it would make sense for Oceania to provide non-alcoholic beverages such as water, juice and sodas.

 

HC44

 

Actually, some soft drinks, such as lemonade or iced tea, are without charge, but bottled water (Evian) and canned soda (Coke) do cost.

Ship's water from the tap is perfectly fine and a lot of people just put some in a bottle and take it with them. It's my preference as I don't care for the taste of Evian - which incidentally is "Naive" spelled backwards.

Remember, anything extra that may be provided has to be paid for one way or another - either at the time of service or added in to your cruise cost......:)

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drrtc2

drrtc2

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Only concierge level and above have refrigerators. All the others have plenty of ice in buckets replenished twice a day. Beer is $5.51 for Bud, and $7.20 for Grosch. Drink of the Day is $5+ at the bar. 2 for 1 from 5 till 6. Ok to have liquor in the room, but not for public consumption. All iced tea and tap water is free. All sodas and bottled water cost about $2.50. Cheapest wine was about $50 a bottle.

If you like to drink you can end up with a very high tab at the end.

 

Be aware that leaving from Chile, even though water was bought after going thru security as was the liquor, the airlines still confiscated it becasue it constituted more than 3 oz. of liquid. (they pointed to the printed rule promulgated by the TSA in English). This rule is enforced differently by different countries, so pack it in your suitcase if you don't want to lose it potentially.

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CruseKrazy

CruseKrazy

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Hey thanks for the practical info on 'O' bar prices etc. drrtc2. We take our first O cruise this Fall.

 

As you may know, RCI and some other mass market cruise lines prohibit bringing any alcohol on board at all. This is quite frustrating and expensive!!!

 

Let's keep 'O's policy on this to ourselves. Don't want to start a stampede. :D

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noir36

noir36

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We just returned from a 14 day cruise on Regent without having to go to the trouble of finding duty free liquor or spending a fortune for drinks, soda, bottled water etc. Of course there is a price to be paid but considering the convenience of having a selection of wine with dinner or lunch, afternoon cocktails (all made with premium liquor such as Gray Goose), larger standard staterooms and not having to hassle with the ship ID card every time you might want something it was worth the extra price. In the end there may actually be no difference in price for us, only for those who do not drink at all. We were also given a 750ml bottle of Bombay Shaphire which we did not drink and left on the ship. We saw no alcohol abuse. By now most know Regend and Oceana are owned by the same company so who knows what the future brings.

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