Wine List

[caviargal]

I just booked my first Oceania cruise for the Med in 2007. I am interested in the wine list and am hoping someone has a link.

Also, I have been told that the drink prices aboard are much higher than average. Is this true? I know their corkage fee is $25 which I find ridiculous.

[mike35]

Hi caviargal

I don't think you'll find a link to the extensive wine list on the 3 Oceania ships, but from a couple of wine afficionados like us, please let me assure you that the someliers have stocked the cellars with a wide variety of worldwide varietals at all price points. We've found the someliers to be knowledgeable, and they don't try to push "plunk" at outlandish prices.

We've also found the wine tastings to be much better than on mass-market lines. On a recent cruise, the current president of the American Someliers Association was a guest lecturer, and his presentations were wonderful.

As for pricing, cocktails are similar to what anyone would expect to pay in an upscale cocktail lounge. The ships feature several daily specials at around $5 US - certainly not out of line. Some folks grouse at the 18% gratuitity that is added on, but we usually tip at least that much to a cocktail waitstaff in the States, so to us - no big deal.

Yes, corkage is $20 - a subject of much discussion over the past couple of years. This doesn't make it any more palatable, but at one of our favorite Palm Springs restaurants, corkage is $35. A poster from Minneapolis kind of summarized his feelings, which I agree with wholeheartedly. It's quoted below:

"Let me get this straight: You're trying to organize a protest over drink prices and corkage fees? Let's say that Oceania were to cut the price of alcoholic drinks by, say, $2 and the corkage fee from $20 to $10. You go on a 14-day cruise, have six drinks a day for a couple, and bring your own wine to the dining room every other day. That's a $70 savings on corkage and a $12 daily savings on drinks for a total savings of $238 over a two-week cruise. Now let's assume that you got a cheap fare of $2,499 per person for a total cruise-only fare of $4,998. Your savings on drinks represent less than 4.8% of the total fare. Is this enough to justify organizing a "MASS COMPLAINT" (sic) or objecting to the fact that, like all businesses, Oceania needs to make a profit? And if Oceania were to cut the price of booze and bar service, where would you suggest that it make up the lost revenues? To paraphrase an old expression, "There's no free drink."

I hope these comments address your concerns, and that you will look at the big picture re Oceania -- their pricing, passenger satisfaction, food quality, etc.

Mike

PS - I'm not an Oceania investor, nor am I on their payroll - I just happen to love "the Big O".

[nparmelee]

There is a wine list on the Oceania web site, is that just an example or is that the current real wine list? Just curious. Heck a $20 corkage fee seems pretty reasonable to us too, maybe we lived in Marin County too long, not that Reno is any cheaper at our favorite restaurants, I think it $35 or $40 at Lu Lou's the last time we went. I'm just glad we don't have to have discussions about the best ways to sneak alcohol on board like so many of the mass market lines.

[LHT28]

We did a NCL cruise in March and they charge $15. corkage even if your drink the bottle in your cabin.
Their drink prices are the "drink of the day" $8. in a plastic glass you get to drag home. drinks are $5.25 + depending on the brand
A good Scotch was $7.75-$12.
( I think on O hubby paid $6.-7)
So they are inline with other cruiselines.
Heck, now I hear Princess is charging for their crappy coffee if you get it from the bars.

[CruisingSerenity]

There is a wine list on the Oceania web site, is that just an example or is that the current real wine list? Just curious.

The list you see on the website is for gift orders and is not the extended wine list. That list is not available in advance.

[daquri]

There is a wine list on the Oceania web site, is that just an example or is that the current real wine list?

There is indeed a wine list. It is under the heading of dining on the website home page. These are wines that they try to have on hand for each cruise. The usually have quite a few more on hand that are not listed.

[CruisingSerenity]

Excuse me, you are correct. I meant to say that the PRICES are not available beforehand. Sorry.

[CathyCanada]

I was pleasantly surprised to find the wine list on the website and to see how extensive it was. We also found that they were reasonably priced and the 6 (or was it 8?) sommeliers onboard were excellent and we tried a number of different wines based on their excellent recommendations.

The martini prices especially are pretty expensive, but if you are a wine/champagne drinker, they had a $5 choice of the day of a red, white and champagne, and I enjoyed those very much. :) I've read that these choices were smaller amounts, but that was not the case on my cruise.

Enjoy, Oceania is my favourite cruise line!

[drwong]

Speaking of on-board alcohol consumption:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-0605200137may21,1,713678.story?coll=chi-travel-hed

"When the captain said, 'Hard a-port," I thought he was referring to navigating the ship!" :D