pinotlover

Yes

One of the benefits of the pre cruise purchase, of either package, is the avoidance of paying the VAT if purchased aboard ship in some of the countries. Can’t really imagine why O would not take your money upfront! If I had the problem, it would result in a quick call to my TA. I’m positive she would get it done.

People really need to stop belching over what they get from their TA. They just need to talk with the heir TA and work out what each side feels fair and be happy. I’ve given the example that on our last Marina cruise as part of her generosity comped two couples is us the Dom P. dinner. We gave her a toast at that wonderful event. We were happy. Another couple there said they wanted their TA to comp nothing. They wanted the full amount on the 1.5% cash back card, plus the cash rebate at the end of the cruise. Different folks have different wants and there’s not much meeting in the middle. I was even queried if I knew how much our TA actually had to pay for that meal. They knew exactly what was paid and what their kickback was. Each to his own. Not much middle ground.

It’s what we do for every Privee dinner. They are wine dinners with everyone bringing and sharing a bottle.

Additionally, be aware that Oceania offers various special beers and wines of the day , especially in the Terrace, that are not on the bar menu and are not included in any drinks package. The individual restaurants also have drinks on their restaurant menu that are not included. Easy examples are the sakes and Japanese beer in Red Ginger. If you see a beer, wine, or mixed drink on a restaurant menu that isn’t on the general bar menu, it probably not included in a package. Also be careful of some of the daily fufu drinks at Waves. Ask first!

As a general rule of thumb. To order a mixed drink with distilled spirits, a bar on ship must be open to make that drink. Therefore, room service can/will bring you any drink you want up to the closing of all the ship’s bars. Beer and wine are different and are available 24/7 from room service. Now, keeping that concept in mind, a mimosa is a blend of sparkling wine and orange juice. The various restaurants have beer and wine in them. For breakfast, one can typically get a mimosa. However, if none of the bars are open yet, you can’t typically get the Bloody Mary in the morning. Exceptions may exist, but they are rare. Following this, when you order a mixed drink in a restaurant. A member of the wait staff has to go to one of the ship bars to get it. The beer and wine are kept in the restaurants, but they don’t run bars inside the restaurants. Therefore, if it’s busy in the restaurant, it may take awhile to get that drink if you only drink Manhattans. Having a butler is a different manner. They keep a butler’s pantry so to quickly make simple drinks and those may be available from your butler 24/7. However, without prior arrangements with your butler don’t expect that fufu drink at 2:00 in the morning, because he won’t have the ingredients to make it and the bars are closed. The first bar to open on the ship is Waves Bar, typically around 10:00. However, if inclement weather, it may not open. One has to wait for another bar to open which may not be until lunch time. Because of staffing cuts in the pass, ordering any mixed drinks in the Terrace is problematic. Just getting a glass of wine may be a long wait. The nearest bar for that mixed drink may be 5 decks below .

It doesn’t take much research to find highly rated private companies doing ship side pickup for this tour at under $200 and closer to $150. Some claiming to “ never pay retail” just consistently prefer and hawk Oceania tours. If you prefer paying $549 or $412, no apologies needed. Your money, your way!

Great we’ll see you aboard. I’ve set up a group going to Volunteer Point with Patrick Watts in the Falklands.

Those are Oceania prices. About $150 each with private companies.

Are you working the Feb 27, 2023 cruise out of BA going west?

Currently $549 each, that’s $412 if you have the 25% off.

Oceania does offer this land/flight tour. At about four (4) times the price offered by private tour companies.

We have an early (16:00) sail away from Gijon on 10/20. Why don’t we plan to meet in Horizons for Happy Hour at 5:00. We’ll probably be there a bit earlier , if that suits you, to catch the sail away, plus it will be getting dark early. What say Yee?

A correction to post #2. Transfers from and to the ship are included, if using O Air, on the Day of Embarkment and Disembarkment. Even if you pay the deviation fee to come in early or leave later, transfers are not included. Exception being, as pointed out if you pay and stay in an Oceania hotel or land tour.

We would enjoy that! 🥂

To answer the questions, one must first define a Sommelier. The wine industry now has a test and certification processes to become a certified sommelier. Those without the certification are considered wine stewards or just waiters. However, in a practical sense, this doesn’t stop those establishments not wanting to pay for the certified Somm calling their wait staffs sommeliers. As part of the Agreement with Dom Perignon to do the La Reserve Dom Perignon dinners, Oceania had to agree to hire and have aboard ship a certified Sommelier. So the Marina and Riveria brought one each aboard in late 2018 when that program began. Before then, I never meet any of the wine stewards with sommelier certification. The staff, even those at the paid tastings and in La Reserve were all wine stewards before with varying degrees of experience and knowledge, but definitely not up to sommelier certification standards. Whatever title any particular steward is given aboard ship is a different question. The number of active wine stewards aboard seems to vary. FWIW, some speculation suggests that by not having La Reserve on the Vista means Oceania can save the money by not being required to hire a certified sommelier which costs multiples more than a waiter. Just offering the meal in Privee is probably outside of the original agreement.

We’re in the Feb 27, 2023 cruise, BA to Lima. Last two attempted cruises there cancelled. We’re going during the shoulder months. Weather can very considerably in the Southern extremes between Dec and March.

Thank you. We’ll be aboard the Sirena from 10/18-11/4. If later than that, I suppose we miss the book aboard discounts. Always the FCC offering, but without the cruise discount.

Bump!! Can someone please query your OCA please?

We did all private tours this summer with everything going smoothly. It was the big tour operators and ship tours that had the problems. Bus driver shortages, no show tour guides, etc. Some of the ship tours had to be cancelled and combined last minute because of problems.

As a point of reference, when we board at 3:00 or so there is never a line or long wait at Passenger Services and the transaction goes swiftly and efficiently. It is highly likely that those early boarders might endure other circumstances. Isn’t that what they board early for? Mayhem! Just wait until the ship are cruising full again and 850 of the 1150 passengers all arrive at 11:00 again to board. So much fun🤪

Any particular cabin category in mind for your question?

We’re they Oceania cruises?? When you upgrade packages, one gets a new room key indicating they have the Premium Package. Hard to imagine that bartender bringing you a new room key???

Flyertalker beat me to it!

Ha! This is a separate question! If one eats in the Terrace Cafe ( buffet) they are lucky to get a single glass of wine. Ignore claims of unlimited drinks. Consider your itinerary. If one is gone ashore most lunches, buying packages including wine and beer at lunch, is a waist. If, however, you are among those rushing back aboard ship ship for lunch or have multiple sea days. What is your schedule, economics change? Some cruise Embarkment ports are in wine deserts. One is not reasonably going to buy cases of wine there, nor during their cruise. Buying the package makes tremendous sense. Other cruises are in large wine producing areas. Buying locally makes sense. If you only want CA wines and CA flavors, then pay to ship CA wine to the ship. Heaven forbid you do anything local.