Hidden cost for package

We purchase the package when we first board using OBC. The price is $59.95 per day. This includes the 18% gratuity. We have Never paid. Miami tax. It has been explained to us that we are purchasing a package just like if you purchase a shore excursion. There is no local tax on these things. Same thing when we purchased in Spain last month.No VAT tax.

It's your choice re pkg. we find the pours very small so we order doubles. As an after dinner drink I drink top shelf cognac. It is $27 per shot (1 oz) so I get a double and bring back to my room to enjoy on balcony. You will find that if DH wants a Bailey' a 1 oz pour is not much, so perhaps he may get a double, so now you are up about $20 for just that one drink.

We purchase the package when we first board using OBC. The price is $59.95 per day. This includes the 18% gratuity. We have Never paid. Miami tax. It has been explained to us that we are purchasing a package just like if you purchase a shore excursion. There is no local tax on these things. Same thing when we purchased in Spain last month.No VAT tax.

It's your choice re pkg. we find the pours very small so we order doubles. As an after dinner drink I drink top shelf cognac. It is $27 per shot (1 oz) so I get a double and bring back to my room to enjoy on balcony. You will find that if DH wants a Bailey' a 1 oz pour is not much, so perhaps he may get a double, so now you are up about $20 for just that one drink.

Thanks

We are going on Riviera 12/05/16. We are considering the upgraded drink package but one question I have is do they charge you for disembarkation day? It seems ridiculous to be charged when you get off the ship between 8-10 a.m.

If we don't do the drinks package we understand about the $25 corkage fee for bottles of wine brought on board if we drink them in public spaces. We have an EXCELLENT wine cellar and will bring a few bottles BUT does Oceania strictly enforce the 3 bottle limit you can bring on board per day? I understand you can get more wine in ports, etc. but if we were to bring 6 or so bottles from our cellar would they let us on with them? I'd sure hate to have them take one of my 1997 Montelena Estates or 2007 Ridge Montebellos

Thanks,

We are going on Riviera 12/05/16. We are considering the upgraded drink package but one question I have is do they charge you for disembarkation day? It seems ridiculous to be charged when you get off the ship between 8-10 a.m.

NO.... basically the cruise ends as far as accounting etc.. at midnight the day before disembarkation

 

We have an EXCELLENT wine cellar and will bring a few bottles BUT does Oceania strictly enforce the 3 bottle limit you can bring on board per day? I understand you can get more wine in ports, etc. but if we were to bring 6 or so bottles from our cellar would they let us on with them? I'd sure hate to have them take one of my 1997 Montelena Estates or 2007 Ridge Montebellos

 

Thanks,

If you read through some of the thread on bringing wine you will see people bring cases on without an issue

As Lyn said, Oceania is not a line that sends your personal bottles to jail ...

On our NCL cruise in the spring of 2010 they DID confiscate bottles which were returned at the end of the cruise. Oceania hasn't done that.

Proviso: if you get obscenely drunk on board, then they might!

Plenty of people (do a search on the topic) bring on a case or even more with no problems.

Mura

Tip is in the package price. Decent drinks on O need double pours of the better spirits. For example, at about $15+/shot for El Tessoro Anejo Tequila, two Margaritas (and tip) already exceed the prestige package $60/day.

Wines by the glass leave much to be desired when compared to the flexibility of cocktail choices. However, recently O has poured Shramsberg Mirabelle (best of the sparkling selections), Arboleda Carmenere (Chilean Red) and DonnaFugata (white blend from Sicily). All three are passable.

Yes you need a double to really be the equal of a regular bar drink back home in the USA. a tripple thus on board O is really slightly less than a double... Drinks are lite.... costs are not. 2 glasses of Mirabella wine and 1 double drink of prem liquor will put you over $60. add 1 more drink and and you could be close to $100.

Dont fool yourself, remember the social atmosphere on the ship is conducive to drinking ....and many soon discover they are racking up $100 pp a day bar bill. Look at the big picture, your spending 4 to 6 K for a week and getting wound up over $500?

The wines by the glass about 32 of them, I found very pleasant not gran cru but quite nice....a bit more than passable in my opinion.. I like good wine, however wine is to be enjoyed not worshiped.

 

If we don't do the drinks package we understand about the $25 corkage fee for bottles of wine brought on board if we drink them in public spaces. We have an EXCELLENT wine cellar and will bring a few bottles BUT does Oceania strictly enforce the 3 bottle limit you can bring on board per day? I understand you can get more wine in ports, etc. but if we were to bring 6 or so bottles from our cellar would they let us on with them? I'd sure hate to have them take one of my 1997 Montelena Estates or 2007 Ridge Montebellos

 

Thanks,

I too have a large celler.... however I would never transport anything "good" unless I am driving to the port from home.... air, weather temps vibrations, the works will really do the job on a good red.... not as bad for whites.... Consider how am I getting the wine to the ship.... and consider how long will the wine need to rest?.

Not sure if the question of tax is the same Europe to USA but we are recently back from a Barcelona to Barcelona cruise where Spanish VAT applied throughout the cruise 21% extra on goods from the shops and 10% extra on drinks.

The drinks package upgrade did not include the tax.

Regarding the drink size we found the free hand pours more than generous, a gin for a G&T seemed at least da double measure and on one occasion way over a treble!

Not sure if the question of tax is the same Europe to USA but we are recently back from a Barcelona to Barcelona cruise where Spanish VAT applied throughout the cruise 21% extra on goods from the shops and 10% extra on drinks.

 

No it is not the same only applies while in port & shortly after

not for the entire cruise like Spain

DH found his G & T strong & had to get extra tonic

We do not buy the package so no special service or maybe there is ;)

We'll be on our first Oceania cruise in January and really looking forward to it and will buy the prestige package when we board. No "tempests in a teapot" or worry here. I was just trying to be helpful.

You have been very helpful...thank you! :)

We purchase the package when we first board using OBC. The price is $59.95 per day. This includes the 18% gratuity. We have Never paid. Miami tax. It has been explained to us that we are purchasing a package just like if you purchase a shore excursion. There is no local tax on these things. Same thing when we purchased in Spain last month.No VAT tax.

It's your choice re pkg. we find the pours very small so we order doubles. As an after dinner drink I drink top shelf cognac. It is $27 per shot (1 oz) so I get a double and bring back to my room to enjoy on balcony. You will find that if DH wants a Bailey' a 1 oz pour is not much, so perhaps he may get a double, so now you are up about $20 for just that one drink.

And even more so...finally an answer to my question. TY ;)

If the tax on the Beverage Package is any kind of an issue, the best advice that any of us could offer would be to choose a more affordable Cruise.

It's not really an issue. It has to do with the total price of the package ($419.65 or $449) versus buying by the drink. What we might be charged per drink, per day, and if the package is worth the cost to us.

Because we do not drink much liquor at all, nor need "doubles" and "top shelf", our daily bill, per drink, may not add up to what someone else may be spending. And as I explained before. If I have the drink package, I may tend to drink more just because I can. :D If we do not have the package, we drink very little...especially me.

So, while we may break close to even if we purchase the package at the $59pp advertised rate, we would not if adding another $30 tax to the cost. That's what I was trying to figure out. I've had my questioned answered, so we will probably go with at least one package. ;)

Posted by Hawaiidan: Look at the big picture, your spending 4 to 6 K for a week and getting wound up over $500?

LOL I had to respond to this! The total cost (not including a drink package) for our 7 night cruise, in a Veranda cabin, is $824.25 pp. Plus we have Internet and $600 OBC. :cool:

It's being frugal that affords us to cruise at least 3-4 times a year. ;)

You have been very helpful...thank you! :)

 

 

will probably go with at least one package. ;)

 

 

 

LOL I had to respond to this! The total cost (not including a drink package) for our 7 night cruise, in a Veranda cabin, is $824.25 pp. Plus we have Internet and $600 OBC. :cool:

 

It's being frugal that affords us to cruise at least 3-4 times a year. ;)

I had some good deals..and heard of some great deals but never in all my years have I heard of the deal of the century you got.... 7 days in a veranda that's 117 a day pp !!!! and with 600 OBC!!! The cheapest I ever saw a 7 day veranda was like 234 a daypp and that's without air !!! The cheapest I have ever seen even an Inside , without air go for was like 165pp per day or 1155 pp......and that's for an Inside.... Sweet Jesus your a genius or better.....Wow you.... did us use a gun?

I had some good deals..and heard of some great deals but never in all my years have I heard of the deal of the century you got.... 7 days in a veranda that's 117 a day pp !!!! and with 600 OBC!!! The cheapest I ever saw a 7 day veranda was like 234 a daypp and that's without air !!! The cheapest I have ever seen even an Inside , without air go for was like 165pp per day or 1155 pp......and that's for an Inside.... Sweet Jesus your a genius or better.....Wow you.... did us use a gun?

Those of us on affected Noro cruises received 25% or more off our next cruise. Depending on the cruise, different offers were made available..etc.

I had some good deals..and heard of some great deals but never in all my years have I heard of the deal of the century you got.... 7 days in a veranda that's 117 a day pp !!!! and with 600 OBC!!! The cheapest I ever saw a 7 day veranda was like 234 a daypp and that's without air !!! The cheapest I have ever seen even an Inside , without air go for was like 165pp per day or 1155 pp......and that's for an Inside.... Sweet Jesus your a genius or better.....Wow you.... did us use a gun?

Dan, we have a 10 day Caribbean cruise coming up in Dec that we are paying $99 per person per day on. It is an inside Guarantee that we were able to get 25% off on due to being on one of the Noro cruises last year. It's also without air but does have the Olife, we have internet plus took the drink package plus have another $1000 OBC. It's almost like being paid to go.

Did I mention I was flying there and back on miles and staying for free at the Marriott.

One of the most affordable vacations we've had on Oceania yet. Even without the 25% off it would still be $125 pp, per day.

HA....so your using 25% coupons on already lower fares.....The situation becomes very clear now....I was stunned by a $900 or 1800 veranda for a week.....

ORV.... before you smile too much on the free airfare and hotel... it really isnt free...you paid with points and miles you directly or indirectly paid for...

my UAL points have a value on 2.5 cents each, and if a LAX-Mia fare is $350 rt and it cost 25,000 miles to get "free" That 25,000 thats $625 you spent for a 350 ticket.

I dont use miles un less I get more ticket for less point value

Flew to Switzerland last year, 57,000 miles first class.. ticket would have cost me $4850 one way but with miles Ionly spent in theory $1425.00 meaning a $3450 savings vs using the miles to miami coach and spending $325 more that the ticket would have cost...with cash

Miles have $$$$ value and you need to consider it no matter how you got them. You can buy a Rolex for a Timex price but why buy a Timex for a rolex price. Just because you didnt pay for the points dosent diminish their intrinsic real $$$ value

Dan, you forget that I have to fly from the middle of the country from a regional airport, not one of the largest airports in the world. Our costs are considerably more flying from here, that makes using miles domestically a better deal.

Two round trip tickets, on the same flights I booked are $546 each for a total of about $1100, using your inflated value of 2.5 cents, which I feel is high, I tend to go with the more accepted .02, it is about a wash. Our two round trip tickets cost 45k

These are Delta miles which rarely have a reasonable amount of miles internationally for first or business. Case in point was a recent trip I took to Australia where I got business in Qantas using AA points one way for a total of around 190k for the two of us. The same route on Delta was 500k.

Every situation is different. I have a calculator, I'm pretty good at simple math.

Although they definitely have a value the cost to me is still free. I do agree with you about making the best use of them, which I feel like with Delta miles, in my situation, that is using them domestically.

I think for many folks, reaching a definitive "drink package" answer for themselves involves personal experience. Key factors are obviously one's own drink habits and preferences, cruise duration, number of sea days, intensity of ports and excursions. We took the prestige package on our first O cruise which as I recall wasn't particularly sea day intensive. On our second cruise, Miami to San Francisco, we didn't, but kept meticulous records, including tip, of what we spent; we got everything we wanted, morning Bloody Marys, champagne by the glass, wine with meals, whatever. We spent half of what the prestige package would have cost for that duration.

Our third O cruise, Valpariaso to Papeete, had a ton of sea days, at least by O standards, and while our record-keeping wasn't as meticulous, we satisfied ourselves that the package didn't work for us. Coming up is London to Stockholm with I think only two sea days and many ports; I think time on board that cruise will involve a lot more sleeping than drinking. Everyone's mileage amd personal preferences vary.

We're getting ready to do a TA from Barcelona to Miami, so I've been searching through these old threads trying to figure out the Spain tax thing. Our cruise has 5 more Spain ports after leaving Barcelona.

We've selected the beverage package for our Olife perk. We plan on upgrading it, but probably not until a couple of days in.

If I understand it right if we get the upgrade we will not be charged any extra tax? If we buy by the drink for a few days or buy anything in the gift shop then we will get charged the tax until we have left the last Spanish port?

Do I have this right? I'm sure they will let us know onboard what will happen, I was just curious.

On board Riviera now. Before reaching Barcelona, current stated extra tax on alcohol or tobacco products until we are 12 miles from Spain. Don't know what this does on beverage upgrade.