Riviera New Bar Drinks, Menus and Prices

[DCGuy64]

Part of the confusion over this is the different ways Oceania describes the cost of the upgrade, and whether it can be done before sailing or not. Both of these links are from their site, but they say two different things.

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value#value-packages -This says it can be purchased before getting on board.

But this one says "once on board only":

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022271214-Can-I-upgrade-my-OLIFE-House-Select-Beverage-package-

One says $59.95, the other $69.95.

 

Not sure which is true.

 

 

[ORV]

4 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Part of the confusion over this is the different ways Oceania describes the cost of the upgrade, and whether it can be done before sailing or not. Both of these links are from their site, but they say two different things.

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value#value-packages -This says it can be purchased before getting on board.

But this one says "once on board only":

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022271214-Can-I-upgrade-my-OLIFE-House-Select-Beverage-package-

One says $59.95, the other $69.95.

 

Not sure which is true.

 

 

Maybe I'm missing it, but A is for it buying outright and B is for upgrading when you've taken the House Select as your Olife choice. 

[DCGuy64]

30 minutes ago, ORV said:

Maybe I'm missing it, but A is for it buying outright and B is for upgrading when you've taken the House Select as your Olife choice. 

Maybe I'm not getting it. If I choose House Select for O Life and want to upgrade beforehand, they're going to charge me $59.95 less the $29.95 that represents the "value" of the House Select package, correct? But if I choose to upgrade onboard, they'll charge me $69.95 less $39.95, right? In each case, I'll be paying $30 extra (unless they value House Select at $29.95 and when I get onboard, they charge me $69.95 which means $40 per day extra, not $30). Maybe I'm overthinking it (wouldn't be the first time, LOL). I guess what I'm getting at is, is there a financial advantage to my upgrading beforehand or not? I would prefer to wait a bit and see how much I drink on the ship, especially because we have a very port-intensive itinerary. But on the other hand, if waiting means forking over $10 extra per day, I might decide to just upgrade and stop thinking about it. BTW I can't seem to get the upgraded price on the website, putting it in my cart forces me to pay the full amount of $599.95 (10 day cruise @ $59.95/day). I assume I'd need to have the travel agency do that for me.

Edited January 9, 2023 by DCGuy64

[Aloha 1]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Do either one of you have a drink package with Olife?

Nope

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Maybe I'm not getting it. If I choose House Select for O Life and want to upgrade beforehand, they're going to charge me $59.95 less the $29.95 that represents the "value" of the House Select package, correct? But if I choose to upgrade onboard, they'll charge me $69.95 less $39.95, right? In each case, I'll be paying $30 extra (unless they value House Select at $29.95 and when I get onboard, they charge me $69.95 which means $40 per day extra, not $30). Maybe I'm overthinking it (wouldn't be the first time, LOL). I guess what I'm getting at is, is there a financial advantage to my upgrading beforehand or not? I would prefer to wait a bit and see how much I drink on the ship, especially because we have a very port-intensive itinerary. But on the other hand, if waiting means forking over $10 extra per day, I might decide to just upgrade and stop thinking about it. BTW I can't seem to get the upgraded price on the website, putting it in my cart forces me to pay the full amount of $599.95 (10 day cruise @ $59.95/day). I assume I'd need to have the travel agency do that for me.

I do not believe you can UPGRADE  before  the cruise  you have to wait until you are onboard

"Yes, guests may upgrade the House Select Beverage Package to the Prestige Select beverage package once onboard only"

 

Then you pay the $30 PD pp  rate

poorly worded by O  but what else is new

JMO

 

[ShopperfiendTO]

Not really a highjack, but do you get this benefit if you select the beverage package as your OLife option (i.e., does O consider you to have purchased the beverage package if you select it as your OLife option?)?:

 

Receive a 20% discount on any of our exclusive wine-pairing dinners in La Reserve on board Marina and Riviera when you purchase either of our beverage packages below.

[ORV]

Truly I don't know what's what with this anymore. We're going to have to wait and see how it all shakes out. Best bet is to see what people on board see happening. 

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

Not really a highjack, but do you get this benefit if you select the beverage package as your OLife option (i.e., does O consider you to have purchased the beverage package if you select it as your OLife option?)?:

 

Receive a 20% discount on any of our exclusive wine-pairing dinners in La Reserve on board Marina and Riviera when you purchase either of our beverage packages below.

I think others had posted that  you needed to purchase  the packages   not as part of O Life

There were some discussions on this

Perhaps someone who was denied  the discount will post their experience

[Robjame]

8 hours ago, LHT28 said:

think others had posted that  you needed to purchase  the packages   not as part of O Life

There were some discussions on this

Perhaps someone who was denied  the discount will post their experience

I think that may have changed. When we originally upgraded from OLife House to Prestige for $20 on December 23 aboard the ship (before all this beverage package confusion) for our first leg, we were told we were eligible for the 20% discount. However that discount could only be applied to subsequent purchases and no retroactive refunds. We had pre-booked all our La Reserves so we dismissed the discounts.

Of course that was pre January 4 when the all this became a confusion and we have been told things that were not necessarily true.

[Robjame]

12 hours ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

do you get this benefit if you select the beverage package as your OLife option (i.e., does O consider you to have purchased the beverage package if you select it as your OLife option?)?:

We were given this certificate when we upgraded to Prestige from OLife House and were told the discount applied.

 

[DCGuy64]

Thanks for the information, I'm also keen to know whether Oceania continues to allow upgrading on an individual basis (i.e. a couple traveling together don't BOTH have to upgrade, but each can decide on his own).

[Eloise4Ever]

Thanks so much for posting the updated beverage menus Rob. I was disappointed in the variety of white wines available by the glass on our Riviera cruise in December 2022 so I am delighted to see a better selection is now available (IMO). Interesting to see the new cocktails also. I was longing to try something new by the end of our 16 nights onboard.

[NewSalty]

22 hours ago, Aloha 1 said:

Interesting tidbit . Just tried to pre book the prestige Package for our 2/7 cruise to SA. When I selected Other Options>Beverage packages, I got a screen message "due to beverage restrictions unable to continue t this time".  ???

I was getting that message as well.  Got lucky with a quick call to Customer Service and a "good" agent, and had it cleared up in under 60 seconds. YMMV

[Robjame]

With the new bar menus, new menus seem to be appearing with drinks not included in the Drink Packages. I recall items like XO, but these are more extensive.

 

[LHT28]

Yikes   I am surprised at some of the Cognac  offerings  as well as the prices

Hope there are a lot of  cognac connoisseurs  with deep pockets  sailing

 

DH once ordered an expensive  scotch (OBC)   turns out it had gone bad    guess no one was drinking it at the prices on O

[ORV]

Say, I wonder what they would charge for just a whiff of that Louis XIII?

[Aloha 1]

19 minutes ago, ORV said:

Say, I wonder what they would charge for just a whiff of that Louis XIII?

I had a shot at the old Buckingham's bar at the Drake in Chicago years ago for $85/ 2oz pour. Smelled and tasted like high octane aviation fuel.

[no1talks]

1 hour ago, Aloha 1 said:

"Smelled and tasted like high octane aviation fuel."

Like LHT28's DH, you, too, were likely served cognac that was on the shelf too long.

 

Many people think the alcohol content keeps liquor "fresh" indefinitely. The alcohol in liquor keeps pathogens from taking up residence, but the taste and aroma can and will deteriorate. Six months, out to a couple years is about it for an opened bottle, depending on the spirit.

 

The wheels come off the bus even faster with liqueurs. Be more careful with those.

Edited January 11, 2023 by no1talks
Spelling

[Jim and Monika]

Haven't seen any Blantons on the ship, can't believe it would not be part of the package. It's not that expensive, just highly allocated. 

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, Jim and Monika said:

Haven't seen any Blantons on the ship, can't believe it would not be part of the package. It's not that expensive, just highly allocated. 

Have  they offered  it in the past??

[Jim and Monika]

It was listed on the menu above, they really don't have much Bourbon.

[BigCheese1]

On 1/4/2023 at 6:11 PM, Robjame said:

Some have changed already, some start tomorrow. I will photograph all as the time goes on.

 

 

 

Maybe being a bit dense, hubby drinks but probably not enough to warrant a package (he had thought) on  March cruise Marina.

Are there really no glasses of red wine under $14?

Edited January 13, 2023 by BigCheese1
Didn’t add comment!

[Robjame]

1 hour ago, BigCheese1 said:

Maybe being a bit dense, hubby drinks but probably not enough to warrant a package (he had thought) on  March cruise Marina.

Are there really no glasses of red wine under $14?

If you are paying for glasses of wine at bars or restaurants, add another 20% for gratuitity.

[BigCheese1]

2 minutes ago, Robjame said:

If you are paying for glasses of wine at bars or restaurants, add another 20% for gratuitity.

Thanks Robjame, yes I think I’d always anticipated that, but my question is is there really no red wine for less than $14.  Normally there’s wine in the $7-9 (often in the house select package) range and wines $13-14 (often in the prestige package). Of course then there are wines that are much more……

He thinks, mostly because we are off the ship such a lot (excursions), he’s better off just paying by the glass. I don’t drink…..

[Aloha 1]

7 minutes ago, BigCheese1 said:

Thanks Robjame, yes I think I’d always anticipated that, but my question is is there really no red wine for less than $14.  Normally there’s wine in the $7-9 (often in the house select package) range and wines $13-14 (often in the prestige package). Of course then there are wines that are much more……

He thinks, mostly because we are off the ship such a lot (excursions), he’s better off just paying by the glass. I don’t drink…..

My opinion is if your DH imbibes 2-3 glasses of wine per cruise day, the basic package would be a bargain as the price includes the gratuity.Just book it before embarkation.