The Dom Pérignon Experience at La Reserve

[honmani2]

Has anyone done this?  We are thinking about it when we are on the Marina in June.  I thought it was $295 plus gratuities but when I looked at the website, the total came to $474 per person.

Is it "tasting" portions of Dom or full glasses?  If it's the latter, it's a good deal albeit not cheap.

[kjbacon]

While we did not do that particular dinner pairing, we did both of the other two and I cannot recommend them enough. Yes it’s expensive, but we felt completely worth it. Food, wines, and service excellent and you are welcome to wine refills after a good first pour. 

[TonicTraveler]

We did do the DP dinner and it was wonderful.  We paid $299. per person, plus gratuity.  The price has since gone up to $399. per person, plus gratuity.  We chose to have this experience because we had enough ship board credit to cover it.  We've also done the other La Reserve dinners when they were $99.  I know the price has increased for those as well.  As to whether or not it is worth spending over $900 for the experience, that depends on, 1) how much you value this type of experience and 2) your wealth.  The food and wine pairings at all of the La Reserve dinners are superb.  They are some of the very best dining experiences I've ever had.  If you're a "foodie" do the less expensive La Reserve dinners (I think they are currently $150, but don't quote me on that).  If you're a foodie and can easily afford the cost of the DP dinner, then why not do it?  Life is short. And, they do not skimp on the pours.

Edited April 8, 2023 by TonicTraveler

[pinotlover]

We have done the DP dinner twice. Fortunately, both before the price increase. Food wise, it is by far the best and most delicious meal prepared anywhere on Oceania. Just an outstanding meal.

 

The pairings are done by the Executive Chef at Dom P and are perfect for each of the courses. The wines are Dom P and of a very good quality.

 

The pours are very generous and the wine stewards will give you refills on anything you desire. There is no shortage of wine offered. 😜🥂

[Cliff-FLL]

The other thing to consider is how much do you really like champagne?  I enjoy it but I can't imagine spending a whole night drinking it - especially not at nearly $500pp.  We've been sailing Marina & Riviera since they were introduced and have had every menu in La Réserve, but we've never had sufficient interest to do the DP dinner.  (I'd love to try the menu, just without the DP.)

[Flatbush Flyer]

5 hours ago, honmani2 said:

Has anyone done this?  We are thinking about it when we are on the Marina in June.  I thought it was $295 plus gratuities but when I looked at the website, the total came to $474 per person.

Is it "tasting" portions of Dom or full glasses?  If it's the latter, it's a good deal albeit not cheap.

We’ve done each of the LaReserve dinners including Dom Perignon. As others have mentioned, the food has been exceptionally excellent in each instance and the wine, for the most part, has been more than adequate in quality and quantity.

That said, and with an admission that I have what may be considered a NorCal “house palate” for some varietals (and sparklers), I did/do not find Dom Perignon to be worth it’s added cost. Of course, a bottle that lights up might be worth a few extra dollars😉.

[pinotlover]

If one was on a shorter cruise and was considering the Premium Drinks package, it is easily conceivable that instead of taking the OLife upgrade that buying the package outright and getting the La Reserve discount could be attractive. Combine this with the possibility of waiting until a couple days pre DP dinner, getting the discount,  and then enjoying the Premium Package the remainder of the cruise/segment. 🤗

[PaulMCO]

It is the best way to spend non refundable OBC.  Yum...  La Reserve is one of the few reasons we still cruise with O...

[chloemonkey]

Sadly we have booked it FOUR times and each has been cancelled due to lack of sufficient reservations to go ahead with the dinner.  We have enjoyed the other two options a couple of times and thought them to be totally worth the cost.  And although the DP one is substantially more expensive....I AM a champagne girl!  So this added cost is nothing for me....just wish more people would book it so that we could give it a try!  Fingers crossed for next sailing.....

[pamps2801]

At that price, that's No Deal. Go out and buy the Dom, and bring it with you on the ship. One Heck of a lot cheaper. You can but 2 or 3 bottles of Dom at that price.🍾🍾🍾🥂

[honmani2]

1 hour ago, pamps2801 said:

At that price, that's No Deal. Go out and buy the Dom, and bring it with you on the ship. One Heck of a lot cheaper. You can but 2 or 3 bottles of Dom at that price.🍾🍾🍾🥂

That's one way to look at it. That said, it depends on the vintage.  The Dom 2004 Rose alone retails for almost $500 so if you manage to drink a bottle of it, you're ahead of the game.

[mauibabes]

The value of the DP dinner is in the overall experience and the people you are dining with. It is not about putting a pencil to a tablet although I am sure it does pencil out. We are not talking about bottles of a basic DP and a few glasses here, you receive a number of very special vintages so the value exceeds the cost, if it is your thing. All that said, it is not our thing but friends who have done the DP dinner say it is AWESOME and definitely worth the price, even at the new rates. 
Lots of SBC makes the experience a lot better too.

Just Enjoy the dinner.

Mauibabes

[Flatbush Flyer]

5 hours ago, pamps2801 said:

At that price, that's No Deal. Go out and buy the Dom, and bring it with you on the ship. One Heck of a lot cheaper. You can but 2 or 3 bottles of Dom at that price.🍾🍾🍾🥂

Forget the Dom.

For $80+\-, you can get a 2018 Martin Ray Brut Rosé.

[shepherd really]

11 hours ago, mauibabes said:

The value of the DP dinner is in the overall experience and the people you are dining with. It is not about putting a pencil to a tablet although I am sure it does pencil out. We are not talking about bottles of a basic DP and a few glasses here, you receive a number of very special vintages so the value exceeds the cost, if it is your thing. All that said, it is not our thing but friends who have done the DP dinner say it is AWESOME and definitely worth the price, even at the new rates. 
Lots of SBC makes the experience a lot better too.

Just Enjoy the dinner.

Mauibabes

If you are loaded with free SBC then your price is not $499 pp.  At $1000 for a couple, it's a hard pass for me.  I've done plenty of DP tastings (not on Oceania), but they were all free.  Moet used to take care of their best retail sellers very well. 

[pinotlover]

The best way to kill a program is to price it beyond reason. As part of the agreement with DP on sponsoring the Event, Oceania is required to have an actual certified Sommelier on board to run the program. 
 

A certified Sommelier is entirely different from the wine stewards pouring wine and beer running around the ships. The wine stewards are easy to spot because even when Oceania has them doing paid tastings to oftentimes make blunders in the presentations. Another difference, relevant to this, is that hiring a certified Sommelier in a competitive market comes at a large multiple higher cost than someone to just pour wine trying to fake it.

 

Having a certified Sommelier aboard the ship to run its wine program, oversee its wine pairing classes, etc., has lots of benefits for both Oceania and the guests aboard. Its major drawback for Oceania is cost. They are paying that salary not only when he does that DP dinner, for which he must be hired, but every day aboard ship. Higher cost is not something Oceania currently needs. One therefore wonders if the huge bump in dinner costs reflects a decision by O to make those participants pay the lion’s share of that Sommelier’s cost. Not selling enough tickets, thus cancelling dinners, then becomes a convenient excuse to tell DP they are cancelling the program.

[Traveling Fools]

In the summer of 1998, a group of six of us visited the Dom's cellar in Epernay.  We took the tour of the cellar and enjoyed a tasting.  We also bought a case of DP. If you are ever in the area, it is worth the visit!

 

One night at my BIL's house in Germany we decided to have a bottle and ended up drinking the whole case.

 

The DP pairing dinner should luscious, but i honestly can't justify spending the money.

[tipsygirl]

On 4/8/2023 at 3:59 AM, honmani2 said:

Has anyone done this?  We are thinking about it when we are on the Marina in June.  I thought it was $295 plus gratuities but when I looked at the website, the total came to $474 per person.

Is it "tasting" portions of Dom or full glasses?  If it's the latter, it's a good deal albeit not cheap.

We did this on our last Oceania cruise and we’re disappointed. The pours were generous , but the food was not as good as the other special dinners. I must not have a Champagne pallet . after that many champagnes I could not distinguish one from another, I do highly recommend the other two dinners. Better food  and the wines were more to my taste.

 

 

 

 

[babysteps]

If you're interested in Dom but not sure about committing to an entire dinner, often there will be a tasting offered an evening (or 2) in La Reserve where you can try a glass (from 2 or 3 selections) with a small bite of food. Assuming the format hasn't changed, last time we were on an O class was 2021

[Harry Lake]

10 hours ago, Traveling Fools said:

One night at my BIL's house in Germany we decided to have a bottle and ended up drinking the whole case.

 

LAUGH. OUT. LOUD. Good for you.

[rbtan]

Personally, I think the prices are too high. We stopped doing it when the price nearly doubled in one year. Normally you should get a pretty full glass(this is what we got doing Odyssey & Le Bourgeoisie)

The food choices have not changed. The Dom Champagne doesn't interest us as we both dislike Champagne.