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Simply more Drink policy

niehauscr

By niehauscr,
in Oceania Cruises

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edgee

edgee

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, wencel said:

I cant figure out what SM includes re non alcoholic beverages. Can I get cocktails like curtain mojito or margarita and would it only apply at lunch and dinner?

No cocktails/liquor are included with Simply More. Only wine and beer.  Non alcoholic drinks such as soft drinks, coffees, teas, Virgin Pina Coladas are included at all times for all passengers and have been for many years...including those whose bookings preceded the SM program. Oceania has recently come out with a menu of certain mocktails for which there is a charge.

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pinotlover Great Review Rare

pinotlover

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, wencel said:

Exactly what 8 wanted to know. Thanks @edgee! And pls forgive the wacky autocorrect. I meant 'virgin mojito or margarita' 🙂

Be aware that none of the dining venues include a full bar. The ingredients for your virgin cocktails would only be at a bar. That means, for example,for an order placed in Toscana , some waitstaff would have to venture to Horizons or Martinis to get your drink. They do it, but don’t expect fast service. Waves, at lunch, is probably your best opportunity for such.

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Torquer

Torquer

Posted
Posted

Now that Simply More has started, I was wondering at lunch/dinner how the waiters know you have it or don't have it.  Do they still ask everyone for their key cards for alcoholic drinks?  Or does the dining room host note it when you tell them your room number?  Or is it the honor system where you just tell them you have SM or not?

 

We have a cruise in February and have booked it as cruise-only; we did not want to "upgrade" to SM.  So I'm wondering how this will work.  And it will be even worse a year from now when almost everyone will have SM, and cruise-only will be a rarity when someone booked a long time ago before SM started.

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pinotlover Great Review Rare

pinotlover

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, Torquer said:

Now that Simply More has started, I was wondering at lunch/dinner how the waiters know you have it or don't have it.  Do they still ask everyone for their key cards for alcoholic drinks?  Or does the dining room host note it when you tell them your room number?  Or is it the honor system where you just tell them you have SM or not?

 

We have a cruise in February and have booked it as cruise-only; we did not want to "upgrade" to SM.  So I'm wondering how this will work.  And it will be even worse a year from now when almost everyone will have SM, and cruise-only will be a rarity when someone booked a long time ago before SM started.

I’m guessing we’ll continue to present our card keys for well into the foreseeable future. Never been a big deal in the past.

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basor

basor

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Torquer said:

Now that Simply More has started, I was wondering at lunch/dinner how the waiters know you have it or don't have it.  Do they still ask everyone for their key cards for alcoholic drinks?  Or does the dining room host note it when you tell them your room number?  Or is it the honor system where you just tell them you have SM or not?

 

We have a cruise in February and have booked it as cruise-only; we did not want to "upgrade" to SM.  So I'm wondering how this will work.  And it will be even worse a year from now when almost everyone will have SM, and cruise-only will be a rarity when someone booked a long time ago before SM started.

We sailed on Vista a few weeks ago and the procedure was the same - beverage package is noted on your room card.  When the waiter came to the table and asked if we wanted anything to drink and when we said yes, asked if we had a beverage package.  They took our room cards at the end of the meal to input in register and brought back to us.  No signing of anything,  We usually took our cards out and put on table so they could see we had a package and could take when they wanted,

Edited by basor
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edgee

edgee

Posted
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56 minutes ago, basor said:

We sailed on Vista a few weeks ago and the procedure was the same - beverage package is noted on your room card.  When the waiter came to the table and asked if we wanted anything to drink and when we said yes, asked if we had a beverage package.  They took our room cards at the end of the meal to input in register and brought back to us.  No signing of anything,  We usually took our cards out and put on table so they could see we had a package and could take when they wanted,

I think we were on your same cruise...LA to Miami and we had the same experience most of the time. 
A few times, especially in the beginning of the cruise, the beverage server looked at our room cards, but did not bother to take them to run through the register. 

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edgee

edgee

Posted
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4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Be aware that none of the dining venues include a full bar. The ingredients for your virgin cocktails would only be at a bar. That means, for example,for an order placed in Toscana , some waitstaff would have to venture to Horizons or Martinis to get your drink. They do it, but don’t expect fast service. Waves, at lunch, is probably your best opportunity for such.

Or at the Waves Bar other side of ship and forward from the Waves restaurant.

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SATaxman

SATaxman

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Harters said:

I don't drink alcohol but, from time to time, do enjoy a glass of alcohol free beer or wine, as a change from sparkling water. Does anyone know if these are available in the SM lunch & dinner deal? 

I am certain there was no NA wine on the SM by the glass list. Not sure about beer, since I do not drink beer and did not look at the available ones.

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edgee

edgee

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, Harters said:

I don't drink alcohol but, from time to time, do enjoy a glass of alcohol free beer or wine, as a change from sparkling water. Does anyone know if these are available in the SM lunch & dinner deal? 

Heineken zero...non alchohol beer is available on SM package with lunch or dinner. It is treated as a "pay for" item just like regular beer if you want it outside of lunch of dinner hours for SM guests or always a charge if you have old o life booking without an alchohol package.

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Hambagahle

Hambagahle

Posted
Posted
On 11/23/2023 at 11:42 AM, Cjohns16 said:

We are back on Oceania Marina for the 4th time this year. Previously enjoying  O-life flexibility,  now cruising  with Simply  More

On the alcohol,  ie. drinks, they offer Champagne,  a selection of wines and also beers. These are available for lunch and dinner. Not tried so far at breakfast,  may also be possible. The ship charges for drinks in their bars are slightly expensive. A 20% service charge will be added and unfortunately if you are in Spanish,  Brazilian,  Italian,  waters then the ship adds in the local government tax. We spent 11 days on Marina  in Brazilian waters earlier this year and they added a 23% tax. 

On day 2 the Captain greets you with a 2 hour open bar. This includes cocktails but not premium liquor such as single malts. Also as a repeat Oceania  cruiser you will  get another 2 hour open bar from the Oceania  club team, later on in your cruise.

Oceania are generous with allowing passengers to bring on board alcohol to consume in your staterooms. In total , if you like to drink, then the Oceania  Simply  More is fair and a good package.

Finally,  you can upgrade the Simply  More to access the premium  wines and Spirits but the daily rate is expensive,  I think usd 39 per day per person.

 

 

We have upgraded the basic Simply More package to the Premium one and I have our final invoice - $30 pp per day has been added.  We are on a 10 day cruise and the total was $600 pp.  (I think we can drink that and more given the service charges etc added!)

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Hambagahle

Hambagahle

Posted
Posted
On 11/23/2023 at 1:41 PM, Vallesan said:


If you don’t like the offered wine ask for something  you’d prefer. We don’t like  Californinan wines so usually ask for a Spanish Rioja or Chilean or Argentinian wine and it’s never been a problem.

We have done the same on past Oceania cruises - when a California Chardonnay (a particular treat for us) was not on the list we asked for one and got it.  With a smile!

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pinotlover Great Review Rare

pinotlover

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

We have done the same on past Oceania cruises - when a California Chardonnay (a particular treat for us) was not on the list we asked for one and got it.  With a smile!

Typically the wine by the glass list includes a CA Chardonnay along with normally a French one ( Macon Village). On occasion the French one is substituted by a South African or Aussie. Unless out of stock, at the moment, an American Chardonnay is almost always available on the by the glass menu.

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Hambagahle

Hambagahle

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Typically the wine by the glass list includes a CA Chardonnay along with normally a French one ( Macon Village). On occasion the French one is substituted by a South African or Aussie. Unless out of stock, at the moment, an American Chardonnay is almost always available on the by the glass menu.

In my experience there was not always a California Chardonnay but when I asked - I got it !  But (thank you Covid) I have not sailed since 2017.  Cruise in 2020 was cancelled...

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