Corkage Fees Raised

[ClaudiaF]

 

It seems that Oceania has raised the corkage fee

charged if you bring your own wine/champagne

( to lunch or dinner- to have it opened in one of the ship restaurants).. While I am very happy to pay a reasonable corkage fee ( and always tip the server too).. I feel that the new corkage fee at $20.00 a pop - pun intended..is excessive.

I know that I am not the only one who feels this way- as at the other message board members are also getting quite verbal about it.

So thought I would take a poll so we could see

what members here think then Frank I'll send the results to you ;-)

 

Next stop:

Buenos Aires to Rio Oceania - "Insignia"

 

 

 

[Sculpta]

I HOPE THAT OCEANIA DOES NOT FALL INTO THE TRAP OF NICKELING AND DIMING PASSENGERS FOR EVERYTHING LIKE HAL DOES. THIS IS WHY WE REFUSE TO TRAVEL ON HAL.....MAKES YOU APPRECIATE SILVERSEA AND THEIR GENEROUS ATTITUDE.

[Jane110]

Claudia,

 

Although I voted for the $12. charge, it's only because you didn't mention the best choice.

 

Personally, I think $10.00 is a more appropriate fee.

 

Jane

[ClaudiaF]

Right you are.. I was probably the one who said charge 10 dollars in the "beginning" when we were asked these questions from Frank on the "other" board.

I think I only had 5 spaces to put in things.. so if anyone has other ideas.. PLEASE suggest what you think, here and don't forget to post too.................

 

Next stop:

Buenos Aires to Rio Oceania - "Insignia"

 

[goeurope]

>>THIS IS WHY WE REFUSE TO TRAVEL ON HAL.....MAKES YOU APPRECIATE SILVERSEA AND THEIR GENEROUS ATTITUDE.<<

 

You can pay up front (as with Silversea), or you can pay as you go (as with Oceania and HAL). Either way, you're going to pay.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the best things in life aren't free .:-)

 

--

Durant Imboden

Europeforvisitors.com

[ClaudiaF]

No one is asking for a Free hand here, this is just a stupid charge for opening a bottle of wine .. come on Durant.. the whole "fee" should go to the guy who opens the darn bottle.. why any ship would charge 20 bucks is well...

um.. I am tryin' to take a poll here......

;-)

 

Next stop:

Buenos Aires to Rio Oceania - "Insignia"

 

 

 

[iamirish]

I don't mind paying a "reasonable fee", but I do object to the cruise lines, like HAL, who then adds a 15% service charge - that is outrageous!!

 

Tom

[digby]

I didn't vote because none of the choices matched my feelings. I don't care what they charge because I'll never be packing my own wine. I've never been on a ship that didn't have a good selection of wines. If my favorite is not listed, so what? It's only for a relative short time.

[digby]

"I don't mind paying a "reasonable fee", but I do object to the cruise lines, like HAL, who then adds a 15% service charge - that is outrageous!!

 

Tom"

 

How is that any different from being at a land resort. Don't you tip for drinks there? I actually think drinks on ships are much cheaper than what I pay on land in fine restaurants. (A couple of weeks ago I paid $19.00 for one martini in Venice!)

[iamirish]

Digby.

 

When a cruise line (HAL) charges you $15 for opening a bottle of wine, then charges you an additional $2.25 service charge - that is outrageous!! You may not think so, but I do.

 

Tom

[goeurope]

I assume that the corkage fee represents the lost revenue for the cruise line, and the service charge is for the wine steward's labor. And if the charges seem unreasonable, there's a simple alternative: Order your wine from the menu and wait until you get home to enjoy the wine that you purchased ashore.

 

--

Durant Imboden

Europeforvisitors.com

[Emauss]

I have had bad experiences with wine onboard ships. I have sent many bottles back that were "corked"...possibly from the constant rocking motion, possibly from being stored improperly.

My particular wine tastes are just that..somewhat particular. I enjoy the "big" American cabs..the overly oaked flavor (yes, I know it covers up some of the fruit, but I enjoy it) and I find that MANY wine list lack sufficient variet of this type of wine.

 

Corkage fees *are* for the lost revenue. I agree. And $12.00 seems like a fair sum for that while onboard a cruise. Thomas Keller's The French Laundry actually charges a $50. corkage fee! But I think $20. on a cruise is (as I said in my letter to Oceania) "a little steep".

 

Eric

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by goeurope:

I assume that the corkage fee represents the lost revenue for the cruise line, and the service charge is for the wine steward's labor. And if the charges seem unreasonable, there's a simple alternative: Order your wine from the menu and wait until you get home to enjoy the wine that you purchased ashore.

 

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Durant Imboden

Europeforvisitors.com<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[goeurope]

Yes, it is a bit steep, but it's probably intended to discourage "BYOB" without banning that option altogether.

 

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Durant Imboden

Europeforvisitors.com

[marilynfaye]

Eric:

 

I know Oceania answered your computer questions, but I was wondering if they responded to your corkage fee inquiry.

 

Marilyn

[Emauss]

Yes they did. The person who responded said it was true that the fee had gone up, but it was not something he had any control over. It was made by those much higher up the food chain. I asked him to please forward it to the person or people who could do something about it, and I was told he would.

That is as far as it has gotten.

 

Eric

[Jancruz]

FYI,

I have already spoken to Frank Delrio about it..it will remain for now..

 

Jan

*****

[What A Market]

Cheap bastard.

[What A Market]

But that being said, I can hardly imagine digging into the cellar and bringing a bottle of wine on a cruise (or several for that matter) that would be so unique and rare as to warrent carrying (and probably damaging) all the way to Europe. Alas, I can only only assume Frank is trying to discourage people bringing the local Ripple on board.

[goeurope]

I was on a river cruise in France last October, and one couple avoided the corkage fee by bringing glasses of wine from their cabin to dinner. At one point, the lady carried both glasses back to the cabin for a refill. (The maitre d' and waitstaff took her ingenuity--or chutzpah--in stride.)

 

As for the "cheapskate" comment, I don't know if that was directed at Mr. Del Rio or passengers who carry their own booze, but I can tell you that some passengers fit that description. On the REGATTA last fall, one of the photographers told me (wryly, but not altogether happily) that passengers were using their digital cameras to snap pictures in the display rack so they could have their souvenir photos without buying prints.

 

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Durant Imboden

Europeforvisitors.com

[Merriem]

On many cruises we have purchased local wines and have never brought wine from home.

 

It is nice to be able to enjoy some of those that we cannot get in the US. I think a $20 corkage fee is outrageous.

 

The going rate of $12 is much more reasonable. However, on Oceania, try and buy a glass of white wine for less than $6. They were small glasses, and started at $6.75, plus 18% tipping. Yes, 18% (not 15%) like most cruise lines.

[goeurope]

Let's see...18% less 15% is 3%, and 3% of $6.95 is slightly less than 21 cents. Multiply that by, say, 28 glasses of wine during a 14-day cruise, and you're talking about a difference of 42 cents per day or $5.84 over two weeks (most or all of which is going to the servers).

 

That extra 3% won't even be noticed by the average traveler, though it certainly will be welcomed by the staff. Just as important, it will discourage repeat business from penny-conscious passengers whose chronic unhappiness makes voyages unpleasant for the ship's crew and fellow guests. Sounds like a pretty clever strategy to me. :-)

 

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Durant Imboden

Europeforvisitors.com

[Merriem]

Durant,

 

Is it possible for you ever to NOT take the opposite position. It seems that no matter what someone says, you have to put your 2 cents in in a counter attack.

 

I think mandatory tipping is wrong. You should tip the person based on the service and not what you are TOLD to do.

 

FYI on Oceania, the staff does not get all of the tips.

 

The room steward gets $1 per day per cabin, not the $3.50 per person ($7 for a couple per day) that is the "recommended" amount to tip.(And what is put on your bill every day)

The average steward has 23 cabins a day to keep clean, about twice the norm.

 

Interesting. That is why we gave our tip to our cabin steward directly, and not for some cruise line to "divide it fairly" among the staff.

 

That was also the only tip we gave ( of course we had not choice we we had bad service from the bar....someone got the 18%. just like someone is getting the $20 corkage fee.

[Hlitner]

I think there is a more subtle point to this thread! I am still trying to understand where, Oceania, is trying to position itself within the overall cruise market. Are they going to be an "upscale" product in the same class as Crystal or Radisson, or are they going to be one more mass market type product (like RCL, Celebrity, HA) who has more interesting itineraries. So far, it looks like the latter with all the "nickel and diming" and pricing games.

 

Hank

[goeurope]

Merriem:

 

Service charges have long been a tradition in Europe They certainly aren't unusual on cruise lines, where they make sense because bar transactions--and on-ship transactions in general--are handled with a keycard rather than with cash.

 

As for how the daily recommended tips are divvied up, that's a topic on which neither of us has complete information, and in any case it's a topic for another thread. You were complaining that Oceania's service charge on drinks is 18% compared to 15% elsewhere; I stand by my belief that only the most penny-conscious passenger would notice or complain about the difference. Furthermore, such passengers are likely to be more of a burden than a blessing for the crew *and* for other cruisers--and they put upward pressure on fares since they don't generate much onboard revenue for the cruise line.

 

Hlitner:

 

I believe Oceania has always positioned itself as being above the HAL/Celebrity class and below the luxury lines. I doubt if it's any more guilty of nickel-and-diming than most cruise lines and resorts are, although a few "upsell" items (such as bottles of Evian on desks with hotel-style "Drink me for $3.50" cards) may cause more image problems than they're worth in terms of revenue. Maybe it's just as well that Oceania doesn't have refrigerators in the standard cabins; at least that keeps the average passenger from being confronted by a hotel-style minibar. :-)

 

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Durant Imboden

Europeforvisitors.com

[joan24]

Durant,

I appreciate the time you spend and the information that you provide to this board.

Joan