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Concierge Lounge Wine/Beer/Hard Cider


De-nice

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Hi there!

First time RCL cruiser and I have so many questions.  Let me start with this one:

We are going to be sailing on an Oasis class ship, and will be in a grand suite.  I thought I saw somewhere that in addition to drinks during happy hour, there will also be wine/beer/hard cider available throughout most of the day.  Now I can't find that again.  Did I dream it?  

Still trying to decide if we need a deluxe beverage package.  I just want all the "facts" before making this very important decision ?

 

 

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There is complimentary beer and wine available 11am to 11pm.  It is a small selection of house wines and basic beers.  I'm not a hard cider drinker so I might have glossed over and ignored if hard cider is included as part of this suite lounge offer.  

It is only the Oasis class suite lounges that do this.  This is separate and distinct compared to the daily cocktail happy hours 5pm to 8:30pm (or 4:30pm to 8pm on some ships).

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17 minutes ago, De-nice said:

Hi there!

First time RCL cruiser and I have so many questions.  Let me start with this one:

We are going to be sailing on an Oasis class ship, and will be in a grand suite.  I thought I saw somewhere that in addition to drinks during happy hour, there will also be wine/beer/hard cider available throughout most of the day.  Now I can't find that again.  Did I dream it?  

Still trying to decide if we need a deluxe beverage package.  I just want all the "facts" before making this very important decision ?

 

 

Welcome to the blog and to sailing with Royal Caribbean.  

Before the COVID pause in cruising, the Suites Lounges for the Oasis class ships had an open bar from 11AM - 11PM where suite guests and Pinnacle Crown & Anchor members could enjoy a limited selection of beer, wine, water, soda and juices.  It is not clear if that same level of service will be available on the ships once cruising resumes. So the answer to your question is....we really do not know right now if this will be the case or not.

Whether or not you need a DBP is certainly a personal issue.  We do not find it particularly convenient to go back up to the Suites Lounge (SL) to get a drink, if you are in a different part of the ship.  We nearly always get the DBP b/c it gets us just about anything to drink that we could possibly want.  It includes alcohol, water, soda, specialty coffee, fresh squeezed juice, wine, beer.  It is a "convenience" thing for us...plus we know that we have already paid for all of our drinks before we board the ship.  No big surprise bills at the end.  So if you want to be able to get a drink of your choice at any and anywhere, the DBP may be a good choice for your group.

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Just to clarify a Concierge Club is not the same as a Suite Lounge. 

For a suite guest they appear to be similar but for members of the Crown and Anchor Society there are differences in access permissions between the two so invoking one term does have some differences to long time cruisers and you may see different answers based on that subtle difference.

No Oasis class have a Concierge Club (anymore).  On older ships the concept of a Concierge Club has been around for a long time.  In 2015/2016 they introduced the concept of a Suite Lounge.  Most ships were moving to the Suite Lounge name and access rules pre-Covid but we aren't there yet across the whole fleet.

Technically the complimentary beer & wine is not offered in any Concierge Club since there are no Concierge Clubs on Oasis class.

As you continue to research and plan your cruise just be aware of the Suite Lounge name to look out for in other threads.

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6 hours ago, ConstantCruiser said:

As you continue to research and plan your cruise just be aware of the Suite Lounge name to look out for in other threads.

Thank you, when I search "Suite Lounge" here and on line I get much better results.  Great tip!

6 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Whether or not you need a DBP is certainly a personal issue.  We do not find it particularly convenient to go back up to the Suites Lounge (SL) to get a drink, if you are in a different part of the ship.  We nearly always get the DBP b/c it gets us just about anything to drink that we could possibly want.  It includes alcohol, water, soda, specialty coffee, fresh squeezed juice, wine, beer.  It is a "convenience" thing for us...plus we know that we have already paid for all of our drinks before we board the ship.  No big surprise bills at the end.  So if you want to be able to get a drink of your choice at any and anywhere, the DBP may be a good choice for your group.

Thank you for the input!  I'm putting your convenience argument into the mix ? 

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@WAAAYTOOO makes a great point and why I have always purchased the DX (DBP) when in Sky Class. 

If I am heading the theater I don't want to have to route myself through the deck 17 SL to get a drink to carry all the way to the theater.  It's much easier to go to the theater where there will be roaming servers and just order a drink.  Repeat this idea over and over for a week and you had better be wearing very comfortable walking shoes for all the mileage you'll be putting on them always going to the SL.

When I feel like a drink, I want a drink right there.  I don't want to have to visit the deck 17 SL every time I feel like something, to be restricted to basic (cheap) wine or beer.   

I love Central Park at night and simply ordering a good drink from the Trellis Bar or Vintages beats having to go all the way to deck 17 to get a cheap glass of wine that's hard to get past my nose.   

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I really appreciate everyone’s responses. I’m totally overthinking this whole beverage package thing. Honestly, I’m not heading up to the Suite Lounge during the day, I’ll happily pay for a drink at whatever bar is closest. I’m just trying to figure out if the beverage package is a good value for us. 

The best deal I’ve seen so far is 30% off, and for my sailing that takes it to about $51. I’m struggling to determine my “break even” point. I mean, I feel like I don’t drink that much alcohol (although I did manage to down 5 glasses of Prosecco at my nephew’s wedding) and I don’t drink soda. But, I do appreciate good coffee (i.e., not McDonald’s, not Starbucks, my sweet spot is Wawa if you know it), sparkling water, the aforementioned Prosecco (what can I say, I have a thing for bubbles) and convenience.  
 

Like I said totally overthinking this. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go update my “Pros & Cons of Purchasing Deluxe Beverage Package”spreadsheet ?

 

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The value of the drink package exceeds merely the break even calculation.

There is a certain freedom obtained by being on vacation and not having to constantly think about it.  You're on vacation after all.

"It's 4pm and I feel like a beer, I'm going to have a beer"

vs.

"I had two drinks earlier and that was $28.  I know I'll want something at the show tonight, or maybe two, so that's going to take me to $42 or maybe $56.  I better not have one right now even though I really want one".

Right now it's hard to predict how you'll feel on day 2 of the cruise at 1:30pm.  Even if you don't break even there is vacation enjoyment to be found in "What drink is that?!?  I want to try it!"

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I will be sailing in a grand suite with 4 other adults. Convenience may be a factor but there seems to be a lot of different ones. Only two are heavy-ish drinkers. ...we don't think it is fair to force a drinking package on 3 other people. We realized that would be an extra $2500 for our 7n cruise. While it may not be ideal to do the whole "I had x amount of drinks". They both agree to do what is fair. Neither of the drinkers drink anything else besides coffee and iced tea. Both have said they don't plan to drink every day of the cruise. They said they have no problem getting most of their drinks from the lounge and paying for one or two when we are at shows.

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44 minutes ago, De-nice said:

I really appreciate everyone’s responses. I’m totally overthinking this whole beverage package thing. Honestly, I’m not heading up to the Suite Lounge during the day, I’ll happily pay for a drink at whatever bar is closest. I’m just trying to figure out if the beverage package is a good value for us. 

The best deal I’ve seen so far is 30% off, and for my sailing that takes it to about $51. I’m struggling to determine my “break even” point. I mean, I feel like I don’t drink that much alcohol (although I did manage to down 5 glasses of Prosecco at my nephew’s wedding) and I don’t drink soda. But, I do appreciate good coffee (i.e., not McDonald’s, not Starbucks, my sweet spot is Wawa if you know it), sparkling water, the aforementioned Prosecco (what can I say, I have a thing for bubbles) and convenience.  
 

Like I said totally overthinking this. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go update my “Pros & Cons of Purchasing Deluxe Beverage Package”spreadsheet ?

 

Figure wine at the full $13 a glass so you would need just 4 drinks to hit the $51 each day.  That doesn't count any bottled water that you drink or specialty coffee. 

The other factor is how much would the individual price of the drink keep you from ordering the glass of wine you wanted?  I have found that no matter how much I tell myself that I should just order what I want and that it will be cheaper than the drink package, I don't order because of the price.  Honestly, if its close, you should do the package and don't look back.

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