I’m not ruling this out as an option yet. If I arrive in town early and have a rental car to go to a liquor store and buy wine this might make sense. Especially if I can board with the wine in grocery bags or some other kind of disposable box or package that I don’t have to travel with.
Currently for me this just seems like a whole lot of extra hassle that I don’t want to deal with. I’ve shelled out a lot of money to get my travel clothing looking good and fitting into a small under seat bag. In other words I’ve paid a premium to travel light. I don’t like checking bags. I don’t like waiting for bags. I don’t like having my bag taken from me at the entrance to an airplane and shoved into the belly of the plane. I don’t like losing my luggage.
Once I’m on the ship the only thing that I need in my pocket is my room key. If I want a Starbucks I get one, or two, or three. If I want Moët or Veuve champagne for breakfast I just whip out my card and get one. If I want a San Pellegrino, or two, or three in the middle of the day or with a meal or whenever I feel like, I just get one. I could do all this and just be surprised at what the bill is going to look like at the end of my cruise or I can get the Plus package and feel comfortable knowing that it won’t cost anymore other than a few dollars of taxes levied while in port.
So still thinking about it, but still in the camp of pay in advance and relax to the max.