Wine availability / stock control

Before starting this minor rant I should preface my remarks by saying that we are thoroughly enjoying this cruise (Voyager, Dubai to Barcelona) - great itinerary, excellent crew, good entertainment, delicious food and a nice diverse collection of passengers.

But for us white wine drinkers............

Last year we bemoaned the fact that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc had been removed from the complimentary wine list. Now on this voyage they have managed to run out of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, Sancerre and Californian Sauvignon Blanc......!!! :eek:

Is this just poor stock control .......... or a method of controlling consumption and thereby costs??? I would not say that I have seen much excessive drinking or wild partying on this voyage so consumption should not have been out of the ordinary.

Head Sommelier was apologetic but could offer no explanation.

...Head Sommelier was apologetic but could offer no explanation.

...because he/she clearly screwed up. :cool:

So, will they restock somewhere along the way? Or is the Voyager just out of these wines for the foreseeable future?

This could be an indication of poor stock control, or it could be a method of controlling costs - have fewer and fewer of the "house" wines available and more available for an additional cost.

I think 2015 will be a very interesting year with regard to income and expenses - so many of the upcoming cruises have not sold well at all and they are under intense pressure to increase revenue and reduce costs.

Time will only tell

gnomie :)

[quote name=

I think 2015 will be a very interesting year with regard to income and expenses - so many of the upcoming cruises have not sold well at all and they are under intense pressure to increase revenue and reduce costs.

Time will only tell

gnomie :)[/quote]

Would you have any thoughts as to why this is happening? We have our eye on something for 2016 and keep holding off. It seems that popular wines should be such an easy thing to keep in stock and such an important item for many customers. Insight? thanks

Although the price point of wines seem to have dropped a bit over the last few years, the issue of running out of wines is not new so it is doubtful that it has anything to do with cost cutting. I assume that the ships load months worth of staple items and wine when they are in port in the U.S. Although there are records kept of how much of each wine is typically consumed, it is not an exact science. On our last cruise, for instance, we were told by the chef that this group of passengers were big wine drinkers and were not consuming much of the other alcohols. In terms of wine choices, it took me a long time to type in all of the varieties of included wine on CC during our last Mariner cruise. IMO, there are more choices than ever (but they no longer carry some wines that we were quite fond of). Since wine quality/prices are dependent upon the weather in the various growing regions, some wines may have been dropped because of a proposed large price increase.

Since the Voyager will not be in the U.S. in the foreseeable future, they will need to stock up somewhere. My first guess would be England since they have an office there and would likely have food and wine contacts. There are shipments that regularly go from Miami to the ships. This is likely another way they have of stocking up. I doubt if any of us know how Regent keeps their ships stocked - we can the ships. One can only speculate how Regent keeps their ships stocked with wine (unless someone on the Regent board is familiar with the inner workings of Regent).

I am curious to know if the Voyager ran out of all Sauvignon Blanc wines or if they offer alternatives to the ones they have run out of. While it is frustrating, hopefully Regent can offer wines that are similar to the ones that are currently out of stock.

The Lisbon to London segment is a "Wine Event." I should hope they would restock before London.

The Lisbon to London segment is a "Wine Event." I should hope they would restock before London.

Sounds like a yummy cruise:)

No Sancerre?! Yikes. That would bring me low indeed.

On a recent TA cruise they ran out of my favorite Rose wine and poured a very poor substitute instead. I guess it can happen if you have a large number of people drinking the same wine.

We shall be on the Mariner in June and will report back.

Sounds like the Dubai to Barcelona was great in every other respect barring the wine situation.

When Voyager left Hong Kong, we were told that the HK customs decided to "reinterpret the rules", possibly in the hope of what we in the UK might call a back hander. As I understand it, that's not the way Regent does things and as a result, quite a few crates of alcohol were left there. For much of our cruise (HK to Singapore), there was no Sancerre but thankfully, there were other choices (and believe me, we did our best to explore them all :-) I wonder, if such things have to be ordered well in advance, whether Voyager's cellars are still a little depleted? I can't imagine that India or the Middle East are going to be the ideal place to restock on such things.

I know from friends who remained on board for the next leg, that the Sancerre was loaded in Singapore and can't believe she drank her way through all of it <ggg>

How worrying! We drink almost exclusively Sauvignon blanc and I would be extremely disappointed if it were not available on our cruise (Explorer TA crossing Nov 2016). We are planning to book next week, but this is making me hesitate - it really would be a core aspect of our holiday ruined. Is it common on other lines?

How worrying! We drink almost exclusively Sauvignon blanc and I would be extremely disappointed if it were not available on our cruise (Explorer TA crossing Nov 2016). We are planning to book next week, but this is making me hesitate - it really would be a core aspect of our holiday ruined. Is it common on other lines?

Suggest that you ask this question on the other luxury cruise lines (specifically Crystal, Seabourn and Silversea). It has been our experience that Regent always has Sauvignon Blanc.

We are booked on the November 2016 TA crossing and are not at all worried about this issue. Also, it would surprise me if this cruise was not fully booked in the near future. A friend of ours booked that cruise this week and was unable to book the suite that they hoped to book.

Suggest that you ask this question on the other luxury cruise lines (specifically Crystal, Seabourn and Silversea). It has been our experience that Regent always has Sauvignon Blanc.

 

We are booked on the November 2016 TA crossing and are not at all worried about this issue. Also, it would surprise me if this cruise was not fully booked in the near future. A friend of ours booked that cruise this week and was unable to book the suite that they hoped to book.

flossie009 wrote: But for us white wine drinkers............

Last year we bemoaned the fact that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc had been removed from the complimentary wine list. Now on this voyage they have managed to run out of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, Sancerre and Californian Sauvignon Blanc......!!!

Gilly wrote:When Voyager left Hong Kong, we were told that the HK customs decided to "reinterpret the rules", possibly in the hope of what we in the UK might call a back hander. As I understand it, that's not the way Regent does things and as a result, quite a few crates of alcohol were left there. For much of our cruise (HK to Singapore), there was no Sancerre but thankfully, there were other choices

Crystal did not have this problem. Sauvignon Blanc was available every day/night. We left Hong Kong on April 11 on the Crystal Symphony.

There are no cost cutting complaints about Crystal.

Interesting comments about Hong Kong. This made me remember that a lot of food was not permitted on board in Brazil. The Executive Chef was having a heck of a time getting fresh veggies and fruit during our multiple stops in Brazil. He talked to passengers about I during the galley tours. Obviously this was not Regent's fault either but it did not stop us from missing some necessary ingredients in salads.

The question still has not been answered regarding whether or not there was an alternative Sauvignon Blanc on board. It is also important to note that Crystal did not have Sancerre either. Sometimes when you are traveling the world there are items that are difficult to get. There is really no place to put the blame..... but, IMO, blame is not the issue -- it would have been nice for the passengers if their preferred wines had not run out.

Interesting comments about Hong Kong. This made me remember that a lot of food was not permitted on board in Brazil. The Executive Chef was having a heck of a time getting fresh veggies and fruit during our multiple stops in Brazil. He talked to passengers about I during the galley tours. Obviously this was not Regent's fault either but it did not stop us from missing some necessary ingredients in salads.

 

The question still has not been answered regarding whether or not there was an alternative Sauvignon Blanc on board. It is also important to note that Crystal did not have Sancerre either. Sometimes when you are traveling the world there are items that are difficult to get. There is really no place to put the blame..... but, IMO, blame is not the issue -- it would have been nice for the passengers if their preferred wines had not run out.

I never said that Crystal did not offer Sancerre!

As I posted in a previous post: Sauvignon Blanc was available every day/night on Crystal.

I never said that Crystal did not offer Sancerre!

 

As I posted in a previous post: Sauvignon Blanc was available every day/night on Crystal.

Sauvignon Blanc was available every day on Voyager too. Had our friend not asked specifically for Sancerre and enjoyed the last few bottles early in our cruise, we probably would never have noted the shortfall.

Viking Star ran out of diet soda the other day.

For the last couple of days the only Sauvignon Blanc available on Voyager has been a South African variety.

South Africa produces some excellent wines; unfortunately this was not one of them.

The ship is being re-stocked in Barcelona tomorrow, but do not know what wine will be loaded. Hopefully the next cruise legs will have a more comprehensive choice of white wines.

For me, I don't look at it as a shortage of a favorite, I consider it an 'enforced opportunity' to try something different, something new.

Of course, I usually drink scotch as opposed to wine, so maybe I'm easier to please, who knows? ;)

For me, I don't look at it as a shortage of a favorite, I consider it an 'enforced opportunity' to try something different, something new.

 

Of course, I usually drink scotch as opposed to wine, so maybe I'm easier to please, who knows? ;)

Great point! It is a good opportunity to try other varieties of wine! We also tend to get "stuck" on one brand and type of wine (cabernet) and have to make an effort to try different things. I find that we drink more wine than usual on Regent - usually with dinner. I do enjoy my chocolate martinis and a new favorite - Mexican Butterfly (served only on Regent and is best with Don Julio Tequila:-)