Cunard on board wine selections

Curious if anyone can recommend any of the wines Cunard offers on their cruises. My wine supplier here hasn't heard of most of them. Also, any thoughts on the wine packages is appreciated.:)

We looked at the wine packages but for the wines we chose as our favourites on the lists,we would have paid more for a wine package!

Nobody has any favorite wines to recommend?

It's difficult to recommend wines without knowing what you like.

Have you checked the wine list?

What do you normally drink ?

Typically, I prefer California reds and whites (there are very few on board) and the ones that they have are insanely expensive. I bought them anyway. They have a "Cunard" wine which I think is undrinkable:mad:

Curious if anyone can recommend any of the wines Cunard offers on their cruises. My wine supplier here hasn't heard of most of them. Also, any thoughts on the wine packages is appreciated.:)

Numbers from the Wine List - Personal Preference (not OBC busting)

Good General all rounder - 8

Spicy food - Medium White - 21

Good White - 27

Good Medium Red - 63

Good medium Red - 73

Good Light Red - 121

Dessert Wine - Sweet - 225

Typically, I prefer California reds and whites (there are very few on board) and the ones that they have are insanely expensive. I bought them anyway. They have a "Cunard" wine which I think is undrinkable:mad:

The "Cunard" wine is indeed of poor quality. Our TA gives us one as a gift on each crossing, and we enjoy it as much as we can. Prices on the wine list are high, with a mark-up comparable to a fairly high-end restaurant in the US. An alternative is to bring wine on-board and pay the corkage fee, which I believe is $20 per bottle.

We seldom drink an entire bottle of wine with dinner and often order quite different meals when we are out. In (land) restaurants these days we will normally ask the sommelier to bring a glass of wine matched to the meal ordered. I can't remember ever having been offered something undrinkable although of course some I like more than others.

One is fairly well protected from being given overly expensive wine using this system as the scary expensive wines are not generally available by the glass.

On QM2 last year in Britannia Club we did the same and were quite happy. Even though one can have a bottle put away for the next night, we like the variety. One glass with the main (entree) was generally sufficient as we are not big drinkers and there is the possibility we had started the evening in the Commodore Club and planned to end it in the theatre with a libation or two.

The one exception was an Italian red we ordered in Todd English (Birthday celebration) on the basis of tasting it's stablemate in the Britannia Wine Tasting. It was quite pricey and very very nice. We chose food to suit in that case.

We seldom drink an entire bottle of wine with dinner and often order quite different meals when we are out. In (land) restaurants these days we will normally ask the sommelier to bring a glass of wine matched to the meal ordered. I can't remember ever having been offered something undrinkable although of course some I like more than others.

 

One is fairly well protected from being given overly expensive wine using this system as the scary expensive wines are not generally available by the glass.

 

On QM2 last year in Britannia Club we did the same and were quite happy. Even though one can have a bottle put away for the next night, we like the variety. One glass with the main (entree) was generally sufficient as we are not big drinkers and there is the possibility we had started the evening in the Commodore Club and planned to end it in the theatre with a libation or two.

 

 

The one exception was an Italian red we ordered in Todd English (Birthday celebration) on the basis of tasting it's stablemate in the Britannia Wine Tasting. It was quite pricey and very very nice. We chose food to suit in that case.

You've got it all figured out! You know how to live it up!

The onboard selection is one reason I'm glad that Cunard is very liberal in their carry - on liquor & wine policies.

I have no wish to hijack your thread... but the query isn't worth a whole one to itself :)

There is a wine I do like, and I think they do one on Cunard... would I be frowned on for having that every night, with every course??????

I have no wish to hijack your thread... but the query isn't worth a whole one to itself :)

 

There is a wine I do like, and I think they do one on Cunard... would I be frowned on for having that every night, with every course??????

No!

Looks like a visit to the wine store with Cunards list. Hate to pay top dollar for medocore wine. Will be bringing two from duty free and sounds like we can bring a bottle on per guest at each stop.

In practice you can carry on your entire voyage's supply on embarkation, wine or champagne or even something stronger. Six bottles isn't unusual, and more won't cause you any issues. No need to try to conceal it.

The Cunard label wines used to include a Napa Cabernet but then they changed suppliers.

Every year I promise myself I'll use more of my OBC toward dinner wines and every year I end up bringing my own selections with me.

In practice you can carry on your entire voyage's supply on embarkation, wine or champagne or even something stronger. Six bottles isn't unusual, and more won't cause you any issues. No need to try to conceal it.

Last fall we brought on probably a dozen bottles for a two week cruise. We enjoyed some in the cabin and the rest in the restaurant. There is a corkage fee of 25$, but we treated ourselves to some special wines for the trip and didn't mind paying the fee.

There is absolutely no problem or question as to what or how much you bring on......really nice! We handed it off to our M'd and our sommelier asked each evening what we'd like for the following one. We checked the next day's menu and then chose.

Just out of interest, when one pays a corkage fee, is there also a service charge added ? :)

Not to my knowledge, I don't believe so........

Hi ChipVA,

We usually take a wine package when we cruise as we can't be bothered humphing gallons of wine with us when we go away or paying ridiculous prices for someone to open a bottle we brought with us.

We simply accept that the mark up on wine on ships is the same as the mark up on wines at home in the equivalent surroundings.

I normally try to build up as much information on the price of wines before we cruise and if necessary supplement this with a check of the price list once on board to see if there is any value to be had.

It used to be the case that certain wines within packages were more expensive than others in the packages and the savings accumulated over the week could be quite significant if choosing the most expensive each time. Cunard seem to have worked this out for themselves as on our last cruise in May on QV it seemed that all of the wines in the package were more or less the same price as they would if you bought out with the package.

I disagree with the suggestion that wines can be more expensive in a package than out with. Most packages offer a saving of almost the cost of a bottle of wine in a 6 bottle package for example.

We don't kid ourselves that the wines are high quality but all are entirely drinkable and we will be buying another package for our next cruise, also on QV, in September.

We choose wines in the package that we like and didn't find anything unpalatable. I would say if you are looking to make a small saving on the prices on board that you should opt for a package. The quality is reasonable if you stick with what you know by variety back home.

Del.

I disagree with the suggestion that wines can be more expensive in a package than out with. Most packages offer a saving of almost the cost of a bottle of wine in a 6 bottle package for example.

We looked at the captains collection for our next cruise and all the wines we would like,are less than $40 dollars to buy individually.Yet the the price in the package works out at $43 per bottle.Is there tax to be paid if bought individually,if not it would be cheaper to buy the bottles that way..?

Thank you.

[quote name=janecambridge;

We looked at the captains collection for our next cruise and all the wines we would like' date='are less than $40 dollars to buy individually.Yet the the price in the package works out at $43 per bottle.Is there tax to be paid if bought individually,if not it would be cheaper to buy the bottles that way..?

Thank you.[/quote]

Hi Janecambridge, the wine package includes the 15% service charge, whereas the individual bottles will have this added, that's where the price differential kicks in

Scarlet

Last fall we brought on probably a dozen bottles for a two week cruise. We enjoyed some in the cabin and the rest in the restaurant. There is a corkage fee of 25$,

I hope it hasn't been raised from $20, which is what I remember from December. $25 would begin to change the value proposition of bringing my own wine.

You may be right. I really don't remember specifically. We still choose to bring our own as even with the corkage fee, it's cheaper than the 3x (at least) mark up of the better wines.

The Cunard website is still showing $20.

I guess we're wine sluts

I never had trouble finding something I know and like and know my prices well enough to know which was marked up more than another .... we enjoyed wine every night

ENJOYED

admittedly by the 4th nite we'd locked on to one that we knew and was not AS marked up as others so just stuck with it . . .

usually having left overs from the night b4, our wine Stew' had our bottle ready when we sat down. I know how to pour!