Wine prices ! Insane ! 👎

Just checked the pre order cellar items on my cruise planner !

Astounded to see a bottle of Kim Crawford sauvignon Blanc can be ordered for Aud $93 , this can be purchased here in Australia @ Dan Murphys for Aud $14.95 when you buy 6 !!!!!!!!

Are these prices indicative of what you would pay on board??

These prices are incredibly marked up !!

Highway robbery I'd say ! !🤑😠

Our friends from Sydney were really surprised out how much cheaper Yellow Tail was here at the local grocery store. But the ships are not bargains on any wine. You can take 2 bottles onboard with you. :) (Or 4 if you get in separate lines with a friend ;) )

Pre-order somewhat higher, but based on your reaction you would probably be disappointed in pricing onboard. But really, what do you expect? Any place you go, alcohol is going to have high markup - ships, sports venues, nice restaurants, etc. it's not a liquor store; and there's no competition. The choice is yours!

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It's how other drinks are priced too. Not surprising.

Just checked the pre order cellar items on my cruise planner !

 

Astounded to see a bottle of Kim Crawford sauvignon Blanc can be ordered for Aud $93 , this can be purchased here in Australia @ Dan Murphys for Aud $14.95 when you buy 6 !!!!!!!!

 

Are these prices indicative of what you would pay on board??

 

These prices are incredibly marked up !!

 

Highway robbery I'd say ! ![emoji857][emoji34]

Just for comparison shock to Americans, that same Kim Crawford is often less than $15/bottle at Costco.

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Our friends from Sydney were really surprised out how much cheaper Yellow Tail was here at the local grocery store. But the ships are not bargains on any wine. You can take 2 bottles onboard with you. :) (Or 4 if you get in separate lines with a friend ;) )

Expected the prices to be more but never imagined that much ! We've cruised before & not experienced such a mark up !

Yep we'll be taking 2 bottles ourselves , my husband will be drinking beer or bourbon anyway !

We'll drink & be happy !! 🤗

Yes - wine is very expensive on board, particularly in comparison to cocktails which seem to be relatively cheap! For my daughter's 18 birthday (at a venue in Oz), three people were old enough to have alcohol and they each chose a cocktail - more than $20 aud each!!! As I hadn't purchased a cocktail on land in years I was shocked at the price.

Yes - wine is very expensive on board, particularly in comparison to cocktails which seem to be relatively cheap! For my daughter's 18 birthday (at a venue in Oz), three people were old enough to have alcohol and they each chose a cocktail - more than $20 aud each!!! As I hadn't purchased a cocktail on land in years I was shocked at the price.

Cocktails on a cruise ship can get a bit expensive as well. On a different cruise line, having purchased the better of two available alcohol package (all spirits and wine by the glass - unlimited amounts @$60/day including tip), I never didn't get my money's worth: one Margarita made with a double shot of El Tesoro Anejo, Cointreau and fresh lime juice would've cost $40 plus tip!

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Cocktails on a cruise ship can get a bit expensive as well. On a different cruise line, having purchased the better of two available alcohol package (all spirits and wine by the glass - unlimited amounts @$60/day including tip), I never didn't get my money's worth: one Margarita made with a double shot of El Tesoro Anejo, Cointreau and fresh lime juice would've cost $40 plus tip!

 

 

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:( Wow

For cocktails, I usually just try the drink of the day.

Yes wineprices are insane. Kim Crawford used to be US $45 a bottle and around $9 per glass in 2015. Now it is around $70 a bottle and $ 16 a glass.

This drink policy of RCI makes me sick and I feel cheated. I do not take pleasure in drinking overpriced wine. We like drinking a good glass of wine but we are not willing to pay more than 10 dollars for a glass. $ 15 is what you pay in 3 star Michelin restaurants and not in in a mass market MDR.

So we are looking for alternatives like the Caliterra Sauvignon blanc from Chili or Pennfolds Chardonnay from Australia but I fear these wines have been raised in price as well.

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one of the many reasons that after 27 cruises, they are no longer a part of our travel plans. Only land based vacations at this point! Cruising has lost much of it's luster!

one of the many reasons that after 27 cruises, they are no longer a part of our travel plans. Only land based vacations at this point! Cruising has lost much of it's luster!

I think I will pass...

NO more cruises for you, why are you posting on cruise critic period?....K.O. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

What does K.O. mean - I see it at the end of all your quotes - is it your initials?

WOW those prices are insane!:eek:

But I see a great new business opportunity......................

Bordeaux Bootleggers ©. Just like Rum Runners but MUCH BIGGER!

..... and a cork version for the Oenophiles!

On Oasis last week, that Kim Crawford wine was $17 per glass. That's $4 more than the drink package covers.

It'd be great if those that have cruised in the past month (since the prices rose) could post photos of wine lists/menus from the various ships so we can see just how expensive the wines are now - and perhaps investigate some of the lower priced wines (like with Vivino) to look for decent ones that are within the package limit.

Yes wineprices are insane. Kim Crawford used to be US $45 a bottle and around $9 per glass in 2015. Now it is around $70 a bottle and $ 16 a glass.

This drink policy of RCI makes me sick and I feel cheated. I do not take pleasure in drinking overpriced wine. We like drinking a good glass of wine but we are not willing to pay more than 10 dollars for a glass. $ 15 is what you pay in 3 star Michelin restaurants and not in in a mass market MDR.

 

So we are looking for alternatives like the Caliterra Sauvignon blanc from Chili or Pennfolds Chardonnay from Australia but I fear these wines have been raised in price as well.

 

 

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For at least 8 years, the Philadelphia downtown Marriott has been charging $12 for small pour of Woodbridge, before tip. It retails for around $6 a bottle. Lots of places fleece you on alcohol sales.

Did it ever occur to anyone that this is a business, and the increase in prices may be a direct result of our fellow "cheap" cruisers actions.

1. People go to great lengths to take bottled water on board

2. People go to great lengths to take soda on board

3. People go to great lengths to sneak liquer on board, rum runners, etc

so.. If people are continuously avoiding purchasing anything on board. Is it any surprise that the cruise lines have to raise the prices to offset their losses?

This is a business after all.

On one cruise ,we ordered a bottle of Castle Rock Pinot Noir. ($35) The server brought it, showed it, and asked if we had ever had this wine. I said yes, from Costco, for $7.99. He just laughed. (not his fault)

We normally use one of our Diamond drinks to get a glass of their "cheap" bar wine for dinner. Last cruise, on the last night, we decided to enjoy a "good" wine, so we stopped at a bar and ordered a glass each (total price-with tip-$30) We honestly felt it was no better, and maybe not even as good, as the cheap wine.

It is a business, the mark up is tremendous, there are MANY Diamonds, fleet wide, drinking for "free". I think prices will go up just to encourage more people to take the Drinks Package.

Did it ever occur to anyone that this is a business, and the increase in prices may be a direct result of our fellow "cheap" cruisers actions.

 

1. People go to great lengths to take bottled water on board

2. People go to great lengths to take soda on board

3. People go to great lengths to sneak liquer on board, rum runners, etc

4. Too many Diamond passengers drinking for free!

 

so.. If people are continuously avoiding purchasing anything on board. Is it any surprise that the cruise lines have to raise the prices to offset their losses?

 

This is a business after all.

edited to add another reason to your list!:D

Wine prices have definitely also risen due to people bringing on their own. Not that they should be gouging on wine this hard, but that would be the main cause. They're basically saying "bring your own or pay a premium."

All lines are the same, at least RCCL allows you to bring on 2 bottles without corkage, Hal prices are even worse, Hal used to allow unlimited wine then charge 18 dollars a bottle corkage which we loved since we like good wine when they stopped this we stopped sailing on Hal. Now we bring 2 bottles and get drink package, but still have to pay a little extra to get better wines by the glass

Looking at this list, RCL wines seem to go for about 5x the price of wholesale.

Chateau d'Esclans, Rose, "Whispering Angel" 2015 ~ 17.55, as low as 11.19, so I'm going to assume that it costs about $10 wholesale.

On Royal Caribbean, $55.

With Deluxe Drink Package (40% off): $33.

IMHO, $33 is a perfectly reasonable price to pay for this, given a standard US-based restaurant markup of 3x.

I paid ~ $55 to drink this exact wine in a tourist trap in Aruba in November 2016 (citation-ish), where similarly everything's imported and marked up.

With drink package: Perfectly reasonable.

Without drink package: *Wince*

It's hard to find a current wine list, and I question the RCBlog, even though it says updated 2017. If anyone has a shot of a current wine list, I can do more math.

Here to offer the perspective of a wine snob (aka dupe) who'll spend $40-80 on the everyday dinner wines on a cruise and $100+ for the special occasions and who's been reasonably happy with RCI's wine list, corporate though it is. :eek:

If you can find a wine you like by the glass it is a better deal , we normally have 2 glasses each (with dinner) and even if its 15 a glass with package total is 12 plus tip on 12, much better deal that by bottle, wife gets another glass or 2 after and I get my cognac or scotch and maybe a Patron