Wine packages on Royal?

Do they offer the wine packages on the Royal Princess? Does anyone know the current prices for the silver and gold packages? Thanks in advance.

Based on what I've read availability is primarily based on length of your cruise and having sufficient inventory. Generally it's available on cruises longer than 7 days which I'll do soon on the Regal.

The details on the wine packages are:

Note: A 15% gratuity is added to all package prices (like any other drink purchase).

Silver Package (wines up to $29 per bottle list price)

7 bottles -- $161 (average of $23 per bottle)

10 bottles -- $210 (average of $21 per bottle)

12 bottles -- $240 (average of $20 per bottle)

Gold Package (wines up to $45 per bottle list price)

7 bottles -- $217 (average of $31 per bottle)

10 bottles -- $290 (average of $29 per bottle)

12 bottles -- $336 (average of $28 per bottle)

You get a punch card which can be used at any of the dining locations.

You may choose any wine on the regular wine list. If you want to buy a wine that costs more than what the package covers, you just pay the difference without any additional tip.

Here is a link to the most recent wine list that has been posted:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45583943&posted=1#post45583943

A minor correction to Astro Flyer's post. The packages are only offered on cruises of 10 days or more.

A minor correction to Astro Flyer's post. The packages are only offered on cruises of 10 days or more.

Thanks Brian & will correct my reply before posting again. :o

With nothing in writing on my old wine card or the brochure, I shouldn't depend upon my memory & will write down the 10+ day requirement.

Thanks for the info, we are on the 14 day TA and with all those sea days we are going to need a punch card. ;) I was concerned because we were on the Diamond Aus/NZ in January and they did not offer the wine package even though it was 12 days. Appreciate the help.

Thanks for the info, we are on the 14 day TA and with all those sea days we are going to need a punch card. ;) I was concerned because we were on the Diamond Aus/NZ in January and they did not offer the wine package even though it was 12 days. Appreciate the help.

Soon we sail 17 days (10 sea days) on the Regal's TA & sailing with friends and we'll get 2 of the 12 bottle gold packages. :)

Good plan!

We've never purchased the wine plan but as we're going to be on the Royal for 12 days it could be worth the cost this time around especially given all the at-sea days on this cruise. I know unfinished bottles can be stored for you in the dining room but I wonder if they can also be taken back to your stateroom.

We've never purchased the wine plan but as we're going to be on the Royal for 12 days it could be worth the cost this time around especially given all the at-sea days on this cruise. I know unfinished bottles can be stored for you in the dining room but I wonder if they can also be taken back to your stateroom.

Absolutely!

You can even get an full bottle from any dining room to take with you to enjoy anywhere else onboard including in your cabin. :)

Absolutely!

 

You can even get an full bottle from any dining room to take with you to enjoy anywhere else onboard including in your cabin. :)

Great, and thanks for the answer!

I wonder, where did you get your price list? I don't see where Princess publishes this information anywhere.

Great, and thanks for the answer!

 

I wonder, where did you get your price list? I don't see where Princess publishes this information anywhere.

Unfortunately it isn't anywhere on their website & I do not understand the lack of promotion for the wine package. :(

Some ships have been offering the wine packages at tables set up around the ship during embarkation (like those selling drink packages), some have it in a pamphlet on the dining room table but on most ships I've had to ask about it (and sometimes been told incorrectly that it wasn't available :eek:). The prices I posted were from my wine package card & were still valid as of April on the Regal and they have not changed during the 3 times we've enjoyed our wine packages. :D

Unfortunately it isn't anywhere on their website & I do not understand the lack of promotion for the wine package. :(

 

Some ships have been offering the wine packages at tables set up around the ship during embarkation (like those selling drink packages), some have it in a pamphlet on the dining room table but on most ships I've had to ask about it (and sometimes been told incorrectly that it wasn't available :eek:). The prices I posted were from my wine package card & were still valid as of April on the Regal and they have not changed during the 3 times we've enjoyed our wine packages. :D

I can only guess at what the message is supposed to be on this from Princess, though I suspect this is something they like to have the waitstaff offer based perhaps on how well laid-in they are with wine on any particular voyage.

we have been thinking of doing a wine package for the first time... on the Royal TA in september…Do you buy the cards up by the horizon court on embarcation day at the wine display?…where else do they sell the cards?

as always thanks for the great info!

we have been thinking of doing a wine package for the first time... on the Royal TA in september…Do you buy the cards up by the horizon court on embarcation day at the wine display?…where else do they sell the cards?

 

as always thanks for the great info!

I have seen them sold there however I always purchase it from my dining room waiter instead. They will be serving my wine & apparently there is some benefit to them for selling wine packages which I've read is getting additional time off. :)

Happy to share my experiences & wish that Princess did a better job promoting the wine packages. Even on CC where it's regularly discussed many are still not aware of it & without much onboard promotion Princess is missing out on increasing wine sales. :confused:

I have seen them sold there however I always purchase it from my dining room waiter instead. They will be serving my wine & apparently there is some benefit to them for selling wine packages which I've read is getting additional time off. :)

 

Happy to share my experiences & wish that Princess did a better job promoting the wine packages. Even on CC where it's regularly discussed many are still not aware of it & without much onboard promotion Princess is missing out on increasing wine sales. :confused:

Thanks very much for your response…safe travels!

Absolutely!

 

You can even get an full bottle from any dining room to take with you to enjoy anywhere else onboard including in your cabin. :)

Earlier in this thread, you mentioned a punch card with the wine pkgs. Can you please explain? A 7 bottle pkg has 7 punches, one for each bottle?

Seems everyone knows how this works but I don't get it. And it sounds like you have much wine pkg experience.

Thanks so much!

Earlier in this thread, you mentioned a punch card with the wine pkgs. Can you please explain? A 7 bottle pkg has 7 punches, one for each bottle?

 

Seems everyone knows how this works but I don't get it. And it sounds like you have much wine pkg experience.

 

Thanks so much!

The wine package card has 12 punches & they cross out those not included in a 7 or 10 bottle package. They circle either "Silver" or "Gold" and add your name, cabin # and voyage #.

They say if you lose the wine package card you also lose your wine package so I secure mine. However each time you get a wine package bottle they make a receipt & use your cabin card to confirm you are the purchaser. So they should be able verify how many bottles were used...I just don't want to discover if that's an option. ;)

I'll try to take a photo & post it although I only know how to add a small photo. :o

Here's an upside down photo :o and the other side has the prices I previously posted.

The wine package card has 12 punches & they cross out those not included in a 7 or 10 bottle package. They circle either "Silver" or "Gold" and add your name, cabin # and voyage #.

 

They say if you lose the wine package card you also lose your wine package so I secure mine. However each time you get a wine package bottle they make a receipt & use your cabin card to confirm you are the purchaser. So they should be able verify how many bottles were used...I just don't want to discover if that's an option. ;)

 

I'll try to take a photo & post it although I only know how to add a small photo. :o

D

Here's an upside down photo :o and the other side has the prices I previously posted.

Thanks for the quick reply and the accompanying visual ... no lie, my special gift is reading (and writing) upside down.

Just to clarify: I buy a wine pkg from our MDR waiter at our first dinner onboard, and he issues a card marked with the number of bottles and Silver or Gold ... we each have a glass with our meal ... our opened bottle is somehow marked on our behalf and taken to the wine cellar/storage area for our future consumption ... before retiring to our cabin we stop at one of the bars and present our card for a glass of wine ... and they quite magically find our bottle for our nightcap ... on and on til we finish the wine in the pkg we bought.

Did I get it?

We normally don't consider the wine pkg, but we'll be doing 20 nights on the Royal in the Fall, and the pkgs seem to make sense.

Thank you for your help!

Editing to add: So I now reread the thread and it seems the wine pkg wines are served by the glass only in dining venues, not in the bars. And a full bottle to go also only in dining areas. Right?

K

Thanks for the quick reply and the accompanying visual ... no lie, my special gift is reading (and writing) upside down.

 

Just to clarify: I buy a wine pkg from our MDR waiter at our first dinner onboard, and he issues a card marked with the number of bottles and Silver or Gold ... we each have a glass with our meal ... our opened bottle is somehow marked on our behalf and taken to the wine cellar/storage area for our future consumption ... before retiring to our cabin we stop at one of the bars and present our card for a glass of wine ... and they quite magically find our bottle for our nightcap ... on and on til we finish the wine in the pkg we bought.

 

Did I get it?

 

We normally don't consider the wine pkg, but we'll be doing 20 nights on the Royal in the Fall, and the pkgs seem to make sense.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

Editing to add: So I now reread the thread and it seems the wine pkg wines are served by the glass only in dining venues, not in the bars. And a full bottle to go also only in dining areas. Right?

You caught your mistake...wine package bottles are only available "at all dining locations" but not from any bar or from room service.

If you take a full bottle from any dining room you're allowed to enjoy it without any additional fee because you bought it from Princess. You could take a bottle to your cabin & take a glass of wine to enjoy anywhere on the ship. However you couldn't take a bottle of wine to a bar and ask them to pour you a glass which can only be done at a dining location.

If you want to buy wine by the glass there are other options that I have recently experienced. In the past 6 months during 3 cruises they have always had a BOGO drink promotion between 3:00-4:00 and 11:00-midnight. Also the TA provided better 50th anniversary coupon books had 2 other wine coupons: BOGO glass of wine at the Princess Theater and a free 375ml bottle of Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay at a specially restaurant. :D

K

You caught your mistake...wine package bottles are only available "at all dining locations" but not from any bar or from room service.

 

If you take a full bottle from any dining room you're allowed to enjoy it without any additional fee because you bought it from Princess. You could take a bottle to your cabin & take a glass of wine to enjoy anywhere on the ship. However you couldn't take a bottle of wine to a bar and ask them to pour you a glass which can only be done at a dining location.

 

If you want to buy wine by the glass there are other options that I have recently experienced. In the past 6 months during 3 cruises they have always had a BOGO drink promotion between 3:00-4:00 and 11:00-midnight. Also the TA provided better 50th anniversary coupon books had 2 other wine coupons: BOGO glass of wine at the Princess Theater and a free 375ml bottle of Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay at a specially restaurant. :D

I very much appreciate your clarifications on the wine pkgs ... and the time and effort to took to answer my queries. I now understand.

Thank you!:D

I very much appreciate your clarifications on the wine pkgs ... and the time and effort to took to answer my queries. I now understand.

 

Thank you!:D

Prego! Wine is part of the enjoyment during our cruises...Buon Viaggio! :D

I recently emailed Princess Customer Relations about the inconsistent promotion on Princess ships of their wine packages and the complete lack of promoting it anywhere on their website & wanted to share their input.

This morning I received a phone call from a very helpful Customer Relations representative to inform me about what she had learned about the management of the wine package program. She took the extra effort to forward my concerns to their Food & Beverage department before calling me and sharing the feedback she received from F&B. :)

F&B said because it's not always available they do not promote it anywhere on their website although they said it should be promoted when available on the ship. As I told them, there is very little to no promotion on the ships I’ve sailed since the wine package program was implemented. It is primarily only passengers who are aware of the wine package prior to a cruise who purchase it. F&B said if there is a lack of sufficient inventory, then the wine package is unavailable because they don't want to disappoint passengers by frequently saying "out of stock". That's understandable to me although if they are capable of stocking sufficient inventory of other items, they should be able to have sufficient wine inventory. RCCL has figured out how to have sufficient income producing wine inventory for their passengers to have wine packages so I don’t understand why Princess is incapable of doing the same thing. Thus nothing is going to change & it will continue to only be promoted through online cruise forums like CC or by word of mouth.

With the wine packages I am less likely to bring a lot of wine on the ship & to instead explore new wines from their wine cellar in the dining room. However when planning to purchase the wine package on cruises of 10 days or longer only to discover it's not available that is very disappointing. I forgot to seek an answer to my emailed question about it not being available on 7 day cruises like on RCCL but most likely it would have been the same “lack of sufficient wine inventory” reasoning.

If wine sales do not increase with the wine packages (impossible to do without promoting it), then the wine package program will fail & be eliminated. I cannot think of any good reason why a program designed to increase wine sales is not being effectively promoted & managed. Maybe Princess should research how RCCL has been able to provide sufficient wine inventory to offer wine packages…including on 7 day cruises. Unfortunately it appears to me that they are much more concerned about promoting their $56.35 per day All-Inclusive alcohol drink package which is not cost-effective for me & probably many other passengers. :(

...

 

If wine sales do not increase with the wine packages (impossible to do without promoting it), then the wine package program will fail & be eliminated. I cannot think of any good reason why a program designed to increase wine sales is not being effectively promoted & managed. Maybe Princess should research how RCCL has been able to provide sufficient wine inventory to offer wine packages…including on 7 day cruises. Unfortunately it appears to me that they are much more concerned about promoting their $56.35 per day All-Inclusive alcohol drink package which is not cost-effective for me & probably many other passengers. :(

I recently emailed Princess Customer Relations about the inconsistent promotion on Princess ships of their wine packages and the complete lack of promoting it anywhere on their website & wanted to share their input.

Thanks for looking into this and sharing the results. I suspect Princess buys wine in massive quantities, but the timing is based on the bids they get from distributors. When they lay in a good supply at prices favorable to them, they promote consumption. Otherwise not so much. The AIB package is obviously a lot more profitable for them than these wine packages. We like a glass of wine or maybe two with dinner and a very occasional cocktail. The AIB is obviously not for us (six-plus drinks a day? Yikes!). Whomever it is for... I hope they don't have the stateroom next to ours!

My guess is that's the crux of it... hoping to see more AIB sales and like you, for me that's not necessarily a good deal (and I like to drink). I've read about the wine packages on here but I do think I'll end up going with the AIB package in the end and I'll explore new wines via that route. In some way it's good as I'm not stuck with a whole bottle of something I may not quite like.

The AIB is a great option for some passengers & good that it's available for them. Obviously I don't have any stats however I think that many passengers will not break even & it's profitable for Princess.

My hope is that Princess will promote the wine package just as much as the AIB. ;)

Thanks for looking into this and sharing the results. I suspect Princess buys wine in massive quantities, but the timing is based on the bids they get from distributors. When they lay in a good supply at prices favorable to them, they promote consumption. Otherwise not so much. The AIB package is obviously a lot more profitable for them than these wine packages. We like a glass of wine or maybe two with dinner and a very occasional cocktail. The AIB is obviously not for us (six-plus drinks a day? Yikes!). Whomever it is for... I hope they don't have the stateroom next to ours!

In my youth the AIB would have been a no brainer but not now...now it's some heart healthy wine. :p

Whatever the reasons for sometimes having a lack of inventory, I think that Princess could learn a few things from RCCL about how to manage wine packages.