markeb

Loudon County? We’re members at Doukenie. Some of the others on that map are as much event centers as wineries… But then there’s Catoctin Creek for great rye whiskey. And Market Burger…

Does it matter? They’re gone. They’ve convinced us (including me) that it’s worth something. If it was your quiet go to place, that sucks. But it’s not a great place and I never saw anyone hanging out there before it became the Retreat.

It really annoys me that I can't go through the curtain to the front of the plane unless I have a ticket for Business (or on some airlines still First Class). Or that I can't go to the club level or a suite at a baseball game. (Actually it does annoy me that the Chairman's Trophy for the 2019 World Series is in on the Club Level. But it's the least expensive upgrade in the park.) I do have access to Marriott lounges and most United/Star Alliance lounges. But even there I may not be able to get on the club floor unless that's where the lounge is. They could have walled off the whole Retreat (all the suites, Luminae, etc.) and required key access; they didn't. And on Equinox the Retreat sundeck at the front of the ship is hot as blazes and the wind whips everything around. If it wasn't the Retreat sundeck I doubt I'd spend more than a minute there. Is it just the notion that you can't go there?

Poor man's Opus One? To Kalon is the vineyard that sources Opus. It's not that impressive when you drive by it, but everyone says it's magical... Oh, and To Kalon is in Oakville. The Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon could contain grapes from To Kalon. And then there's Woodbridge... BTW, I didn't go through every venue on every ship, but I don't see any Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon on Celebrity. I would think it's there somewhere, but I couldn't find it.

Can't say that I have. Having a hard time imagining wines from that part of Texas. My only experience with anything Salado is Salado Creek. Which ran through Fort Sam Houston and had a nasty habit of flooding and cutting off the main post from Brooke Army Medical Center. And the town of Salado was apparently incorporated to try to manage flooding on the creek way north of San Antonio!

I would say most don't. There's a gratuity in the package. In fact, if you're on the package and ordering within the package, you probably won't even be presented a check, and if you're ordering from a server rather than sitting at the bar, they'll likely be gone before you'd have a chance anyway. George must be chasing them down with a wad of bills! 😁

I 81 can become just as much a parking lot as I 95 these days…

Why would RCG do that? They'll continue to flag any of these ships as Royal Caribbean. That's where they fit in the corporate structure. They're having enough issues differentiating products as is...

Oddly, I don’t know that I’ve ever had Grgich Hills Estate Chardonnay. The real one. Need to track down a bottle in memory of Mike and what his Chardonnay meant to American winemaking a long time ago… I’ve certainly had Grgich Hills wines. Not the just the cobrands. The cobranded cab though is very good.

Their 10-K is due March 31. If they’re still servicing in excess of $20B in debt, they’re trying anything to get out of debt. It’s actually as simple as THAT. Not a great long term strategy, but I’ve never been the president of a subsidiary of a publicly traded company that’s over $20B in debt. Nor I suspect has anyone else on this thread…

I know I answered this earlier, but don’t remember if it was in this thread. 18 venues across the fleet were last awarded in August of 2023. It’s by “restaurant “, not the fleet. The award is based on the overall strength of their offerings. Wines by the glass in a package really aren’t part of the equation… They must provide Wine Spectator vintage information, which as stated is missing in their wine lists.

The Opulence co-brand was and is. It’s now $25 a glass, apparently. Same as the cab. It was in the premium package in November.

I actually found a place in Manhattan last week that had Conundrum for $22. I think it's $19 now on Celebrity. Their pricing is based on the drink packages. The high end of the package is $0. The first $17 is a sunk cost of the package. The absolute value is essentially meaningless. If you don't look at it that way you'll just go crazy. And I realize not everyone has a package, but that's clearly how they're pricing things.

If you do Acela, you can reserve the Quiet Car (Car 2), but YOU have to be prepared to not have conversations either... 😃 With four of you, there are a few seats that face forward and backwards around a table. Again, if you plan on chatting, don't book the quiet car. The rest of us will stare you down and may call the conductor (probably won't need to, they're usually all over that). The quiet car is kind of a big deal...

So you think auto tips on wine and bottle sales only? And special events like wine tastings? I don't know. I "know" they get extra tips on bottles and events, and that's where I've usually added tips. And I'm not arguing, but this is one of those things that could easily be an urban legend as it's not the "norm" in the hotel and restaurant industry. Actually in some restaurants the sommelier (usually one of them) is part of the management team and gets a commission off sales; they help select the and order the wines, for instance. Not going to be the case on the ships.

Only going off the app, for Ascent, which can be very incomplete... The martinis at the Martini bar still appear to be $17. Gins and vodkas appear to be under $17. At the WCB the Zacapa Old Fashioned, Violet Hour, and Azteca are now $19. The Zacapa "Above the Clouds" was always over the limit and remains over the limit. (The WCB makes the least sense to me. It's a Diageo licensed operation and the pricing frankly discourages sales of Diageo owned or distributed products. Shaking my head...) Using Craft Social as a surrogate for other bars. There's one cocktail (Smoking Bull?) at $19. All of the better bourbons are over $17. Elijah Craig is at the insulting $19. Too many (crappy) beers at $11 ($1.20 over classic...), but a decent selection under $17. I've never found beer to be a strong offering for Celebrity (or RCI for that matter). In general, looks like clear liquors are in the packages and brown liquors aren't. Didn't look too hard for rum or tequila. Most sipping rums appear to be under $17, or not listed and off menu. I'm pretty sure you can get Zacapa 23 or XO neat, for instance, but they're not listed. Only a couple of higher end sipping tequilas mentioned, over the limit. Pretty sure there are more on board. Very few Scotch whiskies listed in bars I looked at. All the Macallan, for instance, was over the limit. Again, there are normally more on the ship, but don't know the price point.

Better prices for the same inexpensive (cheap?) wines.

Business Class on the Acela is a bit of a misnomer. The Acela only has Business and First, but they're are no benefits to Business on the Acela. The Acela is generally faster, I believe more comfortable than the Northeast Regional, and makes fewer stops. You can definitely bring your luggage onboard (per the web page, two bags up to 50 pounds each per person plus a personal item up to 25 pounds). There's Red Cap service available (technically free; tips accepted and more or less expected) at Boston and New York. They'll usually get you on the train first. Notify the conductor you need assistance in NYP and they should get a Red Cap to the track. All seats on the Acela are reserved, so you select seats during booking and can change them in the app or online. Haven't done it to or from Boston, but travel frequently from Washington to New York and it's a simple, pleasant experience.

To have the opportunity to read the disclaimer reserving the right to change specific brands and offerings without notice. Frankly they should drop the “such as” once the specific examples aren’t true. Too many places that need to be updated and consistent and they’re not invested in the systems to produce that consistency.

On that itinerary, probably Day 2 and Day 6. First sea day and next to last sea day.

I have a shorter history with Celebrity, but long ago on HAL and the cruises we did on Royal, the "service charge" included everything but drinks. I can't remember if there was an auto gratuity on bottle sales way back then like there is on Celebrity. But there wasn't a gratuity added on top of the service charge.

No, they're not in the wait staff pool. But the bar staff, including the sommelier, shares the tips for bar (and wine) sales. That does make it more complicated in a specialty versus one of the dining rooms where the only tab (generally) would be for drink sales, but "real" restaurants manage to prorate tips to include bartenders and sommeliers based on alcohol sales. I have to believe cruise ships can do the same.

20%. A relatively recent (post pandemic, I think?) change.

Do you know that for sure? Not disagreeing, but that would be a major departure from most restaurants. I would assume they'd get the tip on wine sales and maybe some of the drink sales. With the packages, that would be whatever the percentage gets absorbed onto package "sales". I'm almost sure they get the gratuity from bottle sales.

Not currently cruising, but the best bet is the app. The easiest snapshot is going to the be the MDR as it specifically lists wines by the Classic and Premium packages (Whites in Classic, Whites in Premium, etc.). Today for the Premium Package, that looks like: Kendall Jackson "Elegance" Chardonnay Louis Jadot Chardonnay Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc J&H Selbach Kabinett Riesling Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling Jean Luc Columbo Rose Bertani Bertarose Rose Chateau Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon Excelsior Cabernet Sauvignon (South Africa) Kendall Jackson Vintner's Reserve California Pinot Noir Torres Ibericos, Tempranillo (Crianza) Avivo Sangioves (California) Jean Luc Columbo Cotes Du-Rhone That's from the MDR on the current Equinox sailing. There may be slightly different offerings in Luminae or Blu.