Wine prices in dining room - Koningsdam....? Need advice pls

Has anyone sailed recently and know what the wine prices are like? This will be our first cruise on HAL and we usually purchase a wine bottle pckg on Princess. However, on HAL it is considerably more expensive to buy the wine package, so I am hoping to find out the most affordable way to have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner....? Order by the glass? Order by the bottle? Buy the wine package? Of note, we usually drink the cheaper of the wines that are offered on the menu.

Any tips or insight greatly appreciated. Thank you. :)

Hi, we have been on 2 HAL cruises previously and due to sail again April 11, 2018 on the Koningsdam. We haven't bought the wine packages (we also think they are expensive). We usually buy a bottle around the $25-$40 price range. You are able to ask the waiter to put your room number on bottle and if you don't drink the whole bottle it is available the next night ....

Hope this helps.

Aileen and Laury McCulloch (Canberra, Australia)

You can order by the bottle by the glas or buy a package of wines.

It all works :)

A glass of wine runs from around $8 pp to $12 pp depending on what suits.

Just off Veendam. New wine packages. Used to be Navigator and Admiral and choices were 3, 5 or 7 bottles.

Now there are three packages and the choices are 4, 6 or 8 bottles.

Four bottles on package number 1 is $119; on number 2 is $149; and number 3 is $189. I will guess that you don't want the 6 or 8 bottle package. There are some decent (not great) wines on package number 1. Do the math, and determine your best option. We did the number 2 and asked our wine steward to tap into some previously offered wines and he obliged.

Jim

You can always go to Total Wine and buy 6 or more bottles to take onboard. One is free to drink in your cabin and the others will cost $18 corkage. You can pick the wines you prefer and come in well under budget. We typically buy $50-$100 retail bottles at Total Wine in Fort Lauderdale. Those wines onboard will cost $150-$300, the savings are substantial. So you really can enjoy much better quality wine at a fraction of the price if you don't mind lugging 6 bottles with you. I bought a small 6 bottle wine carrier online and it works really well. I also preorder with Total Wine so I simply show up and my order is ready. Doing another cruise this March and will certainly do this again. Cruising in September out of Venice and I have no idea where I can buy wine there. Hope you enjoy your cruise.

Just off Veendam. New wine packages. Used to be Navigator and Admiral and choices were 3, 5 or 7 bottles.

 

Now there are three packages and the choices are 4, 6 or 8 bottles.

 

Four bottles on package number 1 is $119; on number 2 is $149; and number 3 is $189. I will guess that you don't want the 6 or 8 bottle package. There are some decent (not great) wines on package number 1. Do the math, and determine your best option. We did the number 2 and asked our wine steward to tap into some previously offered wines and he obliged.

 

Jim

You don't happen to have the list of wines? You are the first to post. We have been waiting to see what it is. Many thanks and Happy New Year.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

Check out Roger’s website. He has a lot of info regarding HAL’s beverages.

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/hal-regular-and-specialty-restaurants/hal-beverage-menus/

Check out Roger’s website. He has a lot of info regarding HAL’s beverages.

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/hal-regular-and-specialty-restaurants/hal-beverage-menus/

Thanks but this is too new even for him. He just updated his last cruise but that was before this new change.

Thanks but this is too new even for him. He just updated his last cruise but that was before this new change.

This was not too new for my website's current update. Here is the link for the wine packages available on the Veendam (Scroll down to the third page from the bottom) showing the 4,6, and bottle packages with wine selections (all MDR wines and by-the-glass choices/prices, too):

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/MDR-Beverage-Menu.pdf

The HAL website still lists the 3,5,7 Admiral and Navigator packages for my April and May cruises.

Thanks Crew News! I haven't been following the boards enough, so this is all new information to me! I'm sorry if this has already been addressed, but any predications on if these will be offered on the Eurodam next month?

This was not too new for my website's current update. Here is the link for the wine packages available on the Veendam (Scroll down to the third page from the bottom) showing the 4,6, and bottle packages with wine selections (all MDR wines and by-the-glass choices/prices, too):

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/MDR-Beverage-Menu.pdf

 

The HAL website still lists the 3,5,7 Admiral and Navigator packages for my April and May cruises.

Thank you so much. A great help as always.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

You can always go to Total Wine and buy 6 or more bottles to take onboard. One is free to drink in your cabin and the others will cost $18 corkage. You can pick the wines you prefer and come in well under budget. We typically buy $50-$100 retail bottles at Total Wine in Fort Lauderdale. Those wines onboard will cost $150-$300, the savings are substantial. So you really can enjoy much better quality wine at a fraction of the price if you don't mind lugging 6 bottles with you. I bought a small 6 bottle wine carrier online and it works really well. I also preorder with Total Wine so I simply show up and my order is ready. Doing another cruise this March and will certainly do this again. Cruising in September out of Venice and I have no idea where I can buy wine there. Hope you enjoy your cruise.

OP said they usually ordered the cheapest selections.

But, thanks for you report on TW. I'm planning on pre-ordering six bottles from their Tampa store for our cruise in March. We drove in the past so we could easily bring wines from home. We're flying in the evening before and plan on dropping by TW on the way to boarding the next morning.

Glad to hear this works well.

The arithmetic is pretty simple. Corkage at $18 per bottle will make a $15 bottle of wine cost you $33 vs. the probable $30 HAL would charge for their on-board selection. If you prefer something in the $60 range, the corkage will bring it to $78 - vs. the likely $100+ HAL would charge.

If you are happy with very inexpensive wines, buy HAL’s, otherwise, bring your own and pay the corkage. Either way, buying by the bottle (or package) is likely to be less expensive than buying by the glass - which only makes sense if you want to sample the ship’s offerings.

Concerning the new "Wine Cellar Packages" from Roger's copy of the wine lists (Thanks, Roger!): do the Mariner discounts apply?

On the HAL website the Mariner Society page states that "25% and 50% off "excludes 'Cellar Master Packages' "

Different name, same thing or...?

Concerning the new "Wine Cellar Packages" from Roger's copy of the wine lists (Thanks, Roger!): do the Mariner discounts apply?

 

On the HAL website the Mariner Society page states that "25% and 50% off "excludes 'Cellar Master Packages' "

 

Different name, same thing or...?

Looking at it, the Wine Cellar Packages appear to be the former Navigator & Admiral packages so the Mariner discount would apply.

The Cellar Master Package is a different package offered on the HAL website - usually includes 5 bottles of what was the Navigator package, wine tastings and a wine accessory gift.

Looking at it, the Wine Cellar Packages appear to be the former Navigator & Admiral packages so the Mariner discount would apply.

 

The Cellar Master Package is a different package offered on the HAL website - usually includes 5 bottles of what was the Navigator package, wine tastings and a wine accessory gift.

Thanks, that sounds positive!

Assuming that you are paying the listed price (no 4/5 Star discount), IMO the Navigator and Admiral packages are not a big savings. Especially so if you can find a bottle of HAL's house wine(s) that you like.

OP said they usually ordered the cheapest selections.

 

But, thanks for you report on TW. I'm planning on pre-ordering six bottles from their Tampa store for our cruise in March. We drove in the past so we could easily bring wines from home. We're flying in the evening before and plan on dropping by TW on the way to boarding the next morning.

 

Glad to hear this works well.

Good point, the more expensive the wine the greater the savings. But for comparison sake, here's a couple cheap bottles with the difference in buying at TW vs onboard:

Chateau Ste Michelle Chardonnay $8 TW or $39 onboard

Columbia Crest Merlot $7 TW or $49 onboard

So even the cheap wines pencil with the corkage fees. If you are happy with paying say $50 onboard for a bottle, you could probably find a much higher quality at TW for $32 + $18 for corkage.

I've found to be careful with TW's wine suggestions. I usually know the wines I like or if I try something new, I use an app called Vivino which is easy to use and pretty on point. You simply take a photo of the wine label within the app and it gives you tasting notes, prices and reviews.

Cheers!

One thing that I noticed on the Koningsdam was that a glass of Ruffino pinot grigio was $11.50 + 15% gratuity. I asked to see the bottle. Sure enough it was Lumina, the same thing that I buy for $6.99 per bottle. So, I could buy 2 bottles at home for the price of one glass on HAL.

Good point, the more expensive the wine the greater the savings. But for comparison sake, here's a couple cheap bottles with the difference in buying at TW vs onboard:

 

Chateau Ste Michelle Chardonnay $8 TW or $39 onboard

 

Columbia Crest Merlot $7 TW or $49 onboard

 

So even the cheap wines pencil with the corkage fees. If you are happy with paying say $50 onboard for a bottle, you could probably find a much higher quality at TW for $32 + $18 for corkage.

 

I've found to be careful with TW's wine suggestions. I usually know the wines I like or if I try something new, I use an app called Vivino which is easy to use and pretty on point. You simply take a photo of the wine label within the app and it gives you tasting notes, prices and reviews.

 

Cheers!

I've been using TW online search engine to examine some choices. I've been sorting on ratings and then on price. I've found some potentially good selections in the $35 range. I really don't want to spend a lot of time wandering around the store. I'd like to order online and walk in/out and on to the port.

When we drove to the port, I would visit my local wine store, describe the menu items we were contemplating and then he would recommend a bottle for each evening. Worked very well. But, we've decided to fly this time.

On our recent Veendam cruise I bought the 8 bottle lowest price package and they applied my Mariner discount so it was much cheaper than buying by the glass.