Royal Caribbean Removes Cruise Corkage Fees

-- Royal Caribbean has removed the $25 corkage fee for bringing wine onboard and drinking it in a cruise ship restaurant. The change has been very quiet -- the Royal Caribbean website continues to list the fee, though Royal Caribbean Blog (an unofficial fan blog) and Cruise Critic members are reporting the new policy. A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman has also confirmed the change.

Passengers are allowed to bring two bottles of wine or Champagne (up to 750 ml each) onboard at embarkation. Previously, they could drink the contents free of charge only in their staterooms. Additional bottles brought onboard or purchased in port are confiscated and returned to the passengers on the last day of the cruise.

It would be a nice gesture for Celebrity to imitate RCL's new policy on corkage fees.

Sorry, but until we see it in print from an official Royal site, it's still just a rumor. A nice one, and we can be hopeful…...

Sorry, but until we see it in print from an official Royal site, it's still just a rumor. A nice one, and we can be hopeful…...

100% agree

IMO ..Nothing's changed, until it's official

Srpilo

Sorry, but until we see it in print from an official Royal site, it's still just a rumor. A nice one, and we can be hopeful…...

Agree

Rumours drive me crazy. They tend to gain momentum and IMO are the cause of so much misinformation here on CC (ie Dress Code threads). Personal Experiences can happen for a variety of reasons (ie someone decided to waive the corkage as a nice gesture), but they don't make something Official Policy

At $ 25 "a pop" (pun intended) I don't think Corkage Fees are going to go away anytime soon

Cheers!

Agree

 

Rumours drive me crazy. They tend to gain momentum and IMO are the cause of so much misinformation here on CC (ie Dress Code threads). Personal Experiences can happen for a variety of reasons (ie someone decided to waive the corkage as a nice gesture), but they don't make something Official Policy

 

At $ 25 "a pop" (pun intended) I don't think Corkage Fees are going to go away anytime soon

 

Cheers!

Hi,

If you take a look at the "NEWS" section on Cruise Critic (right next to "Community"), you will see the following October 15th RCL news release:

October 15, 2014

Royal Caribbean Removes Cruise Corkage Fees wine bottles

(10:45 a.m. EDT) -- Royal Caribbean has removed the $25 corkage fee for bringing wine onboard and drinking it in a cruise ship restaurant. The change has been very quiet -- the Royal Caribbean website continues to list the fee, though Royal Caribbean Blog (an unofficial fan blog) and Cruise Critic members are reporting the new policy. A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman has also confirmed the change.

Passengers are allowed to bring two bottles of wine or Champagne (up to 750 ml each) onboard at embarkation. Previously, they could drink the contents free of charge only in their staterooms. Additional bottles brought onboard or purchased in port are confiscated and returned to the passengers on the last day of the cruise.

--By Erica Silverstein, Senior Editor

Hi,

If you take a look at the "NEWS" section on Cruise Critic (right next to "Community"), you will see the following October 15th RCL news release:

 

 

October 15, 2014

 

 

Royal Caribbean Removes Cruise Corkage Fees wine bottles

(10:45 a.m. EDT) -- Royal Caribbean has removed the $25 corkage fee for bringing wine onboard and drinking it in a cruise ship restaurant. The change has been very quiet -- the Royal Caribbean website continues to list the fee, though Royal Caribbean Blog (an unofficial fan blog) and Cruise Critic members are reporting the new policy. A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman has also confirmed the change.

 

Passengers are allowed to bring two bottles of wine or Champagne (up to 750 ml each) onboard at embarkation. Previously, they could drink the contents free of charge only in their staterooms. Additional bottles brought onboard or purchased in port are confiscated and returned to the passengers on the last day of the cruise.

 

--By Erica Silverstein, Senior Editor

Sadly, this is precisely what I was talking about with how Rumours escalate...

This IS NOT an RCL Press Release

This is a Cruise Critic News Article... Erica Silverstein is Senior Editor for Cruise Critic

Read the article again.

It has only been confirmed by one Royal Spokeswoman (she may have misspoke for all we know) ... And has not been confirmed in any RCCL writings.

That is FAR from official

Cheers!

I guess the "Oasis" didn't arrive in the U.K. today either - right?

RCL confirmed it on their Facebook site. It is not a rumour.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also, LauraS (Cruise Critic Sr. Manager - a reliable source) has posted it as a sticky on the RCI forum.

Royal Caribbean Removes Cruise Corkage Fees

RCL confirmed it on their Facebook site. It is not a rumour.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also, LauraS (Cruise Critic Sr. Manager - a reliable source) has posted it as a sticky on the RCI forum.

 

Royal Caribbean Removes Cruise Corkage Fees

Ok, for the record.

I am not opposed to the idea... I would certainly welcome it if it came to Celebrity as well

But again I must point out that right now it does appear to be just speculation / a rumour (although it could foreshadow an Official RCCL Announcement)

As for the above 2 replies...

CRUISE JUNKY here is the link to the RCCL Facebook Page...

https://www.facebook.com/royalcaribbean

I did not see any Official Announcement... Perhaps you can

(Note - Celebrity Article said it was stated on a Royal Caribbean Bog - an UNOFFICIAL Fan Blog)

FLECKLE ... Indeed a STICKY

But content is a link that goes back to the CC News Article (nothing wrong with that, this is after all CCs website... They are merely informing CC Members on the RCCL of some recent news that they are reporting / have heard)

Again tho... Nothing in writing from RCCL to indeed confirm that it is fact

As I said in my OP above (Reply # 5)... I was in Agreement with CRUISESTICH who said they were awaiting seeing it in writing FROM RCCL (and not some other source)

Cheers!

Ok, for the record.

 

I am not opposed to the idea... I would certainly welcome it if it came to Celebrity as well

 

But again I must point out that right now it does appear to be just speculation / a rumour (although it could foreshadow an Official RCCL Announcement)

 

As for the above 2 replies...

 

CRUISE JUNKY here is the link to the RCCL Facebook Page...

 

https://www.facebook.com/royalcaribbean

 

I did not see any Official Announcement... Perhaps you can

 

(Note - Celebrity Article said it was stated on a Royal Caribbean Bog - an UNOFFICIAL Fan Blog)

 

FLECKLE ... Indeed a STICKY

 

But content is a link that goes back to the CC News Article (nothing wrong with that, this is after all CCs website... They are merely informing CC Members on the RCCL of some recent news that they are reporting / have heard)

 

Again tho... Nothing in writing from RCCL to indeed confirm that it is fact

 

As I said in my OP above (Reply # 5)... I was in Agreement with CRUISESTICH who said they were awaiting seeing it in writing FROM RCCL (and not some other source)

 

Cheers!

As my job description doesn't include "secretary" and you seem to not take my word for it, you can find it yourself under posts to page. A Dan asks about the corkage and RCL responds

With it posted under "News" on this website where the original poster copied the language from, it seems to be, a bit more than a rumor:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6027

Happy sailing,

Jenna

As my job description doesn't include "secretary" and you seem to not take my word for it, you can find it yourself under posts to page. A Dan asks about the corkage and RCL responds

Thank you CRUISE JUNKY for pointing me (us all) in the right direction...

(never meant to imply you were a Secretary... just wanted to know where you actually saw an Official Written Statement from RCCL).

Clearly... that is one.

I copy it here so everyone can see the actual statement:

 

REPLY to a Question about Corkage Fees disappearing:

 

Royal Caribbean International - There won’t be a corkage fee for guests wishing to bring personal wine and champagne on board only on boarding day. They will be limited to two (2) 750 ml bottles per stateroom. No beer or hard liquor may be brought on board for consumption. The corkage fee was a very recent change and the website will be updated shortly.

 

4 • 7 hrs ago

[/Quote]

 

Good news for RCCL Cruisers... and yes one has to wonder if their will be a Policy Change on Corkage to Celebrity as well.

 

That would be something !!

 

On a side note... Cruise Critic printed their article this AM... long before any sort of written confirmation from RCCL... so an excellent SCOOP on the story by Cruise Critic for sure !!

 

Cheers!

Thank you CRUISE JUNKY for pointing me (us all) in the right direction...

 

(never meant to imply you were a Secretary... just wanted to know where you actually saw an Official Written Statement from RCCL).

 

Clearly... that is one.

 

I copy it here so everyone can see the actual statement:

 

 

 

Good news for RCCL Cruisers... and yes one has to wonder if their will be a Policy Change on Corkage to Celebrity as well.

 

Cheers!

Doubting Thomas ;)

Cruise Critic printed their article this AM... long before any sort of written confirmation from RCCL...

They had confirmed it with an RCCL spokesperson. This is what reporters do.

The corkage fee has always in my opinion been an outrageous charge - 25 dollars is usually far more than the value of the wine itself ! 50 dollars to uncork 2 bottles ! Plus many bottles these days have screw tops which makes 25 dollars even more farcical for simply unscrewing a wine bottle top .

We are not meanies here in the UK but I draw the line at this charge , save myself 50 dollars and drink my 2 bottles of wine on my cabin balcony instead .

:cool::cool:

Corkage doesn't really correlate with how the bottle is sealed.

It is a fee restaurants impose as a means to make up for lost revenue when you bring your own bottle.

Sometimes there is a special bottle of wine, unavailable on the list, especially a high-end bottle or one with sentimental attachment, that a diner wishes to be served, and the restaurant charges a fee to do so.

It's a long-established procedure, maybe not common in the UK, but not unheard of in the US.

It is not allowed in some states, due to local licensing laws which forbid restaurants from serving wine not on their inventory. In other states, it is a means to let diners enjoy a particular wine that a restaurant may not carry, not, as implied by some, to save money by bringing a cheap wine:rolleyes:

After all the threads regarding the cutbacks and negativie experiences, it is refreshing to read something positive.

We don't bring our own bottles on board because we will not drink in our room and we refuse to pay the extra $25.

However, expecially for European based cruises that start in Italy or Spain, it would be nice to be able to drink local wine without the added expense.

Nice touch.

Hope Celebrity follows suit.

Fair enough mate , I hear you . But making up for lost revenue ? This is a drop in the ocean when you work out the mark up they put on all their on board wines . Corkage at 25 dollars is a rip off and this is why they are ( hopefully ) now thinking of getting rid of it . As for bringing on cheap wine 25 dollars will get me a decent bottle of red for dinner , no problem !

Each to their own as they say - keep on cruising and enjoy that glass of wine ( or two ) .....

Two recent dinners in Chicago, one had fee of $25, one $29.50, don't know where that figure came from but that's what was posted on the menu

As my job description doesn't include "secretary" and you seem to not take my word for it, you can find it yourself under posts to page. A Dan asks about the corkage and RCL responds

What date was this question posed on their Facebook page? I saw the answer someone cut and pasted but would like to see how the question itself was phrased. The way the answer reads, without the question, it could be interpreted as you are now simply allowed to bring two bottles onboard, and possibly pay no corkage, depending on where you drink them. That was indeed a relatively recent change, so I'm just curious how the question was phrased.

(The way my computer scrolls through the posts, it is agonizingly slow to try to find a specific post without knowing the date it was posted.)

The Corkage Fee has not been removed from the RCI Home Page...

I wonder how they would deal with it on wine cruises?

Having come clanking back on board at several Spanish and French ports with an awful lot of wine which went straight to our cabin, I can't imagine that they could deal with confiscating lots of wine and more importantly, keeping it safe and in good condition.

It's okay to leave a bottle of £5 plonk in your conservatory over the weekend. Been there, done that, poured it down the drain. But anyone coming back on board with a case of something very, very special from Château de Chasselas won't be happy if it gets burnt in the naughty room.

.

Celebrity allows extra wine to be brought on during some specially designated wine cruises but still imposes corkage if those bottles are brought to the MDR