$15 corkage fee - how does it apply and work?

Does Princess charge its $15 corkage fee, beyond your first two bottles (one per adult is free, up to 750ml DW and I cruise as a couple) upon one bringing wine on board at embarkation or only if the additional bottles beyond your free ones are opened in the dining room by wait staff?

Any details on their corkage policy is greatly appreciated.

You bring the wine as part of your carry-on to check-in at the terminal. They should have a desk setup after you clear security screen/scan. They count up your wine and write a chit that will later be posted to your on-board account. You should be charged $15/bottle - 2 exempt.

You will either be given a sticker per bottle paid, or they will place a sticker on the bottle. This indicates corkage paid and you can take it anywhere on the ship and incur no fee.

If you bring either of the free bottles to a DR or bar, they will most likely (should) charge you corkage for those. So, if you plan to drink in the cabin, use those free ones first so be careful which bottles get the stickers.

Also, if you open a bottle in the room and have a couple of glasses or so with spouse, now the bottle is open and taking it to the DR for dinner should not incur any charge since said bottle has been opened and no one knows when/where it was opened. As a regular wine drinker at dinner, shouldn't be a problem with waiter.

If there is no table and no charging for your extra wine when you clear security, don't sweat it. You will be charged corkage for unstickered bottles in the DR.

If you buy any wine at a port of call, you typically cart it back on through security and take it to your room with no issues. Again, if you take those unopened to the DR, expect to pay corkage. Anytime you are bypassed for corkage, it's a nice gift.

The corkage fee is for your personal wine, so it is applicable to screw-tops as well. Same charge for sparkling wine.

How about if you bring wine on board from shore stops?

How about if you bring wine on board from shore stops?

Please see my post above - I added to it while you were posting I expect.

Steelers 36 has the process nailed. We ask the cabin attendant for wine glasses upon introduction; glasses show up shortly afterwards. We bring our own corkscrews.

We support the $15 wine corkage fee. Princess has a fair program, on our opinion, as opposed to other cruise lines. This is a big reason we continue to support Princess.

On sea days we love a nice cab and Yahtzee on the balcony. Cheers!

You bring the wine as part of your carry-on to check-in at the terminal. They should have a desk setup after you clear security screen/scan. They count up your wine and write a chit that will later be posted to your on-board account. You should be charged $15/bottle - 2 exempt.

 

You will either be given a sticker per bottle paid, or they will place a sticker on the bottle. This indicates corkage paid and you can take it anywhere on the ship and incur no fee.

 

If you bring either of the free bottles to a DR or bar, they will most likely (should) charge you corkage for those. So, if you plan to drink in the cabin, use those free ones first so be careful which bottles get the stickers.

 

Also, if you open a bottle in the room and have a couple of glasses or so with spouse, now the bottle is open and taking it to the DR for dinner should not incur any charge since said bottle has been opened and no one knows when/where it was opened. As a regular wine drinker at dinner, shouldn't be a problem with waiter.

 

If there is no table and no charging for your extra wine when you clear security, don't sweat it. You will be charged corkage for unstickered bottles in the DR.

 

If you buy any wine at a port of call, you typically cart it back on through security and take it to your room with no issues. Again, if you take those unopened to the DR, expect to pay corkage. Anytime you are bypassed for corkage, it's a nice gift.

 

The corkage fee is for your personal wine, so it is applicable to screw-tops as well. Same charge for sparkling wine.

Very well said!

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You will either be given a sticker per bottle paid, or they will place a sticker on the bottle. This indicates corkage paid and you can take it anywhere on the ship and incur no fee.

 

If you bring either of the free bottles to a DR or bar, they will most likely (should) charge you corkage for those. So, if you plan to drink in the cabin, use those free ones first so be careful which bottles get the stickers.

 

Also, if you open a bottle in the room and have a couple of glasses or so with spouse, now the bottle is open and taking it to the DR for dinner should not incur any charge since said bottle has been opened and no one knows when/where it was opened. As a regular wine drinker at dinner, shouldn't be a problem with waiter.

If there is no sticker on the bottle, you will be subject to the charge.

Great reply. Thank you.

I always travel with my own corkscrew. And I’ve brought opened bottles to DR on other cruise lines and haven’t had to pay corkage.

How attentive are staff to the sticker system and if a bottle is already uncorked, how strict is the corkage fee enforced/applied?

From Steelers36 reply, I am reading that there’s some or a little wiggle room on the sticker/open bottle process.

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I might have added that I too order a couple of wine glasses right away and keep them in the cabin for the journey. NP to wash them out and dry myself. I would also bring a corkscrew but we have been sailing for several years now with only carry on. That is going to change next month when we depart for 60 nights. So I will pack one. In the past I have had no issue borrowing one and I think I bought an inexpensive one on board once or at Total Wine. (I had taken one that was supposed to pass TSA, but it didn't and nothing to be said as the individual officer has the discretion).

As for the open wine bottle, once the bottle is first opened is when the corkage fee is charged. Waiters don't have stickers (at least they never did). So when you take that bottle away and bring it back the next day somewhere, it has been opened and the presumption will be you have already paid. I will often have 2 or 3 open at once (certainly a white and a red), so I may be swapping bottles, depending on what we plan to have for dinner each night - or I might bring two bottles to the DR at once.

I am very happy to pay the corkage fee and I certainly appreciate the Princess program and policy and the fair charge (as stated above some cruise lines are in effect denying and discouraging BYOW as they have expensive fees). That said, if I happen to take a partially consumed bottle (one of the "free" ones) somewhere to have some more, I don't volunteer that I haven't paid, but I would not argue the point. Suffice to say, I have never been questioned about a corkage fee due on any already opened bottle - either prior to the sticker system or post sticker system. Typically, for us, a bottle lasts two dinners. There might be a little left over, but not much. It can depend on the meal and the mood as well.

Great reply. Thank you.

 

I always travel with my own corkscrew. And I’ve brought opened bottles to DR on other cruise lines and haven’t had to pay corkage.

 

How attentive are staff to the sticker system and if a bottle is already uncorked, how strict is the corkage fee enforced/applied?

 

From Steelers36 reply, I am reading that there’s some or a little wiggle room on the sticker/open bottle process.

 

 

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If the staff don't notice your sticker, simply point it out. Remember, you have already paid the corkage fee, so even if a waiter is opening it for the first time for you, there is no fee due. There is never more than one fee per bottle, no matter how long it takes you to finish it.

The only wriggle room is if you bring a glass of wine to dinner (some posters report doing this), there is no charge. However, I cannot be bothered with this to avoid corkage fee because there is too much chance to spill wine between cabin and DR table. Also, what to do when the glass is empty and you want more?

The other wriggle room is that when you show up to dinner or to a bar with a partially consumed bottle (no Princess sticker), no ship employee really knows the history of that bottle. It could have been opened previously at another location, perhaps not even on the same day. If so, presumably a corkage fee was charged. OTOH, said bottle may have been opened in the cabin and partially consumed there before showing up in a public venue. So, the wriggle room, if you want to call it that, is the SOP is that an open, partially consumed bottle has already been assessed a corkage fee. I have never found wait staff in the past acting like investigative detectives to determine if a bottle has been charged or not.

I suppose if you take a screw top or your own corkscrew and bottle to the Horizon Court and open it, since that is a self-service area and you are handling everything yourself, it is doubtful a waiter will come running over to charge you. I cannot attest to this one way or the other as we have never had dinner in the Horizon Court. I do expect to on our 60-night trip, just for a change of pace when something interesting is on the menu there. I think if I was going to do that, I would select a screw top bottle to take to the HC for convenience, or pop the cork in the cabin, so it is much easier to deal with at the HC.

If you have several bottles with paid corkage, let's say there isn't a huge deal made over your two free ones in my experience. If all you have are the two free ones, expect to pay when first bring to the DR.

Many years ago, we had two waiters that charged me the first couple of bottles and then let it go after that. I gave them tip instead. On my last cruise, with half dozen bottles, we had prepaid for 4 and then was charged for one free one and the other I had opened in the cabin and was not charged as it was half empty when I did bring it to a DR.

All of the above applies to Specialty Restaurants as well as the MDR's. You do get wine service as the waiters will put a bottle on ice if you want (generally don't let them plunge it into an ice bucket as it will get too cold like a beer). Also, they will keep the partial bottles for you and return them to the table the next night. I don't use that service, as I might want to have a glass in the room, or perhaps I want a different wine the next night.

Steelers 36 has the process nailed. We ask the cabin attendant for wine glasses upon introduction; glasses show up shortly afterwards. We bring our own corkscrews.

 

We support the $15 wine corkage fee. Princess has a fair program, on our opinion, as opposed to other cruise lines. This is a big reason we continue to support Princess.

 

On sea days we love a nice cab and Yahtzee on the balcony. Cheers!

You may want to consider Oceania. Bring all the wine or spirits you want onboard (at embarkation or in various ports). No fees for consumption in your cabin. Want to bring a bottle of your wine to an onboard dining venue? Then you pay a corkage fee.

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I would just like to add to Steelers66 thorough and accurate analysis, that you can pay corkage for all bottles, even the two "Free" ones, at that table upon boarding. We always do that, as we only drink our wine with dinner and this avoids the hassle of having to pay corkage later.

That's useful, thanks. Am I right in thinking then that we can bring a bottle each onboard at each port then? I didn't realise that! :)

We are happy to pay the corkage fee. However, we bring the two bottles for the balcony/days at sea. If we need more for the cabin we just order another bottle.

I suppose if you take a screw top or your own corkscrew and bottle to the Horizon Court and open it, since that is a self-service area and you are handling everything yourself, it is doubtful a waiter will come running over to charge you. I cannot attest to this one way or the other as we have never had dinner in the Horizon Court. I do expect to on our 60-night trip, just for a change of pace when something interesting is on the menu there. I think if I was going to do that, I would select a screw top bottle to take to the HC for convenience, or pop the cork in the cabin, so it is much easier to deal with at the HC.

Just to add a little of our experience of taking unopened bottles of wine to the HC. We have never been charged corkage. Waiters are invariably happy to bring glasses, open bottles and bring an ice bucket.

Always had to pay corkage in the MDR (on unopened bottes).

That's useful, thanks. Am I right in thinking then that we can bring a bottle each onboard at each port then? I didn't realise that! :)

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We have never been charged corkage.

I brought a bottle of wine to the dining room on my last cruise on royal, and I was charged.

Seemed fair, as that is the rules.

On the last night, the waiter and junior were kissing up -- extra entres, extra desserts, etc.

And, did I want them to write down their names, so I could mention them on the survey?

I was thinking, if you really wanted to suck-up, you should have skipped the corkage.

I just thought it was funny. Like pretty woman ... we need more sucking up!

The answer to this is variable. If the bottles are from a Princess shore excursion, yes. Otherwise, they may charge corkage or may hold them for you.

 

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I’ve asked and have seen it in the daily patter during the cruise stating that you can bring one bottle of wine per person back on board esp if the port is a wine area. We’ve never had any issues bringing on wine at ports of call.

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That's useful, thanks. Am I right in thinking then that we can bring a bottle each onboard at each port then? I didn't realise that! :)

I have brought back a bottle of wine from a port call without any problem. Sometimes there will be a liquor table and they will charge the $15 corking fee and sometimes there will be no table and I take it up to the stateroom. We drink all the wine on our balcony before dinner so I have never ran into the corking fee in the MDR problem.

The MDR waiter staff is heavily monitored and any infractions can result in being put off at the next port to fly home on their own. Therefore "overlooking" the rules can be very detrimental to their employment. It all comes down to how well they are being monitored.