RCI not allowing passengers to bring wine onboard?

[FinelyCruising]

:) Well...the Cremant was just wonderful! We loved it. I opened the bottle and poured it and saw the color, and the taste matched! :)

 

Thanks!!! This is somehting I/we will be enjoying again.;)

[xpcdoojk]

Gosh, I have been dreading your post FC! I am glad my instincts were correct. I knew that you liked the Grigch and a few other things, but some people just don't like bubbly. So you never know. We drank a bottle of it Friday at 4:30pm in our hotel room at the Westin before dinner. It dissappeared quickly with four of us having our pre dinner cocktail. Saturday night we ate at a great restaurant, and since the boss was buying, we had a 99(I think it was the 99) Lynch Bages it was nice, but really not nearly up to the hype. I was a tad dissappointed, of course, we had the waiter who wanted to be in the movie Sideways, and he got all excited and gave us the full 100% wine snob business. I can't remember the next wine, it was in the same price range, but it was a blend, and I thought it was better, but the wine snob waiter did not approve of the selection. I would say he was French biased! :D

 

The Schramsburg Cremant is always in my wine cellar, and I always have a bottle in the refrigerator because you just never know when you might need to celebrate! :D

 

jc

[FinelyCruising]

jc, jc, jc...First of all you have the right Spirit. Second of all you have the right Spirits! :)

 

You and I have probably been concieved of the same Wine Taste Buds. Never worry, if anything, you and I share stronger likes than dislikes... which we can share! ;)

 

NO joking...I loved it. Problem is that DD has learned too much from me when it comes to enjoying the finer thing in life...I shared the story of where this was particular bottle was suggested and she thought the suggestion was pretty darn good too!

 

That corruption will have to be your fault! :D

[xpcdoojk]

jc, jc, jc...First of all you have the right Spirit. Second of all you have the right Spirits! :)

 

You and I have probably been concieved of the same Wine Taste Buds. Never worry, if anything, you and I share stronger likes than dislikes... which we can share! ;)

 

NO joking...I loved it. Problem is that DD has learned too much from me when it comes to enjoying the finer thing in life...I shared the story of where this was particular bottle was suggested and she thought the suggestion was pretty darn good too!

 

That corruption will have to be your fault! :D

 

It is a corruption that I will gladly take credit for! Glad you and DD enjoyed it. :)

 

My head is hurting from golf in the heat yesterday and a business dinner that didn't end until 11pm and 3 bottles of red wine, and 2 gin and tonics, and a great steak. I am suppossed to do it all over again tonight.... :(

 

jc

[FinelyCruising]

Don't know about you, but it's the reds I can never seem to get out of my system with steak at biz dinners....:D Hope the weekend comes soon for you!

 

After I corrputed the kid with the Grgish Hills, you have done your part for the Demi-Sec. Heaven help the guys who take her out! ;)

[ricsue]

Thanks so much....... for the suggestion of ABC Fine Wine in Cocoa Beach. Called to them yesterday, made our selections, they are holding them for us to pick up on Saturday. They were very helpful with making selections, and also ordering our fav Roederer, they only had 1 bottle left, they assured us they will have our requested quantity when we arrive on Saturday. :)

[island lady]

Thanks so much....... for the suggestion of ABC Fine Wine in Cocoa Beach. Called to them yesterday, made our selections, they are holding them for us to pick up on Saturday. They were very helpful with making selections, and also ordering our fav Roederer, they only had 1 bottle left, they assured us they will have our requested quantity when we arrive on Saturday. :)

 

Wow, what a good idea! :)

We always end up lugging our "treasures", we have collected and saved over a period of months, along on the plane as carry ons.

This time however, we are cruising from our own home port...no lugging on airlines...just 5 miles by car to the port. :D

Cheers!

[morganboys]

my 2 cents. This doesn't matter to me either way since I don't drink due to medical reasons. however to play the devil's advocate would you take a bottle of wine with you to your favorite restaurant and expect them to think this was ok? How about going to the same restaurant and having food delivered from somewhere else and sit there to eat it? No they would have a fit. If you go to a non smoking place it is ok to sneak a smoke? No it isn't. It is policy. If you go on a plane or on your cruise do you take your gun along? No because their policies prohibit this type of item. We all know that the cruise lines do this to make more money that is no secret. In society today everyone seems to think that alcohol has to be apart of their every day function or they can't survive. When I could drink I enjoyed an occassional beverage just as much as the next guy but if RCCL says no then it is no. Bottom line they make the rules and you agree to these rule when you book that cruise. it would be like them waiting for you to board and say by the way we raised your cuise price $200 because we think it is ok. The same thinking of those people who sneak alcohol on board because they think it is ok.

[worldsbestcandles]

Actually, a lot of the finer restaurants do allow people to bring their own wine and they will serve it to you, charging a corkage fee just as the cruise ship does. You just have to ask, they don't all advertise this service. Not that you aren't entitled to your opinion, and I see your point I just wanted to share my experiences....

[island lady]

my 2 cents. This doesn't matter to me either way since I don't drink due to medical reasons. however to play the devil's advocate would you take a bottle of wine with you to your favorite restaurant and expect them to think this was ok? How about going to the same restaurant and having food delivered from somewhere else and sit there to eat it? No they would have a fit. If you go to a non smoking place it is ok to sneak a smoke? No it isn't. It is policy. If you go on a plane or on your cruise do you take your gun along? No because their policies prohibit this type of item. We all know that the cruise lines do this to make more money that is no secret. In society today everyone seems to think that alcohol has to be apart of their every day function or they can't survive. When I could drink I enjoyed an occassional beverage just as much as the next guy but if RCCL says no then it is no. Bottom line they make the rules and you agree to these rule when you book that cruise. it would be like them waiting for you to board and say by the way we raised your cuise price $200 because we think it is ok. The same thinking of those people who sneak alcohol on board because they think it is ok.

 

Since you say you don't drink, then why are you even reading this thread?

 

If you really were a wine drinker, you would already know that the finer (and not so fine) restaurants are happy to charge what they call a "corkage" fee for wine you bring into the restaurant. It is always a polite thing to do to call ahead and ask permission before hand. In California, where many of their local citizens are in the wine business, it is most common. The wine makers and sales people are happy to bring in their respective treasures to share with the restaurant management.

RCCI has this odd policy that tells us that you are not allowed to bring any alcohol on board, but has yet another policy that states you are allowed to bring a bottle of wine to the dining room that is not currently on their wine list and they will charge you $10.00 corkage for that bottle.

Since thier wine list is absolutely horrible, and marked up twice for that bad wine what a land based restaurant would charge....hmmm...well...you figure it out.

Cheers!

[skandls]

my 2 cents. This doesn't matter to me either way since I don't drink due to medical reasons. however to play the devil's advocate would you take a bottle of wine with you to your favorite restaurant and expect them to think this was ok?

 

We take our own wine to 'nice' and 'fancy' restaurants almost all the time. Here in SoCal it is very common. We pay from $2 to $25 corkage depending on the restaurant. We don't bring wine on the restaurant wine list. Except for the finest restaurants the wines can be too young or more commonly now not the best vintages. Don't put wine in the same category as taking your own cake for desert. Many wine folks have cellars and put wine down for a few years and hope they improve. Then we enjoy them with friends at home at a restaurant or cruise ship.

[mariposas]

wow, there is certainly a lot to say on this subject! I've tried reading as many of the postings as I could, but the sheer volume is quite overwhelming. Like many here, I'd be interested in bringing some of my own wines I've been saving for a special occasion onboard the ship with me. We have no problem paying the corkage fee in restaurants for our bottles, but what if we wanted to enjoy some of them on our balcony in our cabin? Will these be charged corkage fees as well? I apologize if this has already been answered somewhere in this thread. Thanks so much!!!

[kind kat]

Just back from the Navigator, and we took 2 bottles on board no problem (packed in our carryon). We also brought a corkscrew so we could enjoy our wine in our room if we wanted. Turns out, we took a bottle to each of our formal night dinners instead. We were never charged a corkage fee.

 

Also, we bought 2 bottles of liquor in St. Thomas and carried them straight onto the boat in our backpacks to our room. The backpack even went through the xray machine on the way in - no questions asked no problem.

[xpcdoojk]

my 2 cents. This doesn't matter to me either way since I don't drink due to medical reasons. however to play the devil's advocate would you take a bottle of wine with you to your favorite restaurant and expect them to think this was ok? How about going to the same restaurant and having food delivered from somewhere else and sit there to eat it? No they would have a fit. If you go to a non smoking place it is ok to sneak a smoke? No it isn't. It is policy. If you go on a plane or on your cruise do you take your gun along? No because their policies prohibit this type of item. We all know that the cruise lines do this to make more money that is no secret. In society today everyone seems to think that alcohol has to be apart of their every day function or they can't survive. When I could drink I enjoyed an occassional beverage just as much as the next guy but if RCCL says no then it is no. Bottom line they make the rules and you agree to these rule when you book that cruise. it would be like them waiting for you to board and say by the way we raised your cuise price $200 because we think it is ok. The same thinking of those people who sneak alcohol on board because they think it is ok.

 

Most restaurants that I frequent have a corkage fee that they charge when you bring your own wine. So, again you are wrong.:D They even discuss their corkage fees on the RCI website. So much for us breaking the rules. The correct comparison would be visiting your Hyatt and taking a bottle with you to your room. The hotels allow it. Many restaurants allow it and charge a corkage fee. I agree it is their ship and they set the rules, but I am over 21 and I can legally carry and consume alcohol. The cruiseline reserves the right to limit the alcohol I carry on. In which case they may hold it for me until the end of the cruise whereupon they will return it to me. Alcohol is a legal product.

 

jc

[Nancyquilts]

Repeat after me "Wine is a food"(okay, technically a juice). Now you are all honorary Sonomans. Nancy

[moofus]

Hi we just went on the Explorer. Just got back yesterday.

I went through all sorts of shennanigans(sp?) to get rum and vodka on board. Even bought those little airline bottles and stuffed them into socks Wrapped the Champagne up like a gift and put a card on it that said "Happy 15th Anniversary love, Mom". ( based on a suggention on this thread).

DH thought I was nuts,,, and wanted to prove me wrong, so he took a small wheeled carry on ( we drove to the port) and packedthe large plastic bottles of Vodka and of rum ( I think a gallon or something like that) and Diet tonic and two large cokes. Well, we got on, no questions asked and we ended up bringing so much home plus what we bought duty free. And I took the Champagne to dinner already chilled, it was a birthday and an engagement celebration. I took it in a shopping bag which was filled with gifts and cards. Gave it to the waiter, not the wine steward, and we did not get charged a corkage fee.

And before I get flamed,... our seapass bill ( for 3 adults)was more than 1400.00, (that included tips for three and the vodka we bought at duty free) the rest of it was bar bills:eek: so RCCI did get a substantial amount from us. We just wanted to have drinks before dinner in the room.

No, we are not alchoholics, but my DH tends to buy a lot of people drinks after he has had a martini or two.

[worldsbestcandles]

I just have to say that I'm excited about the supreme court's ruling today... I live in Michigan so for us it is a step in the right direction.... Hopefully soon I will be able to directly order some of those wines from California to take on my cruise with me =):D

[island lady]

Most restaurants that I frequent have a corkage fee that they charge when you bring your own wine. So, again you are wrong.:D They even discuss their corkage fees on the RCI website. So much for us breaking the rules. The correct comparison would be visiting your Hyatt and taking a bottle with you to your room. The hotels allow it. Many restaurants allow it and charge a corkage fee. I agree it is their ship and they set the rules, but I am over 21 and I can legally carry and consume alcohol. The cruiseline reserves the right to limit the alcohol I carry on. In which case they may hold it for me until the end of the cruise whereupon they will return it to me. Alcohol is a legal product.

 

jc

 

You go jc!!! :D

 

Cheers!

[beachchick]

Indeed jc...Nice response.

 

morganboys: I can't believe you compared bringing wine to a restaurant or the dining room (where a corkage fee that is charged makes it clear that this is fine) with carrying a gun onboard a plane! It's comparing apples and oranges. Same with smoking in a no-smoking area. Whether an area is non-smoking for safety reasons (like around flammable materials) or for the health of non-smokers, sneaking a smoke will affect those around the the smoker. I don't think my bringing wine to the dining room, paying a corkage fee, and then drinking it equates. My wine with dinner doesn't affect the health or safety of others (unless I were to drive afterward--which I wouldn't under any circumstances).

 

beachchick

[island lady]

Indeed jc...Nice response.

 

morganboys: I can't believe you compared bringing wine to a restaurant or the dining room (where a corkage fee that is charged makes it clear that this is fine) with carrying a gun onboard a plane! It's comparing apples and oranges. Same with smoking in a no-smoking area. Whether an area is non-smoking for safety reasons (like around flammable materials) or for the health of non-smokers, sneaking a smoke will affect those around the the smoker. I don't think my bringing wine to the dining room, paying a corkage fee, and then drinking it equates. My wine with dinner doesn't affect the health or safety of others (unless I were to drive afterward--which I wouldn't under any circumstances).

 

beachchick

 

Also nicely done, beachchick! :)

 

Sounds like morganboys, just wanted to jump in here with we fellow wine lovers to stir up our fermenting vat!! ;)

 

Cheers!

[xpcdoojk]

Also nicely done, beachchick! :)

 

Sounds like morganboys, just wanted to jump in here with we fellow wine lovers to stir up our fermenting vat!! ;)

 

Cheers!

 

Yes, I have seen the stuff that gets crushed in the grape crushers, and there is always a little bit of nasty stuff, that invariably ends up in the fermentation vats. In our case morganboys.:D ;)

 

jc

[island lady]

Yes, I have seen the stuff that gets crushed in the grape crushers, and there is always a little bit of nasty stuff, that invariably ends up in the fermentation vats. In our case morganboys.:D ;)

 

jc

 

 

Yup, jc.....and you know what they do when that cap of crud forms in the vat...we punch it down!! :D

 

Cheers!

[morganboys]

you guys all crack me up. it's not about it affecting others. Why doesn't the cruise lines just say the hell with it. We don't need any rules at all. Everything goes and lets have a free frawl. I know that they only do it to make more money. However they make the rules and you agree to those rules when booking your cruise. comparing taking wine to the hyatt and a cruise are also apples to oranges. The Hyatt doesn't have anything stating you can't bring wine into your hotel room. The cruise line does have that rule. As for the corkage fee. Myself not being a wine drinker wouldn't have known about corkage fees. Give me a break I'm from Iowa. Good luck on finding a lot of high class restaurants out here in the sticks. Either way you can all smuggle on your booze so you don't have to pay for over priced, cheap, watered down booze on a ship. As long as you do it responsibly and don't end up being those obnoxious drunks we all have encounter it's fine with me. But the next time you see those obnoxious kids running amuck or being annoying at your table in the dinning shut the hell up because if you don't have to abide by the rules then neither does anyone else. end of story:D

[beachchick]

morganboys: Interesting...even after we've explained that RCI has a corkage fee for wine brought onboard by pax, even after we've mentioned how RCI themselves specifically state that wines they do not carry may be brought onboard, you still call it breaking the rules. Nope; it's following RCI's own specific wine policy. As for "obnoxious kids running amuck," again this is apples and oranges. A kid who is disrupting the entire dining room or knocking over chairs (I've seen it happen) or running into waiters (seen that too) doesn't equate to me bringing my legally-brought-onboard wine to the dining room to enjoy (while not complaining about the corkage fee--which BTW is standard at most restaurants, not just "high class" ones). I don't get drunk, I rarely get obnoxious (except with my DH. lol.), and I follow the wine rules specifically set down by RCI (and as explained to me by both CS and C&A). But I guess you don't see it that way.

 

I would also appreciate if you would not swear at us...I might swear at home or even in front of my friends, but I don't like it in an online public board (which children sometimes read). I'm not thin-skinned or personally offended, I just don't think it's appropriate here. Thank you.

 

(And lastly, for parents, please understand that I am using extreme examples of poor behavior. I don't for one minute think that all or even most children behave this way; just a few, who's parents are the real problem, IMO.)

 

beachchick

 

Oops...guess I wasn't supposed to respond, since the last post was apparently the "end of story." Oh well, here it is anyway.

[island lady]

Once again beachchick you are right on!! :)

 

morganboys simply does not understand that we are happy to pay the corkage in the dining room for our special bottles of wine. In my case it is not trying to save money or be cheap, (though the ship still charges way more than the average), but to enjoy a superior bottle of celebratory wine that we have collected for special occasions. Most of us are on the cruise to celebrate a special occasion or two (in my case a birthday, an anniversary and a new position with my company).

 

So the cruise line policy states that they are happy to charge us corkage for those special bottles that are not currently on thier list. Since we are not wine makers using local grapes from the buffet bar to bottle our own, I would assume they know we are bringing aboard our own.

 

morganboys seems to be the "wine police" (for what reason I don't know, but with personal problems like that I would suggest a therapist, not a public forum like this)

 

Cheers!