Wine etiquette on board

[brownsf]

Let's say you take some very good and valuable wine on board and pay the corkage fee to have it served at dinner. You're a couple at a table with four people you just met on the ship. Is it too rude not to offer the wine to the others? A bottle of wine doesn't go very far when split among six people!

[superjerryw]

I don't think it's rude at all. Afterall, it's your wine and you paid for it. We were on the Galaxy a few weeks ago and the couple we sat with the first night ordered a bottle of wine and did not offer us a drink. I didn't think anything of it as it was their wine.

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Donuts, is there anything they can't do....

[Princess-of-Quite-alot]

I agree with above poster. If you share, let them know they buy the next bottle! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Celebrity Century 5/8/04 -Western Caribbean
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Carnival Ecstasy 2/04 - Baja
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Royal Caribbean Monarch 10/00 - Southern Caribbean
Carnival Elation 10/99 - Mexican Riviera
Royal Caribbean Monarch 1/97 - Southern Caribbean

[Happy ks]

I see this question come up from time to time on these boards. We have offered to share wine before and been turned down, fine with us. We originally thought it would be rude to not do so. Unless you are sitting at a table with friends, or have made friends with your table mates, don't worry about it. If you were ordering a cocktail from the bar server, would you feel obligated to buy a round of drinks for the table?

I only wish we could afford to supply the wine at dinner for the whole table!!

Kathy

[davis0056]

You may not be obliged to share the bottle, but..... I think it would be a nice ice breaker the first night or two. Buy a bottle at the table and share. When my DH and I bring a bottle of our favorite wine on board, and if we don't want to share, we open it in the room and enjoy it just before dinner, sitting on the balcony. When we offer to share, about 50% of the time the other couple(s) accept, and they have always reciprocated.

Just our thoughts.

Dave and Elaine

Transatlantic sailing on the Constellation
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[ctknud]

Just my 2C opinon. Having been in your situation, and appreciating a nice glass of wine, the decision is difficult. if the couple is not into the finer types of wine, you dont want to, for lack of a better term, waste it. Developing a taste for finer, not necessarily more expensive wine, takes time and experience. Bringing and sharing a nice Cab then having a White Zin returned is not really a good feeling. Dont think I am a wine snob, or even have class, but I do appreciate a nice glass of wine on occasion. If you and your wife/husband enjoy nice vintages, or special bottles together, I dont think it is necessary to offer to share with people that you dont know or just met thur the meal settings. This is just my opinon.

[starsjohn]

Its been a real dilemia in the past. I have held back really special wines till later in the trip to find out the interest of the rest of the table. Very few people have been interested in the really fine wines, however, we do buy a bottle for the table of a regular wine and the guests do likewise. Its a good icebreaker and good conversation follows.

I also take my best wines to the speciality dining venues.

John

[woodofpine]

A half dozen cruises -never shared a table, on account of a family of 6 or more.

I'd love the shared conviviality of an adult table only, gay pink blue you name it; but - not - I guess the awkard wine etticute folks relate!

As a bystander, I'd go with Super J comments...

[the hornsea potter]

Dave and Elaine,
Your wonderful ativars have just reminded me of the only downside of cruising and that is leaving our two dogs Tess and Mr Flynn at home.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by davis0056:
You may not be obliged to share the bottle, but..... I think it would be a nice ice breaker the first night or two. Buy a bottle at the table and share. When my DH and I bring a bottle of our favorite wine on board, and if we don't want to share, we open it in the room and enjoy it just before dinner, sitting on the balcony. When we offer to share, about 50% of the time the other couple(s) accept, and they have always reciprocated.

Just our thoughts.

Dave and Elaine

Transatlantic sailing on the Constellation
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[the hornsea potter]

It is avatars of course.I confess that I had never heard the word until I came onto these boards.

[Galer99]

Dave and Elaine (davis0056): I like your answer as it recognizes the axiom from kindergarten about sharing with friends and it acknowledges that sometimes we have special things we would prefer not to share and so we consume those in a more private setting. I hope we share a table with you folks some day. Perhaps you would reconsider and join us on the Millennium for the Nov 7th crossing?

And ctknud, re your remarks about sharing a nice cabernet and then receiving a white zinfindel in return, it's not the quality of what's shared that is important -- it is the act of sharing. Just a gentle reminder.

So, who needs their glass refilled??

Gale and George
Oregon

[corkpopr]

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]
white zin, good gawd, you might as well drink chateau de cardboard !
what is avatar?

Galaxy 10 day Rome Next
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[Princess-of-Quite-alot]

Might as well not share your nice wine with white zin drinkers. They probably would not appreciate a good cab anyways!
Hey corkpopr...went to school at CSUN.....how's she doin' these days?

Celebrity Century 5/8/04 -Western Caribbean
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Carnival Ecstasy 2/04 - Baja
Tahitian Princess 2/03- French Polynesia
Sea Princess 7/02 - Alaska
Carnival Ecstasy 5/02 - Baja
Royal Caribbean Monarch 10/00 - Southern Caribbean
Carnival Elation 10/99 - Mexican Riviera
Royal Caribbean Monarch 1/97 - Southern Caribbean

[ccletzgo]

Am I the only one that feels you should offer?

On our very first cruise this situation came up.

after about 4 nights we where getting to know our table mates and had good conversation with them. The last night, they ordered a bottle of wine and did not offer us a glass. It felt strange to me. Maybe because this is the first time I had really shared a dinner table with complete strangers, so....... it was the first time for me, that the wine was not offered to everyone.
Now I just go with the "flow". I am prepared to NOt be offered. But that first time did feel very strange.
We always offer.

[davis0056]

Gale and George (Galer99): Wish we could join you on the Millenium in Nov, but our Sept Transatlantic will/has maxed our cruising budget for the year. However we plan on doing the Mexican Rivera on the Mercury in Jan 05 if you have nothing else planned.

CCietzgo, I think Dave and I and George and Gale agree with you and feel we should share and if not, drink privately. We would have felt a little strange too, sitting with another couple for a week, getting along well, and not at least being offered a glass. Many people decline our offer to share our wine, but at least the offer is made.

Dave and Elaine

Transatlantic sailing on the Constellation
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[CHEZMARYLOU]

We enjoy a fine wine with dinner to complement the meal. On or our last 2 week curise one of our table mates, who did not drink wine reguraly, wanted to order a bottle to celebrate her good fortune in the casino. She ordered an Asti, which the table shared. My husband and I continued to order our wine with dinner which we did not share, but we took our turn ordering Austi as a special celebration each evening. We have never felt awkward, nor have we felt the need to share our wine with table mates who are not wine enthusiasts.

[Galer99]

Dave and Elaine:

Thanks so much for the offer of the Mexican Riviera for Jan '05, but George has a boss and I'm self employed so if no work = no dollars, and we're doing !0/24 Bar-Bar then 11/7 Trans on the Millie for a total of 28 days. AND we've got a child in college!! We simply must be responsible some time.. Ugh. But maybe sometime in the future we'll be sharing that bottle of wine. Right?

Take care,

Gale and George
Oregon

[davis0056]

Gale and George,
We thought we were lucky about our upcoming transatlantic til we saw your cruising plans. Have a great trip and keep us informed on how it goes. It sounds like you're taking the southern route, we're going north. Being from central Texas, we have to take advantage of cool weather when we can. Stay in touch. Our e-mail is: cruizzie AT aol DOT com. Have some great wine and when you share it, think us, we'll do likewise.
Dave and Elaine

Transatlantic sailing on the Constellation
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[corkpopr]

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]
Hey Princess, CSUN is doing well, agressive building program on north edge of campus. old devonshire downs gone now enrollment up trying to pass UCLA.
since a fifth of wine only yields 4-5 glasses and averages 35 a bottle we do not usually share.

Galaxy 10 day Rome Next
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[babylene]

For Davis 0056 O.T.

We will be in San Antonio,post cruise. We have reservations at the Fairmount. We could stay at the Amerisuites or Best Western Sunset Suites for approx. the same price. Which would you choose? Thanks for your input.

Now I guess I should comment on the topic!!!We take a table for 2...so the "problem" is hypothetical! I think I would feel uncomfortable ordering wine and not offering. The ideal would be for a different couple to order each night....and at around the same price,so nobody is offended in any way. I can understand all the different points of view of the posters and I suppose that the most important thing is that everyone at the table feels comfortable with the decision. I'm glad we choose a table for 2!!! We order wine sometimes, not every night.

[davis0056]

Babylene,

Stay at the Fairmont, hands down. Its on the list of historical buildings, its recently updated, its in a great location, it has a great history. You can stay at Amerisuites anywhere. Stay at the Fairmont in SA!! Our son and his wife spent their honeymoon nite (before a cruise of course) at the Fairmont. If you can, ask for a room that has a porch overlooking Hemisphere plaza. Its not a private porch-you walk out your door and there's another door on the hallway that steps out on the porch. Over New Years, SA has a BIG fire works display and all the news stations use the porch as their broadcasting location.

Hope that helps with your decision!!

Dave and Elaine

Transatlantic sailing on the Constellation
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[babylene]

Hi Dave & Elaine! Decision is made. Thank you very much. I will ask for the room with the balcony overlooking the Hemisphere Plaza! Any restaurant recommendations? We will be coming off a cruise and going to a wedding in Houston...so we'll have to eat "LIGHT"!!! But light CAN be delicious at the right places!

[davis0056]

As for resturants, a little depends on what time of the year you'll be here. I truly believe SA is the partyingest town anywhere in the USA. We just finished "Fiesta." Three parades (some shown nationally) in one week: one on the River walk, one during the afternoon and a beautiful night time parade. The RiverWalk has great resturants and the Fairmont is right next to the river. Each resturant has the menu posted outside and there is indoor and outdoor seating. If its during the summer, the have fans and misters. Our son's wedding was in July-as mother and father of the groom we had responsiblity for the rehearsal dinner. It seemed like a great idea in Feburary when we booked an outdoor resturant for the event. The day of the rehearsal it was 109 degrees and 107 the day of the wedding. My family from up north almost had a mutiny! Let us know at: cruizzie AT aol DOT com, when you'll be in town and if you would like, we could all go out for dinner. We know a hidden place in the hill country north of town that we think you would like. Only if we share a bottle of wine of course! You could tell us about your cruise.

Dave and Elaine

Transatlantic sailing on the Constellation
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[CaribbeanBound]

Wine Etiquette

1. Screw-on caps are are sure sign of getting a fresh bottle of wine. All the old wines have that stupid difficult-to-open cork stuck in the bottle.

2. If the Sommelier insists on drinking some of your wine, be sure to charge him for the priviledge.

3. When decanting red wines, be sure to tilt your paper cup and pour slowly so as not to "bruise" the fruit.

4. When drinking directly from the bottle, never cover the label with your fingers.

5. When drinking reds and whites on the same night, remember the saying: "[i]White before Red, you're better off dead. Red before White, is such a delight[/i]".

6. When first sampling wine, always swirl the wine in your cup with your finger, and then lick your finger. Whatever tastes diferent is the wine.

7. When swirling wine, if anything big sticks to the side of your cup, send it back. The filters in the bottom of the mashing tub were apparently ineffective that day.

I am sure the cultured folk of this thread can add others...

[janrj7]

Babylene, you will love the Fairmount! Very historic, lots of character, great location. Re: restaurants on the riverwalk, our favorites are Zuni Grill and Biga on the Banks, but as Dave and Elaine said, there are quite a few interesting restaurants. I would avoid Casa Rio, however.
Hi Dave and Elaine! Colin and I look forward to meeting y'all on the Sept. t/a. (We're just south of San Antonio.)