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Seabourn's "house wines"

glenr

By glenr,
in Seabourn Cruise Line

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sananda

sananda

Posted
Posted
Sananda, I find your candor a breath of fresh air on this board. Glad you are taking the time to comment.

 

Thank you for the kind words.

 

Wripro, although I agree that we have talked about wine ad nauseum, I still check this discussion because I am hoping to get either one of two things to happen.

 

1. Either someone from Seabourn notices this discussion and acts upon the dissatisfaction to improve the wine quality, or enough of you get motivated to complain directly to Seabourn forcing them to improve wine quality.

 

2. I would like independent confirmation that the wine quality has actually improved. I would love if people would write in listing specific wines served on their cruise, as many as they can remember and both good and bad. That way I can judge the selection for myself.

 

Just a final thought for now about the economics of the wine list. For a cruise line known for excellent food, and given the natural marriage between food and wine, why would Seabourn choose to pinch pennies with the wine? We also just went on vacation at Club Med with the kids. For less than what I paid just for myself on Seabourn, all 5 of us stayed at Club Med. Essentially everything is more luxurious on Seabourn compared with Club Med, yet the complimentary wines served by Club Med were astronomically superior to those served on Seabourn. I doubt the per person wine budget at Club Med was more than on Seabourn and considering the majority of people at Club Med were drinking to get smashed I believe the per capita consumption to be higher than Seabourn's as well. Yet somehow, they served drinkable wine. It seems to me that Seabourn isn't making any effort with the wine list.

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frantic36 Holiday Sharing Rare

frantic36

Posted
Posted

 

Just a final thought for now about the economics of the wine list. For a cruise line known for excellent food, and given the natural marriage between food and wine, why would Seabourn choose to pinch pennies with the wine? We also just went on vacation at Club Med with the kids. For less than what I paid just for myself on Seabourn, all 5 of us stayed at Club Med. Essentially everything is more luxurious on Seabourn compared with Club Med, yet the complimentary wines served by Club Med were astronomically superior to those served on Seabourn. I doubt the per person wine budget at Club Med was more than on Seabourn and considering the majority of people at Club Med were drinking to get smashed I believe the per capita consumption to be higher than Seabourn's as well. Yet somehow, they served drinkable wine. It seems to me that Seabourn isn't making any effort with the wine list.

 

For one thing Club Med doesn't have to pay for fuel and that is a horrendous cost. Having owned a boat I know that takes up a big part of the budget.

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rustymerle

rustymerle

Posted
Posted

Thanks Dan for the advice to stay away from this thread. I especially liked where the complainant said that he received " thousands of dollars" of credit off a future cruise because of his complaints of bad wine. I haven't even gone on my cruise yet, but that smells of a bad tour agent just wanting to get anything at any cost...

Wine is wine...if you don't like one bottle...just move on. There are many other cruise lines that he can take and complain about just to receive compensation...we have seen that so much in the past and I'm sure you have too Dan.

I just like to accent the positive,,,,,

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sananda

sananda

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Posted
Thanks Dan for the advice to stay away from this thread. I especially liked where the complainant said that he received " thousands of dollars" of credit off a future cruise because of his complaints of bad wine. I haven't even gone on my cruise yet, but that smells of a bad tour agent just wanting to get anything at any cost...

Wine is wine...if you don't like one bottle...just move on. There are many other cruise lines that he can take and complain about just to receive compensation...we have seen that so much in the past and I'm sure you have too Dan.

I just like to accent the positive,,,,,

 

First, neither my wife nor myself are travel agents, we are doctors. I would only complain if my experience differed greatly from my expectations. Maybe my expectations were too high for Seabourn, but part of that is due to the glowing reviews on this site. The problems we had on the Sojourn were numerous and unlike anything we'd experienced on other trips. We were compensated off our penthouse fare due to the severity of the other problems, not just because they serve poor quality wines and we were particularly vocal and/ or effective in our complaints. Several other couples we have kept in contact with were also compensated. If you wish to revisit Seabourn's numerous failings during our vacation, I have commented about them several months ago.

 

"Wine is wine.." Now I know why we disagree about the wine quality. This is the intellectual equivalent of "a house is a house." Excuse me if I voice an objection when Seabourn kept presenting me with skid row flop houses while all the while trying to maintain a charade that we were receiving a "luxury" experience.

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wripro

wripro

Posted
Posted

Sananda,

 

You misunderstood my comment. I meant that wine should be discussed as much as any of those other topics which solicit endless comments.

 

Personally, I have never failed to find at least one or two wines which are more than adequate. I don't just accept the daily pour. I ask what else is available and then make my choice.

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Mr Luxury

Mr Luxury

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Posted

 

Personally, I have never failed to find at least one or two wines which are more than adequate. I don't just accept the daily pour. I ask what else is available and then make my choice.

 

Those of us that are into wine in a big way are forced to order from the wine list which is fine by me or bring decent wines on board.

Seabourn are falling far short of their luxury standards in the wine dept.

As for knowledgable sommeliers,I won't even go there.

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laryrob

laryrob

Posted
Posted
Those of us that are into wine in a big way are forced to order from the wine list which is fine by me or bring decent wines on board.

Seabourn are falling far short of their luxury standards in the wine dept.

As for knowledgable sommeliers,I won't even go there.

 

i agree-until they up the quality I'll continue to bring my own-although it's harder when we dont meet the ship, or stop ina port in a "wine friendly" country i.e. Argentina,Chile,Italy France . The 70 lb per bag allowance helps when we bring it from home.

Also, to add insult, they charge a corkage fee if you bring it to the dinning room!

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sananda

sananda

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For one thing Club Med doesn't have to pay for fuel and that is a horrendous cost. Having owned a boat I know that takes up a big part of the budget.

 

I don't envy your fuel costs with the current price of oil. Without knowing the actual numbers, I believe the per person wine expenditures at Club Med have to be lower than Seabourn's, otherwise Club Med's guests would drink away all the profits. The point I was trying to make was that I believe Club Med's wine buyer made some effort to select cheap but tasty wine. I don't see that effort by Seabourn.

 

Wripro - it was our first Seabourn cruise, so I didn't really know how things worked. On the first night at dinner, no one brought the wines by to look at. We were just asked if we wanted red or white. I said red, left it all on the table, and drank water with dinner. The second and third night I asked what was available before making a selection and both were bad, water again. By the fourth night I was taking a taste of everything they would let me. Some of the free white wines were pretty good, but not a single red. The problem is that on most of the remaining nights, the wines that I found palatable did not pair well with what I wanted to eat.

 

Mr Luxury and Laryrob - I agree with your solution. There were some good wines available for purchase, but I had an intellectual hang up with this. I felt that I paid top dollar (maybe not as much as Silversea) for an all-inclusive vacation. I was damned if I was going to shell out more money just to be able to get drinkable wine. I won't be so stubborn next time. Maybe this is Seabourn's goal all along. Get us to buy their wine packages by offering cheap and poor quality house wines.

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Chairsin

Chairsin

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I agree that Seabourn's house wine selection( particularly red) has decreased in quality over the past few years(but please tell me the serving of Two Buck Chuck was a joke). We have compensated for this by chatting up (NICELY) the Bar Manager and/or sommelier early in the cruise to find out what is available on that particular cruise. We have also bought individual bottles of wine or packages from the for purchase list and we have brought bottles on board (usually purchased at a port of call --and BTW, never have we been charged a corkage fee). Yes, I do wish they would up their game here -- but please also keep in mind how much lower fares are than they were a few years ago.

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laryrob

laryrob

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When we were on the Spirit (two years ago) I saw no evidence of a corkage fee. Has this changed?

I was told there is an $11 corkage fee now. i had been told that last year too but they didnt charge me --I think it was because I always gave the somolier a glass and the wines we brought on were all rated 94+ by Parker. Will be harder this time as we leave from Athens and will have to bring the wines from our home rather than buy at embarkation port(last year it was Buenos Aires and we had fabulous Mendoza Malbecs and some Cabs from Chile we picked up in BA before we boarded. We won't do really high end as the travel doesn't help the wine but it will definitely be better than the 'included" ones on board.

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laryrob

laryrob

Posted
Posted
Laryrob,

As of this summer no corkage fee.

 

this is what they told my TA on Oct 22nd(last monday):

 

In response to your questions about how much wine you could bring on board the Odyssey, Seabourn said that you can bring as much wine as you would like, however they would like to know in advance how many bottles you will bring so they can advise the ship. There is a $11.00 corkage fee if you would like to consume the wine in the dining room. If you consume it in your stateroom, no fee applies.

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laryrob

laryrob

Posted
Posted
I do not know of anyone ever being charged corkage.

 

It saves Seabourn a few Dollars if you bring your own wine.

 

That way they can use the cheap stuff to clean the stainless steel sinks.:)

 

I'll let you know after the 1st night on Nov 10 th. as of now, they are saying an $11 corkage in the dinning room,which will not set well with me

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FKGirl

FKGirl

Posted
Posted
I'll let you know after the 1st night on Nov 10 th. as of now, they are saying an $11 corkage in the dinning room,which will not set well with me

 

Looking forward to hearing about this... we are on the Quest in Dec. and with no flying to the port I am planning on bringing a bunch of wines...

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sananda

sananda

Posted
Posted
I agree that Seabourn's house wine selection( particularly red) has decreased in quality over the past few years(but please tell me the serving of Two Buck Chuck was a joke). We have compensated for this by chatting up (NICELY) the Bar Manager and/or sommelier early in the cruise to find out what is available on that particular cruise. We have also bought individual bottles of wine or packages from the for purchase list and we have brought bottles on board (usually purchased at a port of call --and BTW, never have we been charged a corkage fee). Yes, I do wish they would up their game here -- but please also keep in mind how much lower fares are than they were a few years ago.

 

I had to look up what Two Buck Chuck was because, sadly, there are no Trader Joes anywhere near our house. Although not exclusive to Trader Joes anymore, it is not sold in the wine stores by our house. Seabourn served Charles Shaw wines on the second night in the MDR and this is no joking matter. As far as your comment that fares are much lower now, this explains why the average cost per bottle is so low, probably lower than in the past. But it doesn't excuse Seabourn from serving poor quality wines. They need to make the effort and better select the house wines. It can be done.

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