Wine Delivered to Your Stateroom

[Yo Adrienne]

Has anyone ever gotten onboard, then placed an order through room service to have a case of wine delivered to your room that same day...? Any reason we couldn't do this...? We know we'd be limited by whatever they stock onboard, but that's okay.

 

Because we are flying in, we don't want to have to transport the wine with us. Also, we know we would pay a corkage fee per bottle we bring onboard, so we're trying to weigh the convenience vs. the price.

 

We know that a UBP would NOT work for us, since we do enjoy a glass (or two) of wine in the room, and that's not included.

 

Any and all thoughts about this are greatly appreciated...

[mpk218]

Sure , but why wait ;)

 

http://www.ncl.com/csimages/907/558/NCLWinelist09.pdf

[rjm11]

The last couple cruises we were on offered a "wine package" right when you board- order 6 or 8 bottles (or more) and get 20% off... it was a select list, and NOT the cheapest ones on there. But I ordered 7 I think, and asked that they be delivered to our room, and they were there before the muster drill was over. Through this same package they will also give you slips of paper to have the bottle brought out at the dining room or one of the restaurants if you don't want to have it delivered to your room. Of course once it's in your room you are welcome to carry it to the restaurant yourself (no corkage fee of course since you bought it onboard).

 

I will caution though, that with the 20% off, some of the bottles were still more expensive than the entry level price of the regular list- so it's only worth it if you want to drink stuff that's priced a bit higher. Otherwise order off the regular list.

[garycarla]

Has anyone ever gotten onboard, then placed an order through room service to have a case of wine delivered to your room that same day...? Any reason we couldn't do this...? We know we'd be limited by whatever they stock onboard, but that's okay.

 

Because we are flying in, we don't want to have to transport the wine with us. Also, we know we would pay a corkage fee per bottle we bring onboard, so we're trying to weigh the convenience vs. the price.

 

We know that a UBP would NOT work for us, since we do enjoy a glass (or two) of wine in the room, and that's not included.

 

Any and all thoughts about this are greatly appreciated...

 

We easily consume a case on each cruise, but never thought about ordering it all on day one. I see more reasons NOT to do this though.

 

What if you tastes changes on day two?

What if you start feeling bad and are not drinking?

What if you decided to spend extra time in casino and they buy you drinks or send you bottles.

 

What if.....

 

You can buy all the bottles you want, anytime you want. Room service. At the bar. At the diner table. Whatever works for you.

[LadyStone50]

We have been doing a lot of research on this very thing.

 

What my husband and I have determined is that it is less expensive (and you will probably be happier) bringing bottles of wines you love on board and paying the corkage fees upon embarkation. Wine on the ship is highly marked up and they rarely have the labels we enjoy. We will be coming in via plane and plan to check out the duty free shop in the airport before heading to the port - grab what we know we will like and bring it on board.

[Yo Adrienne]

 

What my husband and I have determined is that it is less expensive (and you will probably be happier) bringing bottles of wines you love on board and paying the corkage fees upon embarkation. Wine on the ship is highly marked up and they rarely have the labels we enjoy. We will be coming in via plane and plan to check out the duty free shop in the airport before heading to the port - grab what we know we will like and bring it on board.

 

No doubt about it...the prices on the ship are heavily marked up. But with the corkage fee, even a lower priced bottle of wine that we'd bring with us ($10-15) would be $25-30...? That seems to put us closer to the NCL range.

 

Have you ever brought wine with you before...? We've never done so, so have wondered about doing this...but since we're flying into the port, we're just not sure we want to lug a case with us.

 

Good idea about checking out the duty-free shop...do they have a good selection...? We'd still have to get it to our hotel, though, and then to the port and onboard the next day...

 

Guess we're just trying to weigh the benefit of the convenience of getting it onboard vs. the lower price--plus corkage (but greater hassle) of bringing it with us...

 

:):):)

[Yo Adrienne]

We easily consume a case on each cruise, but never thought about ordering it all on day one. I see more reasons NOT to do this though.

 

What if you tastes changes on day two?

What if you start feeling bad and are not drinking?

What if you decided to spend extra time in casino and they buy you drinks or send you bottles.

 

What if.....

 

You can buy all the bottles you want, anytime you want. Room service. At the bar. At the diner table. Whatever works for you.

 

VERY interesting points...thank you...! :)

[LadyStone50]

On our last cruise, we brought 8 bottles on board with us (there were 6 adults in our party). We were sailing out of Seattle and there were some pretty good Washington wines in the duty free shop at the airport, in addition to a couple bottles we bought at a winery there (DeLille Cellars - nice reds!).

 

When we went through the embarkation process, I went over to the table there to pay corkage fees, and the gentleman at the table just waved us through. We only had to pay corkage fees on bottles we took to dinner. This is not always the case, but I have read in different threads that this happens quite often.

 

From what I have seen, even with the corkage fees attached, you pay less than you would for the wine on the ship every time. To give you an idea, a Robert Mondavi Cab (not a great bottle of wine) on the ship is $44 (according to a 2011 wine menu I found online from Carnival Cruises). I can get it at home for around $17.

Edited January 10, 2014 by LadyStone50

[drafterdw]

No doubt about it...the prices on the ship are heavily marked up. But with the corkage fee, even a lower priced bottle of wine that we'd bring with us ($10-15) would be $25-30...? That seems to put us closer to the NCL range.

 

Have you ever brought wine with you before...? We've never done so, so have wondered about doing this...but since we're flying into the port, we're just not sure we want to lug a case with us.

 

Good idea about checking out the duty-free shop...do they have a good selection...? We'd still have to get it to our hotel, though, and then to the port and onboard the next day...

 

Guess we're just trying to weigh the benefit of the convenience of getting it onboard vs. the lower price--plus corkage (but greater hassle) of bringing it with us...

 

:):):)

A bottle of wine that I drink on a regular basis at home will cost me $20 more on the ship - that is adding in my cost at home to the corkage fee. I got the price from a recent post of current prices. I am planning on taking 5 - 6 bottles but we are driving.

[Yo Adrienne]

On our last cruise, we brought 8 bottles on board with us (there were 6 adults in our party). We were sailing out of Seattle and there were some pretty good Washington wines in the duty free shop at the airport, in addition to a couple bottles we bought at a winery there (DeLille Cellars - nice reds!).

 

This might sound like a really silly question...but how did you carry the bottles on with you...? Did you have them in a box? Did you have them in your carry-ons? It's just two of us sailing (but it's a 10-night cruise), so we're already gonna be loaded down with luggage. It's not that we mind paying the corkage fee (okay, maybe we mind a little :D)...but it's more just the logistics of getting the wine onboard, unbroken...?

 

Thanks so much for your thoughts...! :)

[LadyStone50]

We bought a really cheap collapsible luggage carrier at Walmart (I think it cost $5) and put the case of wine on the carrier and a couple carry on bags on top of it. One of the best purchases we made - we used that cheap carrier to tote baggage all through Italy and England on our last trip - It lasted the entire trip, and we abused it mightily (tromping to and from B&B's on cobblestone roads just about everywhere)

[DrNora]

No doubt about it...the prices on the ship are heavily marked up. But with the corkage fee, even a lower priced bottle of wine that we'd bring with us ($10-15) would be $25-30...? That seems to put us closer to the NCL range.

 

Have you ever brought wine with you before...? We've never done so, so have wondered about doing this...but since we're flying into the port, we're just not sure we want to lug a case with us.

 

Good idea about checking out the duty-free shop...do they have a good selection...? We'd still have to get it to our hotel, though, and then to the port and onboard the next day...

 

Guess we're just trying to weigh the benefit of the convenience of getting it onboard vs. the lower price--plus corkage (but greater hassle) of bringing it with us...

 

:):):)

 

For our last 2 cruises we flew in the night before. Used one of the online sites and had our Cliquot and favorite wine shipped to our hotel. It was waiting for us when we arrived, took it to the ship, paid the corkage fee. Even with the added 15 dollars we saved 40 dollars per bottle of champagne ( it is 100 plus gratuity on board- in this case the gratuity is the same as the corkage fee!)

 

It was no hassle at all.

 

when the kids were little we did the same thing with pampers and wipes.

Nora

[garycarla]

This might sound like a really silly question...but how did you carry the bottles on with you...? Did you have them in a box? Did you have them in your carry-ons? It's just two of us sailing (but it's a 10-night cruise), so we're already gonna be loaded down with luggage. It's not that we mind paying the corkage fee (okay, maybe we mind a little :D)...but it's more just the logistics of getting the wine onboard, unbroken...?

 

Thanks so much for your thoughts...! :)

 

We always put it in our rollaboard/carry on. Wrap a t-shirt or socks around them, but since WE always have the bag, we know it does not get tossed around. We wheel it to lunch in the MDR, and then to our room.

[LadyStone50]

Here is the current fleet wide wine list as posted on their site:

 

http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/WineList_Fleetwide_071513.pdf

 

We always put it in our rollaboard/carry on. Wrap a t-shirt or socks around them, but since WE always have the bag, we know it does not get tossed around. We wheel it to lunch in the MDR, and then to our room.

 

The socks are a brilliant idea!

Edited January 11, 2014 by LadyStone50

[Barbique00]

Has anyone ever gotten onboard, then placed an order through room service to have a case of wine delivered to your room that same day...? Any reason we couldn't do this...? We know we'd be limited by whatever they stock onboard, but that's okay.

 

Because we are flying in, we don't want to have to transport the wine with us. Also, we know we would pay a corkage fee per bottle we bring onboard, so we're trying to weigh the convenience vs. the price.

 

We know that a UBP would NOT work for us, since we do enjoy a glass (or two) of wine in the room, and that's not included.

 

Any and all thoughts about this are greatly appreciated...

 

What port are you leaving out of? If you are staying one night before, you can always buy from the local wine shop and take with you to the port? We are leaving out of NY next month and I found a place that offers free delivery to the hotel. I still get a reasonable price and I don't have to worry about airplane travel. It will be a considerable savings for us! Have fun :)

Barb

[Barbique00]

For our last 2 cruises we flew in the night before. Used one of the online sites and had our Cliquot and favorite wine shipped to our hotel. It was waiting for us when we arrived, took it to the ship, paid the corkage fee. Even with the added 15 dollars we saved 40 dollars per bottle of champagne ( it is 100 plus gratuity on board- in this case the gratuity is the same as the corkage fee!)

 

It was no hassle at all.

 

when the kids were little we did the same thing with pampers and wipes.

Nora

 

Sorry Nora...I missed your post earlier and we offered the same advice. One time I actually wrapped the bottles in diapers for air travel (yes...I know...mom of the year). None of them broke (and if they had, my pampers would have absorbed it). Glad to be done with the diaper days!

[Yo Adrienne]

We leave from Vancouver, but we're flying in the day before, so we could shop for some wine there before heading to the port the next day (don't know yet whether we leave from Canada Place or Ballantyne)...but would still have to get the wine back to our hotel, then over to the ship the next day. Hubby is just concerned about the hassle of it all...

 

Very helpful thoughts and suggestions...! :)

[Jldevlin]

We leave from Vancouver, but we're flying in the day before, so we could shop for some wine there before heading to the port the next day (don't know yet whether we leave from Canada Place or Ballantyne)...but would still have to get the wine back to our hotel, then over to the ship the next day. Hubby is just concerned about the hassle of it all...

 

Very helpful thoughts and suggestions...! :)

 

And just so you know ... the cheapest wine in Vancouver will set you back a lot more than you are used to ..... a bottle of naked grape will cost you $ 8 ... it really hurts.

We have some great vineyards here but our prices will leave you with a bit of sticker shock lol ....

[Yo Adrienne]

And just so you know ... the cheapest wine in Vancouver will set you back a lot more than you are used to ..... a bottle of naked grape will cost you $ 8 ... it really hurts.

We have some great vineyards here but our prices will leave you with a bit of sticker shock lol ....

 

Do you live in Vancouver...? We'll be staying not too far from Canada Place...are there any liquor stores relatively nearby...?