2914 - Implementation of the New Wine Policy

[Thebes]

Great attitude !! :cool: :)

 

 

 

Ditto.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[S1drfl]

Just boarded the Oosterdam at noon on 2/2/14 in Sydney, Australia, and was greeted with the following signage:

 

 

Alcoholic Beverages

 

 

Guests may not bring beer, boxed wine, other liquors or spirits on board. Any such beverages found in luggage will be removed and returned at the end of the voyage.

 

 

Each guest 21 years and older may bring one bottle of wine or champagne on board in their carry on luggage at the start of the cruise. Each additional bottle is subject to an $18 corkage fee.

 

 

Yahoo! Calmer heads have prevailed, at least for now. Each bottle in the subsequent case was recorded as to vintner, type, and year. A sticker was then applied to the bottle to indicate that corkage had been paid. Same process was applied to the original freebie, just a different color sticker.

 

 

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

[erewhon]

Just boarded the Oosterdam at noon on 2/2/14 in Sydney, Australia, and was greeted with the following signage:

 

 

Alcoholic Beverages

 

 

Guests may not bring beer, boxed wine, other liquors or spirits on board. Any such beverages found in luggage will be removed and returned at the end of the voyage.

 

 

Each guest 21 years and older may bring one bottle of wine or champagne on board in their carry on luggage at the start of the cruise. Each additional bottle is subject to an $18 corkage fee.

 

 

Did you board at White Bay or the Overseas passenger Terminal?

Yahoo! Calmer heads have prevailed, at least for now. Each bottle in the subsequent case was recorded as to vintner, type, and year. A sticker was then applied to the bottle to indicate that corkage had been paid. Same process was applied to the original freebie, just a different color sticker.

 

 

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

 

Interesting.

Thank you for this information.

Edited February 2, 2014 by erewhon

[Kona921]

Yippie! Thank you for the good news!

 

 

3 Star Mariner on HAL

[startwin]

And that is exactly what we have been lobbying for. They even reduced the corkage fee.

[Linda&Vern]

Found this posted on FB approx. 6:00pm Saturday night - can't believe I'm the first to find it. It does confirm what was just reported on CC:

 

Holland America Line -- Hello fans thanks for reaching out to us on Facebook. On 1/31/14, we updated our policy for guests bringing alcoholic beverages onboard. For additional information regarding the new policy please visit the following link: http://www.hollandamerica.com/.../PlanningAndAdvice.... We now will allow guests wishing to bring more than one bottle of wine or champagne (no larger than 750ml) in their carry-on luggage to incur a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee for each additional bottle brought onboard, irrespective of where the bottle is intended to be consumed. We appreciate all of your time to comment and we value all of your suggestions. If you need further assistance, you may contact our Reservations Department at 800-426-0327. We hope this helps!

 

From HAL Website: Revised Policy effective 1/31/14

 

Each guest 21 years and older may bring one bottle of wine or champagne (no larger than 750ml) onboard in carry-on luggage at the beginning of the voyage. This bottle will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles (no larger than 750ml) in carry-on luggage are welcome, but will incur a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Guests are not allowed to bring beer, boxed wine, or other liquors and spirits onboard. Holland America Line reserves the right to remove all alcoholic beverages from any guest luggage that violates this policy. Any alcoholic beverage found will be removed and returned on the last evening of the voyage. Guests will not receive any monetary compensation for alcoholic beverages that were removed from luggage.

 

Wine and champagne bottles (no larger than 750ml) purchased in ports of call are welcome to be brought onboard subject to a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Alternatively guests can choose to have these bottles stored and returned on the last evening of the voyage at no charge.

 

All other alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports of calls as well as all alcoholic beverages purchased from onboard shops will be stored and returned on the last evening of the voyage at no charge.

 

In-Room Dining offers reduced-price stateroom beverage packages for in-stateroom consumption of alcoholic beverages (a 15% Service Charge on all beverage items and packages with beverages will be added).

 

Updated: 01/30/2014

Edited February 2, 2014 by Linda&Vern

[erewhon]

Thanks for posting the revised wine policy from the HAL website.

[PunkiC]

I don't see any reason for them to change their wine policy based on the number times you have been on Hal prior the new policy. Apparently the old policy didn't encourage you very much.

 

We only retired last July and one of the first things we did thereafter was book a HAL crossing for October and a Panama Canal cruise for April. Within days after we booked, they did the first implementation of their new policy. When we called to cancel, they told us the policy would not apply in October so we kept that cruise, but switched our Panama Canal cruise to Princess at much better price.

 

Since then, we. Have just tossed the HAL brochures without really looking at them and just booked Princess.

 

We will stay home most of the summer because Seattle is the best place in the world in the summer, but will now put HAL back on our list of possible lines when we start booking our fall cruises.

[kazu]

We only retired last July and one of the first things we did thereafter was book a HAL crossing for October and a Panama Canal cruise for April. Within days after we booked, they did the first implementation of their new policy. When we called to cancel, they told us the policy would not apply in October so we kept that cruise, but switched our Panama Canal cruise to Princess at much better price.

 

Since then, we. Have just tossed the HAL brochures without really looking at them and just booked Princess.

 

We will stay home most of the summer because Seattle is the best place in the world in the summer, but will now put HAL back on our list of possible lines when we start booking our fall cruises.

 

Holland America has amended the wine policy :D as Linda & Vern posted above

 

from the HAL website :

 

Each guest 21 years and older may bring one bottle of wine or champagne (no larger than 750ml) onboard in carry-on luggage at the beginning of the voyage. This bottle will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles (no larger than 750ml) in carry-on luggage are welcome, but will incur a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Guests are not allowed to bring beer, boxed wine, or other liquors and spirits onboard. Holland America Line reserves the right to remove all alcoholic beverages from any guest luggage that violates this policy. Any alcoholic beverage found will be removed and returned on the last evening of the voyage. Guests will not receive any monetary compensation for alcoholic beverages that were removed from luggage.

 

Wine and champagne bottles (no larger than 750ml) purchased in ports of call are welcome to be brought onboard subject to a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Alternatively guests can choose to have these bottles stored and returned on the last evening of the voyage at no charge.

 

All other alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports of calls as well as all alcoholic beverages purchased from onboard shops will be stored and returned on the last evening of the voyage at no charge.

 

In-Room Dining offers reduced-price stateroom beverage packages for in-stateroom consumption of alcoholic beverages (a 15% Service Charge on all beverage items and packages with beverages will be added).

 

Updated: 01/30/2014

Edited February 2, 2014 by kazu

[boards]

We will stay home most of the summer because Seattle is the best place in the world in the summer, but will now put HAL back on our list of possible lines when we start booking our fall cruises.

Welcome back PunkiC. I am sure you will enjoy HAL.

[niceguyneastbay]

Will anyone start traveling on NCL. I have heard its unlimited. Just have to pay a corkage fee which is CHEAPER.

 

Wine & Champagne Policy

Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below.

750 ml Bottle: $15.00

[PunkiC]

Will anyone start traveling on NCL. I have heard its unlimited. Just have to pay a corkage fee which is CHEAPER.

 

Wine & Champagne Policy

Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below.

750 ml Bottle: $15.00

 

I don't think so. We took only one NCL cruise and it really wasn't our cup of tea--there was no ballroom dancing and dancing is one of our favorite cruise ship activities. Moreover, the buffet was pretty awful and felt more like a high school cafeteria.

 

We will stick pretty much with Princess, HAL, and Cunard, although we might try Costa and P&O depending on the perks. The perks we get from Princess and Cunard are pretty amazing and hard to pass up.

[zelker]

Thanks for posting the revised policy - a nice surprise to find this morning. Seems like a good compromise for both sides. We sail on Valentine's Day and I just posted it on our Roll Call. :D

[Cruising-along]

This is wonderful news. I'm very happy with this! :):)

[startwin]

Found this posted on FB approx. 6:00pm Saturday night - can't believe I'm the first to find it. It does confirm what was just reported on CC:

 

Holland America Line -- Hello fans thanks for reaching out to us on Facebook. On 1/31/14, we updated our policy for guests bringing alcoholic beverages onboard. For additional information regarding the new policy please visit the following link: http://www.hollandamerica.com/.../PlanningAndAdvice.... We now will allow guests wishing to bring more than one bottle of wine or champagne (no larger than 750ml) in their carry-on luggage to incur a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee for each additional bottle brought onboard, irrespective of where the bottle is intended to be consumed. We appreciate all of your time to comment and we value all of your suggestions. If you need further assistance, you may contact our Reservations Department at 800-426-0327. We hope this helps!

 

From HAL Website: Revised Policy effective 1/31/14

 

Each guest 21 years and older may bring one bottle of wine or champagne (no larger than 750ml) onboard in carry-on luggage at the beginning of the voyage. This bottle will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles (no larger than 750ml) in carry-on luggage are welcome, but will incur a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Guests are not allowed to bring beer, boxed wine, or other liquors and spirits onboard. Holland America Line reserves the right to remove all alcoholic beverages from any guest luggage that violates this policy. Any alcoholic beverage found will be removed and returned on the last evening of the voyage. Guests will not receive any monetary compensation for alcoholic beverages that were removed from luggage.

 

Wine and champagne bottles (no larger than 750ml) purchased in ports of call are welcome to be brought onboard subject to a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Alternatively guests can choose to have these bottles stored and returned on the last evening of the voyage at no charge.

 

All other alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports of calls as well as all alcoholic beverages purchased from onboard shops will be stored and returned on the last evening of the voyage at no charge.

 

In-Room Dining offers reduced-price stateroom beverage packages for in-stateroom consumption of alcoholic beverages (a 15% Service Charge on all beverage items and packages with beverages will be added).

 

Updated: 01/30/2014

 

Yes indeed you were the first one to find it and post it.:D Many of us read the post last night about the change but I never checked HAL's fb page or the "Know before you go..."

[sail7seas]

Will anyone start traveling on NCL. I have heard its unlimited. Just have to pay a corkage fee which is CHEAPER.

 

Wine & Champagne Policy

Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below.

750 ml Bottle: $15.00

 

 

I wonder if there are many people who would switch cruise line JUST because of a $3 difference in corkage fee? :confused: Really?

 

Edited February 2, 2014 by sail7seas

[kazu]

I wonder if there are many people who would switch cruise line JUST because of a $3 difference in corkage fee? :confused: Really?

 

 

we wouldn't - we just wanted a fair wine policy - we are happy campers :D

[Wakepatrol]

I wonder if there are many people who would switch cruise line JUST because of a $3 difference in corkage fee? :confused: Really?

 

 

I know Mr. And Mrs. Lush

are switching.

[dr.dawg]

HAL wins again. they got what they wanted in the first place.

[sapper1]

HAL wins again. they got what they wanted in the first place.

 

I tend to agree with you.

[startwin]

HAL wins again. they got what they wanted in the first place.

Bingo!

[RuthC]

You may very well be right, but was the PR debacle worth it?

 

They could have implemented this, even let the passengers see it as a "win" due to their protests, but not caused as much hard feelings in the process.

[CowPrincess]

HAL wins again. they got what they wanted in the first place.

 

I agree. But at least we can (still) take wine onboard to enjoy. So it is pretty much a win for me.

[LindaM]

I tend to agree with you.

 

I am not sure. I thought this was how it was going to pan out, but why would they put themselves through all the controversy? Christine Ferris had to write a LOT of letters. Also, they had the Facebook issue.

 

My opinion (for what it's worth) is that they wanted to NOT deal with people bringing wine onboard and having to hold up the line, while charging people's onboard accounts. I believe some bigshot thought he could just bully us. This was never going to end pretty, for HAL.

[Watson's aunt]

I knew this would change as soon as Wc started thier cruise.

 

 

mary