A case of wine

[cruise 429]

When bringing a case or two of wine (including port) on board, do you give it to the sommelier the day of embarkation who will store it for you and at dinner ask him for a specific one, or do you keep it in your cabin and each night only bring the bottle down to dinner that you want to drink.

[Underwatr]

I bring each bottle down at dinnertime. It helps that I drink red wine which doesn't need to be chilled.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Underwatr

[cruise 429]

Thank you underwatr for your reply, it is much appreciated.

[BillieB]

Underwater can you tell me, do you take more than one bottle each on board, as the information given is one bottle of wine per person (over 21)

[newjoisey]

of course:rolleyes:

[Underwatr]

Last trip I took six bottles of wine plus 2 of champagne.

 

In practice Cunard does not interfere with carrying on a reasonable quantity of wine.

[BlueRiband]

If taken to the restaurant there will be a corkage charge of $20 per bottle. (At least that's what it was last July.)

[BillieB]

Thank you.

[newjoisey]

:rolleyes:sssssssooooo if ya uncork it in yer room and put the bottle in a brown paper bag do ya avoid the corkage fees ? :rolleyes:i will wag someone knows:cool:

[cruise 429]

Cunard is pretty relaxed about bringing wine onboard. The $23 charge for corkage and service fee is no big deal depending on the particular wine being drunk. Cunard understandably has a huge mark-up so if you are planning on drinking reasonably expensive wines, it may pay to bring them with you and happily pay the fees. More importantly, you drink those wines you enjoy as opposed to what is available at any given time.

[Underwatr]

$23? The 15% service charge isn't added to corkage.

[DDBINK1]

On multiple trips I have brought a couple of bottles of Dom on board. Brought it to both the QG on QV and Todd English on QM2 and never got charged a corkage fee. It may be an oversight ??

Of course I tip very well and it was Dom of course??

[cruise 429]

No added service charge is even better, thanks.

[Underwatr]

IME you're warned about corkage before the bottle is opened. Some people here claim never to have been charged, but my wine waiters have never failed to assess the fee.

[SeaCBear]

Can you bring on board a brittle of wine or two in every port, or only at embarkation? Thanks.

[jimmybean]

I remember two separate couples, on two separate "long" voyages on two different Cunard ships, who renewed their gin supply regularly at various ports along the way.

 

Some people like a quiet drink in their staterooms before dinner every night. Difficult to bring "enough" for long voyages (a month and over) when you first come aboard.

 

Everyone puts belongings through the scanner when re-boarding a ship, but there never seemed to be any objection if "belongings" included a new bottle…

 

Happy sailing!

[turquoise 6]

Last trip I took six bottles of wine plus 2 of champagne.

 

In practice Cunard does not interfere with carrying on a reasonable quantity of wine.

Hi what is a reasonable amount ? I need to know

As I know a discount wine warehouse in Hoboken NJ

Real discount .

They offer to deliver the cases to the pier

On sailing day.

I would love 2 cases for a crossing

That could work?:)

[cjyoung]

What's the preferred way of bringing wine on board? Do you buy a case and leave it in the box and attach a luggage tag, do you put them in a special carrier and tote them by hand, or do you just wrap them carefully in your luggage? Going on my first cruise / first TA, and was thinking about picking up some wine in NYC. Thanks!

[Underwatr]

Carry it. I have a wheeled canvas cooler (about the same dimensions as a wine case) sort of like this:

 

 

but you could also consider a collapsable wheeled tote of about the same dimensions sort of like this:

 

 

A couple of notes:

 

of course anything you carry on must fit through the X-ray scanner; in Brooklyn there's one scanner with an opening large enough for my canvas cooler.

 

and also, glass bottles may of course break no matter who handles them; one of my wine bottles broke inside the cooler en route to the hotel the weekend before the cruise - good thing the cooler has a leakproof liner but it was still a bit of a mess.

 

EDIT: For a TA you probably will want less than a case. I bought a 6-bottle wine carrier on Amazon:

 

Edited May 13, 2014 by Underwatr

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for all this information, I assumed you could only take one bottle per person on embarkation. I need to do some more planning.:D

[Olliesmum]

We are taking 24 bottles of Old Speckled Hen onto the Queen Victoria next week. Six bottle each.

[capnpugwash]

We are taking 24 bottles of Old Speckled Hen onto the Queen Victoria next week. Six bottle each.

 

They sell the draught on board

[MicCanberra]

So just looked up the policy for bringing on alcohol and it seems that either the website is wrong or they do not enforce the policy. Now, I am wondering if it is worth the risk bringing on more than one bottle of wine each.:confused:

[Underwatr]

They don't enforce the policy, and they say so in the FAQ.

Passengers are permitted to bring one bottle of wine OR champagne per person (over the age of 21) onboard, however all passengers should be aware of the below policies -

We reserve the right to remove alcohol at the gangway should the need arise. It is not our intention to invoke this policy as a matter of course and we will only implement on occasions where we consider it likely that the health, comfort, safety and enjoyment of passengers may otherwise be compromised.

[MicCanberra]

They don't enforce the policy, and they say so in the FAQ.

Thanks, that changes the equation somewhat, still wouldn't bring on a case of wine though.:D