Wine Tasting demos on Regal?

[michelle028]

Quick q - do they have wine tasting demos with or without a fee (besides the winemakers dinner) on sea days?

 

What I'm asking is similar to what they have on Carnival ships - pay $15 and try 5 different wines. It happened once on a sea day on our last Carnival cruise.

 

Thanks for your reply!

[paul929207]

Princess usually has two wine tasting on each cruise.

 

The first is the Princess Grapevine. It is about $9.50. You get two white, two red and a dessert wine to taste. It is held mid afternoon on a sea day.

 

Second is the Maitre 'd Wine tasting. It is about $25. We haven't done it, so can't tell you more.

[IECalCruiser]

Princess usually has two wine tasting on each cruise.

 

The first is the Princess Grapevine. It is about $9.50. You get two white, two red and a dessert wine to taste. It is held mid afternoon on a sea day.

 

Second is the Maitre 'd Wine tasting. It is about $25. We haven't done it, so can't tell you more.

There are also wine tastings at Vines. We did a tasting of new world reds on the Regal. Tasted three wines and had a plate of very good small bites for $15. It was a table for 10 and after the one ounce tasting pours we were able to finish the bottles. Food was better than the Maitre 'd wine tasting and a better value. Think we will stick with tastings at Vines in the future.

 

 

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[Astro Flyer]

On the Royal they offered a Super Tuscan wine tasting for $40 with better snacks including some hot items. With 3 of the 5 wines in the $30 range to us it was overpriced particularly since we can go to the Winemakers Dinner for the same price.

[caribill]

 

The first is the Princess Grapevine. It is about $9.50. You get two white, two red and a dessert wine to taste. It is held mid afternoon on a sea day.

 

 

Ours was held in the morning. We were told that this was done so our taste buds would not have been affected by lunch.

[Happy2Crews]

Have attended three different wine tasting events on two Princess cruises. Wonderful experience for the opportunity to try something different with six various types of wines and various hors d'oeuvres .....plus you get the back stories of some wines and a few wine education tips that starts to put you in that wine tasting snobbery class. LOL....:D You should try it.....at least once.

[michelle028]

Great tips everyone! will definitely have to check it out :)

[michelle028]

I was just skimming the recent Patters from Regal and I noticed there are 3 different wine tastings during the week- in your opinion which one was the best and why?

[Astro Flyer]

I was just skimming the recent Patters from Regal and I noticed there are 3 different wine tastings during the week- in your opinion which one was the best and why?

 

Which is "best" depends upon what you expect from a wine tasting. The Princess Grapevine ($9.50) has less expensive wines with cheese, grapes & crackers and a logo shot glass. It's one of the free elite perks & fun to do a couple of times but the wines served rarely vary & to us there's too much narration for such small pours so we haven't attended recently. The Maître d' Wine Club ($25) tasting had more expensive wines (one sampling was about a $150 bottle) with some good hors d'oeuvres and had fewer passengers in attendance. The Super Tuscan ($40) tasting had similarly priced wines however most of the bottles were in the $30 range. It did have the best food including some hot items prepared in Sabatini's where the tasting is held.

 

In the future instead of these wine tastings we would probably have flights of wine at Vines (if I recall correctly about $15 for three larger pours) or the Stammtisch events...neither of which we've tried. Another option would be as someone suggested to pay the same amount for a bottle of wine at dinner.

 

My "wine tasting" now is enjoying a discounted bottle of wine at dinner using the wine package usually available on 10+ day cruises. The Silver package has wine valued up to $29 for $20 to $23 and the Gold package has wine valued up to $45 for $28 to $31. The different per bottle price depends on how many bottles purchased (7, 10 or 12) and like any drink purchase a 15% tip is added.

 

It's great to have options however what is "best" for anyone is subjective & will vary. :)

Edited January 21, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[IECalCruiser]

Which is "best" depends upon what you expect from a wine tasting. The Princess Grapevine ($9.50) has less expensive wines with cheese, grapes & crackers and a logo shot glass. It's one of the free elite perks & fun to do a couple of times but the wines served rarely vary & to us there's too much narration for such small pours so we haven't attended recently. The Maître d' Wine Club ($25) tasting had more expensive wines (one sampling was about a $150 bottle) with some good hors d'oeuvres and had fewer passengers in attendance. The Super Tuscan ($40) tasting had similarly priced wines however most of the bottles were in the $30 range. It did have the best food including some hot items prepared in Sabatini's where the tasting is held.

 

In the future instead of these wine tastings we would probably have flights of wine at Vines (if I recall correctly about $15 for three larger pours) or the Stammtisch events...neither of which we've tried. Another option would be as someone suggested to pay the same amount for a bottle of wine at dinner.

As Frank has stated, each wine tasting is different and I don't believe there is any "best" wine tasting.

 

We often used to go to the Grapevine wine tasting but on the six cruises it has been complementary since we became Elite we only went once and that was because friends wanted to go.

 

The Maître d' wine tasting has better wines and snacks but, as with the Grapevine tasting, the pours are an once at best and the tasting has been long and drawn out as the waiters had to go to several tables to pour the wines each time.

 

We didn't try the Super Tuscan tasting on the Regal but if I am on the Royal or Regal again I would try to sign-up for the Winemaker's Dinner before spending the same $40 on the Super Tuscan tasting. Only two wines but you get a generous amount and you get a four course meal rather than a few snacks.

 

It won't be offered on your seven day cruise but on one longer cruise we were also offered a sparkling wine tasting for $25. It was a nice change of pace.

 

If you haven't done the Princess wine tastings before, you might give one a try, especially if you go with friends. However, as I said in a previous post, I would also suggest wine flights or the Stammtisch events at Vines. I believe a sample of three wines with tapas or sushi at Vines is around $10. Our Stammtisch event on the Regal with generous pours of three wines was only $15 and the snacks were much better than at the Maître d' wine tasting.

 

 

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[kona15]

Does anyone know what the AAA wine tasting is?