Bringing wine onboard, cooling white wines & champagne

[Ken_W]

I believe I understand how corkage fees (and stickers!) work when bringing wine on board for consumption in the MDR or specialty restaurants, but I haven't seen specifically what to do with white and sparkling wines that should be chilled before opening.

 

Are wines that are destined to be consumed left in your possession (with appropriate sticker on) or are they taking, more or less, "into care" for the duration until they're wanted?

 

If I keep possession of the bottles and wish to consume one in, say, the Pinnacle Grill, can I take it to the PG and give it to the maî·tre d' prior to dinner so that it can be chilled before serving?

 

And when it comes to serving, does HAL usually provide top hats, the stand alone wine cooler, or wine buckets filled with ice? I'll be on the Prinsendam, if that makes a difference. Thanks!

[POA1]

You can give your wine to your wine steward in advance for storage and chilling or you can drop it off at the specialty restaurant prior to dining. They'll tag it and keep it for you. We're sticklers for proper temperature, so I keep our wine in our stateroom and chill it myself. We then take our bottles to dinner with us. We carry a couple of Ice Bags with us and have our room steward bring us a wine bucket with ice each afternoon. Since we like our reds at proper temperature of 60 - 65 degrees Fahrenheit, they get chilled as well. We just pull them from the ice an hour or so before dinner so that they warm up to 60-65 by the time we're ready to drink. Whites and Champagnes stay on the ice until we leave for pre-dinner cocktails. We usually have our bar server put our white & sparkling wine in the cooler if our pre-game warm up is going to be more than one round.

 

Here's what we use for in-room chilling. Highly recommended:

 

 

We have a clear one an a blue one. I linked to the purple one because they're functionally identical and the purple one is a few dollars less. If you buy one, make sure it's the Ice Bag brand. There are cheaper ones, but they're not the same quality.

 

Your wine steward will but your wine on ice in a wine chiller stand for you.

 

We prefer to take our wine with us to dinner because that way it's there when we want it and no one has to hunt for it. If you have leftover wine, your steward will store it for you, although we've never had that problem.

 

We always tell our wine steward how to set our table for the next night. For us, it's red & white most nights, and red, white & Champagne on formal nights. We also let our servers know if we're going to be in a specialty restaurant the following night. That way, they won't worry that we've gone missing. They'll still be sad that we're not there, but they'll know where we're at.

 

When we buy a HAL wine package, we keep the bottles in the room and follow the same chilling procedure.

[POA1]

Just reread my post and I was a little unclear. We don't carry the Ice Bags to dinner, just the wine. We carry the Ice Bags on the cruise.

[kazu]

You can give your wine to your wine steward in advance for storage and chilling or you can drop it off at the specialty restaurant prior to dining. They'll tag it and keep it for you. We're sticklers for proper temperature, so I keep our wine in our stateroom and chill it myself. We then take our bottles to dinner with us. We carry a couple of Ice Bags with us and have our room steward bring us a wine bucket with ice each afternoon. Since we like our reds at proper temperature of 60 - 65 degrees Fahrenheit, they get chilled as well. We just pull them from the ice an hour or so before dinner so that they warm up to 60-65 by the time we're ready to drink. Whites and Champagnes stay on the ice until we leave for pre-dinner cocktails. We usually have our bar server put our white & sparkling wine in the cooler if our pre-game warm up is going to be more than one round.

 

Here's what we use for in-room chilling. Highly recommended:

 

 

We have a clear one an a blue one. I linked to the purple one because they're functionally identical and the purple one is a few dollars less. If you buy one, make sure it's the Ice Bag brand. There are cheaper ones, but they're not the same quality.

 

Your wine steward will but your wine on ice in a wine chiller stand for you.

 

We prefer to take our wine with us to dinner because that way it's there when we want it and no one has to hunt for it. If you have leftover wine, your steward will store it for you, although we've never had that problem.

 

We always tell our wine steward how to set our table for the next night. For us, it's red & white most nights, and red, white & Champagne on formal nights. We also let our servers know if we're going to be in a specialty restaurant the following night. That way, they won't worry that we've gone missing. They'll still be sad that we're not there, but they'll know where we're at.

 

When we buy a HAL wine package, we keep the bottles in the room and follow the same chilling procedure.

 

POA1 - just wanted to thank you as I was about to search to see what item you had recommended.

 

Have it ordered and should be in time for our next trip - yay! It's going to be very handy in our hotels as well as our cruise.

 

much appreciated :)

[WeLoveCruising]

I dont know if this is the normal on all ships, but a few years back we bought on a case of wine on the Maasdam We contacted the Cellar Master and he had it stored for us, the whites chilled. I dont know exactly where it was kept, but in any dinner venue we simply gave our stateroom number and told them we had wine stored. The whites were always chilled.

 

We made it a point to become very friendly with the Cellar Master on that cruise, which was easy because he was a really likeable guy. We tipped with our service, and also gave one of the bottles to the CM as a gift.

[Ken_W]

POA1, thanks for the great tip. I just ordered an ice bag, principally for the red wines.

[POA1]

POA1, thanks for the great tip. I just ordered an ice bag, principally for the red wines.

 

Just be aware that you might get a funny look from your wine steward if your red wine bottle is cool or has condensation on it. At least we did. :) I found that it's much better to start a little cool than to start at room temperature. A couple of swirls and a few minutes of air exposure will get your wine to the desirable 60-65 degrees F. If you start out with the wine too warm, there's no getting it back down to temp.

 

The wine bags are also great for chilling sodas, beer and other beverages. Add a little water to the ice and you can chill things even faster. I hope you like the bags. Every one of our friends who's ever seen them has ordered some of their own. It's like a cult. :D

[taxmantoo]

While the method described above is certainly valid and effective for chilling your wines to the proper temperature, we tend to use a much simpler method.

 

Red wine : Store in the room's refrigerator for approx 1 hour prior to bringing to the MDR

 

White wine : Store in the room's refrigerator immediately and remove approx. 15 minutes prior to bringing to the MDR

 

I am not a proponent of using ice to chill wines as the difference in temperature is often too drastic. I prefer to use a large ice bucket filled with ice-water.

 

In the end, whatever method works best for you to enjoy your wine at a temperature you enjoy. ;)

[Ken_W]

Just be aware that you might get a funny look from your wine steward if your red wine bottle is cool or has condensation on it. :D

 

If the steward tries it, they'll get a funny look back. There are many aspects of wine that can be disagreed upon according to personal preference, but a wine steward who doesn't understand "room temperature" can refer to the temperature of rooms in the eras before central heating shouldn't be handling expensive bottles of wine.

 

At least, not mine!:)

[SonnekeH]

POA1, thanks for the great tip. I just ordered an ice bag, principally for the red wines.

 

where can I order an Ice Bag?:D

[POA1]

where can I order an Ice Bag?:D

Amazon. Click on the photo above and it goes to the order page.

[crystalspin]

Reviving this thread to say thank you -- POA so glad I read back this far (page 11!) after not following the forum since last April.

 

I just ordered two Ice Bags (and have this sinking feeling I should have bought more!) in different colors and one was even less than your linked one! Also, Prime!

 

Edited December 2, 2015 by crystalspin

[POA1]

Reviving this thread to say thank you -- POA so glad I read back this far (page 11!) after not following the forum since last April.

 

I just ordered two Ice Bags (and have this sinking feeling I should have bought more!) in different colors and one was even less than your linked one! Also.Prime!

 

They really come in handy for us. Hope you enjoy them.

[3rdGenCunarder]

They really come in handy for us. Hope you enjoy them.

 

Brilliant!! You just helped me with some Christmas shopping! Thanks!!

[NMLady]

Amazon. Click on the photo above and it goes to the order page.

 

Thanks! I'll be ordering one for our next cruise. Perfect for our cabin wine.

[OceanTraveller4ever]

Great idea, those ice bags. Does anyone here use wine bottle aerators.

 

It really does wonders to the wine (especially the reds).

[crystalspin]

I have an aerator (here at home, have never travelled with it) -- you are right it mellows the flavor of many reds. I cannot usually be bothered with it though! I pour my reds through the air, glug glug, and then let them sit a while before imbibing. Like 5 minutes?

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I clicked on the link to Amazon and found several options. I did see one in white/clear that was a little less money. I like to read the negative reviews as well as the positive and was glad I did this time. The less expensive bag shown next to the colors is not an official "Ice Bag". Evidently the product is not as good as the official bag. Little details and assuming too much almost tripped me up. Reminded me that reading the fine print is always a good idea.

[POA1]

I clicked on the link to Amazon and found several options. I did see one in white/clear that was a little less money. I like to read the negative reviews as well as the positive and was glad I did this time. The less expensive bag shown next to the colors is not an official "Ice Bag". Evidently the product is not as good as the official bag. Little details and assuming too much almost tripped me up. Reminded me that reading the fine print is always a good idea.

Yes. Stick with the real Ice Bag. :)

[catl331]

don't forget only one bottle per person can be brought on and used in room. Corkage fee when brought to dining room. This doesn't apply to HAL's packages.