Wine Serving during Dinner

[shredie]

Judging by your post, if you've ever dined in a fine restaurant(which seems doubtful)The wine is always poured by the waiter/Sommelier. It is in a ice bucket(if a white wine) This IS standard procedure on ANY cruise ship or decent restaurant. Just let the staff do their job!

So is it necessary to be a snob in order to eat in a "fine" place? :rolleyes:

 

Princess dumped the sommelier years ago. OP was asking what to do in a situation where the waiter was angry at him for pouring his own wine. I guess next time he needs a refill and the waiter is nowhere to be seen, he can shout for the sommelier. He'll have an even longer wait.

[graphicgal]

Judging by your post, if you've ever dined in a fine restaurant(which seems doubtful)The wine is always poured by the waiter/Sommelier. It is in a ice bucket(if a white wine) This IS standard procedure on ANY cruise ship or decent restaurant. Just let the staff do their job!

 

You, sir, are mistaken. We have dined in many types of restaurants. The better restaurants know how much to fill the glass and when. That was part of my comment. The waiter on the ship either left us bereft with no wine in the glass or filled it to the brim. That is not good wine service; it is faux wine service and is merely done that way for the convenience of the staff, not the pleasure of the diners.

 

Let's not be judgmental about this. I was only requesting advice in order to avoid another confrontation in front of our table mates. This will only be our second cruise on Princess and I was not sure how to handle the situation if it arises again. There have been many excellent suggestions from this thread and we will surely try them.

[RocketMan275]

You, sir, are mistaken. We have dined in many types of restaurants. The better restaurants know how much to fill the glass and when. That was part of my comment. The waiter on the ship either left us bereft with no wine in the glass or filled it to the brim. That is not good wine service; it is faux wine service and is merely done that way for the convenience of the staff, not the pleasure of the diners.

 

Let's not be judgmental about this. I was only requesting advice in order to avoid another confrontation in front of our table mates. This will only be our second cruise on Princess and I was not sure how to handle the situation if it arises again. There have been many excellent suggestions from this thread and we will surely try them.

 

The waiter may have been ill informed. I have met people who think do believe that wine glasses should be fully filled. I have had some friends complain that restaurants short change their customers by only filling their wine glasses half way.

[Kartgv]

We almost always drink red wine and have never had it NOT be left on the table. Most of the time, the wait staff is attentive and pours us wine just about when we start thinking we're ready for more. They almost always ask before pouring, if only with a slight gesture (holding the bottle up and making eye contact). If there's not a staff member nearby when I want my glass refilled, I do not hesitate to pour it myself. It is my wine, bought and paid for, not complimentary, so I would have a discussion with the headwaiter if anyone tried to put a guilt trip on me for that. That discussion would include the fact that it is rude for any waiter to make the guests feel uncomfortable.

 

The only problem we've ever had was with one waiter in My Time Dining. He made several errors during the meal, including completely filling my glass at the end of the meal without asking, while my head was turned talking to someone on my left. We had planned on saving the remainder of the bottle for the next night. The next night we asked the dining room hostess to not place us in his section for the remainder of the cruise.

[Griller]

Judging by your post, if you've ever dined in a fine restaurant(which seems doubtful)The wine is always poured by the waiter/Sommelier. It is in a ice bucket(if a white wine) This IS standard procedure on ANY cruise ship or decent restaurant. Just let the staff do their job!

 

That's quite insulting. And if the staff were doing their job properly we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

[scanditaly]

That's quite insulting. And if the staff were doing their job properly we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

 

Could not agree more!

 

One of the reasons that we like Princess is their very reasonable corkage fee that allows me/us to bring specially chosen vintages/varietals. It makes it easy as mentioned above to have a nice chat with our waiter/server about the type of wine service I/We prefer.

 

A Year ago, on RCI we had the most uncomfortable time on a Royal ship with a pair of very new servers who were literally freaking out that DH wanted to keep the bottle(s) on the table. We were pouring/consuming on a course by course basis, and were not drinking the same wines at the same times..... and we also wanted very small pours. The poor girls were terrified about getting into trouble, and asked DH to keep the bottles hidden at his side.

 

I brought stoppers and a pump in order to preserve it for the next meal, and the look they gave us on the second night was not a pleasant welcoming one. We dined in specialty venues for the remainder of our trip. All went well.

[oskidunker]

Agree with Griller. Pouring wine is last on their list. If they see someone ordering wine every night,they should pay more attention

Edited December 26, 2015 by oskidunker

[Steelers36]

It's rather elementary, IMO, that it is part of restaurant server's job description to pour the wine when glasses appear to need refilling in any restaurant - land or sea.

 

That said, I don't have any qualms about topping up a glass myself and don't hold it against server if they are not at my elbow at the moment I feel like some more wine.

 

The OP's server was clearly ignorant of how to deal with wine service and was in need of re-training.

 

It is obvious on Princess that the wait staff, especially the assistant, are expected to get the wine poured. However, they are often back in the kitchen fetching more plates of food. Why sit and wait and stew? I'll get this refill and perhaps he will get the next one.

 

All good ideas to have an open discussion because it can be quickly understood that you don't expect them to pour every ounce if busy and you are quite happy to pour some yourself and don't fault them a bit.

[Colo Cruiser]

I don't care how the wine gets in my glass.

[rdsqrl]

I don't care how the wine gets in my glass.

I'm more concerned with how it leaves the glass - the rate of evaporation in the dining room is quite alarmingly rapid.

[cvpends]

I'm more concerned with how it leaves the glass - the rate of evaporation in the dining room is quite alarmingly rapid.

 

 

I was WONDERING what happened to all the wine in my glass [emoji50][emoji6]

 

 

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