taking wine aboard holland america ships

[retired dude]

Forgive me for asking, but we are going to be new this this brand of cruise ship. We have sailed car, ncl, rccl and celeb and we wanted some "kind" advice on whether we can bring some nice wines onboard with us in our check bags. Something nice about a glass on the balcony before dining and I just did not know either the Holland policy or what our fellow cruisers have experienced in that area. thanks so much for your time, and please no brow beating from those that consider us criminals for asking.

[RocketMan275]

The only reason some might call you criminal would be the statement about packing your wine in your checked luggage. Some might consider this an attempt to 'sneak' the wine on board.

 

When you bring wine on-board Holland, it should be in your carry-on bags that you take through port security. Holland allows one bottle per passenger over the age of 21 without charge. Additional bottles are allowed but one must pay a corkage fee of $18 per bottle. I think the only limit on how many you can bring aboard while paying corkage is the number of bottles you can carry.

 

On our last/first Holland cruise, we brought six bottles on board. The only issue was our arrival at the pier prior to Holland setting up a table to collect the corkage. That was resolved on-board.

 

BTW, there are two reasons for carrying wine aboard. Your savings will vary depending upon what wine you bring. There is an excellent spreadsheet here: (Second post)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2335955&highlight=wine+list

 

While this spread sheet is specific to Princess, it will provide some feel for the price differential (including the corkage fee, Princess is $15)

 

The second reason is to ensure you have the wines you wish. We bring our own because we want to make sure we get the wines we like. We also do not wish to take a chance paying a very large amount for a bottle we do not like.

Edited April 21, 2016 by RocketMan275

[avian777]

Attached is a copy of HAL's "Know Before You Go" brochure that explains a lot about HAL cruises. Page 6 sets forth HAL's policy on bringing wine on board.

 

Hope you enjoy your HAL cruise. Smooth sailing ...

KBYG(3).pdf

[jtl513]

... and your one corkage-free bottle per adult must be 750 ml or less, and consumed in your room. If you take it anywhere else it will also be subject to the $18 corkage.

 

If you take a HAL excursion to a winery you are allowed to bring on one corkage-free bottle per adult purchased at that winery.

[POA1]

As long as you carry on your wine, you're only limited to what you can can physically carry. The first 750 ml bottle per person are corkage free, assuming you consume them in your room or on your balcony. Just remember the 750 ml bottle limitation. After the first bottle per person, corkage is $18 per bottle.

 

And, take a corkscrew. Always carry a corkscrew.

[Caribbean Chris]

I don't risk packing breakable wine bottles in a checked suitcase, so we usually roll a small case aboard (the type that can fit under the airline seat in front of you) with medications, documents, jewelry, and other valuable or hard to replace items. A pair of handy-dandy shoe pockets in the lid are perfectly sized for two bottles of wine.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Caribbean Chris

[cabinluvn]

Not sure how you are able to board a plane with two 750ml bottle of wine. I would think the tsa would prohibit that

 

 

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[RuthC]

You don't have to lug it all at once!

On Holland America you are allowed to bring wine back on board at any and all ports, but you must pay the $18 corkage fee (unless it's from a winery tour) for each bottle (even if you never got your "free" bottle at embarkation).

[Caribbean Chris]

Not sure how you are able to board a plane with two 750ml bottle of wine. I would think the tsa would prohibit that

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

I'm sure you're right, and the bottles would be removed from hand luggage by TSA, never to be seen again.

 

We are among those who drive from home to the ship and then check bags to be delivered to the stateroom. Quite a few people on this forum also mention driving to Total Wine stores in Florida before boarding to stock up.

[Fouremco]

Not sure how you are able to board a plane with two 750ml bottle of wine. I would think the tsa would prohibit that

I'm not sure that any of the previous posts have suggested that. Caribbean Chris's description of the case doesn't say anything about boarding the plane with wine in the case. Like most passengers, he probably acquires the wine at the port of embarkation.

 

Also, there are many of us who fly from another country to the port and purchase duty free wine which can be carried onto the plane. Mind you, I seldom do, as in most cases I can buy a similar or better wine for less than I'd pay at Canadian duty free shops. :mad:

 

Edited to add that I was called to the phone while writing and didn't see Caribbean Chris's follow up post until after hitting the send button.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Fouremco

[donaldsc]

The only reason some might call you criminal would be the statement about packing your wine in your checked luggage. Some might consider this an attempt to 'sneak' the wine on board.

 

When you bring wine on-board Holland, it should be in your carry-on bags that you take through port security. Holland allows one bottle per passenger over the age of 21 without charge. Additional bottles are allowed but one must pay a corkage fee of $18 per bottle. I think the only limit on how many you can bring aboard while paying corkage is the number of bottles you can carry.

 

On our last/first Holland cruise, we brought six bottles on board. The only issue was our arrival at the pier prior to Holland setting up a table to collect the corkage. That was resolved on-board.

 

BTW, there are two reasons for carrying wine aboard. Your savings will vary depending upon what wine you bring. There is an excellent spreadsheet here: (Second post)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2335955&highlight=wine+list

 

While this spread sheet is specific to Princess, it will provide some feel for the price differential (including the corkage fee, Princess is $15)

 

The second reason is to ensure you have the wines you wish. We bring our own because we want to make sure we get the wines we like. We also do not wish to take a chance paying a very large amount for a bottle we do not like.

 

I went to the spreadsheet and did a quick modification to calculate the percent saving that you would get by buying off the ship. I then sorted it by percent saving. Most of the time you would save 20% to 40% by buying off ship although there was one wine which cost $276 on ship where you would save 52% by buying off ship. There were actually 2 wines where it was cheaper on ship than off ship.

 

One thing that surprised me is that there did not did not seem to be a correlation between the cost of the wine and percent that you save. The correlation coefficient between the 2 data sets was only 0.21 which is not high. I would have expected that you would save more on the the more expensive wines.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

DON

[dogo88]

I'm sure you're right, and the bottles would be removed from hand luggage by TSA, never to be seen again.

 

We are among those who drive from home to the ship and then check bags to be delivered to the stateroom. Quite a few people on this forum also mention driving to Total Wine stores in Florida before boarding to stock up.

 

Flew back from Tampa last year with two bottles in our checked luggage. TSA opened the luggage and checked them with no issues. Had a slip in the luggage explaining what was done.

 

Now carry-on is a different issue.

 

Dan

Edited April 21, 2016 by dogo88

[POA1]

I went to the spreadsheet and did a quick modification to calculate the percent saving that you would get by buying off the ship. I then sorted it by percent saving. Most of the time you would save 20% to 40% by buying off ship although there was one wine which cost $276 on ship where you would save 52% by buying off ship. There were actually 2 wines where it was cheaper on ship than off ship.

 

One thing that surprised me is that there did not did not seem to be a correlation between the cost of the wine and percent that you save. The correlation coefficient between the 2 data sets was only 0.21 which is not high. I would have expected that you would save more on the the more expensive wines.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

DON

You're absolutely correct about the markup multiplier being higher at the low end, at least in general. On our last cruise, there were two wines on the MDR list that were a lot less than one could by them for in a shop. Granted, both were more than $300, but they were a bargain - relatively speaking.

[mef_57]

The second reason is to ensure you have the wines you wish. We bring our own because we want to make sure we get the wines we like. We also do not wish to take a chance paying a very large amount for a bottle we do not like.

It might be a given for well travelled folks, but does this mean once you have paid your corkage fee, you can drink this anywhere - not just your room?....and if anywhere, do you have the steward keep your partially opened bottle cool or do you keep it close and store it in your cabin? (I am only used to buying wine on board so they take care of the storage of opened bottles)?

(Not meaning to divert the thread, but it could be useful additional info). Thanks

[esimon]

I enjoy the wine posts -- When you by 3 buck chuck wines from Trader Joe - I get a kick of hearing about the trials of wine worries when traveling.

[FATJACK]

One can also request that Holland America store your wine at no cost for return on the last night. I brought back two cases high quality wine on my last Trans Atlantic cruise from Italy and had Holland America store it. I have just one bottle of a Riserva 2001 Brunello left.

[POA1]

It might be a given for well travelled folks, but does this mean once you have paid your corkage fee, you can drink this anywhere - not just your room?....and if anywhere, do you have the steward keep your partially opened bottle cool or do you keep it close and store it in your cabin? (I am only used to buying wine on board so they take care of the storage of opened bottles)?

(Not meaning to divert the thread, but it could be useful additional info). Thanks

 

Once you have paid corkage, you can drink it anywhere. You can also have it stored. We always keep ours in our cabin, but that's because I like to have the wine at the table as soon as we are.

[mef_57]

Once you have paid corkage, you can drink it anywhere. You can also have it stored. We always keep ours in our cabin, but that's because I like to have the wine at the table as soon as we are.

Thanks for the confirmation. It does make one want to give up the drink when a bottle of wine costs $10 Cdn, or 2 for $10 in a US grocery store and they charge $34+15%. Exorbitant even with the corkage fee, but at least more (hmm) palatable.

[RocketMan275]

It might be a given for well travelled folks, but does this mean once you have paid your corkage fee, you can drink this anywhere - not just your room?....and if anywhere, do you have the steward keep your partially opened bottle cool or do you keep it close and store it in your cabin? (I am only used to buying wine on board so they take care of the storage of opened bottles)?

(Not meaning to divert the thread, but it could be useful additional info). Thanks

 

At Fort Lauderdale on Westerdam they put a sticker on the bottles you paid corkage on. Those can be consumed anywhere. The bottles without stickers can be taken elsewhere but then you will be charged corkage on them.

[donaldsc]

You're absolutely correct about the markup multiplier being higher at the low end, at least in general. On our last cruise, there were two wines on the MDR list that were a lot less than one could by them for in a shop. Granted, both were more than $300, but they were a bargain - relatively speaking.

 

I would have thought so but it is apparently not so. The correlation coefficient between markup and the price of wine iis only 0.21 which is not a very high correlation coefficient.

 

DON

[dakrewser]

Not sure how you are able to board a plane with two 750ml bottle of wine. I would think the tsa would prohibit that

 

You pack it in checked luggage then transfer it to carry-on at tyhe arriving airport.

[RocketMan275]

I'm sure you're right, and the bottles would be removed from hand luggage by TSA, never to be seen again.

 

We are among those who drive from home to the ship and then check bags to be delivered to the stateroom. Quite a few people on this forum also mention driving to Total Wine stores in Florida before boarding to stock up.

 

Some have mentioned having the cab wait for them while they shop at Total Wines. I understand you can purchase on line and they will have it ready for you when you pull up in the cab.

 

We also drive from home so it's a relatively trivial thing to bring several bottles.

 

On Westerdam, we brought six bottles. I put the bottles in a backpack. We each have one of those four wheel carry-ons. I extend the handles and strap the backpack to the handles using a couple of bunggie cords.

[CowPrincess]

I don't risk packing breakable wine bottles in a checked suitcase, so we usually roll a small case aboard (the type that can fit under the airline seat in front of you) with medications, documents, jewelry, and other valuable or hard to replace items. A pair of handy-dandy shoe pockets in the lid are perfectly sized for two bottles of wine.

 

One of our carry-ons is hard-sided, specifically for rolling wine onboard :) It is packed with "important stuff" on the plane, then that stuff gets moved to a backpack and the hard sided case carries our wine.

[donaldsc]

I would have thought so but it is apparently not so. The correlation coefficient between markup and the price of wine iis only 0.21 which is not a very high correlation coefficient.

 

DON

 

I have tried to attach the spreadsheet that shows the wine data. It also includes a scatter chart showing the relationship or in this case the lack of relationship between the price of the wine and the amount you save by buying off ship.

 

DON

Princess Wine List - 2015-Fall.xls

[SherriM]

Just wondering if there is a "place" to purchase wine near to the port in Vancouver, Canada? We will be in a hotel the night before and could grab a bottle or two or three ;) before boarding.

Couldn't recall if alcoholic beverages had to be purchased at specialty stores in Canada? We are flying to Seattle from San Diego and then renting a car to get to Vancouver.