Wine options on Nieuw Amsterdam

[Imagineer]

We're leaving on April 9th for the Panama cruise and are wondering about the best options for enjoying wine on board. HAL seems to encourage buying wine packages as opposed to ordering individual bottles of wine in the dining room. This is our first cruise with HAL, we've done NCL, Celebrity and Oceania prior to this cruise so are not familiar with HAL's ways as of yet.

 

Thanks for any heads up advice or suggestions :)

 

cheers,

 

Imagineer

[RocketMan275]

Personally, we believe that none of the mainstream cruise lines offer decent wines at a good price. We take six bottles on board and pay the corkage on four, Then, we know we will have good wine at a decent price.

 

Typically, we have found the cruise lines will charge $40 for a bottle that can be bought for less than $10. Or, if you prefer a better wine, the cruise line will charge $85 for a bottle costing $40. You can come out ahead paying the corkage.

 

Now, we drive to the port so that is an advantage, but there are options. At Fort Lauderdale there is a total wine store near the port. You can order on line and the order will be waiting for you. One can wait in the cab while the other runs inside.

[leanstostarboard]

I completely agree with RocketMan's post. Went to Total Wine before sailing from Fort Lauderdale and found wines I know I will like and after paying the corkage fee saved money.

[RocketMan275]

You can also get some nice wine carries about the size of an airplane carry on. Get one with wheels.

[cabinluvn]

You can buy it by the glass. Some of it isn't too bad...which is high praise for their cheaper wines

 

 

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[POA1]

Here's the wine list from the Eurodam in December. Yours should be pretty similar. Bottles, Glasses & Packages are all listed.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFiQob99-rtJQJFOGGpGHxkRw9DiaS6Z9TM/

 

We normally take our own wine because (1) we live in Fort Lauderdale and (2) it's fun to pick out a bunch of wine for the trip. We typically take a red & a white for each night and thrown in a sparkling wine for formal nights. Our corkage tends to be kind of high, but we build excellent upper body strength carrying on a case per week. You can order online from Total Wine and pick up your wine on the way to the port. They sell reusable 6 bottle wine bags for $1.99. (We have a different type of wine tote, but the bags work fine.)

[Appalachian Mountain Mama]

I completely agree with RocketMan. Our problem is we are sailing out of Vancouver BC so we will be driving across the Canadian border and it's my understanding there will be a large "fee" for taking bottles of our excellent Oregon wines across the border. We have accepted the corkage fee because it will simply raise the price of our "better" wine to about the same price as HAL charges for their wines. What has become a problem is that Canadian fee which could very well drive our cost thru the roof, not sure exactly what the fee might add up to, anybody with any experience taking wine across the BC border? I understand they have some of the highest fees. If I read the Canadian web site correctly we can take 2 bottles each duty free so I guess we could just bite the bullet and put up with a glass of HAL wine[emoji51]. Of course if the Canadian fee wasn't too outrageous we would just pay it but I haven't found much detail about it and don't want to get blindsided at the border! Much as I love my Oregon wine I do have my limit of how much I'm willing to fork out for it![emoji857]

 

 

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[POA1]

I completely agree with RocketMan. Our problem is we are sailing out of Vancouver BC so we will be driving across the Canadian border and it's my understanding there will be a large "fee" for taking bottles of our excellent Oregon wines across the border. We have accepted the corkage fee because it will simply raise the price of our "better" wine to about the same price as HAL charges for their wines. What has become a problem is that Canadian fee which could very well drive our cost thru the roof, not sure exactly what the fee might add up to, anybody with any experience taking wine across the BC border? I understand they have some of the highest fees. If I read the Canadian web site correctly we can take 2 bottles each duty free so I guess we could just bite the bullet and put up with a glass of HAL wine[emoji51]. Of course if the Canadian fee wasn't too outrageous we would just pay it but I haven't found much detail about it and don't want to get blindsided at the border! Much as I love my Oregon wine I do have my limit of how much I'm willing to fork out for it![emoji857]

 

 

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Here you go:

 

http://www.winelaw.ca/cms/legal-info-public/shipping-border-import/19-bringing-wine-back-to-canada-after-a-trip

 

The exemption is 1.5L of wine per person, and the duty can be pretty stiff above the limit, particularly in British Columbia. You can always stop at a Canadian beverage shop and buy more if you want.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Vancouver has BC Liquor Stores located near Canada Place. Canadian wine from the Okanagan in British Columbia is pretty good.:) Harbour Centre liquor store is a nearby choice. You could buy some wine before you get on your ship. Canadian wine has higher taxes, but the exchange rate with the U.S. dollar is not bad.

 

http://www.bcliquorstores.com/

 

http://www.bcliquorstores.com/store/locator/53

[Appalachian Mountain Mama]

POA, thanks for that link, it seemed to be aimed at Canadians returning to Canada after a trip but as long as the same fees applied to Americans on their way to a cruise I believe I could tolerate the $12.75 per bottle maximum.

 

Mom, have given that some thought but not familiar with Canadian wines. Someone had offered to make recommendations on another tread but they never posted back. Would hate to pay corkage on something I hated!

 

 

 

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[POA1]

POA, thanks for that link, it seemed to be aimed at Canadians returning to Canada after a trip but as long as the same fees applied to Americans on their way to a cruise I believe I could tolerate the $12.75 per bottle maximum.

 

Mom, have given that some thought but not familiar with Canadian wines. Someone had offered to make recommendations on another tread but they never posted back. Would hate to pay corkage on something I hated!

 

 

 

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Don't forget that you need receipts to prove the cost of the wine. If you're toting some Oregon Pinot Noirs, my wife highly recommends Ken Wright. :D

[RocketMan275]

Would hate to pay corkage on something I hated!

 

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That's why we prefer to bring our own wines.

We don't want to pay the prices the lines charge for very good wine only to discover we don't like the wine.

Consider how much you spend on the cruise, why not spend a few dollars to make it better.

Love the saying: "Life is too short to drink cheap wine."

 

On a seven day caribbean, we each pack in a small roller carry on.

I pack the six bottles in a backpack which I strap to the extended handles of the carry on. I can roll it all with one hand.

[Appalachian Mountain Mama]

Yes, my friend and I are both seniors and we've sampled our share of wine and know what we like! I've had a couple of the wines on HAL's list and didn't care for them. We have the drink package from Explore4 so we have a little leeway to experiment but I would not be happy if I ran out of wine I liked before the cruise was over. I'm not familiar with Ken Wright, is it from the Willamette valley or further south?

 

 

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[martincath]

POA, thanks for that link, it seemed to be aimed at Canadians returning to Canada after a trip but as long as the same fees applied to Americans on their way to a cruise I believe I could tolerate the $12.75 per bottle maximum.

 

Mom, have given that some thought but not familiar with Canadian wines. Someone had offered to make recommendations on another tread but they never posted back. Would hate to pay corkage on something I hated!

Only the Provincial Liquor Board fee has a cap, the fixed excise/customs and other % taxes continue to apply to the entire price. If you're bringing in a nice US$25 Oregon pinot, you'll pay a total of about CAD$20 in assorted fees & taxes at the border, then US$15 to get them on the ship.

 

Since the border markups are in no way linked to actual local retail prices, sometimes the fees are literally more than just buying the product locally (seriously - we actually chose to THROW AWAY booze at the border the first time we crossed back into BC from the US and had to pay duty, because the retail price was only ~80% of the fees so cheaper to abandon it and rebuy!)

 

I recommend checking wines you know you like against the BC Liquor website (NB: prices are in CAD, but do not have the 15% tax on so factor that in) and comparing it to the fees for importing. We can get hold of quite a few OR wines up here - ballpark if you drink $20+ wine there's a good chance it's cheaper to pay the border fees, if you drink $10 or less it's almost never worth paying the fees, and in-between varies.

 

I'd be loathe to recommend specific local wines without knowing your drinking habits very well - but if you throw out specific wines you do enjoy drinking I may be familiar with some and able to suggest a few locals for consideration if you can't source the stuff you like through BCL.

[Appalachian Mountain Mama]

Martin, thanks for the info. I checked with my winery and they don't ship to Canada so I'm pretty sure I won't find them in any of your stores. I love my wines so don't mind paying a bit extra for them to cross Canadian territory, just don't want to get blind sided at the border by a huge upcharge. I rarely carry more than $15-20 cash, so unless the customs people take CC I would be in trouble! [emoji857]. I would be interested to know what Oregon wines you have up in Canada since I do drink a few others besides my favorites. My favs are Henry Estates Muller-Thurgau and Veraison (a blend of cabernet sauvignon , muscat and chardonnay , though I hate chardonnay by itself). I've also been known to drink Reislings and White Zins. I have found one or two merlots I like but no other reds I like. Of course no resident of the Applegate Valley would be allowed to live if they didn't occasionally drink one of the "local" wines, my choice is Troon's Druid's Fluid, white blend of course! Looking forward to your recommendations.

 

 

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[martincath]

I've seen Druids Fluid on many shelves, but the name's so tacky I've yet to try it;-) I do love me some Muscats, Müller-Thurgau can produce some decent plonk with effort, and that cab/muscat/chard sounds either delicious or ghastly! CBSA accept Visa/MC/AmEx cards if you do decide to bring in more than your duty-free limit. Since it seems to retail for about US$15, I'm going to assume you're happy to pay at least that much (~CAD$20) a bottle

 

Other than the varietals, I'm unfamiliar with your wines unfortunately. Given your like of Muscat and how it tends to be produced these days, I'm guessing a slightly-sweeter,more fruit-forward style of aromatic white is more likely to work for you than my preferred very dry style - it's easy to find WA's Chateau Ste Michelle Rieslings up here, just jacked up to CAD$20 with tax compared to the <US$8 price south of the border. If you loaded up at Safeway or Target with a discounted case, you'd probably save a buck or two even if they want you to pay the tax at the border.

 

The more obscure aromatics are rarely planted up here - few are approved by the VQA (a Canada-wide wine 'quality' organization that I lost all respect for when their minimum standards plummeted as low as 5% local grapes during a poor year - they're all about marketing, not quality, and have the cheek to limit choice of varietals planted if a winery wants to become a member) but fortunately there are still a few lurking.

 

Joie make a wine called A Noble Blend that is a very harmonious combo of Gewurtz, Riesling, Auxerrois, Muscat, & Pinot Blanc styled after the classic Alsatian Edelzwicker - I think they just picked up an award in Oregon for the 2016 this year, and it's probably my wife's favourite BC wine (she's more a fan of fruit-forward than I am). Retails for $21 (~$24 w tax). Gray Monk, Tinhorn Creek, Red Rooster, and SYL all make solid Rieslings and Gewurtzes around the CAD$15 mark that are well worth drinking.

 

Solid Merlots - soft enough to drink on their own, but with enough heft to stand up to a beef dinner - are also quite well represented in BC, though not at the cheap quaffing end of the price spectrum. Desert Hills, Quails Gate and Burrowing Owl all sell product in the <CAD$30 range that are very, very tasty. A quite interesting choice is NK'Mip (pronounced 'ink-a-meep') which is the only First Nations winery - all their wines are pretty butch, with a couple of <$25 single-varietal Merlots that genuinely stand up to even BBQ meats.

 

There's also one tremendously-good-for-the-price Canadian red wine brand available in BC - Black Cellar. For $10 ($11.50 incl tax) it's a damn fine wine that's become our go-to second bottle to open in an evening. They offer Shiraz-Cab, Cab-Tempranillo, and Malbec-Merlot which all sell like hotcakes (there are very few decent wines that cheap up here - and given our weak dollar, their value is comparable to CSM's rieslings as quaffing reds). Not super-classy, but rich, full-flavoured, very drinkable and simply ludicrous value for the price.

[Imagineer]

...okay, interesting reading all the info on crossing the border with wine bought in British Columbia - where I happen to live ;)

We're flying from Victoria to Fort Lauderdale and disembarking when the ship visits Victoria prior to ending in Vancouver, nice arrangement!

So...what is the actual corkage fee in board the ship? And, can I buy Australian wines in FLL aling with some of my favorite Californian wines?

 

cheers again,

 

Imagineer

[POA1]

...okay, interesting reading all the info on crossing the border with wine bought in British Columbia - where I happen to live ;)

We're flying from Victoria to Fort Lauderdale and disembarking when the ship visits Victoria prior to ending in Vancouver, nice arrangement!

So...what is the actual corkage fee in board the ship? And, can I buy Australian wines in FLL aling with some of my favorite Californian wines?

 

cheers again,

 

Imagineer

 

Corkage is $18/bottle. I'm not trying to be a home town cheerleader, but we have an outstanding selection of wine in Fort Lauderdale. Google Total Wine and pick a zip code of 33316 in the Select a Store widget. We've bought Mollydooker Velvet Glove (~350 cases produced annually) at the Total Wine in Fort Lauderdale. For some unknown reason, the Total Wine site search thinks Mollydooker is two words, "Molly Dooker."

 

Anyway....

 

You'll find a very good selection at the store. I'd be inclined to call it crazy good, but that just makes me a cheerleader. ;)

[Appalachian Mountain Mama]

Martin, don't judge wine by it's name. Lol give the Druid's Fluid a try, can't speak to the red but the white is nice. The HE Veraison I mentioned is delicious. Their Muller-Thurgau is too although I can't find it any where right now. Have to wait for the next vintage.

 

I've never understood some of those wine organizations either. The idea should be to produce good wine which then sells more which brings in more revenue but no, as with "government" involvement everywhere and with everything it's "we will tell you what you are permitted to do".

 

I think I will grab a bottle of the Joie A Noble Blend, it sounds like something I would like although I'm not familiar with Auxerrois. The NK'Mip winery sounds intriguing, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "butch" but I may try their Dreamcatcher and/or the Riesling Icewine. Since my travel companion and I are driving up, if she has an interest we may drive over to their winery, it looks like a beautiful place for lunch. Thanks again for all the info.

 

 

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[WVU_Neal]

...okay, interesting reading all the info on crossing the border with wine bought in British Columbia - where I happen to live ;)

We're flying from Victoria to Fort Lauderdale and disembarking when the ship visits Victoria prior to ending in Vancouver, nice arrangement!

So...what is the actual corkage fee in board the ship? And, can I buy Australian wines in FLL aling with some of my favorite Californian wines?

 

 

You may carry 2 bottles onboard with no corkage, if you drink those in your cabin. Any other bottles are $18/bottle. Total Wine is close by Port Everglades and well worth the stop. Do allow yourself plenty of time as their selection is overwhelming.

 

Have fun,

 

Neal

[RocketMan275]

You may carry 2 bottles onboard with no corkage, if you drink those in your cabin. Any other bottles are $18/bottle. Total Wine is close by Port Everglades and well worth the stop. Do allow yourself plenty of time as their selection is overwhelming.

 

Have fun,

 

Neal

Or, do your shopping on line and they will have your order ready when you arrive.

[WVU_Neal]

Or, do your shopping on line and they will have your order ready when you arrive.

 

 

Ah yes, Rocketman275. But it is much more fun as well as an aesthetic experience wandering the aisles of that store. They also have a competent staff that can help you with your selections. Besides, they have a tasting bar there.

 

Neal

[RocketMan275]

Ah yes, Rocketman275. But it is much more fun as well as an aesthetic experience wandering the aisles of that store. They also have a competent staff that can help you with your selections. Besides, they have a tasting bar there.

 

Neal

I imagine it is but some may not have the time to 'wander the aisles' and would find having an order ready for them would be useful.

[Whistlerski]

We have the beverage package on our first ever cruise. Can we buy a carafe of wine and apply it against our card ( I.e 3 drinks against the 15 drink maximum.)

Thanks!

[cabinluvn]

I don't think so

 

 

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