Understanding HAL's Wine Packages

[Kansas Jayhawk Cruiser]

My wife and I like to enjoy some wine on our cruises. We only get a wine package if it is part of "bonus" - we have done this on Celebrity several times and it was great. We don't drink enough to justify the prices for unlimited wine packages.

 

On next cruise is a 7 day one to Alaska. I looked at the wine packages and was confused.

 

There are 3,5, and 7 day packages, Navigator and Admiral. These look just fine we would just buy what we think we would drink. Prices aren't too bad - but I am assuming you buy this for the cabin, not per person.

 

But then I saw the Cellar Master Package:

 

A premium wine tasting experience is available throughout the length of your cruise with the Cellar Master Package. Two wine tasting events conducted by our Cellar Master, an evening of fine dining in the Pinnacle Grill, five vintage bottles based on the wine navigators' preference, a Holland America Line commemorative bottle and wine gift are included for on board enjoyment. Pricing based on single guest, 7-10 day voyages. A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item. You must be 21 years of age or older to order and receive alcoholic beverages. *Mariner discount not available on the Cellar Master Package.

It looks like it is $252 per person.

Wouldn't this be a GREAT deal. We always go to wine tastings and at least once to the Pinnacle. So for two people it is $504 and we get

Pinnacle Grille for 2

Wine Tasting for 2

5 bottles per person so 10 bottles of win.

This seems to good to be true, am I missing something?

[Stella1250]

I have also been looking at this. It does look good. I am wondering which wines are offered though. Do you know what the difference is between the "single package" and the "double package" is?

[kazu]

My wife and I like to enjoy some wine on our cruises. We only get a wine package if it is part of "bonus" - we have done this on Celebrity several times and it was great. We don't drink enough to justify the prices for unlimited wine packages.

 

On next cruise is a 7 day one to Alaska. I looked at the wine packages and was confused.

 

There are 3,5, and 7 day packages, Navigator and Admiral. These look just fine we would just buy what we think we would drink. Prices aren't too bad - but I am assuming you buy this for the cabin, not per person.

 

But then I saw the Cellar Master Package:

 

A premium wine tasting experience is available throughout the length of your cruise with the Cellar Master Package. Two wine tasting events conducted by our Cellar Master, an evening of fine dining in the Pinnacle Grill, five vintage bottles based on the wine navigators' preference, a Holland America Line commemorative bottle and wine gift are included for on board enjoyment. Pricing based on single guest, 7-10 day voyages. A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item. You must be 21 years of age or older to order and receive alcoholic beverages. *Mariner discount not available on the Cellar Master Package.

It looks like it is $252 per person.

Wouldn't this be a GREAT deal. We always go to wine tastings and at least once to the Pinnacle. So for two people it is $504 and we get

Pinnacle Grille for 2

Wine Tasting for 2

5 bottles per person so 10 bottles of win.

This seems to good to be true, am I missing something?

 

You get 5 bottles of wine from the Navigator wine package (you can select the ones you want on board).

 

It's not 5 bottles per person, but 5 bottles per package.

 

If you are not 3 or 4*, it's a decent deal as long as you use everything. But it's not the "steal of a deal" that you originally thought ;)

 

I have also been looking at this. It does look good. I am wondering which wines are offered though. Do you know what the difference is between the "single package" and the "double package" is?

 

The wines offered are of your choosing from the Navigator Wine Package selection.

 

Unless, it has changed, the "single package" is for a single person and the "double package" is for couples.

 

Hope this helps :)

[3rdGenCunarder]

I've never done the cellar master package, but I do want to clarify the Navigator and Admiral packages. They're 3, 5, or 7 bottles, not days of unlimited wine.

[Stella1250]

So, it is $307 for the "couples package"? More money, but still the same 5 bottles? How can that be?

[3rdGenCunarder]

So, it is $307 for the "couples package"? More money, but still the same 5 bottles? How can that be?

 

You're paying for the second person having dinner at the Pinnacle and going to the wine tasting.

[Stella1250]

I think I will just bring my own wine and pay the corkage!

[take us away]

Recommend you add everything up, dinners, (wine tastings are often free for higher start Mariners), Mariner discounts on wine packages not available on cellar package, you can share your non-cellar wine package wines with anyone you want so no need for individual packages, etc and see which 'deal' is actually better for you. I usually wait until on board, go to a tasting and decide my package based on the wines selected in each (like Spellbound red btw)

[RocketMan275]

I think I will just bring my own wine and pay the corkage!

We've done that on our last two cruises and it has worked very well for us. Typically, we only spend around $400 for the two of us on beverages for a seven day cruise. And, that was for cruises where we only carried aboard two bottles.

We don't drink much on our last night so we bring six bottles on board. We drive to the port and we stop by our favorite wine shop where they know what we would like. Works great for us. We picked up six bottles for around $180 (very good upscale wines which would have cost a fortune on board.) The corkage was $72. Much cheaper than a beverage package or their wine package and much better wines.

[Kansas Jayhawk Cruiser]

These answers are very helpful. I asked this question of our travel agent. They will get back to me.

But as someone above suggested, I tried to do the math.

 

With the double we would get:

 

Pinnacle Grill $29 x 2 = $58

Wine Tasting $15 x 2 = $30

Wine Tasting $35 x 2 = $70

Some wine related gift from HAL = ??

 

 

So the total for the above, rounded, is $150.

 

 

The cost is $300 (again rounded from $307)

 

 

So we pay $150 for 5 bottles of wine, or $30 for each bottle.

 

 

In looking at some of the 3,5,and 7 day prices for just the wine, this is just about right. The price per bottle is around $30.

 

 

So kind of a toss up, but I am leaning toward picking one of the wine packages (probably 5 bottles). Why? We might get a Pinnacle Grill dinner from our travel agency. We usually always get something nice (this time we are own a Neptune Suite). We can go to the wine events if we want or not. So overall more flexibility for the same price.

 

 

Does that sound about right?

 

 

Bryan

[kazu]

These answers are very helpful. I asked this question of our travel agent. They will get back to me.

But as someone above suggested, I tried to do the math.

 

With the double we would get:

 

Pinnacle Grill $29 x 2 = $58

Wine Tasting $15 x 2 = $30

Wine Tasting $35 x 2 = $70

Some wine related gift from HAL = ??

 

 

So the total for the above, rounded, is $150.

 

 

The cost is $300 (again rounded from $307)

 

 

So we pay $150 for 5 bottles of wine, or $30 for each bottle.

 

 

In looking at some of the 3,5,and 7 day prices for just the wine, this is just about right. The price per bottle is around $30.

 

 

So kind of a toss up, but I am leaning toward picking one of the wine packages (probably 5 bottles). Why? We might get a Pinnacle Grill dinner from our travel agency. We usually always get something nice (this time we are own a Neptune Suite). We can go to the wine events if we want or not. So overall more flexibility for the same price.

 

 

Does that sound about right?

 

 

Bryan

 

I think you have it about right.

And, your decision makes sense to me. If you have a Navigator wine package, then you may not want to go to the Navigator Wine tasting (the $15 one).

 

The wine "gift" has either been wine charms or coasters in the past.

[POA1]

Sounds about right. Try to get a copy of the wine package list from your ship a month or so before you sail. That way you can look up the ratings before you sail. I usually "run the numbers" against Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate, and a couple other wine publications for which I have subscriptions. You can accomplish the same thing, more or less, for free on the web.

 

90% of the package wines will be rated in the mid 80s (Good to Very Good) but there is often a stand out or a stinker.

 

If you find something you like, have your wine steward pull all your bottles right away so they don't run out of your first choices.

 

We usually bring our own wine and pay corkage, but we've been known to have a thirst that exceeds our supply. (We had an extra bottle exactly one time and gave it to a friend who was staying on for another segment.)

[jlnprt]

Decisions, decisions!!! We are looking at the same package. We have no Mariner status (first cruise on HAL), so the package looks pretty interesting. However, I've already booked one dinner at the Pinnacle and, if I buy the package, have to wait till we are on board to book the dinners from the wine package. What are the chances there will be ample choices for dining times once we are on board? Can anyone attend the wine tasting (for a fee, I assume, if you don't have a package "deal"). We will be on a 14 day cruise. I'm not losing sleep over any of these decisions, but I am a planner by nature. LOL

[jlnprt]

Sounds about right. Try to get a copy of the wine package list from your ship a month or so before you sail. That way you can look up the ratings before you sail. I usually "run the numbers" against Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate,

 

 

 

What a great idea! Thanks!!!

[DaveOKC]

If you do not have at least a 3 Star status, the Navigator wine package is not a great "bargain". I think you would be better to bring your own wine onboard and pay the corkage (this depends on your departure port of course).

 

Once you get to 4 Star, the 50% discount lowers the per bottle wine package to an acceptable level (IMO) and makes it not worth bringing your own onboard (of course unless you want specific wines).

 

At least this is how it works for me.

[Btimmer]

If you do not have at least a 3 Star status, the Navigator wine package is not a great "bargain". I think you would be better to bring your own wine onboard and pay the corkage (this depends on your departure port of course).

 

Once you get to 4 Star, the 50% discount lowers the per bottle wine package to an acceptable level (IMO) and makes it not worth bringing your own onboard (of course unless you want specific wines).

 

At least this is how it works for me.

 

As 4 Star Mariners, this works well for us, too. We love the Muscato!

[3rdGenCunarder]

Recommend you add everything up, dinners, (wine tastings are often free for higher start Mariners), Mariner discounts on wine packages not available on cellar package, you can share your non-cellar wine package wines with anyone you want so no need for individual packages, etc and see which 'deal' is actually better for you. I usually wait until on board, go to a tasting and decide my package based on the wines selected in each (like Spellbound red btw)

 

We liked Spellbound, too. I always ask one of the wine waiters if substitutions are being made before I buy a package. Usually, everything we want on the list is available. But on one cruise there were 4 or 5 wines out of stocks and substitutions were made. That's why I won't book a package in advance.

 

We're 3-star, and the discount is nice. It will be even nicer after our next cruise!! ;)

[kazu]

Decisions, decisions!!! We are looking at the same package. We have no Mariner status (first cruise on HAL), so the package looks pretty interesting. However, I've already booked one dinner at the Pinnacle and, if I buy the package, have to wait till we are on board to book the dinners from the wine package. What are the chances there will be ample choices for dining times once we are on board? Can anyone attend the wine tasting (for a fee, I assume, if you don't have a package "deal"). We will be on a 14 day cruise. I'm not losing sleep over any of these decisions, but I am a planner by nature. LOL

 

Hard to say what the chances are for good ample choices for dining when you get on board. Pinnacle can be booked up or, have lots of openings. Seems to depend upon the cruise and the people on board.

 

What you may be able to do is substitute your booked PG dinner with the one in the Cellar Master package. If you book the Cellar Master, you will either have a notice to book in your room when you board or a reserved time. A trip to the PG to see about booking or changing the time would be in order on embarkation day.

 

Anyone can attend the wine tasting for a fee. You don't need to have the package to go.

[POA1]

Spellbound people: They make Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Syrah, and Merlot. Which is the one you like? I only ask because there should be a wide range in the tastes of those varietals.

[DaveOKC]

Navigator package - I usually get the Dreaming Tree Chardonnay.

[dillpickle48]

Spellbound Cab Sav for me and Dreaming Tree Chardonnay for my wife and we are both happy.;p

[KroozNut]

Navigator package - I usually get the Dreaming Tree Chardonnay.

 

That one is on my list! ;)

[3rdGenCunarder]

Spellbound Cab Sav for me and Dreaming Tree Chardonnay for my wife and we are both happy.;p

 

Those are the two wines we order most often. There's a Wente red that we like, too. Cab or Merlot, I forget. Sometimes I think I disappoint the wine waiter by ordering the same wines. I wonder if he/she walks away thinking some people have no imagination.

[KroozNut]

Sometimes I think I disappoint the wine waiter by ordering the same wines. I wonder if he/she walks away thinking some people have no imagination.

 

I hope not.. Because if so we'll probably really disappoint him/her! DW and I like the whites, and don't drink reds at all ( I know, I know..weird). So my 5 bottle Navigator package on our upcoming cruise will consist of 5 of the 6 whites offered - minus the Moscato. We're not into the really sweet wines..

[POA1]

I hope not.. Because if so we'll probably really disappoint him/her! DW and I like the whites, and don't drink reds at all ( I know, I know..weird). So my 5 bottle Navigator package on our upcoming cruise will consist of 5 of the 6 whites offered - minus the Moscato. We're not into the really sweet wines..

 

I'm pretty sure that they could care less. We bought a 3 bottle package as a fill-in when we realized that the wine we took on the cruise was not going to be sufficient. Our 3 bottles were all Franciscan Equilibrium and no one cared.