Wine & Dine ... did you try it ?

[Charlo]

Hi everyone,

 

I remember that I saw somewhere in those threads that we could take a Wine & Dine ?

 

Somebody did take those ?

I want to know if it is a good package ?

 

Thank you and have a nice day !

 

Lou

[Laoghaire]

Hi...We were onboard the Empress OTS in December and bought the Diamond Wine and Dine package. We were very satisfied with the selections. I had a coupon from our travel agency where we got a free bottle of champagme the last night. I do have the list brochure, if you have any questions...Helen

[Charlo]

Thank you Helen,

So you recommend it.

I'm not sure that on BOS it is the same list but maybe it will be interesting if you have more information.

Cost, quality or which wine or anyting else.

 

Thank you again.

Lou

[ILoveScotland]

As a relative new cruiser who's booked on BOS next fall, what's Wine and Dine?

[MGoBlue2]

As a relative new cruiser who's booked on BOS next fall, what's Wine and Dine?

You buy a package which gets you a bottle of wine per evening on the ship. You have a limited but decent selection of wines and there are different quality level packages. You get around 40% off the regular per bottle price.

[Laoghaire]

Lou...Diamond Package:

5 bottles Value-$190 Package Price-$137

7 " Value-$266 Package Price-$189

12 " Value-$380 Package Price-$274

 

 

Platinum Package:

5 bottles Value-$185 Package-$125

7 " Value-$259 Package-$173

10 " Value-$370 Package-$250

 

Gold Package:

5 bottles Value-$165 Package-$113

7 " Value-$231 Package-$158

10 " Value-$330 Package-$226

 

Hard to give you the wines, but if you tell me what--white or red, I can give you some of them...Helen

[sweetpea916]

I posted the same question a while back and got a great response. Click on this link and look at the 9th post to the thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=265420

[zotzer]

If you are a person who likes to drink wine with dinner (as am I), the Wine and Dine is the way to go. The selection is *okay* albeit overpriced, yet wine will be even MORE overpriced if you don't do the Wine and Dine.

 

A friend and I are going in June, and I plan to talk to the ship's cellar master and see if there are any interesting "off menu" wines to try, so we may get a small package for the two of us and try some more expensive wines, if they have any available.

 

Does anyone know if they keep any "special" wines on the ships? (we are going on the Freedom, so I know there won't be a ship-specific answer)

 

Tracy

[warrior planner]

It is a great way to go. If you are concerned you may not finish the bottle in one night, it will be waiting for you at your table the next night.

My family and I took my parents last month. My mother and oldest daughter only like the sweet wines, my Father, Husband and I like a good dry red or a great light white. So we got a package and got wines for everyone. Now other then my mother/daughter, we have no problem finishing a bottle over dinner, but if my mother/daughter did not finish theirs, it was waiting on ice at the table the next night.

It was a great way to go. You can even choose the wine you would like that night. So do not think you have to pre-choose the exact wine for each night ahead of time.

Have fun.

[Jspang911]

Are you able to use the "wine & dine" at Portofino's?

[PH8]

Are you able to use the "wine & dine" at Portofino's?

 

Yes, we were able to..........there and Chops...............

[Jspang911]

Thanks!

[shrek]

We have used the Wine and Dine each time we have sailed and it works for us. You should know that there is a limited selection to choose from and sometimes near the end of the cruise they run out of the more popular choices, but they will substitute other wines into the package if that happens.

[MGoBlue2]

Also, even though it's called Wine and Dine, in reality you purchased X bottles of wine and can get them at any time/place where you can normally get a bottle of wine (not sure about room service).

[terri23]

We were just on splendour and they offered two packages - gold and platinum. The selections were much more limited than on our cruise in February. You could save up to 25% on certain gold package bottles but there was little to no savings on the diamond package bottles (DH is an accountant and did an analysis before he got into full vacation mode ;)). We decided it was better to go with the regular wine list.

[Aubiecruiser]

Are you able to use the "wine & dine" at Portofino's?

 

We also used ours in the Windjammer the one night we decided to eat very casual.

Aubie

[CruisingCatherine]

If you purchase a more expensive package are you allowed to choose bottles included in a lower price package?

 

I love Pinot Noir and would like to try them all but they are in different packages.

[critterchick]

We used the wine & dine from room service when we were on Radiance. The woman who delivered the wine had to take the card (it was a punch card) back to room service to get it punched and then return it, so it was a little cumbersome, but it worked.

 

They only offered one package on that trip, and it was any wine up to $35/btl on the wine list. There were several bottles in each category, but as many (including me) have said before, the wines are horribly overpriced. At least you get a bit of a discount. Although we could use the package in Chops or Portofino's, Chops had few wines under $35 on their list, so we ended up going "off package" when we had dinner there. $42 for a bottle of Domaine Chandon sparkling wine, grrr.

 

I don't think we'll do it again - we felt as if we "had" to order wine every night whether we wanted to or not. I've read that you can take bottles off the ship with you if you don't drink them all, but it hardly seems worth the effort. I'd rather use my duty free on something else.;)

[ILoveScotland]

Thanks for all the great answers about Wine and Dine. My husband and I prefer white wine, but not dry white wine. Reisling is our favorite, but there are others we also like--just not chardonnay. He also likes white zinfindel which I can take or leave. And then occasionally we like a merlot. It looks like we'll have plenty of options.

 

I also like the fact that if we don't drink a whole bottle the remainder will be waiting for us at the next dinner. On my only major cruise line so far we had the option of taking any wine we didn't drink back to our room, but I like the RCCL way better. Of course, truth is, there's rarely any wine left in the bottle to keep. ;)

[Disneycruisers]

I'm glad I'm reading this thread as we're traveling with another family in March, and DH and his friend are talking about 'splitting' a wine package. I don't drink wine every night, (most nights I just prefer iced tead) and DH would probably on ly have two glasses, max. Would it be less expensive to order by the glass?

[Nanatravel]

For your consumption rate it would probably be cheaper to just buy your wine by the glass and when you want. The minimum package is 5 bottles. For us he likes red/I like white and we will share a sparkling bottle, this has been a decent value.

Bon Voyage

[wastin' away]

I've heard that you can take the bottle back to your room with you or leave it with your waiter for the next night. I haven't cruised yet so I can't speak from experience, but if you are interested in taking it back to your room, just ask. From what I've read, shouldn't be a problem.

[critterchick]

I often prefer red & DH prefers white, so sometimes we each order a bottle and have a glass or two with dinner, saving the rest until another night.

[Barb_and_Sean]

We did the Wine & Dine on our Navigator cruise in December. We chose the Platinum (middle) package and enjoyed it. That said, I should state that my husband and I are not wine snobs. We enjoy wine but don't really care that much about whether it's a vintage grape from the mountains of France or whatnot. We just like a nice glass of wine from time to time, and if that's the case for you then it's definitely a nice package to try out.

[Jarronwood]

On this wine thread, am I correct in thinking then that you choose your package and then from that package you can choose whatever you want and if you want to have 3 bottles one night you just go ahead and do it? And if you want, you can carry your bottle around with you from bar to bar?

 

Now please folks I dont want you getting the idea I am a "lush", in fact what I mean is can I order a bottle from my chosen package say in one of the bars and then carry it with me to the dining room and then after dining again carry it to another bar? And if I happen to "share" my bottle with someone can I order another one (obviously so long as I have still got bottles available in my package)?