Advance apology-wine question

[mringenoldus]

We are on a 15-day Hawaii itinerary. My husband has become spoiled with drink packages - but this itinerary would be too costly. If he brings the two bottles of wine onboard in LA, can he purchase and keep two more when we port in Hawaii?

is it two bottles per cabin or per person?

Thanks for your patience (I have poor luck with searching for answers after the CC website changes)

Maureen

[Colo Cruiser]

5 minutes ago, mringenoldus said:

We are on a 15-day Hawaii itinerary. My husband has become spoiled with drink packages - but this itinerary would be too costly. If he brings the two bottles of wine onboard in LA, can he purchase and keep two more when we port in Hawaii?

is it two bottles per cabin or per person?

Thanks for your patience (I have poor luck with searching for answers after the CC website changes)

Maureen

You only get the exemption once at embarkation.

You could pay the corkage fee on all additional bottles.

Sometimes they are lax in ports and sometimes they are strict as far as the corkage.

No way to tell.

[Cruise Raider]

You can bring on as much wine / champagne as you'd like on embarkation.  You will only be asked to pay corkage on any bottles beyond the two bottles (one per person) regardless of where you intend to drink them.   They will place a sticker on these bottles and you can take them to the dining room with you if you choose.  

As of a few months ago, the corkage was $15 per bottle.  

They also have a wine package you can purchase onboard for cruises that are 10 or longer.  It's not a bad deal if the only alcoholic drink you have is wine.   

Whether or not you will be able to bring wine onboard while in a port of call is inconsistently enforced ... so can't give you a definite answer.  

[Astro Flyer]

I can only add that for me when bringing wine onboard from ports anywhere in the world we’re either charged when bringing it on the ship (rarely) or when we take it to enjoy in a dining room (nearly always).  Either way we plan on being charged $15/bottle for additional bottles of wine beyond one 750ml fee free bottle per adult passenger to drink in the cabin or to pay $15 to drink it elsewhere.

 

If considering a wine package here’s a link to a recent discussion about it:

 

 

[elliair]

When you get to port, purchase 2 bottles of wine and bring it back on board.  They might tell you to go over to the alcohol table, grab your bag and keep walking.  I believe Kauai has a Costco, that's where we purchased our wine.  DH brought a bottle on board and I brought a bottle in every port we stopped at.  We were told once on Carnival to go to the table.  There were a few sheeple waiting to turn in their alcohol.  Two little old ladies were standing in line to turn in their Tequila.  We tapped them on the shoulder and told them to follow us.  They were scared, but we told them "no worries."  They went up the stairs with us and on to their cabins - smiling all the way.

[mringenoldus]

As the OP, I truly do not want to be the reason for any contention - so while I appreciate any info please - no negativity!

 

Astro Flyer - the wine package is a great suggestion I hadn’t considered! When you purchase the program, are you allowed to have one of the bottles in the dining room perhaps keeping unused portions for another night?

 

Thanks, Maureen!

[echoshipmate]

Seems like there is always confusion about bring wine on board policy. As elite on princess and 4 star on HAL, it is always ok to bring as much wine onboard as you want. The first 2 bottles on the embarcation port are exempted, but you can take on as much as you want. You might be asked yo pay a corkage fee on any bottles more than the first 2 that are supposed to only be consumed in your cabin. We have regularly brought on bottles of wine in many ports of call, knowing we will be subject to paying a corkage fee. Most of the time when we take one to MDR or specialty restaurant we are charged, fair enough, as we should be. Moral of the story, if you enjoy your wine, bring on as much as you want in any port, including embarcation, just be prepared to pay a corkage fee on all but the first 2. Enjoy!

[h20vacations]

If you purchase a wine package are you only allowed to drink the bottles in the dining room or can they bring it to your cabin ?

 

[echoshipmate]

1 hour ago, h20vacations said:

If you purchase a wine package are you only allowed to drink the bottles in the dining room or can they bring it to your cabin ?

 

You can bring it to your cabin or wherever you want. As you prob know, they will hold it for you in MDR also. Your choice.

[mringenoldus]

2 hours ago, echoshipmate said:

You can bring it to your cabin or wherever you want. As you prob know, they will hold it for you in MDR also. Your choice.

Thank you for the info!

[mringenoldus]

3 hours ago, echoshipmate said:

Seems like there is always confusion about bring wine on board policy. As elite on princess and 4 star on HAL, it is always ok to bring as much wine onboard as you want. The first 2 bottles on the embarcation port are exempted, but you can take on as much as you want. You might be asked yo pay a corkage fee on any bottles more than the first 2 that are supposed to only be consumed in your cabin. We have regularly brought on bottles of wine in many ports of call, knowing we will be subject to paying a corkage fee. Most of the time when we take one to MDR or specialty restaurant we are charged, fair enough, as we should be. Moral of the story, if you enjoy your wine, bring on as much as you want in any port, including embarcation, just be prepared to pay a corkage fee on all but the first 2. Enjoy!

Thank you very much! If I buy the wine package, do you know if they still charge a corkage fee for those bottles?

[GUT2407]

Just now, mringenoldus said:

Thank you very much! If I buy the wine package, do you know if they still charge a corkage fee for those bottles?

No corkage on any wine you buy on the ship

[RMMariner]

The only problem with the wine package in our experience is that it does not transfer over to Vines. We like to drink wine and eat the Vine's sushi and tapas. You are supposed to buy your wine at Vines, and they do not accept the wine package. When we bought our wine package, we were told that it would be accepted at Vines. The people selling the packages misinformed us. We went to passenger service and they agreed to let us just carry wine over from the dining room, and the waiters at Vines served us sushi and tapas, but I am not sure if they will always let passengers do this.

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, mringenoldus said:

Thank you very much! If I buy the wine package, do you know if they still charge a corkage fee for those bottles?

No.

[trbarton]

9 hours ago, mringenoldus said:

We are on a 15-day Hawaii itinerary. My husband has become spoiled with drink packages - but this itinerary would be too costly. If he brings the two bottles of wine onboard in LA, can he purchase and keep two more when we port in Hawaii?

is it two bottles per cabin or per person?

Thanks for your patience (I have poor luck with searching for answers after the CC website changes)

Maureen

 

I have a new suggestion. Your cruise may have the BVE, Bon Voyage Experience, option which allows people to board the ship early, before other passengers, lunch in the MDR with a glass of wine. It cost $39 & if they book a cruise within 90 days they get the $ back as a credit. Now here’s your benefit...each person can bring with them 2 btls of wine because they don’t know they’re not on the cruise. I’ve done this before with no problems. 

 

Tom😀

[Astro Flyer]

6 hours ago, mringenoldus said:

Astro Flyer - the wine package is a great suggestion I hadn’t considered! When you purchase the program, are you allowed to have one of the bottles in the dining room perhaps keeping unused portions for another night?

 

Thanks, Maureen!

Yes Maureen...they will store remaining wine for another time.

 

You can also take a full or partially consumed bottle of wine to drink anywhere on the ship.

[jagoffee]

13 hours ago, RMMariner said:

The only problem with the wine package in our experience is that it does not transfer over to Vines. We like to drink wine and eat the Vine's sushi and tapas. You are supposed to buy your wine at Vines, and they do not accept the wine package. When we bought our wine package, we were told that it would be accepted at Vines. The people selling the packages misinformed us. We went to passenger service and they agreed to let us just carry wine over from the dining room, and the waiters at Vines served us sushi and tapas, but I am not sure if they will always let passengers do this.

Since the wine package states that it is not applicable to bars, just dining venues, it does seem like it should not be applicable in Vines.  Obviously some confusion by the person selling you the package.  I would hope the printed details with the package is clear.

[RMMariner]

The print is clear, but we did not read the print when we purchased it. We just took the salesperson's word. I am hoping it was an honest mistake by them. We know now, but it certainly diminishes the value of the package in our eyes.