Examples of Included Wines

[Mahogany]

I'm trying to decide whether to purchase the  Beverage Package. Can anyone give me some examples of the wines included with lunch and dinner?

[philw1776]

At all fussy or discriminating about wines?  Buy the package.  You also get the special wine pairings at the Chef's Table that us plebeians must pay $25 per person to get.

Disclosure: I never buy it.  Have bought wife a couple glasses of different wines a la carte & myself a couple Bombay Sapphire martinis.  Maybe $50 bar bill for 7night cruise.

[worldtraveler1234]

The house wines served are drinkable and they are plentiful at lunch and dinner.They have both red and white and change the offering a few times during the cruise.  Both passengers in the room have to purchase the package. The available package wines are a definite upgrade, especially in the restaurants. Viking does not show a wine list on the MVJ site. The Bar drink menu is available. The specialty restaurants charge $25/pp for the wine parings if you don't have the package.The house wines are offered free. We usually have a drink before dinner so about 2 drinks a day is the break even point even without the specialty wine parings. We have found that the beverage package works well for us.

 

If you only have wine with meals and are to choosy the package would not be worth while.

[ropomo]

Everyone's opinion will vary.  We had the package on our last VO cruise (free perk when booking).  Some nights the standard offerings were fine and we did not venture into the "optional" wines.  However, there were several nights that the offered white was cloyingly sweet and we moved to the "list" (you can always taste the free offering and  move on).  Depending on your tastes, you can gamble that most of the time the offerings will suit your taste if you are not looking for a stellar vintage, and if not, pay by the glass and probably work out for you if your bar visits are primarily limited to meal times.  One advantage to being satisfied with the standard offering is that you will have your first glass filled quicker.  Subsequent glasses are quicker since they stage a bottle of your choice near you.

[deec]

I have solved the problem of "waiting" for the upgraded wine by bringing a glass of wine or a cocktail from the bar into the dining venue....no more waiting while others at the table are served the "included" wine. 

[SrCruizer]

Have done 3 VO cruises & opted for the spirits package once to try it out. We are primarily wine drinkers and concluded that we couldn’t justify $50/day. Since Viking allowed us to bring our own wine aboard, we often bought a bottle or 2 in various ports along the way. Our stateroom attendant provided wine glasses. We often poured a glass & went to other locations around the ship. Also took a bottle into The Restaurant which they gladly opened. I get the impression that many of the package participants take advantage of having cocktails anytime of the day or night. I will also mention that the included wines change and for me personally, I found some wines clearly better than others.

[beanpittsburgh]

I have never purchased the Silver Spirits Package and really don't see the need to, especially if you are a wine drinker.   We consider ourselves "wine snobs" .  We have found the house wines to be okay with usually very little variety from day to day.  However, depending on your cruise, you should be in some great wine countries.  Purchase a wine or 2 from each port and bring them on board.  The steward will even be happy to decant them for you.  You will save more than the $25 pp by doing this since you probably wouldn't do this everyday

[zitsky]

Something I've wondered about.  If you pay for a glass of the optional wine, do you have the problem of the waiter trying to refill your glass with the included wine?  Or are the waiters pretty much on top of things?

[ropomo]

They switch out the glass to a different style so as to not get confused.

[zitsky]

Great idea.  Very simple.

 

[rudychance]

But they use the dreaded stemless glasses at the Chef's Table if you don't have the Silver Spirits package or upgrade for the wine pairings.   At least, that was our experience on the Sky when we decided not to purchase either on the January,  2018 sailing.   Not the case on the Sea in 2017 when we had shipboard credit and chose the SS pck.   Any feedback on other ships/sailings?

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, rudychance said:

But they use the dreaded stemless glasses at the Chef's Table if you don't have the Silver Spirits package or upgrade for the wine pairings.   At least, that was our experience on the Sky when we decided not to purchase either on the January,  2018 sailing.   Not the case on the Sea in 2017 when we had shipboard credit and chose the SS pck.   Any feedback on other ships/sailings?

 

Not experience but a question if I may.  I've found stemless can be good if the right size and shape.  But obviously you didn't find them very good.  They have a bad reputation? 

[ropomo]

3 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Not experience but a question if I may.  I've found stemless can be good if the right size and shape.  But obviously you didn't find them very good.  They have a bad reputation? 

 

Personal opinion.  Some feel the stemless glassware forces you to hold the glass by the globe and transfers body temp to wine and creating an issue vs. holding by stem and not imparting body heat.  Personally, I don't think that any wine that Viking pours will be affected by either.

[rudychance]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

 

Not experience but a question if I may.  I've found stemless can be good if the right size and shape.  But obviously you didn't find them very good.  They have a bad reputation? 

No bad reputation,  just like holding the stem; more enjoyable for us 🍷😁

 

[Dauntless]

8 hours ago, rudychance said:

No bad reputation,  just like holding the stem; more enjoyable for us 🍷😁

 

 

But the wine should taste the same if it's from the box, bottle or glass.

[beanpittsburgh]

I never let the wine stay in the stemless glass long enough to warm up.

[Mahogany]

Can you switch to the Beverage Package mid-cruise and pay a pro-rated amount?

[philw1776]

55 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

Can you switch to the Beverage Package mid-cruise and pay a pro-rated amount?

 

Yes & no.

Yes you can switch. No it's not pro-rated.

You can wait and buy it day one after you board and enjoy it for the entire cruise.

Edited May 10, 2019 by philw1776

[broker1217]

While we enjoy fine wines, we are somewhat flexible. For $20/day it was worth it to have some options.

For example, one day the included (free) red wine with lunch and dinner was Merlot. That's a no-go for us. Some days the white wine was Sauvignon Blanc, sometimes a blend. Usually okay. But you never know when they will change the selections and sometimes they were not something we would drink.

We did a TA in 2018 and one in 2019. The difference was that this year, they had a hard bound wine folder for the beverage package. In 2018 I think we got a piece of paper with the optional wines. Many times it was a struggle to get one of the optional wines.

We found the training and the process much improved this year. Sit down and request the wine list. They will present the wine list and typically the person with 'Wine Steward" name pin will handle your wine selection and serving. You will get a stemmed glass. This was true even in the World Cafe when we were dining al fresco. Previously the servers seemed confused by the optional wines and we would have long waits to get our wine.

It depends on personal preference, of course, and if you are in ports where you may choose to purchase a bottle of local wine. We were on a TA with 8-10 sea days so we chose to have a bigger choice of wines. Plus that gave us a 15% discount on their Cristal which was extremely well priced (far below what we pay at Costco).

[zitsky]

I'm curious why you don't drink Merlot.  Too light?  Just don't like the taste?  Maybe Viking's choices are not very good?

[jasardeax]

I, like

Miles Raymond and 

Broker 127 +,

don’t like Merlot. 

 

[broker1217]

12 hours ago, zitsky said:

I'm curious why you don't drink Merlot.  Too light?  Just don't like the taste?  Maybe Viking's choices are not very good?

 

Just personal preference---DH prefers Pinot Noir and Cabs, or red blends. He finds Merlot sort of flavorless, although we have had a few that were okay. 

Everyones taste in wine varies so it was better for us to have more options.

 

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, broker1217 said:

 

Just personal preference---DH prefers Pinot Noir and Cabs, or red blends. He finds Merlot sort of flavorless, although we have had a few that were okay. 

Everyones taste in wine varies so it was better for us to have more options.

 

 

Oh absolutely.  I'm always disappointed when I go to a restaurant and only see a few wine choices by the glass.  I rarely order a bottle.

[irishwitchy]

On 5/8/2019 at 7:14 AM, Dauntless said:

 

But the wine should taste the same if it's from the box, bottle or glass.

Not true at all.   Get a bottle of any wine and taste from a plastic cup,  the correct wine glass for the type of wine and the incorrect wine glass for the wine and that wine will taste a bit different.  It has to do with how the wine hits your tongue.  Mind you if jug wine is your go to,  the glass isn’t going to make a difference.  I also don’t like Merlot, I like red, big and bold in most cases.  

[zitsky]

18 minutes ago, irishwitchy said:

Not true at all.   Get a bottle of any wine and taste from a plastic cup,  the correct wine glass for the type of wine and the incorrect wine glass for the wine and that wine will taste a bit different.  It has to do with how the wine hits your tongue.  Mind you if jug wine is your go to,  the glass isn’t going to make a difference.  I also don’t like Merlot, I like red, big and bold in most cases.  

 

I never believed this until I tried some really good stemless glasses from a winery.