How strict is Windstar with the corkage fee

[drneal]

Does Windstar enforce the corkage fee for a bottle of wine that I bring to the dining room ?

[milepig]

Yes in the dining room or by the bar. We’ve been known to bring a bottle and glasses up on deck in the afternoon and no one has said a word, but I’d be happy to pay the corkage if anyone asked. 

[ducklite]

The corkage fee goes to help offset revenue the house loses with BYOB.  I've never had a problem with reasonable corkage.  When it starts to grow over about $20-25 it becomes unreasonable in most cases.

[Strenz]

We use our 2 bottle limit for champagne at sail aways, always happy to pay corkage fees,  the staff deserves it. Happy Sailing

[Misty Morning]

We have brought wine into the dining room a few times and they usually charge corkage.  A couple of times they told us it was $17 but they never charged it.

[milepig]

When we first started with WS we were in a different place financially and we bought as much wine on shore to cover afternoon drinks, etc. sometimes we’d grab a glass in the cabin, fully kosher. We might go back up top after dinner to a quiet spot on the deck with a glass. We would order a bottle with dinner. I found the prices high and the selection not go great. But we were spending too little time mingling and meeting fellow travelers. 

 

Fast forward. We’re more financially comfortable, the wine list has improved and with a nice range of prices. We just buy the package and don’t think about it. 

[Cometman]

We bring wine on board on every trip- rarely do we bring a bottle into the dining room- since we do the package, we order wine for meals. The wine we bring is for before dinner in the cabin or to refill our wine glass for an evening stroll around the ship.

[Misty Morning]

Cometman,

 

Why do you bring wine for your room if you’re on the package and have mini bar included?

[Cometman]

We bring some of our favorite wines on board- some higher ends wines that are not available on board. I also take some on winery tours and use them for trade for local wines.

[ducklite]

2 hours ago, Cometman said:

We bring some of our favorite wines on board- some higher ends wines that are not available on board. I also take some on winery tours and use them for trade for local wines.

What wines do you bring that other vintners want to trade for?  Sounds like it could be a plan.

[milepig]

21 minutes ago, ducklite said:

What wines do you bring that other vintners want to trade for?  Sounds like it could be a plan.

I'm really curious about this as well. That idea never occurred to me.

[Cometman]

I am a Sommelier, and I work with local wineries during their blending process to 'nail down' the desired wine that they want to produce. So I usually bring wines not normally available internationally for trade- and they in turn have offered me wines not normally for sale to tours.

 

I have also offered wine to crew members who show an interest in wine, and also WS now has SOMMs on board, for a bottle wine- they will take better care of you too....

[milepig]

3 minutes ago, Cometman said:

I am a Sommelier, and I work with local wineries during their blending process to 'nail down' the desired wine that they want to produce. So I usually bring wines not normally available internationally for trade- and they in turn have offered me wines not normally for sale to tours.

 

I have also offered wine to crew members who show an interest in wine, and also WS now has SOMMs on board, for a bottle wine- they will take better care of you too....

 

Are the SOMMs still around? There was no sign of them on our last two cruises. Given WSs middle of the road wine list they didn't actually serve much purpose.

[Cometman]

As far as I know- The SOMM that was on the Surf last summer I talked to a month ago and he was heading back out on another contract with WS. 

 

Their purpose is up-sale, and suggest wines for those that need assistance. They also track the wine inventory on the ship.

[ducklite]

25 minutes ago, Cometman said:

I am a Sommelier, and I work with local wineries during their blending process to 'nail down' the desired wine that they want to produce. So I usually bring wines not normally available internationally for trade- and they in turn have offered me wines not normally for sale to tours.

 

I have also offered wine to crew members who show an interest in wine, and also WS now has SOMMs on board, for a bottle wine- they will take better care of you too....

So you'd suggest bringing a bottle or two of my custom crush from Napa might be a good idea? 😉

 

I don't work in the trade these days, but I've got a few pins and pieces of paper that say (FWIW) that I'm a somm as well.  🙂

Edited June 17, 2019 by ducklite

[milepig]

3 hours ago, Cometman said:

As far as I know- The SOMM that was on the Surf last summer I talked to a month ago and he was heading back out on another contract with WS. 

 

Their purpose is up-sale, and suggest wines for those that need assistance. They also track the wine inventory on the ship.

 

Wait. After all these years you’re telling us that the purpose of a SOMM isn’t to find us the perfect wine for my meal regardless of price but rather to “up-sale”??

[Cometman]

LOL... yes the perfect wine at a good price....

[sb44]

15 hours ago, Cometman said:

LOL... yes the perfect wine at a good price....

You would have loved the very first James Beard cruise. The coast of Spain and the Spanish wines flowed freely every afternoon and evening.  Most not available outside of Europe from small old family vineyards.  Fantastic.  There will never be another quite like it. I think Windstar turned over control to the guest sommelier and he ordered nothing but the best. Probably not a profitable sailing for them but we loved every minute.  Oh, we were also buzzed by NATO jets that came right over the masts of the Surf. It was a sea day so pretty much everyone was on deck. The captain was not happy about that. I think they were checking out the wine!

Edited June 18, 2019 by sb44
typo

[milepig]

1 hour ago, sb44 said:

You would have loved the very first James Beard cruise. The coast of Spain and the Spanish wines flowed freely every afternoon and evening.  Most not available outside of Europe from small old family vineyards.  Fantastic.  There will never be another quite like it. I think Windstar turned over control to the guest sommelier and he ordered nothing but the best. Probably not a profitable sailing for them but we loved every minute.  Oh, we were also buzzed by NATO jets that came right over the masts of the Surf. It was a sea day so pretty much everyone was on deck. The captain was not happy about that. I think they were checking out the wine!

 

Not the James Beard, but we were on a wine and food themed cruise from - IIRC - Barcelona to Lisbon a few years back. It was on the Surf, and every afternoon we had a tasting in the big lounge which was FILLED with tables with more glassware than I've ever seen in my life. A very self-important SOMM discussed the four (or was it eight, things blurred) wines we were tasting, and then the wines re-appeared at dinner, in theory paired with the wines, WS did OK with that. The poor WS staff had no idea what they were pouring and you could easily wind up with a regular sized wine glass filled to the brim with sherry or some other heavy dessert wine. They just poured and poured and poured. At the tasting many people tried a couple and got bored and walked away leaving their untouched glasses of some really good stuff.  Let's just say it was good that none of us were driving. I still have the brochure somewhere - they were pouring really nice wines, some in the $100+ range for sure. Each night was regional based on where we were, and I sort of had the impression that local wine marketers brought them in, so I don't know how many WS actually purchased. Great fun - hic.

 

Most days there was a land tour included at no extra charge - a visit to a winery, something like that. They were OK.

[sb44]

1 hour ago, milepig said:

 

Not the James Beard, but we were on a wine and food themed cruise from - IIRC - Barcelona to Lisbon a few years back. It was on the Surf, and every afternoon we had a tasting in the big lounge which was FILLED with tables with more glassware than I've ever seen in my life. A very self-important SOMM discussed the four (or was it eight, things blurred) wines we were tasting, and then the wines re-appeared at dinner, in theory paired with the wines, WS did OK with that. The poor WS staff had no idea what they were pouring and you could easily wind up with a regular sized wine glass filled to the brim with sherry or some other heavy dessert wine. They just poured and poured and poured. At the tasting many people tried a couple and got bored and walked away leaving their untouched glasses of some really good stuff.  Let's just say it was good that none of us were driving. I still have the brochure somewhere - they were pouring really nice wines, some in the $100+ range for sure. Each night was regional based on where we were, and I sort of had the impression that local wine marketers brought them in, so I don't know how many WS actually purchased. Great fun - hic.

 

Most days there was a land tour included at no extra charge - a visit to a winery, something like that. They were OK.

We were on from 4/24/16 - 5/2/16, Lisbon to Barcelona including Morocco.  It was the inaugural James Beard Foundation sailing with Michel Nischan as the guest James Beard chef and Sommelier Steve Olsen aka "The Wine Geek".  Nick was still the Hotel Manager and Pedro Pinto the Captain.  The wine tastings were every afternoon with three full glasses and then more if anyone was so inclined. Then at dinner the crew asked if we wanted more of #1, 2 or 3!  The wines were pretty much spectacular.  The winery we visited was the Sa Cova Winery on Ibiza, family owned for 500+ years. There were Windstar and James Beard executives on board and everything was really first class. All in all, a spectacular trip.