Wine list

[drakes2]

9 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

I am not sure what ship you are sailing, but here is a link to photos of 41 pages of the wine list aboard Solstice during our cruise last month.  The link has the photos organized in 3 restaurant folders.  One for the Main Dining Room, one for Murano, and one for Tuscan Grille.  The lists overlap but there are different offerings unique to each restaurant from what I could see.

 

I love Caymus bought the half bottle at Xmas time for a splurge.  It sells for $25

a glass on the ship. 

[drakes2]

22 hours ago, Rosmerta said:

Does anyone have a Celebrity wine list they can upload, or post a link to. We have that classic package but are also coming from Paris, so I want to know if it’s worth bringing a couple of bottles and paying corkage— we aren’t snobs, appreciate almost everything we drink with food but do know our way around the vineyards.

I would definitely bring what you really enjoy from home as most likely the ship won't have it onboard. You can drink in your cabin and pour a glass there if you want to avoid corkage fee. 

[drakes2]

19 hours ago, davekathy said:

You can also request one from the stateroom attendant but those suck. 

Not only do they suck but they are also very small and when they are removed from room they come back with spots on them and not very clean. At least that was my experience. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

20 hours ago, davekathy said:

 If you bring your opened wine bottle into one of the dining venues it may be subject to the corkage fee. Also don't forget your corkscrew. You can also request one from the stateroom attendant but those suck. 

Would you happen to know if this corkage fee would apply to a bottle of wine acquired via the Drinks and More package?  We were considering bringing a bottle with us to dinner but I don't want to pay a corkage fee on top of what we've already paid for the package.

[mahdnc]

25 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I love Caymus bought the half bottle at Xmas time for a splurge.  It sells for $25

a glass on the ship. 

 The Special Selection offering is excellent, too!

 

[drakes2]

10 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Would you happen to know if this corkage fee would apply to a bottle of wine acquired via the Drinks and More package?  We were considering bringing a bottle with us to dinner but I don't want to pay a corkage fee on top of what we've already paid for the package.

Wine purchased through Celebrity or gifted by a TA is not subject to a corkage fee. There is always a card beside the wine stating that its complimentary and I always take it with me in case but never been asked for. 

[drakes2]

11 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 The Special Selection offering is excellent, too!

 

I'm sure its excellent but way over my price range and I'd probably spill it.  I enjoy La Crema pinot noir. Anyone know if I can purchase by the glass? A bottle onboard is $65.

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Would you happen to know if this corkage fee would apply to a bottle of wine acquired via the Drinks and More package?  We were considering bringing a bottle with us to dinner but I don't want to pay a corkage fee on top of what we've already paid for the package.

No. Any wine purchased on the ship or prior to the cruise thru Celebrity or a TA is not subject to the corkage fee. 🍷

Oops...just saw drakes 2 answered you. 

Edited February 2, 2020 by davekathy

[drakes2]

On 2/2/2020 at 11:56 AM, davekathy said:

No. Any wine purchased on the ship or prior to the cruise thru Celebrity or a TA is not subject to the corkage fee. 🍷

Oops...just saw drakes 2 answered you. 

Would anyone know if any ships carry Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay?  I have the Premium beverage and if not will have to bring a bottle onboard. I'm mostly a Cab drinker but I enjoy this with pasta dishes. I'm hoping the Apex will have it. 

Edited February 4, 2020 by drakes2
Spell

[Bo1953]

On 2/1/2020 at 1:37 PM, drakes2 said:

I also have the premium beverage package on next cruise and not thrilled about wine choices either. I'm sailing to the Mediterranean so was hoping for some nice Tuscan wine offerings but doesn't appear to be the case.

Pending on when you sail, things most definitely will change, either for the better or worse...

 

There may be availability which are not listed or ever be listed.

 

Just ask when boarding, especially in several different places.

 

Cheers and bon voyage

[drakes2]

22 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Pending on when you sail, things most definitely will change, either for the better or worse...

 

There may be availability which are not listed or ever be listed.

 

Just ask when boarding, especially in several different places.

 

Cheers and bon voyage

On the Apex Mediterranean cruise this May. I think 3rd or 4th sailing so hope they'll have worked out most of the kinks by then.

[George C]

On 2/2/2020 at 6:49 AM, drakes2 said:

I love Caymus bought the half bottle at Xmas time for a splurge.  It sells for $25

a glass on the ship. 

So with drink package you just pay 10 and tip 

[drakes2]

15 minutes ago, George C said:

So with drink package you just pay 10 and tip 

I think I'll do that probably have the Caymus when I have the prime rib. I have enough obc to cover and really dont spend elsewhere. 

[mahdnc]

5 hours ago, drakes2 said:

Would anyone know if any ships carry Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay?  I have the Premium beverage and if not will have to bring a bottle onboard. I'm mostly a Cab drinker but I enjoy this with pasta dishes. I'm hoping the Apex will have it. 

 

I don't remember seeing Sonoma-Cutrer listed on our Solstice cruise last month. 

 

Coincidentally, we did a vineyard tour there in Sep. They have a pair of very nicely manicured lawns for croquet which we had a chance to try out!

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2020 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

31 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I think I'll do that probably have the Caymus when I have the prime rib. I have enough obc to cover and really dont spend elsewhere. 

 

Incidentally, a glass of standard Caymus Cabernet was $34 during our Solstice cruise.  I am pretty sure that was the same price a year ago on Reflection.

[drakes2]

5 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Incidentally, a glass of standard Caymus Cabernet was $34 during our Solstice cruise.  I am pretty sure that was the same price a year ago on Reflection.

Wow. Did not know. In that case I guess I won't be paying the upcharge. I just bought 2 bottles of Freemark Abbey cab which was an overstock and discounted 30%  so will save one for onboard consumption.

[markeb]

10 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Incidentally, a glass of standard Caymus Cabernet was $34 during our Solstice cruise.  I am pretty sure that was the same price a year ago on Reflection.

 

 

Wow! I haven't jumped on one of these threads in a while, but retail on standard Caymus in Virginia is around $75/bottle. You usually figure break even by the glass at around 3 glasses, with the remaining 2-3 pours as profit (they're obviously not paying retail, either). They're breaking even at 2 glasses! That's kind of crazy.

[George C]

Last year they ran out of decoy in luminae and they gave us caymus at no charge.

[The Mommy]

Yes bring the wine with you, we had the premium package last week and were far from impressed with the wines generally available on the package.  We bought a bottle from the list but this can get expensive even with our Elite discount.

Bring with you and drink in the cabin if you don't want to pay corkage

[drakes2]

19 hours ago, markeb said:

 

Wow! I haven't jumped on one of these threads in a while, but retail on standard Caymus in Virginia is around $75/bottle. You usually figure break even by the glass at around 3 glasses, with the remaining 2-3 pours as profit (they're obviously not paying retail, either). They're breaking even at 2 glasses! That's kind of crazy.

On my most recent cruise Celebrity gifted me a bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon. It sells for $85 bottle on board. I just looked it up. Their cost is $15 a bottle which when I questioned the One Touch department I was told it's taken out of their budget not the TA's pocket.  So in effect they've already made a profit in under one glass.   With all the ships in their fleet they must be purchasing at warehouse prices. Anyone care to comment?

[Bo1953]

49 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

On my most recent cruise Celebrity gifted me a bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon. It sells for $85 bottle on board. I just looked it up. Their cost is $15 a bottle which when I questioned the One Touch department I was told it's taken out of their budget not the TA's pocket.  So in effect they've already made a profit in under one glass.   With all the ships in their fleet they must be purchasing at warehouse prices. Anyone care to comment?

To be sure, most speculation on what X pays for alcohol can be correct in all instances, no argument from me on this.

 

Yet, we sometimes forget that many other sales outlets (hotels, restaurants, resorts, etc.) for alcohol will have similar mark-ups on wines and other such beverages, some higher or lower than others.

 

It is best for each of us to decide if the 'mark-up' on these beverages is palatable for us to pay or not. No need to complain about the cost, same as for CBP and PBP are the beverages and their limits vs cost for each palatable for us as individuals and provide the best value.

 

The packages also, often, offer a discount on bottled wines, as well up to 25% or so pending on package purchased.

 

Cheers and bon voyage

Edited February 5, 2020 by Bo1953

[markeb]

The strange contradiction of usual restaurant pricing is the more expensive the wine at retail, the lower the markup (up to the point where you're getting into library and historic bottles, of course). So the $15-20 retail wine going for $80-85 a bottle is kind of normal. Divide that by 3 or 4 and you're at $20/glass, which is kind of normal ashore.

 

When you get up to $75 retail, you're usually looking at doubling the retail. I'm not a huge Caymus fan, so I haven't tracked the bottle price on ship (and we've had to delay a couple of recent cruises...), but I'd assume around $140-150, which would make the $34 kind of in line with breaking even at about 4 glasses. Listened to an interesting talk on the internet from one of the world's best sommeliers a couple of days ago where he recommended, with similar food options and wine preferences, always buy the bottle for at a table for four; you'll get a slight extra pour as there should be about 5 glasses in a bottle. Drink packages and bottle discounts on a ship make that harder to calculate.

 

Curiosity got the better of me and I just checked by the glass menus at a couple of Michelin starred places in Manhattan and getting to $34/glass without going to good champagne isn't easy...

[TorontoSailor]

My sense is that the wine prices on Celebrity have risen dramatically in the last few years. 

 

My suspicion is that this is because so many people have packages.

 

Will also be interesting to see what happens to prices if tariffs are placed on non-US wines, as the administration has been warning. I wonder if that will affect ship prices, too.

[drakes2]

1 minute ago, TorontoSailor said:

My sense is that the wine prices on Celebrity have risen dramatically in the last few years. 

 

My suspicion is that this is because so many people have packages.

 

Will also be interesting to see what happens to prices if tariffs are placed on non-US wines, as the administration has been warning. I wonder if that will affect ship prices, too.

I saw that on a wine segment I watched the other evening. The tariffs are going to be on wines from Europe. I'm there in May on the  Apex. 

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

When you get up to $75 retail, you're usually looking at doubling the retail. I'm not a huge Caymus fan, so I haven't tracked the bottle price on ship (and we've had to delay a couple of recent cruises...), but I'd assume around $140-150, which would make the $34 kind of in line with breaking even at about 4 glasses.

 

The bottle of Caymus regular cab that we bought last month on Solstice was $138 not including discounts nor gratuities.