Carry on wine in European Ports

[BlerkOne]

Can you carry on wine in European ports to consume in your cabin?

[john2003]

I think you can if you pay corkage. Also if you are on a HAL winery tour you used to be able to bring one bottle back without corkage.  

[kazu]

Yes, absolutely you can.  No problem at all.  You do need to pay the corkage fee but it can be worthwhile for some of the lovely European wines 😉 

 

You may hit the odd steward who will want to take it and hold until the end of the cruise (happened to us once), just say no thanks, we want to pay the corkage fee.  You just sign the slip and take your wine to your cabin.  They should give you a sticker and assuming they do, then it proves that the corkage has been paid and, if you want, you can take the bottle to a public venue like the MDR with no problem 🙂 

 

john2003 is correct on the HAL winery tour. 

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

Can you carry on wine in European ports to consume in your cabin?

And if your first embarkation is in a European port, you are able to bring onboard 1 x 700ml bottle of wine each (2 per stateroom) without paying the corkage.

[Ine]

From the HAL website: Wine and champagne bottles (no larger than 750ml) purchased in ports of call are welcome to be brought onboard subject to a US$18.00 (subject to change) corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Alternatively guests can choose to have these bottles stored and returned on the last evening of the voyage at no charge. 

[ottahand7]

Some of the duty free shops right off the ship in Spain and Portugal have very good selections to bring aboard.    In Leixos if you go to the Stock Exchange building there is a wonderful shop of Portuguese wines but they only take cash.   

[newtocruiseinblue]

My husband and I each brought on a bottle in Barcelona at embarkation that we purchased in a duty free shop at the port without paying corkage as others have mentioned. We were also able to bring on wine from a HAL excursion to a winery in France without paying the corkage fee as long as it was consumed in our cabin. It will note on your excursion if wine purchased during your excursion is exempt from the corkage fee. 

[BlerkOne]

 

 

Great news. Thank you. Have a cruise booked that includes an alcohol package, but the cruise price has dropped so much I think I'll switch to the lower price, forget the alcohol package and just pay corkage fees and for an occasional cocktail.

[VMax1700]

7 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

 

 

Great news. Thank you. Have a cruise booked that includes an alcohol package, but the cruise price has dropped so much I think I'll switch to the lower price, forget the alcohol package and just pay corkage fees and for an occasional cocktail.

Where do you embark and what ports do you visit?

fellow cruisers may be able to recommend locations for wine purchase.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Where do you embark and what ports do you visit?

fellow cruisers may be able to recommend locations for wine purchase.

 

RT from Venice. Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Crete...  Not the usual.

[DivotMaker]

23 hours ago, kazu said:

You just sign the slip and take your wine to your cabin.  They should give you a sticker and assuming they do, then it proves that the corkage has been paid and, if you want, you can take the bottle to a public venue like the MDR with no problem 🙂 

 

 

Thank you posting this.   We are planning to bring on several bottles of wine on our next cruise and I was wondering how they tracked the ones we paid a corkage fee for.