Uograde to Premium Beverage Package not worth the money

[Seacrab]

3 hours ago, Mark_T said:

Our next cruise is Australia &  New Zealand, no idea how we we will get decent wine being so far from California 🙂...

 

 

We sailed around France, Portugal and Spain and all they could find was £4.99 supermarket wine 🤔

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, Seacrab said:

We sailed around France, Portugal and Spain and all they could find was £4.99 supermarket wine 🤔

The frustrating thing is they do seem to be very tied to a very limited range of wines and fail to take advantage of where they are in the world at the time when they are running out of their standard offerings...

[markeb]

4 hours ago, zitsky said:

I would be interested to know which wines (by name) you found acceptable?

 

I'd be interested to know which wines were acceptable and unacceptable.

 

There's tremendous variability in people's taste preferences in wine. I read threads like this and wines get mentioned that everyone loves, and they're just not my style. And vice versa. A simple exaggeration: It's probably a dated list, and availability is an issue, but one of the lists from Edge has 3 Sauvignon Blancs by the glass. The ones in the premium package and on the elevated list are from Marlborough, a style that's generally very popular. I land somewhere between not my style and vehemently dislike that entire style. I know them well enough that I might recommend one with the caveat of "if you really like strong citrus" (I usually find a grapefruit note), but I don't choose them for myself. 

 

And congratulations to those who aren't seeing supply chain issues with wine and spirts. Not the case in Virginia.

[zitsky]

31 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

I'd be interested to know which wines were acceptable and unacceptable.

 

There's tremendous variability in people's taste preferences in wine. I read threads like this and wines get mentioned that everyone loves, and they're just not my style. And vice versa. A simple exaggeration: It's probably a dated list, and availability is an issue, but one of the lists from Edge has 3 Sauvignon Blancs by the glass. The ones in the premium package and on the elevated list are from Marlborough, a style that's generally very popular. I land somewhere between not my style and vehemently dislike that entire style. I know them well enough that I might recommend one with the caveat of "if you really like strong citrus" (I usually find a grapefruit note), but I don't choose them for myself. 

 

And congratulations to those who aren't seeing supply chain issues with wine and spirts. Not the case in Virginia.

 

What do you think about Sauvignon Blanc from California?  Yes I find a lot of citrus in NZ SB but I like it.  I really enjoy Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc (Sauv Blanc).

[Whinenowine]

48 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

I land somewhere between not my style and vehemently dislike that entire style. I know them well enough that I might recommend one with the caveat of "if you really like strong citrus" (I usually find a grapefruit note), but I don't choose them for myself. 

 

And congratulations to those who aren't seeing supply chain issues with wine and spirts. Not the case in Virginia.

 

What, Markeb?! You don't like the smell of citric cat pee?! 🤣 

 

Personally, my SB tastes tend towards Sancerre but I'm fine with both CA SB and NZ SB.  I sympathize with the above wine frustrations many have stated.  I was also on the Edge last month and I agree the one wine I could consistently find was a SB...but all 4 of the cabs I ordered (even the $25/glass) were out.  I'm BYO'ing 2 good bottles of Bordeaux for my August cruise on the Millie to ensure I'm covered for my 2 Tuscan Grill nights. First time I'm doing this.

 

Agreed, NJ is like VA, often hard to find your booze of choice...I mostly drink wine and bourbon, both of which flew off the shelves pre-pandemic too.  So years ago I sucked it up and began stockpiling both.  My friends laughed at me then...but who's laughing now?!  (actually they're still laughing b/c now they just come over and drink all my stuff!).

 

[markeb]

29 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

What do you think about Sauvignon Blanc from California?  Yes I find a lot of citrus in NZ SB but I like it.  I really enjoy Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc (Sauv Blanc).

 

It's funny. I've had them that I like from California, Italy, France (Bordeaux), etc. It's just that one style that I've never cared for. 

[Whinenowine]

29 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

What do you think about Sauvignon Blanc from California?  Yes I find a lot of citrus in NZ SB but I like it.  I really enjoy Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc (Sauv Blanc).

 

Zitsky--if you don't mind forking over a wad of cash, then the Peter Michael and Araujo SBs are very good (to my palate).  Sorry I've not had that Ferrari Carano since I was last at the winery (in 1997!).

[zitsky]

8 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

 

Zitsky--if you don't mind forking over a wad of cash, then the Peter Michael and Araujo SBs are very good (to my palate).  Sorry I've not had that Ferrari Carano since I was last at the winery (in 1997!).

Thanks.  Those might be out of my budget.

[markeb]

7 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

 

What, Markeb?! You don't like the smell of citric cat pee?! 🤣 

 

Personally, my SB tastes tend towards Sancerre but I'm fine with both CA SB and NZ SB.  I sympathize with the above wine frustrations many have stated.  I was also on the Edge last month and I agree the one wine I could consistently find was a SB...but all 4 of the cabs I ordered (even the $25/glass) were out.  I'm BYO'ing 2 good bottles of Bordeaux for my August cruise on the Millie to ensure I'm covered for my 2 Tuscan Grill nights. First time I'm doing this.

 

Agreed, NJ is like VA, often hard to find your booze of choice...I mostly drink wine and bourbon, both of which flew off the shelves pre-pandemic too.  So years ago I sucked it up and began stockpiling both.  My friends laughed at me then...but who's laughing now?!  (actually they're still laughing b/c now they just come over and drink all my stuff!).

 

 

SB falls into my "wines I enjoy, but don't put much thought into" category. I can handle a nice Burgundian or Oregon chard, and most Washington State chardonnays, but we've drifted to a lot of Italians that we taste, buy, drink and move on (and can't pronounce the grape), along with Grüner Veltliner, and Albarino lately. Usually no specific maker or vintage. Just something we find we like and buy a few bottles. Other than Sohm & Kracher Grüner Veltliner, which I need to try to find somewhere other than his wine bar in Manhattan!

 

And I'm drifting into a post Cabernet sauvignon world on reds. Although I have a basement full of them...

[cruisebeachgirl703]

6 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

I would be interested to know which wines (by name) you found acceptable?

 

I think for the price we all pay for a cruise, suite or not, you expect something better.  This thread is very depressing as I'll be in Europe in September.  I don't usually buy bottles on board but I will if I have to.  I have heard there are some places in Europe that make wine?

 

The champagne in Luminae  it was GH Mumm cordon rouge and in Retreat Lounge it was Heidsick Monopole Blue were unsatisfactory.

It was the premium beverage package. The 1 rose and 3 whites in the Retreat Lounge were everything available and I  didnt look at the labels. Supply,  quality and availability has changed since our last cruise in September 2021.

Edited May 24, 2022 by cruisebeachgirl703
missing words

[zitsky]

55 minutes ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

 

The champagne in Luminae  it was GH Mumm cordon rouge and in Retreat Lounge it was Heidsick Monopole Blue were unsatisfactory.

It was the premium beverage package. The 1 rose and 3 whites in the Retreat Lounge were everything available and I  didnt look at the labels. Supply,  quality and availability has changed since our last cruise in September 2021.

Interesting.  Maybe buying a bottle is what I should do.  I’m dining in Blu.

[81Zoomie]

We were on the Reflection in April with the premium package.  We were willing to pay the up charge for a glass of Opulence Cab.  We were made to feel like they were doing us a real favor by serving it to us.  In Murano, the story was, “We will have it tomorrow.”  No decent red wine in Michael’s.  They were out of Decoy which was the best of the rest.  The wine stewards always had a fistful of classic wines they were willing to pour, but premium reds by the glass were scarce.

[Whinenowine]

2 hours ago, markeb said:

And I'm drifting into a post Cabernet sauvignon world on reds. Although I have a basement full of them...

 

Do what I did and sell some of that basement juice--that's what paid for my August Millie cruise! 😎

 

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, 81Zoomie said:

We were on the Reflection in April with the premium package.  We were willing to pay the up charge for a glass of Opulence Cab.  We were made to feel like they were doing us a real favor by serving it to us.  In Murano, the story was, “We will have it tomorrow.”  No decent red wine in Michael’s.  They were out of Decoy which was the best of the rest.  The wine stewards always had a fistful of classic wines they were willing to pour, but premium reds by the glass were scarce.

That was the issue I had with them running out of Decoy which was the only half decent cab on the premium list. I mainly paid the $12 per day upcharge for some nicer wines and they kept offering basic  package wines. The sommeliers were probably told not to offer anything greater in value than $14 a glass which is downright wrong and very cheap. Celebrity should be ashamed of themselves. 

[maggie.1008]

I won’t be upgrading to the premium package. I will bring wine to enjoy at lunch and dinner . Maybe that’s what X wants? Can bring 4 bottles per cabin now, or is it 2 pp?

[padgman1]

In reading the responses in this thread, several things stand out...

 

(1) Celebrity is having difficulty keeping stock of wines listed on menu, esp. in Premium range. This is probably both a supply chain issue for these wines along with a Celebrity procurement problem. It would be nice to know the REAL issue. Perhaps Celebrity needs to hire a negociant ( or several negociants) for the company to alleviate this problem.

 

(2) Different ships have different stock available ( or not available). This sounds like a Celebrity supply side issue. Ships within Celebrity should be able to replenish their stocks relatively equally if managed appropriately. Anyone with said experience in such matters want to apply for this position?

 

(3) Many people have the same preferred taste in wine - Cab Sauvignon for red, Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay for white, good French champagne. This greatly limits choices for said people as most gravitate to the same reds/whites which then leads to severe shortages or outages.

 

(4) Many people who enjoy wine, esp. those posting on this thread, enjoy relatively expensive wines, listing for $40 and up for reds and $25 and up for whites. Cruise ships will NEVER stock (many/any) wines in this price range for general consumption on included wine lists. Please look on all the luxury line threads concerning this and they all " whine" about this as well.

 

Suggestions....

 

(1) Bring your own. With the recent increase from 2 bottles per cabin to 2 bottles per person noted on the website by others, this will help individual situations. Of course, you still need to open the bottles in your room to avoid the corkage surcharge...

 

(2) Pay the upcharge for wines offered that are in your preferred taste profile. Somewhat of a pain, but at least you get to enjoy what you WANT.

 

(3) Branch out and try something new or different. What do you have to lose if it is on the included lists? Contrary to others' opinions, there are drinkable, even enjoyable wines on the included lists - they are just not "the usual suspects."

 

(4) Retreat/suite cruisegoers, ask the Luminae sommelier what they can get for you by the glass in your taste profile. They have more leeway to offer wines "off the printed menu" that may be in limited stock for per glass consumption.

 

(5) Get a bottle of "the good stuff" off the menu. It's vacation !

 

 

Maybe the Food and Beverage Manager on each ship could give a lecture on how food and beverages are currently procured so everyone interested would know a little more about the process ( and how difficult it may be to stock favorite wines).

[Mark_T]

32 minutes ago, padgman1 said:

Of course, you still need to open the bottles in your room to avoid the corkage surcharge...

 

"Guests are not permitted to bring alcoholic beverages onboard; with the exception of embarkation day when each guests are permitted to bring onboard with them up to two (2) bottles of wine (which are subject to a corkage fee) per guest. A corkage fee does not apply to guests with the Classic Beverage Package or Premium Beverage Package."

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, padgman1 said:

In reading the responses in this thread, several things stand out...

 

(1) Celebrity is having difficulty keeping stock of wines listed on menu, esp. in Premium range. This is probably both a supply chain issue for these wines along with a Celebrity procurement problem. It would be nice to know the REAL issue. Perhaps Celebrity needs to hire a negociant ( or several negociants) for the company to alleviate this problem.

 

(2) Different ships have different stock available ( or not available). This sounds like a Celebrity supply side issue. Ships within Celebrity should be able to replenish their stocks relatively equally if managed appropriately. Anyone with said experience in such matters want to apply for this position?

 

(3) Many people have the same preferred taste in wine - Cab Sauvignon for red, Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay for white, good French champagne. This greatly limits choices for said people as most gravitate to the same reds/whites which then leads to severe shortages or outages.

 

(4) Many people who enjoy wine, esp. those posting on this thread, enjoy relatively expensive wines, listing for $40 and up for reds and $25 and up for whites. Cruise ships will NEVER stock (many/any) wines in this price range for general consumption on included wine lists. Please look on all the luxury line threads concerning this and they all " whine" about this as well.

 

Suggestions....

 

(1) Bring your own. With the recent increase from 2 bottles per cabin to 2 bottles per person noted on the website by others, this will help individual situations. Of course, you still need to open the bottles in your room to avoid the corkage surcharge...

 

(2) Pay the upcharge for wines offered that are in your preferred taste profile. Somewhat of a pain, but at least you get to enjoy what you WANT.

 

(3) Branch out and try something new or different. What do you have to lose if it is on the included lists? Contrary to others' opinions, there are drinkable, even enjoyable wines on the included lists - they are just not "the usual suspects."

 

(4) Retreat/suite cruisegoers, ask the Luminae sommelier what they can get for you by the glass in your taste profile. They have more leeway to offer wines "off the printed menu" that may be in limited stock for per glass consumption.

 

(5) Get a bottle of "the good stuff" off the menu. It's vacation !

 

 

Maybe the Food and Beverage Manager on each ship could give a lecture on how food and beverages are currently procured so everyone interested would know a little more about the process ( and how difficult it may be to stock favorite wines).

Your idea of what is expensive is pretty low.  I want Celebrity to offer alternate wines if normal ones are not available.  Not cheaper.  Comparable.  Frankly it’s not my job to bring wine because they can’t solve their problem.

[D C]

5 hours ago, padgman1 said:

In reading the responses in this thread, several things stand out...

 

(1) Celebrity is having difficulty keeping stock of wines listed on menu, esp. in Premium range. This is probably both a supply chain issue for these wines along with a Celebrity procurement problem. It would be nice to know the REAL issue. Perhaps Celebrity needs to hire a negociant ( or several negociants) for the company to alleviate this problem.

 

(2) Different ships have different stock available ( or not available). This sounds like a Celebrity supply side issue. Ships within Celebrity should be able to replenish their stocks relatively equally if managed appropriately. Anyone with said experience in such matters want to apply for this position?

 

(3) Many people have the same preferred taste in wine - Cab Sauvignon for red, Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay for white, good French champagne. This greatly limits choices for said people as most gravitate to the same reds/whites which then leads to severe shortages or outages.

 

(4) Many people who enjoy wine, esp. those posting on this thread, enjoy relatively expensive wines, listing for $40 and up for reds and $25 and up for whites. Cruise ships will NEVER stock (many/any) wines in this price range for general consumption on included wine lists. Please look on all the luxury line threads concerning this and they all " whine" about this as well.

 

Suggestions....

 

(1) Bring your own. With the recent increase from 2 bottles per cabin to 2 bottles per person noted on the website by others, this will help individual situations. Of course, you still need to open the bottles in your room to avoid the corkage surcharge...

 

(2) Pay the upcharge for wines offered that are in your preferred taste profile. Somewhat of a pain, but at least you get to enjoy what you WANT.

 

(3) Branch out and try something new or different. What do you have to lose if it is on the included lists? Contrary to others' opinions, there are drinkable, even enjoyable wines on the included lists - they are just not "the usual suspects."

 

(4) Retreat/suite cruisegoers, ask the Luminae sommelier what they can get for you by the glass in your taste profile. They have more leeway to offer wines "off the printed menu" that may be in limited stock for per glass consumption.

 

(5) Get a bottle of "the good stuff" off the menu. It's vacation !

 

 

Maybe the Food and Beverage Manager on each ship could give a lecture on how food and beverages are currently procured so everyone interested would know a little more about the process ( and how difficult it may be to stock favorite wines).

 

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

Your idea of what is expensive is pretty low.  I want Celebrity to offer alternate wines if normal ones are not available.  Not cheaper.  Comparable.  Frankly it’s not my job to bring wine because they can’t solve their problem.

Not quite sure what you mean, since they didn't call anything "expensive". 

 

We do know that Celebrity's version of expensive/premium is roughly $15-20/bottle at US retail prices. This is where we find the oft mentioned Decoy Cab Sauv.  It's clear that some people think this is an inferior, undrinkable wine for whatever reason, while plenty of people think it's a nice Cab Sauv and worth the upgrade package price.   Those who consider it "undrinkable" probably shouldn't be stooping as low as the premium package.

 

That aside, no other industry I can think of would be so bold as to say "we know YOU PAID US EXTRA for product A, but we're out of that so we're going to substitute product B that you could have had without paying a premium". The near-universal solution would be to offer the next higher option as it's clearly not the customer's fault that a product discrepancy exists. 

 

[cmoore5524]

Has anyone considered emailing Celebrity’s CEO at llutoff-perlo@celebritycruises.com to express their dissatisfaction with the current quality and shortage of wines in the premium package?  If it’s that big of an issue, then top management needs to be made aware of it. 

Edited May 26, 2022 by cmoore5524

[drakes2]

8 hours ago, cmoore5524 said:

Has anyone considered emailing Celebrity’s CEO at llutoff-perlo@celebritycruises.com to express their dissatisfaction with the current quality and shortage of wines in the premium package?  If it’s that big of an issue, then top management needs to be made aware of it. 

@cmoore5524I'm afraid it will fall upon deaf ears. I'll just bring my own wine from home and skip the AI package unless, of course, the price difference between the sail only and AI is minimal. Just yesterday I scored 2 bottles of Austin Hope cab which were in limited quantities and extremely hard to find, one will be traveling with me on my next cruise. 

[zitsky]

10 hours ago, D C said:

 

Not quite sure what you mean, since they didn't call anything "expensive". 

 

We do know that Celebrity's version of expensive/premium is roughly $15-20/bottle at US retail prices. This is where we find the oft mentioned Decoy Cab Sauv.  It's clear that some people think this is an inferior, undrinkable wine for whatever reason, while plenty of people think it's a nice Cab Sauv and worth the upgrade package price.   Those who consider it "undrinkable" probably shouldn't be stooping as low as the premium package.

 

That aside, no other industry I can think of would be so bold as to say "we know YOU PAID US EXTRA for product A, but we're out of that so we're going to substitute product B that you could have had without paying a premium". The near-universal solution would be to offer the next higher option as it's clearly not the customer's fault that a product discrepancy exists. 

 

They use the word EXPENSIVE right in their post???  LOL

[zitsky]

9 hours ago, cmoore5524 said:

Has anyone considered emailing Celebrity’s CEO at llutoff-perlo@celebritycruises.com to express their dissatisfaction with the current quality and shortage of wines in the premium package?  If it’s that big of an issue, then top management needs to be made aware of it. 

Good idea!  A nicely worded email might be useful.

[markeb]

13 hours ago, D C said:

 

Not quite sure what you mean, since they didn't call anything "expensive". 

 

We do know that Celebrity's version of expensive/premium is roughly $15-20/bottle at US retail prices. This is where we find the oft mentioned Decoy Cab Sauv.  It's clear that some people think this is an inferior, undrinkable wine for whatever reason, while plenty of people think it's a nice Cab Sauv and worth the upgrade package price.   Those who consider it "undrinkable" probably shouldn't be stooping as low as the premium package.

 

That aside, no other industry I can think of would be so bold as to say "we know YOU PAID US EXTRA for product A, but we're out of that so we're going to substitute product B that you could have had without paying a premium". The near-universal solution would be to offer the next higher option as it's clearly not the customer's fault that a product discrepancy exists. 

 

 

I had to look because I'm thinking Decoy can't be that cheap. It is. My brain was going to their first run Duckhorn label, or even their Paraduxx wines. Decoy is $17.97 a bottle at Total Wine in Virginia; the Limited is $25. I guess I'll try a glass in July (if it's available). I know I've had it in the past and it was always fine for what it is. I probably wouldn't call it "premium." I don't go on cruise ships to drink great wine. There are some very good wines on the bottle list, and potentially some nice ones for upcharges if they have the Elevated list. And there's a Total Wine that's a 5 minute Uber from our hotel if we decide we want to take something onboard. We're flying, so I'm not checking the good stuff just to take on the ship!

[zap99]

On 5/24/2022 at 3:57 PM, Mark_T said:

Our next cruise is Australia &  New Zealand, no idea how we we will get decent wine being so far from California 🙂...

 

 

Don't they sell 'one buck chuck' fine wines in Ozz.