Bringing Wine on Board

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Writing this again doesn't make it accurate. You're still wrong. There is no corkage fee, regardless of beverage package, to consume your wine in your own cabin.

Rich - I hope you now understand.   If you do not have a beverage package there is a corkage fee.  This CHANGED about a month ago.

With almost everyone having AI it has little effect today.  With cruise only fares it will effect those.

[Arizona Wildcat]

18 hours ago, Bgwest said:

Where did you get this stunning incorrect information?

On the Celebrity website.  Under alcohol policy. 

[canderson]

1 minute ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Rich - I hope you now understand.   If you do not have a beverage package there is a corkage fee.  This CHANGED about a month ago.

Yes, with regard to the ORIGINAL policy of charging in public venues, not in your cabin.  The folks at the security scanners could care less what beverage package you do/don't have as long as each person has no more than 2 bottles.  Same applies to checked, though as noted above, that approach may complicate retrieval.

[RichYak]

5 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

If you do not have a beverage package there is a corkage fee. 

Good grief. How many people need to correct you before realizing that you are wrong. Before the change in policy, there was no corkage fee for wine in your own cabin. After the change in policy, there is STILL NO CORKAGE FEE for wine IN YOUR OWN CABIN.

 

[jgmorgan]

A "corkage fee" relates to the charge a restaurant makes for customers who bring their own bottle of wine.  Thus, Celebrity's policy puts us on notice that wine we bring on board is "subject" to a corkage fee.  Clearly implied by the policy, though not explicit as some would prefer, is that the wine brought on board that is consumed in a cabin does not trigger any corkage fee.  It makes perfect sense that passengers with drink packages would not be charged a corkage fee in the restaurants since Celebrity would probably prefer you to drink your own wine rather than theirs (which you have already paid for).

 

On this rare occasion, I actually agree with RichYak. 😂

Edited July 24, 2022 by jgmorgan

[Bgwest]

47 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

On the Celebrity website.  Under alcohol policy. 

To settle this once and for all, please post a link to the specific wording that says a corkage fee will be applied to wine consumed in one’s stateroom.

Not implied wording but the exact wording. 

If your interpretation is correct, you will have no difficulty finding such a link. 

 

Let’s put this to bed. 

[canderson]

@Bgwest

Shouldn't be necessary.  Current cruise docs are explicit about venues where corkage does apply without a drink package.

[jgmorgan]

12 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

To settle this once and for all,

Good luck with that!😀

[RichYak]

54 minutes ago, jgmorgan said:

On this rare occasion, I actually agree with RichYak. 😂

Must be a full moon or something 😂

[cruisestitch]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

Yes, with regard to the ORIGINAL policy of charging in public venues, not in your cabin.  The folks at the security scanners could care less what beverage package you do/don't have as long as each person has no more than 2 bottles.  Same applies to checked, though as noted above, that approach may complicate retrieval.

I completely agree that the people who are in charge of the scanning machines do not care whatsoever if you have a beverage package or not. They only look at if you have two bottles of wine (and often confirm that it is not liquor)

 

Your Xpress pass is supposed to show whether you have a beverage package or not but often it doesn’t and that must be straightened out once you are on the ship.

 

So the people at the scanners really have no way of certifying that you have a beverage package or not. Nor do they have any way to charge you any kind of corkage. That would only take place on the ship. And as repeated so many times, only if you bring the bottle to a restaurant or a bar. If you drink the wine in your room, there is no corkage.

[Bgwest]

2 hours ago, jgmorgan said:

Good luck with that!😀

Hope springs eternal!

[Bgwest]

2 hours ago, canderson said:

@Bgwest

Shouldn't be necessary.  Current cruise docs are explicit about venues where corkage does apply without a drink package.

My thinking completely. Just looking for a way to keep @Arizona Wildcatfrom beating thing to death any further. 

[publicpersona]

3 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Rich - I hope you now understand.   If you do not have a beverage package there is a corkage fee.  This CHANGED about a month ago.

With almost everyone having AI it has little effect today.  With cruise only fares it will effect those.

The only thing that changed in the policy is there is no longer a corkage fee in a public venue if you have a beverage package. That’s more flexible than before.
Quit trying to interpret that to mean anything else.

 

[letsgogogo]

On 7/22/2022 at 7:02 PM, VAWCB said:

   I understand that I can bring two bottles of wine onto the ship (July 24 Summit) upon embarkation.  My question is whether the bottles need to be in hand luggage or if I can just pack them in the suitcase which will be given to the porter at the pier?  Thanks for any info you can provide.

This has been changed to two bottles of wine per person in the cabin. (It used to be 2 per cabin.) So for a double occupancy stateroom, you can bring four bottles. Suitcase is fine or hand luggage, it doesn’t matter, they are going to screen all bags anyway.

[Alakegirl]

Arizona wildcat, have you actually cruised and had corkage charged ?

 

Do you have any real personal experience in this matter?

 

 

[SusanBentley1947]

Interesting.  Celebrity policies are often not well enforced.  Reading what it literally says and the reality of what happens are often very different.

The written policy is clear - if one does not have a beverage package then a corkage fee is charged.  Not unusual to have a corkage fee bringing wine on board.  For example at least in 2018 Princess charged one.  There is no mention of where the wine is consumed.

I don't really care what actually happens when bringing wine on board and obviously in the past many cruisers did not care either as lots of liquor and illegal drugs have been brought on board.  Some masked as wine.

Sad this forum has gotten so abrasive.  Just signed up as have enjoyed reading about cruising here in the past.  Felt one post was ok.

[Purplsmurf]

Let me switch this up a bit. Four people sitting at a table for dinner. Two have the drink package and two don’t. A bottle of wine is brought into the MDR. Will a corkage fee be charged? Will the person that has no package be able to drink the wine if the person with the package brought it?…….I still agree that it will be free to drink in the cabin regardless of package or not. 

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

Let me switch this up a bit. Four people sitting at a table for dinner. Two have the drink package and two don’t. A bottle of wine is brought into the MDR. Will a corkage fee be charged? Will the person that has no package be able to drink the wine if the person with the package brought it?…….I still agree that it will be free to drink in the cabin regardless of package or not. 

That's up to the sommelier.

 

Yes if the person bringing the wine is willing to share the bottle with the rest of the table.

 

Of course there is no corkage fee for bringing wine onboard (BP or not) and opening it in your stateroom and drinking it there or pouring a glass and taking the glass of wine in any other venue. 

[canderson]

I think perhaps some of the issue in the present discussion is that there are a small handful of folks here who don't know what a traditional 'corkage charge' is -- perhaps because it's not a possibility where they've lived due to ill-conceived distribution-protective liquor laws (as in Colorado), or possibly because they don't dine in the sorts of establishments that may charge this fee -- and hence, when and where it is traditionally applied. 

 

It's not a bloody 'wine tax'. 

 

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

I think perhaps some of the issue in the present discussion is that there are a small handful of folks here who don't know what a traditional 'corkage charge' is -- perhaps because it's not a possibility where they've lived due to ill-conceived distribution-protective liquor laws (as in Colorado), or possibly because they don't dine in the sorts of establishments that may charge this fee -- and hence, when and where it is traditionally applied. 

 

It's not a bloody 'wine tax'. 

Part of it also may be the different ways various cruise lines apply the "corkage" policy. On HAL, one may bring as many bottles as one may like, but each is charged a $20 "corkage" fee upon boarding. And the screeners will direct you to a table to have your information taken to be charged. It makes no difference where you intend to imbibe said wine, you are charged for every bottle brought on board.

[davekathy]

30 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

Part of it also may be the different ways various cruise lines apply the "corkage" policy. On HAL, one may bring as many bottles as one may like, but each is charged a $20 "corkage" fee upon boarding. And the screeners will direct you to a table to have your information taken to be charged. It makes no difference where you intend to imbibe said wine, you are charged for every bottle brought on board.

That's why it's important to know the policy for the cruise line you are cruising with and not the cruise line you have sailed with if different. RC and Celebrity are part of the RCG and each have different policies. 

Edited July 25, 2022 by davekathy

[mskitty22]

Can someone please clarify for me.  I read on Celebrity website that the wine limit is 2 bottles per stateroom.  Googled so not sure if answer was current.  Would indeed like it to be 2 per person.  Thank you.

sailing Edge from Rome on September 9, 2022.  Excited.

 

[Peteymil]

9 minutes ago, mskitty22 said:

Can someone please clarify for me.  I read on Celebrity website that the wine limit is 2 bottles per stateroom.  Googled so not sure if answer was current.  Would indeed like it to be 2 per person.  Thank you.

sailing Edge from Rome on September 9, 2022.  Excited.

 

2 per person

[Whinenowine]

12 hours ago, Peteymil said:

2 per person

 

Agreed.  Per my cruise docs for this month's cruise:

 

"Guests wishing to bring personal wine onboard with them embarkation day may do so, limited to two (2) bottles per guest, but when consumed in any shipboard restaurant, bar or dining venue, each bottle shall be subject to a corkage fee of $25.00. A corkage fee does not apply to guests with a Classic Beverage Package or Premium Beverage Package"

[D C]

On 7/22/2022 at 8:02 PM, VAWCB said:

   I understand that I can bring two bottles of wine onto the ship (July 24 Summit) upon embarkation.  My question is whether the bottles need to be in hand luggage or if I can just pack them in the suitcase which will be given to the porter at the pier?  Thanks for any info you can provide.

Either works.  Or you can carry some/check some.  And as far as I can tell, they have no means to reconcile the number in your checked bag with the number in your carry-on.