Princess Plus wines

[memoak]

We like a glass of white with lunch and always take the Plus package. The Pinot Grigio is decent but not much else was above mediocre 

[JimmyVWine]

6 hours ago, pppatpc2 said:

Canyon Road,  really?!!!!  Wow.

Canyon Road is what you bust out when you are the host paying for an open bar for your guests...and you really don't like your guests!!

[kiwimum]

Canyon Road is the only available wines I have located so far on the Caribbean Princess which fall in the Plus Package.   Vines is not

operating as we are overnighting in Quebec.  The Chardonnay I had at lunch today was dreadful.   Looks as though we will be paying the upcharge for a ‘drinkable’ wine.   Plus will try and find wine in Quebec in the morning.

[cjpj]

IMHO Princess' wine selection is something to whine about! 😀😀😀

[pppatpc2]

We are looking into two more cruises for next year and are reconsidering even the Plus package.  There is no sense spending the extra for "cheap wedding wine".  

 

We will end up spending 51 days at sea this year on Princess and are rooting for them to survive turbulent times, but this is a hot button with one of their main demographics and I hope they don't lose too many passengers to other lines. 

[Cruise Raider]

On 10/21/2022 at 6:13 AM, pppatpc2 said:

We are looking into two more cruises for next year and are reconsidering even the Plus package.  There is no sense spending the extra for "cheap wedding wine".  

 

We will end up spending 51 days at sea this year on Princess and are rooting for them to survive turbulent times, but this is a hot button with one of their main demographics and I hope they don't lose too many passengers to other lines. 

We’ve only cruised on Princess since the restart and have been extremely happy with the wine selections until this most recent cruise.  We were always able to get some decent wines within the plus package and even upgraded to the premier package for the second leg of our B2B cruise.  All was fine until they ran out of my favorite Chardonnay, Rombauer.  They were serving me a Hartford Chardonnay instead.  It isn’t my favorite but very drinkable.  I would have preferred the Mer Soleil, though, which I could easily find onboard in the past and it was offered by the glass within the plus package.  I was also served Nicolas Feuillatte sparkling wine in Crooners, which is decent.  As far as red wine, I found a nice Chianti in Sabatini’s.  
I’ve once again upgraded to the premier package and hope they have some nice white wines, especially Chardonnays that I like.  I know that Princess is really trying to keep their overhead low while still making a profit and I do support those efforts.  I couldn’t care less if they remove the little gold goodie bags or even the laundry.  But, if I am paying for the premier package, I would certainly hope I could get a drinkable wine at most of the bars I visit.  
Now, on a very positive note, I have noticed a great improvement in their dining .. nearly everything was excellent on our most recent sailing.  
 

 

 

[pppatpc2]

3 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We’ve only cruised on Princess since the restart and have been extremely happy with the wine selections until this most recent cruise.  We were always able to get some decent wines within the plus package and even upgraded to the premier package for the second leg of our B2B cruise.  All was fine until they ran out of my favorite Chardonnay, Rombauer.  They were serving me a Hartford Chardonnay instead.  It isn’t my favorite but very drinkable.  I would have preferred the Mer Soleil, though, which I could easily find onboard in the past and it was offered by the glass within the plus package.  I was also served Nicolas Feuillatte sparkling wine in Crooners, which is decent.  As far as red wine, I found a nice Chianti in Sabatini’s.  
I’ve once again upgraded to the premier package and hope they have some nice white wines, especially Chardonnays that I like.  I know that Princess is really trying to keep their overhead low while still making a profit and I do support those efforts.  I couldn’t care less if they remove the little gold goodie bags or even the laundry.  But, if I am paying for the premier package, I would certainly hope I could get a drinkable wine at most of the bars I visit.  
Now, on a very positive note, I have noticed a great improvement in their dining .. nearly everything was excellent on our most recent sailing.  
 

 

 

Thanks for this. I also have found the food very good lately.  2 more weeks before I can report first hand On Plus wine selections and with now 21 sea days, I will have plenty of time to “research”. 😊

[Thrak]

5 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

I was also served Nicolas Feuillatte sparkling wine in Crooners, which is decent.

 

I just went through several threads with a bunch of the "new" menus and didn't find this listed in any of them. Do you remember what the price was for the Nicolas Feuillatte?

[Cruise Raider]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I just went through several threads with a bunch of the "new" menus and didn't find this listed in any of them. Do you remember what the price was for the Nicolas Feuillatte?

I hadn’t seen it on any menu either.  I just asked for something covered under the premier package and this is what they offered me.  It must have been under $18 a glass as I wasn’t charged anything extra.  
So, I was on a B2B and upgraded to the premium package on the 2nd leg as I wasn’t thrilled with the offerings on the plus package.  That opened up a whole different set of wines for me that didn’t seem to be on any menu.  Even when I was up in the buffet, they offered me a Hartford Chardonnay when they noticed I had the premier package.   
 

[pppatpc2]

14 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I just went through several threads with a bunch of the "new" menus and didn't find this listed in any of them. Do you remember what the price was for the Nicolas Feuillatte?

That is usually what they serve with the appetizers for the Chef's dinner and also is offered in Bellini's on the Royal class ships.

[pppatpc2]

As promised, reporting on wine situation first hand from the Crown.  There is a very simple rule...don’t get wine from any of the outdoor bars.  It was explained to me that they cannot climate control any good wine outdoor, hence they don’t serve them.  I shudder to report there is worse wine than Canyon Road being served out there, 😳 namely Tisdale (3 for $10 at the grocery store).  We are sticking to cocktails and go to Vines before dinner and get a double to take to the dining room.  There are a few decent things in the plus package Spellbound Petite Syrah and a nice French Sauvignon Blanc, but we pay the extra dollar per glass and they have nicer options, namely C3 substance and our new favorite La Vigne Nikiara Meritage.  
 

This is a workable solution for us.  Thought you’d want to know.

 

[JimmyVWine]

32 minutes ago, pppatpc2 said:

It was explained to me that they cannot climate control any good wine outdoor, hence they don’t serve them.

This explanation makes no sense inasmuch as every outdoor bar has refrigerators. At worst, they might be serving wines too cold, but that’s not nearly as big a sin as serving wines too warm. At the indoor bars, most of the “by the glass” wines sit atop the bar which is usually around 70F degrees—certainly not ideal.  I’d rather be served a wine too cold and warm it up with my hands than be served a wine too warm at which point there is nothing you can do about it. 

[kluv2cruz]

It will be served in a plastic glass anyway so not going to be a great experience.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 10/20/2022 at 5:50 AM, Cruise Raider said:

All that was available in terms of white wines under the plus package was Canyon Road and a Santa Helena. 

This is also the case here on the Sapphire. At least for Sauvignon blanc and Pinot Grigio. We went to vines and tried every white they had in stock. Did not finish even one. 

We made friends with the Crooners, Outriggers and Skywalkers bartenders. Mentioned we prefer the Silverado Sauvignon blanc. Within a couple of days we had bottles of Silverado Sauvignon blanc and “good’ wine glasses now at each of those bars that they serve us by the glass on the plus package. Didn’t hurt that one of the bar supervisors is someone I sailed with for over 70 days between November 2021 and June 2022.  
 

We brought on some bottles when we boarded and added a few more in two of our ports. Just can’t drink one wine for 15 days. 
 

So sad. But having a great time!

[HaveDogWillTravel]

1 hour ago, kluv2cruz said:

It will be served in a plastic glass anyway so not going to be a great experience.

I bring my own thin lipped nice acrylic wine glass for pool side. Not ideal but far better than what they serve in.  

Edited November 14, 2022 by HaveDogWillTravel

[caribill]

On 10/16/2022 at 1:28 PM, pppatpc2 said:

We have no interest in the Premiere package, since they are not stocking the upscale wines anyway.  I do understand about the distribution system. 

 

On 10/20/2022 at 10:50 AM, Cruise Raider said:

I asked the waiter from Good Spirits what kind of wine they had.  He brought me a menu.  I asked which of the wines were actually available as I saw a few that I liked.  He came back and said, 'none of them, ma'am'.

 

 

I feel sorry for those who paid extra for the Premiere package only to find the wines they expected to find were not available.

[Cruise Raider]

15 hours ago, caribill said:

 

 

I feel sorry for those who paid extra for the Premiere package only to find the wines they expected to find were not available.

I have had a very decent experience with the premier package, except for on one cruise where they ran out of my favorite Chardonnay towards the end of one cruise.  The only reason I book the premier package is for the better wines.  But, the specialty dinners also help make it attractive.  
I may book another cruise with the package but not until next year when a I have a solo fare.  My DH really doesn’t care about this wines being premium brands whereas I do.  As of now, when we both have to upgrade to it and especially on a longer cruise, it’s just not worth it for us.  

[Plato123]

My wife and I have not yet cruised on Princess but will next spring.  We did however convince some friends of ours to go on their first cruise as the itinerary was quite attractive and the price was right.  They will be on the  Sapphire Princess early in the new year.  They will have a mini suite and plus package and enjoy wines a lot.  I have suggested they upgrade to premier but as it is their first cruise they are somewhat cautious. Neither Canyon Road nor Tisdale will appeal to them, I expect.

I have searched with Google for MDR wine lists for Princess and have not found one that is current or in any way reflects what actually is available.  Can anyone post a recent list noting what is/was available as an example of what our friends can expect?

Ourselves, we will have a suite and the premier package when we cruise on the Royal next spring and hope availablity issues will be no longer a problem.

[Thrak]

It's sad to hear about the changes in MDR choices. Our first post-shutdown cruise was on Royal in May and we were still able to have a wine list rather than just generic names. We board Ruby in a couple of weeks and may try wine in MDR but we are booked for dinner each night in Michelangelo dining room which is the MDR closest to Vines. Hopefully they don't move our reservations like they did in May. (We booked a dining room on Royal that was near Vines but they closed the entire dining room and moved us all the way aft.) If they leave our dinner reservations alone we will be taking glasses of wine from Vines to MDR.

[suzyed]

On 11/14/2022 at 5:21 PM, Cruise Raider said:

I have had a very decent experience with the premier package, except for on one cruise where they ran out of my favorite Chardonnay towards the end of one cruise.  The only reason I book the premier package is for the better wines.  But, the specialty dinners also help make it attractive.  
I may book another cruise with the package but not until next year when a I have a solo fare.  My DH really doesn’t care about this wines being premium brands whereas I do.  As of now, when we both have to upgrade to it and especially on a longer cruise, it’s just not worth it for us.  

We had the plus package but ordered what we wanted and just paid the difference.

[suzyed]

4 hours ago, Thrak said:

It's sad to hear about the changes in MDR choices. Our first post-shutdown cruise was on Royal in May and we were still able to have a wine list rather than just generic names. We board Ruby in a couple of weeks and may try wine in MDR but we are booked for dinner each night in Michelangelo dining room which is the MDR closest to Vines. Hopefully they don't move our reservations like they did in May. (We booked a dining room on Royal that was near Vines but they closed the entire dining room and moved us all the way aft.) If they leave our dinner reservations alone we will be taking glasses of wine from Vines to MDR.

We had a wine list in the MDR on the Caribbean .

 

[JimmyVWine]

6 hours ago, Plato123 said:

They will be on the  Sapphire Princess early in the new year.  They will have a mini suite and plus package and enjoy wines a lot.  I have suggested they upgrade to premier but as it is their first cruise they are somewhat cautious. Neither Canyon Road nor Tisdale will appeal to them, I expect.

They don’t need to upgrade. They can order any wine they want and just pay the difference between the cost of the wine and $12 (plus tax). Most good wines cost around $16 so the difference is only $4. At 4 glasses per day, the cost is $16. Far less than the daily upgrade charge of $25. And while it is certainly possible to drink 6 or 7 glasses a day such that the cost difference levels out, if the itinerary is port intensive and your friends will be off the ship for large chunks of time, 4 glasses a day will seem like plenty. 

[shubsens]

Just got off Discovery 7night and we had plus and like red wine. We are not wine snobs.

 

Our experience at the bars was the wine was bad, really bad and in one case the bottle had gone bad. We found the wine in specialty a bit better and the Main Dining room seemed to more drinkable wine. The only issue being by the time you got the wine you were well into your dinner.

 

Then we decided to start trying the premium wines and they were better overall but while dining we found it almost embarrassing as the server would make a big production that we were Plus and wanted Premium and went on about it. Wow just give me my wine please and bill me.

 

 

[charlie murphy]

On 10/20/2022 at 3:11 PM, JimmyVWine said:

Canyon Road is what you bust out when you are the host paying for an open bar for your guests...and you really don't like your guests!!

Not EXACTLY true... Canyon Road is what you bust out when the host is paying for an open bar for his guests ... he really don't like his guests ... AND THE HOST IS SUPER CHEAP! 

so wait . what are we saying---  someone is paying for your drinks ( so to speak ) , they open the bar to you, the wine you can get at the bar is not so good but "free", BUT  the  host did offer for you to come to the party and pay a little more to supplement his open bar, he even offered to let his photographer take your picture, and I could get a better wine ... only if it is stock.  WHAT.... that reminds me ----  one time at band camp!

[leck57]

On 11/16/2022 at 11:53 AM, suzyed said:

We had the plus package but ordered what we wanted and just paid the difference.

 

That is also what we did. I often found that the upcharge difference didn't make it on to my account. For $3 or $4 I got the impression the waiters often didn't bother as I had Plus anyway. My last cruise account had 4 wine upcharges but I upgraded many more times that that.