Overcharged repeatedly for wine by the glass on Ruby

[Lou33]

We just disembarked from the Ruby Princess and we had a very strange experience in the dining room.  We did not buy the drink package, but we usually buy a glass of wine with dinner.  The wine list shows a selection of lower cost wines by varietal and price.  All were in the $9-11 range, but it doesn't show the brand.  I asked what they have for the $9 Chardonnay and the waiter said that was the Decoy wine.  So I ordered two glasses of Decoy for us.  But while enjoying our dinner, I checked our account on the medallion app, and it showed a charge of about $28.50.  I pointed this error out to the waiter.  He was very defensive and insisted everything was correct.  He said there is a 18% service charge (which I knew) and they also charge a special "ocean tax", and two $9 glasses of wine will total $28.50.  I asked to speak to the restaurant manager.  The staff were discussing this for a long time, then the manager finally came over and said they are sold out of the $9 wine, and the waiter substituted a $12 wine (which isn't even on the menu) without asking me (and apparently he just lied about the "ocean tax"). So, this was only the 2nd night and they are sold out?!?  I asked which of the many other varietals in the $9-11 range on the menu are in stock.  After much discussion, the manager notified me that "all" of them are out of stock, and $12 is lowest price they could give me.  The manager apologized and removed the charges for the wine for this night.  Then later, after reviewing my account further, I noticed that the exact same thing happened on the 1st night of the cruise with a different waiter.

 

So the 3rd night, we went to the Crown Grill.  I asked the assistant waiter if they have the "$9 Chardonnay" available and he said "sure we do".  I ordered two glasses and I made it very clear that if it is not available that he should tell me before making a substitution (which I shouldn't need to do).  He brought the wine, and then I immediately checked my account.  The charge was again $28.50.  So I asked to see the manager, and he said that the $9 wine was not available and I was charged $12/glass.  He removed the charges, but then he said something like:  "we'll do it this time, but next time you need to ask the waiter to make sure it is available" (which I did do).  

 

So every night we had a different table and different waiters in the dining room.  And each time I had to go out of my way to ask which wine is available.  Then on about the 7th night of a 15 day cruise I asked if the $9 Chardonnay was available.  She said I think so, and she soon came back with two glasses of white wine and showed me a printed receipt for $9/glass.  She said that a few of the wines were sold out, but as far as she knew, the $9 Chardonnay was always available.  We asked the manager to keep this table and waiters for the rest of the cruise.  

 

These overcharges amount to only a few dollars, but can you imagine if this happened at a restaurant?  Some of you may think that I should have bought the drink package and not worried because everything is free.  But know this: our in-laws were travelling with us, and they did have the drink package.  They ordered two glasses of the "free" wine, and were charged $4/glass.  Their waiter substituted a $16 wine without asking them, but the package only covers wine up to $12.  

 

It was a good cruise, but we didn't like the wine experience or lack of COVID mediation on board.  This may give us a reason to choose a different cruise line in the future.

[c-boy]

[Thrak]

I would be sure to mention this in the post cruise survey and I would also send a detailed (but polite) email to customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

This is totally unacceptable.

[Astro Flyer]

Lou33…thanks for the info & it’s just another issue with their wine service. It’s another example of why I’ll now bring my own wine due to their lack of inventory & honesty. Wonder how long it’ll be until they’re serving boxed wine.

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

Just wondering if the OP went to guest relations.  The waiters and sommeliers cannot usually make this sort of adjustment.   

Have not seen any similar problems on Cruise Critic.  Seems to be strange that Decoy is often usually more expensive.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Arizona Wildcat

[Lou33]

Another thing that I noticed is that when you buy wines by the glass, they give you a really, really small pour.  My wife and I started calling these "Princess pours".   I'm used to seeing waiters pour at least 1/4 of the bottle, but Princess is pouring no more than 1/6 of the bottle.  No problem if you have the drink package, because you just order a 2nd glass.  But if you are paying out of pocket, in this case it is definitely cost effective to buy their wine by the bottle.  Then you can give yourself a normal pour instead of a "Princess pour".  

 

And when you buy wine buy the glass on Princess, you never see the bottle.  Who knows what they are actually pouring back in the kitchen?  I certainly didn't get what I ordered.  

[Lou33]

3 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Just wondering if the OP went to guest relations.  The waiters and sommeliers cannot usually make this sort of adjustment.   

Have not seen any similar problems on Cruise Critic.  Seems to be strange that Decoy is often usually more expensive.

No the restaurant managers dropped the charges in two different cases.  Maybe he went to guest relations for us.  There were two additional times that we were overcharged, and we just let it go.  We were having a good dinner and we were not in the mood for confrontations.  

 

Yes, we were surprised that they said that the $9 Chardonnay and Cab were Decoy.  But we never got that anyway.  Later in the cruise when they did have $9 wine available, it was Canyon Road, which I think is more on par with Charles Shaw.  Maybe 1/2 way through the cruise while at port, they sent somebody to Costco to buy a 10 cases of Canyon Road?

[JimmyVWine]

10 minutes ago, Lou33 said:

Another thing that I noticed is that when you buy wines by the glass, they give you a really, really small pour.  My wife and I started calling these "Princess pours".   I'm used to seeing waiters pour at least 1/4 of the bottle, but Princess is pouring no more than 1/6 of the bottle.  No problem if you have the drink package, because you just order a 2nd glass.  But if you are paying out of pocket, in this case it is definitely cost effective to buy their wine by the bottle.  Then you can give yourself a normal pour instead of a "Princess pour".  

 

And when you buy wine buy the glass on Princess, you never see the bottle.  Who knows what they are actually pouring back in the kitchen?  I certainly didn't get what I ordered.  

The industry standard for a wine by the glass pour is 5 Oz, or five pours per bottle. On our recent cruise on Regal, every server we encountered nailed this. 

[NSWP]

This highlights one of the negatives of Dining My Way as opposed to ye olde Traditional Dining (That I preferred.) With DMW you get different waiters each night, they don't get to know you and are aware it is highly unlikely they will get a cash tip from you, unlike TD.

 

Sounds a bit fishy to me, waiters wanting to make a bit more commission on the $12 wine rather than the $9 one.  Good warning there to others, check your account regularly.

Edited October 26, 2022 by NSWP

[NSWP]

14 minutes ago, Lou33 said:

Another thing that I noticed is that when you buy wines by the glass, they give you a really, really small pour.  My wife and I started calling these "Princess pours".   I'm used to seeing waiters pour at least 1/4 of the bottle, but Princess is pouring no more than 1/6 of the bottle.  No problem if you have the drink package, because you just order a 2nd glass.  But if you are paying out of pocket, in this case it is definitely cost effective to buy their wine by the bottle.  Then you can give yourself a normal pour instead of a "Princess pour".  

 

And when you buy wine buy the glass on Princess, you never see the bottle.  Who knows what they are actually pouring back in the kitchen?  I certainly didn't get what I ordered.  

Right on there, could be boxed wine even.

[JimmyVWine]

1 minute ago, Lou33 said:

Maybe 1/2 way through the cruise while at port, they sent somebody to Costco to buy a 10 cases of Canyon Road?

Highly doubtful. Carnival uses a wholesaler for its wine purchases. It is one of the single largest purchaser of wine in the world. They don’t make grocery store runs. 
 

https://www.wine-business-international.com/wine/power-lists/wine-waves

[Thrak]

37 minutes ago, NSWP said:

his highlights one of the negatives of Dining My Way as opposed to ye olde Traditional Dining (That I preferred.) With DMW you get different waiters each night, they don't get to know you and are aware it is highly unlikely they will get a cash tip from you, unlike TD.

 

We have only cruised once so far with DMW - 12 days on Royal in May - but, after the first night, we had the same table and waitstaff every night. The first night we asked if we could have that same table every night and were told it wasn't likely. The second night we had a different table but then had that same table and staff for the rest of the cruise.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Thrak

[Lou33]

29 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Highly doubtful. Carnival uses a wholesaler for its wine purchases. It is one of the single largest purchaser of wine in the world. They don’t make grocery store runs. 
 

https://www.wine-business-international.com/wine/power-lists/wine-waves

I was half joking.  Maybe they got some wine with their other supplies in Hawaii half way through our cruise?

[malba2366]

This is why I usually just walk to the bar and get wine, spirits and cocktails myself...this way I can see what I am getting, and the person serving it actually knows what they are giving me.  The only thing I will order in the MDR is Beer.

[capriccio]

3 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

 The waiters and sommeliers cannot usually make this sort of adjustment.  

It has been more than a decade (IIRC) since Princess had sommeliers onboard. 

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

We have only cruised once so far with DMW - 12 days on Royal in May - but, after the first night, we had the same table and waitstaff every night. The first night we asked if we could have that same table every night and were told it wasn't likely. The second night we had a different table but then had that same table and staff for the rest of the cruise.

Have done 5 cruises so far this year.  Have been able to get the same table and waiters each time.  You need to select the same time and your desired dining time needs to fit with expected table turn over.  So easy to do if you eat early can be more difficult after 6.

[Bobbiegentry]

An ocean tax. Now that’s funny. 
Wonder who the taxing authority might be? 🤔

King Neptune??

[RNRcruisers]

That is crazy. I can understand why you were upset. I guess they don't make you sign for a charge any more?

[partybarbie]

I am also just off the Ruby.  We didn't have any problems with ordering wine or overcharges. In fact, it was the first cruise we had taken in a long time that we didn't have to have any overcharges removed. 

 

In the Vines Bar, the bartender is still pouring the Gloria Ferrer by the glass, even though it's supposed to only be sold by the bottle now. 

 

We sat at different tables every night and also ate in Crown Grill. Our waiters appeared to be well trained in the drink order process.  I guess the OP was just a one off in poor service, or we were extremely lucky. 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by partybarbie

[FritzG]

They ran out of the $9 wine?  Or did they purposely stock only the higher priced wines?

[Lou33]

3 hours ago, partybarbie said:

I am also just off the Ruby.  We didn't have any problems with ordering wine or overcharges.

I glad things worked out for you.  We also had a good cruise for the most part.  I'm curious, did you have the drink package, or did you order wine by the glass?  If you had the drink package, it seems that they had plenty of wine at $12 (free with drink package).  

 

Off topic, but did you get COVID?  Everybody in our traveling party had all vaccines, including the newest bivalent booster.  And we often wore masks in public areas.  Yet we all tested positive for COVID.  

[partybarbie]

2 hours ago, Lou33 said:

I glad things worked out for you.  We also had a good cruise for the most part.  I'm curious, did you have the drink package, or did you order wine by the glass?  If you had the drink package, it seems that they had plenty of wine at $12 (free with drink package).  

We did have the drink package that included the $12 and under drinks. When I was on the Ruby in May, even though I had a drink package, I was charged five times for wine in the dining room. I thought they had fixed the problem, but it appears they have created new problems. 

2 hours ago, Lou33 said:

 

Off topic, but did you get COVID?  Everybody in our traveling party had all vaccines, including the newest bivalent booster.  And we often wore masks in public areas.  Yet we all tested positive for COVID.  

My husband and I both caught colds, but tested negative for Covid.  We got our fourth vaccine about a month before the cruise, and had Covid back in March. We didn't wear our masks very much, but tried to stay out of the buffet, and had a two-person table for dinner. Hope you and your party recover quickly. 

[Papa Yoda]

What I've found is that a bar may not have a particular wine/spirit/beer even though it is down in "stores" deck 4 and on the ship.  If they run out or don't have it at the bar, it can be overnight or more before getting restocked from the ship's stores.  I've also had the same issue with Room Service: "we don't have it and have to wait for it to come up from stores."  The waiters can't run down to stores to get anything.  Taking a couple days to get something replenished doesn't seem unusual.  Maybe the prior cruise, everyone in the DR was drinking up the Canyon Road :D

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Lou33 said:

Off topic, but did you get COVID?  Everybody in our traveling party had all vaccines, including the newest bivalent booster.  And we often wore masks in public areas.  Yet we all tested positive for COVID.  

You still get Covid, even with the vaccines.  Just more minor symptoms.

But you knew that didn't you ?

Edited October 26, 2022 by wowzz

[wowzz]

22 hours ago, NSWP said:

Sounds a bit fishy to me, waiters wanting to make a bit more commission on the $12 wine rather than the $9 one. 

Seriously! 

There is an 18% service charge on drinks,  shared between the crew. So a $3 difference equates to 54c. 

If you were going to do a scam, you wouldn't do it for 54c.

The entire OP  is so full of holes that I am surprised people are taking it seriously!