Bringing Wine on board

[MaiTaiMary]

Can somebody please clarify the rules for bringing a bottle of wine on embarkation day? If I want to drink it in my cabin, do I will have to pay $20? Or is that just if you bring the bottle to dinner? Thank you.  

[RuthC]

All wine, except that purchased on a HAL wine tour shore excursion, incurs a $20/bottle (750 ml maximum) corkage fee. This is true no matter where it is consumed. 

[lyndarra]

When boarding Westerdam in January there was a staff person at a table before the main gangway. We checked our wine (2 x $20) there and received a receipt for the corkage and a sticker is stuck on your bottles. You then carry them on board.

A Note. A few days later I was checking my account and found an 18% service charge which, on checking with customer service, found it was applied on the corkage charge. I protested and the charge was reversed.

[MaiTaiMary]

Thank you. Even with the service charge (I'm having a hard time calling it a "corkage fee" if we are opening it ourselves), it seems like it would be worth it, judging by the prices of the bottles. At first glance there appears to me much more of a $20 price hike on the bottle prices.