Sticker Shock

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Everyone knows the best Lodi wines are from 5 miles north of town.

 

Like Terry, I prefer Central Coast.

Also one of our favorite regions, we try to stay away from over hyped and priced Napa, 

[xamsx]

9 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Everyone knows the best Lodi wines are from 5 miles north of town.

 

Like Terry, I prefer Central Coast.

I prefer Amarone, and wine is why we head to Italy.
 

As the saying goes, the best wine is the one you like. 

[terrydtx]

52 minutes ago, xamsx said:

I prefer Amarone, and wine is why we head to Italy.
 

As the saying goes, the best wine is the one you like. 

My saying is the best wine is free wine, lol

 

I have to agree about Amarone Wine. We also like Puglia and Sicily wines. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by terrydtx

[markeb]

2 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

I have a neighbor who went to school to be a sommelier after be sold his company and retired. He told us a trained sommelier makes big $$$. No way can a cruise company afford to hire dozens of sommeliers for each ship Most likely is that the head sommelier on the ship is educated, and he/she gives training to the staff. Its fine with me, I know enough about wine to tell them what I like and have them bring me wines to try. 

 

Generally agree, but an interesting story...

 

Last year on Equinox I did the international wine tasting (lot of OBC to burn...). Got to talking to one of the somms who was either from India or of Indian descent. He was a for real sommelier who had worked as a sommelier in London. Really knew his stuff. I kind of asked why was he working on a cruise ship, and either for real or in his mind, it was adding to his international service experience.

 

Once up on a time, HAL had a great program for their wine stewards and had a genuine sommelier on most of their ships. Not sure that still exists.

 

And I've been to restaurants with a team of true sommeliers. I don't try to tell them what I like. I tell them what I'm eating. They'll bounce a couple of ideas, and luckily I know enough to mostly follow their suggestions. It's pretty exceptional, and nothing like a Celebrity cruise...

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, markeb said:

Once up on a time, HAL had a great program for their wine stewards and had a genuine sommelier on most of their ships. Not sure that still exists.

No longer have them in the MDR, now your wine is delivered by one of you assistant waiters.

[markeb]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Our favorite California wines are from Paso Robles and the Russian River area.

 

I'll go with Russian River. Especially Pinot Noir and unoaked/minimally oaked Chardonnay. Paso can be hit or miss for me. The Rhone blends (I think they were the original Rhone Rangers...) are great. The cabs can be heavy fruit/heavy ABV, which is the dig on a lot of Napa cabernet as well.

 

There are plenty of good wines in Napa, but too many have been overhyped and are overpriced (or high priced; overpriced is a value judgement).

[markeb]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

No longer have them in the MDR, now your wine is delivered by one of you assistant waiters.

 

That's unfortunate. I remember hanging around after a wine event on Maasdam years ago with what turned out to be the head wine steward for the ship, who was a trained sommelier (don't know the level, I'm guessing Advanced). Great guy. HAL had a great program at the time for Washington State wines which in the mid 2000s hadn't taken off like they have today. Some amazing wines and started a long term obsession with Washington State wines...

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, markeb said:

 

That's unfortunate. I remember hanging around after a wine event on Maasdam years ago with what turned out to be the head wine steward for the ship, who was a trained sommelier (don't know the level, I'm guessing Advanced). Great guy. HAL had a great program at the time for Washington State wines which in the mid 2000s hadn't taken off like they have today. Some amazing wines and started a long term obsession with Washington State wines...

At least last year there was a Som in the Pinnacle Grill.  I was surprised how few Washington State wines there were on the Oosterdam, but we did sail out of Italy.

[terrydtx]

6 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

I'll go with Russian River. Especially Pinot Noir and unoaked/minimally oaked Chardonnay. Paso can be hit or miss for me. The Rhone blends (I think they were the original Rhone Rangers...) are great. The cabs can be heavy fruit/heavy ABV, which is the dig on a lot of Napa cabernet as well.

 

There are plenty of good wines in Napa, but too many have been overhyped and are overpriced (or high priced; overpriced is a value judgement).

We are doing a Cailfornia Coastal cruise with HAL in November, and we have booked a private wine tour of the Russian river and Sonoma while we overnight in SF.  We are doing B2B NZ/Aus cruises on the Edge in January and most of our tours are wine tours, we have really gotten into Sov. Blancs and Pino Noirs from NZ this summer to be prepared. After the two cruises we are doing a 10 day driving trip from Melbourne to Adelaide and will be visiting several Australian wine regions. We leave in 9 days for Amsterdam to get on the Apex to cruise to Athens and then 5 days in Santorini for more wine tasting.

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

 

That's unfortunate. I remember hanging around after a wine event on Maasdam years ago with what turned out to be the head wine steward for the ship, who was a trained sommelier (don't know the level, I'm guessing Advanced). Great guy. HAL had a great program at the time for Washington State wines which in the mid 2000s hadn't taken off like they have today. Some amazing wines and started a long term obsession with Washington State wines...

Are you familiar with Yakima Valley?  I stopped there on the way from Oregon to Montana one winter.  Terrific reds.  Hard to find them on the east coast.

[markeb]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

Are you familiar with Yakima Valley?  I stopped there on the way from Oregon to Montana one winter.  Terrific reds.  Hard to find them on the east coast.

Home to possibly my favorite AVA (or two). Anything from Red Mountain or Candy Mountain…

[Carolina Girl 99]

On 8/11/2023 at 10:29 AM, deliver42 said:

I just did a mock booking on the celebrity Edge Alaska cruise for Sept,2024.With the all In on a regular Infinity veranda the price came to $5600.00, then another $950.00 for a refundable deposit. Celebrity has gone beserk. I love Celebrity, but not at these prices. They are $2000.00 higher than Princess AND Holland America for the same package, and I get a real balcony. I've been on Princess, and like their product. Haven't tried HAL yet. I realize  the Edge is a newer ship, but so is the Discovery Princess. In fact, it's newer than the Edge. There was no Celebrity alternative from Seattle in that time frame. All the itineraries were similar, except for Glacier Bay that Celebrity can't enter.

 

[Carolina Girl 99]

Find yourself a TA with access to Group X rates. I just booked 2 couples on Edge for Alaska, May 2024. E1 - Prime Edge Stateroom with Infinite verandah, ALLINC plus refundable deposit for under $4800

I found rates for Sept 13, 2024 sailing for even less 
 

[Winemaker_1]

 

 

8 hours ago, markeb said:

8 hours ago, zitsky said:

Are you familiar with Yakima Valley?  I stopped there on the way from Oregon to Montana one winter.  Terrific reds.  Hard to find them on the east coast.

Home to possibly my favorite AVA (or two). Anything from Red Mountain or Candy Mountain…

 

I've made one gold medal- and two silver medal-winning wines from Yakima Valley fruit over the past 20 years or so (Columbia Gorge AVA):  Pinot Gris, Sauvignon blanc, and a lovely Nebbiolo Rose (you read that right - Nebbiolo in Columbia Valley).  I have not found YV red varietal fruit to be great at producing red wines.  I did made a nice Rhone blend years ago, but I dumped 120+ bottles of my last attempt at YV Pinot noir down the drain a few years ago.   

[Lynn2629]

I wrote earlier about my choice between the brand-new Queen Anne and the new Apex on a Scandinavia cruise. I made my decision between:

 

1) a 10-day on Queen Anne on an obstructed balcony for $4000

2) an 11- day on Apex in a regular veranda for $7600, or the small, solo infinite veranda for $5200.

 

I simply couldn’t justify the big difference in price that Celebrity is charging. I booked the Cunard. 

[terrydtx]

18 minutes ago, Lynn2629 said:

I wrote earlier about my choice between the brand-new Queen Anne and the new Apex on a Scandinavia cruise. I made my decision between:

 

1) a 10-day on Queen Anne on an obstructed balcony for $4000

2) an 11- day on Apex in a regular veranda for $7600, or the small, solo infinite veranda for $5200.

 

I simply couldn’t justify the big difference in price that Celebrity is charging. I booked the Cunard. 

Other than aft facing and a few port hole balcony cabins there are no 'Regular Vernada" cabins on Apex, only the IV cabins. 

[hcat]

23 minutes ago, Lynn2629 said:

I wrote earlier about my choice between the brand-new Queen Anne and the new Apex on a Scandinavia cruise. I made my decision between:

 

1) a 10-day on Queen Anne on an obstructed balcony for $4000

2) an 11- day on Apex in a regular veranda for $7600, or the small, solo infinite veranda for $5200.

 

I simply couldn’t justify the big difference in price that Celebrity is charging. I booked the Cunard. 

looks like a really great ship.. perfect size..modern yet tasteful decor!

good choice!

[TeeRick]

Not sure why a certified true sommelier would accept the low pay (even with tips) on a cruise ship with limited wine selections.  Most are just crew members with some standard knowledge of wine in my experience.

[zitsky]

5 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Not sure why a certified true sommelier would accept the low pay (even with tips) on a cruise ship with limited wine selections.  Most are just crew members with some standard knowledge of wine in my experience.

I wonder why our sommelier on Beyond did not try to upsell me to bottles when he saw how picky I am.  On my next sailing in Blu I’ll order bottles as we will be with friends.  Then back in Luminae just the two of us.  The lack of proper sealing of the bottle is what stops me.

[RD64]

12 hours ago, terrydtx said:

No longer have them in the MDR, now your wine is delivered by one of you assistant waiters.

Not exactly true - on the Noordam last month - one of the food and beverage managers was an actual sommelier. He was in the main dining room every night. While he may not have made it to every table, he was definitely around when bottles of wine were ordered, providing suggestions and advice.

[Lynn2629]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Other than aft facing and a few port hole balcony cabins there are no 'Regular Vernada" cabins on Apex, only the IV cabins. 

That WAS the regular veranda I posted - an aft veranda for $7600. The IVs were all over $6000, and the solo IV was $5200. All a lot more than the Queen Anne.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Lynn2629
Added info

[TeeRick]

23 hours ago, zitsky said:

I wonder why our sommelier on Beyond did not try to upsell me to bottles when he saw how picky I am.  On my next sailing in Blu I’ll order bottles as we will be with friends.  Then back in Luminae just the two of us.  The lack of proper sealing of the bottle is what stops me.

If you want good wine recommended and served by a true sommelier than go to a land restaurant.  On a cruise, you likely know more than the crew member play-acting sommelier.  So just order something you pick out.

[zitsky]

43 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

If you want good wine recommended and served by a true sommelier than go to a land restaurant.  On a cruise, you likely know more than the crew member play-acting sommelier.  So just order something you pick out.

Finally I get the recognition I so richly deserve!

[terrydtx]

If you want to see sticker shock look at prices to fly to Australia. We fly to there in January for our B2B Edge cruises. Premium economy has cost us almost as much as one of our cruises and Business class is running about $12,000pp which is more than we paid for both cruises. Last year we flew to Italy in Business class for $2368pp, next week we fly to Amsterdam and home from Athens BC for $4410pp, that is real sticker shock.

[Lynn2629]

On 9/3/2023 at 8:19 AM, hcat said:

looks like a really great ship.. perfect size..modern yet tasteful decor!

good choice!

Thank you….looking forward to it!