Wine list - value for money ?

[calm down dear]

I have an upcoming cruise on Ovation and have the benefit of quite a few hundred dollars in OBC. I like wine - but think many here more qualified who might be able to tell me where they think the best value lays on the revenue wine list ? I think someone once did a post but I cant find it anywhere and maybe it was Silversea. 

[frantic36]

I will preface this by saying due to status we get a discount which may or may not be applicable for you?

 

For us we find the packages work as we can now select the wine to a certain value and depending on the package we select we then get a bonus value wines. We do long sailings so selecting a gold package with our discount which allows us a US$200 bonus wines allow us to have a good selection to add to our included wines. 

[margbem]

There are some excellent wines on the premium list. Talk to the Sommelier and ask for his recommendations. Sometimes they have odd bottles not on the list which they suggest. We were recently on the Encore and ordered a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauv Blanc. None left but the Sommelier brought us a different NZ Sauv Blanc which was excellent but not on the list.

[saminina]

There are wine apps that will give you a clue to how fairly priced available wines are on the ship.

wine-searcher.com being one.

 

[calm down dear]

15 hours ago, margbem said:

There are some excellent wines on the premium list. Talk to the Sommelier and ask for his recommendations. Sometimes they have odd bottles not on the list which they suggest. We were recently on the Encore and ordered a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauv Blanc. None left but the Sommelier brought us a different NZ Sauv Blanc which was excellent but not on the list.

 

29 minutes ago, saminina said:

There are wine apps that will give you a clue to how fairly priced available wines are on the ship.

wine-searcher.com being one.

 

Thankyou both for the information.

[calm down dear]

21 hours ago, frantic36 said:

I will preface this by saying due to status we get a discount which may or may not be applicable for you?

 

For us we find the packages work as we can now select the wine to a certain value and depending on the package we select we then get a bonus value wines. We do long sailings so selecting a gold package with our discount which allows us a US$200 bonus wines allow us to have a good selection to add to our included wines. 

I cant seem to find details of this package anymore - I vaguely recall it was a (short) list you choose from but it is now just a discount off any wines (that is also combinable with any discount you get from being a loyal customer)

[frantic36]

3 minutes ago, calm down dear said:

I cant seem to find details of this package anymore - I vaguely recall it was a (short) list you choose from but it is now just a discount off any wines (that is also combinable with any discount you get from being a loyal customer)

 

My error it was the gold package but as you say it is no longer called that. There are three levels that yes are combinable with the loyal customer package. Depending on the package you get a bonus extra value.

 

https://www.seabourn.com/en/au/experience/seabourn-wine

 

Because we do long sailings we take the collector package. With our discount plus the $200 bonus, which we can split rather than just for one bottle, works out good value for us.

[DC Traveler244]

Even if you don't purchase a wine package, there are excellent values on the premium wine list.  Seabourn gets wine at very favorable prices (presumably because of the purchasing volume of its corporate parents), and doesn't mark the wine up as much as restaurants typically do.  In our experience, the premium wines are priced at approximately U.S. retail.  In U.S. restaurants, wines are typically marked up 2 or 3 times retail.

[calm down dear]

3 hours ago, DC Traveler244 said:

Even if you don't purchase a wine package, there are excellent values on the premium wine list.  Seabourn gets wine at very favorable prices (presumably because of the purchasing volume of its corporate parents), and doesn't mark the wine up as much as restaurants typically do.  In our experience, the premium wines are priced at approximately U.S. retail.  In U.S. restaurants, wines are typically marked up 2 or 3 times retail.

that's interesting, I saw on the source the wine recommendation in the restaurant tonight and the 2 listed were nearly 3x retail for uk.

[frantic36]

6 hours ago, calm down dear said:

that's interesting, I saw on the source the wine recommendation in the restaurant tonight and the 2 listed were nearly 3x retail for uk.

 

When you say retail do you mean as in wine shops or the price when you go to a good restaurant because that is what we base our value on. That plus the ambience we enjoy.

Edited October 17, 2023 by frantic36

[florisdekort]

We find Seabourn’s revenue wines very reasonably priced and buy a lot.  After my loyalty discount, Dom Perignon and Opus One are almost priced at retail rates - no mark-up.  I’m cruising Explora next week and they’re asking 2-3x as much. 

[DC Traveler244]

2 hours ago, frantic36 said:

When you say retail do you mean as in wine shops or the price when you go to a good restaurant

 

1 hour ago, florisdekort said:

We find Seabourn’s revenue wines very reasonably priced and buy a lot.  After my loyalty discount, Dom Perignon and Opus One are almost priced at retail rates - no mark-up.  I’m cruising Explora next week and they’re asking 2-3x as much. 

When I say “retail,” I mean the price you’d pay in a wine shop. 

 

 

[johng75370]

We also usually find the revenue wines to be a good deal.  Before our recent Odyssey sailing downloaded the revenue list (and TK's list), and did some comparisons to what we might pay in a local (Northern California) wine store.  (Apologies in advance if handwriting is hard to read).  Overall the markups are reasonable, and with Seabourn Club discount or wine package can get very close to retail.  The Chateau Smith white Bordeaux was the standout - $80 onboard, $139 local 🤔

 

On the included list they had a Raymond Chardonnay that typically is in the high teens retail, FWIW.  Had not seen that before.  

Seabourn Odyssey Wine List Oct 2023.pdf

Edited October 18, 2023 by johng75370
Typo

[Vineyard View]

3 hours ago, florisdekort said:

We find Seabourn’s revenue wines very reasonably priced and buy a lot.  After my loyalty discount, Dom Perignon and Opus One are almost priced at retail rates - no mark-up.  I’m cruising Explora next week and they’re asking 2-3x as much. 

I think maybe the key is ‘the loyalty discount’. 

[BasandSyb]

This comment only relates to Australian wines as we are more than familiar with their pricing 😇.
We get the top tier loyalty discount and they are still well over the odds at restaurant prices, then factor in 64c = $1US.

Occasionally we may stumble across a bargain but find they quickly run out whether due to other eagle-eyed diners or a realisation the price has been listed incorrectly. 😂

[calm down dear]

5 hours ago, johng75370 said:

We also usually find the revenue wines to be a good deal.  Before our recent Odyssey sailing downloaded the revenue list (and TK's list), and did some comparisons to what we might pay in a local (Northern California) wine store.  (Apologies in advance if handwriting is hard to read).  Overall the markups are reasonable, and with Seabourn Club discount or wine package can get very close to retail.  The Chateau Smith white Bordeaux was the standout - $80 onboard, $139 local 🤔

 

On the included list they had a Raymond Chardonnay that typically is in the high teens retail, FWIW.  Had not seen that before.  

Seabourn Odyssey Wine List Oct 2023.pdf 5.37 MB · 8 downloads

Thanks for that, your handwriting better than mine ! I am pleased there are indeed some pricing value points. I will look at this.

[Hlitner]

We would add our support to the thought of having a talk with the Sommelier.  On a recent Quest cruise, we decided to order a $200+ Puligny Montrachet (we were both having the Dover Sole).  The sommelier suggested we get a much less expensive (about $120) wine (from the same region) that he thought was not only a better value, but a better wine (and we agreed).  That particular wine was not even on the wine list (this does happen from time to time).

 

Hank

[calm down dear]

21 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We would add our support to the thought of having a talk with the Sommelier.  On a recent Quest cruise, we decided to order a $200+ Puligny Montrachet (we were both having the Dover Sole).  The sommelier suggested we get a much less expensive (about $120) wine (from the same region) that he thought was not only a better value, but a better wine (and we agreed).  That particular wine was not even on the wine list (this does happen from time to time).

 

Hank

Ok that's is an interesting idea. Seems like need to ask.

[Pingus]

We did Quest in August and found the best QPR with:

Chsmpagne: Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque

France/Alsace: Cuvee Frederic Emilie 

Spanish red: Flor de Pingus

 

My 2cents worth. 

 

 

[calm down dear]

11 hours ago, Pingus said:

We did Quest in August and found the best QPR with:

Chsmpagne: Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque

France/Alsace: Cuvee Frederic Emilie 

Spanish red: Flor de Pingus

 

My 2cents worth. 

 

 

thanks - who'd of thought your own wine made the qpr ! Reisling is greatly under rated and that cuvee is brilliant.