Wine Package

[Calypso54]

We are going on the Grand Australia and are considering buying a 24 bottle wine package. We have several questions that are not covered in the FAQ. Is there any difference in cost buying online now or waiting until we board? Can we take a bottle to our room? Do you have to select all your wines at once or can you select as you go along? ( I would never buy a case of wine I have never tried) If you do have to select all at once, can you change for different bottles if you dislike the ones you chose? We have always taken our own wine and paid corkage to ensure we get wine we enjoy. With the change in rules and much longer cruise that will not work. Thanks

[crystalspin]

33 minutes ago, Calypso54 said:

Is there any difference in cost buying online now or waiting until we board? Can we take a bottle to our room? Do you have to select all your wines at once or can you select as you go along? ...If you do have to select all at once, can you change for different bottles if you dislike the ones you chose? 

If you wait until on board, (1) you can see if different wines have been substituted, and (2) the bartender or MDR server (used to be Sommelier!) gets some credit for selling it to you. (3) Also you can apply OBC if you have excess.

 

You can take a bottle anywhere you like! Or you can let them hold them, and they will find them for you even if you move between the Lido and the MDR (it's like magic).

 

I have not had the package, but I do not believe you have to choose all at the start. Maybe Roger @Crew News can cast some light on that question.

[kazu]

Just to add to @crystalspin’s very helpful post.  You can choose your wine once on board.  One or two bottles at a time (in case you want a red and white 😉).  No need to choose all the wines ahead of time.

 

I do believe that the rules on where you can take the bottles has changed.  I was told dining venue (MDR, Lido, Specialty) or your cabin only but I’m not sure how strictly that was enforced.    It wasn’t when we took the remains of our bottle to the Sea View Pool

[sue1898]

Besides the reasons listed above for waiting to purchase til onboard, you could go to one of the wine tastings early in your cruise and taste wines you are considering.

[crystalspin]

38 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

You can take a bottle anywhere you like! Or you can let them hold them, and they will find them for you even if you move between the Lido and the MDR (it's like magic).

Oh that's right, I read (on Cruise Critic) that you weren't supposed to take the whole bottle to bars or lounges... 

[taxmantoo]

9 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Oh that's right, I read (on Cruise Critic) that you weren't supposed to take the whole bottle to bars or lounges... 

What you read on Cruise Critic is not the gospel 🙂 We have very often, when buying a package, had a few bottles delivered to our room, a few bottles delivered to Billboard Onboard bar, and the rest kept in the dining room.  The bottles sent to our room we have then taken to the Sea View Pool or the Lido Pool without ever being questioned by anyone.

Edited November 20, 2023 by taxmantoo

[FlaMariner]

4 hours ago, Calypso54 said:

Is there any difference in cost buying online now or waiting until we board?

The price has always been the same.  We wait and buy onboard so our MDR waiter "gets credit".

 

4 hours ago, Calypso54 said:

Can we take a bottle to our room?

Yes.  And wine glasses (and a corkscrew) are in your stateroom.

4 hours ago, Calypso54 said:

We have always taken our own wine and paid corkage to ensure we get wine we enjoy.

As you go along. we primarily partake at dinner and we choose a wine based on what we order. 

4 hours ago, Calypso54 said:

We have always taken our own wine and paid corkage to ensure we get wine we enjoy.

Not worth it for us to haul wine.  We are not picky wine people and there are discounts for 3 and above Mariners. 

[Dutchman48]

4 hours ago, crystalspin said:

I

I have not had the package, but I do not believe you have to choose all at the start. Maybe Roger @Crew News can cast some light on that question.

Do not have to choose your wines when you purchase your package just what package level 1,2,or 3 and how many ( 4-24 ). I have gone the wine package route on about 25% of our cruises. In fact, except for the bottle that I have sent to the room i never preselect. In the MDR we tell our waiter what we are having and ask for his recommendations. On a few occasions they has given us bottles that were no part of the package but felt we would enjoy them with what we ordered. My advice is unless you are set on a certain wine, take advantage of your waiters' knowledge.

[richwmn]

One thing I would like to add, if you do select a wine and it is unopened it can be traded for another wine in the same package later in the cruise.

 

 

[SanDiegian]

We have the drink package that includes wines by the glass up to $11 for Signature and $14 for Elite. However, a glass of wine above this you are charged the full price and not difference, gotcha!  Every ship has a different wine stock and I agree not to buy any wine bottle unless you taste it first, it may have heat-shocked or the bottle may have been opened awhile. If you are a 4* Mariner the wine tasting is comp but they only pour 4-6 reds, it does include pairing with cheese/cured meat. I have brought aboard my own wine too, allowed one per passenger. I tell them it is a select wine we’ve saved for a special occasion and they don’t charge a corkage fee. But don’t leave your corkscrew at home. RCL held my bags once for trying to bring wine aboard. And wrap it well so the bottle won’t break in your suitcase. In Australia you could ship home any wine to avoid any extra inspection at custom. What’s the limits now?

[kazu]

11 minutes ago, SanDiegian said:

I have brought aboard my own wine too, allowed one per passenger. I tell them it is a select wine we’ve saved for a special occasion and they don’t charge a corkage fee.

 

Good for you but fair warning to all who aren’t the smooth talker you are, there is technically a $20 corkage fee for every bottle of wine you bring on now.  there is no more “one free bottle per person”.

 

Some ports may not be as strict as others but the rule is there and the odds are it will be applied.

 

 

11 minutes ago, SanDiegian said:

But don’t leave your corkscrew at home. RCL held my bags once for trying to bring wine aboard.

 

Any wine you bring on board HAL must be carried on.  It cannot be in your checked luggage.

 

[crystalspin]

13 minutes ago, SanDiegian said:

We have the drink package that includes wines by the glass up to $11 for Signature and $14 for Elite. However, a glass of wine above this you are charged the full price and not difference, gotcha!

...I have brought aboard my own wine too, allowed one per passenger. I tell them it is a select wine we’ve saved for a special occasion and they don’t charge a corkage fee. But don’t leave your corkscrew at home. RCL held my bags once for trying to bring wine aboard. 

(1) You do know you are on the Holland America board?

(2) The packages are up to $11 (Signature) or up to $15 (Elite) and for several years now if you go over you are charged the difference (plus 18% service) only.

(3) There are no "allowed one per passenger". Corkage is charged at $20/bottle. No matter how "select" it might be. A corkscrew will be in your cabin. DNK RCI's policy. You're on the HAL board.

[SanDiegian]

Whoa! Take a breath, Mariner.  Have some wine!

[POA1]

32 minutes ago, SanDiegian said:

We have the drink package that includes wines by the glass up to $11 for Signature and $14 for Elite. However, a glass of wine above this you are charged the full price and not difference, gotcha!

This is wrong on a couple of levels. You only pay for the difference - AND - the Elite package has had a $15 limit for a long time now.

 

If you have the Signature Beverage Package ($11 limit) and you order a $12 glass of wine, you pay the $1 difference + 18% service charges, or $1.18. Maybe you are thinking of NCL?

[POA1]

15 minutes ago, SanDiegian said:

Whoa! Take a breath, Mariner.  Have some wine!

I believe that the correct response is, "I stand corrected."

 

May I recommend a medium bodied red? It would pair well with the crow.

[ottahand7]

21 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

What you read on Cruise Critic is not the gospel 🙂 We have very often, when buying a package, had a few bottles delivered to our room, a few bottles delivered to Billboard Onboard bar, and the rest kept in the dining room.  The bottles sent to our room we have then taken to the Sea View Pool or the Lido Pool without ever being questioned by anyone.

Since @Calypso54 is on a Grand cruise there will probably be no beverage package so reasonably priced wine can come from buying wine by the package and have it delivered to your chosen bar.   On the Volendam GSA happy hours were limited in the beginning so we ordered wine by the bottle at several bars and they would take it off our package.   If the bartenders are with it they can handle it just as the waitiers in the MDR do or just do as @taxmantoo suggested and have them sent to a bar.   Finally on the GSA they offered three happy hours per afternoon so there was another way to get reasonable wine.   Just watch your daily programs for when your happy hours are and where as they moved for us depending on the hour.  

[VMax1700]

17 hours ago, SanDiegian said:

We have the drink package that includes wines by the glass up to $11 for Signature and $14 for Elite. However, a glass of wine above this you are charged the full price and not difference, gotcha!  Every ship has a different wine stock and I agree not to buy any wine bottle unless you taste it first, it may have heat-shocked or the bottle may have been opened awhile. If you are a 4* Mariner the wine tasting is comp but they only pour 4-6 reds, it does include pairing with cheese/cured meat. I have brought aboard my own wine too, allowed one per passenger. I tell them it is a select wine we’ve saved for a special occasion and they don’t charge a corkage fee. But don’t leave your corkscrew at home. RCL held my bags once for trying to bring wine aboard. And wrap it well so the bottle won’t break in your suitcase. In Australia you could ship home any wine to avoid any extra inspection at custom. What’s the limits now?

There is a lot of incorrect information in this post.

 

Elite package is up to $15 per drink.

If you go above the limit of your package price then you pay difference plus 18% gratuity.

A reasonable quantity of 750 ml wine bottles may be brought onboard but they are all subject to a corkage charge of $20 per bottle (no free bottles).

There is no need to bring a corkscrew.  Mostly there is a corkscrew in the stateroom already and if it is missing then just ask your room steward.

[SanDiegian]

Enjoy Australia!🦘🐨🇦🇺🍷🛳️ 🙃

[Mary229]

3 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

@Calypso54 is on a Grand cruise there will probabl

It was announced recently that HIA would soon be available on all cruises.  I never understood why it wasn’t. 

[POA1]

9 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

Since @Calypso54 is on a Grand cruise there will probably be no beverage package so reasonably priced wine can come from buying wine by the package and have it delivered to your chosen bar.   On the Volendam GSA happy hours were limited in the beginning so we ordered wine by the bottle at several bars and they would take it off our package.   If the bartenders are with it they can handle it just as the waitiers in the MDR do or just do as @taxmantoo suggested and have them sent to a bar.   Finally on the GSA they offered three happy hours per afternoon so there was another way to get reasonable wine.   Just watch your daily programs for when your happy hours are and where as they moved for us depending on the hour.  

Actually, on a Grand Voyage, the Signature Beverage Package is really reduced. Hat tip to someone who knows @richwmn

[richwmn]

16 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

Since @Calypso54 is on a Grand cruise there will probably be no beverage package

 

7 hours ago, POA1 said:

Actually, on a Grand Voyage, the Signature Beverage Package is really reduced. Hat tip to someone who knows @richwmn

Availability to purchase a drink package is a new addition to Grand Voyages. It was not available for the 2023 Grand World, but is for the 2024 Grand Australia and other Grands.

 

[ottahand7]

@richwmn that is great news.   It also might get me looking at my drinking looking at the total for 120+ day voyages, ouch!    The wine packages would then become a good value again, a nice bottle of wine for $20 with the Mariner discount might work for me, plus all the mooching I could figure out.  

[P.Dooran]

Which cellar wines are included in the 'Have it All" package?

[Mary229]

6 minutes ago, P.Dooran said:

Which cellar wines are included in the 'Have it All" package?

The cellar packages are separate from HIA.  HIA is by the glass.  You can order any glass of wine that is $11 or less.  If you pay a higher priced wine you pay the difference plus the 18% gratuity on that difference 

[P.Dooran]

Thank you. Where does one find the per glass prices, lets say for cellar 2 or 3 wines. I see that that the cellar 1 wines are around $9 to $11