HAL's Wine Lists

[frbob]

Maybe it's me. Maybe not. I happen to like a glass or two of good wine with my dinner. I cruise quite a bit on Holland America and notice the wine list has changed substantially in the past couple of years. The current list , and the packages offered (Navigator and Admiral's), appear to me to be less about the quality of the wines and more about cost cutting on HAL's part. Someone in Seattle might have gotten a bonus for suggesting that raising the wine prices and lowering the overall quality of the wines they offer would be good for the company. Clearly this person is not in marketing.

 

If you're not satisfied with the direction the wine list (or other HAL programs) is taking, maybe you can lend some support to the notion that less is not better. Perhaps HAL's cost cutting program should not be so obvious.

 

I hate to be a whiner, but I like my wines. :):):)

[frbob]

OK wine lovers. I know you're out there. Speak up !!!

[dakrewser]

I've never considered a cruise to be a wine "destination," mostly because the storage facilities of a ship at sea aren't conducive to well-aged vintages. Nor is the staff particularly knowledgeable. There are always a dozen or two drinkable selections at reasonable restaurant prices.

 

I do wish they would stock fewer California chardonnays (2 or 3 should suffice!) and carry a better selection of French, Italian & Spanish reds...

[bepsf]

I'm so not familiar w/the winelist...

 

...but I was introduced to the L'Ecole No 41 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon while aboard Oosterdam in Sept - and it's darned good!

http://www.lecole.com/

[garydm]

Noticed the same thing. Comparing wines and prices of Crystal and HAL last year, we found the selection to be much better on Crystal and the prices to be about 30% less than HAL for comparable wines. One thing I did learn was that you can request the Pinnacle wine list in the main dining room and it tends to have a bit better selection.

 

Gary

[fllcruiser]

I find their wine prices similar or better then local restaurants. I will agree the wines in the packages have something to be desired. They may not have as large of selection but I have always been able to find something yummy. As Brian noted the L'Ecole is very good and in the Pinnacle Grill it is mostly wines from the Pacific Northwest, ( I am originally from Seattle and miss some of these nice wines).

[Aussie Gal]

We were disappointed with the wine list on the Maasdam when we sailed on her last July. We have just finished a 21 day cruise on the Regal Princess and they did have a much better selection of wines from around the world but do not have any wine packages like HAL.

 

I agree with Dave, we would prefer a more liberal selection of wine. Not just ones from the West Coast of the U.S. but a lot more variety from other countries eg. New Zealand, Australia, France, Chile etc.

 

Jennie

[mariner]

The ``new'' list began on our MAASDAM cruise in February.

 

The higher ends are very reasonable. A 99 Petrus $584. A 97 Lafite $365.

 

The lower end has always been high priced. But, most people would order them. I recall one cruise where a guy was ``impressed'' they had Asti.

 

I've found the Navigator and Admiral to be a bargain, especially for people who aren't familar with wine, but would like to try it.

 

There are some very good wines in the $20 range. And we had the wine Brian had and loved it.

[days628]

We recently cruised on the Volendam, 3-13 / 3-23. I was very satisifed with the 5 bottles of wine I consumed at dinner. I enjoy the Australian Shiraz and alo the offering of New Zealand wines. I did however miss the Italian Ruffino that I enjoy so much at home.

 

Our wine steward was very knowlegeable and offered suggestions that coincided with my prefered price range. I also was able to enjoy the wine for two nights (each bottle). The wine never suffered from being held over until the following evening.

 

I do think that the wines were a bit overpriced but that did not stop me from my vacation indulgence.

 

days628

[ldog]

I'm not so concerned about the prices as the selection. We were in Europe and the majority of the wines were from the US West Coast. It would have been nice to see more French and Italian wines. There are so many good wines from around the world. When we are on vaction we'd like to try something new. Do they serve Canadian wine on the New England to Montreal cruises?

 

We discovered that we could go to the wine steward every afternoon, look at the evening menu and order our wine ahead of time. That way it was waiting for us at dinner each evening. I think we got a small discount for doing that too. It certainly made Walter, our wine steward's, life easier. that way he did have time to chat with us too. I think he was pretty knowledgeable just didn't have a lot of time at the start of dinner each night.

[iceman93]

Yep, I share your impression that the wine "thing" has gone downhill lately. It used to be that the cheap wines were slighly overpriced (Beringer White Zinfandel for $15?) and the expensive wines were jaw-dropping bargains (Caymus Special Select for $109?). Now you have to look more carefully, there are fewer bargains, and certainly fewer "interesting" new bottles to try.

 

I'm sure I'll get flamed for mentioning this in so many threads, but on the cruise I just finished I had the pleasure of many conversations with the Cellarmaster, a new position created by HAL, first on the Maasdam, to improve their wine program. He came from Fairmont Hotels and seems to have a good head on his shoulders when it comes to providing what people want when it comes to wine. He recognizes that wine is an experience-booster first and a revenue-booster second, and will be working on many aspects of the wine experience such as the list itself, the prices, wine tasting events, etc.

[gsheth]

The corkage fee is only $15/bottle, and you can go high end so as to make that worth it (e.g., Mondavi Napa-Stags Leap District for $80 after corkage vs. Beringer Napa Valley White Zinfandel for $20 after corkage). My wife and I live in CA and collect wines. We also love sailing on HAL with our two young boys. We always bring our own high-end wine (a bottle a night is what we bring on board even if we don't feel like finishing all of them). I hope this helps and provides some perspective on your options.

 

GS

 

HMS ____? - Greek Islands - summer 1984

Oosterdam - Alaska - August 2004

Oosterdam - Mexican Riviera - April 2005

Noordam - Western Mediterranean - June 2006 - July 2006:D