Wine drinker...plus package warning.

[dreaminofcruisin]

2 hours ago, t&atravel said:

Yes there was a time that Princess did not have a corkage fee and no limit to the amount brought on board.  In 2004, we did an 18 day panama canal SF to NY with my sister and BIL and we brought on 5 cases of wine and champagne between us (SF is our home port). We were on the old Regal and towards the end of the cruise we invited a bunch of folks to join us on the rear deck (it was very large) for a farewell champagne party.  We brought munchies down from the buffet and our room steward provided glasses and ice buckets.  We had family in NY to visit at the end so any left over wine we shared with them.

 

Yup. In those days, you could also bring beer in the same way that people were able to bring soda. Slap a luggage label on a case of beer, leave it with the porters and it would end up in your stateroom. I don't think they had drink packages back then. They also used to have BOGO happy hours.....

[Cruisemeister2002]

On 6/10/2024 at 2:29 PM, JimmyVWine said:

It depended on the port of embarkation and it depended on how deceitful people paying thousands of dollars for a cruise wanted to be in avoiding paying another $60 to bring on 6 bottles of wine as a couple. (Two free and 4 x $15).  Yes, there were some ports where there was never a table to pre-pay the corkage.  Nothing for the guest to do in that circumstance.  Hardly makes sense to scream at the embarkation area: "Can someone PLEASE take my money??!!"  But if those unpaid bottles were taken to the public spaces like lounges and dining venues, corkage was almost always charged.  At least in my experience.  And there were ports with corkage fee collection tables.  I never sailed out of Port Everglades without seeing one.  You walked up to the table, showed them your wine, and they charged the $15 fee to your account and stamped your bottles with a Sea Witch to show that they had been paid for.  

 

And now for my public service announcement.  While it is true that corkage fee collection can often be self-policing, Princess has the most generous wine allowance policy of any cruise line in its price class.  If we want things to stay this way instead of Princess reverting to the mean, we should tip our cap to their generosity and pay the fee that they assess.  It is a small price to pay for the benefit of bringing on full cases (or more) of our own wine.   

 

Scarecrow ? Was he outstanding in his field ?

 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

19 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Cunard's Information Page says that the limit is one bottle per adult.  And even if Cunard matched Princess' policy, the Britannia Class experience is not an upgrade from Princess. Cunard puts its efforts into the higher classes and it shows.

 

 "You may bring one bottle of wine or champagne per person on board to celebrate special occasions (no larger than 750ml). If consumed in restaurants or bars, each bottle will be subjected to a corkage fee. Guests who are under 18 years of age are not permitted to purchase or consume alcohol on board.  In U.S. waters, Cunard abides by the U.S. legal drinking age of 21 years."

I don’t profess to be an expert on Cunard having logged only 14 days on QM2 in summer 2018. I do follow the Cunard boards. This is a recent change and according to what I’ve read there it’s not enforced. If they did start enforcing it, I am certain there would be many posts about the demise of being treated “like adults”.  People report bringing onboard whatever they want just as we did in 2018. 

The Grills are a minority on the ships.  The Britannia experience is comparable with Princess in terms of price and accommodations. So I am responding to your post that Princess has the most generous policy in its price class. Cunard is in Princess’ price class and its policy is actually more generous.  Maybe not the one stated on the website, but the one that’s actually in practice.  When the practice changes the Cunard boards will let us know lol. 😝 
 

Of course on Cunard you always get a love seat (I am pretty certain even QM2 insides do but I could be corrected) and a kettle so in those ways the cabins are nicer. The beds, square footage, bathrooms, furniture and such are all comparable to Princess balconies and insides. And if you negate the 60 or so extra square feet of space in a mini suite (as compared to a QM2 balcony) I’d include that too. 

 

I did not say the Britannia class was an upgrade from Princess in my previous post so I’m not sure where your observation regarding that came from. Perhaps I am misunderstanding your post?  
 

 We sailed in a balcony on the 11th deck and then in a sheltered balcony deck 5. We had no special dining. We ate in the MDR nightly at a shared table of 6, early seating. We absolutely loved it. Everyone dressed for dinner every night in the MDR without exception.  The sommelier service was outstanding. The food was far superior to what we had experienced on Princess. I never felt we received “less than” service in the basic Britannia class. And up until then I had sailed almost exclusively in full suites on Princess. 
 

 

[lhsail]

20 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Cunard's Information Page says that the limit is one bottle per adult.  And even if Cunard matched Princess' policy, the Britannia Class experience is not an upgrade from Princess. Cunard puts its efforts into the higher classes and it shows.

 

 "You may bring one bottle of wine or champagne per person on board to celebrate special occasions (no larger than 750ml). If consumed in restaurants or bars, each bottle will be subjected to a corkage fee. Guests who are under 18 years of age are not permitted to purchase or consume alcohol on board.  In U.S. waters, Cunard abides by the U.S. legal drinking age of 21 years."

That has been the written policy for some time, but it’s widely known they don’t enforce it. You are also allowed to bring spirits onboard. I believe they currently charge $20 corkage for any wine brought to the dining room. 

 

[mrell345]

I have been doing some Princess wine price comparisons.

Emmolo Savignon Blanc $68.00 ship, $23.99 Total wines

Markham Merlot $78.00 ship and $27.99 Total wines.

Miraval 'Cotes de Provence' Rose $74.00 ship vs 19.99 Total wines
Ouverture by Opus one $580 on board and $149 at Total wine

 

 

Even with the $20.00 corkage fee it seems cheaper to bring your own aboard with those markups.  Less the two bottles for in room consumption.  I am not a huge wine drinker but.....

Edited June 12 by mrell345

[justjan2]

On 6/7/2024 at 5:07 PM, LRCruzr said:

Sorry....BUT when you are complaining about Beverages on a Princess Cruise and you only Purchased the PLUS Package,

Where you expecting Top Shelf when you did NOT Pay for TOP SHELF.  If you want better choices you still have time to upgrade to Premium Beverages.  But AGAIN Premium will NOT get you

Top Shelf Spirits or Wines.  Top shelf will come with an Upcost per drink Cost. If you Drink Caymus Wines at Home...I assume you can afford paying for Premium Beverage and Upcost. If you CHEAP OUT on a Cruise...You only GET what you Pay For.

CHILL

[memoak]

1 hour ago, mrell345 said:

I have been doing some Princess wine price comparisons.

Emmolo Savignon Blanc $68.00 ship, $23.99 Total wines

Markham Merlot $78.00 ship and $27.99 Total wines.

Miraval 'Cotes de Provence' Rose $74.00 ship vs 19.99 Total wines
Ouverture by Opus one $580 on board and $149 at Total wine

 

 

Even with the $20.00 corkage fee it seems cheaper to bring your own aboard with those markups.  Less the two bottles for in room consumption.  I am not a huge wine drinker but.....

You could say the same about any restaurant. They all have big time markups

[insidecabin]

We consider NCL in the same class(price range&quality) as Princess.

(Not everyone does)

 

If on a package wine(bottle/Magnum) unlimited no corkage.

[LRCruzr]

This is all well and Good.  But what prevents anyone from carrying on 4 Bottles of wine per couple AND having 4 bottles of Wine in each suitcase and just enjoying them on your Balcony in your Cabin??  NO corkage fee ????

[lhsail]

5 minutes ago, LRCruzr said:

This is all well and Good.  But what prevents anyone from carrying on 4 Bottles of wine per couple AND having 4 bottles of Wine in each suitcase and just enjoying them on your Balcony in your Cabin??  NO corkage fee ????

You could get caught. Hard to know. Be prepared to pay the corkage on the additional bottles. 

[Cruise Raider]

7 minutes ago, LRCruzr said:

This is all well and Good.  But what prevents anyone from carrying on 4 Bottles of wine per couple AND having 4 bottles of Wine in each suitcase and just enjoying them on your Balcony in your Cabin??  NO corkage fee ????

When you arrive at the wine table, usually just past security, they ask for your room number and name and check it against the log they have and write down how many bottles you have with you.  They will charge you corkage on anything that is in excess of their limit.  It probably show up the next day so you won’t have to pay local taxes in addition to the corkage fee.  
If you’d like to consume all of those bottles on your balcony, no problem but if you wish to take one or two to the dining room, have them put the stickers on the ones you’d like to consume outside of your cabin just in case.  

[XBGuy]

7 minutes ago, LRCruzr said:

This is all well and Good.  But what prevents anyone from carrying on 4 Bottles of wine per couple AND having 4 bottles of Wine in each suitcase and just enjoying them on your Balcony in your Cabin??  NO corkage fee ????

 

You seem to be implying that you can carry-on four bottles, pay the corkage charge on two or three of them, and nobody will notice the four bottles in your suitcase.

 

All baggage is X-Rayed prior to delivery to the passenger's cabin.  If the security person reviewing the X-Ray images notes an anomaly (e.g., a fairly large bottle that might contain liquid), that suitcase will not be delivered to the passenger's cabin.  Rather it will be diverted to a security area usually referred to here on Cruise Critic as "the Naughty Room."  There have been numerous reports from Princess passengers of being summoned to this security area where they have been asked to open a suitcase that had not been delivered to their cabin.  Invariably, the suitcase contained bottles of wine.  The corkage fee is charged on the spot, and the passenger is allowed to take the suitcase to his room.  If the anomaly turns out to be spirits, the bottle would be confiscated by the security personnel, and returned to the passenger at the end of the cruise.  Apparently, the same thing happens with cases of wine that are left at the pier for the porters to load.  I would hope that any person who left five cases at the pier would be able to get some assistance in toting those five cases to their cabin.

[NMTraveller]

What is the corkage fee per bottle?

 

If the worst that happens is you get charged a fee,  what is the issue?  I would much rather drink local wine (in most areas) than shipboard California wines...

Edited June 15 by NMTraveller

[loge23]

The wine program on Princess has greatly deteriorated over the past decade or so.

The Wine Spectator magazine once awarded Princess with its Award for Excellence for the wine list and service - but that was long ago now. Back then, the line was rolling out the then innovative Vines Bar dedicated to oenophiles and the wine curious. Nowadays, the line has been eliminating the Vines from its new ships - and eventually all ships. To be fair, I suppose it's a market-driven reaction. I don't think the Spectator reviewers would be too excited about the Princess wine service these days. That said, we used to only order wine from the Vines, but then you have to schlep it into the DR in the juice glass, unless you and the bartender had an understanding that you will return the glass (some tenders did, some didn't). A good Assistant Waiter would run back for refills - not sure if that's still a thing.

Princess used to offer a wine-by-the-bottle discount in the DRs in the form of package - no more.

Specific to this thread, the Plus package, as everyone probably knows by now, doesn't even identify the wines offered, instead listing the varietal only: i.e.: Chardonnay, Cabernet, etc. I have never seen this anywhere else outside of a sports bar! (You have any wine? Yeah, I have red or white!). Not sure this qualifies me as a wine snob, but there's absolutely no way I will order a blind label wine - life is indeed too short for that! What may qualify me as that snob is the fact that we prefer imports across all varietals - and those are in short supply on Princess. 

And yes, there are terrific bargains with imports too.

Someone mentioned the Italian heritage of the line. Very true. We started on Princess when the entire DR staff were Italian. During the good wine years, Italian wines were heavily marketed onboard and packages of premier Italian wines were sold. That's when we first tasted such classics as Ornellaia and Luce - sold together as a part of a three-bottle take home package.

Back then, one could also cart on a case or two with no problem, but - as also pointed out - now there's a check-in desk at the entrance (at least in Fort Lauderdale) to pay your corkage.

Also noted is travelling in Europe, there's no problem at all carrying on bottles - go figure.

It all adds up to who's doing what in Santa Clara - whomever is overseeing the wine program does not appear to be a wine aficionado, and that's why we have unlabeled box wine b-t-g these days. 

As noted previously in this thread, if you want even a decent glass of wine on Princess, just take the Premier package or simply pay the upcharge from your Plus package. It still won't be great, but it's a whole better than whatever is in those boxes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

47 minutes ago, loge23 said:

The wine program on Princess has greatly deteriorated over the past decade or so.

The Wine Spectator magazine once awarded Princess with its Award for Excellence for the wine list and service - but that was long ago now. Back then, the line was rolling out the then innovative Vines Bar dedicated to oenophiles and the wine curious. Nowadays, the line has been eliminating the Vines from its new ships - and eventually all ships. To be fair, I suppose it's a market-driven reaction. I don't think the Spectator reviewers would be too excited about the Princess wine service these days. That said, we used to only order wine from the Vines, but then you have to schlep it into the DR in the juice glass, unless you and the bartender had an understanding that you will return the glass (some tenders did, some didn't). A good Assistant Waiter would run back for refills - not sure if that's still a thing.

Princess used to offer a wine-by-the-bottle discount in the DRs in the form of package - no more.

Specific to this thread, the Plus package, as everyone probably knows by now, doesn't even identify the wines offered, instead listing the varietal only: i.e.: Chardonnay, Cabernet, etc. I have never seen this anywhere else outside of a sports bar! (You have any wine? Yeah, I have red or white!). Not sure this qualifies me as a wine snob, but there's absolutely no way I will order a blind label wine - life is indeed too short for that! What may qualify me as that snob is the fact that we prefer imports across all varietals - and those are in short supply on Princess. 

And yes, there are terrific bargains with imports too.

Someone mentioned the Italian heritage of the line. Very true. We started on Princess when the entire DR staff were Italian. During the good wine years, Italian wines were heavily marketed onboard and packages of premier Italian wines were sold. That's when we first tasted such classics as Ornellaia and Luce - sold together as a part of a three-bottle take home package.

Back then, one could also cart on a case or two with no problem, but - as also pointed out - now there's a check-in desk at the entrance (at least in Fort Lauderdale) to pay your corkage.

Also noted is travelling in Europe, there's no problem at all carrying on bottles - go figure.

It all adds up to who's doing what in Santa Clara - whomever is overseeing the wine program does not appear to be a wine aficionado, and that's why we have unlabeled box wine b-t-g these days. 

As noted previously in this thread, if you want even a decent glass of wine on Princess, just take the Premier package or simply pay the upcharge from your Plus package. It still won't be great, but it's a whole better than whatever is in those boxes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tend to disagree with you on a couple of points you’ve made.  
The wine program has only deteriorated in the last couple of years (not the last decade) when they still had outstanding wines available on the premier package and some very decent wines available under the plus package. Now, what they serve is Canyon Road under the Plus package, where not a no name label, it is pretty much undrinkable.  
I do agree to ask for a premier wine now and pay the difference if you don’t have the premier package.  

Also, you may have to ask but the wine packages are still available, they are just no longer advertised.  
You are correct about getting a decent wine glass.  However, just prove yourself to be responsible and return your glass every evening and you will get a nice glass with a thin rim, maybe even a Riedel glass.  We’ve not been made to transfer our wine into a bubble rimmed industrial strength glass since the restart.  But, when we go to the theater or to a show, we ask the bartender to switch them out so we don’t have to return the nicer wine glasses before heading up to our cabin for the evening.  
And, while the newest ship we’ve cruised on is the Discovery, without having a Vines, the Crown Grill Bar and Good Spirits have stocked some decent wines for us. We’ve even found that the Salty Dog (now O’Malleys) has found some decent bottles of wine for us.  
 

Just of note, I am a huge fan of California wines, both reds and whites.  That may make a difference when it comes to those that love wines made outside of the US.  



 

[Knickearth]

On 4/30/2024 at 7:55 AM, MJC said:

We don't drink much so we don't get a package,  but I like wine with dinner sometimes. Recently on the Emerald I ordered a glass of cabernet from the premier selection on the menu, I think it was $18 or $20. It was so bland I asked the waiter if they had brought the right wine, it was that bad. They took it away and came back with a different one, which was much better but still not very good.

We were on the Emerald in April.  We did not get the package as we had a large amount of OBC.  We also are not big drinkers.  We ordered usually from the premier list and that wasn’t that great.  For many years we went to the vines prior to dinner and would purchase a really goof bottle of wine, but they don’t have really good wine any more.  So disappointing.

[JimmyVWine]

13 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

You are correct about getting a decent wine glass.

Just bring your own stems. The servers are more than happy to pour wine into your better glasses. We stopped relying on Princess to provide us with decent glasses a decade ago. 

[Cruise Raider]

53 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Just bring your own stems. The servers are more than happy to pour wine into your better glasses. We stopped relying on Princess to provide us with decent glasses a decade ago. 

We pack light so we don’t go that route although, we have some friends that do so.  
we’ve never been denied nice stemware when we ask for it.  
BTW, Celebrity serves all their drinks in Riedel glassware except for by the pool.  Even their water glasses are made by Riedel.  Wow!  That is impressive.  
However, their wine couldn’t match what we can now get on Princess.  That hasn’t always been the case.  
 

[JimmyVWine]

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We pack light so we don’t go that route

We always arrive at our departure port at least a day ahead and make a provisions run. One year we picked up some nice stems at Zara Home in Athens and have been lucky taking them back and forth from home. They cost us about $7 each and if they ever don’t survive the trip, they would be easy to replace. We just carry them on to the airplane with our bag of reading material. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

16 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We pack light so we don’t go that route although, we have some friends that do so.  
we’ve never been denied nice stemware when we ask for it.  

You have a way about you that is so sweet and nice the crew can’t refuse you anything lol. 😝 while I usually can get the nice glasses on loan I have had a couple of sailings where I felt like I was reduced to begging almost. It really left a bad taste in my mouth and I simply won’t do it. So hence the carry on bag includes a couple of nice stems. Like @JimmyVWinepoints out it can be a non Riedel. 

[pppatpc2]

18 hours ago, loge23 said:

The wine program on Princess has greatly deteriorated over the past decade or so.

The Wine Spectator magazine once awarded Princess with its Award for Excellence for the wine list and service - but that was long ago now. Back then, the line was rolling out the then innovative Vines Bar dedicated to oenophiles and the wine curious. Nowadays, the line has been eliminating the Vines from its new ships - and eventually all ships. To be fair, I suppose it's a market-driven reaction. I don't think the Spectator reviewers would be too excited about the Princess wine service these days. That said, we used to only order wine from the Vines, but then you have to schlep it into the DR in the juice glass, unless you and the bartender had an understanding that you will return the glass (some tenders did, some didn't). A good Assistant Waiter would run back for refills - not sure if that's still a thing.

Princess used to offer a wine-by-the-bottle discount in the DRs in the form of package - no more.

Specific to this thread, the Plus package, as everyone probably knows by now, doesn't even identify the wines offered, instead listing the varietal only: i.e.: Chardonnay, Cabernet, etc. I have never seen this anywhere else outside of a sports bar! (You have any wine? Yeah, I have red or white!). Not sure this qualifies me as a wine snob, but there's absolutely no way I will order a blind label wine - life is indeed too short for that! What may qualify me as that snob is the fact that we prefer imports across all varietals - and those are in short supply on Princess. 

And yes, there are terrific bargains with imports too.

Someone mentioned the Italian heritage of the line. Very true. We started on Princess when the entire DR staff were Italian. During the good wine years, Italian wines were heavily marketed onboard and packages of premier Italian wines were sold. That's when we first tasted such classics as Ornellaia and Luce - sold together as a part of a three-bottle take home package.

Back then, one could also cart on a case or two with no problem, but - as also pointed out - now there's a check-in desk at the entrance (at least in Fort Lauderdale) to pay your corkage.

Also noted is travelling in Europe, there's no problem at all carrying on bottles - go figure.

It all adds up to who's doing what in Santa Clara - whomever is overseeing the wine program does not appear to be a wine aficionado, and that's why we have unlabeled box wine b-t-g these days. 

As noted previously in this thread, if you want even a decent glass of wine on Princess, just take the Premier package or simply pay the upcharge from your Plus package. It still won't be great, but it's a whole better than whatever is in those boxes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for this very well said, detailed post.  I agree with all you have said.  I think the wine program is the weakest link on the Princess fleet, of course it is something that is important to me. 
 

I was hopeful on the Enchanted last November that they had 4 sommeliers on board and I asked one if they were going to bring back decent wine and he claimed they were allegedly going to revamp the wine list in December.  I guess I should have asked him December of what year. 😂

 

I have never had a problem getting a decent wine glass, I do make the deal with someone in Vines or Crooners to return them and they give me a good glass.  Of course, my husband is the one that returns them after use. If we have a good waiter in the dining room, I request a good glass and the last four cruises our table was set with nice glasses each night.  In that case, I would bring the “juice glass” and the assistant waiter would pour my good wine into the nice one.  
 

I hope everyone who is tired of the mystery wine posts on this thread and I can make a point of forwarding it to someone at Princess.  They are advertising “Best Cruise line by Food and Wine Magazine”,  I don’t know about that.

[lolo11]

6 hours ago, pppatpc2 said:

Thank you for this very well said, detailed post.  I agree with all you have said.  I think the wine program is the weakest link on the Princess fleet, of course it is something that is important to me. 
 

I was hopeful on the Enchanted last November that they had 4 sommeliers on board and I asked one if they were going to bring back decent wine and he claimed they were allegedly going to revamp the wine list in December.  I guess I should have asked him December of what year. 😂

 

I have never had a problem getting a decent wine glass, I do make the deal with someone in Vines or Crooners to return them and they give me a good glass.  Of course, my husband is the one that returns them after use. If we have a good waiter in the dining room, I request a good glass and the last four cruises our table was set with nice glasses each night.  In that case, I would bring the “juice glass” and the assistant waiter would pour my good wine into the nice one.  
 

I hope everyone who is tired of the mystery wine posts on this thread and I can make a point of forwarding it to someone at Princess.  They are advertising “Best Cruise line by Food and Wine Magazine”,  I don’t know about that.

I totally agree about the "mystery" wine. The Canyon Road chardonnay included in the Plus package is undrinkable. Very disappointing. 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, lolo11 said:

I totally agree about the "mystery" wine. The Canyon Road chardonnay included in the Plus package is undrinkable. Very disappointing. 

Agree but I find the Pinot Grigio is ok for lunch and late night casino drinking 

[Thrak]

On 4/30/2024 at 11:15 AM, Ombud said:

Well they weren't in mine so I grabbed one from Crooners. I am the lowlife that only cruises in a balcony, apparently suites set-ups are different 

 

We either get wine glasses from our Steward or simply ask for wine glasses at a bar. It's never been an issue.

 

Wine to go from Vines has never been an issue for us either. Generally they put the wine in a less-than-fabulous wine glass and we can take it with us to dinner. We've never been asked to bring those glasses back. On one cruise the Wine Steward in Vines let us take the Riedel glasses to dinner but we had to promise to not only bring them back but to guard against the dining room staff taking them from the table. (He was right as the dining room staff tried to snag them and it was good we were vigilant.)

Edited June 16 by Thrak

[HMSDingy]

On 6/12/2024 at 9:39 AM, mrell345 said:

I have been doing some Princess wine price comparisons.

Emmolo Savignon Blanc $68.00 ship, $23.99 Total wines

Markham Merlot $78.00 ship and $27.99 Total wines.

Miraval 'Cotes de Provence' Rose $74.00 ship vs 19.99 Total wines
Ouverture by Opus one $580 on board and $149 at Total wine

 

 

Even with the $20.00 corkage fee it seems cheaper to bring your own aboard with those markups.  Less the two bottles for in room consumption.  I am not a huge wine drinker but.....

No disrespect but since you're from Quebec you should know that restaurants there charge a ridiculous markup on their wines. It's common practice everywhere. That's why we often go to BYOB restaurants.