Corkage Fee

[drakes2]

11 minutes ago, Kordy said:

 

I just see one lady from Canada who paid $42 to open her wine with Pizza at the buffet

Not this lady!!! 

[drakes2]

18 minutes ago, Kordy said:

Are there many people out there who actually paid $42 for corkage? how do they feel about it, what is their take, maybe they thought it was worth it... I wonder if there are many on cruisecritic who paid this fee and let's hear their story !  Maybe we are all overreacting and people (who are actually paying) are actually OK with it.

 

I just see one lady from Canada who paid $42 to open her wine with Pizza at the buffet...

People also waste a lot of wine. I sat next to a couple last year who ordered a bottle of wine the man had two glasses she didn't finish her second glass and left the MDR with the wine on the table. I doubt they would cork the leftover. 

[39august]

Upon request they will save the "left over" wine for the next night. 

[Banjo]

13 minutes ago, 39august said:

Upon request they will save the "left over" wine for the next night. 

I done that many times, but you have to ask.

[drakes2]

13 minutes ago, 39august said:

Upon request they will save the "left over" wine for the next night. 

Most will save it but there was only a glass left in the bottle. They were both orthopedic surgeons I spoke to them a good part of the evening probably don't care about wasting a glass of wine. 

[Tigermad]

My upcoming cruise doesn’t say corkage is that much. Where is it written down?

 

edit: see it says in the terms in an earlier post. How the heck can they charge that. It has more than doubled. 

Edited Friday at 08:51 PM by Tigermad

[Iamcruzin]

8 hours ago, Cruzinram said:

I looked at my final invoice and the charge for opening our bottle was 42.00. It was in the buffet at the pizza area. We ordered a pizza and had our bottled opened there. This was on the Beyond.

$42 to open wine at the buffet is Beyond belief.

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, 39august said:

Upon request they will save the "left over" wine for the next night. 

Left over wine🤣

[markeb]

3 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

$42 to open wine at the buffet is Beyond belief.

 

Corkage is not supposed to be just opening the wine. Unfortunately at the buffet that's probably what it was. That's probably the extreme example of a bad customer service. And adding a mandatory gratuity on top of what's basically a service charge really is insane.

 

I can defend a $25-35 corkage (no additional gratuity) in a true restaurant setting where your wine is at least theoretically competing with their sales. That's hardly the case here. The OP should have just left, frankly.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

 

Corkage is not supposed to be just opening the wine. Unfortunately at the buffet that's probably what it was. That's probably the extreme example of a bad customer service. And adding a mandatory gratuity on top of what's basically a service charge really is insane.

 

I can defend a $25-35 corkage (no additional gratuity) in a true restaurant setting where your wine is at least theoretically competing with their sales. That's hardly the case here. The OP should have just left, frankly.

Or complained to GR for bad service. You can  bet thats about all that bartender did; open the bottle pour the wine and add $42 to their sea pass card.  Poor unsuspecting guests. 

[Dolebludger]

Well, you see, I remember when cruise lines allowed guests to bring wine, alcohol and beer onboard from embarkation and other ports. And some even sold it onboard at lower prices than on land. Such drinks (along with soda) were considered a “guest service” and not a “profit point”. On the “Love Boat” (a ‘70s TV show that may have started popularity if cruising) cocktails and wine by the glass were $.50 and soda was $.10! Now cruising has become too much of a rip-off for me. Sorry.

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

 

Corkage is not supposed to be just opening the wine. Unfortunately at the buffet that's probably what it was. That's probably the extreme example of a bad customer service. And adding a mandatory gratuity on top of what's basically a service charge really is insane.

 

I can defend a $25-35 corkage (no additional gratuity) in a true restaurant setting where your wine is at least theoretically competing with their sales. That's hardly the case here. The OP should have just left, frankly.

Or purchased a bottle of wine for $42. 

[markeb]

10 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Well, you see, I remember when cruise lines allowed guests to bring wine, alcohol and beer onboard from embarkation and other ports. And some even sold it onboard at lower prices than on land. Such drinks (along with soda) were considered a “guest service” and not a “profit point”. On the “Love Boat” (a ‘70s TV show that may have started popularity if cruising) cocktails and wine by the glass were $.50 and soda was $.10! Now cruising has become too much of a rip-off for me. Sorry.

Yes, and gas averaged $0.56 a gallon in 1976. An equally useless fact.

 

Most hotels will let you bring your alcohol into the hotel. Almost none will let you drink it in their public spaces, although that’s largely a licensure issue. Some will let you bring wine into the restaurant but almost all of those will charge you corkage. $42 is an extreme example but corkage is almost universal in those establishments that allow you to bring your own wine. 

[Dolebludger]

Sure, many things are now universal, thar shouldn’t be.

[Kordy]

11 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

Sure, many things are now universal, thar shouldn’t be.

 

Welcome to the capitalist society. Hefty profit above everything else. 

[Liao]

2 hours ago, Kordy said:

 

Welcome to the capitalist society. Hefty profit above everything else. 

Hefty profits are nice when it comes to my retirement accounts.  I’m no Warren Buffet but I’m still a capitalist. We all love capitalism until we don’t.  

[NMTraveller]

5 hours ago, Kordy said:

 

Welcome to the capitalist society. Hefty profit above everything else. 

The higher class of cruise lines do a better job.  They still exist in our capitalist society, but they do not nickel and dime for every little thing.  For my last Celebrity cruise it felt like I should have an accountant onboard with all of the extra charges 😁

 

On my last AMA cruise,  I had zero extra charges.  No corkage fees...  The provided wines were all local...

Edited Saturday at 05:26 PM by NMTraveller

[markeb]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

The higher class of cruise lines do a better job.  They still exist in our capitalist society, but they do not nickel and dime for every little thing.  For my last Celebrity cruise it felt like I should have an accountant onboard with all of the extra charges 😁

 

On my last AMA cruise,  I had zero extra charges.  No corkage fees...  The provided wines were all local...

 

Did you bring your own wine aboard? Would you have been subject to a corkage if they had one?

 

Essentially everyone on an AMA cruise has a drink package. They don't charge corkage.

 

If you're on Celebrity and have a drink package, they don't charge corkage.

 

Not sure I'm seeing the difference here. And it's hard to compare pricing on a river cruise to an ocean cruise.

 

Celebrity has plenty of issues, and $42 to serve a personal bottle of wine in the buffet is absurd. Upcharges for inexpensive wines are crazy on packages. But there's no corkage with a package. And you can elect to pay for packages, pre-pay gratuities, and largely eliminate nickel and diming once onboard. If that price doesn't meet your needs, pick another line. And depending on the cruise, the price on many Celebrity cruises is exceeding my willingness to pay. But I tend to go all in and not worry about added charges on the ship.

[NMTraveller]

7 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

Did you bring your own wine aboard? Would you have been subject to a corkage if they had one?

 

Essentially everyone on an AMA cruise has a drink package. They don't charge corkage.

 

If you're on Celebrity and have a drink package, they don't charge corkage.

 

Not sure I'm seeing the difference here. And it's hard to compare pricing on a river cruise to an ocean cruise.

 

Celebrity has plenty of issues, and $42 to serve a personal bottle of wine in the buffet is absurd. Upcharges for inexpensive wines are crazy on packages. But there's no corkage with a package. And you can elect to pay for packages, pre-pay gratuities, and largely eliminate nickel and diming once onboard. If that price doesn't meet your needs, pick another line. And depending on the cruise, the price on many Celebrity cruises is exceeding my willingness to pay. But I tend to go all in and not worry about added charges on the ship.

The difference is the constant bombardment with upcharges on Celebrity.  

 

I don't even think that AMA cares if you bring your own wine/booze onboard.  There is no check.  

 

Which is less expensive?  I would say AMA with all of the numerous upcharges on Celebrity.  YMMV.  One is definitely more upscale.

 

River cruise vs. ocean cruise.  I suppose that the same could be said about ocean cruises that are all inclusive and are also an upgraded experience.

 

If you only purchase the cruise fare,  then Celebrity is less expensive.  If you plus it up,  you are likely to be more expensive than a premium/luxury line.

 

Prepaying room service does not get you close to avoiding the nickel and diming on Celebrity.  You have room service, wine upcharges, excursions, the list is endless ...

Edited Saturday at 08:09 PM by NMTraveller