new cruiser needs help with wine question

[poohtaz]

:confused: We are taking our first cruise January 2007 on Mercury to Mexico and are staying in a Sky Suite, my questions is this:

Are there little fridgerators in the suites? and has anyone ever brought some of their own wine on board and just drank it in their suite?

I know they say you can't bring it on board, but someone must have done this.. or am I completetly wrong?? much thanks for any responses;)

[caviargal]

:confused: We are taking our first cruise January 2007 on Mercury to Mexico and are staying in a Sky Suite, my questions is this:

Are there little fridgerators in the suites? and has anyone ever brought some of their own wine on board and just drank it in their suite?

I know they say you can't bring it on board, but someone must have done this.. or am I completetly wrong?? much thanks for any responses;)

 

I brought six bottles aboard my last X cruise. We brought one to dinner each evening and paid the corkage and drank some in our room.

 

No issues at all:) and it was on Mercury!

[SheilaNC]

Although there's always a lot of discussion, based on different experiences on different ships and cruise lines, about bringing or not allowed to bring wine onboard, we've never had a problem. We've packed bottles well wrapped in our checked luggage, carried them on in our carry-on luggage and bought onshore to bring back onboard. Our room stewards are always happy to bring to the dining room for us where we pay the corkage fee. The Wine steward saves any left in the bottle for the next night. No issue at all. By the way, wine stewards enjoy being asked if they'd like to sample new wines!

[naked]

If you open it in the bars or dining rooms, there will be a corkage fee--really it's mostly a tip for the guy or gal who gets your glasses and chills the bottle and pours for you.

 

If you open it in your cabin yourself, I've never heard of anyone paying a corkage charge. However, I have also never heard of anyone bring an open bottle to dinner (they will keep your bottle for you if you don't finish it in one night or let you take with you back to your room). I am guessing that if you show up at dinner with a bottle, you will pay the fee--so don't anybody get the idea that you can pre-open your wine and save even more!

 

The key is to get the wine on the ship. The best way to do this is to pack it in your checked luggage that the porter takes from you at the curb when you arrive for embarkation. I have done this 4 times without ever having a problem.

 

Carry-on alcohol does get removed from people from time to time when they board and if this happens, you will not get it back until your final night.

[poohtaz]

:) Thanks for all the useful information, but is there a fridge in the suites to cool the wine?

[caviargal]

If you open it in the bars or dining rooms, there will be a corkage fee--really it's mostly a tip for the guy or gal who gets your glasses and chills the bottle and pours for you.

 

If you open it in your cabin yourself, I've never heard of anyone paying a corkage charge. However, I have also never heard of anyone bring an open bottle to dinner (they will keep your bottle for you if you don't finish it in one night or let you take with you back to your room). I am guessing that if you show up at dinner with a bottle, you will pay the fee--so don't anybody get the idea that you can pre-open your wine and save even more!

 

The key is to get the wine on the ship. The best way to do this is to pack it in your checked luggage that the porter takes from you at the curb when you arrive for embarkation. I have done this 4 times without ever having a problem.

 

Carry-on alcohol does get removed from people from time to time when they board and if this happens, you will not get it back until your final night.

 

Actually, very little of this fee goes to the server. I usually add a tip for the person that serves my wine at the end of each cruise.

 

I think it is rude to take an open bottle to dinner if it is not wine you bought on the ship.

 

I pack it in my checked luggage as well

[SandyMc]

There is a fridge in the room but it will not hold a regular wine bottle - and actually, it is more of a cooler really - nothing ever gets really cold.

[naked]

the fridge will not hold a wine bottle and it is correct that it will not keep things cold either.

 

We put some fresh squeezed OJ and GFJ in our fridge that came to our room with our first breakfast. We were saving it for a screwdriver or greyhound later in the week, but in 3 days it was 'funky'.

 

At best, it will keep a candy bar from melting. That's about it.

[cirpi]

Actually, very little of this fee goes to the server. I usually add a tip for the person that serves my wine at the end of each cruise.

 

I think it is rude to take an open bottle to dinner if it is not wine you bought on the ship.

 

I pack it in my checked luggage as well

 

The corkage is $15 per bottle of which Celebrity gets $10 and the wine steward gets only $5. On my last cruise, I paid the corkage to the wine steward.

[jasparzak]

When you say bring the wine on board in your checked luggage, when do you put it in? When is your luggage checked? Also is there not a chance that bottles may get broken?:eek:

[Leela]

I brought a bottle of Pinot Noir on my last cruise on Mercury. I carried it in my carry-on bag...and we never ended up drinking it so I carried it off again at the end of the trip!

 

Personally, I wouldn't put wine in my checked baggage at all, or I'd wait until after I've picked up my bags after flying in. I just can't imagine that it would survive the abuse the airlines dish out. But I guess if you had a hard-side suitcase and packed it in those styrofoam cradles that mail-order wine sometimes come in, it would work. But still...those bags get thrown around while being loaded on the ship and brought to your stateroom, too. If nothing else, seal it in a plastic bag just in case! Good luck!

 

Next cruise I'm going on I'm going to carry the wine in a padded carry-bag that I got free when I bought four bottles of rum in the San Juan airport.

[kb4683]

We have carried on as many as 12 bottles (14 night cruise) in a rolling cooler, just tell security (if asked) that it's for dining room consumption -- no problem (they seem to only have a problem with "obvious" hard liquor). If you have a savvy sommelier, and you tell him up front that you brought several bottles, he will "take care of you if you take care of him" at the end of the cruise....ie. we tipped him $10/bottle cash into his pocket. DH also always orders a bottle (or more) of their St. Francis Cabernet which he has a glass of every evening with his dessert (cheese & fruit plate).

[kb4683]

I should have said "he SHOULD take care of you if you take care of him". We have only had one sommelier that didn't see an opportunity for a bigger tip at the end of the cruise! Sometimes they will charge corkage for some bottles and "forget" on some.

 

A couple of those 12 bottles were also consumed in the cabin ;) and therefore we purchased more than just the St. Francis in the dining room.

 

Your cabin steward will deliver bottles you want to the dining room early in the day if you ask; that way the sommelier will have time to properly chill the whites before your dinner. I always put a label (just one those white file folder labels) on the bottle with our name, table number, stateroom number and seating to be double sure.