Celebrity guidelines say you may take up to 2 bottles of wine per cabin onboard.

[Rob&Nancy]

I have noticed two mentions in the last day about "2 bottles of wine per cabin".

 

Can anyone comment on this? Is this a new rule? Anyone from X want to weigh in?

 

Thanks!

[Swedish Chef]

Does Celebrity charge a corkage fee?

Subject: Food and Beverage

No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard for consumption. Guests wishing to bring personal wine onboard with them at the beginning of the cruise may do so, limited to two (2) bottles per stateroom, but when consumed in any shipboard restaurant, bar or dining venue, each bottle shall be subject to a corkage fee of $25.00. If a guest receives a bottle of wine (in their stateroom) from a family member of friend, and that bottle(s) was purchased from our Bon Voyage Gift selection, then no corkage fee will apply if they wish to consume the bottle in the dining room or any public area. If a guest receives a bottle from an outside vendor and/or travel agent, and the bottle was not purchased through our Bon Voyage selection, then a $25.00 corkage fee per bottle will apply if they wish to consume the wine in the dining room or any other public area. The fee will be applied to the guest's onboard account. Alcoholic beverages purchased in ports of call or from onboard shops will be stored by the ship and delivered to guest staterooms on the last day of the sailing. Rob and Nancy - you may read this already...what appears to be a big issue is just recently X increased their corkage fee from $15.00 to $25.00 per bottle:o

[Rob&Nancy]

Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I don't understand. Can you bring two bottles of wine on board and consume them at your leisure in your cabin? Does a corkage fee apply then?

 

Sorry for the confusion, but I want to be sure that I understand. (yes, I did read about the corkage fee, that's just extortionate!)

 

And, I know I've posted this question before, without any success, but why doesn't Celebrity offer a dinner wine package the way the RC does?

[Leela]

Rob & Nancy,

 

when consumed in any shipboard restaurant, bar or dining venue, each bottle shall be subject to a corkage fee of $25.00

Your cabin is neither a dining venue, bar, nor shipboard restaurant, so you will not have to pay a corkage fee if you drink it in your stateroom.

[Swedish Chef]

Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I don't understand. Can you bring two bottles of wine on board and consume them at your leisure in your cabin? Does a corkage fee apply then?

 

Sorry for the confusion, but I want to be sure that I understand. (yes, I did read about the corkage fee, that's just extortionate!)

 

And, I know I've posted this question before, without any success, but why doesn't Celebrity offer a dinner wine package the way the RC does?

 

 

Heh Rob - Good old X makes this as confusing and frustrating as possible, what we have usually encountered is that if we consume our wine in our rooms we've never been charged a corkage fee...I think the reason why is it really puts your room attendants in a no win situation...so they decide to turn a blind eye in the hopes of a GREAT tip...which they get from us, we've usually brought 2 bottles each and bring them out as the cruise go's on.

I know on our last cruise on the Empress they didn't offer the dinner wine package...RCCL indicated they had stopped providing that option:(

[stanjj111]

$25 for corkage fee -outrageous.

This certainly limits the type of wine that you can bring on board even if you have a special collection.

[toz]

I'm sailing on the Zenith on Dec.18th. The Guest Vacation Brochure that I received from Celebrity states: "Guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use."

[Fatfish]

I'm sailing on the Zenith on Dec.18th. The Guest Vacation Brochure that I received from Celebrity states: "Guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use."

 

This from Celebrity website.............

 

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/pdf/faq/Alcohol%20Waiver%20_Celebrity.pdf

 

Alcohol Waiver and Acceptance of Responsibility ñ International

v The minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on all Celebrity Cruises ships is 21 years of age.

· However, on ships in Europe, South America and Australia, where the legal drinking age is lower than 21, a parent who is sailing with his

or her son(s) and/or daughter(s) who is between the ages of 18 to 20, may sign a waiver allowing the 18 to 20 year old to consume alcoholic

beverages.

ßThe 18- to 20 year-old must agree to comply with Celebrity' Cruisesí policies, including among other things, agreeing to not provide

alcoholic beverages to any other person, regardless of age. Restrictions apply, and this policy is subject to change without notice.

v An individualís age on the date of sailing determines his or her status for the entire cruise vacation.

v Guests are not allowed to bring beer or hard liquor onboard for consumption or any other use. Guests wishing to bring personal wine

onboard with them at the beginning of the cruise may do so, limited to two (2) bottles per stateroom, but when consumed in any shipboard

restaurant, bar or dining venue, each bottle shall be subject to a corkage fee of $25.00. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports of call or

from onboard shops will be stored by the ship and delivered to guest staterooms on the last day of the sailing. Security may inspect containers

(water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, luggage etc.) and will dispose of containers holding alcohol. Celebrity Cruisesí Guest Vacation

Policy may be enforced, up to and including disembarkation, if a guest violates any alcohol policy. Guests under the age of 21 will not have

alcohol returned to them.

v Guests who violate any alcohol policies, (over consume, provide alcohol to people under age 21, demonstrate irresponsible behavior, or

attempt to conceal alcoholic items at security and or luggage check points or any other time), may be disembarked or not allowed to board, at

their own expense, in accordance with our Guest Vacation Policies.

v Celebrity Cruises reserves the right to revoke or otherwise restrict drinking privileges of any guest, regardless of age. Even if all criteria are

met, shipboard personnel may elect, and have the option to, not grant the waiver or any such drinking privileges. The waiver may not apply when

the vessel is in certain territorial waters.

PARENT - WAIVER REQUEST

I AM THE PARENT OF _______________________, Stateroom No._________, born on ____/____/______ who I hereby affirm is between the

ages of 18 to 20 years if age as of the sailing date of this voyage. I hereby request and authorize Celebrity Cruises to serve alcoholic beverages to

the above named person. I have read and understand the Celebrity Cruisesí Policy as set forth above, and hereby agree to abide by that policy

and affirm that the above named person is fully capable of and able to comply with that policy.

I hereby accept full responsibility for his or her acts and agree to supervise his or her consumption of alcoholic beverages at all times.

ACCEPTED AND AGREED TO

By parent (signature):_______________________ Name of parent (print):___________________________ Date:_____________

MINOR ñ ACCEPTANCE OF RESPONSIBILITY

I, ___________________________, hereby represent and affirm that ___________________________is my parent, and that, as of the

sailing date of this voyage, I am between 18-20 years of age and that I was born on _______/_______/_________.

I have read the summary of the cruise lineís policies set forth above and hereby agree to abide by the policies and procedures set forth by Celebrity

Cruises. Applicable to those minors between 18-20 years of age, who are granted the privilege of consuming alcoholic beverages served to them

onboard as authorized by their respective parent or legal guardian.

I acknowledge that those policies, among other things, strictly prohibit me from providing any alcoholic beverages I am served or receive, to any

other person(s), with no exceptions, and I hereby agree to not provide alcoholic beverages to any person, of any age, at any time. I understand

and recognize the seriousness of any violation(s) of these policies, and agree to abide any/all decision(s) by the company regarding any breach of

these policies, pursuant to the companyís Guest Vacation Policy, which may impose sanctions up to and including disembarkation from the

vessel and reporting of the matter to applicable policy authorities and/or the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.)

ACCEPTED AND AGREED TO:

By minor (signature):_______________________ Name of minor (print):____________________________ Date:_______________

Version No. 2 (November 9, 2006)

[xplrcrzn]

This is primarily the work of company lawyers, not the revenue folks (the convoluted language and waivers give it away). Apparently Celebrity management is trying to CYA against minors drinking, excessive drinking by anyone, fights on the balconies, chaos in the bars, etc. Oh, and also make some extra money at the same time.

[DC2OC]

We'll bring our 2 bottles each (I know its per stateroom) and maybe even carry a glass into dinner with us.I called RCL and was told you can't even carry wine unboard for stateroom use.................Frank

[Hlitner]

You have to love Celebrity and RCI for their published wine policy or is it policies or does it depend upon the day of the week. Here is the current policy pasted right from the Celebrity web site:

 

Guests are not allowed to bring beer or hard liquor onboard for consumption or any other use. Guests wishing to bring personal wine

onboard with them at the beginning of the cruise may do so, limited to two (2) bottles per stateroom, but when consumed in any shipboard

restaurant, bar or dining venue, each bottle shall be subject to a corkage fee of $25.00. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports of call or

from onboard shops will be stored by the ship and delivered to guest staterooms on the last day of the sailing. Security may inspect containers

(water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, luggage etc.) and will dispose of containers holding alcohol. Celebrity Cruisesí Guest Vacation

Policy may be enforced, up to and including disembarkation, if a guest violates any alcohol policy. Guests under the age of 21 will not have

alcohol returned to them.

 

Is this reasonable? When we started cruising (many many years ago) the cruise lines served very reasonbly priced alcoholic beverages in both the bars and the dining rooms (including wine). Than the cruise lines started their "maximize on-board revenue policy" and they started to increase the prices for drinks and wine. They even made on-deck beverages very scarce to "encourage" passengers to purchase drinks (even a can of soda can cost $1.73 ($1.50 + 155)). Passengers got wise to these policies and started to bring their own wine aboard..so the cruise lines also got wise and started charging corkage fees. Meanwhile, RCI and Celebrity increased the price of wine to a point where today a cheap wine is marked-up over 600%. Passengers had a problem paying $31 for a bottle of Mondavi Woodbridge (many would not drink this stuff for $5) so they would bring aboard a decent $15 - $20 bottle and pay the small corkage fees. So now, the cruise lines have again increased the price of wines on-board, and Celebrity now charges a ridiculous $25 corkage fee. It is obvious that Celebrity (and some other cruise lines) are now putting profits above passenger satisfaction. This will work in the short term for Celebrity, but in the long term people have a tendency to look for something better. Just ask General Motors, Ford, etc. At some point the economy will soften and with all the increased compeition in the cruise industry the buyer will again have a real economic voice. Having seen this pattern before, I sure would not be buying RCI stock.

 

Hank

[toz]

So...the website states one policy and the vacation brochure states another. What's wrong with Celebrity?

[ecslady]

The 2 bottle policy is recent....In October, both the website and our docs said no alcohol allowed and we all brought the wine we wanted on-board.....:D:D:D In our group of about 20 or so, we had a combination of bottled wine and premium box wines.....some was in checked luggage...some in carry-on....nothing was confiscated:)

[Arubalisa]

So...the website states one policy and the vacation brochure states another. What's wrong with Celebrity?

I would guess that the brochure has not caught up with the website statement which is the latest update in this ongoing debacle.

[Susan-M]

 

Is this reasonable? Hank

 

I can live with the $25.00 corkage fee (I would prefer $15., but it won't be a deciding factor in whether or not I cruise with Celebrity). I would also like the option of bringing wine onboard in other ports to drink in the dining room. If they charge a $25.00 corkage fee then I don't see why it should be a problem - other than they would have to arrange to have it sent directly to the dining room to avoid having you drink it in your cabin.

[TomMMD]

I think we should give some credit to Celebrity for modifying their previous draconian policy. Perhaps they have been listending to us here?

 

With some gentle prodding pehaps we can get them to ease up a little bit more on the "2 per cruise" limitation.

 

As for the $25 per bottle corking fee, it is a big jump al at once but I wonder what standard practice is in the better restaurants? And how long has the $15 fee been in existance and if it had been in place for a while whether the increase just puts the corkage fee up to what it had used to be in real dollars?

[Rev22:17]

Susan,

 

I can live with the $25.00 corkage fee (I would prefer $15., but it won't be a deciding factor in whether or not I cruise with Celebrity). I would also like the option of bringing wine onboard in other ports to drink in the dining room. If they charge a $25.00 corkage fee then I don't see why it should be a problem - other than they would have to arrange to have it sent directly to the dining room to avoid having you drink it in your cabin.

 

You can live with $25.00 corkage fee????

 

Sorry, but that's outrageous. Some of the wines on the line's wine list cost less than that! Even $15.00 would be too steep.

 

Norm.

[Susan-M]

You can live with $25.00 corkage fee????

Yes, if I decide to bring wine on board to drink in the dining room, then there doesn't seem to be much other choice.

 

Some of the wines on the line's wine list cost less than that!

I've noticed that their wine prices start in the low $20's. Celebrity wants people to order their wine instead of bringing it on board and I can appreciate that. We normally order from the wine list, but on occasion have brought wine on board.

 

Even $15.00 would be too steep.

I think that that had been the price for quite some time before the recent change.

[Drew B]

With the $25 corkage, they are making a KILLING! I think they should allow people to bring as many bottles as they like, provided they are all delivered to the dining room for dinner service... They could limit the amount of bottles brought to the cabin to 2...

[sarplum]

We booked Celebrity for the first time after years with HAL. They

allow unlimited wine to be brought on board with a corkage fee of $ 15.00.

Byby dining room wine - hello wine in cabin.