Wine at Dinner

[AlexOntheCruise]

Hi. It will be our first time cruising.

 

Just wondering how wine is served at dinner. We pay extra, or is it included?

[FitzLA]

Hi. It will be our first time cruising.

 

Just wondering how wine is served at dinner. We pay extra, or is it included?

 

You pay extra for wine. They will tell you when you sit down the 1st night who you order wine from. Liquor of any kind is never included.

[KelJ]

You can purchase wine by the glass, by the bottle, or by the wine & dine package.

[Havana Daydreamin]

Don't be overcome by the prices. They are rather stiff when compared to what you can purchase at your local package outlet.

 

We have now done the wine & dine package twice. We really enjoy doing that. Kind of tough to see $200 go on your seapass charges right away...but then it is no worries the rest of the week and we enjoy a nice bottle of wine with dinner every day. This includes only a select list of wines, not every wine that the ship will have. There are also different level packages to purchase. I think there is some information about that on the RCI website or at least on these boards I have seen it a time or two.

 

If you cannot finish a bottle, they will cork it and store it. I have been told that we can take it to our cabin, but we haven't. Usually finish the bottle at the meal.

 

I don't mean to sound like an advertisement, but thought maybe you might want just a bit about how the wine & dine works. There will be a table set up by the dining room on the day of embarkation.

 

Best Regards and have a memorable and great first cruise!

[little britain]

Hi. It will be our first time cruising.

 

Just wondering how wine is served at dinner. We pay extra, or is it included?

...I was sooooo tempted to write 'in a glass' but decided not to...

 

here is the wine/dine package prices again

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=437639

[rocket88]

The Wine & Dine package gives you a limited menu and offers a bit of a discount over what you would pay from the winelist. There are a few different levels and you can buy it for certain numbers of bottles( 5,7,9 maybe). We got the top level 5 bottle package on our recent 6 night cruise and I think it was ~$150 or so. The wines are what you would pay $8 - $15 at a retail store. If you want a better wine you might want to use the regular winelist. expect a 200 - 300% markup.

 

Seems to be some confusion about bringing your own wine and paying a corkage fee. It's against official "policy" to bring alcohol aboard ship. Our experience though is that the policy is really a disclaimer for the company in case someone drinks a bottle of absinthe they brought aboard (see http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/01/22/banned_liquor_latest_twist_in_cruise_disappearance/

) and falls off the ship. We brought several bottles aboard in both carry on and packed luggage with no problem. We'd sometimes leave a bottle of white out on our dresser when we left for the afternoon and whern we returned the room stewart had put it in a wine bucket and iced it down for us. I suspect your waiter would comply too, especially in the specialty restaurants, but I didn't try it (ran out of wine!!)

[ciderapple]

If you know you will drink a bottle of wine with each meal each night, the wine and dine package is a good idea.

 

We went for the diamond one because the choices were better. The variety is not huge and the price quite expensive but you do save overall by doing the package.

 

But if you just want a glass each or even just one of you, it may not be the best deal. I guess you could go for a smaller package though if you wanted, meaning less than the nights you are sailing.

[happy cruzer]

Better do the math on the wine packages. Only on a few bottles do you save over the per bottle price. On most of the bottles per bottle pricing is cheaper. RCI is counting on you liking the "convenience" of the package. Look at the white zin and the Woodbridge prices, yuk.

 

I think per bottle is the way to order on RCI. Pick the few good wines and don't think about the markup.

 

And I think EVERY other cruise lines wine policy is better than RCI. So hopefully something will change?

 

Cheers!

[happy cruzer]

Better do the math on the wine packages. Only on a few bottles do you save over the per bottle price. On most of the bottles per bottle pricing is cheaper. RCI is counting on you liking the "convenience" of the package. Look at the white zin and the Woodbridge prices, yuk.

 

I think per bottle is the way to order on RCI. Pick the few good wines and don't think about the markup.

 

And I think EVERY other cruise lines wine policy is better than RCI. So hopefully something will change?

 

Cheers!

[ILoveScotland]

I did the wine package on the Brilliance transatlantic in November. I was traveling solo and got the next to the bottom of the list because it had Riesling my favorite wine. It worked out well for me as the Assistant Waiter corked what I didn't drink each night and had it waiting the next. One night I ate in the Windjammer, and they got my wine for me from wherever it's kept.

 

I did wind up with a bottle (or 2?) left at the end and gave it to the Assistant Waiter because she had been so good and also got overlooked by the Waiter who tried to be a star. I also gave her an extra $20 as a small token of her excellent work.

[AlexOntheCruise]

Thanks for all the nice info. I guess I'll have to save more for the wine :)

[ChristieNJ]

...I was sooooo tempted to write 'in a glass' but decided not to...

 

LOL BRAVO on your self-control! Can't say I'd do the same! lol :p

Our TA had a bottle of wine given to us and left in our stateroom. We brought it to Portofino one night, and they never charged us the corkage fee. I heard sometimes at the specialty restaurants, they won't charge you. You can't bank on that though.

[texancruzer]

On our first two (Rhapsody and Serenade) we had the Gold, Silver, Platinum level wine packages.....

 

BUT last November on Legend of the Seas there were no levels. You paid one price for 5 bottle package, one price for 7 bottle package etc etc. and then had one big long list of wines to choose from...... no levels.

 

This cost went on my seapass and a receipt was given to me. I was told to take the receipt to dinner (first night) and give to our waiter. He kept track of what I had left. No sticker on the seapass as before.

 

I liked this alot better. Was my dd and I on this cruise and she likes mostly whites and I like pinot noir..... we bought 5 bottle package for 125.00 + 15% gratuity. We had one bottle unopened at the end of the cruise and I chose to bring home a bottle of pinot noir. The waiter brought it to me at the end of our last meal.

 

Each evening you tell the waiter which wine you want. You may open a new bottle before any opened ones are finished - they will keep them for you - but don't open too many before finishing some as you can only bring home unopened bottles.

[EastTexans2]

The wine by the glass is $6.00 or $6.50 each. So the bottle is a better buy.