taking wine aboard

[Parrot Mom]

Parrot Mom - are you kidding around to poke at us booze smugglers, or do you really not know this?

 

If you are serious, then the answer is NO, you may NOT bring your sherry or wine to your cabin, according to Celebrity's policy, clearly posted on post #2 of this thread.

 

Your grand total of two bottles of wine can only be brought on board at embarkation, not at a port stop.

 

As for bringing your wine to dinner, think about it this way: pretty much any fine restaurant on land is going to charge a corkage fee. I really don't have a problem with that part of their policy, although I will say I think $25 is exhorbitant ($15 would be far more appropriate and fair).

 

Cruisinelsewhere, I've never heard of any laws against having legal consumables in a room that you have rented. I'm not doubting you, but if this is true, obviously it's not normally enforced. And I have NEVER heard of any hotel going through a guest's luggage and removing things...which, if cruise lines would show our personal belongings the same respect, would eliminate this problem on the cruise lines.

 

SERIOUSLY==Yes, I am serious.. Have never had the inclination of bringing wine or any hard liquor on board..For several reasons I believe we will be given a present of at least one bottle of Spanish wine in Barcelona.. As for the Sherry.. they can take it when bring it onboard ship at the port..and return it to me as we pack..thats not a problem. We have been able to bring more than our share of our favorite liquor off a ship and since we are not flying home (ending up at Cape Lberty) I dont think the TSA idiots can/will hassle us..

[thepeacha]

On my transatlantic and European cruises with X, many people carried wine, port, etc. in hand when reboarding from a port and it was allowed up without an eyeblink. I think there are times and places where they are firm about alcohol carry on rules (think Spring Break) and times when they are more indulgent with these rules, such as the cruises I've been on. I think Parrot Mom will be just fine: great if I can carry it up, fine if it's an end-of-cruise pickup. That is the spirit!

 

I don't know who makes these decisions but I accept the rules, it's part of the contract. I am grateful when I can bend them responsibly- and politley accept when I called to obey them to the letter.

 

Here are two things I did on my last cruise to make life a little nicer, maybe it will help some of you. I do like my reds in a nice big- bowled glass and the weensy little cups provided don't cut it- and the specialty restaurants aren't keen on loaning out the nice glasses! So I went by bed bath and beyond in FL before we boarded and picked up two nice $5 wine glasses and hand carried them onboard. They really made a difference and I tipped my stateroom attendant extra for keeping them sparkly. I simply left them in the room when I left the ship- it was $10 well spent for me.

 

And here is a nice way to gently bend the 2 bottle rule: pack two in your checked bags, and carry two as you board. All anyone sees anywhere is 2 bottles and that is in compliance, my dear reader. Please keep in mind that I am only suggesting this to adults who comsume responsibly; drunken fools need not apply, LOL.

 

Happy sails to all!

[Parrot Mom]

So far (havent been on one lately) NCL carries a much higher alcohol content Kalhua than we have seen anywhere else.. We just pack at least two in our dirty laundry mesh bags and it gets home just fine... then again we have a tendency to overpack. We have found in one of their specialty restaurants a California white wine that is/was our favorite and the price was very reasonable for a bottle, but haven;t checked the prices on Celebrity yet.

[Parrot Mom]

So far (havent been on one lately) NCL carries a much higher alcohol content Kalhua than we have seen anywhere else.. We just pack at least two in our dirty laundry mesh bags and it gets home just fine... then again we have a tendency to overpack. We have found in one of their specialty restaurants a California white wine that is/was our favorite and the price was very reasonable for a bottle, but haven;t checked the prices on Celebrity yet. We were on a cruise where we went to Tuscany and there was some serious wine buyers with us and we had the pleasure of sharing it in their suite.

[sallywingate]

This will be our first cruise ever. We do enjoy our wines and have read many posts about smuggling. I know that it is not allowed but the more I read, I will not pay or can afford those prices on the ship. We plan to be Siena, Italy before we cruise out of Rome which we hopefully will sample and buy many of the fine wines. Do you mind sharing how you plan on smuggling? I have read about rumrunners. Do they work? Is it possible to put 2 bottles in each checked bag or do they watch this closely as you bags are checked through security. On one of these posts wrote that Europe is more relaxed with bringing wine on board. Do you know if this is true? Thank you for any information that you could give first time/wine lovers cruisers. Sally

 

I have NEVER stayed at a hotel or resort that limited what I could bring into my room to either eat OR drink. I can't even imagine a hotel telling me that I couldn't. I CERTAINLY can't imagine a hotel rifling through my luggage and removing my legal personal belongings! And that's one of the things that irks the bejesus out of me when I think about the ship doing so. I just find it unbelievably obnoxious, intrusive and tyrannical.

 

And before all the smuggler-haters come in here and cry "their cruise line, their rules, go find a cruise line whose rules you like", let me just say that I am well aware they can make any damn rule they want...but that doesn't mean it's a fair rule, or that I have to like it. Hey, they could make it a rule that all men must rent their tuxes on board, and all women must buy their formal gowns in the boutique, if they thought they could get away with this. Unfortunately, this one they ARE getting away with. I DON'T like it, I don't think it's fair, it gives the passenger no benefit, and it serves no purpose other than to try to jack up their profits unreasonably.

 

I did go and find cruise lines that didn't have that rule, and that's where I've taken my business for the past six years. Unfortunately, for this particular cruise, that wasn't an option. So...I'll be a-smugglin again soon. Ahhhh...I feel like Glen Frey singing "The Smuggler's Blues"! :cool:

[sallywingate]

This will be our first cruise ever. We do enjoy our wines and have read many posts about smuggling. I know that it is not allowed but the more I read, I will not pay or can afford those prices on the ship. We plan to be Siena, Italy before we cruise out of Rome which we hopefully will sample and buy many of the fine wines. Do you mind sharing how you plan on smuggling? I have read about rumrunners. Do they work? Is it possible to put 2 bottles in each checked bag or do they watch this closely as you bags are checked through security. On one of these posts wrote that Europe is more relaxed with bringing wine on board. Do you know if this is true? Thank you for any information that you could give first time/wine lovers cruisers. Sally

This will be our first cruise ever. We do enjoy our wines and have read many posts about smuggling. I know that it is not allowed but the more I read, I will not pay or can afford those prices on the ship. We plan to be Siena, Italy before we cruise out of Rome which we hopefully will sample and buy many of the fine wines. Do you mind sharing how you plan on smuggling? I have read about rumrunners. Do they work? Is it possible to put 2 bottles in each checked bag or do they watch this closely as you bags are checked through security. On one of these posts wrote that Europe is more relaxed with bringing wine on board. Do you know if this is true? Thank you for any information that you could give first time/wine lovers cruisers. Sally

[Leejnd4]

On my transatlantic and European cruises with X, many people carried wine, port, etc. in hand when reboarding from a port and it was allowed up without an eyeblink. I think there are times and places where they are firm about alcohol carry on rules (think Spring Break) and times when they are more indulgent with these rules, such as the cruises I've been on. [/Quote]

 

I've heard this too, and that's kinda what I'm hoping will happen on ours. But we're booked on Equinox - hard to know what this ship will be like, and it may very well end up with hardcore security. Won't know till we try it.

 

I think Parrot Mom will be just fine: great if I can carry it up, fine if it's an end-of-cruise pickup. That is the spirit!

 

Well it definitely wouldn't be fine by ME if they confiscate my wine pre-cruise. I do not want to pack it home with me. I'll probably already have close to the limit in luggage weight because I'm bringing my scuba gear (spending a week pre-cruise scuba diving in Sardinia) so I'd rather not be stuck with a bunch of bottles of wine to haul home.

 

I don't know who makes these decisions but I accept the rules, it's part of the contract. I am grateful when I can bend them responsibly- and politley accept when I called to obey them to the letter.

 

I should clarify that I am not one of those bellicose, belligerent rule-breakers who will create a scene if I don't get my way. I have a pretty high personal moral compass, and I simply wouldn't do something that I felt was irresponsible. But I'm sorry, I just don't see how wanting to sip my own wine in my own bedroom is in any way irresponsible, or any of their business for that matter. I am perfectly willing to follow rules that have a valid purpose (that isn't just "we want more of your money for nothing").

 

Here are two things I did on my last cruise to make life a little nicer, maybe it will help some of you. I do like my reds in a nice big- bowled glass and the weensy little cups provided don't cut it- and the specialty restaurants aren't keen on loaning out the nice glasses! So I went by bed bath and beyond in FL before we boarded and picked up two nice $5 wine glasses and hand carried them onboard. They really made a difference and I tipped my stateroom attendant extra for keeping them sparkly. I simply left them in the room when I left the ship- it was $10 well spent for me.

Great idea, and I think I'll do the same!

 

This will be our first cruise ever. We do enjoy our wines and have read many posts about smuggling. I know that it is not allowed but the more I read, I will not pay or can afford those prices on the ship. We plan to be Siena, Italy before we cruise out of Rome which we hopefully will sample and buy many of the fine wines. Do you mind sharing how you plan on smuggling? I have read about rumrunners. Do they work? Is it possible to put 2 bottles in each checked bag or do they watch this closely as you bags are checked through security. On one of these posts wrote that Europe is more relaxed with bringing wine on board. Do you know if this is true? Thank you for any information that you could give first time/wine lovers cruisers. Sally

 

Ohhh...Siena...one of my FAVORITE Italian cities! If you're going to be in Siena, you MUST go visit the nearby hill town of Montalcino and try the best red wine in the world - Brunello di Montalcino. We'll be hitting Montalcino before our Med cruise next year, and it is those bottles of wine I plan on smuggling onboard myself.

 

Unfortunately I don't really have any advice to offer, other than speculation. The last time I did a Celebrity cruise was six years ago in Alaska, and I brought seven bottles of wine in a small rolling bag with nary a blink from Security. But they didn't have that two-bottle-per-room rule back then.

 

I can only suggest what's already been suggested: put two bottles in each person's luggage (hoping they don't pay attention to the fact that they are going to the same cabin); and each carry two bottles through security, separating to go through the scanner. We're on a 13-night cruise, and I would love to be able to bring 13 bottles, but I'll just have to accept that we won't be able to. :mad:

 

Rum runners certainly won't work for carrying wine - it's not like you can open the bottles!

[Lsimon]

On a recent Caribbean cruise the person at the cruise port liquor store told us we'd be OK if we put a couple bottles in our carry-on, but not if we just carried it in hand. We did and were fine, same at a port where we brought some on.

 

On our Europe cruise we didn't bring anything aboard, other than a couple bottles of Cava on initial embarkation, but did know quite a few others that carried a bottle or two of wine at many ports. And it seemed less of an issue than on Caribbean cruises (less inspection).

 

I'll also say that while we usually go for nicer wines, when eating out for lunch in Italy, France and Greece, we just ordered "house wine" which was generally served open and occasionally in bottles. All were much better than any house wine we've had around here - we normally avoid those back in the US. In fact some were great and we probably saved a lot of money. We were even impressed by some of the wine served by the glass at lunch which was included on some of our large group ship sponsored excursions.

[happy cruzer]

I think the plan to put two bottles per checked bag will probably work. But I would not risk very valuable wine since it might get confiscated and may or may not be returned. Several people report wine that was lost after being confiscated.

 

We typically bring one bottle per day and it is wonderful on Princess and HAL to just box it and check it all the way to the cabin.

 

I believe RCCL is the tightest ship regarding wine. NCL has you pay the corkage fee up front but no limit. Disney has no limit that I've read about. Carnival is very loose enforcing except at spring break, never heard of a confiscation at all except spring break. Oceania is carry on any alcohol.

 

And as a double whammy the wine list on RCCL does not have the variety and value that the other lines have. They just don't seem as wine friendly which is sad since Celebrity has such good food that goes really well with wine.

[thepeacha]

Lee you and I seem to think alike! I would be most unhappy to give up my wine at embarcation but I, too, know that polite behavior can never take you wrong. And Siena! Brunello! There were so many places in beautiful Siena to buy Brunello, I know Sally will be spolied for choice. Happy, happy!

 

Lsimon is also right- the house wines most everywhere in France Italy Belgium, heck everywhere in Europe I've been- have been wonderful, not the swill you dread in the States. Try it and see- a half liter of house wine can be much cheaper than a Coke.

 

As far as choices and prices on the X wine lists, I always find something to drink at a reasonable rate. Plus I figure I have amortized the costs of these "expensive" bottles by what I have saved with my carry-ons. Nice logic, no?

 

I had an amzing, wonderful never-to-be-topped sommlier on Galaxy a year ago. He dug up a few bottles that were not on the list- he said there weren't enough of them to advertise- right in my price range, and just amazing. I had a very happy cruise and wish I could have taken him and his secret stash wine cellar home with me. Be nice to your sommlier, if you get lucky something good can happen to you too.

[insidecabin]

In general Cruising in European ports seem to much less strict on alcohol than out of US and the caribbean

 

Uk the ports use local security to scan the bags and they don't realy care.

 

Carry on in the ports also seems to be easier for some reson the odd bottle or two in a carry on does not seem to be an issue even though it is ships people.

 

 

To save on weight why not go to wine boxes or bags no glass to brake and they don't scan like a bottle plenty of good enough wines around if you look.

[terrydtx]

My parents were on Trans Atlantic RCI cruise last year and having been long time X cruisers they took 2 bottles of wine with them which was confiscated at check in and not returned at the end of the cruise. They were told by RCI personnel that is against “Maritime Law” to take any alcohol aboard cruise ships. What an blatant lie or maybe HAL (which allows unlimited wine and Champagne) or Celebrity (2 bottles of wine) are breaking the maritime law?? :confused: I can guarantee they will never take another RCI cruise again. :p :p

On our Century cruise in September I plan to buy my 2 bottles in Barcelona and hope that we will be able to get more at our stops in Provence, Nice and Italy. I have heard from past X cruisers that it is hit or miss on this, but if not we will get mighty drunk the last night on some really good wine.:eek:

[Captain Jake]

Walt, I couldn't agree with you more. Further, their policy of only two bottles per cabin is unfair for those of us who enjoy drinking wine OUTSIDE of the dining room. Nobody drinking their own wine in the privacy of their own bedroom should have to pay restaurant-level prices for the bottle. Yes, restaurants do charge a mark-up for the wine they sell, but presumably that covers the costs associated with drinking the wine in their restaurant - the services of the sommelier in making your selection, opening the bottle, decanting the red when appropriate, keeping the white on ice, drinking from their stemware, etc. But people who drink wine at home pay retail, and do all the "work" (so to speak) themselves. Why should I have to pay restaurant prices without the restaurant experience?

 

But this is an old story, and I'd venture to guess that a good search could find at least a thousand posts saying exactly the same thing as this one. It's just really on my mind right now because I recently booked a Celebrity cruise - my first in five or six years! I chose to do my last few cruises exclusively on lines that don't have such absurd alcohol policies (Regent and Windstar). Unfortunately, current economic realities (and a recent surge in Regent's pricing) force me to search for less costly cruise options - and I once again find myself in the uncomfortable position of having to practice this distasteful "booze smuggling" in order to enjoy my own choice of beverage in my private bedroom. :rolleyes: Seriously, for a cruiseline that markets itself as a "cut above", and seeks the more "refined" passenger, this is just an unforgivable policy.

 

I agree to a point.A Celebrity cruise cost several hundred dollars less than 2002 when I started cruising.With this reduction in price comes nonsense like these 'booze rules'.I believe they should jack up the prices a bit and bring their grub back to the days of old and allow more wine to be brought on board.On the other hand we can buy a bottle of wine a day easily on the cruisefare savings .

[Leejnd4]

Lsimon is also right- the house wines most everywhere in France Italy Belgium, heck everywhere in Europe I've been- have been wonderful, not the swill you dread in the States. Try it and see- a half liter of house wine can be much cheaper than a Coke.[/Quote]

 

I agree! Oh, and the sangria in Barcelona...There is just something magical about sitting in a cafe in the Bari Gotic munching on tapas and sipping the house sangria... :)

 

I had an amzing, wonderful never-to-be-topped sommlier on Galaxy a year ago. He dug up a few bottles that were not on the list- he said there weren't enough of them to advertise- right in my price range, and just amazing. I had a very happy cruise and wish I could have taken him and his secret stash wine cellar home with me. Be nice to your sommlier, if you get lucky something good can happen to you too.

I do enjoy a great sommelier, especially one who knows his stuff. This is one thing that's fun about bringing your own wine to dinner - share a taste with the sommelier, get into a fun discussion about wine... Maybe I'll get lucky and he will have moved to the Equinox by next year.

 

To save on weight why not go to wine boxes or bags no glass to brake and they don't scan like a bottle plenty of good enough wines around if you look.

 

I wish this was a solution. Unfortunately there is simply not a single wine on the planet that comes in boxes or bags that I would drink! ;)

 

I agree to a point.A Celebrity cruise cost several hundred dollars less than 2002 when I started cruising.With this reduction in price comes nonsense like these 'booze rules'.I believe they should jack up the prices a bit and bring their grub back to the days of old and allow more wine to be brought on board.On the other hand we can buy a bottle of wine a day easily on the cruisefare savings .

Yes, but...will they confiscate it and then lose it??? :eek: :rolleyes:

[Aussie One]

Celebrity say two bottles of wine. I asume the carry on goes through the scanner ? how can they tell the diferance between a wine bottle and say a scotch bottle. do they open all carry bags ? when you say i have two bottles. please explain what happens when first boarding ship.

my last cruise was in 1961 southampton 7 weeks to the land of Oz In those days genuine duty free. it was party time for 7 weeks.

[Coreopsis]

Celebrity say two bottles of wine. I asume the carry on goes through the scanner ? how can they tell the diferance between a wine bottle and say a scotch bottle. do they open all carry bags ? when you say i have two bottles. please explain what happens when first boarding ship.

my last cruise was in 1961 southampton 7 weeks to the land of Oz In those days genuine duty free. it was party time for 7 weeks.

I have no idea and it likely depends on chance. What is the worse thing that could happen? They store it for you until you leave.

 

But I do know that you have a totally cool screen name.

 

They've never opened our carry on bags and we sailed right through with our 2 bottles of wine.

 

Welcome back to cruising - we recently tried it again and were pleasantly surprised. I hope you have the same experience.

[jt1120]

I hope that =X= doesn't change their policy. I just bought an incredible bottle of wine at an auction (2002 Chateau Mouton Rothchild for you wine folk), and plan to take it on a 15th anniversary cruise in 2010. I want to have it at dinner on the night of our anniversary and figured that if any line would let me do it, =X= would be the one.

 

Considering I paid $500 for the bottle, I'll pay the $25 corkage fee.

 

BTW - if you don't care about the quality of your wine, buy one of those box wines, take the box off, and put the bag of wine in your suitcase. It works every time (though the wine usually sucks for the most part).

[Coreopsis]

I hope that =X= doesn't change their policy. I just bought an incredible bottle of wine at an auction (2002 Chateau Mouton Rothchild for you wine folk), and plan to take it on a 15th anniversary cruise in 2010. I want to have it at dinner on the night of our anniversary and figured that if any line would let me do it, =X= would be the one.

 

Considering I paid $500 for the bottle, I'll pay the $25 corkage fee.

 

BTW - if you don't care about the quality of your wine, buy one of those box wines, take the box off, and put the bag of wine in your suitcase. It works every time (though the wine usually sucks for the most part).

Oh that's not fair! You should save that wine for the Solstice inaugural cruise. Oh my goodness, I will be on that cruise too! :) What a coiincidence :)

 

It is a sign (as in a sharing sign!!!!)

 

On our last cruise, we took the Riedel tasting seminar which got us a lovely set of stemware (shipped to us) - but the best perk is that they served our wine in the lovely Riedel glasses when we were in the dining room for the rest of the cruise. You need to get them to bring you nice stemware for that bottle!

 

Enjoy!

[caviargal]

First of all, I do sympathize with you that your wine wasn't returned. We brought 10 bottles onboard the Century last year, thinking we were following the rules because our family booked 5 Sky Suites. Their policy is 2 bottles per cabin, so my sister was in charge of the wine. She packed it all in bubble wrap bags and put it in a suitcase. We didn't find out until after we sailed that they had taken the wine at the pier (it was in her checked luggage). At that point it was too late to do anything about it. They did return it to us after the cruise, but we had to go pick it up and someone removed it from all the bubble wrap bags (for which my sister paid $5/bag). Now she had no protection to bringing it home and since we were all flying, she was handing it out to people at the pier who didn't have to worry about it breaking. I was upset because if they had told us when we boarded, we would have split it all up or at least explained that it was for 5 cabins at 2 bottles per cabin.

 

Having said that, I think it is very unrealistic to expect a cruiseline to carry everyone's wine of preference. When we were last on Royal Caribbean, we ordered their wine package, which we felt was quite good and reasonably priced.

 

We just cruised HAL Westerdam and they allow the passengers to bring on as much wine as they want and charge a $15 corkage fee per bottle that is brought to the dining room. We feel that is more than fair. We pre-ordered about 20 bottles (we were traveling with others) from Total Wine in Ft. Lauderdale and picked it up when we got there. We had brought a collapsible hand truck and carted it on the ship that way. We were happy to pay the corkage fee as we had some pricey bottles of wine that HAL didn't carry.

 

With the economic state of the country, who's to say what will become of the state of cruising.

 

One of the reasons we cruise HAL is their liberal wine policy. We enjoy bringing bottles of our choosing on cruises and have no problem with their very reasonable corkage. One of the reasons we no longer cruise with X is because of their current wine policy, which we find unacceptable, so we spend our cruising dollars elsewhere. I just refuse to do the smuggling thing personally.

 

I agree with the OP's assessment of RCI, BTW.

[NYCeb]

What about if you are on a boat that boards one day and departs the next? Must you bring the wine aboard with your luggage or can you bring it on at a later point?

[jt1120]

Oh that's not fair! You should save that wine for the Solstice inaugural cruise. Oh my goodness, I will be on that cruise too! :) What a coiincidence :)

 

It is a sign (as in a sharing sign!!!!)

 

On our last cruise, we took the Riedel tasting seminar which got us a lovely set of stemware (shipped to us) - but the best perk is that they served our wine in the lovely Riedel glasses when we were in the dining room for the rest of the cruise. You need to get them to bring you nice stemware for that bottle!

 

Enjoy!

 

Oh you are tempting me. I've been thinking about it and am fighting the temptation. Our 15th will be pretty special though, so I think I'll save it. But thanks for the Riedel idea. That's perfect! No wait. Perfect would be dining at the captain's table on our 15th anniversary, and offering to share the wine with the captain. No, then I'd have to share it with everyone, and I'm really looking forward to popping that cork and having a few glasses. See you in December! Did you sign up on the roll call?

 

 

As for caviargal's comments, a wine policy should not be a deal breaker when it comes to cruising. If you choose not to cruise on =X= anymore, then why bother visitng the =X= thread? Just curious...

[Coreopsis]

Oh you are tempting me. I've been thinking about it and am fighting the temptation. Our 15th will be pretty special though, so I think I'll save it. But thanks for the Riedel idea. That's perfect! No wait. Perfect would be dining at the captain's table on our 15th anniversary, and offering to share the wine with the captain. No, then I'd have to share it with everyone, and I'm really looking forward to popping that cork and having a few glasses. See you in December! Did you sign up on the roll call?

 

 

As for caviargal's comments, a wine policy should not be a deal breaker when it comes to cruising. If you choose not to cruise on =X= anymore, then why bother visitng the =X= thread? Just curious...

Yep - we are on the roll call for Solstice. I haven't checked in lately, planning another trip at the moment.

 

You enjoy that wine on your 15th and we can both work on securing some different selections to take with us on December - then we can have our own little wine tasting! Maybe we can invite others who are wine lovers to do the same. I am headed to a wine auction Saturday - lets see what I can find!

 

You need to cozy up to the Cruise Director or whatever their title is and get an invite to Capt table!

[gousc12]

who here has used rum runners...I am using them for the first time on the galaxy in a few weeks. I have used them for ball games and for concerts and they work great there, but obviously the security at port is a little more strict. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

And also, you guys were saying that the european ports are easier on bringing aboard...will they check for the rum runners being put in my suit pockets and inside my shoes?!?

[Leejnd4]

who here has used rum runners...I am using them for the first time on the galaxy in a few weeks. I have used them for ball games and for concerts and they work great there, but obviously the security at port is a little more strict. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

And also, you guys were saying that the european ports are easier on bringing aboard...will they check for the rum runners being put in my suit pockets and inside my shoes?!?

 

Unfortunately rum runners don't work for wine!

 

I have never used rum runners myself - I've never before had to "smuggle" booze. But it looks like I'm going to have to on my upcoming cruise, if I want to be able to drink my favorite single malt Scotch. So I'm going to be checking them out. But frankly, the whole concept makes me uncomfortable.

[SHE'SACRUISER]

What are rum runners and where might one purchase them? We are travelling on the Connie in two weeks and my DH does like a Scotch before dinner.