Wine Steward(ess)

[raudacruise]

Several threads have something going on about them. Wondering what other folks experience has been.

 

First to be noted is they supposedly get 15% of the cost. If you normally order a $30 bottle each evening that would be $4.50 or $2.25 pp. Not much less than the recommended tip for the assistant waiter.

 

Second to be noted is the corkage fee. $12 and guess that does not all go into the wine stewards pocket.

 

Third, and lastly sorry to say, they aren't very good in our experience. They show up before the menus are even givin out. How can we pick a wine without knowing what we are eating? They then disappear, making hard to get wine ordered before the entre "appears". We actually once had the wine show up after dessert.

 

Some folks may like to have the same every night, but we like to try to compliment the entree.

 

Sorry, but extra tippage for wine stewards is not a great idea unless you get a great one. We haven't seen one on Celebrity. We actually did on RCL many moons back but unfortunately RCL has mostly eliminated that position.

 

George & MaryBeth

[Lois R]

Hi George and Marybeth...we thought ours was wonderful!

Dimitri from Belgium

 

We always ordered a red and a white...and I guess maybe we had a really flexible group We all liked everything!!!...maybe some wines a bit more than others...but overall it was fantastic!

Phil...Ken...Lisa...Marti..wouldn't you agree?

I would ask Virginia as well but she didn't drink.

 

Next up...HORIZON Sept 18th to Bermuda!

[tuggers]

On the Horizon, we had Mike who is now on vacation and will be returning in a couple of months to the Zenith. He is the Head Wine Steward and he is great! He would bring us the menu for the next night as we were finishing dessert so we had an idea what we would want for the following night. He was GREAT!! We tipped him extra because he deserved it!

 

Until the Zenith! Second X Cruise In Two Months!

 

 

 

[raudacruise]

Tuggers, you get that kind of service and yes you should add some extra cash for him.

 

 

Maybe we expected too much. On the first two cruises on Granduer of the Seas we had the same somillier (sp?). We tried remembering his name but can't (maybe Fransisco). Big guy that probably could have played fullback or offensive line.

 

He was a joy. Always joking. Also wore the traditional tasting cup around his neck. He actually sent the wine back one night because it was "off". Don't know if was to impress us or he and his buddies had some plans that night . He got a few extra's on the last night of both cruises. Too bad RCL eliminated the service.

 

Anyway, pay for what you get. Good memories and thanks Lois for bringing it up.

 

George & MaryBeth

[JNLROSE]

George & Marybeth,

 

I will have to agree with you here. Our stewardess on the Summit in Feb., Lena, was not that good. We NEVER saw her until we had our appetizer & then we never got the wine until we had our entree. After the first couple of nights, we ordered a glass of wine from the Champagne Bar on the way into the dining room so we at least had something other than water to drink for the 1st hour!!!

 

She got her 15% and nothing else from us on that cruise!

 

Rosie

 

CELEBRITY MERCURY HERE I COME!!!

 

[Traveling Fools]

On our Summit cruise last year, our sommelier did a very poor job. She was Nicaraguan, had difficulty with English and basically did nothing more than serve the wine. It was a shame, because we had some wine drinkers who would have learned a lot from a knowledgeable sommelier.

 

On our most recent cruise our sommelier was EXCELLENT. This was ironic, because no one at our table was into wine. But he treated those of us who had an occasional bottle or glass as if we were his best customers. He was from South Africa, knew his wines and freely shared his knowledge.

 

Infinity--South America--Feb 29,2004

[mysexymaitred]

The best sommelier I have experienced was Tony in the Specialty Restaurant (currently on the Millennium). Very knowledgeable and always makes a great reccommendation.

[hajekfam]

We have good sommeliers and not so good ones.

The best we have had was on the maiden voyage of the Century. We usually drink one or possibly two glasses at dinner and save the rest for the next meal. Most nights we ended up finishing a bottle without knowing it. We never saw her fill our glasses. Part of it was the great tablemates we had, our table was the first ones in for dinner and the last to leave the dining room after. But when we though about it, our glasses were always full every time we took a sip. She got an excellent tip for that trip.

 

Zenith-Western Caribbean-6/92

Zenith-Eastern Caribbean-6/93

Century-Maiden Voyage-12/95

Galaxy-Southern Caribbean-11/99

Mercury-Northbound Alaska-6/00

Millennium-Westbound Transatlantic-9/01

Horizon-Western Caribbean - Adults only cruise-11/02

Millennium-Westbound Transatlantic 10/26/03

Century - Western Caribbean 1/31/04