Wine Card - A steal of a deal?!

[HALleluiah]

Question...... I was just cleaning out my carry on and found receipts from my last cruise in June. It looks like I paid $6.50 for a glass of wine. Now.... Looking at the wine card, it looks to me if you buy it you are paying half the price. True? Was I drinking a more expensive wine than covered by the card? I can't imagine I was. I like good wine, but I'm also willing to make monetary sacrifices here and there. I'm sure I chose the cheapest. I think it was the Woodbridge.

 

So - enlighten me. Is it a steal of deal? Is that how much the card costs on the ship itself? Curious minds want to know!

[the_dylaness]

We bought the 20-pour card online for our upcoming Eurodam cruise. It came to $77 and change...

[GeriatricNurse]

Question...... I was just cleaning out my carry on and found receipts from my last cruise in June. It looks like I paid $6.50 for a glass of wine. Now.... Looking at the wine card, it looks to me if you buy it you are paying half the price. True? Was I drinking a more expensive wine than covered by the card? I can't imagine I was. I like good wine, but I'm also willing to make monetary sacrifices here and there. I'm sure I chose the cheapest. I think it was the Woodbridge.

 

So - enlighten me. Is it a steal of deal? Is that how much the card costs on the ship itself? Curious minds want to know!

 

 

Yes! There are 10 and 20 pour wine cards for purchase. I cannot recall the the exact price of the 10 pour card but, I believe that the cost of the 20 pour card is $77.63, including the 15% gratuity!

So, based on the cost of the 20 pour wine card, (which would be a better value than the 10 pour card), a glass of wine would cost $3.88; certainly a far better value than paying $6.50 for a single glass as apparantly you did!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always get the 20 glass wine card. For $77.63 (which includes the 15% gratuity) we find that it is a great bargain.

[HALleluiah]

I guess it's because my mom taught me never to trust "too good of a deal" and I guess as long as I don't really care about drinking top notch wine, the math really works out! Maybe I'll get the 10 card and see how far I get!

[jasmith52]

Yes! There are 10 and 20 pour wine cards for purchase. I cannot recall the the exact price of the 10 pour card but, I believe that the cost of the 20 pour card is $77.63, including the 15% gratuity!

So, based on the cost of the 20 pour wine card, (which would be a better value than the 10 pour card), a glass of wine would cost $3.88; certainly a far better value than paying $6.50 for a single glass as apparently you did!

 

Just to be thorough, since the wine card includes the gratuity and the normal $6.50 does not... The per glass price comparison should be corrected for the gratuity. So the per glass price would be $3.37 which is an even better bargain compared to $6.50.

[bigwally]

They have wine cards on HA? THAT IS AWESOME! How comes this is the first I've seen it mentioned on here? This should totally be a sticky.

 

I do like my wine! :)

[cruz chic]

The 10 pour was $41.40 including the tip.

[bigwally]

Question: If I'm drinking through a straw while the somelier is trying to fill my glass....that just counts as one pour, right? :D

[our turn]

I guess it's because my mom taught me never to trust "too good of a deal" and I guess as long as I don't really care about drinking top notch wine, the math really works out! Maybe I'll get the 10 card and see how far I get!

 

The house chardonay was really pretty good. Also, we had a card left over from the Westerdam last year and it was accepted on the Eurodam last week.

[norcal2]

Question: If I'm drinking through a straw while the somelier is trying to fill my glass....that just counts as one pour, right? :D

 

I like the way you think. If I have a vote, the drinking through a straw as they pour is one drink. :D

[DeepWaterMariner]

Are these cards tied to one person or can anyone use it with the limit being 10 or 20 fills?

[liv2cruise4ever]

How many choices do you have with the wine card? Just one or two different reds? Thanks in advance.:D

[RuthC]

Are these cards tied to one person or can anyone use it with the limit being 10 or 20 fills?

Since the wine is already paid for you can share it with as many people as you care to.

Buy a round for the house! :D

[New Jersey Pat]

My suggestion would be to try a glass of the house wine first. It you enjoy drinking it, then buy a card. We do not drink expensive wines, but found the house wines undrinkable. Many find the wine card a good way to go, we did not.

[AlohaPride]

Oh how I wish grape juice were as satisfying as a nice glass of wine. . . :p

[bigwally]

My suggestion would be to try a glass of the house wine first. It you enjoy drinking it, then buy a card. We do not drink expensive wines, but found the house wines undrinkable. Many find the wine card a good way to go, we did not.

 

Can you equate it to any brand wines you may have tried, so we can get an idea?

 

My wife and I do not have a sophisticated palates at all. In fact, some of our favorite "vins de la table" come in either jug or box form. :)

[Willsot]

We've used wine cards the past three cruises and found the house wine (we drink red) quite drinkable.

[RuthC]

Oh how I wish grape juice were as satisfying as a nice glass of wine. . . :p

Either you've been drinking the wrong grape juice, or I've been drinking the wrong wine. ;)

I love grape juice, and wish it came in sugar-free.

[mommylynn]

We got the 20 glass card on our Sept. cruise on the Eurodam. We thought it was a good deal. We drink a wide range of wines and it seems we had 2 or 3 choices in both reds and whites--certainly found them drinkable. I ordered my card ahead of time, so it was prepaid and was just one more thing not to have show up on the bill at the end.

[capp2008]

How do you order the wine card ahead of time?

[peabody99]

+1 on the previous question-and what are the available wines? domestic and new world wines give me headaches so I won't bother unless I can get French, Italian or Spanish. thanks anyone for feed back as this sounds like a great deal :)

[Willsot]

Can you equate it to any brand wines you may have tried, so we can get an idea?

 

My wife and I do not have a sophisticated palates at all. In fact, some of our favorite "vins de la table" come in either jug or box form. :)

 

At home we drink California cabs such as Chauteau Souverain, Sebastiani Sonoma Cask, William Hill, Robert Mondavi Napa Valley, etc. with dinners. Mostly in the $20 range, which become priced way over our heads in restaurants and on cruise ships.

 

For more everyday drinking we'll have reds in the $10 range such as Columbia Crest, Rosemount Shiraz, Cline Red Truck, blends like Menage a Trois, Argentines, Italians. I would say that the HAL house wines are similar to this category, but I think better than Trader Joes' three buck Chuck (Charles Shaw).

 

I consider the Rosemount SE Australia Shiraz a great wine value when I buy it on sale for $8. I just can't see paying $50. for it on a cruise (it is currently listed with onboard gifts at $51.). HAL does offer fine wines if you are willing to pay the price. We have tried various packages (Admirals, Navigator) and considered them overpriced for rather mediocre offerings. For example, in a 5-bottle package that averaged $40/bottle, we were served a bottle of Blackstone Syrah (available in stores for $8.99). Our favorite was a bottle of Icon Ravenswood, much better than Blackstone but available at home for under $20.

 

We enjoyed a special anniversary dinner in the Pinnacle and I splurged on a higher-priced bottle of wine. I'm quite willing to do this on occasion, whether at a restaurant or on a cruise. For the majority of our dinners onboard, the wine card suits us just fine.

[AlohaPride]

Either you've been drinking the wrong grape juice, or I've been drinking the wrong wine. ;)

I love grape juice, and wish it came in sugar-free.

 

We can drink our juice together in a few weeks. Let the others have at with the wine ;)

[tutak]

+1 on the previous question-and what are the available wines? domestic and new world wines give me headaches so I won't bother unless I can get French, Italian or Spanish. thanks anyone for feed back as this sounds like a great deal :)

 

It's not the domestic wines that give you a headache it's the fact that you drank them while watching the Browns play.