RCI Listen! Wine lovers want fair options!

[hollywood34711]

I love wine, Chardonnay to be specific. I bought it by the glass on the Monarch. I had three choices in most of the bars, and they were not good. Understand, I am not accustomed to expensive wine! It was a disappointment, since we found most other aspects of our cruise to be above expectations. It just seems odd to not allow a bottle to be brought on board, yet, once you cross the gangplank waiters are offering drinks, drinks and more drinks, all day and night.

It's one of the reasons we don't make RC our one and only cruise line. I specifically remember having a wonderful glass on the Disney Wonder by the adult pool, and enjoyed a pre-dinner glass in our cabin on Carnival's Inspiration and Fascination. My memories on the Monarch are not as sweet. Done venting. Thanks.

[bigal3967]

Let's just face it, it is all about the money! If they do not allow us to bring wine on board they KNOW we are going to buy THEIR wine, therefore making them more money. I do agree that the wine list should be more extinsive and that is certainly a dissapointment. But again, if pax are not allowed to bring their wine on board they will buy the wine that is offered by RCI, hence the bottom line is better for RCI.

 

Big Al

[critterchick]

Hey Jean-long time no see. I spotted your wine list and was wondering if the same list is on all the ships. With all our cruising I never really noticed. We're getting ready for Eastern Med (Egypt) on Brilliance. Some of those wines look pretty good and we might opt for single bottles instead of the W&D package this time around.

 

Have fun on you next cruise--Tom & Sue

 

Tom, I believe that RCI has one wine list across the fleet. They used to have a domestic and an international wine list, but I think they stopped that several years back.

 

I like to try new and different wines. One thing I LOVED about Azamara was having wine stewards - three of them, even - to help us pick our wines at dinner. On RCI there is nobody but a cellarmaster (who I've never seen except once on a tender in Alaska).

[Lyncruiser]

To the OP -- Thanks for your post. I totally agree. DH and I love wine. We get the Wine & Dine Diamond package, but it's really not that great. There are very few if any really decent wine offerings from RCCL these days. Add to that the inability to bring an excellent bottle or two on board and, well, one simply has to consider other cruise lines.

[Compass Rose]

All I know is that hubby and I brought 4 bottles aboard HAL of our most favorite wine and no one batted an eye. We didn't intend on hiding it, either. We paid corkage fees when we brought the wine to our table, but we enjoyed a good portion of it in our stateroom for our 10-day cruise last April.

[kernow]

I totally agree with the OP, I have never understood RCLs reasoning either.

 

We have just come back from our first Thomson cruise(a British company with smaller,older ships) and were amazed that there were no restrictions on bringing on alcohol either at embarkation or in ports of call. They even allow you to buy from the duty free shop at normal price and take it straight back to the cabin. Even though we did this and bought wine in the ports we still purchased a nightly bottle of wine at dinner and cocktails afterwards so no loss of revenue for the ship.

 

Julie

[TravelerThom]

The other lines that allow you to bring wine, its ONE 750 ml BOTTLE PER PAX.

 

One bottle isn't going to make your cruise that great really??

 

If you are bringing more than one bottle elsewhere you are smuggling anyway, so why the big deal here. I don't get it.

Just out of personal curiosity I did a few quick looks on the web and found the following policies:

 

Celebrity...... 2 bottles per cabin, NO size designation

Azamara........ 2 bottles per cabin, NO size designation

Holland America wine allowed, no limit specified

Princess....... wine allowed, no limit specified

Carnival....... 1 bottle per passenger, 750ml

 

Looks like "The other lines" are not quite so all inclusive as the quoted post might have lead us to believe. Gotta love someone with over 10,000 posts but no regard for facts. The "big deal" is some of us don't appreciate being accused of smuggling when it is not true. I agree that you don't get it.

 

Thom

[Bakincakes]

What amazes me is if wine is so important and lack of the proper kind ruins or hampers a cruise experience why do people continue to book on a line that doesn't allow wine to be brought on board and lacks the proper choices on board?

 

Complaining on a chat board really doesn't accomplish much of anything. Write letters to RCI and better yet take your cruise dollars and sail a line that gives you most of everything you want.

 

Complaining about lack of wine and choices of wine but still spending your cruise dollars with RCI really doesn't have much of an impact for them. Their cabins are full and they are making their revenue up elsewhere.

[CroozeAddict]

The other lines that allow you to bring wine, its ONE 750 ml BOTTLE PER PAX.

 

Not true. HAL let's you bring a case on-board if you wish. (No, I'm not a HAL fan and will not cruise with them again until I'm 80.)

[Happy ks]

What amazes me is if wine is so important and lack of the proper kind ruins or hampers a cruise experience why do people continue to book on a line that doesn't allow wine to be brought on board and lacks the proper choices on board?

 

Complaining on a chat board really doesn't accomplish much of anything. Write letters to RCI and better yet take your cruise dollars and sail a line that gives you most of everything you want.

 

Complaining about lack of wine and choices of wine but still spending your cruise dollars with RCI really doesn't have much of an impact for them. Their cabins are full and they are making their revenue up elsewhere.

 

 

 

There are many other reasons to cruise than to just drink your choice of wine.

 

The point here is that RCI used to allow pax to bring along wine and for a corkage fee, you could enjoy it with your dinner. Many other lines allow wine to be brought onboard.

 

Wine doesn't store well on moving ships, so the choices aren't always what a person would care for. Although RCI does have a few decent choices, there are so many great wines that people would love to enjoy at dinner, or even in the privacy of their own cabin. Many of us want more choices than a cruise line is able to carry.

 

I'm thinking you aren't a wine drinker, so it's probably a little harder for you to understand. Wine isn't the end of the story for us, but it makes the experience a little nicer.

 

I think RCI stopped allowing wine to be brought onboard because of a few lawsuits involving smuggled alcohol. While I understand that, I don't place bottles of wine with dinner into the same category and neither do many other cruise lines.

 

Cost is also a bit of a factor. We could bring aboard wine that would cost $15-30 per bottle, pay a corkage fee and still be ahead dollar wise. The offerings onboard RCI ships that are decent to drink start in the upper $40 range and aren't nearly as good as the $15 bottle you could find in your local grogery store. I'm not even going to argue price too much, because we do pay the $40 + for wine at dinner, the choices just aren't there. When we're in a land based restaurant we pay the high price for a bottle of wine, but we have a decent selection.

 

So, they could even up the corkage fee to $20 a bottle and still there would be people here willing to pay that. RCI doesn't have to lose money in the deal, they could make the corkage fee without any of the expense of handling the wine.

 

Complaining on a chat board can have an impact, RCI does monitor these boards. I have no idea whether or not they will consider it, but it won't hurt to discuss it.

[Lynnees]

Well, I don't drink wine very often but I would sure like to bring my mickey of rum and buy their mixes (no different than paying a corkage fee.)

 

I guess they are just applying the same rules all round.

[annieandbillyb]

I just booked a RCI cruise for June. Haven't cruised with them for a long time and I had forgotten the wine thing. It does seem strange that they still have that antiquated wine policy. Been cruising on other lines recently because of the "kids everywhere" policy they had on RCI years ago. I think I'll go the smuggling route this time instead of cancelling this booking. Nice to be back on cc. a

[Cruise Junky]

If indeed RCI is listening...you're not even an option for us when we book a cruise because of this policy. We cruise a couple of times a year and never look at RCI's itineraries.

[The Viking]

What amazes me is if wine is so important and lack of the proper kind ruins or hampers a cruise experience why do people continue to book on a line that doesn't allow wine to be brought on board and lacks the proper choices on board?

 

Complaining on a chat board really doesn't accomplish much of anything. Write letters to RCI and better yet take your cruise dollars and sail a line that gives you most of everything you want.

 

Complaining about lack of wine and choices of wine but still spending your cruise dollars with RCI really doesn't have much of an impact for them. Their cabins are full and they are making their revenue up elsewhere.

 

I agree fully with this post and love wine.

[firefly333]

Not true. HAL let's you bring a case on-board if you wish. (No, I'm not a HAL fan and will not cruise with them again until I'm 80.)

 

OK I was only familiar with Princess and Carnival, and have heard Celebrity allows you to bring wine too, but thought it was one bottle.

[hollywood34711]

Well, I don't drink wine very often but I would sure like to bring my mickey of rum and buy their mixes (no different than paying a corkage fee.)

 

I guess they are just applying the same rules all round.

Funny you should say "mickey of rum". Last time I checked even Disney allowed wine and spirits to be brought on board.

[marska]

If nothing else, at least my opinion was validated. I had no idea that wine doesn't store well on a ship. Learn something new everyday!

 

I know it is all about the $$$$. But this policy is very short-sighted. Maybe they get the buck up front because we have no alternative other than to purchase "their" selections, but I'll bet there are some customers who just slowly and quietly slip away to other cruise lines, taking their $$$$ with them....not "just" because of the alcohol policy, of course, but due to many small things that, after time, stick in the craw.

And this issue is sooo EASY to fix! Not a big deal at all!

[marska]

While I'm at it, I wouldn't mind being able to bring aboard my fav gin (Old Raj).

[bikn4fn]

Tom, I believe that RCI has one wine list across the fleet. They used to have a domestic and an international wine list, but I think they stopped that several years back.

 

I like to try new and different wines. One thing I LOVED about Azamara was having wine stewards - three of them, even - to help us pick our wines at dinner. On RCI there is nobody but a cellarmaster (who I've never seen except once on a tender in Alaska).

 

Jean,

Thanks for the update. From the looks of it, it is better than the W&D. We're just counting the days until Egypt.

[maureencruiser]

Hello, I am glad that several people corrected the one 750ml bottle thing. I sailed on Celebrity last month and brought my two 1.5L bottles aboard and I loved it. My boyfriend doesn't drink wine so they were both for me. I had a hard time getting them to fit in the little fridge, but, it was worth it. And I will tell you honestly, I drink the cheap sh*t, Sutter Home. But, late at night unwinding in my cabin, watching a movie, I liked having a cold glass of wine, or two or three or...;). Since RCI and Celebrity are "sisters", you'd think they would have the same policies. The hardest thing was lugging all that weight around in my carry-on and being careful with it because of the glass bottles. I was thinking of bringing the same when I sail on RCI again just to see if I will get away with it. If stopped, I will say, I thought we could bring it, I just got off Celebrity!. If they seize it, what am I out-20 bucks? Oh well, at least I can try. Keep on sipping and I'm sorry I like the cheap stuff....Maureen

[liberateny]

Anyone know?

[TravelerThom]

If seized, do they return it to you at the end of the cruise? Anyone know?

The POLICY is seized UNOPENED bottles are returned at the end of the cruise. Opened bottles are thrown away. But you never know how RCI will actually implement policy.

 

Thom

[Mademypoint]

The other lines that allow you to bring wine, its ONE 750 ml BOTTLE PER PAX.

 

One bottle isn't going to make your cruise that great really??

 

If you are bringing more than one bottle elsewhere you are smuggling anyway, so why the big deal here. I don't get it.

 

We brought 4 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of champagne on Princess a few years ago. I ordered it from a liquor store in FL and they delivered it to the hotel we were staying in.

[firefly333]

I know it is all about the $$$$. But this policy is very short-sighted. Maybe they get the buck up front because we have no alternative other than to purchase "their" selections, but I'll bet there are some customers who just slowly and quietly slip away to other cruise lines, taking their $$$$ with them....not "just" because of the alcohol policy, of course, but due to many small things that, after time, stick in the craw.

 

And this issue is sooo EASY to fix! Not a big deal at all!

 

So, if RCL said ok for $20 a bottle we will allow you to bring a bottle of wine onboard .... I bet there would be screams and hollers galore? I saw the poll on another thread that said people are not willing to spend another dime to take RCL back the way it used to be (when prices were higher and more services).

 

It is about revenue, so to replace the revenue, would folks here really be willing to pay a high fee like $20 to replace most of the lost revenue?? Many claim it is about choice and not liking the choices of what RCL offers, but if it is ONLY about choice, not about the money to pay for wine onboard, you would be willing to pay to bring that bottle onboard to me.

 

People keep cutting back on what they are willing to spend, but want RCL to further cut revenue, there has to be some give back somewhere or the services lost havent a chance of coming back.

[liberateny]

The OP said, "it is about revenue, so to replace the revenue, would folks here really be willing to pay a high fee like $20 to replace most of the lost revenue?? Many claim it is about choice and not liking the choices of what RCL offers, but if it is ONLY about choice, not about the money to pay for wine onboard, you would be willing to pay to bring that bottle onboard to me."

 

I apologize, but I don't think I understand what you are trying to say-