Comparing Wine Policies

[Bandgk]

We're new to sailing, but been around wine long enough to be quite picky about it. I would like to carry on 2 or 3 special bottles and select from the wine list the rest of the time.

 

From reading these threads, opinions vary about the best cruise line, ports, etc., so picking a cruise from these comments is daunting. However, wine policies seem to vary quite a bit between cruise lines, so that may be the deciding factor on our choice of cruise. I've learned some of the policies, but need help filling in some blanks. Here's what I know (or at least what I think I know):

 

PRINCESS- decent wine list selection, able to carry on 1 bottle per person, $15 corkage, the dining room will store an unfinished bottle overnight.

 

HAL- $15 corkage. I know wine can be brought on, but is there a set limit? Do they store unfinished bottles overnight? How's the wine list?

 

CELEBRITY & RCCL- Can wine be brought on board at all? If so, how many and what is the corkage fee? Do they store unfinished bottles overnight? How's the wine list (price and variety)?

 

It seems I'm asking a lot, but I can't be the only one who cares a lot about wine. I would sincerely appreciate any comments that will help me sort out the differences between these four cruise lines.

[pms4104]

I can speak only to HAL ... you may bring wine and champagne in unlimited quantities. I believe the corkage fee, should you briing a bottle to the dining room, has gone up to $18/bottle ... but there have been posts that some pax have not been charged any corkage, while some have been charged for only the first bottle, and others for every bottle. I understand that unfinished bottles can be stored for you to enjoy at a subsequent dinner.

 

Sorry, I can't address the variety issue ... as we always bring our own and enjoy it on our verandah.

[wrp96]

RCCL completely prohibits bringing any alcohol onboard, including wine.

 

I believe Celebrity allows each passenger to bring on a bottle of wine - but I may be wrong.

[happy cruzer]

Well, you hit one of my favorite subjects.

 

Policies and enforcement of the policies vary by line. and change fairly often. My research shows:

 

RCCL has the strictest wine policy and the strictest enforcement. No wine to be carried on and no corkage fee. Mediocre wine list with not much value pricing.

 

Celebrity allows 1 or 2??? bottles (not sure) to be brought on at embarcation and a 20 dollar corkage fee. Have heard that they enforce fairly well. Good wine list.

 

Carnival and Princess state 1 bottle per passagenger. No enforcement for wine reported. Princess seems to charge the corkage fee. Carnival seems to not charge the fee. Good wine list with good values.

 

Hal, disney, Oceania bring all you want and pay corkage fee in dining room. Average wine lists with average values.

 

NCL bring all you want and pay corkage fee as you enter ship. So you pay even on wine consumed in cabin.

 

Once you narrow more, you can go to the cruise line that you pick. And do a search for your ship and port (yep, different ports have different inspectors) to see the enforcement and a current wine list. If not posted, then ask for current info there are plenty of wine drinkers to help out.

[Bandgk]

Happy Cruzer-

 

Thank you for the info. It's just what I was looking for. One more question, though.......I know the Princess Dining Room will store an unfinished bottle and bring it back to you the following night. Does RCCL, HAL, or Celebrity also do this? Thanks again.

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL will store any unfinished bottles of wine for you overnight.

You can bring on as many bottles -- even cases -- as you like.

On our recent cruises the corkage fee was raised to $18 per bottle.

HAL's prices for wine keep going up.

[Court's DH]

wine policies seem to vary quite a bit between cruise lines, so that may be the deciding factor on our choice of cruise.

 

Now THAT is a seriously excellent criterion for selecting your cruise line. Why did I not come up with that? ;)

 

RCCL and Celebrity do not let you bring your own wine, period.

 

HAL does charge a corkage fee, but your wine steward may waive it every now and then - ours did. There is no limit of bottles you can bring (I guess there will be *some* limit and you can't set up your own wine store, but my wife and I brought one bottle per dinner without a problem.)

 

HAL does have a pretty decent wine list, if I remember correctly. However, even though I'm not much into economizing on vacations, I've found that a lot of money can be saved by bringing your own wine. Cruise lines - just like any restaurant - charge about three times the store value of any given bottle of wine.

 

What I'm trying to say is I can either buy a $20 bottle at a store, pay a $15 corkage fee, ending up with a total of $35. Or, I can buy the same bottle from the cruise line for $60.

 

Moral of the story: By bringing our own wine, we not only get to drink the wine we like. We can also spend an extra $25 on Gin and Tonic at the bar after dinner. :D

 

G.

[happy cruzer]

Happy Cruzer-

 

Thank you for the info. It's just what I was looking for. One more question, though.......I know the Princess Dining Room will store an unfinished bottle and bring it back to you the following night. Does RCCL, HAL, or Celebrity also do this? Thanks again.

 

Yes, the main lines do keep unfinished wine. DH and I often have a white and a red bottle open to match the different courses at dinner. Any left is stored for the next night.

 

some of the smaller lines like Oceania will even find your opened bottle from any restaturant or buffet and serve it to you. They were able to serve our wine in the buffet, dining room, and specialty restaurants.

 

Some of the main lines charge a higher corkage fee in their specialty restaurants.

 

Also you can bring your wine to the dining room ahead of time. Good for white wines to get them chilled. I've only tried this for assigned seating. When we do open seating, we usually just order white wine from the menu and carry on reds. Just a bit easier. And we only carry on to make sure we get the wine we prefer. Most lines have at least one good New Zealand sav blanc and a good Cal Chardonnay. However the Pinot Noirs are usually very limited. Lots of good dining room food pairs with Pinot Noirs so that's the main wine we carry on.

 

Enjoy!

[Bandgk]

Thanks to all for the helpful info. Sounds like RCCL and Celebrity "are out of the car".

 

I would love to bring all my wine with me, but getting it from San Diego to FLL or SJU would be a challenge. On the Crown Princess wine list last year I found some very nice Italian reds at a reasonable price. If I pick HAL, I'm hoping for a similar wine list as both lines are in the same family.

 

Someone mentioned on another thread a wine store in Fort Lauderdale with a huge selection, and now I can't find where I read it. Anyone know this place?

[electro]

Celebrity allows you to bring on 2 bottles of wine per stateroom.

Their corkage fee is now $25.

 

From the Celebrity website :

 

"Guests wishing to bring personal wine onboard with them at the beginning of the cruise may do so, limited to two (2) bottles per stateroom, but when consumed in any shipboard restaurant, bar or dining venue, each bottle shall be subject to a corkage fee of $25.00. "

[firefly333]

Carnival owns Princess, has the same policy, one 750 ml bottle of wine per adult pax.

[Twickenham]

Thanks to all for the helpful info. Sounds like RCCL and Celebrity "are out of the car".

 

I would love to bring all my wine with me, but getting it from San Diego to FLL or SJU would be a challenge. On the Crown Princess wine list last year I found some very nice Italian reds at a reasonable price. If I pick HAL, I'm hoping for a similar wine list as both lines are in the same family.

 

Someone mentioned on another thread a wine store in Fort Lauderdale with a huge selection, and now I can't find where I read it. Anyone know this place?

 

Just because Princess has a certain wine at a certain price does not mean HAL will have the same. They are run as separate entities. I believe there's a HAL wine list on their website somewhere, but could be wrong.

You want Total Wine (http://www.totalwine.com/StoreList.aspx?state=FL&store=904) in Fort Lauderdale.

[EdSails]

Not sure if they still have it, but RCCL had some pretty good "wine packages" you could buy as you entered the ship. They gave a substantial discount to the wine prices and gave a lot of flexibility. I found the selection was decent-----undistinguished but it did allow us to have wine or champagne at most meals without worrying about it.

I am looking forward to our upcoming Princess Cruise.......it will be nice to bring a really special bottle with us.

[lizzyg]

It was stated on the terms that only one bottle of wine per person was allowed for a special occassion but we just kept going to bottle shops on stopovers and buying half a dozen and didn't ever get questioned about it. We did only drink it in our cabin though.

[jocap]

Carnival owns Princess, has the same policy, one 750 ml bottle of wine per adult pax.

Carnival also owns P&O and your own wine can be taken on board-no corckage (unless they've changed the rules recently.).

[Sundagger]

Just because Princess has a certain wine at a certain price does not mean HAL will have the same. They are run as separate entities. I believe there's a HAL wine list on their website somewhere, but could be wrong.

 

 

Yes, the two lines are run completely separate. The wine list on the website is an abbreviated one to order Bon Voyage gifts (or for yourself) to be waiting in the room. The onboard wine list is different.

[Court's DH]

Someone mentioned on another thread a wine store in Fort Lauderdale with a huge selection, and now I can't find where I read it. Anyone know this place?

 

You're probably thinking of "total wine"? Aunt Google says that's on 1906 Cordova Rd, just South of the Southport Shopping Center on SE 17th St.

 

We spent the pre-cruising night at the Ramada, 2275 State Rd. 84 (which featured a decent bar and a pool and was overall much nicer than I had anticipated, plus it's conveniently located 5 minutes from the port. You can leave your car in the hotel parking lot, and they shuttle you to the ship).

 

Anyway, so we bought our wine at the nearby wine store in the strip mall on W State Rd 84, just between SW 9th and SW 12th Avenue. I thought the selection was very decent. We picked some very nice Montepulciano and Navarra. (They also had plenty excellent Barolos and Bordeaux, but I didn't want to blow a lot of $$ on wine which you can't store at the right temperature in your cabin anyway.)

 

Happy wine drinking, and enjoy your cruise! (Hey, how can you not, if you're having good grape juice?) ;)

 

G.

[Court's DH]

As an afterthought, you said you're flying in, so if you were to stay at the Ramada and go to that wine store I spoke of, you might not need a rental car at all. You can take the hotel shuttle from the airport, and the wine store is literally within walking distance - half a mile down the road, if that. The hotel can also bring you to the pier the next day. Just a thought...

[Zubsin]

Princess and Celebrity allowed us to bring on one bottle each in our checked luggage. Donna

[mr green]

The written contract with Princess has no limit to the number of bottles of wine permitted. Will anyone tell me where this 'One Bottle Policy' with Princess comes from. I have never had any problems taking five bottles.

 

john

[Bandgk]

The written contract with Princess has no limit to the number of bottles of wine permitted. Will anyone tell me where this 'One Bottle Policy' with Princess comes from. I have never had any problems taking five bottles.

 

john

 

It seems you are correct. When I sailed the Crown Princess last September there was definitely a written policy of 1 bottle per person for "special occasions". When I looked today at the Princess website I found no limitation on the number of bottles of champagne and wine that could be brought on board. Has Princess recently changed their policy to coincide with HAL?

[mr green]

It seems you are correct. When I sailed the Crown Princess last September there was definitely a written policy of 1 bottle per person for "special occasions". When I looked today at the Princess website I found no limitation on the number of bottles of champagne and wine that could be brought on board. Has Princess recently changed their policy to coincide with HAL?

 

Thank you for your reply. I am making plans at this moment on which wines to select for our next cruise, since, in my opinion every day is a 'Special Occasion'.:)

 

john

[Zubsin]

John, to tell you the truth we never tried to take more than one bottle per person. This time we are putting one each in our luggage and will look to see what is available at the duty free shop worth taking on in our carry on (and paying corkage). Since Princess has a slightly better wine list than Celebrity it might not be worth the corkage. But we bring great wine from home so at least we get good stuff a few nights. Donna

[Shorex]

If you are truly serious about wine, Crystal offers the Vintage Room experience, pairing wine and food. A typical Vintage Room will feature such wines as:

 

Champagne

Billecart-Salmon, Brut Rose, Mareuil-Sur-Ay, France NV

 

White

Pur Sang, Didier Dagueneau, Loire Valley, France 2004

Gruner Veltliner “Lamm,” Schloss Gobelsburg, Austria 2005

 

Red

Barbaresco, Angelo Gaja, Piedmont, Italy 2003

Pinot Noir, Miura, “Pisoni Vineyards,” Monterey County 2005

Chateau Hosanna, Pomerol, France 2001

 

Dessert

Trockenbeerenauslese, “Cuvée Crystal Cruises,” Alois Kracher,

Burgenland, Austria 2000

 

The Ultimate Vintage Room includes such wines as Chateau D'Yquem.

 

You can bring aboard as much of your own wine aboard as you wish. There is a corkage fee for dining room, but of course you can enjoy the wine in your own stateroom without any charge.

[FlyerTalker]

As one who partook of a Vintage Room experience on Crystal, I can say that it was worth every dollar.

 

In addition, the wine cellar onboard for the dining room and specialty restaurants is both broad and deep, with wines from the $25 per bottle range into four figures, and in a wide range of styles and origins. Also, you can get wines from the specialty restaurant wine lists in the main dining room if you make arrangements with your wine steward.

 

Given the quality of the wines, the pricing is very reasonable in the dining room - significantly less than what you would pay in land restaurants for similar offerings.

 

You might want to look into taking one of their "Food and Wine" special theme cruises, where noted chefs, vintners and food/wine experts are brought aboard for special lectures and tastings.