Wine at Dinner?

[sophiethd]

Hi,

 

I've read several things on the forum after searching about this. I was planning on bringing wine onboard with us to have at Dinner. Just wondering if it's really worth it after you have the pay the $10 corkage fee?

I've read that there is wine packages, how does it work and what is the cost ?

 

How much is a bottle of wine at Dinner roughly?

 

Thanks

[liciaheart]

Well on our last cruise we took wine and paid the $10 to open it sometimes the waiter didn't charge us but sometimes he did. And yes it was worth it, for a glass of wine it was about 6 dollars so if you have two glasses of wine that night thats $12. So I think it is worth it.

[navybaby1113]

You could always just pour yourself a glass of wine in your room and carry it to dinner.

[caesar68]

ok I know this might get me in some trouble here but here is what we did and it worked out great. We brought a bottle it had a screw off top like many decent ones do today ( although I have a hard time with that... i like corks). We also bought a box of wine (same statement as before but there are some decent ones out there)

Each night we brought our bottle to dinner already opened and there was no corkage fee. You can refill the bottle from the box to keep it chilly in your room. I don't know the price of wine but we paid 17.00 for two glasses that we ordered one night before we went to dinner

We drink primarily beer during the day and after dinner so carnival made a ton of money from our bar tab. We do not smuggle any other alcohol or soda we just bring one bottle and one box of wine.

[SunnyinMA]

Here is a pic I took in Feb. on the Freedom. It shows the prices and the wines in each package:

 

 

FYI - someone on our roll call purchased the premium package because of a certain red she liked and found out at dinner that they were out of that one for the entire cruise so beware if there aren't several you like you could get stuck.

[navybaby1113]

Wow...their wines seem hideously overpriced. I know a couple on the deluxe package that you can get for under $10 a bottle in the grocery store.

[caesar68]

Here is a pic I took in Feb. on the Freedom. It shows the prices and the wines in each package:

 

 

Looks like a more than a 100% mark-up most of the bottles in the first package you can get for $8-10 a bottle on land

[sophiethd]

Thanks for the replies. Well it might be worth it after all to pay the corkage fee if I can get a few bottles on land for $8-10. I'm a big chicken and I usually follow rules...lol

[caesar68]

Thanks for the replies. Well it might be worth it after all to pay the corkage fee if I can get a few bottles on land for $8-10. I'm a big chicken and I usually follow rules...lol

 

 

Keep in mind that you are allowed to carry one bottle on per person....how many people are going in your party? Try the box ( 3 liters) in your luggage....at least you know it won't break...lol

[sophiethd]

Not sure yet about # of ppl in our party. Could be 2 adults and it could be 4 adults.

Are we allowed to bring the 3L box of wine onboard ? We plan on purchasing the wine in Miami pre-cruise.

[5waldos]

Corkage fees really have nothing to do with opening the wine. They have to do with providing the service- glasses, etc. It is hit or miss about whether or not you pay this fee- we brought wine on board and had a bottle each night for dinner. We paid no corkage fee. Except at the supper club where we brought two bottles, and did pay the corkage fee. The advantage to bringing your own is that you can bring much nicer wine, what you really want, and pay a great deal less, even if you pay the corkage fee. If you are drinking $8-10 wine it probably isn't worth it. Figure that the wines are priced at about double or a bit more than you would pay at the store. If you have a $10 bottle you will pay $20- and if you bring it onboard, with the corkage fee your bottle will cost you about the same. If you have a $50 bottle you bring onboard, with the additional charge it is $60, not $110. So, for good wine it is worth bringing it onboard, for inexpensive wine you might as well buy it there.

[cathyz]

Wow...their wines seem hideously overpriced. I know a couple on the deluxe package that you can get for under $10 a bottle in the grocery store.

I'm sure that's true, but then you'd have to open it yourself and drink it in the grocery store. You're comparing apples to oranges, compare the prices to a nice restaurant or resort with a view, it's a little different.

[caesar68]

Not sure yet about # of ppl in our party. Could be 2 adults and it could be 4 adults.

Are we allowed to bring the 3L box of wine onboard ? We plan on purchasing the wine in Miami pre-cruise.

 

 

Not sure if boxes are allowed (probably not) we had more than one adult and brought one bottle on....the box was more for convience and so we didn't need to be concerned about breaking it. I guess you could say that was my "bottle"

 

The poster before is correct, however, I don't think it is good service for them to charge to open wine and/or provide you with a wine glass. They will offer to keep the bottle chilled for you for the next night, however, we just took our bottle with us back to the room. Ususally they will charge a corkage fee at that point when they bring the wine out to you the next night. I have also heard of people buying the wine packages and still being charged corkage fees.

[sophiethd]

My husband brought a good point. Can we bring 1 bottle of wine each at every port ?

[caesar68]

My husband brought a good point. Can we bring 1 bottle of wine each at every port ?

 

 

no any alcohol that you bring on at port will be held for you and delivered to you room on the last night...

[Donray]

Wow...their wines seem hideously overpriced. I know a couple on the deluxe package that you can get for under $10 a bottle in the grocery store.

 

Evidently you don't eat out and order wine in a restaurant. It is cheaper than a very good restaurant and about the same as a moderate restaurant on land. A $10 bottle of wine in a grocery store would be considered a not high quality wine by most people. The ship and restaurants usually mark up a bottle of wine at least double and a high priced restaurant three times at least.

No difference from ship or land…..

Just tacky to bring your own unless you have a special wine and at that time the 10 or 15 dollar corkage fee is worth it.