Wine list

[papadave]

I am considering bringing my own wine on board, but my decision is entirely dependent on the type of wine that HAL sells on board. Does anyone have a sample wine list? After spending a few weeks in Paris I developed an interest in certain wine, so I am trying to find out if there really is variety on their list. Price (assuming they don't charge $200 for a $50 bottle of wine) is not the top concern, but I don't want to be limited to choosing between White Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Merlot.

[mikefang]

PapaDave-I am no expert on wine but on our recent btb cruises on Maasdam we had a good number of wines to choose from. In my Navy days we would have called the selection good in 'range and depth' covering reds, whites, some blushes, sparkling etc. You might consider contacting customer service at HAL and get better info than I can give you. They have a couple of wine packages available with varying choices and a varying price range. As I said-I am certainly no wine expert but we (White Zinfandel fans) tried Piesporter Reisling (excuse the spelling) at the suggestion of the wine steward and really enjoyed it. Of course you always get in trouble recommending doctors, mechanics, restaurants and wines!
Enjoy the cruise!
Mike

[Arubalisa]

Wine Order Form (http://www.hollandamerica.com/pdfs/onboard/Wine_Order.pdf) This will give you some idea of some of the wines which they offer.

You may also contact Ships Services at (U.S. and Canada) 1-800-541-1576
Wine Navigator Package (http://www.arubabound.com/image/lg/us/zaandam/scans/HALwine_navigator.JPG)
Wine Navigator Admirals Choice (http://www.arubabound.com/image/lg/us/zaandam/scans/HALwine_admiral.JPG)

[gidgetgoes]

I am a little confused about our ability to bring wine on board. The HAL site says that you cannot bring your own alcohol...are you saying that we can? As you can tell, I'm a little new to cruising (a couple Carnival cruises some years back), so I'm not sure how things work. I'd love to bring some of our own wines on board, but didn't know I could.
- terri

[jaguarstyper]

You can bring your own wine or champagne aboard. There will be a corkage charge if you intend to drink it with dinner. We did bring a few bottles of champagne with us to enjoy during our sailaway parties the first 2 nights. After that, we would just buy more champagne in port and use them for our nightly sailaway parties out on our verandah. Champagne sailaways on the verandah have become one of our favorite cruise rituals.

Tim

[RuthC]

I am a little confused about our ability to bring wine on board. The HAL site says that you cannot bring your own alcohol...are you saying that we can? As you can tell, I'm a little new to cruising (a couple Carnival cruises some years back), so I'm not sure how things work. I'd love to bring some of our own wines on board, but didn't know I could.
- terri
HAL makes a distinction between "alcohol" and "wine".

As jaguarstyper noted, you may bring your own wine and champagne. Hard liquor is against the rules.

[CDRMark]

We dragged a case of bubbly on our November cruise on Maasdam. As the other posters have said, wine is currently exempt from the bring aboard.

Cheers
MarkB

[gidgetgoes]

Fabulous! Thanks for the info about the wine, I had no idea. It wasn't exactly clear on the HAL site. We'll definitely load up a few bottles of wine to bring with us to enjoy in our room and possibly with dinner. We have a lot of favorites, so this will work out really well. Thanks...this board is great!
- terri