Mdr

[socmft]

Can you buy wine by the glass at dinner in the MDR?

[sail7seas]

Yes, you certainly can. The 'house wine' red and white are not consistently the same one each cruise/each ship so I'll not list them.

[Jridou]

yep. You can also buy a bottle of wine and drink one or two glasses each night and they'll store it for you.

[Jemima]

yep. You can also buy a bottle of wine and drink one or two glasses each night and they'll store it for you.

The bottle works well for those who drink wine every evening and especially for those who at times will have more than one glass. It doesn't work as well for occasional wine drinkers. I had a couple of problems ordering a bottle rather than a glass. First it was expected I'd want it the following night and it was automatically poured. Second it was assumed I'd want a second glass to finish the bottle and that was almost poured. Now I just order a glass.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have had the same problems. We ordered a 3 bottle Navigator package on our last cruise of 14 days -- and had a hard time finishing it.

Will just order a glass of wine whenever we want wine.

[lorekauf]

The bottle works well for those who drink wine every evening and especially for those who at times will have more than one glass. It doesn't work as well for occasional wine drinkers. I had a couple of problems ordering a bottle rather than a glass. First it was expected I'd want it the following night and it was automatically poured. Second it was assumed I'd want a second glass to finish the bottle and that was almost poured. Now I just order a glass.
That's never happened to me in my 200+ days. They always ask. As a matter of fact I usually have to wait 10-15 minutes before they show up at the table with my opened wine. I generally dine early so maybe that's the difference.

[lorekauf]

We have had the same problems. We ordered a 3 bottle Navigator package on our last cruise of 14 days -- and had a hard time finishing it.

Will just order a glass of wine whenever we want wine.
I had 3 bottles on my 10 day cruise and even with a cold I made short work of it. I think I was trying to kill the cold;):D.

[mountainmare]

Thank you for asking the question. I am a longtime HAL cruiser but have not cruised since they did away with the old punch cards.
Like Jemima, I feel that getting a bottle would be more trouble than its worth because sometimes I want white, sometimes red and sometimes nothing. This time we are giving open seating a try so I think for me a $45 beverage card and ordering by the glass is the best bet. Its a 10 day cruise so I may end up with two cards.
Does this seem like a good plan (both for me and the OP)?

[Two@Sea]

The bottle works well for those who drink wine every evening and especially for those who at times will have more than one glass. It doesn't work as well for occasional wine drinkers. I had a couple of problems ordering a bottle rather than a glass. First it was expected I'd want it the following night and it was automatically poured. Second it was assumed I'd want a second glass to finish the bottle and that was almost poured. Now I just order a glass.

The following night? You mean you had wine left over? Wow.... I never heard of such a thing! ;)

[3rdGenCunarder]

That's never happened to me in my 200+ days. They always ask. As a matter of fact I usually have to wait 10-15 minutes before they show up at the table with my opened wine. I generally dine early so maybe that's the difference.

Last time, if it was a bottle of red, it was on our table waiting for us. Not sure if white was chilled and waiting. We had fixed early dining so it was easy for the bottle to follow us. If there isn't much left, the waiter will try to pour and finish off the bottle. I suppose it could be done to accelerate the next purchase. I just look at it as being able to make a new choice next night.

Question about wine given to you. IIRC, we had a bottle of wine from our TA waiting for us in the cabin. Do they charge you corkage for wine given to you as an onboard gift? I can't remember if we were charged the fee.

[3rdGenCunarder]

The following night? You mean you had wine left over? Wow.... I never heard of such a thing! ;)

Love it! For years, my Dad tried to convince me wine would go bad if you didn't finish the bottle in one sitting. "Drink up! It will only go bad!"

[GeriatricNurse]

I had 3 bottles on my 10 day cruise and even with a cold I made short work of it. I think I was trying to kill the cold;):D.


So, you averaged one 250 ml glass per day! ;) That would be the same for me! :D

[RuthC]

Do they charge you corkage for wine given to you as an onboard gift?
No corkage fee if it's HAL's wine. They don't care who paid for it.