Selection of wine in package

[JoeMGiants]

When you purchase a wine packsge, when do you select the wines that you want? - When you purchase the packsge on line or by phone; or when you arrive on board?
Thanks, Joe

[Krazy Kruizers]

Once you are on the ship -- usually at dinner in the dining room -- that's when you can talk with the wine steward and select what you would like to have.

Personally -- reading some reports here -- you might be better waiting until you are on the ship to buy a wine package -- a few people here have reported that not all the wines were available on their ship / sailing. The only time that happened to us was the one time we bought a package. Fortunately what we wanted was available.

You can order the same wine if you want to -- you are not obligated to select different wines from the packages.

[JoeMGiants]

If you are interested, see my post on price increases in the wine packsge / corkage fee thread !!!!

[SwissMyst]

We are trying to understand the new wine service now that we no longer have the punch cards for our dinner glass of wine. Please, any answers will be appreciated:

1. Do the wine packages get served at dinner, or are they delivered to the cabin for use there?

2. Is there an additional corkage fee charged for the wine packages or is that only for wine brought onboard personally?

3. And where does the 17% service charge attach- over and about or included in the wine package?

We got into a real mix up on our last cruise asking for our usual "house wines by the glass" and having both the head waiter and the wine steward take orders for wine by the glass depending on who came to the table first, being told there were now "well wines", but not "house wines",and not sure who was supposed to do what.

Waiter for the "well wines by the glass" and/or the wine steward for the branded bottles? :confused: We did have a communication mix up on this.

(That was the one minor dining glitch we encounterd. Nor we we that knowledgable about what we could get any longer to be the most cost effective way to enjoy a glass of wine only. It may have made more sense in the long run to have ordered a wine package .... haven't yet sorted this all out yet. Any suggestions welcomed.)

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you are interested, see my post on price increases in the wine packsge / corkage fee thread !!!!

I already answered you in the other thread.

We were in the middle of a Collector's Cruise when prices went up.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are trying to understand the new wine service now that we no longer have the punch cards for our dinner glass of wine. Please, any answers will be appreciated:

1. Do the wine packages get served at dinner, or are they delivered to the cabin for use there? Usually people order the wines for dinner. But there is no reason why you can't arrange for some bottles ot all of them to be delivered to your cabin -- once you are on the ship and talk to a wine steward as to which bottles you want.

2. Is there an additional corkage fee charged for the wine packages or is that only for wine brought onboard personally? There is no additional corkage fee for any wines that you buy from HAL or receive as a gift.

Only the wines you bring onto the ship and take to the dining room or a bar / lounge have the corkage fee. If you consume the wine in your cabin -- no corkage fee. Just bring your own cork screw -- sometimes the cabin stewards don't always have enough of them handy. And if you need glasses -- again ask your cabin steward.

3. And where does the 17% service charge attach- over and about or included in the wine package? If you look at the packages on HAL's site -- the 15% gratuity is already added on to them.

If you buy bottles on the ship or packages on the ship -- the 15% gratuity is added on when you make the purchase.

We got into a real mix up on our last cruise asking for our usual "house wines by the glass" and having both the head waiter and the wine steward take orders for wine by the glass depending on who came to the table first, being told there were now "well wines", but not "house wines",and not sure who was supposed to do what.

Waiter for the "well wines by the glass" and/or the wine steward for the branded bottles? :confused: We did have a communication mix up on this.

(That was the one minor dining glitch we encounterd. Nor we we that knowledgable about what we could get any longer to be the most cost effective way to enjoy a glass of wine only. It may have made more sense in the long run to have ordered a wine package .... haven't yet sorted this all out yet. Any suggestions welcomed.)

Hope you have a better wine experience on your next cruise.

[kazu]

We are trying to understand the new wine service now that we no longer have the punch cards for our dinner glass of wine. Please, any answers will be appreciated:

1. Do the wine packages get served at dinner, or are they delivered to the cabin for use there? You can use the wine packages wherever you want or split them up. Just indicate where you want them delivered - if you send them to the dining room then you can still ask for one or two to be sent to your room and vice versa

2. Is there an additional corkage fee charged for the wine packages or is that only for wine brought onboard personally?
there is no corkage fee for a wine package - it's only for the wine that you bring on board:D
3. And where does the 17% service charge attach- over and about or included in the wine package? I thought that the service charge was 15% - at least it was in November. It was included last time - if you go the HAL on line site and pretend you are going to book , there will be a full detail for you so you know for sure - never take someone else's cruise experience as the way it is now;) things are constantly changing

We got into a real mix up on our last cruise asking for our usual "house wines by the glass" and having both the head waiter and the wine steward take orders for wine by the glass depending on who came to the table first, being told there were now "well wines", but not "house wines",and not sure who was supposed to do what.

Waiter for the "well wines by the glass" and/or the wine steward for the branded bottles? :confused: We did have a communication mix up on this.

(That was the one minor dining glitch we encounterd. Nor we we that knowledgable about what we could get any longer to be the most cost effective way to enjoy a glass of wine only. It may have made more sense in the long run to have ordered a wine package .... haven't yet sorted this all out yet. Any suggestions welcomed.)

I put some answers for you in red up above. Hope it helps. usually a bottle of wine works out cheaper than wine by the glass, but it depends upon what you want. (remember they will hold your bottle until the next night).

If you prefer wine by the glass, you might want to look at the beverage card. We normally do a wine package because of the mariner discount and, BTW, you can order the same wine every single night if you want.

have a great cruise :)