Wines and corkage and bars, Oh my! (Signature Beverage Pkg, Beverage Cards & Corkage)

Thanks SO much for all the great info! And fun to read! We are first time cruisers heading to Alaska in May. We don't have any SBP or beverage cards included in our package, bummer.

 

One question - if you order a bucket of beer and don't finish it at the place you bought it, can you take the rest to the next bar/show etc?

Yes, you can. They will even top off your ice for you of you like.

How this happened, I do not know... But we did not get a copy of the room service / minibar menu. We have some water, beer, and soda prices, but that's all.

 

We're totally ashamed. (Hanging head, looking sad.)

 

I couldn't find a copy of the room service /minibar menu on HALFacts.com, so if anyone has one to share, that would be great.

We didn't have on in our room on the Maasdam either. I did look.

If we had one, I would have taken a pic for halfacts.

In hindsight, I should have asked if only for the picture. Guess I am not a good explorer after all :eek: - oh well, you know what they say - it's hard to get good help:p

How this happened, I do not know... But we did not get a copy of the room service / minibar menu. We have some water, beer, and soda prices, but that's all.

 

We're totally ashamed. (Hanging head, looking sad.)

 

I couldn't find a copy of the room service /minibar menu on HALFacts.com, so if anyone has one to share, that would be great.

Thanks for getting back to me. No worries. At least now I know how I can contribute to this thread! I'll get a photo and share!

Thanks for getting back to me. No worries. At least now I know how I can contribute to this thread! I'll get a photo and share!

Very helpful! A lot of great science starts with filling in the blanks and solving the last part of a great mystery. (Do you like the way we have now elevated the missing room service drink price list to one of the world's great, undiscovered mysteries? ;) ) Seriously though, if you can get us some information on it, that would be outstanding work.

Very helpful! A lot of great science starts with filling in the blanks and solving the last part of a great mystery. (Do you like the way we have now elevated the missing room service drink price list to one of the world's great, undiscovered mysteries? ;) ) Seriously though, if you can get us some information on it, that would be outstanding work.

and, if I may add - if you get it, could you kindly forward it as well to pictures@halfacts.com please? We'll get it on the website to be saved for posterity (or until the prices change)

I couldn't find a copy of the room service /minibar menu on HALFacts.com, so if anyone has one to share, that would be great.

I will get one in early May, but it will be a while before it's up here, obviously.

"Perhaps the real problem is that the cruise lines are trying to stay one step ahead of the passengers and the reality is that for every rule they come up with, we can all come up with a way to get around it."

Isn't it sad that people think they do not need to follow rules -- speaks to the world we live in today

"Perhaps the real problem is that the cruise lines are trying to stay one step ahead of the passengers and the reality is that for every rule they come up with, we can all come up with a way to get around it."

 

Isn't it sad that people think they do not need to follow rules -- speaks to the world we live in today

Could I impose upon you to let us know where your quote comes from?

Could I impose upon you to let us know where your quote comes from?

Post #442. In response to your post #441.

Post #442. In response to your post #441.

Okay... Got it. For some reason I thought you referring to something in our original research notes, but now that we know that you're referencing the corkage article on Eater & Leigh's response, it makes more sense.

Okay... Got it. For some reason I thought you referring to something in our original research notes, but now that we know that you're referencing the corkage article on Eater & Leigh's response, it makes more sense.

It wasn't me who wrote that, I just found out where that quote was posted.

(As a retired PhD, I'm glad I'm through with research notes , CE and all the rest of it!)

It wasn't me who wrote that, I just found out where that quote was posted.

 

(As a retired PhD, I'm glad I'm through with research notes , CE and all the rest of it!)

No problem at all. I realized that it wasn't your original posting and I meant to respond. I simply got distracted.

Thanks for taking the time to look it up!

No problem at all. I realized that it wasn't your original posting and I meant to respond. I simply got distracted.

 

Thanks for taking the time to look it up!

No problem!

Seems like I'm distracted 24/7!!

Another thank you for all of your research and work It is greatly appreciated. From another one who wants horseradish in her Bloody Mary.

Wish you were going to be on our Alaska cruise. It would be nice to have your expertise.

We booked an 11 day cruise on a sale that offered at free SBP card and a 'summer on sale' 50$ beverage card for hubby and I. A week later the price droped for higher categories(our category price stayed the same) and they offer free upgrade to verandah. I called holland and they said we can up grade two levels from VH to VE but you would lose the SBP card ,but keep the 50$ beverage card. I have been reading the blog here and enjoying it I must say but we were just unsure if this card was worth it if we could move higher up in category. What are your thoughts? I love a good glass of wine and we always brought wine on board so was disappointed the policy had changed somewhat.

We booked an 11 day cruise on a sale that offered at free SBP card and a 'summer on sale' 50$ beverage card for hubby and I. A week later the price droped for higher categories(our category price stayed the same) and they offer free upgrade to verandah. I called holland and they said we can up grade two levels from VH to VE but you would lose the SBP card ,but keep the 50$ beverage card. I have been reading the blog here and enjoying it I must say but we were just unsure if this card was worth it if we could move higher up in category. What are your thoughts? I love a good glass of wine and we always brought wine on board so was disappointed the policy had changed somewhat.

I would look at how much you save with the upgrade, versus how much you would save with the SBP. (The $50 drink card is a constant, so we can just assume that it washes out of the equation.)

1. Calculate the value of the upgraded room. You can do this pretty easily by looking at the fares on HAL's site.
   
2. Estimate the value you would get from the SBP card. Try to figure out how much you would drink each day. Include both alcoholic (beer, house wine, cocktails) and non-alcoholic drinks (bottled water, specialty coffees, etc.) When you are doing this drink math, don't forget to factor in the 15% service charge which is included in the SBP.
   
3. Multiply your daily estimated SBP drinks value by the number of days in your cruise to come up with a total.
   
4. Compare the SBP estimated value with your upgrade's calculated value. That should help with the decision.
   

Some other things to consider:

• Does the SBP cover what you like to drink? We covered most of that in earlier posts and you can find a master link list in Post #351 of this thread.
  
• If you are still planning to bring wine aboard - your 2 "free" bottles and how ever many corkage-paid bottles - make an estimate as to how much your wine would eat into your SBP usage. We usually bring wine for dinner and each glass of our own wine we drink is one less SBP drink we'd consume. (Ignore this if you are planning to double-fist it with a cocktail in one hand and a glass of your own wine in the other.)
  
• How port-intensive is your itinerary? If you have many long port days, you have less time to use your SBP.
  

I hope that gives you some assistance in making your decision. Feel free to ask if you need additional clarification or if you think of anything else. We're here to help!

I just saw that the ratings were out for the new vintage of the Santa Carolina wines, or at least some of them. The Cabernet Sauvignon stays at 89 points. The Chardonnay is unchanged at 85, and the Sauvignon Blanc is 88. Sadly, HAL has no house Sauv Blanc. :(

I haven't found a beverage package that suits

We will be on our first HAL cruise shortly

I am thinking of purchasing 2 x $250 cards of credit on board

Are we likely to not encounter any problems, such as very slow service in paying as we go for bottles of wine at dinner as well as drinks during the day

Thank you

presumably I can purchase more credit as required

I haven't found a beverage package that suits

We will be on our first HAL cruise shortly

 

I am thinking of purchasing 2 x $250 cards of credit on board

 

Are we likely to not encounter any problems, such as very slow service in paying as we go for bottles of wine at dinner as well as drinks during the day

Thank you

 

presumably I can purchase more credit as required

To answer your last question first - Yes, you can buy additional drink cards should your thirst exceed your initial $500 investment.

We never had any problems with service speed. We usually know which bars and lounges we will frequent. We stop by them shortly after boarding to meet the bartenders and servers - and to have a drink, of course. HAL's bar staff is usually quite good and if you take time to meet them and engage them, they almost always remember you. We try to stop by a bar when they're not busy on the first day. It's easier to meet the staff when they're not in the middle of a happy hour rush.

Do you have open or fixed seating for dinner? It's easier to meet your wine steward for fixed seating because you're always in the same place.

When we are ordering wine from the list, I either pre-order it - assuming that wine pre-orders are available on your ship, or I will often order the next night's wine at the end of dinner. You want to avoid sitting down and having to comb through the list if at all possible. Most other tables will be doing that and the wine stewards can only move so fast. Being decisive helps in these situations. In days of yore, I would ask for a copy of the wine list or I would go to the Neptune Lounge to study it. Now, I just take a few photos of the wine lists with my phone and I can refer to them.

Hope you have a great vacation!

Thank you for all of that extremely helpful information

Will pre order the following days wines each day after embarkation day

Also introduce ourselves at appropriate time soon after embarkation

Once again thank you

Forgot to add that we have been assigned Open seating

Good suggestion regarding checking out the wine list in NL beforehand

Forgot to add that we have been assigned Open seating

 

Good suggestion regarding checking out the wine list in NL beforehand

If you are planning to make a standing reservation, you may have the same wine steward. We've found that the wine stewards are stretched pretty thin. Anything you can do to streamline your wine buying process helps. We carry on most of our wine and pay corkage. When we order, we do our best to "beat the crowd" by ordering our wine early if possible.

Just keep thinking about staying ahead of the crowd. You may actually be a little better off in open seating. With fixed seating, everyone sits at once. With open seating, diners don't all sit at once. That might spread out the wine stewards' load.

POA1 and jackom

On at least two of our cruises, the wine cellar ran out of a particularly good wine from the wine package. Apparently lots of folks enjoyed it, and they didn't get a fresh supply, at least while we were aboard. They did provided a substitute, but it was not, in our estimation, as good.

To prevent this, on our last cruise we picked the wines we wanted from the package and had them delivered to the room. We then carried the bottle for the evening with us to the dinning room. They know it is a wine from the package, so we didn't have a problem with them asking for a corkage fee and we were assured they would have the wine we wanted.

I have not tried asking them to set the wines aside for us at the start of the trip. Has anyone tried this?

Greg

That's excellent advice, Greg. Thanks.

Here's an interesting article on restaurant corkage from Eater. I'm linking to the mobile version of the article, but if you are on a desktop, the site's server should present you with the full version.

 

http://m.eater.com/archives/2012/09/07/corkage-culture.php

 

It's nice to see that there are a lot of opinions all around. :cool:

good article - up to 100/bottle corkage and in some places you can't bring wines that are on the list.

I had no idea it was that expensive. I've only ever seen people bring wine into restaurants that did not have a license yet....

never mind.... on reading ALL the way to the bottom - "Texas is an outlier in that it prohibits corkage at restaurants that hold a liquor license. But some restaurants are foregoing a liquor license because they see enough of potential pay-off in allowing diners to bring their own wine."