HAL Lousy Wine List

I've just booked our first HA cruise (we have been cruising Celebrity almost exclusively). What is Holland America's policy on bringing wine onboard....celebrity allows two 750ml bottles and those only at debarkation.

Which ship/date? We like to travel on both lines.

You may be right, its been a while, but I used to do consulting work for a major grocery chain and they were paying 9 cents for Coke products and 6 cents for Pepsi products. And I am talking millions of units per year. But, that was 7 years ago. Canned sodas have become somewhat of a dinosaur in retail these days.

 

Even at 20 cents per unit, HAL is making a tremendous margin on canned soda.

A few years ago, the American Hotel & Motel Association released a study on operating costs.

The average cost of serving a free glass of ice water to a patron in a restaurant (with ALL collateral costs included) was $1.50. Cruise ships have a similar cost structure.

I was recently staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu. This is the largest hotel in Hawaii, with thousands of rooms and dozens of bars and restaurants. A can of Coke from a vending machine was $3.25. No glass, no napkin, no ice, no straw, no lime, no smile.

It's probably not useful to focus only on the cost of sales to determine reasonableness of pricing.

HAL has to buy the product. They have to warehouse it. They have to get it delivered to the vessel, and pay for onloading. They have to move it along with the rest of the ship (every extra kilo adds to the cost of moving the vessel). They have to pay the salaries of the people who are selling it, and the systems that track those sales.

There is a *lot* of overhead to keeping a vessel moving, and the more of that overhead that they can download to discretionary purchases, the lower they can keep the fares that actually get people on board.

So the question becomes, is $1,95 a reasonable price for a can of pop? Is $42 a reasonable price for a bottle of wine? Only the buyer can make that decision.

My concern is not so much with the markup, but with the quality of what's on the wine list in the first place.

I totally agree with the quality - and I think if there were a selection of quality wines it would be a win-win for HAL and her passengers.

Where i can found the Winelist from HAL?

Where i can found the Winelist from HAL?

Roger (CrewNews) scanned them on his recent Alaska trip. It's the most recent I know of

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/wine-list.pdf

Many Thanks!

But where i can find, which wines are Navigators Choice or Admirals Choice?

A HAL cruise can be very affordable for us. We stay well clear of the casino and relative t cruises on other lines we tend to spend much less on wine. And not because the wind on HAL is less expensive.

Many Thanks!

But where i can find, which wines are Navigators Choice or Admirals Choice?

Go to page 5 of the HAL threads and click on New Navigator and Admiral Wine Packages thread which I posted. Sorry, I don't know how to list the thread ID. These were introduced on the Amsterdam sailing of September 7th. I don't know if anyone has confirmed that this is the list for the whole fleet. I was told it was.

Here you go. I copied it from SJSULIBRARIAN.

Navigator’s Choice

3 bottles*** $89.00 = $29.67

5 bottles*** $149.00 = $29.80

7 bottles*** $ 199.00 = $28.42

White Wine

Piedra Megra Torrontes, Argentina

Danzante Pinot Grigio, Italy

Caliterra Chardonnay, Chile

Dreaming Tree Chardonnay, California

Greystone Sauvignon Blanc, California -

Danzante Moscato, Italy

Red Wine

Puerto Viejo Carmenere, Chile

Frescobaldi Remole, Italy

Chateau des Trois Tours Bordeaux, France

Deakin Estate Shiraz, Australia

Los Riscos Merlot, Chile

Tapena Tempranillo, Spain

Deakin Estate Pinot Noir, Australia

Toro de Piedra Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile High 80s

Admiral’s Choice

3 bottles**** $119.00 = $39.67

5 bottles****** $199.00 = $39.80

7 bottles****** $269.00 = $38.42

White Wine

Tangley Oaks Chardonnay, California

Grace Lane Riesling, Washington

Estancia Pinot Grigio, California

Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand

Franciscan “Equilibrium” White Blend, California

Domaine Les Salices Chardonnay, France

Hayman & Hill Chardonnay, California

Red Wine

Spellbound Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Wente “Sandstone” Merlot, California

Estancia Pinot Noir, California

Frescobaldi Castiglioni Chianti, Italy

Decero Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina

Cuarto Dominio Lot

44 Malbec, Argentina

Wente “Beyer Ranch” Zinfandel, California

I

Thanks SJSULIBRARIAN and POA1!

How many bottles of wine i can bring on board?

Thanks SJSULIBRARIAN and POA1!

 

How many bottles of wine i can bring on board?

You may bring one bottle per person and you will not have to a pay corkage fee.

After the first bottle per person, the corkage fee is $18 per bottle. You can bring on as many bottles as you can carry as long as you pay the corkage charge.

Bottles must be standard 750ml size.

And it is still NOT Caymus Conundrum. Hasn't been for years.

others have commented regarding this issue, thought I would quantify it, a bit. On our last cruise I took notes as to the vintage, year, and price. compared to 'Sam's Club' prices when I returned. Here's a sample: HAL's wine -$37.50 per bottle.. Sam's Club- $7.50 per bottle. This 'difference' was reflected almost to the penny in three other wine's I compared :(

others have commented regarding this issue, thought I would quantify it, a bit. On our last cruise I took notes as to the vintage, year, and price. compared to 'Sam's Club' prices when I returned. Here's a sample: HAL's wine -$37.50 per bottle.. Sam's Club- $7.50 per bottle. This 'difference' was reflected almost to the penny in three other wine's I compared :(

The Navigator wines sell for $7-$10 retail on average. The Admiral's package wines are are in the $13-$17 range, average retail. That's using release and standard retail, not shopping clubs or "Total Wine on sale with a coupon" pricing. There is one wine that is an aberration. It sells for around $23-$25 and it's not really easy to find.

I'll tell you what it is after mid December. I want to make sure that it's available on our cruise. ;)

Please keep in mind that sometimes a wine appears on the list but is not available on the ship. There have been a number of occasion when we selected a particular wine and were told they had none.

Pays to drink cheap wine. Then none of this matters. Lolol

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Or buy good wine beforehand and pay the fee:D

We took POA1's advise and bought a 6 bottle carrier he recommended. It is great!

I got in NZ and it holds enough for a 2 week cruise.

Interesting that the mark up on the two wines I usually buy is only about three times which is about the same as the restaurants in my area's markup. I guess they like to stiff the guys who buy the cheap wines.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Oh, they are all marked up well - all ranges on their list. They aren't playing any favorites on what they mark up. But that is the case with most restaurants - I understand that. It is the actual selection on their wine lists that I am struggling with, and therefore bringing much of what we will drink on board.

I haven't cruised on HAL since Summer 2013, but back then, you could bring as many bottles of wine or champagne as you wanted on the ship with no corkage fee unless you brought them to the dining room. We are doing a Spring Break cruise to the Caribbean and this wine policy is news to me!! I would be really bummed out but they were running a Signature Drink package promo when we booked so I guess it doesn't matter. I am wondering when they made the change and why they didn't call me personally to discuss! (HA!).

Oh, they are all marked up well - all ranges on their list. They aren't playing any favorites on what they mark up. But that is the case with most restaurants - I understand that. It is the actual selection on their wine lists that I am struggling with, and therefore bringing much of what we will drink on board.

I agree with this poster. Most restaurants (and cruise lines) have higher markups on cheaper wines than on higher priced wines. Not so on HAL. We splurged on a nice Pinot Noir in the Pinnacle Grill (Willamette Valley). HAL's price was $74, plus 15%. I just bought some at home for $18.99. The case price was $17.99 a bottle. HAL undoubtedly pays less than that, so the markup is over 400%. The problem with the wine list is there's no middle ground. My choices were between wine in the range I paid, or higher, and cheap Cabernet for $42.

Roger (CrewNews) scanned them on his recent Alaska trip. It's the most recent I know of

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/wine-list.pdf

Thank you for the link. Is that it? I see only one page of reds and whites. Surely there are some Champagnes or even faux champagne?

Much has been said of the wine selection on Celebrity, of which I have no personal knowledge. But Cunard has an extensive list. Many drinkable wines can be had for $30.

Thank you for the link. Is that it? I see only one page of reds and whites. Surely there are some Champagnes or even faux champagne?

 

Much has been said of the wine selection on Celebrity, of which I have no personal knowledge. But Cunard has an extensive list. Many drinkable wines can be had for $30.

It looks like Roger's PDF is missing the two "wings" that fold out from the list. Here's the lists from the Noordam in the spring. I didn't get the list from Canaletto, but the MDR & Pinnacle Grill are there. I will warn you that these are cell phone camera scans and aren't nearly as clear.

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s88/sh/276a0e4d-85a4-4377-920f-0fdfee4ce340/a2fc7280af1ffb03ee078a1d59c63558