Corkage fee and high alcohol (specialty) wines

[dijid]

My husband and I have become fond of a regional aperitif/dessert wine that has an alcohol content of 17%. We would love to bring a bottle onboard, and are willing to pay the corkage fee. However, with the alcohol content being slightly above that of regular wine - and clearly stated on the front label - I was wondering if that would be a problem. It's not a cheap wine, and I would hate to have it confiscated and not returned. It's an aged product with a high sugar content that is bottled in regular 750ml bottles.

[Rounder]

Originally Posted by dijid

My husband and I have become fond of a regional aperitif/dessert wine that has an alcohol content of 17%. We would love to bring a bottle onboard, and are willing to pay the corkage fee. However, with the alcohol content being slightly above that of regular wine - and clearly stated on the front label - I was wondering if that would be a problem. It's not a cheap wine, and I would hate to have it confiscated and not returned. It's an aged product with a high sugar content that is bottled in regular 750ml bottles.

NCL's web site states $15.00 per 750ml. Don't see where it should matter.
I am sure that the wine drinker's will correct me if i am wrong.

Ha, Ha, i see you folk's like the High Test more bang for your buck. Enjoy your cruise

[jdvmd]

Originally Posted by dijid

My husband and I have become fond of a regional aperitif/dessert wine that has an alcohol content of 17%. We would love to bring a bottle onboard, and are willing to pay the corkage fee. However, with the alcohol content being slightly above that of regular wine - and clearly stated on the front label - I was wondering if that would be a problem. It's not a cheap wine, and I would hate to have it confiscated and not returned. It's an aged product with a high sugar content that is bottled in regular 750ml bottles.

You will not have a problem. We routinely bring zins and other red whites that are higher in alcohol, bordering in the high 15s. Where you get in trouble are the fortified wines like brandy, which are 40 proof and higher.

[SteveH2508]

Originally Posted by jdvmd

You will not have a problem. We routinely bring zins and other red whites that are higher in alcohol, bordering in the high 15s. Where you get in trouble are the fortified wines like brandy, which are 40 proof and higher.

<pedant on> Brandy is a distilled spirit. Fortified wines are Sherry, Port and the like. <pedant off>

Never thought about the rules re bringing Sherry on board (probably it will be decided on 'does the label say wine on it?')

[rvsullivan]

If it says wine, your fine. Anything else and you may have issues. If it is unopened you will get it back at the end of the cruise anyway.

[time2cruise1]

Never had an issue with Port. Paid the corkage and off I went.

[dijid]

Originally Posted by rvsullivan

If it says wine, your fine. Anything else and you may have issues. If it is unopened you will get it back at the end of the cruise anyway.

I just checked and it doesn't say "wine" on it. Neither does about 80% of the French wine I have. They just say the appellation. Actually, they all say "appellation" on them - I wonder if that word would suffice. In contrast, I have a Cream of Peach liquer that is only 18% alcohol that is clearly marked "liquer" on the label.

I'm not bringing it because it's high octane. It's more for the ritual of it. We have a glass every Friday to mark the start of the weekend, or to mark the start of a vacation, and sometimes before going out to dinner. I imagine I'd get sick to my stomach from the sweetness before I would get drunk if I tried to drink more than one glass.

Good to know that we'd get it back at the end if it was taken away.

[MeHeartCruising]

When we boarded the EPIC in Miami a while ago, we had a bottle of a Dutch Chocolate wine that had a higher alcohol content. I can't recall the exact content level, however. The woman at the corkage desk looked it over quite carefully as it was an odd bottle and did not look like your typical bottle of wine. She specifically looked for an alcohol content level and found that it was higher than some level she was not supposed to let pass. However, she decided to let it pass thru since we eventually found the word "Wine" (It might have been in Dutch) on the bottle. I don't think she would have let it pass if we had not found the word "Wine". So depending on who you have working, you might need to convince them a little that it really is wine and not a hard liquor.

[SuiteCruiser]

Hopefully you will be able to pay the corkage, but my understanding is if you can't, it will confiscated and returned to you at the end of the cruise, just like any alcohol you would have bought in port.

So you would miss out on your ritual, but you wouldn't lose the bottle for good.

Good luck!

[jdvmd]

Originally Posted by SteveH2508

<pedant on> Brandy is a distilled spirit. Fortified wines are Sherry, Port and the like. <pedant off>

Never thought about the rules re bringing Sherry on board (probably it will be decided on 'does the label say wine on it?')

Ooops. Yes, I typed brandy instead of sherry. Thanks for catching that - Was 4:30 in the morning when I wrote it. Meant to say sherry is the fortified wine.

[dijid]

Originally Posted by SuiteCruiser

Hopefully you will be able to pay the corkage, but my understanding is if you can't, it will confiscated and returned to you at the end of the cruise, just like any alcohol you would have bought in port.

So you would miss out on your ritual, but you wouldn't lose the bottle for good.

Good luck!

Thanks. I think I may have found a solution. There's a Wikipedia page - in English - that lists all the appellations of French wines and my wine is on it. Hopefully that will answer any questions. We don't sail for 3 months, but this was on my mind today after reading other info on the corkage fee. I can report back when we return to let you know whether it worked or not.

[SteveH2508]

Originally Posted by dijid

<snip> I have a Cream of Peach liquer that is only 18% alcohol that is clearly marked "liquer" on the label.

I'm not bringing it because it's high octane. It's more for the ritual of it. We have a glass every Friday to mark the start of the weekend, or to mark the start of a vacation, and sometimes before going out to dinner. I imagine I'd get sick to my stomach from the sweetness before I would get drunk if I tried to drink more than one glass.

Good to know that we'd get it back at the end if it was taken away.

You might want to try a Just Peachie martini instead - though drinking martinis on cruise ship DOES become a ritual (I speak from bitter experience!)