Free wine on RCCL NOT FREE

If some nice person or travel agency sends you a bottle of wine on any RCCL ship your must drink it in your room (pull down the shades and drink by yourself!!) OR YOU PAY to drink in the dining room. Correct, you MUST pay a $12.00 corkage fee to open your FREE wine in the dining room. CORRECT, our travel agent sent a $22.00 bottle of wine, (cost on ship) to our room, we brought it to the dining room and were told it would be $12.00 to open...no questions no argument, it is CORPORATE policy, can't be changed....go drink in your room!!! Remember, a $22.00 bottle of wine on the ship is about a 6 to 10 dollar bottle of wine (retail) marked up to cruise ship prices....so RCCL is asking you to pay 12 bucks to uncork a bottle of 6 dollar wine. OUTRAGEOUS.

If some nice person or travel agency sends you a bottle of wine on any RCCL ship your must drink it in your room (pull down the shades and drink by yourself!!) OR YOU PAY to drink in the dining room. Correct, you MUST pay a $12.00 corkage fee to open your FREE wine in the dining room. CORRECT, our travel agent sent a $22.00 bottle of wine, (cost on ship) to our room, we brought it to the dining room and were told it would be $12.00 to open...no questions no argument, it is CORPORATE policy, can't be changed....go drink in your room!!! Remember, a $22.00 bottle of wine on the ship is about a 6 to 10 dollar bottle of wine (retail) marked up to cruise ship prices....so RCCL is asking you to pay 12 bucks to uncork a bottle of 6 dollar wine. OUTRAGEOUS.

In the past my experience has been that if the bottle was purchased through the cruiseline then there was no corkage fee. That was ~8 months ago. It may have changed.

Uncork it in your room and carry it into the dining room and pour it yourself. The wine glasses are already on the table.:)

Tell TA to send it to the Dining room and there well be no corkage charge.

If some nice person or travel agency sends you a bottle of wine on any RCCL ship your must drink it in your room (pull down the shades and drink by yourself!!) OR YOU PAY to drink in the dining room. Correct, you MUST pay a $12.00 corkage fee to open your FREE wine in the dining room. CORRECT, our travel agent sent a $22.00 bottle of wine, (cost on ship) to our room, we brought it to the dining room and were told it would be $12.00 to open...no questions no argument, it is CORPORATE policy, can't be changed....go drink in your room!!! Remember, a $22.00 bottle of wine on the ship is about a 6 to 10 dollar bottle of wine (retail) marked up to cruise ship prices....so RCCL is asking you to pay 12 bucks to uncork a bottle of 6 dollar wine. OUTRAGEOUS.

As hard as it is to believe, some people actually smuggle wine aboard the ship, and this is RCI's way of ensuring that only legitimately purchased wine is taking up their staff's time.

Uncork it in your room and carry it into the dining room and pour it yourself. The wine glasses are already on the table.

Even better, pour the wine into wine glasses in your room and then carry them into the MDR. I've seen this done many times without any problems from the wait staff as they don't really know where the wine came from onboard.

If this is the case I find it ridiculous. Regardless if you had it "delivered" to the dining room or the cabin it was purchased the same way and for the same price.

I have always brought the "card/receipt" with me to the dining room when I have brought a Bon Voyage bottle of wine. Only once have I been asked for confirmation.

I'll find out how it's handled on next month's Radiance cruise. I won't be happy if a corkage fee is applied.

Take care,

Mike

We had that problem last April on VOS transatlantic!!! But I brought it up to the CD at the Meet and Mingle, who then discussed it with higher ups, and after that noone asked us for corkage fee. My TA had gifted us quite a few bottles since it was a 14 nt cruise and I have referred over 20 cruisers to her.

It's a ridiculous situation/policy by RC and my TA has been soooooo frustrated by it too. The ship has a record of what gift wines are bought (and those can ONLY be bought through RCCI) and to whom they go -- then all they have to do is coordinate your bottle with your cabin number. I cannot understand why the difference is "delivery to cabin" vs "leave it in dining room"...

On our Christmas cruise on Radiance in 2006 with grandkids she gifted us wine & we had no problem CARRYING it into dining room (no corkage then) but one night we asked to trade in the bottle for credit against a more expensive pinot noir and we'd pay difference -- but NO, THAT was a NO-NO then!!!

If this continues to be RCCL's practice, it is indeed outrageous and short sighted.

Obviously the attitude of the line is hey, if no one complains raise the price.

Sounds like it is time for the members of CC to make some noise.

Somebody we met on a previous cruise won the bottle of champagne at the welcome back party for having the most cruises. When they took their bottle to the dining room to have it opened for dinner they were going to be charged the corkage fee. They returned the bottle.

Jan

Somebody we met on a previous cruise won the bottle of champagne at the welcome back party for having the most cruises. When they took their bottle to the dining room to have it opened for dinner they were going to be charged the corkage fee. They returned the bottle.

 

Jan

Returning the bottle's pretty silly, IMO. I'd have gladly taken it off their hands if they didn't want to bother with having their room steward get them some ice to chill it with.

To me if would be the principal of the thing.. I would have sent it back too..along with a note to the Captain...

If some nice person or travel agency sends you a bottle of wine on any RCCL ship your must drink it in your room (pull down the shades and drink by yourself!!) OR YOU PAY to drink in the dining room. Correct, you MUST pay a $12.00 corkage fee to open your FREE wine in the dining room...

Don't act so surprised. Lots of BYOB restaurants let you bring a bottle in but charge you a corkage fee. Time to go out more often.

Personally, if someone gave me a free bottle I'd drink it in my room or

bring it to the MDR, pay the fee and figure I was $12 dollars ahead of the game.

You spend a thousand bucks to cruise but you're going to get agita

over $12 ? I know you're going to say "It's the principal not the money".

Ha ha. Don't be so cheap, you're on vacation.

We just got off the Oasis and I brought 2 bottles to the dining room, this was the first time the head waiter asked where it came from and as soon as I said it was my D+ C&A gift he opened it himself. I have always brought wine that was sent by my TA our by C&A to the dining room and there has never been an issue about corkage fees, if they do ask like others have said open it in your room and bring it to the table.

Ron:)

Somebody we met on a previous cruise won the bottle of champagne at the welcome back party for having the most cruises. When they took their bottle to the dining room to have it opened for dinner they were going to be charged the corkage fee. They returned the bottle.

 

Jan

I had that happen to me - our HW told me he was going to charge corkage on a bottle of wine I had received for being the most travelled cruiser. When told him the Captain could have it back he relented.:) I was bluffing, though - I wasn't really going to give it up!

Don't act so surprised. Lots of BYOB restaurants let you bring a bottle in but charge you a corkage fee. Time to go out more often.

 

Personally, if someone gave me a free bottle I'd drink it in my room or

bring it to the MDR, pay the fee and figure I was $12 dollars ahead of the game.

 

You spend a thousand bucks to cruise but you're going to get agita

over $12 ? I know you're going to say "It's the principal not the money".

Ha ha. Don't be so cheap, you're on vacation.

I've never seen a restaurant sell me a bottle of wine and charge me for opening it, which is the difference here. And nobody is going to go broke over $12, but we don't like being charged extra for something that the line has already made a handsome profit on.

I've never seen a restaurant sell me a bottle of wine and charge me for opening it, which is the difference here. And nobody is going to go broke over $12, but we don't like being charged extra for something that the line has already made a handsome profit on.

__________________

That is exactly my point in starting this thread. Thank you for saying it better. It was not smuggled, it was purchased from the cruise line, they made their profit. Why should RCCL care where it is drunk.

Don't act so surprised. Lots of BYOB restaurants let you bring a bottle in but charge you a corkage fee. Time to go out more often.

 

Personally, if someone gave me a free bottle I'd drink it in my room or

bring it to the MDR, pay the fee and figure I was $12 dollars ahead of the game.

 

You spend a thousand bucks to cruise but you're going to get agita

over $12 ? I know you're going to say "It's the principal not the money".

Ha ha. Don't be so cheap, you're on vacation.

RCCL is not BYOB. The opposite is actually quite strictly enforced. If they were I'm sure we wouldn't be discussing the $12 corkage fee.

Nordic, before you go jumping on people again...you shouldn't be charged a fee if the wine was purchased through RCCL. If you buy wine in a restaurant, they're not gonna add $12 to open it! You're referring to someone bringing a bottle onboard, which wasn't the case here.

As for the champagne comment above, instead of returning it, why not just open it yourself? You don't need a bottle opener for champagne. I would've said, "Corkage fee, huh...tell me more about that," as I was twisting the wire off the cork. :)

As for the champagne comment above, instead of returning it, why not just open it yourself? You don't need a bottle opener for champagne. I would've said, "Corkage fee, huh...tell me more about that," ass I was twisting the wire off the cork. :)

That was exactly what I was thinking...ass and all! ;):D

Another way to look at it is that your travel agency sent you a six dollar bottle of wine and you're having a fit because you couldn't open it where finer wines are being sold.

I really don't see what the fuss is.

They're trying to discourage people from bringing their own cheap booze. Restaurants have the full force of the law behind them to do the exact same thing.

That was exactly what I was thinking...ass and all! ;):D

lol! Thanks for catching that...I had time to fix it! :)

Another way to look at it is that your travel agency sent you a six dollar bottle of wine and you're having a fit because you couldn't open it where finer wines are being sold.

 

I really don't see what the fuss is.

 

They're trying to discourage people from bringing their own cheap booze. Restaurants have the full force of the law behind them to do the exact same thing.

Because the wine was purchased from where those "finer wines" are being sold for a hefty markup and then an additional surcharge (corkage fee) was being added.

The TA bought the wine from the cruiseline and then the cruiseline wanted an additional fee to open the bottle. Really no different then ordering a bottle at dinner, paying for it and then being charged to open it.

lol! Thanks for catching that...I had time to fix it! :)

I liked it better the first time. :)

It is unfortunate that RCCL is turning into one of those "nickle and dime" cruise lines. During the past 6 months, I've cruised HAL and Carnival and had wine gifts delivered to my room. There was no corkage charge when I brought the bottles to the dining rooms I assume because the wine gifts were purchased through the cruise line.

I believe the point here is that a gift is no longer a gift if you are required to pay a portion of it. I know I wouldn't want to send someone a gift which would encumber the recepient to pay a charge.

Because the wine was purchased from where those "finer wines" are being sold for a hefty markup and then an additional surcharge (corkage fee) was being added.

 

The TA bought the wine from the cruiseline and then the cruiseline wanted an additional fee to open the bottle. Really no different then ordering a bottle at dinner, paying for it and then being charged to open it.

I get what you're saying. But it's a policy that was designed to prevent people from bringing in their own wine. It's a common policy. And they weighed themselves down by verifying every bottle to see if they were the original retailers then it would get sloppy.