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Tahitian Princess wine question


SatFlier

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We are on the 21 Oct 2005 sailing of the TP. My GF and I tend to sip a bit of wine/champagne throughout the day/evening instead of mixed drinks. :rolleyes: On previous cruises (not Princess) we found it best to just buy a bottle at a time from the bar. This trip we are looking into whether to 'gift' ourselves some wine ahead of time through Princess and have it delivered to our cabin at boarding.

Can anyone give me an idea what the regular bar pricing onboard for bottles of 'House' chardonnay and champagne would be? Just trying to see if the 'gifting' idea makes any sense. Thanks.

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If you look at one of the sticky posts at the top, you will find that someone posted the drinks menu or something of the sort there. One thing you can do is just bring whatever wine or champagne onboard that you want to drink. You can open it in your cabin to drink or in the dining rooms they can open it for you but will charge you $10 corkage fee. I don't remember specific prices but I remember wine being reasonably priced. Princess doesn't overcharge on wine.

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I would not recommend buying any wine in Papeete before boarding the Tahitian Princess as prices are very very high land side. Last couple of times on the TP, they have offered several nice French wines onboard at for far less than in town.

 

If you are on the Cook Islands itenerary, Australian and New Zeland wines are very cheap in the local supermarkets. Buy a few bottles and carry them aboard.

 

Beware of any red wines on Raiatea back in the FP that have been left in a hot room as they can turn to vinegar rather quickly.

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I second starjohns suggestion. The grocery stores do sell wines, but they are not cheap. If I recall a champagne that we like, was around 3times the price we pay at home. We were able to find a bottle of champagne for around $6.00 at two different grocery stores(bruts). If you are staying at the Sheraton and go to the grocery store that is about a 10-15 min walk(going right as you leave the Sheraton) you cannot buy alcohol after 5PM(the

Sheraton and grocery store are actually in the town of Faa.) My husband thought the lady was joking when she said you can't buy that and took away his beers.(When we came into the store we saw people buying booze and had it in there carts. Apparently we had come into the store before 5 and looked around too long.) They have a law about selling booze after 5. We were told it keeps the locals from hanging around in the streets and drinking???

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I would not recommend buying any wine in Papeete before boarding the Tahitian Princess as prices are very very high land side. Last couple of times on the TP, they have offered several nice French wines onboard at for far less than in town.

 

If you are on the Cook Islands itenerary, Australian and New Zeland wines are very cheap in the local supermarkets. Buy a few bottles and carry them aboard.

 

Beware of any red wines on Raiatea back in the FP that have been left in a hot room as they can turn to vinegar rather quickly.

Any suggestions on what kind of New Zealand and Aussie wine to buy and where in the Cooks to buy them. Can they be had in Papeete before we board?

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You will have to wait about three days into your trip till you reach Rarotonga which is in the Cooks. Just walk into town and you will find a couple of large supermarkets. The wine displays are large. I stick with the Aussie Chardonays and almost all are quite good. I do not have my list anymore and its really subjective of what you like. For about 10.00 to 20.00 NZ you can get some Chardonays that are even in quality with the California Chards in the same price range. Aussie Merlots are also quite good. You might even check for some Chilean wines as they are often cheaper and very nice.

 

I visited the two larger gourmet wine sellers in Papeete with my list of favorites and they were all double and triple priced overwhat I pay here in California. I used to buy and sell French wines, and I guess it has led to expensive tastes. The ship had several French wines that made great substitutes with out costing the big French Polynesian Islands costs.

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Any suggestions on what kind of New Zealand and Aussie wine to buy and where in the Cooks to buy them. Can they be had in Papeete before we board?

 

I'm not sure as to what Australian wines are available in the states, I suspect it is similar to the situation here in Australia where very few Calfornian wines are sold.

 

However the Australian wine industry is best known for the following varieties:

 

Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Sparkling Shiraz and Chardonnay

 

Pick from these varieties and you should find something very enjoyable, not to mention the exchange rate between US and the Australian & New Zealand dollars is very favourable, and as the Cook Islands opearates under the NZ dollar you should pick up some great wines very cheaply.

 

PS New Zealand is famous for it's cool climate white wines, so try some of those to.

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Markdownunder,

 

Just curious, we had friends that were in Australia recently and were told that the Aussies do not drink Fosters, that it is just exported to the U.S. (Our friends said they sorted turned up their noses at the thought of drinking Foster). Is that true? Over here in the U.S. they are always showing commercials that say "Fosters! Australian for beer" What's the scoop?

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Markdownunder,

 

Just curious, we had friends that were in Australia recently and were told that the Aussies do not drink Fosters, that it is just exported to the U.S. (Our friends said they sorted turned up their noses at the thought of drinking Foster). Is that true? Over here in the U.S. they are always showing commercials that say "Fosters! Australian for beer" What's the scoop?

 

Fosters is not drunk as "universally" in Australia as the advertising in the States suggest, infact Fosters is the name of the brewing company that produces may other beers of equal or greater popularity in Australia.

 

It's probably the same as here where all Aussies think you guys drink only Budwieser or Millers, as these are propably the only two brands sold in Australia in any volume.

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Up here in the Seattle area, we have some lovely Australian wines that are readily available in our grocery stores. I'm by no means an expert on wine, but one that I enjoy is Rosemont's shiraz, the one that has a black diamond-shaped label. Their cabernet sauvignon is also good, at least, I think it is. I've also had something I think was called Yellow Tail, I vaguely remember a kangaroo on the bottle but I can't remember if it was good or not, or if I'm remembering the name right. There's also Banrock Station, which I found to be not as great as Rosemont. I've generally found Australian wines to be very full-bodied, with lots of flavor and almost a thickness to them. I think of them as stick-to-your-ribs kind of wines.

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Up here in the Seattle area, we have some lovely Australian wines that are readily available in our grocery stores. I'm by no means an expert on wine, but one that I enjoy is Rosemont's shiraz, the one that has a black diamond-shaped label. Their cabernet sauvignon is also good, at least, I think it is. I've also had something I think was called Yellow Tail, I vaguely remember a kangaroo on the bottle but I can't remember if it was good or not, or if I'm remembering the name right. There's also Banrock Station, which I found to be not as great as Rosemont. I've generally found Australian wines to be very full-bodied, with lots of flavor and almost a thickness to them. I think of them as stick-to-your-ribs kind of wines.

 

Glad to hear you are enjoying our wines... Rosemount is considered a good quality wine to enjoy at lunch/dinner while Banrock is something to have at a BBQ and not quite as nice as Rosemout's products.

 

Try this link to Australian Wines of Distinction... has some information on the different regions...http://www.australianwines.com.au/

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