**NEW** Wine (by the bottle) Pricing List and Market Comparisons

I was fortunate to buy and have some RM Reserve (their top Cab) in the 90's and on and off since then, but not for a long time. I did decide to splurge on a 2013 recently as an investment, but I don't plan on touching it for several years. I'd have to agree that it would be great to have that wine with one of the CG steak dinners, but I just don't want to spend that much on the ship.

 

In Ontario, around Toronto, collectors used to line up to scoop up the RM Reserve when it came out and it would be sold in 5 minutes with limits of 1/person. Not so much demand anymore - probably the price point and the fact that there are so many more infamous wines now.

Like I mentioned, wine geeks like to dis any high-volume winery. They also like to believe that they have found the newest, coolest limited-production wine. If it is sold only by allocation, so much the better. I, unfortunately, am guilty, also. I have never purchased the Robert Mondavi Reserve CS in a retail store--only in cruise ship restaurants. I do purchase the very well-priced (low $20s) Napa Valley bottling quite regularly.

 

 

I agree on that price for Tig. I think I put that in an update of my older spreadsheet and some people didn't believe the price (didn't make sense to me either). All I can think is they must have purchased a supply a while ahead of that and had it around still and didn't adjust price to market. Anyway, it wasn't listed on the CROWN lists and they don't have SHARE. Previously, I heard of it in Sabatini's.

We are sailing on the Ruby Princess in a few weeks. I will try to get a picture of the SHARE wine list for you.

 

I will have a report on ISLAND in December after my BVE.

It would be fun to meet you on a cruise, someday, Steelers. I'm thinking we could have a great time, sitting in Vines, chatting over a few glasses of fermented grape juice.

Your post actually made me burst out laughing! Why? Consider a Princess MDR being on land and marketed as an "upscale" (to use your term) restaurant serving the same menu (including hamburgers at dinner), portions, and quality! We suspect that "upscale" restaurant would not survive a week! We have cruised on 14 cruise lines (including some luxury lines) and have only dined in 2 on board restaurants that we would have visited if it was on land...and both of those were alternative restaurants (not on Princess) with pretty high prices.

 

Cruise line food and MDRs do not compare to anything ashore. One could arguably compare it to restaurants in all-inclusive resorts, but even that is a stretch.

 

Hank

Hank, I think of cruise ships as being on par with country clubs and other private clubs in the US in terms of the food and service. The food and waitstaff in these venues are nearly identical to what you find on most cruise ships. No this is not comparable to any 1 to 3 Michelin star restaurant, so I just a said an "upscale" restaurant, which to me is something that is better than say Olive Garden, Red Lobster or Outback Steakhouse but not as nice as a 1 to 3 Michelin star restaurant or fine dining restaurant. To me upscale means, table linens and nicely prepared food in elegant surroundings with good service. It is not the best food nor would it necessarily be successful as a stand alone restaurant. Country Club and private club restaurants succeed because members join for other amenities and social contacts and part of that is agreeing to spend so much on food/beverages at the club each month with your membership. Cruise ships run on the exact same type of theory. I don't think anyone goes on a cruise for the food. At least, I hope not. And no one joins a country club for the food, but they do eat there after golf or tennis or with their friends or co-workers at lunch or dinner and the food is expected to be of a certain standard. The food on Princess is reasonably good, just not Michelin star food. BTW, upscale restaurants in the US such as country clubs don't normally serve gigantic portions. I found the portion size on Princess in the MDR to be extremely generous if not over-sized in some cases.

It would be fun to meet you on a cruise, someday, Steelers. I'm thinking we could have a great time, sitting in Vines, chatting over a few glasses of fermented grape juice.

Sure thing. Not sure if we will cruise out of west coast anytime soon if that is your main departure point.

Great job, as we all suspected, massive mark ups by Carnival Corporation - Princess.:evilsmile:

To add fuel to the fire, I picked out an ordinary Aussie wine - Deakin Estate from the list. RRP in US is US$8. I can buy it here for AU$8 which is around US$6. OK, Princess has it for US$40, mark up of around 500% !!!!! Highway robbery !!

At my local golf club, in the dining room, I can buy a bottle of it for AU$16 = US$12.

Deakin Estate is a very commercial - every day quaffing wine, nothing special.

Thanks for the insight from "The Land Down Under"! This is one of my main points - Princess more and more acquiring mass market plonk or quaffing wines and pawn them off as something special at crazy markups. Lower the quality and charge the same. Repeat as often as possible.

It's unfortunate they cannot put a little more effort into finding good value wines at a little higher price point and offer them at a "friendlier" mark up. I don't know the costs or situation for them, but those lowest cost wines pretty much in all cases have the biggest mark ups. I guess they just simply want to make a set amount per bottle and no regard for what it costs. Yes, I know land-based restaurants can have large mark-ups too, but some are not so bad compared to others.

Unfortunately, I will be unable to look into any more recent wine list updates than what I got from the CROWN last month. Cannot get onto ISLAND ahead of our Jan 24 departure, so will be doing my homework then.

S36, here are photos that I took last week on the Ruby Princess of the SHARE winelist. I apologize for the poor photography.

Thanks a lot, XB!! I will compare and update my list later in the week. We are on the road heading home from Florida (don't ask me why... something about Christmas and family.. LOL). Photos are great - every readable.

Certainly some new labels, but the prices!! Oh my. Too much for me for most of those.

bringing our owe wine on board is the best way to go... in my price range, not more $45 a bottle including 15% charge, there are not real quality wines... I do better shopping at Trader Joe's for wines I know and pay the corking.

bringing our owe wine on board is the best way to go... in my price range, not more $45 a bottle including 15% charge, there are not real quality wines... I do better shopping at Trader Joe's for wines I know and pay the corking.

Absolutely. My list helps show how more economical it is to do your own thing if possible.

We are spoilt for choice here in Australia. Plenty of great wines in the 15-20AUD range. Going upmarket Penfolds Bin 389, known as the poor man's Grange is 64 AUD and would leave most of Princess's expensive range for dead. We are on a 22 day cruise to Japan and will definitely BYO. Only problem is how much we can manage to get on board- catching the train to port.

Thanks for this great listing😊

 

Who has tried the high end reds' date=' and how are they? Opus One, Overture, Mondavi Reserve, super Tuscans? I am tempted to get one of these at Crown Gtill😊[/quote']

 

You can't go wrong with any of the wines mentioned! We often buy a bottle or two of the Opus One when we sail with Princess; we enjoyed it on our last Princess cruise this past September. The Luce and Lucente are also delicious super Tuscans, though I don't believe we have seen either on any of our Princess cruises over the last couple of years. Haven't had the Overture in ages so I won't comment on that. We have had the Mondavi Reserve at home and it's delicious. Any would be an excellent addition to your meal at Crown Grill!

Thanks a lot, XB!! I will compare and update my list later in the week. We are on the road heading home from Florida (don't ask me why... something about Christmas and family.. LOL). Photos are great - every readable.

 

Certainly some new labels, but the prices!! Oh my. Too much for me for most of those.

Yes, S36, new and improved pricing. I know that a year ago they were offering the Tig for $79, and now it's $99. Last year, the Ridge Lytton Springs was $48 last year, and now it's $54.

On the plus side, they were having a promotion acknowleging the second anniversary of SHARE. The cover charge was reduced to $29 pp (normally, $39). I've been following a "Live From" thread by somebody who is on this week's Ruby Princess cruise and it looks like the promotion has ended.

For the most part I brought my own wine on this cruise. However, I did order the Ridge LS one evening. They were serving the '15, and it was outstanding--keep in mind, though, I am a Ridge bigot. Mrs. XBGuy ordered the P&H Chardonnay one evening. I didn't look at the label of hers but I'm sure it was the '15 or '16 vintage. The $49 winelist price on that one is not unreasonable. I see that Total Wine is selling it for $39.99.

Also, for what it's worth, I was very disappointed that the Seghesio Sonoma Zin was not on the Vines winelist. :( I don't know if that is permanent or if it is fleetwide.

Absolutely. My list helps show how more economical it is to do your own thing if possible.

more so than of the wines listed, none of the bottles shown are really aged. for a quality red, that's not going to yield a spectacular experience.

maybe it's just us, living here in CA, but we buy wine at 35-70% off for quality wines. so buying retail and young doesn't work for us (we drink mostly red).

we bought Wine Wings travel bags on Amazon and bring a few bottles in our luggage and never had a problem with them.

this way we know what we are getting when we open a bottle for dinner as we've already likely tasted before buying it and aged it in our cellar.

Yes, S36, new and improved pricing. I know that a year ago they were offering the Tig for $79, and now it's $99. Last year, the Ridge Lytton Springs was $48 last year, and now it's $54.

 

On the plus side, they were having a promotion acknowleging the second anniversary of SHARE. The cover charge was reduced to $29 pp (normally, $39). I've been following a "Live From" thread by somebody who is on this week's Ruby Princess cruise and it looks like the promotion has ended.

 

For the most part I brought my own wine on this cruise. However, I did order the Ridge LS one evening. They were serving the '15, and it was outstanding--keep in mind, though, I am a Ridge bigot. Mrs. XBGuy ordered the P&H Chardonnay one evening. I didn't look at the label of hers but I'm sure it was the '15 or '16 vintage. The $49 winelist price on that one is not unreasonable. I see that Total Wine is selling it for $39.99.

 

Also, for what it's worth, I was very disappointed that the Seghesio Sonoma Zin was not on the Vines winelist. :( I don't know if that is permanent or if it is fleetwide.

Is the Seghesio zin still on the MDR wine list? Last I saw the price has increased to $44. One of my favorites.

Is the Seghesio zin still on the MDR wine list? Last I saw the price has increased to $44. One of my favorites.

Yes, it is on the list at $42 (date of list was summer 2017 and this was seen in November on CROWN). Cannot vouch for stocks, but they still offer it. Also, Princess doesn't list vintages, so I have no idea what year they are offering. It is $20 at Total Wine in FL. You can save $12/bottle bringing it on board.

Yes, S36, new and improved pricing. I know that a year ago they were offering the Tig for $79, and now it's $99. Last year, the Ridge Lytton Springs was $48 last year, and now it's $54.

 

On the plus side, they were having a promotion acknowleging the second anniversary of SHARE. The cover charge was reduced to $29 pp (normally, $39). I've been following a "Live From" thread by somebody who is on this week's Ruby Princess cruise and it looks like the promotion has ended.

YES, I heard about the promo. Our next cruise is on Island and no SHARE to try. Seems to be mixed reviews and not a lot of excitement over that restaurant. But they sure have premium wines on offer. IMO a passenger should be able to get any bottle offered on board and not necessarily be dining there.

 

For the most part I brought my own wine on this cruise. However, I did order the Ridge LS one evening. They were serving the '15, and it was outstanding--keep in mind, though, I am a Ridge bigot. Mrs. XBGuy ordered the P&H Chardonnay one evening. I didn't look at the label of hers but I'm sure it was the '15 or '16 vintage. The $49 winelist price on that one is not unreasonable. I see that Total Wine is selling it for $39.99.

 

Also, for what it's worth, I was very disappointed that the Seghesio Sonoma Zin was not on the Vines winelist. :( I don't know if that is permanent or if it is fleetwide.

Maybe they don't offer it by the glass??? The wine should be for sale in the DR.

 

Couple of notes above.

I, pretty much, agree with your last sentence, S36. The Ridge LS would be an excellent match for many of the Crown Grill entrees. In April we have a cruise booked on the Emerald Princess. Maybe I'll try it.

I'm going to quibble, slightly, with your first comment. I think that SHARE is finding its place with Princess cruisers. In our first experience with SHARE a tad over a year ago, the room was consistently quite empty. I don't think we ever saw more than six or seven parties in there. In our most recent cruise, it was always about half-full. By comparison, on that same recent cruise the Crown Grill rarely seemed to be more than about half-full. I agree that the promotional pricing may have helped SHARE. We'll see what it looks like when we go on our April cruise. Also, I should mention that I have received two independent reports from individuals who are definitely not foodies--my brother and my coffee shop buddy--that the meals they recently enjoyed in their first ever visits to SHARE were outstanding.

Okay I'm asking here because it seems you guys know your wine.

I rarely drink because I do the driving and frankly I'm a lightweight where alcohol is concerned.

I have on a couple of occasions asked the bar tender in a restaurant to surprise me with what they thought was an appropriate glass of wine to accompany my meal and have had what I thought was a good glass. One bartender actually took the glass back and gave me a different glass of wine because he said he could tell by my face that I really didn't like what I had just tasted. The second glass was better but I thought the first glass was okay.

Since the Captain does not need me to help pilot the ship would Vines be a good place for me to try a different glass each day and would they give me a bit of education about what I am drinking? Or is that expecting to much?

Okay I'm asking here because it seems you guys know your wine.

 

I rarely drink because I do the driving and frankly I'm a lightweight where alcohol is concerned.

 

I have on a couple of occasions asked the bar tender in a restaurant to surprise me with what they thought was an appropriate glass of wine to accompany my meal and have had what I thought was a good glass. One bartender actually took the glass back and gave me a different glass of wine because he said he could tell by my face that I really didn't like what I had just tasted. The second glass was better but I thought the first glass was okay.

 

Since the Captain does not need me to help pilot the ship would Vines be a good place for me to try a different glass each day and would they give me a bit of education about what I am drinking? Or is that expecting to much?

That might not be a bad idea. I have only visited there on rare occasion so IDK if they tend to staff the bar with available bar tenders, or whether they staff it with crew that have had some training in wine-making and viticulture

Okay I'm asking here because it seems you guys know your wine.

 

I rarely drink because I do the driving and frankly I'm a lightweight where alcohol is concerned.

 

I have on a couple of occasions asked the bar tender in a restaurant to surprise me with what they thought was an appropriate glass of wine to accompany my meal and have had what I thought was a good glass. One bartender actually took the glass back and gave me a different glass of wine because he said he could tell by my face that I really didn't like what I had just tasted. The second glass was better but I thought the first glass was okay.

 

Since the Captain does not need me to help pilot the ship would Vines be a good place for me to try a different glass each day and would they give me a bit of education about what I am drinking? Or is that expecting to much?

If you really want to explore wine, consider a trip to Sonoma and Napa.

An alternative is to buddy up with a friend/friends who enjoy wine and they will teach and guide you.

IMO, the majority of wine sold or offered in "regular" restaurants will be recent vintage. Meaning the wine's flavor profile hasn't fully developed.

Yes, there are wines that are drinkable and good with a young vintage. Some wines just taste better and become better with aging.

What's great about wine tasting, is you're going to experience a lot of different wines. You'll get to develop a profile/taste that you like/prefer. You'll also taste less appealing wine which will give you a reference taste of what you don't like.

Brands or wineries for the most part run consistent wine production, so long as their winemaker remains the same or stable.

When we cruise, we usually bring 1-2 Cabs, usually 7+ years old and either a few blends (meritage) or Merlots also in the 5+ years age range.

And price doesn't always equal quality. We buy and drink some $12 bottles that out taste $35 wines.

Explore! There's so much to experience and when you find something you like, buy a case of it.

Sorry, keyboard foulup.

Okay I'm asking here because it seems you guys know your wine.

 

I rarely drink because I do the driving and frankly I'm a lightweight where alcohol is concerned.

 

I have on a couple of occasions asked the bar tender in a restaurant to surprise me with what they thought was an appropriate glass of wine to accompany my meal and have had what I thought was a good glass. One bartender actually took the glass back and gave me a different glass of wine because he said he could tell by my face that I really didn't like what I had just tasted. The second glass was better but I thought the first glass was okay.

 

Since the Captain does not need me to help pilot the ship would Vines be a good place for me to try a different glass each day and would they give me a bit of education about what I am drinking? Or is that expecting to much?

The First Fundamental Rule of Wine Appreciation to taste, taste, taste. I think that trying different wines in Vines (or in the dining room, or in Crooners) is an excellent idea.

My Second Fundamental Rule of Wine Appreciation is that if you like it, then it is good wine.

The Vines bartenders seem to, in fact, have some reasonable knowledge. If you proceed with your plan, you might ask what you might expect to observe--fruitness, dryness, acidity--in the different wines. Unfortunately, that will bias your own observation. So, if you are told that you should "taste" tart cherries, you will, probably, taste tart cherries. If you are told that you should taste dark chocolate, you will probably taste dark chocolate.

However, the more you taste the more you will develop confidence in your own palate.

Now, I'm going to get on my soapbox. The Vines staff also does their part in perpetuating many wine mythologies. Remember my Second Fundamental Rule? Well, the corollary is if you like a wine, it doesn't matter how fast/slow the legs on the side of the glass are. Similarly, if you don't like a wine, it doesn't matter how fast/slow the legs on the side of the glass are.

Also, just in case the Captain calls down for you to steer the ship, I have found that if you slip a couple bucks to any bartender or server, they will cover for you. "Oh, no problem, Captain. Mr. XBGuy has been drinking nothing but ice tea all evening."

;)

Excellent spreadsheet and somewhat surprising outcome. Never would have thought you would come out that far ahead with having to pay the $15 fee. We always carry the allowed 2 but will likely increase the count on our next trip. Thanks for doing the spreadsheet.

Sorry, ridiculous money. I like my wine but these prices are silly money. We have sailed with Celebrity as well as P&0 so know the score re US prices etc, but looking at it afresh we will probably go for a land holiday.