Riedel's Wine Glass Comparative Workshop

[Crusing Nut]

Option d) Celebrity Cruises tries to use any of those options mentioned and are told about European consumer protection laws and decide to give glasses to passenger

 

Since this entire thread started the web site has stated prices START at $15.00 when you go to the purchase page. I believe that Celebrity will not have to worry about it much since many people are NOT purchasing at the full price of $80.00+

 

So I will book the wine tasting, take the vouchers and might purchase the glasses when we arrive back at home.

[uktog]

on their website the glasses are $89 and shipping to Great Britian is $25.

 

 

That was why we started collectiing them on Eclipse and had hoped to get more this time when we had the car and no shipping problems. I doubt many on Eclipse Southampton sailings will want to buy at that shipping cost when they could carry them home

[BuddyR]

Anyone who has sailed...any comments on whether or not you were able to get the glasses?

[JezzaC]

We were on Monday here in Helsinki in Riedel tasting hosted by Maximilian Riedel. Originally there was supposed to be VinumXL glasses (like Celebrity) but because of the production problems those were changed to Vinum series glasses (with normal availability).

 

I just wonder why Celebrity couldn't do the same and change the glass series to another? Neither haven't I heard a word from them about glasses not being included in our tasting eventhough my confirmation states clearly that glasses are included. And if there is a mistake in confirmation - I suppose they should have notified us already.

[chrystine]

Anyone who has sailed...any comments on whether or not you were able to get the glasses?

 

We were on the Summit last week and got the Vinum glasses. We had the option of getting the 4 pc Vinum set to carry off the ship or a voucher to redeem online for a 5 pc "O" stemless set to be shipped to your home. We were told the due to Riedel production problems, they are not producing the Vinums at present so once Celebrity ran out, that was it until the spring when the Riedel plant is suppose to begin producing them again. They said the Summit had approximately 20 sets of the Vinum glasses left at that time.

 

The cost for the workshop onboard was $49.

[KnightsOfNi]

+1 to what Christine said.

I paid $15 as it seemed most did.

We were told the first day that we paid for the workshop only.

The way it worked is that if you wanted the glasses they deducted the $15 off the price of either the Vinums or the 'o's

I thought that $15 dollars was reasonable for a workshop and I think that many will like the opportunity of being able to try the glasses out without buying a set.

I chose not to buy any as I already have Riedel glasses but was interested in the workshop.

Some may feel justified in arguing about the fact that glasses should be included, and if so go for it.

I had planned to give them a hard time about it, and although I agree and think it could have been handled better,

after driving through a hurricane and flood zone to get to the ship it did not seem that important anymore.

Also the poor souls working there are not the ones that made the error.

I was asked earlier to report back, and that was the experience I had.

Regards

Knights

[LunaSeaRetreat]

+1 to what Christine said.

I paid $15 as it seemed most did.

We were told the first day that we paid for the workshop only.

The way it worked is that if you wanted the glasses they deducted the $15 off the price of either the Vinums or the 'o's

I thought that $15 dollars was reasonable for a workshop and I think that many will like the opportunity of being able to try the glasses out without buying a set.

I chose not to buy any as I already have Riedel glasses but was interested in the workshop.

Some may feel justified in arguing about the fact that glasses should be included, and if so go for it.

I had planned to give them a hard time about it, and although I agree and think it could have been handled better,

after driving through a hurricane and flood zone to get to the ship it did not seem that important anymore.

Also the poor souls working there are not the ones that made the error.

I was asked earlier to report back, and that was the experience I had.

Regards

Knights

 

Thanks for reporting back. I guess the old saying still applies. If it seems too good to be true ...

 

Were you given the opportunity to cancel the workshop? We have already attended one and enjoy the "around the world" offering more. Hope you had a great cruise.

 

Cynthia

[Crusing Nut]

Thanks for reporting back. I guess the old saying still applies. If it seems too good to be true ...

 

Were you given the opportunity to cancel the workshop? We have already attended one and enjoy the "around the world" offering more. Hope you had a great cruise.

 

Cynthia

 

 

Doesn't the web site state that you can cancel the event?

[KnightsOfNi]

I did not see anyone try to cancel, we also booked the High Tea and the receipt said we could cancel up to 24hrs before so I assume it would be similar normally.

Under the circumstances I would be surprised if they would refuse to allow you to cancel an incorrectly advertised event, IMHO.

Regards Knights

[LINDAE3213]

just off summit this morning -- attended workshop yesterday on board and was told in the workshop if you paid the $17.50 you only got the tasting and would have to pay additional for the glasses. This was not what my email confirmation stated ..I showed it to them and they advised the error is on the website for booking but you still only get the tasting. I did not pay extra for the glasses.

[BuddyR]

just off summit this morning -- attended workshop yesterday on board and was told in the workshop if you paid the $17.50 you only got the tasting and would have to pay additional for the glasses. This was not what my email confirmation stated ..I showed it to them and they advised the error is on the website for booking but you still only get the tasting. I did not pay extra for the glasses.

 

So, does that mean that you did not get the glasses because you would have had to pay extra? How much additional are the glasses?

[LINDAE3213]

sorry for not being clear --- I did not purchase the glasses for the additional cost they mentioned during the workshop -- it was $49 for the stemless version and $87 for the stemmed glass set.

 

before my trip, my sister had made a visit to my mom's and she came back with a riedel "swirl and gift" set that I assume my mom got as a comp for her gambling in atlantic city caesar's casino ...it is a set of glasses plus decanter for red wine. not sure what series this is in relation to the one on board but since they were essentially "free" to me I don't care and will eventually use them for holiday meals etc

 

the workshop itself was interesting but they only used one Joker (non-riedel) glass so it clearly skews the results for comparisons among the 4 types of wine tasted as this glass resembled the type I get from Ikea - meaning a very low cost wine glass

[cruise kitty]

Hi, for those recently back, were you offered the option of a refund & cancel if they glasses are not going to be included?

 

Thanks

[LINDAE3213]

no mention was made to offer refund on my trip ....we were all seated and the workshop had just begun when they mentioned those paying the $17 were only getting the tasting and it did not include the glasses.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

I think those of us that haven't sailed yet can still cancel online. That's really unfair that they didn't let you know ahead of time. They handled this whole thing poorly. At the very least they should have notified people before the tasting.

Cynthia

[2SeaWithMe]

For those that attended, were the wines and demonstrations featured in the class worth the fee? Previous posters who had done the more expensive demonstration stated that some VERY nice wines were used.

 

My confirmation states that we would get a redemption card with the invitation to our tasting once we board. I would assume if the card isn't there, you can call guest services to get one, if they don't offer you one, I would cancel at that time.

[LINDAE3213]

I did not get notice in my stateroom and in fact when twice to check that I was marked for this event and also to ask what day the event would be held. Then the day before they slipped the invitation under my door which the sommelier said he did only because I kept checking to when the event was going to be held.

 

This was my first Elite level sailing so I was also trying to keep track of when all the Elite events were and there were many! In fact I ended up missing the Elite Tea that I had to RSVP in advance for only because we arrived in Bermuda on Tues late afternoon vs our original plan of Wed am to avoid the storm and I wanted to get out and see the island before the wind picked up.

 

For the tasting ...was it worth the fee of $17 ...in my opinion ...no ....nothing special on the wines and obviously for a tasting you are getting a few sips to taste and not a full glass ....would not recommend the event to anyone or even go again if given the chance. The Elite wine tasting event which was a free event for me the day prior to Riedel offered 4 wines also of different varieties that were of same quality level to me.

[LINDAE3213]

here is the email reply I just received from Celebrity

 

""Thank you for contacting us about your cruise on the Celebrity Summit. As an

Elite member of our Captain’s Club, you are very important to us. I look forward

to assisting you with your concerns.

 

I am sorry for the confusion regarding the pricing of the Riedel Workshop. The

normal workshop is $87.00 per person and includes a set of crystal wine glasses.

Unfortunately, shortly before you pre-reserved the workshop on the Celebrity

website, Riedel informed Celebrity that, due to a manufacturing problem, they

had temporarily halted production of the glasses. In order to still provide

guests with the wine-tasting experience, Celebrity made the decision to offer

the workshop at a greatly reduced price since it would only consist of the

tasting portion. I sincerely apologize that the e-mail confirmations were not

modified to inform our guests of this, and truly regret any disappointment this

caused.""

[shipshape sam]

Pretty obvious that $17 would not include glasses!

 

Then to think of taking advantage of a potential mistake by Celebrity also seems unfair to me. Seems we like Celebrity to bend the rules(exceptions) when they are in our favor due to our error/mistake, but we want to hold the line if there is a mistake or error on their part.

 

For sure, Celebrity NEEDS to correct the situation. I actually like the idea of $17 for the tasting and then purchasing the glasses. We were not offered a choice and did the tasting with purchase of the wine glasses.

 

I would offer the following:

 

$17 wine tasting only

$74 wine tasting/glasses - prebook

$17 wine tasting and at close of tasting $70 for set of 4 glasses.

 

OR something along those prices similar, the goal to create sales earlier in the sales cycle. They for sure know how many people are buying vs not buying after attending these wine tastings and for sure can adjust pricing to get different results unless the item(glasses) has inelastic demand within a range they want.

[SaucheyR]

We just returned home from a cruise on the Celebrity Millennium and took this wine glass workshop while sailing. It was actually one of my favorite activities! Our sommelier was not only incredibly knowledgeable, but enthusiastic and entertaining. We were in a small group of eight people in the Olympic Dining Room, which is beautiful and steeped in history. (You will find out more when you sail in June!) I have known about Riedel glasses but always figured they were just successful with marketing and hype.... I was so wrong. We tasted sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon. After an interesting but brief history lesson on how Riedel came to be, we moved on to an overview on how to correctly taste wines using all five of our senses (yes...all five). Then we started tasting, pouring each type from the "right" glass to the "wrong" so we could experience the different ways each glass changed how we perceived the wine to taste and smell. It was a lot of fun for me, and even though I had to drag my husband to it, he ended up with wide eyes and a huge smile once he realized he was actually loving it! It was fascinating, and the animated facial expressions and comments from our sommelier described how we all felt PERFECTLY. So much fun. We did purchase two 4-piece glass sets and I know we will use them all the time. Worth every penny!

[allisons]

We definitely thought it was worth it!

[Conniepo]

We definitely thought it was worth it!

 

All these positive remarks are good to hear. :) We leave on Monday (Silhouette) and have signed up for it. I guess we'll find out on-board when and where it will take place?

 

Connie

[happy cruzer]

Can you find out what wines are being poured ahead of time?

[texkan]

Just back from Equinox. The Riedel Workshop was held in Cellar Masters. Cost is $87.

I had attended this Workshop a few years ago. This workshop was just a little different from last and enjoyable.

 

Had glasses shipped to my home and received unbroken yesterday :)

 

Names of wines tasted are available during the workshop.

Edited April 24, 2012 by texkan

[Wine-O]

Can you find out what wines are being poured ahead of time?

 

We just did the Riedel Workshop without getting the glasses. I believe it was around $17.50 which included gratuity.

 

They started with a Chardonnay, then a Sauvignon Blanc, then a Bordeaux, then a Burgundy (Pinot Noir).