What Wines and Champagnes are served On Board the Legend?

[margbem]

We have purchased the Silver package twice now and bought it in advance via Southampton for £100 for 3 bottles. We would buy it just for the Amarone which is outstanding - we have just seen it on sale in Italy for much more than £33.33 a bottle!

 

I think if purchased in dollars it's not such a good deal with exchange rates being what they are at the moment.

[lord of the seas]

Lord: I have a question on how the Vintage program is administered. I thought about doing it on my two previous trips but thought I would wait until I was on board. I was handed a wine list when I requested it, and I ordered a bottle a few nights that showed up on my bill. If you have purchased on line, do they have a seperate list? Do they just deduct the seperately ordered wines from the prepaid amount? I seem to remember that the gold package was about $90/ bottle. Some of the selections were priced a little above or below that. How does that work? In the past I thought the included wines were a little better than the $4 to $7 range that someone had suggested. For example, they usually seem to have Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio. That is widely available and usually priced around $20.

 

Yes,the included wines are not as bad or as cheap as some might like to make out but that said there are a few poor wines amongst them.

Wine is a very personal thing,you either like what is offered or you do not.

I have only ever ordered the gold package online but there are a few other wines that are offered online by the bottle,Opus one,Silveroak,etc.

 

The silver package offers six whites,six reds and one dessert wine.You can choose three bottles and this package costs $225

 

The gold package offers ten whites,ten reds and one dessert wine.

you can choose six bottles from this package.

I think that if you purchase either package onboard it will cost you a little more.

 

I like to drink Chateau Giscours which is $112 per bottle from the restaurant wine list.

This is one of the wines that is in the gold package,so for $450 you can have six bottles from the package.

Six bottles of Giscours purchased individually from the wine list will cost $672.00 so you get a saving of $222

Not a bad deal.

Ofcourse i am only highlighting one particular wine that I like.

There is also a very good Puligny Montrachet in the gold package.

[jam52]

Thank you, my question, though was how does it actually work? Are you somehow identified as having purchased that package, or do you order off the menu and they credit it against your prepaid package?

[lord of the seas]

Thank you, my question, though was how does it actually work? Are you somehow identified as having purchased that package, or do you order off the menu and they credit it against your prepaid package?

 

You can order the package online and the sommelier will find you in the Restaurant,he will be told which guests have pre purchased it.

[jam52]

thanks, Lord

[wripro]

I have always found that a word with the sommelier about what other options are available will produce a better option.

[lord of the seas]

I have always found that a word with the sommelier about what other options are available will produce a better option.

 

Yes, good advice Henry.The sommelier does sometimes have other wines tucked away.

[Chairsin]

Yes, next to the chef the sommelier is one the the best people to get to know. We often buy a few bottles from the wines list as well ( we find the Tig to be a great value) and on other nights the once the sommelier has an understanding of what type of wines we enjoy often brings us something he thinks we might like ( whether it is being offered that evening or not). On our last cruise he went through three roses in first few days at lunch before he pulled out one we liked( from then on it was automatically brought to our table every day). A few words of kindness (and buying some wine) will win him over every times.As to the Champagne we miss the Monopole -- much more to our taste than the NF.

[HAL4ME]

Yes,the included wines are not as bad or as cheap as some might like to make out but that said there are a few poor wines amongst them.

Wine is a very personal thing,you either like what is offered or you do not.

I have only ever ordered the gold package online but there are a few other wines that are offered online by the bottle,Opus one,Silveroak,etc.

 

The silver package offers six whites,six reds and one dessert wine.You can choose three bottles and this package costs $225

 

The gold package offers ten whites,ten reds and one dessert wine.

you can choose six bottles from this package.

I think that if you purchase either package onboard it will cost you a little more.

 

I like to drink Chateau Giscours which is $112 per bottle from the restaurant wine list.

This is one of the wines that is in the gold package,so for $450 you can have six bottles from the package.

Six bottles of Giscours purchased individually from the wine list will cost $672.00 so you get a saving of $222

Not a bad deal.

Ofcourse i am only highlighting one particular wine that I like.

There is also a very good Puligny Montrachet in the gold package.

 

May have to look into a package based on what you wrote above as well as what others have written as well. Any real difference between Gold Package and the Others for example? Any value in one more than the others?:confused:

[white oak]

I've only been on Seabourn once on the Odyssey but the included wines I was served were a little better than "two buck chuck" but not by much. I did get the gold package which included some wonderful wines which we enjoyed thoroughly. While there were many things on Seabourn that I preferred over Silversea like service, boat layout, and staff attitudes, the inclusive wine selection was not one of them. Silversea has a much better inclusive wine selection in that most of their wines are in the $15 - $20 retail range.

[hoya68]

Getting to know the sommelier is well worth it. If you purchase package wines or even more especially if you bring some of your own special wines on board make sure that the sommelier is offered a generous taste of the wine. It will be appreciated.

[wripro]

It's so funny, I was just talking to a regular silversea passenger who complained nonstop that the quality of the wines has deteriorated enormously. It's one way the luxury lines can save money without sacrificing a marketing tool.

[Harvey2442]

It may be one way to save money but if they describe the wines as "fine" and the pour worse than table wines it soon destroys the illusion of a luxury line particularily as the food apart from being always the same is pretty good. Maybe they hope if the quality is poor enough revenue will be raised by buying off the wine list - very similar to charging for speciality dining which some lines do.

[lord of the seas]

May have to look into a package based on what you wrote above as well as what others have written as well. Any real difference between Gold Package and the Others for example? Any value in one more than the others?:confused:

 

The gold package offers better wines and more to choose from.

I think that if you are looking for good wines at a good price then this is the deal.

[HAL4ME]

The gold package offers better wines and more to choose from.

I think that if you are looking for good wines at a good price then this is the deal.

 

OK LOrd will have to check it out!...thanks!;)

[socalguy2010]

I inquired directly with Seabourn as to the wines to be included in the Silver and Gold packages and was told that these packages are not finalized until the time of the cruise, depending on availability for that specific cruise. When I asked if I should wait until we're on-board to purchase the package, I was told that that is the best way to go (since we want to see what wines are available before deciding on which, if either, package to purchase).

[HAL4ME]

I inquired directly with Seabourn as to the wines to be included in the Silver and Gold packages and was told that these packages are not finalized until the time of the cruise, depending on availability for that specific cruise. When I asked if I should wait until we're on-board to purchase the package, I was told that that is the best way to go (since we want to see what wines are available before deciding on which, if either, package to purchase).

 

Wow, I would have thought they you would be able to view a wine list for packages before you board? I think as well we will then wait to book this package onboard since I don't want to place a "blind order" and maybe have a bait and switch situation!;)

Would be curious to hear from anyone taht has just come off the Legend to hear what wines etc were offered for the Gold Package?

[lord of the seas]

I inquired directly with Seabourn as to the wines to be included in the Silver and Gold packages and was told that these packages are not finalized until the time of the cruise, depending on availability for that specific cruise. When I asked if I should wait until we're on-board to purchase the package, I was told that that is the best way to go (since we want to see what wines are available before deciding on which, if either, package to purchase).

 

I think that you have been misinformed by someone here.

The packages are generally the same and have been for years.They have printed literature in the suites to sell the package to you.

If as you say they are not finalized,why do they offer them for sale pre cruise?

Now if the person that you spoke to was talking about the inclusive wines then yes,that would be the case as no list is ever printed and wines can change from day to day.

We are in not so good times dealing with newbies in the Seattle office at present.

[HAL4ME]

I think that you have been misinformed by someone here.

The packages are generally the same and have been for years.They have printed literature in the suites to sell the package to you.

If as you say they are not finalized,why do they offer them for sale pre cruise?

Now if the person that you spoke to was talking about the inclusive wines then yes,that would be the case as no list is ever printed and wines can change from day to day.

We are in not so good times dealing with newbies in the Seattle office at present.

 

Now I am even more confused?...yikes!:eek::confused::eek:

[marazul]

Now I am even more confused?...yikes!:eek::confused::eek:

 

No need to buy the package ahead of time. The lists are in your suite's "bar." Just call guest services and sign up then if you like the selections. They will not run out of the good stuff.

[HAL4ME]

No need to buy the package ahead of time. The lists are in your suite's "bar." Just call guest services and sign up then if you like the selections. They will not run out of the good stuff.

 

Marazul...I think that's what we will do is wait until we board the Legend to see what selection is being offered for the Gold Package. Would still love to see a current list of a Gold Package from the Legend from anyone that is currently onboard or just disembarked.....anyone out there?..LOL:D

[Flamin_June]

Can I assume that, if one does not care for the INCLUSIVE wines (and they are very ordinary), and one does not want to spend c.£40 a bottle for the premium stuff, one can bring one's own choice of wines on board and have the sommelier serve those? I am a big fan of some Argentinian Malbecs, St. Emilion and Puglia - none of which feature on the lists, as far as I can tell.

[JaneBP]

This link should help:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1281568&highlight=wine+onboard

[Flamin_June]

Many thanks, Jane

Not only an entertaining thread to read but informative and helpful. Good to see that corkage is not an issue on board - yet another example of the yawning gulf in customer service savvy and common sense between the crews and the clowns shoreside.

[MARIANH]

Now if the person that you spoke to was talking about the inclusive wines then yes,that would be the case as no list is ever printed and wines can change from day to day.

.

 

Lord, this lowly Commoner could not resist the temptation to correct you.

 

There is a printed " inclusive "list. It takes great effort and persistence to extract a copy from the Sommelier. I have done it twice on Seabourn ( and indeed once on Silversea). And it is very revealing. Lurking in the list may well be some gems - as we found. Naturally the list may not be fully up to date; but it is a good starting point. Furthermore, the process of extracting the list can lead to a good rapport with the sommelier, such that he may even be able to source a preference that is "off list."

 

It pays to ask.:)

 

And just to report, in our experience the Silversea list was "better" in breadth and content than Seabourn - albeit we are not talking about fine wines.