Corkage fee....

[Luvmyfam3]

I am leaving in a few days (9!! Single digits!!!) for a cruise on Elation. I noticed in another thread that someone mentioned that everyone that drank from a bottle of wine was charged for the corkage fee (ie: each person was charged $6.50) I assumed that the $10 corkage fee that we were going to be paying was for the bottle or group, not per person. Could someone please clarify this for the blonde?? Heehee!!

 

Thanks!

 

Kim

[GoinCruisin]

It's $10 per bottle...

[Cotton]

:D I can't imagine why anybody would say that. How ridiculous. Of course, it's per bottle. (Actually, I've taken wine to the dining room a few times, and have never been asked to pay the corkage fee.) Different ships do things differently.

[goagain]

We are a group of 6 mothers getting away for Mother's day!!! Can we each bring a bottle of wine on board for dinner? I know there will be a $10 corkage fee for each bottle but it will be worth it. The web site says " Fine wine may be brought on board during embarkation only. If wine is brought to the dining room for comsumption a $10 corkgage fee per bottle will be charged to the guest, otherwise the guest may only drink the wine in the privacy of a stateroom."

 

I called Carnival and asked and was told I could bring one bottle only if we are celbrating something and it has to be on the record.

 

Do you think if I copy what it says on the web site we can each bring one???

 

Thanks

[blackwing]

A cruise should always be cause for a celebration! I don't think you need to be celebrating anything in particular, and I don't see why you can't each bring a bottle with you. Are you planning on bringing all six bottles to one dinner? Cause that's a lot of wine per person! :D

[Cotton]

The somebody you talked with at Carnival didn't know what she was talking about! Really. Per the website and other sources from Carnival - even in your Welcome Aboard booklet that comes with your documents - it states the same thing. Most wine drinkers DO take their own wine.

 

I'm a solo cruiser, and I always take 2-3 bottles of wine (plus my Cokes) on board, in my carry-on. I usually take one bottle of wine to the dining room, and as I said above, no corkage fee in my experience. The other two I have in my cabin, and I always buy a bottle or two in the dining room for the other evenings. (If any is left over, your waiter will keep it and bring it out the next evening.):)

[iambumbo]

I'm a high class guy. I only smuggle boxes of wine aboard-- I wonder what the cappage fee is? :)

[Tmeister]

It's really up to your waiter whether to charge you the corkage fee. If you order a few bottles from him during the week, he'll have benefitted from that, and may not bother with the corkage fee. Most waiters don't want to spoil your week (and their chance for a good tip) by hitting you with a fee. If no fee is assessed, you should thank him and tip him for the consideration at the end of the week.

[jayne733]

We brought 2 bottles of wine, one in the carry-on and one in our luggage. We also brought 2 12-packs of coke, and some bottled water. We asked our room steward for a corkscrew, and one was promptly brought, however we never used it because we ended up bringing both bottles to the dining room on 2 separate evenings. We didn't really order many drinks in the dining room, but we were never charged a corkage fee either. We did tip our waiter well at the end of the trip.

 

I don't think they are going to care if you bring a bottle or 2 per person. Carnival didn't notice that we had brought it, much less put it in a log or anything like that.

[LizaMM]

I just want to stick something out there that I noticed on my last cruise....

 

I have recently become a "fine wine" drinker....to those of you who drink wine it might be worthwhile to take a look at the wine list that Carnival has. On my recent voyage I did not bring any of my own wine on board. When I perused the wine list I found that the wines that I would want to drink with dinner were available on board (or similar labelings) and priced at about the same rate as I would pay at home. I saved mysefl the trouble of making selections in advance, packing wine bottles and any corkage fee I might have been charged and simply ordered off the wine list at dinner.

 

This is based on bottles of red wine in the $25 per bottle and up (sometimes up, up !) category. Don't think it holds true for lesser priced bottle of wine....WHICH by no means do I put down :D I will drink those as well!! I just had not seen much mention of the cost ratio on higher priced wine and wanted to toss it out there!

[2boyzmom]

One of my favorite chardonnays is "Chateau St.Jean" which I first tasted on a Celebrity Cruise. Anyway- The charge per bottle on Carnival is $33.50. Here in NY at my great discount liquor store it's $11.00 per bottle. I don't mean to sound cheap but it'll taste alot better at $11.00 a bottle!

[SCR]

"to those of you who drink wine it might be worthwhile to take a look at the wine list that Carnival has."

 

How do you find out what the wine list is on your specific ship?

[Boston6]

Ok, here's one for all of you. What if the wine was part of a Carnival gift package delivered to the room? Are you charged a corkage fee then?

[LizaMM]

SCR -

 

Not sure about that. I just waited until I arrived. I would guess that posting that question on a new thread would be the best way to get an answer! This was my first time NOT bringing any alcohol on board. I had planned on bringing my own but was so busy with some unexpected crisis before I left that I never got around to getting it together. I was pleasantly surprised with the wine selections and prices!

 

Boston6 -

 

From previous experiences that I have had we were told to bring the note that came with the gift to the Dining Room, show it to the waiter and then there was no charge for corkage fee. This was also what we were instructed to do once when after a problem the Pursers Desk sent us a bottle. On my recent cruise I had 2 bottles of champagne as gifts in my cabin but I drank them on my baclcony :)

[kjunea]

"to those of you who drink wine it might be worthwhile to take a look at the wine list that Carnival has."

 

How do you find out what the wine list is on your specific ship?

 

You can go to the gifts section on carnival.com and there is a pretty extensive list of wines available to purchase ahead of time. I've had friends who bring one or two bottles of those listed with them and then bring it into the dining room. They've never been charged a corkage fee. I figure I will bring one bottle and buy another during the week from the waiter. Shouldn't have a problem that way! :rolleyes:

 

June

[SCR]

I have been taught that if you are at a table with others, and you purchase a bottle of wine, you share with the table. But, not to be cheap or anything, and I am sure my table mates are going to be great but I would rather not pay for a bottle of wine and share it with my "new friends" considering the price.

 

How have you handled this situation? I don't want to be rude. :confused:

[snorkelman]

No need to share. If they want to drink wine, a little guy comes around and they can request the wine from him.

 

Don't get caught up with trying to be polite when it comes to paying for things not included (like wine). Besides, unless you have a large bottle, if you are at a large table and you share, everyone will get less than one glass.

[blackwing]

I saw one table of 6, three couples. One couple brought their own wine. Another couple bought a bottle from the waiter. The third couple had no wine. Nobody was sharing wine. I think it's one of these "make the best of the situation" seating arrangements. You get seated next to people you may not have chosen to sit next to, and they may or may not be nice people, but in the end, unless you really hit it off with them, you're not going to share your wine with them.

 

It's like if one guy has a drink and feels obligated to buy everyone else at the table a drink too. There's no reason why that would happen. Same with the wine.

[Skinsfan1311]

:D I can't imagine why anybody would say that. How ridiculous. Of course, it's per bottle. (Actually, I've taken wine to the dining room a few times, and have never been asked to pay the corkage fee.) Different ships do things differently.

It happened to us, on RCI Grandeur of the Seas! I couldn't imagine why each cabin was charged, either. I was pissed, and was going to get it taken off of our bill, but the line at the pursers' office was so long, that I decided I wasn't going to waste time over a few bucks. It could've been charged in error, :rolleyes: ...oh well, live and learn...

[Skinsfan1311]

"to those of you who drink wine it might be worthwhile to take a look at the wine list that Carnival has."

 

How do you find out what the wine list is on your specific ship?

Might a I suggest a fine, May '05 Corona? ;)

[SCR]

Might a I suggest a fine, May '05 Corona? ;)

 

 

HAAAA! I guess that is one way to get around the sharing issue. Thank you all for your comments and advice.

[CanTex]

It happened to us, on RCI Grandeur of the Seas! I couldn't imagine why each cabin was charged, either. I was pissed, and was going to get it taken off of our bill, but the line at the pursers' office was so long, that I decided I wasn't going to waste time over a few bucks. It could've been charged in error, :rolleyes: ...oh well, live and learn...

 

RCI, in its customary customer-friendly way, has apparently come out with a new policy recently that doesn't allow you to bring wine on board for consumption in the dining room, even if you wanted to pay a corkage fee. See this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=142655

 

All the more reason I'll stick with Carnival and other friendlier lines before I consider RCI again.