corking fee question

[Can'tstopcruising]

Since we plan to cruise from Venice, I was wondering if it is worth bringing wine on board. Is it 2 bottles per cabin?

 

If we bring the wine to the mdr, is there a gratuity on top of the $25 corking fee?

 

If we buy a bottle for $15 approx, would we be drinking better wine that if we simply paid $40 for one of the ship's selections?

 

Thanks to all wine mavens for their input!

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

You can drink your wine in your cabin for free. Your steward can provide glasses and a corkscrew. The corkage only applies to the public venues.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[cruisestitch]

Yes, it is two bottles per stateroom.

 

Corkage will be charged if you take the bottle to any public lounge, bar, or dining room, but not, as noted, if you enjoy it in your stateroom.

 

I don't know the answer about the gratuity, but maybe someone else can chime in.

 

As to the quality of a $15 purchase ashore vs. a $40 purchase aboard, there are just waaaay too many variables to come up with an answer to that. You're in Italy. There could be some wonderful $15 wines in a store, or you could be buying plonk! :):):)

[letsgo39]

We purchased 2 bottles of wine in Rome before boarding the Equinox this summer. Our room Steward provided us with wine glasses and ice everyday. We also purchased additional wine during our cruise. The last week of our cruise we started pouring a glass of wine in our cabin and started to carry it to the dining room every night. We are not big drinkers so that 1 glass each with dinner was enough for us. Many others appeared to be doing the same thing.

[cruisestitch]

It may work to bring wine aboard from port visits, or it may not. Quite often there are personnel at the gangway who will take your purchases, tag them, store them and return them to at the end of the cruise. YMMV

[Taxguy77]

One time we were in France, and did not care to see the area so we just got off the ship and went through the large tent set up on the dock. We bought 2 bottles of wine and took them aboard. One sip each and we poured the rest down the drain.

We gave the other bottle to the steward, but warned him of what we thought about the quality.

P.S. I have bought a lot of wine from a lot of countries since, but NO French wine!

[blong2200]

We got a bottle of wine as a comp from our TA. We asked if we took it to dinner with us to share with our tablemates if we would be charged a corkage fee.........we were not!

[cruisestitch]

Correct -- if you are given a present from the on-board gift service (or you send it to yourself, which you are allowed to do as well!) there is no corkage charged.

[Gonzo70]

One time we were in France, and did not care to see the area so we just got off the ship and went through the large tent set up on the dock. We bought 2 bottles of wine and took them aboard. One sip each and we poured the rest down the drain.

We gave the other bottle to the steward, but warned him of what we thought about the quality.

P.S. I have bought a lot of wine from a lot of countries since, but NO French wine!

 

Huh? France is well known for having outstanding wines. Because you chose poorly at a tent outside a cruise terminal you have sworn off all the wines of one of the best wine producing countries (if not the best)? :confused:

[Blazerboy]

French wines are some of the best, but you can always buy a bad bottle from any country

 

As far as wines on board, we bring wines that retail for $30.00 or more, as the additional corkage still makes the wine a better value than Celebrity's comparable offerings. But I would only bring on less expensive wines for in-room consumption. A $15. Bottle that you then pay $25.00 in corkage would still likely compare to a $30.00 bottle from the wine list, so you'd have spent an extra $10.00 on that wine. That said, we've found some great local Italian and French wines that were very inexpensive and quite good. But I wouldn't blindly buy from the local store unless you can get good advice about what you're buying. We spent a whole afternoon buying and tasting Ports in Lisbon last fall at a nice shop because the salewoman was very knowledgeable and spoke English well. (:DAnd gave us samples!)

 

Andrew

[B1G]

Premium package is the nuts :D

[Ontario Cruiser]

We purchased 2 bottles of wine in Rome before boarding the Equinox this summer. Our room Steward provided us with wine glasses and ice everyday. We also purchased additional wine during our cruise. The last week of our cruise we started pouring a glass of wine in our cabin and started to carry it to the dining room every night. We are not big drinkers so that 1 glass each with dinner was enough for us. Many others appeared to be doing the same thing.

That is one of the reason's that Celebrity limits the wine brought on board.

It is supposed to be drunk in your cabin NOT TAKEN INTO THE DINING ROOM. Just because people were doing it it is not the honest thing to do.

 

Ontari Cruiser

[Can'tstopcruising]

We don't drink wine in our cabin. I am not a Goody-Two-Shoes. If others wish to walk around the ship carrying a wine glass, so be it. For us, however, the dry cleaning bill due to spillage would outweigh any price of wine!!!

 

The two questions I really have is whether we would end up with a better wine for the same price if we brought Italian wine on board (of course we would take the advice of the person in the wine shop and try not to buy inferior wine. I think if it is DOC, it is pretty good. Anyone know better?)

 

The second question is if 15% is added to the $25??? That would be real Chutzbah!

 

By the way, we had a wonderful French wine this weekend. It was a Mouton Cadet Reserve (white). So smooth! I love smooth wines!

[Wine-O]

We don't drink wine in our cabin. I am not a Goody-Two-Shoes. If others wish to walk around the ship carrying a wine glass' date=' so be it. For us, however, the dry cleaning bill due to spillage would outweigh any price of wine!!!

 

The two questions I really have is whether we would end up with a better wine for the same price if we brought Italian wine on board (of course we would take the advice of the person in the wine shop and try not to buy inferior wine. I think if it is DOC, it is pretty good. Anyone know better?)

 

The second question is if 15% is added to the $25??? That would be real Chutzbah!

 

By the way, we had a wonderful French wine this weekend. It was a Mouton Cadet Reserve (white). So smooth! I love smooth wines![/quote']

 

Italy has some great wines. I just love the Brunello and the Chianti Classico Reserves.

 

The corkage fee is your 15%. :D

[hancock]

The $25 includes the tip.

[Blazerboy]

That is one of the reason's that Celebrity limits the wine brought on board.

It is supposed to be drunk in your cabin NOT TAKEN INTO THE DINING ROOM. Just because people were doing it it is not the honest thing to do.

 

Ontari Cruiser

You can send your wine, quite appropriately, and in no violation of the policy, to the dining room. But you are supposed to send the whole bottle and pay corkage, not cheat and do it one glass at a time!:D

 

Andrew

[Hlitner]

We are confirmed Oenophiles and really enjoy discovering new wines in various destinations (our latest finds was Grk from Korcula). Had to smile at Taxguys post about a bad bottle of French Wine. Yep, it happens and you can find awful wine just about anywhere. But you can also find great wine in many places (especially France, California, Washington and Oregon) but it helps to know what to look for and what to avoid. But the real trick is to find what should be a $100 bottle of wine for $10. That being said, it will be 2 buck Chuck with dinner tonight :)

 

We have found that Celebrity and Princess do not seem to strickly enforce their 2 bottle limits on many European cruises but it does vary depending on the staff. One nice thing about HA is that they have no limits we have been on HA cruises where passengers show up with several cases of good wine.

 

Hank

[fizzy1]

Correct -- if you are given a present from the on-board gift service (or you send it to yourself, which you are allowed to do as well!) there is no corkage charged.

their is no corkage charge if u send the wine to yourself because u r already paying Celebritys crazy inflated prices, the same as if u bought it on board

[Gonzo70]

their is no corkage charge if u send the wine to yourself because u r already paying Celebritys crazy inflated prices, the same as if u bought it on board

 

I find their prices in line or slightly better than the mark up at most decent to upscale restaurants in the US.

[fizzy1]

I find their prices in line or slightly better than the mark up at most decent to upscale restaurants in the US.

inflated prices compared with buying your own from a supermarket or an off licience

[Blazerboy]

inflated prices compared with buying your own from a supermarket or an off licience

What a great idea! Instead of self serve laundry, we want a Tesco put on the ship!:D Might even get our meals more cheaply. Of course, then we'd have to cook them ourselves...but that's just expanding the lawn club grille concept.;)

 

Standard restaurant mark-up is 100% over retail prices, at least in the US.

 

Andrew

[cruisestitch]

Well of course this is a markup compared to buying at a cut-rate store or a discount liquor store. It's not very different from going to any restaurant -- you cannot expect to pay the same as what it would cost if you bought it yourself.

 

But seriously, this is absolutely like buying your own steak at the grocery store, then cooking it yourself, compared to going to a lovely steakhouse and ordering it there. Anyone who would say that the price of the steak should be the same in each case is just destined for constant disappointment in life :):):)

[seahopper]

We are confirmed Oenophiles and really enjoy discovering new wines in various destinations (our latest finds was Grk from Korcula). Had to smile at Taxguys post about a bad bottle of French Wine. Yep, it happens and you can find awful wine just about anywhere. But you can also find great wine in many places (especially France, California, Washington and Oregon) but it helps to know what to look for and what to avoid. But the real trick is to find what should be a $100 bottle of wine for $10. That being said, it will be 2 buck Chuck with dinner tonight :)

 

We have found that Celebrity and Princess do not seem to strickly enforce their 2 bottle limits on many European cruises but it does vary depending on the staff. One nice thing about HA is that they have no limits we have been on HA cruises where passengers show up with several cases of good wine.

 

Hank

 

Is the bottle limit of bringing wine aboard 2 bottles (1 each) or 2 each, 4 bottles? I know...I am hoping to much! ...and WHY is Celebrity not so strictly enforced on 2 bottle limits on European cruises? I would think it would depend on getting the wine through xray, not dependent on staff.

 

I just saw a cruise the other day that one of the perks was UNLIMITED DRINKS PACKAGE. Wow..I sure hope that were true. We enjoy our daily

bottle of wine (our Happy Hour) and miss it on the ship, because of the inflated pricing. We would buy more, if they would charge less. ...

[cruisestitch]

You are allowed two bottles per stateroom on embarkation day.

 

On some itineraries the staff are more lenient about enforcing the restrictions regarding bringing wines onto the ship from ports. On others (particularly Caribbean cruises during spring break) they are stricter.

 

There are cruise lines which include unlimited wines in the cruise fare. They cost considerably more than Celebrity