rkacruiser Posted March 30, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I have not read many reports about a Celebrity Life activity that I really enjoyed during my first Celebrity cruise. In its category, it was clearly the best of any of my cruise experiences. While the wine events offered on my other cruises were excellent to satisfactory, the Celebrity Eclipse sommeliers raised my expectation bar for such an activity. Using primarily the Cellar Masters venue, but also using other venues such as Blu and Tuscan Grille, by my count, there were 10 separate wine events and 13 wine tasting opportunities. A Select and Elite Wine Tasting Seminar was also offered for those who so qualified. Some of the wine tasting sessions were repeated during my two week cruise, i.e. an Italian and a French wine session. Pleasantly, I discovered that by purchasing three of the wine events, I was offered the opportunity, of which I took advantage, of experiencing another one at no cost. My table's wine sommelier made me aware of this opportunity. The Riedel Comparative Wine Crystal Workshop provided the most educational experience. The theory is that the type of wine glass used from which to enjoy one's wine makes a difference in taste and one's enjoyment of the wine. Well, before I enrolled for this workshop, I was a "doubting Thomas". But, it does make a difference! In one type of glass, the wine was delicious. In a different type of glass, one looked for the nearest "dump bucket". The cost of the workshop was $87.00. As part of the workshop, one will receive the 4 tasting glasses used during the workshop--new ones, not the ones one used--or one has the option of receiving a coupon that can be used to order a brand new set of glasses for just a $15 shipping fee. (Given the size of the box, whether you are flying or driving from the ship, I would recommend you take the coupon and order the glasses when you get home. Mine arrived promptly in perfect condition.) Interestingly, the invoice that was e-mailed me upon my order showed that the price of the glasses was $89 if I ordered them from Riedel; the workshop cost $87. How was the wine service in the dining rooms? In the Main Dining Room, with the exception of the first night, the service was prompt and professional. (The first night, my sommelier, Cage, was extraordinarily busy.) I had ordered the 5 bottle premium wine package and it did not appear on my sign and sail when I embarked as I thought it would. The Guest Relations Office was able to correct the oversight and provide me with a new, corrected sign and sail card before I enjoyed my first dinner. The sommeliers in Tuscan Grille and Murano's were also able to easily and pleasantly handle my pre-purchased wine package. (Yes, I did leave them with a gratuity for their efforts on those evenings.) Wine ordered as a part of my package in those special dining venues was also easily retrieved by my dining room sommelier. If you enjoy good wines, and you are sailing on Celebrity Eclipse as well as the other vessels I suppose, avail yourself of the wine events offered. The personnel know what they are doing, the venue is properly set up with cheese, crackers, bread sticks, and water available. And, next to the magnificent Sky Observation Lounge on the Eclipse, Cellar Masters is my favorite public room. I hope you will enjoy the wine events and your wine experiences on your Celebrity cruise as much as I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHEZMARYLOU Posted March 30, 2013 #2 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thanks for the wine review, there are very few of them on CC. We too enjoy the wine events and take part in a great number of them on our cruises. Cellar Masters is our favorite venue. Mary Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhlaw Posted March 30, 2013 #3 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thank you for this review. We will be on the Eclipse in a week and I am looking forward to doing some of these wine tastings. Do you recommend buying the wine package( for dinner) before getting on the ship? I was waiting to get on the ship first before buying a wine package. Do they still give coupons toward a bottle of wine (for being Captains Club)? Also where do you get the information for the wine tastings they are having. Thanx. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHEZMARYLOU Posted March 30, 2013 #4 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thank you for this review. We will be on the Eclipse in a week and I am looking forward to doing some of these wine tastings. Do you recommend buying the wine package( for dinner) before getting on the ship? I was waiting to get on the ship first before buying a wine package. Do they still give coupons toward a bottle of wine (for being Captains Club)? Also where do you get the information for the wine tastings they are having. Thanx. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We don't buy a wine package so cannot give you a recommendation on this. If you buy wine priced at $75 or higher they offer a 15% discount per bottle if you buy at least three. We've just told the sommelier that we want to do this on the 1st night and got our 15% per bottle. They have wine coupons for elite CC members, 20% off and another for a free specialty coffee with a bottle of wine in the specialty restaurants. On our Eclipse cruise they had a listing of events in cellar masters and they are also in the daily bulletin. We signed up for the events we wanted at cellar masters when we boarded. The around the world tasting is quite good and reasonably priced. We also enjoyed the port tasting. On prior cruises we did the high end tasting and they did not limit it to one tasting per wine. On our Eclipse cruise they were not so generous and I did not feel the wines were quite as high end as we had on Solstice and Equinox. Mary Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted March 30, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thank you for this review. We will be on the Eclipse in a week and I am looking forward to doing some of these wine tastings. Do you recommend buying the wine package( for dinner) before getting on the ship? I was waiting to get on the ship first before buying a wine package. Do they still give coupons toward a bottle of wine (for being Captains Club)? Also where do you get the information for the wine tastings they are having. Thanx. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. I bought my wine package online before I boarded. As I wrote in my review, when I received my boarding/room card, the existance of the package was not on the card as I expected. I took the card to Guest Relations during the afternoon and they were able to fix the problem. So, if you do buy a package before boarding, be sure to check your card. If you wait until you board to buy a package, do it before dinner. The sommeliers were extremely busy that first night and having to do it at dinner will only slow your service (and others) down. Since this was my first Celebrity cruise, I was not then a Captain's Club member. The daily program will list the wine events and your sommelier should have a separate small folder listing some of the events, but not all of the tastings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhlaw Posted March 30, 2013 #6 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thank you both for your answers. I appreciate knowing that the first night was so crazy and will double check my pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cafediem2 Posted March 30, 2013 #7 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I did the comparative wine glass workshop, which to me was worth it for the glasses. An unexpected bonus for me and DH was that once we booked it, we had Reidel glasses to drink our wine from every evening...lovely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El_aurens Posted March 30, 2013 #8 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thanks for the wine tasting review. I have always wanted to try this and your review has pushed me over the edge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted March 31, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thanks for the wine tasting review. I have always wanted to try this and your review has pushed me over the edge! Good! I hope that you will enjoy whatever wine events you choose to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maitlandmom Posted March 31, 2013 #10 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thanks for the wine tasting review. I have always wanted to try this and your review has pushed me over the edge! Me too! I have seen this before but now I really excited about trying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseclues Posted April 5, 2013 #11 Share Posted April 5, 2013 We really enjoyed your wine review. :):):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted April 6, 2013 Author #12 Share Posted April 6, 2013 We really enjoyed your wine review. :):):) Thank you for the compliment! I am glad the review was interesting and hopefully helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miched Posted April 6, 2013 #13 Share Posted April 6, 2013 What are your experiences with the glasses? I have heard from one passenger that was dining with us in the buffet that they are very fragile and break easy when washing. She said that you have to be real careful and not bump them against anything. She said that she broke one when it hit the side of the sink, another by hitting the faucet, and she knock one over putting it on the counter to dry. After talking to her we decided against them. Later on during the cruise after the event was over we also determined that she was a klutz from the things that she did. We attended the workshop on another ship before when it didn't include the glasses and weren't in a hurry to purchase them as we have many cruises scheduled. One thing that has me confused is if the style of glasses make a difference according to the wine type why do the wine judgings use the same type of glass for all wines? The other is will it make my 3 Buck Chuck taste like a $15 box of wine? :D For the record I was watching a show on cable about history of wine and they mentioned that the makers of 3 Buck Chuck is one of the largest wine producers and it is not rejects as many may think. And many wine producers are finding the value in boxed wines because it keeps longer since it is not exposed to the air during dispensing. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted April 6, 2013 Author #14 Share Posted April 6, 2013 What are your experiences with the glasses? I have heard from one passenger that was dining with us in the buffet that they are very fragile and break easy when washing. She said that you have to be real careful and not bump them against anything. She said that she broke one when it hit the side of the sink, another by hitting the faucet, and she knock one over putting it on the counter to dry. After talking to her we decided against them. Later on during the cruise after the event was over we also determined that she was a klutz from the things that she did. We attended the workshop on another ship before when it didn't include the glasses and weren't in a hurry to purchase them as we have many cruises scheduled. One thing that has me confused is if the style of glasses make a difference according to the wine type why do the wine judgings use the same type of glass for all wines? The other is will it make my 3 Buck Chuck taste like a $15 box of wine? :D For the record I was watching a show on cable about history of wine and they mentioned that the makers of 3 Buck Chuck is one of the largest wine producers and it is not rejects as many may think. And many wine producers are finding the value in boxed wines because it keeps longer since it is not exposed to the air during dispensing. . I cannot answer all of your good questions. I, too, have wondered why those cruise lines that encourage the use of Riedel glasses in a workshop don't then use them for their other wine tastings. Because the glasses are not inexpensive, my guess is that they would be more interested in trying to encourage the guests in the wine tastings to buy the wines being "tested" without the possibility of the glasses being used being taken by someone. Will the glasses make 3 Buck Chuck taste like 30 Buck Chuck? I doubt it; I have not tried it. Thanks for the idea. I will go to Trader's Joe and try it. I have never drunk 3 Buck Chuck. (Reason: I rarely go to Trader Joe's. The store is out of my way.) I have not found the glasses to be any more fragile than a good piece of crystal. Included in the box was a set of directions as to how to wash/dry the glasses in order to help prevent damage to them. In my opinion, one needs to be careful whenever one handles a piece of glassware that is fragile/costly. That's common sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyTvlr Posted April 7, 2013 #15 Share Posted April 7, 2013 What are your experiences with the glasses? I have heard from one passenger that was dining with us in the buffet that they are very fragile and break easy when washing. She said that you have to be real careful and not bump them against anything. She said that she broke one when it hit the side of the sink, another by hitting the faucet, and she knock one over putting it on the counter to dry. After talking to her we decided against them. Later on during the cruise after the event was over we also determined that she was a klutz from the things that she did. We attended the workshop on another ship before when it didn't include the glasses and weren't in a hurry to purchase them as we have many cruises scheduled. One thing that has me confused is if the style of glasses make a difference according to the wine type why do the wine judgings use the same type of glass for all wines? The other is will it make my 3 Buck Chuck taste like a $15 box of wine? :D For the record I was watching a show on cable about history of wine and they mentioned that the makers of 3 Buck Chuck is one of the largest wine producers and it is not rejects as many may think. And many wine producers are finding the value in boxed wines because it keeps longer since it is not exposed to the air during dispensing. . I attended the Riedel workshop and have been using them at home ever since. They are delicate and I have broken a few in the early days until I got the hang of washing and drying them. I do think they are more delicate than other high end brands, but that is my opinion but think they are worth it. They will not make your 3BC taste better, but since you did attend a workshop you either appreciated the difference or you didn't which is cool because we all have different tastes. I live in Australia so I don't know much about 3BC, but I have heard nothing but good things about it. I like wines in all price ranges and have found value for money in many more less expensive wines than the higher priced wines. As for the box, it is similar to the screw cap situation. Screw caps eliminate the possibility that the wine can be "corked", but they are not as sexy as a cork. Screw caps are widely used here in Aus, but when visiting the US servers often apologize when they bring us a wine without a cork. As for wine judges, they are just tasting and spitting. Using the same glass gives a level playing field. I love wine and have traveled extensively visiting wineries and learning about how it is made and stored so I picked up a bit of info along the way. I am in no way an expert, but love learning more and talking about it. One of the reasons I love sailing with Celebrity is the wine events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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