Wine policy strictly enforced on Golden Cruise 4/24

[sherryf]

Some recent posts have said other ships from LA were enforcing the policy & if I recall correctly it was the Coral & Island in addition to the well known enforcement on the Golden. Based on such posts it appears that it's still in the 'shakedown' cruise phase & only in LA possibly with assistance from HQ.

 

But the Golden is now in Alaska. Has anyone posted whether the policy has continued on the Golden after moving north, or if it's still mainly happening in in LA?

 

I still have over 2 months, but I will be carefully watching the situation in Seattle. We live locally so it's easy for us to carry on wine. Haven't decided if it's worth it with the new policy.

[PunkiC]

Not sure why anyone would urge the enforcement of a policy that will cost more money. Why not sit quietly by and enjoy the benefits of the slow roll-out?

 

The Australians wanted it enforced because there were previously not allowed to bring wine on board so for them the new policy was a big improvement.

[paul929207]

When we were on the Dawn in 2011, passengers were allowed one bottle of wine per adult at the embarkation port and none at any other port. They would collect it and give it back the last night.

[partybarbie]

Here's a recap of our wine/beer experience on the Star Princess for the 4/24/13 to 5/7/13 Hawaii cruise round trip out of San Pedro.

 

We boarded with two bottles of wine (one for each of us) in our carry-on luggage. No one said anything as we were following the policy.

 

We had four stops in Hawaii and one stop in Mexico. We carried aboard 3 more bottles of wine (two of those we took home with us as they were locally produced in Hawaii and the third one we drank in our cabin). We also carried on two six packs of Hawaiian beer and one six pack of Mexican beer. These were also consumed in the cabin. Again, no one said anything to us.

 

We still had a $1,000 bar tab. The wine package was not offered on our cruise, but we still purchased seven bottles of wine in the dining room. I like the Italian wines the best, but I'm sure they still have a big markup. I would buy more wine on the ship if the markup was more reasonable. It's hard not to choke on the $24.00 bottle of Blackstone Merlot that I can buy for $8.00 at home.;) Oh, and the 2012 Australian Shiraz is the worst I have ever tasted. It's cheaper for me to bring a bottle of the 2004 Shiraz from the boutique winery that is a mile and a half from my house, and pay the corkage, than to buy the under-aged wine that Princess sells.

 

So to sum it up, I don't mind buying the wine on the ship, but please, please, please, offer the package and change your wine list.:D

[Ontario Cruiser]

Just back from the TA on the Emerald. On embarkation carried on 2 bottles of liquor which I bought to take home & 8 bottles of wine. When going through security I told them what I had and they said no problem. We did take the wine to the dining room. I also was told by friends that they had liquor in their suitcase no problem.

So the rule was not enforced in Fort Lauderdale

Ontario Cruiser

[Host CJSKIDS]

The glasses I get from room service and the glasses I pick up myself from another bar (usually Crooners), are identical.

 

They are but the glasses from Vines are different. The glass is much thinner.

 

A few sailings ago on the Crown, they kept 2 of them for us behind the bar as we always bought a bottle of wine from them every night.

[CptSticky]

Since I've only read about enforcement on ships from LA it's possible that staff from Princess HQ an hour from the port are overseeing the procedure. I think it would be the quickest way for them to work out any problems with a direct link to HQ staff who are working on it's eventual fleet-wide implementation.

We did the Sapphire last week out of LA. The policy was absolutely NOT enforced. We brought wine on board at every port. We also purchased bottles of distilled alcohol (actually half bottles) from room service several times at a reasonable price. (note: limited to two bottles per day per cabin and enforced). BTW, food was good and service was great. I did get tired of drinking out of the room glasses. We are used to Royal where the room steward will gladly bring wine glasses. Yes we ask, no they wouldn't.

[Astro Flyer]

I did get tired of drinking out of the room glasses. We are used to Royal where the room steward will gladly bring wine glasses. Yes we ask, no they wouldn't.

I call room service because my Princess experience has been that if requesting it from the cabin steward they have to request it from room service. Sorry to learn that your cabin steward was negligent & refused to provide wine glasses for you. :(

 

I've never had that happen & have very rarely read posts about that happening on Princess.

[CptSticky]

I call room service because my Princess experience has been that if requesting it from the cabin steward they have to request it from room service. Sorry to learn that your cabin steward was negligent & refused to provide wine glasses for you. :(

 

I've never had that happen & have very rarely read posts about that happening on Princess.

I don't know what the normal ratio of cabins/steward is on Princess but ours was handling 19 rooms by himself. He provided great service and I really have no complaints, but he was overworked. I guess if we had pursued it, we could have come up with glasses. I forgot to mention that a friend that was traveling with us brought on wine a couple of times and paid the corkage fee in the MDR. I don't want to sound like a Princess cheerleader (they are not my cruise line of choice) but it was a very nice cruise.

[Pia1913]

I don't know what the normal ratio of cabins/steward is on Princess but ours was handling 19 rooms by himself. He provided great service and I really have no complaints, but he was overworked. I guess if we had pursued it, we could have come up with glasses. I forgot to mention that a friend that was traveling with us brought on wine a couple of times and paid the corkage fee in the MDR. I don't want to sound like a Princess cheerleader (they are not my cruise line of choice) but it was a very nice cruise.

 

The average is 18 cabins per steward. On our last cruise ours had 18, the bulk of which were minis.

[IECalCruiser]

I don't know what the normal ratio of cabins/steward is on Princess but ours was handling 19 rooms by himself. He provided great service and I really have no complaints, but he was overworked. I guess if we had pursued it, we could have come up with glasses. I forgot to mention that a friend that was traveling with us brought on wine a couple of times and paid the corkage fee in the MDR. I don't want to sound like a Princess cheerleader (they are not my cruise line of choice) but it was a very nice cruise.

The average is 18 cabins per steward. On our last cruise ours had 18, the bulk of which were minis.

Talking to our recent stewards, they have 18 to 20 cabins and can "only" work 13 hours per day :eek: With just 18 cabins, that is only 41 minutes per cabin for the morning service and the evening turndown. So that they have enough time to get there assigned job done, don't have them doing something that is the job of Room Service or another department.

[culvercitycruiser]

I don't know what the normal ratio of cabins/steward is on Princess but ours was handling 19 rooms by himself. He provided great service and I really have no complaints, but he was overworked. I guess if we had pursued it, we could have come up with glasses. I forgot to mention that a friend that was traveling with us brought on wine a couple of times and paid the corkage fee in the MDR. I don't want to sound like a Princess cheerleader (they are not my cruise line of choice) but it was a very nice cruise.

 

19 rooms is a lot of cleaning several times a day. Glad that I am a passenger and not an employee!

I believe that I cruised with you and your wife a couple of years ago on Mariner of the Seas. Great cruise and Meet and Greet was fun.

[CptSticky]

Talking to our recent stewards, they have 18 to 20 cabins and can "only" work 13 hours per day :eek: With just 18 cabins, that is only 41 minutes per cabin for the morning service and the evening turndown. So that they have enough time to get there assigned job done, don't have them doing something that is the job of Room Service or another department.

I always feel that the stewards are overworked on every cruise line that we sail, but this really caught my attention. Also while in San Diego, they did a drill that he had to take two hours out of his day to attend. Not a job that I would want. Still, we never passed a steward in the hall that was in a bad mood.

Back to the original topic, I find it interesting that at about the same time that Royal decides to allow two bottles of wine to be brought on board, Princess decides to restrict their policy. Princess's policy is still more generous. You can pay corkage fee for extra bottles (not on Royal) and you can buy bottles of alcohol in your room (not on Royal).

[PunkiC]

We did the Sapphire last week out of LA. The policy was absolutely NOT enforced. We brought wine on board at every port. We also purchased bottles of distilled alcohol (actually half bottles) from room service several times at a reasonable price. (note: limited to two bottles per day per cabin and enforced). BTW, food was good and service was great. I did get tired of drinking out of the room glasses. We are used to Royal where the room steward will gladly bring wine glasses. Yes we ask, no they wouldn't.

 

Did you call room service for wine glasses?

 

We have never asked the steward or room service, but always seem to end up with an abundance of wine glasses in our room. We always take our wine glasses with wine from the bottle we buy at dinner when we leave the dining room and head over to The Wheelhouse to dance.

[CptSticky]

Did you call room service for wine glasses?

 

We have never asked the steward or room service, but always seem to end up with an abundance of wine glasses in our room. We always take our wine glasses with wine from the bottle we buy at dinner when we leave the dining room and head over to The Wheelhouse to dance.

No we did not. I also considered going to a bar and asking, but didn't. We were in an aft balcony and it was a long, long way;) I would have liked proper glasses, but I'm not really the snob that I sometimes sound like and even a paper cup would have worked:p

[gingera]

Here's a recap of our wine/beer experience on the Star Princess for the 4/24/13 to 5/7/13 Hawaii cruise round trip out of San Pedro.

 

We boarded with two bottles of wine (one for each of us) in our carry-on luggage. No one said anything as we were following the policy.

 

We had four stops in Hawaii and one stop in Mexico. We carried aboard 3 more bottles of wine (two of those we took home with us as they were locally produced in Hawaii and the third one we drank in our cabin). We also carried on two six packs of Hawaiian beer and one six pack of Mexican beer. These were also consumed in the cabin. Again, no one said anything to us.

 

We still had a $1,000 bar tab. The wine package was not offered on our cruise, but we still purchased seven bottles of wine in the dining room. I like the Italian wines the best, but I'm sure they still have a big markup. I would buy more wine on the ship if the markup was more reasonable. It's hard not to choke on the $24.00 bottle of Blackstone Merlot that I can buy for $8.00 at home.;) Oh, and the 2012 Australian Shiraz is the worst I have ever tasted. It's cheaper for me to bring a bottle of the 2004 Shiraz from the boutique winery that is a mile and a half from my house, and pay the corkage, than to buy the under-aged wine that Princess sells.

 

So to sum it up, I don't mind buying the wine on the ship, but please, please, please, offer the package and change your wine list.:D

 

Agreed, and please do not offer Australian Shiraz that is bottled 1-2 years ago...

[CZEE]

Completely disagree. I am willing to adhere to the policy because I book interior or ocean view cabins. My folks pay a ton of money to cruise and Princess should take that into account if they want to bring a few extra bottles of wine on the cruise. Makes absolutely no sense to me why you want to change the wine policy for your most loyal (they are both Elite) and BEST PAYING customers. It should be a suite benefit. Plain dumb of Princess! :confused:

 

That's just elitist. People in steerage should be subject to the alcohol policies, but the folks who book suites should be exempt. Travel Cunard and look down on the little people why don't you. Same policy for everyone. . .unless Princess wants to make it a suite perk. If they do, I'm fine with it. Until they do. . . tough luck. We've been agreeing to their wine and alcohol policies for years. Now, they're enforcing it. Again. . .tough luck.

[CZEE]

The Australians wanted it enforced because there were previously not allowed to bring wine on board so for them the new policy was a big improvement.

 

Perhaps this was true on Australian cruises? We've traveled with Australians. They've brought wine on board those vessels leaving from the US with impunity.

[isujim]

I have read this thread 3 times and UNDERSTAND this is a new policy that is evolving...........I have some questions, really some clarifications as I understand it.........or read it:)

 

We have a cruise out of San Pedro in September...........we take a special wine suitcase that holds 12 bottles..

 

As long as you are willing to pay the $15 corkage fee........(which I am) then you can still take as many bottles as you want as long as you pay the corkage fee??????

 

I presume we would be charged for 10 bottles since we are allowed 2 bottles, one for me and DW??

 

I presume we pay the fee, then take the wine suitcase to our stateroom??

 

I would hate to lug this to the pier only to have them hold the wine until the end of the cruise.......but from what I am reading.......you can still take extra wine, you just have to pay for it and then go on about your way with wine in tow to your stateroom.

 

Am I reading this right??

[Cruise Junky]

I have read this thread 3 times and UNDERSTAND this is a new policy that is evolving...........I have some questions, really some clarifications as I understand it.........or read it:)

 

We have a cruise out of San Pedro in September...........we take a special wine suitcase that holds 12 bottles..

 

As long as you are willing to pay the $15 corkage fee........(which I am) then you can still take as many bottles as you want as long as you pay the corkage fee??????

 

I presume we would be charged for 10 bottles since we are allowed 2 bottles, one for me and DW??

 

I presume we pay the fee, then take the wine suitcase to our stateroom??

 

I would hate to lug this to the pier only to have them hold the wine until the end of the cruise.......but from what I am reading.......you can still take extra wine, you just have to pay for it and then go on about your way with wine in tow to your stateroom.

 

Am I reading this right??

 

The only part I'm not clear on is that they'll let you take it directly to your room. I think there have been some posts that they will deliver it later in the day. Other than that, you're correct.

[isujim]

Ok thanks.............later in the day would be fine..........just trying to clarify policy as it is now..........subject to change of course:D

[paul929207]

The only possible hassle would be if you wanted some of your wine for early dinner the first night. It might arrive too late the evening

[isujim]

Already thought of that Paul, just put a couple of bottles in carry on if need be at the hotel the night before:) We did think of that though

[IECalCruiser]

The only part I'm not clear on is that they'll let you take it directly to your room. I think there have been some posts that they will deliver it later in the day. Other than that, you're correct.

The later in the day part appeared to apply to ports, not embarkation day. The implementation plan is evolving. It appears that they may now have a list when you board at ports and you can bring you wine to your cabin right away. Doubt Princess wants to tie up staff bringing a lot of wine to cabin later in the day.

 

Please note that all of the description of the actual process is based on the experience of 2-3 cruises on the Golden only. Current print and digital information is contradictory in some key respects to the actual enforcement on the Golden. What was posted by isujim is probably pretty close, but until they roll out a final policy things can change.

[BarbaraP]

I have read this thread 3 times and UNDERSTAND this is a new policy that is evolving...........I have some questions, really some clarifications as I understand it.........or read it:)

 

We have a cruise out of San Pedro in September...........we take a special wine suitcase that holds 12 bottles..

 

As long as you are willing to pay the $15 corkage fee........(which I am) then you can still take as many bottles as you want as long as you pay the corkage fee??????

 

I presume we would be charged for 10 bottles since we are allowed 2 bottles, one for me and DW??

 

I presume we pay the fee, then take the wine suitcase to our stateroom??

 

I would hate to lug this to the pier only to have them hold the wine until the end of the cruise.......but from what I am reading.......you can still take extra wine, you just have to pay for it and then go on about your way with wine in tow to your stateroom.

 

Am I reading this right??

 

What is a "special wine suitcase"???