Bringing wine aboard Viking cruises

[BeignetBoy]

Thanks.. good idea

[Bet & Peg]

BeignetBoy ~ New Orleans - one of our favorit cities!!! Now I'll be thinking of Cafe DuMonde and eating their beignets by the levee all evening!!!

 

But to answer your question ~ we've never gotten the Spirits Package but my DH has enjoyed his share of Grey Goose martinis!!! Just found our bill from the ship - all in euros - gin & tonic 5.50; asnbach brandy 4.50; red wine (in lounge not during a meal) 4.20; and lastly, on this trip DH was drinking martinis with Stolichnaya Vodka 4.50. Remember all prices are in Euros.

 

The white wine was not sweet - a couple at our table had a bottle of Riesling wine at dinner (they bought it from the menu) - they offered but we declined a glass - we also prefer a dry wine except with spicy Thai or Chinese food. According to my DH, the overall quality of the wine they poured was good, not very good, and their wine list was limited and, he felt, a bit overpriced.

 

This info is all from last December when we were on a Rhine River cruise and very similar (not sure about prices) from our 2012 October trip on the Rhine River. Depending on your actual cruise there may be a different situation.

 

But also something to remember - as usual when we first boarded there was info sheets on our bed - or maybe desk/dresser. One of them was about the Spirits Package - no price mentioned on it. So if you're debating about getting the pacage, you could wait until you board, find out exact drink prices in the lounge and also ask to see the wine list - then make your decision about the Spirt Package! Just a suggestion!!!

 

DH enjoyed - especially on the Rhone River cruise - buying wine in the vineyards or towns we visited and having that for dinner. We were very lucky to have great tables both cruises - yes, seats/tables are not pre-assigned, but we made friends on both cruises and always sat together - so buying/sharing wine became a nightly habit!!! And really looking forward to our uocoming Bordeaux adventure!!!

 

Have a GREAT cruise whatever you decide to do!!!!

[TravelBugM]

Here's the link from the Viking website for the drinks' price list. Guess it all depends on how many cocktails you think you will drink if the Silver Spirits Package is worth it for you.

 

http://wpc.475d.edgecastcdn.net/00475D/PDF/bar_menu.pdf

 

We did not buy the package as we brought a bottle of scotch and some wine along with us which we had no issues with bringing into the lounge. We drank the wine at lunch and dinner and found it quite palatable. We often took a last galss of wine following dinner to enjoy on deck or in our cabin.

[BeignetBoy]

Thanks FotoPeg and Travelbug for the info -- very helpful.. And yes I guess my name on these boards indicates where we live.

 

I think that I will wait until we get on board and make a decision here, but it is interesting that they don't have a problem with you bringing a bottle to the lounge. We are not used to that on other ships... In fact on one cruise, we bought a bottle at the bar on the ship, and they made us keep in our room.

[ExArkie]

Also, I know that wine is included, and you can bring your on onboard, but what is the quality of the wine served? Is the White Wine sweet? We prefer dry wines and don't care for any sweet wine.

 

I have a grand total of ONE trip's experience on Viking, so this may not hold true everywhere. The "house wines" are Austrian (or at least were on our Rhine Getaway), the default white being a Gruner Vetliner and the default red being a Zweigelt. They did change out the white on nights we were sailing through different regions (e.g., a Mosel dry Reisling around that part of Germany, and a Alsatian Pinot Gris around Strasbourg). Perhaps when the local wine regions actually have reds, they might try them as well, but the Rhine valley is mostly white wine, so all locals were whites.

 

We found the house wines quite drinkable. People we met had purchased the drinks package, but the ones who enjoyed it the most seemed to be those whose tastes ran to cocktails and mixed drinks.

[pinotlover]

We're doing the Rhone River trip this fall, which starts in Burgundy. Where we usually buy the ship's premium drinks packages, we won't for this trip. Since we are primarily wine people anyway, our plan is to buy the local Burgs and Rhones and drink them onboard. Our only other alcohol might be a cognac or brandy either from the ship's bar or purchased ashore!

[rrgator]

This is what I wrote about the Silver Spirits package when we went on our cruise last December:

 

We decided to buy the Silver Spirits package right after we booked the cruise, which cost $210 US each, and was well worth it. During meals, beer and wine do flow. You can get plenty of each while you are eating. However, outside of meals, you pay for your drinks, including soft drinks. In looking at the drink menu, for example, Grey Goose vodka ran 7.50 Euros per drink or about $10.50 US. I needed to drink about 20 drinks over the course of the cruise to come out even on the package, which I think I did the first night. The part of the package I wasn't sure about was that anything you wanted to drink, any brand, any amount was included. I asked Ceasar specifically about that and he assured me it was. He was right, anything you wanted at any time, in any quantity was available. It was nice to just order a drink and have it served with no "paperwork". Like most cruises, if you didn't have the package you had to sign a tab for your drinks each time you ordered one. There was also a wine list, different than what was served with meals, that you could order and take to dinner with you. We drank a very good red wine from the Czech Republic that was excellent. The beer was also excellent, as it was all across Europe. When the bartenders and waiters figured out that I like beer, they started serving me in a bigger glass. Very perceptive, those boys and girls. I would highly recommend buying the package. It is well worth the money. I'm not sure, but I think you can buy it on board before the ship sales. You can ask about that if you are interested in purchasing it.

Ceasar is Ceasar Reyes, who works for Viking and booked our cruise.

[indianrider]

What I can't understand is, why would anyone take a wine cruise if they don't even drink red wine? Doesn't make sense to me?

[pinotlover]

My wife and I are primarily wine drinkers, fwiw, but drink a wide variety of other spirits.. However, incredible European wines, in Europe, can be procured for prices at some times less than half of the US retail prices. Take away transportation and all the horrid excise, sin, and sales taxes along with a gouging three tier distribution system prevalent in the US and the deals are everywhere. It always ticks me off, upon returning home, to find bottle of wine that I paid about $30 per bottle for in Europe cost $80 when I get back to the States! :mad: I can drink gin and tonics anytime at home, why drink them there with all the other great local wine possibilities? :)

 

Our September cruise will start in Burgundy, go through the Cote du Rhone wine area, and then to Chat de Pape. Many of the greatest wines, both white and red, in the world come from those areas. It is far more economical for us to buy these incredible wines locally and drink them on board than to have simple mixed cocktails from the vessel. Many of the river cruises, except Russia, go through wonderful wine areas, ie Rhine (Germany), Duoro (Portugfal), Rhone (France), Danube (Austria). If we purchase anything other than wine to consume, it will probably be a great cognac for after dinner.

[indianrider]

pinotlover:

I wholly concur with you. My wife and I are like you-basically wine is our main beverage of choice but enjoy a cold pint and a fine single malt. There is an interesting article in Wine spectator this month about a wine negociant(buyer) in France who states that a Chateau Lynch-Bage bordeaux was bought from the winery for $53 and by the time it hit the retail shelves, it was way over $200. The article justifies your statement. I started drinking wine in the early 1970's and you could get great white burgundies like a Batard-Montrachet for $12-15! I certainly miss those days before China almost single-handedly drove up the fine wine prices. It will be a wonderful experience for us as we are sailing in Bordeaux in Sept this year and hope to find some wine bargains! I don't expect to find many though as it seems the prices for French wine have hopelessly risen to levels that they cannot come down from.

Edited March 24, 2014 by indianrider

[indianrider]

I have considered the upgrade package but I ruled it out for these reasons:

There are many wine and liquor shops on or near the boat dock. You can drink anywhere on board the ship and can take your own wines to dinner without a corkage fee. Say you love single malts-you buy a bottle at the dock and take it on with you. You can pour a glass in your room and take it to the sun deck, lounge or in the bar! The only reason in my opinion to buy the package is if you want specialized cocktails that you cannot make(blue Hawaiian?) and plan to drink 30 of them. Then it makes financial sense to buy it. BTW: the upgraded wines in the package are not that much better than what you are offered for free

[deec]

Did anyone save a list of their favorite wines in the ports along the Grand European...budapest to Amsterdam? I am not a huge fan of sweet German wines although others in our group do like them. Any Reisling suggestions?

 

will there be wine stores/spirit stores? or waht do we look for. we had a wonderful guide one time in Florence who took us to the grocery store and gave perfect suggestions...we were able to bring a few bottles back on the cruise ship without them being taken :).