Wines and corkage and bars, Oh my! (Signature Beverage Pkg, Beverage Cards & Corkage)

[flychick737]

POA1 - THANK-YOU for your detailed response & help!!

 

Thank-you everyone for all of the responses it is greatly appreciated!! :cool: i love this forum!

[flychick737]

POA1 - I'm also pretty excited about the 1l bottle of GIN!! The are going to be pretty stiff drinks with only 3 cans of mix! lmao

[POA1]

POA1 - I'm also pretty excited about the 1l bottle of GIN!! The are going to be pretty stiff drinks with only 3 cans of mix! lmao

 

Yes, I'm guessing that the little ice cubes don't stand a chance! :)

 

You'll be pretty close to a 1:1 G to T ratio.

Edited April 9, 2014 by POA1

[flychick737]

Well that didn't take me long to come up with more questions.....:rolleyes:

 

1) What is this $1 Happy Hour I've seen posted?!!! When, where, OMG.....:o

 

2) 1/2 Price wine OB?! When, where........

 

POA1 - It will be a 3g:1t ratio! lol

Edited April 9, 2014 by flychick737

[POA1]

POA1 - THANK-YOU for your detailed response & help!!

 

Thank-you everyone for all of the responses it is greatly appreciated!! :cool: i love this forum!

 

You're very welcome. We're not just in it for the thrill of scientific discovery. We enjoy helping people.

[POA1]

Well that didn't take me long to come up with more questions.....:rolleyes:

 

1) What is this $1 Happy Hour I've seen posted?!!! When, where, OMG.....:o

 

2) 1/2 Price wine OB?! When, where........

 

POA1 - It will be a 3g:1t ratio! lol

 

Happy Hours vary by ship and you will find them listed in the daily programs. On our sailing, happy hours were held from 4 - 5 in the Ocean Bar and Crow's Nest. There was a second happy hour from 6 - 7 in the same venues. There was a late happy hour from 11-12 in the Northern Lights disco. You can get a second drink of the same kind for a dollar when you buy one at regular price. The Happy Hour pricing applies to any drink with a menu price of $6.95 or less.

 

The half price wine packages are for four and five star Mariners. Three star Mariners save 25%. For anyone else, happy hour is the best you can do.

[flychick737]

Happy Hours vary by ship and you will find them listed in the daily programs. On our sailing, happy hours were held from 4 - 5 in the Ocean Bar and Crow's Nest. There was a second happy hour from 6 - 7 in the same venues. There was a late happy hour from 11-12 in the Northern Lights disco. You can get a second drink of the same kind for a dollar when you buy one at regular price. The Happy Hour pricing applies to any drink with a menu price of $6.95 or less.

 

The half price wine packages are for four and five star Mariners. Three star Mariners save 25%. For anyone else, happy hour is the best you can do.

 

Great - Thanks! I am 1 day short of being a 4*....so sad when status counts! lol

 

I will be taking advantage of the happy hour at least! :D

[POA1]

Great - Thanks! I am 1 day short of being a 4*....so sad when status counts! lol

 

I will be taking advantage of the happy hour at least! :D

 

Check the program when you first get to your room. Prior to our most recent trip, we had never seen a happy hour on the first day of the cruise. But on the Noordam, they had happy hour on the first day. It was up in the Crow's Nest, which is a great place for sail away. Have good trip!

[SeaWatch]

Check the program when you first get to your room. Prior to our most recent trip, we had never seen a happy hour on the first day of the cruise. But on the Noordam, they had happy hour on the first day. It was up in the Crow's Nest, which is a great place for sail away. Have good trip!

 

You have inspired me to Develop a rigorous training regimen in order to meet the 15 drinks one day requirement!

[TheEmerson]

Has anyone sailed under the Explore 4 program where the cabin had more than two people? In my upcoming cruise there will be four of us in the cabin. I am wondering if anyone knows if the third and fourth passanger also get a Signature Beverage Package card, or just the first two.

[POA1]

Has anyone sailed under the Explore 4 program where the cabin had more than two people? In my upcoming cruise there will be four of us in the cabin. I am wondering if anyone knows if the third and fourth passanger also get a Signature Beverage Package card, or just the first two.

 

Earlier in this thread, someone posted that their paperwork indicated that it was only the first two passengers. I'm not sure how that jibes with the "all adults in the cabin have to purchase the Signature Beverage Package" part of the policy. I'd suggest that you call HAL or have your TA check. I know it's something that a lot of people will want to know now that the Explore 4 SBP is starting to kick in.

 

If you find the answer and could post it here, that would be really helpful. It might even get you one of the coveted Associate Professor titles. :)

[happythoughts]

POA-

 

havent's seen this mentioned. Do the ships have an iced coffee menu too?

[POA1]

POA-

 

havent's seen this mentioned. Do the ships have an iced coffee menu too?

 

They have iced coffee & various cold coffee variants at the Explorations Cafe. I don't recall seeing any boozy versions though.

[Karen H]

POA1 - the entire research team ROCKS!!!

 

We will be on the Noordam out of Venice for 22 days in September and the SBC was included as a perk when we made our reservation. Via this thread I have been visualizing your teams cruise and what is yet to be for DH and I.

 

Congratulations on some great research "papers".

 

Karen

[POA1]

POA1 - the entire research team ROCKS!!!

 

We will be on the Noordam out of Venice for 22 days in September and the SBC was included as a perk when we made our reservation. Via this thread I have been visualizing your teams cruise and what is yet to be for DH and I.

 

Congratulations on some great research "papers".

 

Karen

 

We appreciate the feedback. Yours is by far the biggest thank you we've gotten - in terms of font size, especially.;)

[POA1]

Here's an interesting article on restaurant corkage from Eater. I'm linking to the mobile version of the article, but if you are on a desktop, the site's server should present you with the full version.

 

http://m.eater.com/archives/2012/09/07/corkage-culture.php

 

It's nice to see that there are a lot of opinions all around. :cool:

[onlyleigh]

Here's an interesting article on restaurant corkage from Eater. I'm linking to the mobile version of the article, but if you are on a desktop, the site's server should present you with the full version.

 

http://m.eater.com/archives/2012/09/07/corkage-culture.php

 

It's nice to see that there are a lot of opinions all around. :cool:

 

I found the article very interesting. As a Californian who does drink wine in restaurants and who does not BYOB at all, I agree with most of the article. RESTAURANTS can do what they want. But restaurants on land do not have cabins or bedrooms in them normally. Ships do. I have NO objection to corkage fees in the dining room or at finer restaurants if I brought my own bottle into the restaurant. That is what the article referred to - Wine brought INTO A RESTAURANT by a patron for consumption WITHIN THE RESTAURANT property. The restaurant must then open the wine and pour it, thus the corkage (service) fee.

 

HAL is trying to force us to pay a corkage (service) fee for wine consumed in our homes (cabins). It's as if HAL is saying the entire ship, top to bottom, is their restaurant. If that is their position, then everyone should feel free to eat wherever they wish on board. (I know some people already do so and that's a whole other issue)

 

But, again, I do object to paying a corkage fee for bringing my own wine back to my home (cabin) for consumption in my home (cabin).

 

Back to the basic point. First it was hard liquor (yes, you used to be able to bring that on board free). Now it's the wine, the water and the sodas.

 

What is next?

 

And, I also agree that the exchange of ideas is good.

 

Perhaps the real problem is that the cruise lines are trying to stay one step ahead of the passengers and the reality is that for every rule they come up with, we can all come up with a way to get around it.

 

Maybe those who are on the dock and not carrying wine on board can stand with a sign that says, $5 per bottle to carry your extra wine on board. :) That way every non-drinking passenger can make $10. Like I said, if they invent a rule, someone is going to figure out a way around it. Better to not have the rules and let us enjoy our vacations.

 

I hope at some point they remember that happy passengers does tend to spend more and an unhappy one can seal that wallet up really fast.

[Divi]

This has been a very informative, fun thread to read. Thank you.

We had the Explore4 package on our upcoming 10 day Med cruise . After reading part of this thread, I checked the current price of our cruise.

The price drop was more than the $500 plus the free Pinnacle Grill dinner per person offered by Explore4.

We were able to cancel and rebook getting the same staterooms.

Having now read through the whole thread, I am reassured that we have made the right decision.

Cheers! 🍷

[POA1]

This has been a very informative, fun thread to read. Thank you.

We had the Explore4 package on our upcoming 10 day Med cruise . After reading part of this thread, I checked the current price of our cruise.

The price drop was more than the $500 plus the free Pinnacle Grill dinner per person offered by Explore4.

We were able to cancel and rebook getting the same staterooms.

Having now read through the whole thread, I am reassured that we have made the right decision.

Cheers!

 

Glad we could help. It's a little bit of work to get your money's worth out of the Signature Beverage Package. We were in the Caribbean and had been to all of the ports many times. If we had been somewhere new, or on a more port-intensive itinerary, it would definitely be tough.

 

My guess is that you are making a sound decision. Have a great trip!

[POA1]

Based on the recent reporting from the world-famous (and we don't use that term lightly here at the Institute for Cheer) Kazu, we have an update to the information we previously gave you on the Wine Check In Process. When our team sailed at the end of February, the wine stewards counted the number of bottles we were bringing onto the ship, placed stickers on all the bottles for which corkage had been paid, and gave us room charge slips to sign with the amount of corkage to be paid. There was no recording of our individual bottles. It was just a count, sticker, and charge process.

 

According to Kazu's empirical observations and under her eagle-eyed scrutiny, we now know that Holland America is actually recording what wine you bring on board. Both her free and corkage paid wines were recorded. She sailed on the Maasdam on March 28th, just about a month after we sailed on the Noordam. Both voyages left from Fort Lauderdale, so it's likely that the chronicling of the individual bottles is a new addition to the check in process.

 

While it is possible that the difference in processes is due to the fact that the Maasdam is an S class ship, while the Noordam is a larger, Vista class vessel, I would not be surprised to see the HAL jotting down all our carry on wines going forward. At this point, we're not sure what they're doing with the extra information.

 

Edited April 13, 2014 by POA1
Serious verb-tense agreement issues.

[julenow]

They have iced coffee & various cold coffee variants at the Explorations Cafe. I don't recall seeing any boozy versions though.

 

 

You can have shots of a variety of liquor added to the coffees for $1 per shot.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[kazu]

Based on the recent reporting from the world-famous (and we don't use that term lightly here at the Institute for Cheer) Kazu, we have an update to the information we previously gave you on the Wine Check In Process. When our team sailed at the end of February, the wine stewards counted the number of bottles we were bringing onto the ship, placed stickers on all the bottles for which corkage had been paid, and gave us room charge slips to sign with the amount of corkage to be paid. There was no recording of our individual bottles. It was just a count, sticker, and charge process.

 

According to Kazu's empirical observations and under her eagle-eyed scrutiny, we now know that Holland America is actually recording what wine you bring on board. Both her free and corkage paid wines were recorded. She sailed on the Maasdam on March 28th, just about a month after we sailed on the Noordam. Both voyages left from Fort Lauderdale, so it's likely that the chronicling of the individual bottles is a new addition to the check in process.

 

While it is possible that the difference in processes is due to the fact that the Maasdam is an S class ship, while the Noordam is a larger, Vista class vessel, I would not be surprised to see the HAL jotting down all our carry on wines going forward. At this point, we're not sure what they're doing with the extra information.

 

 

In the interest of reporting, this intrepid explorer did ask if this could lead to a change in the wine selections on board both at the dock when they recorded and later in a one on one at the wine tastings - the reply - we have limited room on board for wines - but....... (not sure what the but was and the mumbling after that no one could hear - and yes my hearing works great) - we can just hope that they may have looked at a couple that we brought on that wouldn't break the bank even with their mark ups but would be a lot more palatable than some of the ones offered currently.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't call myself empirical, but I did keep my eye out in the interest of knowing more for this all important study

[S1drfl]

Another research assistant reporting in from the Nieuw Amsterdam somewhere between the Azores and Gibraltar. We brought a case aboard on April 6th and wine data was not recorded when we did so, unlike when we boarded the Oosterdam in Sydney early in February. Looks like they are still ironing out the details.

[GregnChris]

My take on the banning of hard liquor and the corkage on wine.

 

HAL is trying hard to keep the price for the cabins competitive. In doing that, they have to find other ways to bring in profits. Hence the corkage fee, ban on hard liquor, charges for sodas, etc.

 

I think it is kind of like the checked baggage fee most airlines now charge. You need to factor that cost into the total ticket price.

 

Greg

[POA1]

Another research assistant reporting in from the Nieuw Amsterdam somewhere between the Azores and Gibraltar. We brought a case aboard on April 6th and wine data was not recorded when we did so, unlike when we boarded the Oosterdam in Sydney early in February. Looks like they are still ironing out the details.

 

Thanks for the update. I still remember your pioneering work from early February. You were the first person who posted about an actual experience with the new wine carry on policy when you boarded the Oosterdam in Sydney.

 

We salute your groundbreaking work, blazing a trail for all who would follow in your footsteps. Your name is on a plaque here at the Institute of Cheer. :cool: