Corkage fee explanation wanted

[HMSDingy]

If I bring onboard more than the allowed 1 bottle per person, how is the corkage fee assessed? Do they charge your account a fee per bottle or as they uncork the bottle for you. Heck if its the latter I can bring my own corkscrew and do the deed myself and save some bucks:D

[I_heart_vaca]

Official line: Your luggage is scanned/checked before boarding. They allow one bottle per person of wine (or sparkling wine) - after that its $15.

 

We brought on 5 for two of us. We drank some in the room, and we brought 2 to the dining room. We were charged 1 time in the dining room. Maybe because we purchased other drinks and other bottles, maybe our server just really liked us! :D

 

It seems to be hit or miss depending on server, etc. They have the right to charge you for all of them - or if you bring on more to hold them until the end. I don't know anyone this has happened to.

[Astro Flyer]

After your 1 bottle/person/cruise, if they charge corkage for additional bottles it will be during embarkation & added to your shipboard account. If no fee is charged & you take it to a dining room you'll be charged corkage...even if you bring your own corkscrew & open it yourself. :p

 

Bottles brought on at ports are also subject to corkage fees unless you want them to hold it to take home without charging a fee.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[caribill]

For any bottles that you pay the corkage fees upon embarkation, they will stamp the bottle so that if you bring it to the dining room your waitstaff will know that you have already paid the corkage fee.

 

The "no-corkage" allowance of one bottle per adult passenger will not have a stamp on it. If you consume it in your cabin, no corkage fee. If you bring it to the dining room, the waitstaff is supposed to collect a corkage fee.

[Colo Cruiser]

Its charged to your account, well one of your accounts.

You may as well let them uncork it! Its the same price. :p

Edited June 5, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[fishywood]

After your 1 bottle/person/cruise, if they charge corkage for additional bottles it will be during embarkation & added to your shipboard account. If no fee is charged & you take it to a dining room you'll be charged corkage.

 

There have been multiple reports that the corkage fee required to be paid at the pier upon embarkation is an immediate charge directly to one's credit card, not to the shipboard account. Presumably to not allow any OBC to be used.

[Cruise Junky]

There have been multiple reports that the corkage fee required to be paid at the pier upon embarkation is an immediate charge directly to one's credit card, not to the shipboard account. Presumably to not allow any OBC to be used.

 

Really? Wow missed that one. That's cheap

[Astro Flyer]

There have been multiple reports that the corkage fee required to be paid at the pier upon embarkation is an immediate charge directly to one's credit card, not to the shipboard account. Presumably to not allow any OBC to be used.

 

Thanks...guess I missed those posts.

 

So far I've been lucky & thankfully have no personal experience.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[IECalCruiser]

After your 1 bottle/person/cruise, if they charge corkage for additional bottles it will be during embarkation & added to your shipboard account. If no fee is charged & you take it to a dining room you'll be charged corkage...even if you bring your own corkscrew & open it yourself. :p

 

Bottles brought on at ports are also subject to corkage fees unless you want them to hold it to take home without charging a fee.

"Corkage" is really a misnomer. It is not just the cost to remove the cork, open the screw cap or whatever. It really is a fee to cover the labor cost to serve the wine and clean the wine glasses, replacement of broken glassware and at least part of the profit made on wine that is not sold when you bring your own bottle.

 

 

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[Bill B]

It really is a fee to cover the labor cost to serve the wine and clean the wine glasses, replacement of broken glassware and at least part of the profit made on wine that is not sold when you bring your own bottle.

 

True.

Labor cost - $0.02

Profit - $14.98

[pablo222]

There have been multiple reports that the corkage fee required to be paid at the pier upon embarkation is an immediate charge directly to one's credit card, not to the shipboard account. Presumably to not allow any OBC to be used.

 

Or, because you have not checked in yet, you don't have

a folio number that can be charged.

 

If they charge your credit card, it's all done then.

If they write down your cabin number, someone will

have to go through later, and find your folio number

and enter the charge.

 

If you have extra shipboard credit, just cash it at the casino

and use it to pay the credit card bill, so it's a wash.

[IECalCruiser]

Or, because you have not checked in yet, you don't have

 

a folio number that can be charged.

 

 

 

If they charge your credit card, it's all done then.

 

If they write down your cabin number, someone will

 

have to go through later, and find your folio number

 

and enter the charge.

 

 

 

If you have extra shipboard credit, just cash it at the casino

 

and use it to pay the credit card bill, so it's a wash.

It will depend upon your embarkation port. In San Francisco and LA you check in and get your cruise card before you go through security. In San Francisco we were able to charge our corkage to our cruise card. In Fort Lauderdale, Copenhagen, Seattle and Vancouver you go through security before you get your cruise card. We have not embarked from those ports since the more stringent wine policy. Presumably without a cruise card you would need to pay by credit card.

 

 

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[PunkiC]

We have checked a case of wine in Seattle once and San Pedro twice. On two occasions (once in Seattle and once in San Pedro) they held the wine and delivered it to our room the next day with a chit to sign for the corkage fee on 10 of the bottle. Those bottle were stamped and we could take them anywhere on the ship and they would cork them for no additional charge. The corkage fees were taken out of our on board credit.

 

On our last cruise out of San Pedro, they just delivered the case of wine to our cabin with our lluggage and didn't charge us any corkage fees. We were, however, charged a corkage fee when we took the wine to dinner so in the end it was a wash either way. I almost prefer them to charge the corkage fee up front so we know where we are with our on board spending right from the start.

 

When we buy wine in ports, the checking at reboarding is pretty hit and miss.

 

Our next two cruises are on Cunard and I believe they are a lot more liberal.

[peety3]

True.

Labor cost - $0.02

Profit - $14.98

Think what you wish. Preparing sufficient clean water aboard ship isn't free. Maintaining dishwashing appliances aboard ship isn't cheap. Carrying spare parts aboard the ship to be able to fix normal wear/repair items costs money and adds weight, which adds fuel cost. Broken glasses cost money as well.

[hubofhockey]

I understand that they are still a bit more lax in Europe. Is that still the case?

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

True.

Labor cost - $0.02

Profit - $14.98

 

Those broken glasses can be expensive. ;);)

[Viesczy]

Think what you wish. Preparing sufficient clean water aboard ship isn't free. Maintaining dishwashing appliances aboard ship isn't cheap. Carrying spare parts aboard the ship to be able to fix normal wear/repair items costs money and adds weight, which adds fuel cost. Broken glasses cost money as well.

 

Really?

 

It isn't the fact that they're looking to get back some of the blood money they're losing by folks not paying 400% retail on the over priced swill they serve? It is really the wear/tear on the parts?

 

C'mon!

 

Derek

[Orlando Vic]

I agree that it can be hit or miss. On embarkation in Valparaiso, Chile in March on the Golden, we had 4 bottles and nobody cared. We brought wine aboard in 2 other ports, it was scanned and no corkage fee was charged.

[RetiredNTraveling]

I wasn't aware that you could take a case of wine and pay for corkage! ;) I always thought that you were limited to 1 bottle per person! :confused:

Many thanks for the info! :D

 

We are just, RetiredNTraveling!

[JimmyVWine]

"Corkage" is really a misnomer. It is not just the cost to remove the cork, open the screw cap or whatever. It really is a fee to cover the labor cost to serve the wine and clean the wine glasses, replacement of broken glassware and at least part of the profit made on wine that is not sold when you bring your own bottle.

 

We bring our own stems on board and use them in the dining rooms, bring them back to our cabin and wash them ourselves, and we still pay the fee. But we don't care. PCL still has the best personal wine policy of any line in its price class and will get our businesses in no small part because of it.

[PunkiC]

I wasn't aware that you could take a case of wine and pay for corkage! ;) I always thought that you were limited to 1 bottle per person! :confused:

Many thanks for the info! :D

 

We are just, RetiredNTraveling!

 

We have a length of strong, lightweight, spinnaker rope that we take with us to make a handle and tie up the case which we usually pre-order by phone and pick up at Trader Joe's in Long Beach on our way to the ship. We also print out and laminate a sign that says "Please do not cut or discard this rope" and add it to the case.

 

We always fly into Long Beach a day early when we sail out of San Pedro, and have found that the most convenient and cost-effective way to get from the airport to the port is to just rent a car from Enterprise, then stay at the Double Tree, where we are able to leave the car for a nominal fee. That gives us the freedom to get our wine, do our last minute shopping, and run around and visit friends and family in the car before we board.

 

On departure day, usually just drive to the ship, check the wine and our one large bag, and then drive back to the hotel, drop off the car and take their free shuttle back to the ship.

 

In Seattle we only live about mile or so from the dock so DH drives me (or me and whatever friends with whom we are sailing) and the luggage down to the dock, drops us off and then drives back home and parks the car and either takes a taxi or gets a friend or neighbor to drive him back to the dock.

 

Last year a friend who wanted to show off his new Tesla volunteered to drive him down. Men are so funny. :)

[33DayCruiser]

I think it all depends on the Princess people around you. We buy wine in almost every port we visit (love red wine!) and have never had any issues bringing it aboard except when we buy more than 1 per person...then they hold it, no charge, until the end of cruise.

Also Head Waiter usually waives the corkage fee after meeting with us the first day. Lots of wine talk helps too....work with HW's passions on food and wine.

 

Last cruise HW was from Portugal. Absolutely loved him. He treated us like royalty. And he always schmoozed us with special dishes at dinner when he found out DH has some Portugese ancestry!

[jrirish]

Must you carry the bottle to dinner each evening or will they store them for you ahead of time? If you don't finish will they hold it for the next evening? Does the same process hold true for the specialty restaurants? Thanks.

 

 

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[Astro Flyer]

Must you carry the bottle to dinner each evening or will they store them for you ahead of time? If you don't finish will they hold it for the next evening? Does the same process hold true for the specialty restaurants? Thanks.

 

 

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They will store your wine for another day & when going to a different restaurant tell them where you previously had it.

[IECalCruiser]

They will store your wine for another day & when going to a different restaurant tell them where you previously had it.

We almost always make a wine bottle last two days. On our last cruise they were adding a specific number to the bottle (the number on our cruise card?) and giving us a receipt. Think this made it easier to find when you move between restaurants. When they allowed magnums on board we brought two on board one cruise. We ate at Sabatini's the first night and they had a problem finding our bottle in the Dining Room the next evening. I told them it shouldn't be too hard to find as it was probably the only magnum being stored :eek: That was the rare exception and it gave us a chuckle.

 

 

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