Royal Caribbean removes corkage fee for bottles of wine

[Marcus305]

Thanks for the responses. :)

[Gingerbint]

Currently on the Oasis TA, asked two different people on two different days and both have said the corkage fee still applies.

One had not heard of this new 'policy' and the other said I was the second person to ask and they then checked with the 'wine person' in charge and they also confirmed the fee was still in place!

So it may be coming in but on the ships currently there is nothing known about it yet by the staff!

[kapcruiser]

We will be packing wine in our luggage on airplane, the only plastic bottles we can find our small. If we bring 4 small each they equal 750ml

Is that ok? We have fine this numerous times at Miami port on carnival.

[Ourusualbeach]

We will be packing wine in our luggage on airplane, the only plastic bottles we can find our small. If we bring 4 small each they equal 750ml

Is that ok? We have fine this numerous times at Miami port on carnival.

 

Others have reported that they have had those taken.

[kapcruiser]

That's stinks, now I'll have to think of something else. I'm afraid a glass bottle could break in luggage.

[Slonik]

That's stinks, now I'll have to think of something else. I'm afraid a glass bottle could break in luggage.

 

 

Put the bottle in a large ziplock bag (2 gallon size) and then roll it in clothes for extra cushioning. No guarantees but if it does break, should be contained by the ziplock bag. Then you have bag-o-wine!

 

 

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[www]

Thanks for the info, I could not find it on their website. Think I'll bring 2 bottles of wine this time :)

[robtulipe]

That's stinks, now I'll have to think of something else. I'm afraid a glass bottle could break in luggage.

 

Go with wine boxes.

We've brought liter box wine on most of our cruises in the last few years. Not only can you get some decent and well priced wines in these cartons, they are also very durable, weigh less (about 10%), hold 1/3 more and take up less space than 750ml glass bottles which is better especially when travelling by air. As a precaution I do put them in a sealed plastic bag but like I mentioned these are extremely durable. You can also get smaller wine boxes like 750 and 500ml sizes.

We've never had a problem bringing these onboard. In fact we've never even been asked about them whether they have been in our carry on bags or checked luggage.

Edited October 21, 2014 by robtulipe

[TADCruise]

That's stinks, now I'll have to think of something else. I'm afraid a glass bottle could break in luggage.

 

 

 

There are several products available to pack wine bottles safely for travel.

 

http://www.winediaper.com/

 

 

 

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[TADCruise]

Put the bottle in a large ziplock bag (2 gallon size) and then roll it in clothes for extra cushioning. No guarantees but if it does break, should be contained by the ziplock bag. Then you have bag-o-wine!

 

 

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Wrapping the bottle in a diaper before placing in the zip lock bag will add another layer of protection. Not only does it add extra padding but the diaper will absorb the wine if the bottle should happen to break.

 

 

 

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[robtulipe]

Here's a picture comparison between a one liter wine carton in a zip lock plastic bag and a 750ml glass wine bottle in a protective bubble sleeve. The box is superior in all aspects, cost, durability, weight and volume. The cost alone of the wine diaper is $5 each if three are bought. I didn't pay much more than that for that box wine and the zip bag was a freeby.

 

Edited October 21, 2014 by robtulipe

[Slonik]

The box looks awesome. Can you get good wine in a box these days?

 

 

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[jgoodwin]

I contacted Royal Caribbean to see if I could get an official answer but no such luck, they are still saying the corkage fee applies despite what they say on Twitter. It would be nice if they could just make official statements every time they changed something, at least guests would know where they stand!

[stellarose]

Would love to know before December.

[Ourusualbeach]

I contacted Royal Caribbean to see if I could get an official answer but no such luck, they are still saying the corkage fee applies despite what they say on Twitter. It would be nice if they could just make official statements every time they changed something, at least guests would know where they stand!

 

I would consider announcements by RCI via Twitter and Facebook official announcements. Unfortunately they are not as good at releasing that information to the employees. Looks like the person that you spoke to did not read that memo which is quite common for any new program that gets rolled out.

[PSCruiser]

I would consider announcements by RCI via Twitter and Facebook official announcements. Unfortunately they are not as good at releasing that information to the employees. Looks like the person that you spoke to did not read that memo which is quite common for any new program that gets rolled out.

 

Agree, but if the employees that don't get the information are on the ship, then we are back to square one!

[Bobal]

Agree, but if the employees that don't get the information are on the ship, then we are back to square one!

 

I've taken a screenshot of the Twitter announcement on my phone. I'll be using it as evidence if I need to ;)

[robtulipe]

The box looks awesome. Can you get good wine in a box these days?

 

 

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Check out your local wine stores for labels like Black Box or go to http://www.blackboxwines.com/ or do an internet search using box wines .

I've found the ones we've had are good, especially the ones from Australia but we're not wine connoisseurs.

Edited October 21, 2014 by robtulipe

[Slonik]

I've taken a screenshot of the Twitter announcement on my phone. I'll be using it as evidence if I need to ;)

 

 

I've never cruised before so I don't know the culture/protocol onboard the ships but I might take screenshots of the Twitter and FB announcements and go to the early meet and greets with the captain/entertainment director (I heard sometimes they do Q&A sessions) and bring it up there. These guys should be able to get the message passed along to dining room staff.

 

 

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[WWbytheSEA]

That's stinks, now I'll have to think of something else. I'm afraid a glass bottle could break in luggage.

 

I always use a product called wineskin. Actually sold at the container store. Also it is reusable if you open carefully. I gave them to the bartender at Boleros. He was so appreciative.

[TADCruise]

Here's a picture comparison between a one liter wine carton in a zip lock plastic bag and a 750ml glass wine bottle in a protective bubble sleeve. The box is superior in all aspects, cost, durability, weight and volume. The cost alone of the wine diaper is $5 each if three are bought. I didn't pay much more than that for that box wine and the zip bag was a freeby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was talking about an actual diaper. You can find them for about .75 cents each in vending machines in a lot of department store restrooms. Even at $5.00 each the wine diaper pouches are reusable. Most people that go through the trouble of bringing their own wine do it because they have a particular wine that they like to drink. They prefer to spend $20-$30 on a very good bottle of wine rather than pay $30 on the ship for a bottle they could get for less than $10 on land. Of course paying $5-$10 for a box wine is also better than paying $25+ for a bottle on the ship.

 

 

 

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[kapcruiser]

Do they definately allow the box wine to be taken on ship? That will work for me.

 

I called RCI today about the small plastic bottles equaling 750ml and I was told not allowed. ONLY one bottle per person. Thanks for the heads up.

Edited October 22, 2014 by kapcruiser

[Ourusualbeach]

Do they definately allow the box wine to be taken on ship? That will work for me.

 

I called RCI today about the small plastic bottles equaling 750ml and I was told not allowed. ONLY one bottle per person. Thanks for the heads up.

 

It is 2x750 ml bottles per cabin. Anything other than that you run the risk of it not being allowed.

[LoveyHowell]

. ONLY one bottle per person.

 

It is 2 x 750ML per cabin, does not matter if there is 1, 2, 3, or 4 people in the room. So no, it is not one bottle per person.

[Eliisa77]

We´ll have two connecting cabins with our children, one adult in each. So in principal we can bring four bottles?