M Class: Cellar Masters to Become Gastropubs

[soxfan2013]

Contrary to many reports here, the enomatic wine machines (3 of them) are still operational in Cellar Masters on Summit (some other posters had said the enomatic machines had been closed or removed). The impact of this for those on premium drink packages is that there remains a very limited offering of premium wines by the glass (upwards of $20) on Summit to which you can upgrade using your $13/glass credit. I think the most expensive wine by the glass on the whole ship was a Freemark Abbey Cabernet for $19.50 which I didn't really like. Bummer.

 

Turns out, based on this limited selection of premium wines by the glass, independent of the enomatic wine machines, I preferred the Malbec as my "go to" wine, which is free by the glass in the premium package...having tried many wines.

 

Overall, on the ship, my favorite wine available by the glass was the Caymus Special Selection, which is available in the machines for about $35/glass. As for whites, I'd probably say my favorite was the Grgich Hills or Cakebread Chardonnays ($24-$30ish, I think).

 

But according to the Cellar Masters sommelier, the wine machines are doomed on M Class ships...all now officially to be replaced by Gastropubs. This is supposedly due to too many breakdowns (although the engineering team has supposedly become more adept at fixing them on board), combined with too limited use.

 

I suspect the latter is the case: perhaps the customer base on the M class ships cannot justify the wine machines and they feel they can make more money with an extensive beer selection -- but I didn't really think Cellar Masters was very busy on Refection, but still busier and more business than on Summit.

 

On an anecdotal note: on our recent trip on Summit, the "high end" wine tasting at Cellar Masters was $50 person and offered a selection of Italian wines over $100/bottle (4 were in this category). This is what the sommelier thought he could sell to this audience. This past winter on Reflection, the premium tasting was $100+ per person and included Caymus Special Selection and Puligny Montrachet, plus an excellent desert wine (all the wines were very good) -- they had 2 sessions w 8 ppl each were sold out.

 

Also, on a wine related note, the Celebrity Champagne which you get for free in your room in Aqua Class has a value of $35 which you can exchange for a bottle of wine plus the cost difference at a restaurant -- if you are on a premium package, your 20% wine bottle discount will not apply to the this bottle exchange/upgrade option. We exchanged two bottles ($70) for an $84 bottle of Hess Collection Cabernet 2011, which was a pretty good upgrade...we then used the remaining $35 credit from our third bottle towards a $54 bottle of rose from Provence on a subsequent night.

Edited September 1, 2015 by soxfan2013