Wine By The Glass -Limited choices, even with Premium Package

[queenofcruise]

Wow,on our Solstice cruise in November we must have been extremely lucky,lot's of great wines, great bar service...and an amazing cruise!

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

[bigbenboys]

All I know is I ask for wine I get wine.

 

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Forums mobile app

[Bob7]

Just off the Reflection ... other posters have noted that not all wines are available in all venues, and the wine lists available are very incomplete, and both these turned out to be correct. A few sommaliers told us that the wines on board change all the time, such as 2 new red cab-sauv’s, Sundance and Anakena both from Chile, not on any ship wine list. It seemed like everyone was on a free (or purchased) drink plan, we only saw ppl sign for drinks about twice. For the past year or so it seems like both Celeb and the major USA TA’s have offered a free drink plan (along with free grats and OBC) for Celeb ships. We had the classic plan, which includes any wine $9/glass or less. The reds that qualified for the classic plan and were fairly easy to get at any venue were: Sundance (cab), Chile; Castle Rock (pinot noir), USA; Anakena (cab), Chile; Callia, Alta, San Juan (shiraz); Excellsior (cab), So. Africa; Gerard Bertrand, Minervais, France (syrah) (only in the Murano); Poggio Al Tufo, (cab) Toscana (house wine in the Tuscan Grill). They were out of merlots. You can see many of these displayed on the bar counter as you enter the buffet on the right side, and you can examine the bottles. We looked up ratings for them, and they all rated around 88-90, and retail for $8-13 a bottle. Many days they were selling them by the bottle for cabin use, at the buffet entrance, all priced at $20. We cannot tell a hint of caramel from a hint of vanilla, so we would not make it as wine snobs, but we were ok with the wines, much better selection than MSC ships. Here are the classic and premium wine lists below as handed out on the ship, which don’t exactly match with what’s available. The numbers after a few of them are ratings I found.

[niborHS]

I obviously have too much time on my hands, because I read through this whole thread. We will be on a charter on the Summit, so unfortunately didn't have the option of getting any free beverage package, and will lose any benefit of being Celebrity Elite. We also were not able to get a sky suite by the time we booked, which is what we usually book. Not because we get any upgrades, for whoever mentioned maybe booking a suite next time, but because it is nice to be able to walk around in your room without having to tell your spouse to stand in the corner so you can open the bathroom door. We are also wine collectors, sailing with wine collectors. I will discount a few remarks, especially the person who mentioned white zinfandel in the same breath as wine.

We always say that anyone can spend $50 retail for wine and pick out a good wine, but it's spending less than $15 for a good wine that is a skill. However, I also don't like to pay $60 a bottle for a $15 bottle of wine.

Can anyone give me an idea of what good red wines they may sell on board for $100? I went to the list someone posted of wines by the glass. Their 2nd most expensive white was Conundrum for $14.50. I have bought that on sale for around $18, it is a great white wine for BBQ time.

If Host Jezzbeau reads this, you say you are from NY. In the city or metro area? If so I would like to know where you go that charges the price of 1/4 of the bottle by the glass, and they get 5 glasses out of it? Certainly not my experience.

I think we will probably bring as many bottle on board from our own inventory and happily pay the $25 corkage.

[padgman1]

I think we will probably bring as many bottle on board from our own inventory and happily pay the $25 corkage.

 

I don't know if charter rules are different, but Celebrity only allows 2 bottles of wine to be brought on board ( preferably in carryon luggage)....

 

Would ask someone in a Summit thread about wine choices on board, as they will undoubtedly be different from the Reflection list posted above ( but thanks Bob 7 for posting this, as I will be on Reflection in a few days...)

[Mynki]

Indeed, it's 2 bottles per state room.

 

You can carry two bottles onboard in your carryon bag or in your checked bag. However if you were to make the unfortunate mistake of carrying two bottles in each it's fair to say that no one would ever know. :)

[Cinerama]

This will be our first cruise with Celebrity on 4/30. I'll have to see if the wine selection is similar to Princess (see below):

 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2017 by Cinerama

[Mynki]

This will be our first cruise with Celebrity on 4/30. I'll have to see if the wine selection is similar to Princess (see below):

 

 

 

 

Celebrity has a much wider selection of wines on board (by the bottle) . The prices are significantly higher.

 

And for those aged 18 to 21 you can actually drink on board an X ship if it sails from Europe or elsewhere that allows under 21's to drink legally. I mention that as I found the info in your picture interesting.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Mynki

[niborHS]

Good idea about taking 2 in carry on and 2 in checked. We will have to decide whether to ship wine from NY to our hotel pre-cruise. We can tell our friends to do that as well. Then we can transfer to our luggage. Maybe this is a reason to take 2 suitcases checked

[SewLady]

I’ve asked this before but never found anyone who has done this …. has anyone who had a bev package taken their own bottle of wine to dinner? … if so, did Celeb try to charge you their huge corkage fee even after you showed them you had the pkg? … (and thereby saving Celeb the cost of providing wine). If you did this, was your bottle opened already or unopened?

 

We’ve got the basic bev package included as a perk next month, and are thinking of using it just for cocktails, beer, pool drinks etc and avoiding the wine selection problem and often slow service by bringing our own, but not if we have to pay $25 a bottle. If they insist on collecting the fee, we could start bringing our own (double) glass to dinner, we see lots of people doing that, but it’s nicer to have the bottle so my DW doesn’t have to walk halfway across the ship in heels balancing a full glass of wine. That was one sweet thing about our last RCL cruise, they dropped the corkage fee, and we somehow came up with 7 bottles of our own to use up. Didn’t have to wait forever for our first glass, and wait forever again for a refill. I guess cash tipping would solve the slow refill problem.

 

Did you bring those 7 bottles of wine on board yourselves? Can you explain if you had to pay corkage at embarkation.

 

Thanks

 

Linda

[Bob7]

Indeed, it's 2 bottles per state room.

 

You can carry two bottles onboard in your carryon bag or in your checked bag. However if you were to make the unfortunate mistake of carrying two bottles in each it's fair to say that no one would ever know. :)

 

=Good idea about taking 2 in carry on and 2 in checked.

 

I thought no wine was allowed on board in checked bags, only carryons. If they scan and find bottles in checked you get called down to the naughty room to hand it over, or they can also remove the wine when they find it and send your bag up to the cabin.

If each person tries to bring 2 in carryon, when they see the 2 bottles they ask who you are with and see what that person has in their carryon. Ppl have said the only way around this is to board separately, tell them your partner is somewhere behind you, but it can't be too far away b/c you normally have to get your ship cards together, which is right after security. Has anyone here ever boarded at a separate time than their partner, each with a copy of the boarding pass, and got their ship cards separately? It's quite a game isn't it?

Edited January 18, 2017 by Bob7
typo

[Hlitner]

They could be from any number of countries who believe that employees should be paid fair wages by their employer and not have to rely on tips. :)

 

Then again you could be referring to the charm, wit and charisma of brits and aussies who's personalities result in great service from bar staff?

 

So here is the funny thing about many folks from those countries. When they know (or think) that employees are not paid a "fair wage" they show their "concern" by refusing to tip (and further stiff the staff). That being said, we do agree that many Brits and Aussies are very charming (especially after a few drinks).

 

Hank

Edited January 18, 2017 by Hlitner

[Cruise Raider]

I thought no wine was allowed on board in checked bags, only carryons. If they scan and find bottles in checked you get called down to the naughty room to hand it over, or they can also remove the wine when they find it and send your bag up to the cabin.

If each person tries to bring 2 in carryon, when they see the 2 bottles they ask who you are with and see what that person has in their carryon. Ppl have said the only way around this is to board separately, tell them your partner is somewhere behind you, but it can't be too far away b/c you normally have to get your ship cards together, which is right after security. Has anyone here ever boarded at a separate time than their partner, each with a copy of the boarding pass, and got their ship cards separately? It's quite a game isn't it?

 

We were on a Pacific Coastal cruise on Celebrity a couple of years back during the spring ... although it was one of the furthest things from a typical 'spring break cruise' that you could even imagine.

Anyhow, they were collecting all bottles of wine and champagne when pax were boarding and then you had to get it back once you boarded. When you picked up your wine, they checked off how many bottles went to each room and kept anything beyond the two bottles you were allowed to bring.

When we were all at the connections party, somebody asked the cruise director why they did this and his answer was 'we read cruise critic all the time'. HA!!! So there you have it!! We had the beverage package so didn't affect us at all ... but others weren't so fortunate. They lost their bottles of wine after lugging it all over the place to 'sneak' it onto the ship.

[Cinerama]

Celebrity has a much wider selection of wines on board (by the bottle) . The prices are significantly higher.

 

So, Celebrity has a wider selection than Princess but you have to buy a bottle to get it?

 

By the glass they have less of a selection than Princess and the prices are higher?

[jagoffee]

So, Celebrity has a wider selection than Princess but you have to buy a bottle to get it?

 

By the glass they have less of a selection than Princess and the prices are higher?

 

From my experience Celebrity's prices are significantly higher. I did not find that Princess had more selections of wines by the glass. I did find that since Princess only has one alcohol drink package that Princess has more wine selections in their base package. In other words, more wines for $10 or less a glass. Celebrity has many wines by the glass about the $10 price and $13 a glass range. Therefore you do not need to buy a bottle to get to get a wider selection, but you do need to have more than the Classic package.

[uktog]

Currently on Eclipse. Luminae sommelier Maggie is excellent. We leave the choice to her based on our premium package and what food we are choosing and her choices have been excellent.

Our visit to Murano was also satisfactory but in Tuscan as soon as the sommelier knew we were on a package he completely disengaged with an inferior offer and we had to plead for a refill so the individual serving makes the difference.

[Mynki]

So, Celebrity has a wider selection than Princess but you have to buy a bottle to get it?

 

By the glass they have less of a selection than Princess and the prices are higher?

 

Apologies I should have explained better.

 

Celebrity charge more than Princess. As has been pointed out, quite a bit more.

 

There are more wines available in total on board Celebrity. Not all of these are available by the glass though as you will have realised from reading this thread.

 

Hope that makes sense? I'm not actually sure how many wines by the glass both lines have as it can change from sailing to sailing. Though if you have a premium drinks package with Celebrity you have a reasonable number to enjoy. I agree with Jagofee that you might find the classic package a little bit limited though.

[Mynki]

I thought no wine was allowed on board in checked bags, only carryons. If they scan and find bottles in checked you get called down to the naughty room to hand it over, or they can also remove the wine when they find it and send your bag up to the cabin.

If each person tries to bring 2 in carryon, when they see the 2 bottles they ask who you are with and see what that person has in their carryon. Ppl have said the only way around this is to board separately, tell them your partner is somewhere behind you, but it can't be too far away b/c you normally have to get your ship cards together, which is right after security. Has anyone here ever boarded at a separate time than their partner, each with a copy of the boarding pass, and got their ship cards separately? It's quite a game isn't it?

 

Genuinely don't know about any rules forbidding wine in checked baggage. But we've done it and never had an issue.

[wallie5446]

Genuinely don't know about any rules forbidding wine in checked baggage. But we've done it and never had an issue.

 

Same here, no issue.

[Bob7]

Genuinely don't know about any rules forbidding wine in checked baggage. But we've done it and never had an issue.

Same here, no issue.

You're right, nothing on the Celeb site about how to bring it on board, I assumed it was like the other cruise lines. So if some is in your checked and some in carryon, how do they know when you reached your limit of 2?

(snip)Anyhow, they were collecting all bottles of wine and champagne when pax were boarding and then you had to get it back once you boarded. When you picked up your wine, they checked off how many bottles went to each room and kept anything beyond the two bottles you were allowed to bring.

That would be a way to control the amount, but they weren't doing that on the Refl this month. Of course no way to know if they were scanning checked bags.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Bob7

[Mynki]

Honestly, this is my only Celebrity complaint!

 

I'm happy with many of the changes that the cruise line (Lisa) have made and my recent sailings have been nothing but marvelous. But, come on! Wine choices, by the glass, are pretty pitiful. Although no wine expert, I know my way around Reds. Most of the choices in the Classic Package are barely drinkable, IMO, and I don't find many in the Premium to my liking (even the ones I pay a few dollars extra per glass, because they're over the cap).

 

It frosts my cookies, when I've willingly paid an already steep price for the Premium Package, to have to buy "good" wines by the bottle.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Here's one unfortunate observation on our current trip. I wanted to try the Pacific Rim riesling desert wine in Luminae. Unfortunately the sommelier was out but would get 'the bottle' the following night which she did.

 

It was quite enjoyable so tried to order a glass the following evening too. Only to be told that it had all been sold. So.... despite being advertised on the Luminae desert menu nightly, the ship set sail with one bottle. Or to be more exact, one half bottle.

 

Maggie did however produce a delightful moscatel instead though.

[chamima]

So, Celebrity has a wider selection than Princess but you have to buy a bottle to get it?

 

By the glass they have less of a selection than Princess and the prices are higher?

 

 

Yes, this has been our experience.

The prices are significantly higher, whether by the glass or by the bottle.

Edited January 29, 2017 by chamima

[chisoxfan]

Thanks for quick response - Princess is $15.

 

I thought this was the case also but fooling around looking at a future Princess Panama Canal cruise where we were given the drink package saw on the Princess site that it was now 10 dollars. Assume this was a downgrade. Wish this was incorrect but it is what is shown currently.

 

A fascinating and passionate post. We have been happy with the X premium package and I can live happily for a few weeks drinking what is offered.

I am 'fortunate' (not my liver so much) to enjoy high end wines (100-400 bottle) in the course of frequent dining with customers and I enjoy many (nickel and nickel, leonitti, caymus,jordan being my favorite reds) nice wines but frankly I am not compelled to buy these out of my own pocket for home use. I am perfectly happy drinking 10-25 dollar bottles. I enjoy some expensive craft beers also but can thoroughly enjoy a cold Bud Light during my cruise.

 

If wine quality is so critical I am sure some of the premium cruise lines can indulge this need better. JMHO

[chamima]

I thought this was the case also but fooling around looking at a future Princess Panama Canal cruise where we were given the drink package saw on the Princess site that it was now 10 dollars. Assume this was a downgrade. Wish this was incorrect but it is what is shown currently.

 

A fascinating and passionate post. We have been happy with the X premium package and I can live happily for a few weeks drinking what is offered.

I am 'fortunate' (not my liver so much) to enjoy high end wines (100-400 bottle) in the course of frequent dining with customers and I enjoy many (nickel and nickel, leonitti, caymus,jordan being my favorite reds) nice wines but frankly I am not compelled to buy these out of my own pocket for home use. I am perfectly happy drinking 10-25 dollar bottles. I enjoy some expensive craft beers also but can thoroughly enjoy a cold Bud Light during my cruise.

 

If wine quality is so critical I am sure some of the premium cruise lines can indulge this need better. JMHO

 

 

 

The response you referred to was a question about the corkage fee for bringing your own bottle.

Celebrity is $25 - Princess is $15

 

If you're asking about the by-the-glass- limits for wine in drink packages,

Celebrity's Classic package is (I think) $9/glass and the Premium is $13.

(We always upgrade, which is why I'm not positive what the Classic limit is)

With Princess's beverage package the limit is $10/glass.

HOWEVER, that $10 glass covers most of their by-the-glass wines and is far more comprehensive than Celebrity's wine by the glass offerings.

 

Like you though, we save our fine wine drinking for home and have no problem finding something within package limits wherever we are.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

I have read this with interest. Lots of good discussion, pertinent for us because we have 3 upcoming cruises, B2B, on Eclipse for the first time. The first is a TA which goes to Lisbon.

 

If we bought two bottles of wine in Lisbon, they would confiscate them--would we get them back at the end of that first cruise or would they hold them till the end of the third cruise? Does anyone know?

 

We have no alcohol package on the TA; classic on the next two. This thread has helped as we deliberate upgrading to Premium, as we have done before. We have found, as many of you have, that options decrease each year. I think the advice to those with Classic to wait till on board before making the additional investment to Premium is solid. At least there would be opportunity to survey the landscape.

 

What makes it hard is the wide variations from bar to bar, ship to ship, cruise to cruise. Perhaps that in itself is pretty revealing about Celebrity and beverage packages.