Prepare to pay

[VMax1700]

2 minutes ago, Cajuntraveler said:

If you pay the corkage fee, can you drink the wine anywhere on the ship?

yes absolutely anywhere! (except pool or hot tubs etc!)

Take it to the dining room and if you don't finish it then the waiter will store it for you for the next night. 

[VMax1700]

Occasionally  it may be that the desk is not set up when you board or indeed there may be no one present at the desk to charge the corkage.

On a B2B I have found that if you are back late on turnaround day in Port Everglades, then the corkage desk can be unmanned and you can have a great stateroom party. 🍷

[KirkNC]

My how things have changed over the last five years.  Then you could bring unlimited wine, water and soda onboard.  I remember  a crazy world cruiser, maybe 2015?, that literally showed up at the dock with a pallet of beverages and cartons of cigarettes.  Then they put the two bottle limit in place and now zero (unless you pay corkage). 

[Horizon chaser 1957]

19 hours ago, KirkNC said:

O’ no, someone from HAL will read this and they will add a “peel” fee for those creamers 😳

To dignify the expense, it would be termed a “peelage’ fee.😁

[KirkNC]

2 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

To dignify the expense, it would be termed a “peelage’ fee.😁

Love it!  They could also apply to any stray oranges someone tries to bring on board.

[kazu]

21 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I never understood why anyone would want to bring their own bottle except to save money.

 

For some, it is fun to try new wines from the wine list.     oh well

 

For some, it’s not about money (yes I am talking about me 😉) - there are a ton of good wines available in Europe and even many from the world at Total Wine.  Wines we can’t get here and wines that HAL doesn’t have on board.  I have no problem to pay the corkage fee at all 😉 

 

21 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Saving money?  Absolutely not the prime reason!  

Buy a couple of good wines ($30/40 per bottle) and take it on board.  That wine is now costing you $50/60 when the corkage is paid.  Same wine from the wine list would be $90/100 + service charge.   So yes, you could say saving money, but I look at it that I can enjoy a better wine than the wine I could afford to buy from the wine list.

 

 

And, wines that are better that are not even on HAL’s wine list 😉 

[john2003]

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

At least being 4 Star you can purchase a wine package at 50% off.  Thus, your per bottle cost will only be about $20, depending on which package and how many bottles.  At this price it really does not pay to haul wine onboard IMO (unless you like the higher priced wines).

This is correct and I really appreciate the benefit. 

[ottahand7]

We are bringing a bottle a day onto our NS cruise next month.  21 days - 21 bottles and we are prepared to pay the $20.   The only one that I am bringing that is on the list Roger Jett posted 7/21 is the Ducru Beaucaillou - the 2014 is listed at $429!!    🙄  I am bringing aboard a 1996 that we bought for $45 bottle by the case in 1998.    Yes, we want to save money but we also like to drink good wine.  Our cruise is a special event for us and being able to enjoy a wonderful bottle of wine with a nice steak meal in the PG is worth the work to schlep it to the ship and pay our $20.     Here is our waiter in the PG decanting  a 1997 Phelps Insignia on the Rotterdam February 2019.   He sang while he decanted it.  We don't get this service at home or a perfect dinner I don't have to cook sitting at home in Michigan. 

 

We also dine in our cabin a lot...   

 

Everyone has their own reasons for bringing wine on the ship.   I find that the choices onboard are rather limited or priced in the stratosphere.  It seems it is more hard liquor friendly.  Bourbons and Tequilas are fairly priced.     Okay rant over.  Cheers!   🍾

[XBGuy]

22 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I never understood why anyone would want to bring their own bottle except to save money.

 

For some, it is fun to try new wines from the wine list.     oh well

 

Let me give you my reason for bringing my wine on board.  I do have a modest collection at home.  Being a septuagenarian, the clock is clicking, and, frankly, my intent is to not leave any wine to my estate.  If, I go on a cruise, I do not want to interrupt the disposition process of my cellar.

 

OK. while that answer had some truths, it was, mostly, tongue in cheek.

 

I do, in fact, have some nice wines in my collection, and drinking a nice wine--especially, in the case of many red wines, one that has a few years of age on it--elevates the experience.  This is not to say that there are not some nice wines on the various cruise line wine lists.  More on that, later.

 

Brining my own wine can. also, lead to some ancillary fun.  Towards the end of the meal, I will often offer a taste to our sever or to the headwaiter.  On our last cruise, on a Princess ship, I brought a nice Barolo to the Italian restaurant and shared some with our Peruvian and Mexican servers--Mauricio and Anna.  They enjoyed it, but I subsequently learned that they were both white wine drinkers,  A few days later I brought a pretty unusual Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from an extraordinary vintage year to the Steak restauarant.  Again, I offered a taste to our Chilean server, Claudio.  He brought over a clean glass, and I poured a pretty healthy amount into it.  He was blown away.  The headwaiter walked by, and Claudio offered him a taste.  His eyes opened wide, and he started gushing.  Claudio walked around the room letting his service colleagues have a taste.  It was hilarious.  It gets better.  The next evening we went back to the Italian restaurant.  It turns out that Mauricio had heard about our visit to the Steak restaurant.  Apparently, there was quite a bit of chatter about it on the crew deck.

 

Also, however, I do agree with your comment about exploring new wines.  In our case, Mrs. XBGuy, is. predominantly, a white wine drinker.  Of course, you know that, since opposites attract, I would have to be a red wine drinker.  So, if I bring a red wine to a restaurant, she will order a bottle white wine for herself.  Why not?  Any unfinished wine can be stored by the restaurant staff to be retrieved on another evening, or we can take it back to the cabin to enjoy at our leisure.  When we bring a bottle of white wine, my decision will depend on the menu;  If the menu has an attractive seafood selection, I might just force my wife to share hers.  If I do not see an appealing seafood choice, or, if I spot a dish that calls for a red wine, then I will order a red wine.

 

😀

[Oceansaway17]

16 hours ago, Hlitner said:

LOL that just reinforces the many reasons we avoid bus tours like the plague!  Now, if you brought along some decent caviar perhaps we could talk :).

 

Hank

 

 

eeewwww I hate caviar.   Will stick with my peanut butter unless you have Lobster of course..

[Oceansaway17]

1 hour ago, XBGuy said:

 

Let me give you my reason for bringing my wine on board.  I do have a modest collection at home.  Being a septuagenarian, the clock is clicking, and, frankly, my intent is to not leave any wine to my estate.  If, I go on a cruise, I do not want to interrupt the disposition process of my cellar.

OK. while that answer had some truths, it was, mostly, tongue in cheek.

I do, in fact, have some nice wines in my collection, and drinking a nice wine--especially, in the case of many red wines, one that has a few years of age on it--elevates the experience.  This is not to say that there are not some nice wines on the various cruise line wine lists.  More on that, later.

 

Also, however, I do agree with your comment about exploring new wines.  

😀

 

okay so it's not about the money.  Got it.   No one else needs to reply.

BTW I am a non drinker so I made the comment because I have always though it odd.  But now I know those who like wine, really like wine.

 

Then again I do bring my own Stevia packets with me in case they do not have them on the ship so in conclusion, bringing things on board is to each's own.  CHEEERS

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

 

okay so it's not about the money.  Got it.   No one else needs to reply.

BTW I am a non drinker so I made the comment because I have always though it odd.  But now I know those who like wine, really like wine.

 

Then again I do bring my own Stevia packets with me in case they do not have them on the ship so in conclusion, bringing things on board is to each's own.  CHEEERS

Pouncing on posters who differ from themselves is their exercise I think 😛.  I encourage you to bring your own sweetener because hal has pretty much done away with the packets.  If any ship still has them they will be out before long.  I’m a wine drinker but I don’t have a sophisticated enough palate to drag it on the ship. 

[Seasick Sailor]

9 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Pouncing on posters who differ from themselves is their exercise I think 😛.  I encourage you to bring your own sweetener because hal has pretty much done away with the packets.  If any ship still has them they will be out before long.  I’m a wine drinker but I don’t have a sophisticated enough palate to drag it on the ship. 

 

The packets of sweetners have been available everywhere since we embarked on Rotterdam 12-12. Blue, yellow, and pink. Servers say they are back for good..

[USN59-79]

It has been two years since we cruised, so maybe things have changed.  But I have found that Princess is much more liberal than HAL if you pick up a bottle or two in a port and bring it aboard.  Usually they just ignore it.  

A few years ago we were taking a Grand Voyage  out of San Diego on the Amsterdam.  I noticed that Alaska Airlines had a promotion where you could bring a case of wine with no extra baggage fee.  I looked around my wine collection and found 12 good bottles and two more for the two free ones.  I fully expected to pay the $18 fee for the case, and had already gone thru the checkin with my two extra bottles.  When I went to pay for the case, they just charged me for 10, saying "Didn't you know that two are free?"  I wasn't about to argue, so just said "That is nice to know"