No More Veuve, No More Grey Goose

[depplep]

This morning at Walmart. They seem to have plenty.

[phillygwm]

On 5/22/2023 at 1:46 PM, evanskl4 said:

I don't really want to carry 7+ bottles of wine on a flight though. As long as there are no more changes, I can be happy with a bottle of Pommery to start and then a bottle of a decent red.

Depending where you're flying from, I'd see if there was a decent wine shop close to your hotel/port.  I suppose if you're talking about bringing really bespoke wines from your cellar this might not be a great solution.

 

On 5/22/2023 at 12:17 PM, HappyTvlr said:

Just off the Getaway with FAS+.  Veuve was only available by the glass in Le Bistro and Ocean where they were happy to pour it like water.  

Interesting.  Not Cagney's?  I enjoy Ocean Blue and Le Bistro but sometimes I just want the Cagney's vibe.

[HappyTvlr]

We recently returned from 10 days in Argentina and Brazil so we were feeling a bit spoiled and over the meat fests.  

[DrUrsula]

33 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

Depending where you're flying from, I'd see if there was a decent wine shop close to your hotel/port.  I suppose if you're talking about bringing really bespoke wines from your cellar this might not be a great solution.

 

Interesting.  Not Cagney's?  I enjoy Ocean Blue and Le Bistro but sometimes I just want the Cagney's vibe.

In Miami and Ft Lauderdale Publix supermarket will deliver Veuve and /or any other wine that they have in stock directly to your hotel front desk. Our last trip Veuve ran around 51 dollars a bottle and a small Instacart fee. I hit a sale! this was in March of this year.

Orders can be placed about a week in advance. We have also had wine shops deliver bottles to us at the hotel but that was years ago.

[WexIrl]

I am not a fan of wine or champagne, most taste sour to my taste buds, however we all have different tastes and hence a large market for such.

I will enquire however on the Moet front that was mentioned, my only positive encounter with champagne was with a 'few' bottles of Moet grand vintage 2001 at the Galway races some years ago. For what it was, it was mighty stuff! 

Anyway, do NCL ever have a drop of Moet grand vintage on offer? 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, depplep said:

This morning at Walmart. They seem to have plenty.

Wait, what?!  All of this concern over Walmart wine?  🤣

[DC2023]

So… currently on board Encore,  recently departed Seattle 5/28. A few months prior to sailing I purchased the the FAS + and then cancelled once it was disclosed Vevue was taken off. Yet, one day prior to sailing I knew I wanted additional dining packages and unlimited WiFi and it just made sense to go with FAS+. I Love Champagne, so having any version of it included, was a benefit to me. I am posting here solely to report that it has been reported to me by three different NCL personnel today, that the replacement of Pommery  was not available on the last cruise and is not expected to be available on this cruise. What they are pouring is the Prosecco that is included in the basic ultimate beverage package. This was also confirmed in my first night dining in Le Bistro, where I could purchase a bottle of Vevue at 40% off. No Pommery to be found. 

[phissy]

DC2023 - Welcome to Cruise Critic !

Also ,Welcome to Seattle.

 

So sorry NCL continues down this road...continuing to  reduce onboard offerings for passengers.

Not sure how long they think that passengers will be OK with these actions to cut costs.

 

On the positive side, the sail away today is beautiful. 

Hope you are able to enjoy your cruise and Alaska.

 

[DC2023]

I am here for ALASAKA. Not the beverages. Neither what is included or not included, will affect my trip. However, I am simply reporting on what is available based on an additional purchase option provided by NCL and what that additional option describes.

[Yesimapirate]

Forgive me as I haven't been following this for the last 2 weeks as I've been traveling on the cruise and then another week into some remote parts of Alaska.  I just wanted to share my experience with the issue.

 

I don't drink at all outside of vacation and there aren't many drinks I like so I was disappointed to see Vue and some other options removed.  I can live with disappointment.   However,  being a NY'er, I can't keep my mouth shut when I think I'm being ripped off or wronged.  Vue was available when I purchased the FAS+, is STILL pictured in the marketing and when I carefully read the T&C, it states that a "like" substitution could be made.  I don't believe a Blush is a like substitution.   While I was resigned to the fact that I was stuck with Pommery, my wife gave me permission to politely complain onboard. 

 

We board and I decided to try the Pommery.  Maybe we'd like it as some posters have and it would be a moot point.  At Magnums,  I order 2 glasses of champagne and watch the bar tender take a blue bottle, turn his back to me in what seemingly was an attempt to shield what he was doing and pour me prosecco.  We had horrendous service on our last cruise and this make me feel like that would continue.   After some back and forth, I'm which he tried to charge me, we finally had the Pommery.  Neither my wife or I cared for it so we left half empty glasses at the bar.

 

About half an hour later,  we ran into the Beverage Manager.   Clearly I know this wasn't his decision and he's probably heard about it from many people so I was careful in my complaint to him.  I told him pretty much what I wrote above, acknowledging he had no role and just asked him to pass the complaint up the ladder to hopefully get to the decision makers. He was extremely professional and friendly.  I told my wife that I'd be thrilled if they sent a bottle of champagne to our room and thought it would be a fair resolution,  though I expected nothing.   I DID NOT mention that to the beverage manager.   My wife laughed, said we'd grt nothing and let's stop sailing NCL.

 

Low and behold,  we returned to our room later that night to find a bottle of Vue with a friendly note.  I was thrilled and thought maybe our experience in October was a one off.

 

The next day, the beverage manager found us, repeatedly inquired if we were happy and then told us to go see a certain bartender because he had a surprise. 

 

The surprise was that he was instructed to pour Vue for us at no charge for the cruise.  I couldn't be happier with the resolution!

 

On a side note,  with a few minor exceptions in individual interactions,  the entire crew were amazing!  We went from boarding with a "this is our last NCL cruise" attitude to buying some Cruise Next certs.  Kudos to everyone from the Captain to our room steward.  

[cruisebeachgirl703]

"I am posting here solely to report that it has been reported to me by three different NCL personnel today, that the replacement of Pommery  was not available on the last cruise and is not expected to be available on this cruise. What they are pouring is the Prosecco that is included in the basic ultimate beverage package. "

 

 

So now the replacement for Veuve is not available. Prosecco is not champagne and I do not like. There are champagnes available they could offer. I have listed them in a previous post. NCL needs to step up.

[MiniJeffrey]

So what kind of champagne is available on the ships and in which restaurants/bars? Can someone clear this up to me cause I read all kind of things.

 

I assume that the Pommery Rosé is the only chamapgne coming per bottle, but I hope there are still champagnes by the glass in the bars/restaurants available too?

 

I literally upgraded to premium to be able to have glasses of champagne all day long and not only per bottle at dinner.

[cruisebeachgirl703]

5 hours ago, MiniJeffrey said:

So what kind of champagne is available on the ships and in which restaurants/bars? Can someone clear this up to me cause I read all kind of things.

 

I assume that the Pommery Rosé is the only chamapgne coming per bottle, but I hope there are still champagnes by the glass in the bars/restaurants available too?

 

I literally upgraded to premium to be able to have glasses of champagne all day long and not only per bottle at dinner.

This is a ship to ship sailing to sailing situation it seems. With the premium beverage package they may serve you the Duc champagne if they still have it. Most likely Prosecco will be served. With the P+, it used to be Veuve by the glass, then they substituted the Pommerey Rose, which according to recent posts is now not available. Some have said they could Veuve at Le Bistro. And of course you can purchase Veuve for $120 a bottle. Not.

[HappyTvlr]

It seems to vary, but on Getaway Veuve was available only by the glass in Le Bistro which they generously poured. Pommery Rose was available by the glass in certain bars such as Atrium and Mixx  as well as the MDR and likely other restaurants.

Someone above commented on being given Veuve after complaining, and while he was successful my opinion is that this is not the solution.  I don't have an issue with complaining and being compensated, but the compensation will vary depending on the manager and availability and only escalate the outrage if the compensation is not adequate and/or consistent.  A couple on our cruise complained and got a bottle of Veuve.  We could have followed their lead and complained.  How angry do you think we would have been if we weren't given a bottle?  What about the next couple? Slippery slope.  We complained early and often to anyone involved with beverage service that the substitution of Pommery Rose for Veuve was unacceptable with the goal of them reporting back to people with the power to change the system. I also sent a nasty gram directly to NCL because they need to hear it and not just the person with no power on the ship. 

For those saying it doesn't matter and that it is the itinerary that matters most, imagine your room gets downgraded and you don't have the balcony you paid for and you just get a window.  Perhaps all the port stops in Alaska get cancelled and you have multiple sea days no where near land for views. It is as simple as expecting to get what you agreed to pay for be it wine, room type or itinerary. 

[Yesimapirate]

3 hours ago, HappyTvlr said:

It seems to vary, but on Getaway Veuve was available only by the glass in Le Bistro which they generously poured. Pommery Rose was available by the glass in certain bars such as Atrium and Mixx  as well as the MDR and likely other restaurants.

Someone above commented on being given Veuve after complaining, and while he was successful my opinion is that this is not the solution.  I don't have an issue with complaining and being compensated, but the compensation will vary depending on the manager and availability and only escalate the outrage if the compensation is not adequate and/or consistent.  A couple on our cruise complained and got a bottle of Veuve.  We could have followed their lead and complained.  How angry do you think we would have been if we weren't given a bottle?  What about the next couple? Slippery slope.  We complained early and often to anyone involved with beverage service that the substitution of Pommery Rose for Veuve was unacceptable with the goal of them reporting back to people with the power to change the system. I also sent a nasty gram directly to NCL because they need to hear it and not just the person with no power on the ship. 

For those saying it doesn't matter and that it is the itinerary that matters most, imagine your room gets downgraded and you don't have the balcony you paid for and you just get a window.  Perhaps all the port stops in Alaska get cancelled and you have multiple sea days no where near land for views. It is as simple as expecting to get what you agreed to pay for be it wine, room type or itinerary. 

To be clear, I expressed my dissatisfaction.   I did not ask for compensation.

 

I do agree it's not a solution but I also think it's unprofessional and cowardly to make a corporate decision from a board room and leave your front line staff to fend for themselves with the fallout.

[ChiefMateJRK]

57 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

I do agree it's not a solution but I also think it's unprofessional and cowardly to make a corporate decision from a board room and leave your front line staff to fend for themselves with the fallout.

Isn't this exactly how every corporation operates?

[cruisebeachgirl703]

12 hours ago, HappyTvlr said:

It seems to vary, but on Getaway Veuve was available only by the glass in Le Bistro which they generously poured. Pommery Rose was available by the glass in certain bars such as Atrium and Mixx  as well as the MDR and likely other restaurants.

Someone above commented on being given Veuve after complaining, and while he was successful my opinion is that this is not the solution.  I don't have an issue with complaining and being compensated, but the compensation will vary depending on the manager and availability and only escalate the outrage if the compensation is not adequate and/or consistent.  A couple on our cruise complained and got a bottle of Veuve.  We could have followed their lead and complained.  How angry do you think we would have been if we weren't given a bottle?  What about the next couple? Slippery slope.  We complained early and often to anyone involved with beverage service that the substitution of Pommery Rose for Veuve was unacceptable with the goal of them reporting back to people with the power to change the system. I also sent a nasty gram directly to NCL because they need to hear it and not just the person with no power on the ship. 

For those saying it doesn't matter and that it is the itinerary that matters most, imagine your room gets downgraded and you don't have the balcony you paid for and you just get a window.  Perhaps all the port stops in Alaska get cancelled and you have multiple sea days no where near land for views. It is as simple as expecting to get what you agreed to pay for be it wine, room type or itinerary. 

The reason we sign up for the P+ is for the Veuve. We also enjoy starbucks and water. Without a comparable replacement for Veuve dollar wise for us it is not worth it. I don't want a refund. I don't want to complain on board. I want Veuve. It shouldn't be ship to ship or anything like that where it varies. If NCL is taking away the Veuve then replace it with something close.

[BirdTravels]

On 5/27/2023 at 2:17 PM, depplep said:

This morning at Walmart. They seem to have plenty.

So,,, there is a tiny difference between buying a $60 bottle from Walmart and buying dozens of pallets of Veuve a week for the fleet. Walmart probably sells a bottle a month. 

For us, Pommery was fine. 

 

But the absence of Remy Martin at the was devastating. 

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

The reason we sign up for the P+ is for the Veuve. We also enjoy starbucks and water. Without a comparable replacement for Veuve dollar wise for us it is not worth it. I don't want a refund. I don't want to complain on board. I want Veuve. It shouldn't be ship to ship or anything like that where it varies. If NCL is taking away the Veuve then replace it with something close.

If the Veuve is the only reason you pay for P+, then I'd have it removed if I were you. You mentioned the Starbucks and the water, too, but it sounds like the Veuve is the most important thing to you. Since it seems that is going away, I would save myself the money and remove the Premium Plus.

[MiniJeffrey]

To be honest, Veuve is a bit overrated and there are plenty of better champagnes out there, just sad that NCL is not open to what they are replacing it with. Pommery Rosé might be a good champagne but a rosé is not what a general champagne drinker wants, they want a regular brut champagne and a rosé is a nice extra for when in the mood.

A bit sad there seems to be no brut option out of the box.

I found a wine menu from 2022 and it has several champagnes, but probably already outdated as it still has Veuve by the glass for the main dinging rooms on it.

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Love both Veuve and Perrier Jouet. Moet is good. Many many more that are acceptable. Many that are not. The only P+ by the glass being a Rose is horrible. Step up NCL. Put something acceptable back on the P+ by the glass. Buying a bottle is not an option for us. Bringing your own on board defeats our purpose of being on vacation. Vacation time for us is meant to be relax and enjoy. Not being told no. Not lugging your own beverage of choice. The concept of adding another champagne on is easy. Doesn't even have to be fleet wide. Could be port wide. Buy what is available and offer it.

Edited May 31, 2023 by cruisebeachgirl703
missing word

[chillyw]

On 5/30/2023 at 6:16 AM, BirdTravels said:

But the absence of Remy Martin at the was devastating. 

 

That would be me if they ran out of whistle pig.  Not happy about the Veuve, but stock the pig!

[umpire56]

I don’t drink champagne but I saw on a FB NCL post that as of a late May sailing, they were still able to get that Veuve champagne in LeBistro if you had the premium plus package.  Maybe check online for the LeBistro menus. 

[KansasTexan]

I just cancelled my P+ for the Oct 1 Escape sailing. For me, it's not worth the hassle of finding out which bar sells what brand at any given time. I cruise to (first and foremost) relax. If given the opportunity, I'll likely pay the upcharge for a glass of the Pommery Rosé (so I can see if I like it) but I'm more of a martini or sipping whiskey person, anyway. I think I'll be able to find more than adequate selection on the Free at Sea package.

[dbrown84]

I wanted the P+ for Macallan.  Rather than risk it not being available, I waited until I was onboard so that I could check first.  It was available, so I upgraded.  The funny thing was I didn't get around to getting the upgrade until the morning of the 2nd day, but I still had to pay for all 7 days.  thought that was funny.  the Macallan was $50 per shot, and I always ordered a double.  so at $100 per drink, I more than made up for the the missing day 🙂