Has The Wine Allowance At Embarkation in USA Changed

[mayleeman]

12 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

We will just need to agree to disagree as to who's being petty.  I think expecting them to let you bring on whatever amount of wine you like is unreasonable, as well as naive.  So enjoy Oceania.   Hope they cater to you as much as you want.  I wonder if you've sailed on them recently.  People have said they are experiencing cutbacks as well, as is every other cruise line sailing.

 

I think the inconsistency is annoying. All the changes, mostly unannounced, can leave us going through many different phases of planning and anticipation of what our cruise is like during the 1-2 years after booking. This change in alcohol policy could have meant consideration of getting a drink package had it been in effect when we booked--and it is about 25% more expensive now.

 

We can all judge whether someone is being petty, but it is very strange that Celebrity seems so willing to annoy its pax.

[Georgia_Peaches]

16 hours ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

If buying one or two bottles of wine on the ship is a financial strain, this might be the least of worries.*

Not a financial strain...more of a strain on my palate since many of the wines offered on Celebrity either do not taste good to me or are unavailable.  Therefore, bringing my own ensures I get what I know I like.  

[drakes2]

31 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Not a financial strain...more of a strain on my palate since many of the wines offered on Celebrity either do not taste good to me or are unavailable.  Therefore, bringing my own ensures I get what I know I like.  

100% correct.  Celebrity does not have a very good selection of wines even at the Premium level and they seem to run out of some mid cruise so I'd rather just take my own supply from home usually a great Pinot noir to pair with chicken or fish and a California cab for red meats.  On my last Celebrity cruise I was lucky enough to be gifted a couple extra bottles which came from shoreside and were excellent. 

[Reel Love]

On 6/18/2023 at 12:08 AM, helen haywood said:

Long time Celebrity cruiser.  I know they used to allow only two bottles of wine at embarkation in the US per cabin.  Then recently they changed the policy to be two bottles per person.  Now I’m being told by a TA that they’ve reversed the policy back to only two bottles per cabin.  Anyone have any definitive information?

I can share that we boarded on June 10 from Port Everglades and each person in each couple brought aboard two bottles.  I think I recall reading from someone posting on these boards that the folks in security/screening are not Celebrity staff?  Therefore may be unaware of different policies for different lines so I printed out the most recent page I could find that stated two bottles per person for Celebrity to produce just in case.  Only one person in our group was politely questioned and he simply stated he had two bottles and continued on through the screening.  Proof did not need to be presented.

Edited June 19, 2023 by Reel Love

[cbfb]

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Not a financial strain...more of a strain on my palate since many of the wines offered on Celebrity either do not taste good to me or are unavailable.  Therefore, bringing my own ensures I get what I know I like.  

Couldn’t agree more. I love celebrity but they do not do wine well. I am a white wine drinker and  Even by the bottle there isn’t much I like. I’d rather be able to bring 4 bottles and pay a corkage fee than only 2. 

[CeleryCruiser]

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

100% correct.  Celebrity does not have a very good selection of wines even at the Premium level and they seem to run out of some mid cruise so I'd rather just take my own supply from home usually a great Pinot noir to pair with chicken or fish and a California cab for red meats.  On my last Celebrity cruise I was lucky enough to be gifted a couple extra bottles which came from shoreside and were excellent. 

I noticed the same last summer: even we had the premium pack the wines served was just mediocre. Altough it is unfair to compare the MSC's wines met our taste better even in the normal selection. For the next X-cruise we took the non-alcoholic pack and buy wines in full bottles - and save a lot of money (96 eur/pp/day- 30eur/pp/day =60 eur/pp/day  )as we do not consume alcoholic cocktails at all. With daily 2 pp daily budget you can get even the top shelve wines- just hoping that they are available.

[AuntMom]

Policy changed as of July 1, 2023 

[Mark_T]

On 6/18/2023 at 5:20 PM, cruisestitch said:

As I recall it never was one per passenger, it was two per state room, with the assumption that the state room was a double occupancy. Under those old rules, a single person occupying the stateroom alone  could bring two bottles.  I wonder how it will be worded in the future

No need to wonder, the wording is already on the website, it will be a per passenger limit in future, so travel solo and it is one bottle.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

No need to wonder, the wording is already on the website, it will be a per passenger limit in future, so travel solo and it is one bottle.

 

Yet another place where solo travelers get screwed.

 

IMHO if someone in a cabin has gotten a dispensation from the alcoholic package for whatever reason, they should not be allowed to bring on a bottle of wine. The person maintaining the alcoholic package can bring one bottle on since they are the solo drinker in the cabin. If the reasoning is gaining more money for selling glasses of wine on board, it only makes sense.

[spiritkat090909]

I don't like hauling wine to the ship and would much prefer to pay $13 difference or $25 outright for a glass of Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon. OR even $120 a bottle! BUT, the supply change issues meant that I had to bring my own if I wanted it.  So... if they are losing so much money that they need to go back to one bottle, then they need to SUPPLY what the customers want. The Celebrity brand cab is dreadful. Blech.  

 

I was told on our last cruise on the Apex in February that Celebrity would no longer carry this wine due to it's demand. By two different sommeliers.

[drakes2]

4 minutes ago, spiritkat090909 said:

I don't like hauling wine to the ship and would much prefer to pay $13 difference or $25 outright for a glass of Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon. OR even $120 a bottle! BUT, the supply change issues meant that I had to bring my own if I wanted it.  So... if they are losing so much money that they need to go back to one bottle, then they need to SUPPLY what the customers want. The Celebrity brand cab is dreadful. Blech.  

 

I was told on our last cruise on the Apex in February that Celebrity would no longer carry this wine due to it's demand. By two different sommeliers.

Although Caymus is a nice cab I thought it was priced at $135.  There are cabs onboard as good or better at cheaper price points.  I always bring a bottle of Austin Hope with me; its from Paso Robles and a favorite of mine. 

  

 

 

[Cruising Nona]

Is this just for US embarcation? Will be leaving out of Vancouver going to Hawaii. Can we bring wine on in Canada?

[drakes2]

12 minutes ago, Cruising Nona said:

Is this just for US embarcation? Will be leaving out of Vancouver going to Hawaii. Can we bring wine on in Canada?

Its Celebrity's policy regardless of the embarkation port. The 1 bottle per person policy is in effect July 1st

[markeb]

I remember they had gone back to 1 bottle per person (the OP's question), but I still find it an interesting decision. I'm sure there would be challenges screening those with drink packages from those without at boarding, but every bottle someone with a package brings on board is 4-5 glasses of wine Celebrity isn't giving away in the drink package. Although almost everything in the packages is probably $10-15 wholesale max (likely less), so it probably doesn't make much real difference.

 

We usually end up flying, and I'm not flying with the type of wine I'd want to take on board, so we live with the available wines. There could be a long thread discussing wine on cruise ships that doesn't belong here, but I'm glad I'm not trying to plan the wine service onboard. Complicated by availability of better wines these days...

[Tudy]

3 hours ago, AuntMom said:

Policy changed as of July 1, 2023 

Forgive me for being picky here, but the poster added the statement that it was changing July 1, 2023. When I went to the website to verify, those FAQ's were last updated in January of 2021. I have a feeling that all this is a tempest in a teacup. My Guest Contract says each person can bring 2 bottles onboard.

[drakes2]

48 minutes ago, markeb said:

Although almost everything in the packages is probably $10-15 wholesale max (likely less), so it probably doesn't make much real difference.

If you can purchase Decoy in the US for $17 at some places doubtful Celebrity is paying $10 to $15 for most wines. Probably closer to a few bucks. 

[markeb]

4 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

If you can purchase Decoy in the US for $17 at some places doubtful Celebrity is paying $10 to $15 for most wines. Probably closer to a few bucks. 

 

Yeah. Probably giving too much credit there and being kind. I keep forgetting it's Decoy they carry by the glass and want to think it's an actual Duckhorn labeled product. Decoy cab is $17.97 at Total Wine here in Virginia. Duckhorn (the better product) is $59.97 for the 2019 Napa and $119.99 for the '18 Howell Mountain. 

 

I was going to go $7-10, maybe as low as $5. Less than that for the classic package wines...

[drakes2]

37 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

Yeah. Probably giving too much credit there and being kind. I keep forgetting it's Decoy they carry by the glass and want to think it's an actual Duckhorn labeled product. Decoy cab is $17.97 at Total Wine here in Virginia. Duckhorn (the better product) is $59.97 for the 2019 Napa and $119.99 for the '18 Howell Mountain. 

 

I was going to go $7-10, maybe as low as $5. Less than that for the classic package wines...

Probably $5 for the Chilean merlot they carry.  When I was on the Apex this past May I was interested in taking part of the World Wine Tour held onboard in Eden.  After looking at their offerings I decided not to partake as many of the wines were also served to Elite and above guests during HH.  AMAZING WINES is the term they used. 😆 

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, Tudy said:

Forgive me for being picky here, but the poster added the statement that it was changing July 1, 2023. When I went to the website to verify, those FAQ's were last updated in January of 2021. I have a feeling that all this is a tempest in a teacup. My Guest Contract says each person can bring 2 bottles onboard.

I wouldn't rely on the date having been updated for any of the changes in the last 2 years...

 

The alcohol section used to have the 2 per person language in it as I've quoted from there several times in earlier threads when that policy last changed and everyone was saying it was only two per cabin, now it has changed again and shows one per person, so again not the same policy as it was a few months ago...

[jelayne]

4 hours ago, AuntMom said:

Policy changed as of July 1, 2023 

Where is the effective date of the change?  I looked at the Guest Conduct Policy which was a link in the T & C’s and it had the  same wording but at the very top it said Updated January 2021.  Which was well before the allowance went to 2 bottles.

[drakes2]

4 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Where is the effective date of the change?  I looked at the Guest Conduct Policy which was a link in the T & C’s and it had the  same wording but at the very top it said Updated January 2021.  Which was well before the allowance went to 2 bottles.

I guess we'll find out soon enough as July 1 around the corner.

[Mark_T]

13 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Where is the effective date of the change?  I looked at the Guest Conduct Policy which was a link in the T & C’s and it had the  same wording but at the very top it said Updated January 2021.  Which was well before the allowance went to 2 bottles.

Proof that the date is not being updated even though the language is changing...

 

This was from early May:

 

"Guests are not permitted to bring alcoholic beverages onboard; with the exception of embarkation day when each guest (of legal drinking age) is permitted to bring onboard up to two (2) 750 ml bottles of wine (which are subject to a corkage fee) per guest. A corkage fee does not apply to guests with the Classic Beverage Package or Premium Beverage Package. Security may inspect containers (including water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, canteens, etc.) at any time and will dispose of alcohol concealed in such containers. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased from onboard shops or in ports of call (which must be presented to security upon re-boarding), will be secured by ship's personnel. Alcohol secured by ship's personnel will be returned to guests just prior to the conclusion of their cruise vacation. Guests who are under the permitted drinking age will not have alcohol returned to them."

 

This is from the same link now:

 

"Guests are not permitted to bring alcoholic beverages onboard; with the exception of embarkation day when each guest (of legal drinking age) is permitted to bring onboard one (1) 750 ml bottle of wine (which are subject to a corkage fee) per guest. A corkage fee does not apply to guests with the Classic Beverage Package or Premium Beverage Package. Security may inspect containers (including water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, canteens, etc.) at any time and will dispose of alcohol concealed in such containers. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased from onboard shops or in ports of call (which must be presented to security upon re-boarding), will be secured by ship's personnel. Alcohol secured by ship's personnel will be returned to guests just prior to the conclusion of their cruise vacation. Guests who are under the permitted drinking age will not have alcohol returned to them."

[RobertoF]

Hopefully Celebrity will continue to allow 2 bottles per person. That is a consumer-friendly policy and does not cost Celebrity much. I agree with others that the wine Celebrity offers onboard is subpar.  The only "classic" wine I find even drinkable is the Malbec, and the "premium" wines I have tried are not much better. I prefer to bring my own wines from my collection, or, as was the case recently in Italy, buy wines I choose from a local store and bring them onboard. It is also nice when sailing in the Mediterranean if Celebrity allows you to bring your purchases onboard (as opposed to having to check them to the end of the cruise), but I have found that policy to be inconsistent.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I fully intend to take 2 bottles to the port on July 16 as a solo - and I will have my E-Docs with the 2 bottles per person highlighted if there is any issue.

[jelayne]

42 minutes ago, RobertoF said:

Hopefully Celebrity will continue to allow 2 bottles per person. That is a consumer-friendly policy and does not cost Celebrity much. I agree with others that the wine Celebrity offers onboard is subpar.  The only "classic" wine I find even drinkable is the Malbec, and the "premium" wines I have tried are not much better. I prefer to bring my own wines from my collection, or, as was the case recently in Italy, buy wines I choose from a local store and bring them onboard. It is also nice when sailing in the Mediterranean if Celebrity allows you to bring your purchases onboard (as opposed to having to check them to the end of the cruise), but I have found that policy to be inconsistent.

It my thinking that this is actually a saving to X for those with beverage packages.  We always have a premium package and bring on the allowed 2 bottles per person.  At 4 glasses per bottle this is 16 glasses of wine we aren’t ordering on our package.