Wine?

[ROYALBOY]

Recently my husband and I were on the Reflection with a classic package. Our taste in wine is not cultivated, however we do like a Moscato. I asked the sommelier if it was available. He said no, we would have to buy it by the bottle (price unknown). We politely declined to add more money to the price we paid for the package. Just wishing the selection would grow just a little.

[Dawnya00]

Thanks for sharing. I think it is for this reason that I am thinking of bringing a bottle of something I know we want on board. 

[markeb]

It would seem you had a bad sommelier, or they were out of a product. The app for the MDR on Reflection on the current cruise shows a Moscato in the classic package for $10. It's hard to imagine it wasn't on a recent sailing. That's a common, inexpensive wine that almost everyone would carry.

 

Honestly, they show 9 white & rose wines by the glass in the classic package in the Reflection MDR and another 9 premium package wines. I'm not saying they're great wines, but 18 white and rose wines by the glass is a heck of an offering! It's actually several more than I thought they offered!

[zitsky]

I'm pretty sure I saw moscato somewhere on the Eclipse a few months ago.  You also might see riesling.  I don't drink either of them every day.  I look for them when I want something sweet but I don't want dessert.  I drink them at home sometimes when I'm in the mood.

[ROYALBOY]

17 hours ago, markeb said:

It would seem you had a bad sommelier, or they were out of a product. The app for the MDR on Reflection on the current cruise shows a Moscato in the classic package for $10. It's hard to imagine it wasn't on a recent sailing. That's a common, inexpensive wine that almost everyone would carry.

 

Honestly, they show 9 white & rose wines by the glass in the classic package in the Reflection MDR and another 9 premium package wines. I'm not saying they're great wines, but 18 white and rose wines by the glass is a heck of an offering! It's actually several more than I thought they offered!

Could I see a screenshot. Thanks

[jelayne]

You can see the wine list for any ship in the app.  

In the app on the 1st page click the arrow under the calendar, at the bottom of the next screen click on Change Ship./Dates. at the bottom of the list of your booked cruises select Browse our ships.  Then pick a ship and sail date,.  Generally the most extensive wine list is under the MDR.

[markeb]

Easy to find as jelayne said…

[asnaleah]

Just a caution. The listed wines are not always available.

[SSAtlantic]

We were on Reflection in early January. DD drinks moscato like water-lol. She was able to get it almost everywhere. The first night we ate at Lawn Club she was told not available. We went back 3 nights later and the sommelier said I will get it for you and poured her a few glasses. 

[SevenSeas1492]

We are going on the Equinox soon, and I am hoping that someone currently on that ship can confirm that Moscato is still available by the glass.  It’s the only wine I ever drink.  Thanks!

[YankeesFan4Life]

On 2/6/2024 at 8:59 PM, ROYALBOY said:

Recently my husband and I were on the Reflection with a classic package. Our taste in wine is not cultivated, however we do like a Moscato. I asked the sommelier if it was available. He said no, we would have to buy it by the bottle (price unknown). We politely declined to add more money to the price we paid for the package. Just wishing the selection would grow just a little.

Not for nothing, but a Somm is not there to sell bottles of Moscato.  He or she must've just been so annoyed that they said no, and moved on.  They are there to sell and upsell expensive bottles.  This is a question for your table server.

[81Zoomie]

I have yet to see an actual certified Somm on a Celebrity ship 😉.  Let’s go with wine stewards…

[markeb]

13 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

I have yet to see an actual certified Somm on a Celebrity ship 😉.  Let’s go with wine stewards…

 

Bizarrely, I've met at least one. I was surprised he was working on a cruise ship, but he was looking for experience. He was Indian and had worked in London as a somm. Mind you, a CMS certification is not a requirement for the position on the ships. I don't believe they'd let them wear their pins, so you couldn't tell a true Sommelier (CMS) at any level from any other wine server. 

[sofietucker]

We had a CMS certified sommelier on a HAL ship in 2009. Ankush, interesting guy, from South Africa, studied in London. We became best friends after we shared with him a 2005 Bordeaux we'd brought to the MDR... The crazy thing--by comparison--was how subsequent HAL wine stewards seemed notoriously uneducated. Then a couple of HAL cruises ago, there were a raft of young wine stewards all wearing tastevins (the chains) and claiming to be sommeliers. Odd. One young woman, at a chef's dinner in Pinnacle, sabered a bottle of champagne (she was being mentored by the "real" somm on board).

Edited February 8 by sofietucker

[sofietucker]

Re selling expensive bottles: we had the premium package in January. We used to get bottles of Caymus and pay the difference. This time, they had it by the glass for $25 (or in our case, the difference) but NOT available by the bottle at all. Somm could not explain. We just went ahead and drank up his bottles glass by glass, lol. He gave us generous pours; I think we got the better end of the deal.

Edited February 8 by sofietucker

[81Zoomie]

1 hour ago, sofietucker said:

We had a CMS certified sommelier on a HAL ship in 2009. Ankush, interesting guy, from South Africa, studied in London. We became best friends after we shared with him a 2005 Bordeaux we'd brought to the MDR... The crazy thing--by comparison--was how subsequent HAL wine stewards seemed notoriously uneducated. Then a couple of HAL cruises ago, there were a raft of young wine stewards all wearing tastevins (the chains) and claiming to be sommeliers. Odd. One young woman, at a chef's dinner in Pinnacle, sabered a bottle of champagne (she was being mentored by the "real" somm on board).

Looking at the cruise ship want ads it appears that when they advertise for a sommelier there is an education/certification requirement.  In this bunch it includes Viking, Seabourn, Silversea, Princess, MSC, Ritz Carlton, and HAL.  The wine stewards are a different category with a less stringent experience requirement.  It sounds like there are some out there, but I wouldn’t trust the name tag.  Celebrity is loose with job descriptions. Most room stewards are now tagged “Retreat Host”.

 

https://www.allcruisejobs.com/search/Sommelier/

 

@sofietucker Your 2005 Bordeaux sounds wonderful!

Edited February 9 by 81Zoomie

[sofietucker]

1 hour ago, 81Zoomie said:

Looking at the cruise ship want ads it appears that when they advertise for a sommelier there is an education/certification requirement.  In this bunch it includes Viking, Seabourn, Silversea, Princess, MSC, Ritz Carlton, and HAL.  The wine stewards are a different category with a less stringent experience requirement.  It sounds like there are some out there, but I wouldn’t trust the name tag.  Celebrity is loose with job descriptions. Most room stewards are now tagged “Retreat Host”.

 

https://www.allcruisejobs.com/search/Sommelier/

 

@sofietucker Your 2005 Bordeaux sounds wonderful!

It was--I'd gotten a mixed case (in 2005) and we impatiently drank a bunch of it too young... Ah well. The weather gods do bless the grapes from time to time.

Edited February 9 by sofietucker

[markeb]

3 hours ago, sofietucker said:

We had a CMS certified sommelier on a HAL ship in 2009. Ankush, interesting guy, from South Africa, studied in London. We became best friends after we shared with him a 2005 Bordeaux we'd brought to the MDR... The crazy thing--by comparison--was how subsequent HAL wine stewards seemed notoriously uneducated. Then a couple of HAL cruises ago, there were a raft of young wine stewards all wearing tastevins (the chains) and claiming to be sommeliers. Odd. One young woman, at a chef's dinner in Pinnacle, sabered a bottle of champagne (she was being mentored by the "real" somm on board).

 

It's funny. Our last HAL cruise was probably 2006 (we're finally old enough to think about going back...). I remember doing an event, I think in Pinnacle, and met their sommelier. If I remember right, they were actually using him as a sommelier for the whole ship, although he worked heavily in Pinnacle. At the time HAL (headquartered in Seattle) had a very nice wine list that leaned heavily into Washington wines. That's one of my favorite wine regions now.

 

How was a 2005 Bordeaux in 2009? That's kind of a baby...

[sofietucker]

13 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

It's funny. Our last HAL cruise was probably 2006 (we're finally old enough to think about going back...). I remember doing an event, I think in Pinnacle, and met their sommelier. If I remember right, they were actually using him as a sommelier for the whole ship, although he worked heavily in Pinnacle. At the time HAL (headquartered in Seattle) had a very nice wine list that leaned heavily into Washington wines. That's one of my favorite wine regions now.

 

How was a 2005 Bordeaux in 2009? That's kind of a baby...

Yep, it was quite a young wine! We had high hopes and drank it anyway, lol. Pretty plush with "healthy tannins," as I recall... Brought our aerator to the table to oxygenate it asap. (Mixed case, don't remember the chateau. At that time, Total Wine was heroically  carrying 3-4 vintages each from quite a few vineyards, old & new worlds. Even had the lamented Marquis Phillips wines in multiple vintages--they later morphed into Molly Dooker).

Edited February 9 by sofietucker

[markeb]

14 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

Yep, it was quite a young wine! We had high hopes and drank it anyway, lol. Pretty plush with "healthy tannins," as I recall... Brought our aerator to the table to oxygenate it asap. (Mixed case, don't remember the chateau. At that time, Total Wine was heroically  carrying 3-4 vintages each from quite a few vineyards, old & new worlds. Even had the lamented Marquis Phillips wines in multiple vintages--they later morphed into Molly Dooker).

I love “healthy tannins”. A bit of a brute, I suspect!

 

Unfortunately the higher end wines onboard are almost guaranteed to be too young. That’s not unique to cruise lines. We were in a very nice steakhouse in December and they were selling a 2017 Gaja Barbaresco. That’s a wine that should be hidden in a cool, dark place until at least 2027 if not 2037. And Celebrity doesn’t even list vintages…

 

But we’re well away from discussing a nice Moscato at this point!

[mitchtech]

The  premium package wine situation on the Ascent was very frustrating on the January 21 sailing. The bars were so inconsistent  with what they served as were the restaurants.  Sometimes they would have decoy, sometimes not. At the main dining rooms, they were always serving us some obscure wine that we never heard of. We drink cabarnet and are not too picky. At home, we like Josh. The martini bar was the worst with wine. We only got wine there once. The first glass was Elegance and no upcharge.  The 2nd glass another bartender told us we couldn't  have elegance and poured us something not great. Needless to say we never visited the martini bar for wine after that. Celebrity  should get there act together and stick to a wine list at all its  venues

[CruiseRQA]

We were on Apex a few weeks ago.

 

Who knows what wine they have at any given time in any given restaurant?   They didn't have wines that were on the wine menu in The Bistro, Eden and Luminae.  

 

How hard should it be to have an accurate wine menu?