How much is a Martini and the Martini Bar?

[markeb]

7 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I think that you have a point here.  With some of the upcharge prices we could have just purchased several bottles and brought them on for the same price.  We were in Asia and not familiar with the wines we saw (many nice Aussie wines).  Not much time to taste and purchase...  Our suitcases were already at the weight limit so we did not bring any with us this time ...

 

Headed to Napa in a couple of months for wine tasting ...

 

If you have data onboard, "some" of the wines by the bottle are a good deal. In the past that's included some not by the glass that were far better and averaged out at a decent price. No, Conundrum is probably still overpriced. But there are some decent to very good Pinot Noirs that aren't badly priced. Not 3X retail for sure. Actually, Pinot Noir may be one of the best bottle prices I see in the app.

 

Again, if you're drinking mixed drinks, beer, water, soda, and specialty coffees, you'll do better than you think. Some of the whites by the glass are pretty good. Right now, it's the reds that seem to be lacking. I'll try to report back after the Summit.

 

Where are you going in Napa?

[NMTraveller]

20 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

If you have data onboard, "some" of the wines by the bottle are a good deal. In the past that's included some not by the glass that were far better and averaged out at a decent price. No, Conundrum is probably still overpriced. But there are some decent to very good Pinot Noirs that aren't badly priced. Not 3X retail for sure. Actually, Pinot Noir may be one of the best bottle prices I see in the app.

 

Again, if you're drinking mixed drinks, beer, water, soda, and specialty coffees, you'll do better than you think. Some of the whites by the glass are pretty good. Right now, it's the reds that seem to be lacking. I'll try to report back after the Summit.

 

Where are you going in Napa?

Castello Di Amarosa,  Darioush,  Far Niete,  and Domaine Carneros.  We may do some others.  Still trying to decide.  What was your favorite?

[markeb]

19 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Castello Di Amarosa,  Darioush,  Far Niete,  and Domaine Carneros.  We may do some others.  Still trying to decide.  What was your favorite?

Probably Porter in Coombsville and Paloma on Spring Mountain. We were mostly going to small places. Paloma was literally in the winemaker’s dining room. 
 

Darioush is a bit of an off the beaten track winery. Great wines, just not necessarily well known. We were at a tasting tonight for Sky Devil. Don’t know that they have a tasting room, but Kirk Venge is their winemaker. Venge wines, Trespass, and Sky Devil among others. Amazing winemaker. I’d buy pretty much anything he makes and probably most things he consults on. 

[Volk9048]

Thanks for the responses. Might be worth the upgrade. My only thinking was the classic is fine for me but it requires both of us to upgrade. 

[DaKahuna]

@markeb @NMTraveller We have been getting excellent service on our current cruise, especially with wine selection.  Our sommelier in Luminae has been point on with his recommendations and so far only wine has not been at or below the premium pacakage price and that was a nice Columbia Valley merlot we had last night. When he recommended it I was tempted to ask if he had the Benziger or Robert Mondavi but it tased so well and went with the short rib that I just went with the flow.  

 

Today I had a nice Pinot noir, the Kendal Jackson, and was very happy with it.  

 

 I have been please with just telling the Sommelier what I am having for my entree and going with his recommendations.   Tonight is lobster night and I plan to have surf and turf so I am thinking either Conundrum or the Elegance.  Will see what he says first. 

 

[markeb]

9 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I have been please with just telling the Sommelier what I am having for my entree and going with his recommendations.   Tonight is lobster night and I plan to have surf and turf so I am thinking either Conundrum or the Elegance.  Will see what he says first. 

 

That's what a good sommelier should do. Glad you have one.

 

I also think too many of the sommeliers on Celebrity just fall into asking the customer what they want, so we never give them the opportunity to recommend other wines. And we (the customers) have a bad habit of just asking for something we recognize. Not on Celebrity, but I've worked with sommeliers at a couple of nice places that have described a pairing I never would have thought of that ended up being amazing. Like a mid-body red with a white fish, because of the sauce.

[markeb]

10 hours ago, Volk9048 said:

Thanks for the responses. Might be worth the upgrade. My only thinking was the classic is fine for me but it requires both of us to upgrade. 

 

It's really a math question. If you drink premium water or Red Bull, for instance, those are not available in the Classic package and you'll pay full price for them. They're just excluded completely even though they're below the dollar limit. Red Bull is I think $7 plus gratuity. or $8.40 Can't remember which waters are included, but figure $6 each or $7.20. If you're looking at wine, cocktails, beer, or spirits, you pay the upcharge plus gratuity. If you are looking at the $17 martinis versus a $10 classic package, you're paying $8.40 extra per martini. Take the upgrade price (including the extra 20% gratuity) and divide by $8.40. If that's say $24/day, then you'd break even at three martinis in a day even without accounting for higher priced wine or beer or water.

 

It's a calculated guess for a first timer. But if only one of you is looking at premium package drinks, unless they're talking about (using the simple math above) six martinis for themselves, every day, it's likely going to be less expensive to pay the upcharge as you go...

[PTC DAWG]

15 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Do they have Cabernets and Champagnes that are not on the printed wine list or app?  I was never offered/recommended a different cabernet or champagne?  Do you just ask?  In Blu our sommelier was way too busy to have a conservation.  In Tuscan there were only 3 tables seated at our time.  Zero suggestions from Cellar Masters...

 

Anyways I ended up spending over $300 and signing more than 20 slips with the premium package...

 

 

One reason I don’t drink much wine on Celebrity, the Chopin and Belvedere and the BOURBON I like are included. I loathe signing slips and I’m good at adapting to avoid it. 

[NMTraveller]

17 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

@markeb @NMTraveller We have been getting excellent service on our current cruise, especially with wine selection.  Our sommelier in Luminae has been point on with his recommendations and so far only wine has not been at or below the premium pacakage price and that was a nice Columbia Valley merlot we had last night. When he recommended it I was tempted to ask if he had the Benziger or Robert Mondavi but it tased so well and went with the short rib that I just went with the flow.  

 

Today I had a nice Pinot noir, the Kendal Jackson, and was very happy with it.  

 

 I have been please with just telling the Sommelier what I am having for my entree and going with his recommendations.   Tonight is lobster night and I plan to have surf and turf so I am thinking either Conundrum or the Elegance.  Will see what he says first. 

 

Now that I recall we did have a very good sommelier on board.  We did the wine pairing on the chef's table.  The wines were well watched with the food and there were brands that were not on the menu.  IMHO most of them were MEH/OK...  I would taste most of them and leave most in the glass.  However when we got to the final wine which was a Gingrich Hills cabernet everyone was asking for 2 or 3 glasses of it.  The point of this exercise was that I should have skipped the wine pairing and just ordered the Gingrich Hills cab throughout the meal.  Everyone else asked for 2 or 3 glasses on the Gingrich Hills cab.  No one asked for a second glass of any of the others...

Edited May 8 by NMTraveller

[markeb]

17 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Now that I recall we did have a very good sommelier on board.  We did the wine pairing on the chef's table.  The wines were well watched with the food and there were brands that were not on the menu.  IMHO most of them were MEH/OK...  I would taste most of them and leave most in the glass.  However when we got to the final wine which was a Gingrich Hills cabernet everyone was asking for 2 or 3 glasses of it.  The point of this exercise was that I should have skipped the wine pairing and just ordered the Gingrich Hills cab throughout the meal.  Everyone else asked for 2 or 3 glasses on the Gingrich Hills cab.  No one asked for a second glass of any of the others...

So basically you’re a California cab drinker? 😀

 

Ideally, in a good pairing you should come away thinking that was a great combination, not that was a great wine (although the Grgich Hills cab is a great cab). But would it have complemented the entire meal? I’m guessing no. Great beef and lamb wine. Actually better than you might think with dark chocolate. It would totally overwhelm most fish or chicken. It’s also heavy, but fine on its own.

 

I subscribe to the drink what you like theory, but I would have a hard time with a heavy Napa cab as the only wine for most meals. 

[NMTraveller]

8 minutes ago, markeb said:

So basically you’re a California cab drinker? 😀

 

Pretty much.  That and French Champagne ... 😋

Next year headed to Paris to get a taste ...

 

Of course when I was in Australia it was Shiraz.  But some of the better bottles.  I have yet to find a good Shiraz on the ship by the glass...

 

I thought that the combinations were good.  That they complemented each other,  but the wines by themselves were meh except for the cab.

Edited May 8 by NMTraveller

[DaKahuna]

@markb  @NMTraveller I am finding that Pinot Noir is the most recommended wine by our sommelier as it pairs with almost everything.  I only had the Conondrum last night because I wanted something other than a Pinot and was having beef.  

 

 I also subscribe to the drink what you like with whatever club. 

 

 

Edited May 8 by DaKahuna

[newfiegirl4]

On 5/8/2024 at 2:17 AM, Volk9048 said:

Thanks for the responses. Might be worth the upgrade. My only thinking was the classic is fine for me but it requires both of us to upgrade. 

Just remember if you upgrade and order mixed drinks, make sure to ask for “ your “ preferred brand of liquor! Just off the Silhouette and countless times our party of 6 ordered drinks(frozen) in particular were made with (classic pkg) brand liquor! Seen it with our own eyes countless times. I mean why pay to upgrade and still be given a lower brand liquor? We show our cards which say premium pkg! Not fair at all!

[justcrusn]

On 5/7/2024 at 7:01 PM, crzndeb said:

I’m going on my first Celebrity cruise (Edge) on Sat., and I pre purchased the Martini flight. Can I do this at any time during the cruise, and will they know I pre purchased it. I will have Elite status from Royal, and I understand they don’t have the Happy Hours the first evening. I’m very excited for my first X cruise and will probably be wondering around like a kid in a candy store. Thanks!

We just did this on silhouette.

There was a card waiting in our stateroom, we took it to the martini bar and got our flight.

anytime you want it.

[PTC DAWG]

4 hours ago, newfiegirl4 said:

Just remember if you upgrade and order mixed drinks, make sure to ask for “ your “ preferred brand of liquor! Just off the Silhouette and countless times our party of 6 ordered drinks(frozen) in particular were made with (classic pkg) brand liquor! Seen it with our own eyes countless times. I mean why pay to upgrade and still be given a lower brand liquor? We show our cards which say premium pkg! Not fair at all!

Always call your liquor, no doubt..

[crzndeb]

2 hours ago, justcrusn said:

We just did this on silhouette.

There was a card waiting in our stateroom, we took it to the martini bar and got our flight.

anytime you want it.

Thank you for answering. I asked on this thread, since it was about martinis, but it turned into a wine thread…🤣