Bringing Wine On Board

[innlady1]

I'm sure this has been asked....I just can't find the thread!

 

Can we bring wine on board when we embark to enjoy on our balcony before dinner?

 

Last year, we cruised on the Caribbean Princess, and they allow it (I emailed Princess directly ahead of time).

 

What's HAL's policy on this?

 

Thank you!!!

[Vic The Parrot]

Wine is ok ... the hard stuff is discouraged. (That explains the posts about 'hooch-smuggling' ... )

 

 

But be prepared for a corkage fee should you wish to finish the bottle in the restaurant.

 

 

Bon voyage!

[innlady1]

Thank you, Vic, for your answer to my question!

 

I guess it must be a corporate CCL policy.

 

We had a minimal bar bill last year by bringing wine on board and enjoying it on our balcony before dinner!

[cruznon]

We always bring champagne and wine onboard. We pack it in our rolling carry-on bag so no chance of breakage in our luggage.

[lapp]

There is no problem bringing wine on board. I have the wine packed by the liquor store in a styrofoam shipping container.

[sswitenki]

Which port are you referring to? We are leaving from Fort Lauderdale. Where can we purchase wine before be board the ship? Is there a liquor store near port that will pack in styrofoam? We don't want to fly with liquor.

[Schplinky]

How much is the corkage fee? I read that Celebrity has increased their to $25 so I hope HAL has not followed suit. It was only $12 on RCL.

[happy cruzer]

We paid 15 last year and that included tip according to our wine steward. He only charged us for about 1/2 of the bottles he opened for us at dinner. We did bring our wine to the Pinnacle and were charged the 15.

 

At 25, you probably would still save some money and still have your favorites, but that does start to sound a bit greedy. I probably would start to balk unless they assured me that somewhere between 5 and 10 was was for the steward. If it included a generous tip, then it would pretty much equal what we often pay now with our extra tip.

[Blackneto]

Everyones finances are different but. I didn't have a problem with most of the prices on board. Insanely High like resturants but still considering I couldn't bring any with me because of the new packing rules it was okay. My big problem was with the selection. I stuck to the Chilean Merlot and the house white at dinner.

On our alaska cruise I bought a few bottles in Skagway to share with our table. I didn't get charged corkage though. Maybe because I was a regular customer of the wine steward. The bar staff got plenty of 15% added on gratuities from me that week.

 

As an aside, If anyone is interested in the BS behind wine prices in the US and Resturants read a book called Wine Snobbery by Andrew Barr

[innlady1]

Which port are you referring to? We are leaving from Fort Lauderdale. Where can we purchase wine before be board the ship? Is there a liquor store near port that will pack in styrofoam? We don't want to fly with liquor.

 

Our cruise left last year from Fort Lauderdale, and the day before embarkation, I bought wine at a grocery store near Port Everglades and packed it in my carry-on. There's a strip mall close by with a Publix; then another store (can't remember the name) across the street.

[caviargal]

We brought wine aboard the ZUI this past March and enjoyed it in the cabin and at dinner for a reasonable $15 corkage.

[Hoyaheel]

We finally picked out our case of wine and hubby brought it in to work today to pack it up for our 10/28 cruise--he's a phenomenal packer and ordered up some special box inserts. Can't wait to enjoy our wine on the balcony in the afternoons!!

 

The HAL website says wine & champagne are allowed, no other liquor....