Wines in the Dining Room

[Trail46]

Tried to get an idea of what wines and prices are offered in the dining room from Ships Services, which, by the way, has been extremely helpful, but they don't have one to give out. Would rather not bring my own wine, but if I have to pay $50 a bottle, I would reconsider and might just haul it onboard! Any recollections from all you wine drinkers out there as to something you enjoyed and whether it was reasonably priced? We like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and chardonnay. We're on the Noordam, first time Hal. I just love these boards. I feel so prepared thanks to all of you!

[caviargal]

There are offerings under or just over $30 for the wine categories you mention. IMO, HAL has a good wine list and it is not marked up as excessively as some other lines.

[Trail46]

Thanks, Caviargal. Just the information I'm looking for.

[jtl513]

HAL's "Gift Order Form" list three unidentified "Bon Voyage" bottles or red, white, and champagne for under $25. I remember we bought a nice Reisling on board for $28. You can also buy "wine cards" - $41 for 10 glasses or $78 for 20 glasses of house wines. The whites are probably Chandonnays.

[Ann R]

I realize you may bring wine on board for your cabin but may you bring it to the dining room? If so is there a fee?

 

Thank you. Ann R

Zaandam 3/6/2007

[cruiserfromohio]

IMHO HAL has no wines that are a good value. Explain to me which a Beringer Napa Chard that costs $10/bottle retail in Fort Lauderdale costs $39/bottle from the HAL wine list? Couple that with the fact that if you order the wine from HAL the bottle has not been properly stored and the wine is heavily oxidized. I speak from experience. HAL has a decent variety and selection on their wine list, but the pricing is designed to extract from your wallet. The are not pricing the wine to allow you to enjoy the wine with your meal. Couple this with poor handling of the wine = poor value. My advice buy the wine at the port; carry it on; pay the excessive corkage fee; and enjoy.

 

BTW, carrying wines on and bring them to the dinning room (either one at a time, or the entire case) is no problem. I encourage everyone to do this. Maybe HAL will get the message and improve their wine pricing and handling.

[Ann R]

Thanks for the info, we do plan to bring wine to the dining room. I can't find the cork fee on the web site. Does anyone know what it is?

[Ann R]

Thanks for the info, we do plan to bring wine to the dining room. I can't find the cork fee on the web site. Does anyone know what it is?

[Trail46]

CruiserfromOhio: One problem I have with the wine pricing is that the gift form lists a Beringer Founder's Estate Cabernet as costing $41.40 from Ship's Services. I am accustomed to paying $9.99 for the same bottle in Long Island's East End. Add the 15% gratuity, and, perhaps, a tip to the wine steward, and I am paying almost $50 for a bottle that I drink at home for $10. Seems just dumb not to bring my own wine, although I still would prefer not to. Comments????

[ldog]

Corkage fee is $15USD.

 

The wine selection aboard is ok if you like Western/PWnw wines. If I was driving to the port I'd bring more of our own.

 

When we were in Europe we would buy wine ashore and pay the corkage...It's not overpriced. We had a wonderful wine steward on the Rotterdam who looked after us very well.

 

You can't expect them to provide glasses, serving etc for nothing.

 

cheers

[jtl513]

Thanks for the info, we do plan to bring wine to the dining room. I can't find the cork fee on the web site. Does anyone know what it is?

Sometimes the $15 is not assessed.

I am accustomed to paying $9.99 for the same bottle

You shouldn't really be comparing the price to what you pay in a retail store, but what you would pay in a comparable-class land restaurant.

[Grumpy1]

When you take the bottle of wine to the dining room you may be charged a $15 corkage fee, but you also may not. It seems to be at the whim of the wine steward. If he doesn't charge, I'd certainly reward him a bit more than I would otherwise.

 

As far as whether or not the wines are a good value, what do you pay for that same $10 Berringer in your local restaurant? Probably $25 to $50 depending on the restaurant. You are not going to pay bargain bin prices for wines in any restaurant I've ever been in.

 

By the way, it is my understanding that all HAL ships now have a cellar master who should have a pretty good knowledge of his wines. If you run into one that is "corked" or oxidized, ask your wine steward to bring the cellar master to you to check it out. He'll be the guy with the little silver sampling thingy hanging around his neck.

[iceman93]

IMHO HAL has no wines that are a good value.

 

I've actually never (never!) had a bad bottle in HAL, and you can see from my signature how many cruises I've taken. We drink a bottle with dinner every night.

 

The values on their wine list are at the high end, where sometimes they are priced about the same as what you'd pay in a retail store. That's roughly a 50%-100% discount from what you'd see in nice land-based restaurants.

[GrammaZ]

My understanding is the wines you purchase in the dining room as well as the different lounges (including the wine cards) include the 15% gratuity. If you purchase wine and bring it aboard, as we have done on all our cruises, and pay between $10 and $20 a bottle, which gives you an intermediate wine of fairly good quality, and then pay $15 a bottle to open it at the table that puts you in an out of pocket range of $25 to $30 per bottle. For that quality of wine you are probably paying $40 to $60 or more per bottle on the ship. If you are willing to put up with the extra box in your carry on luggage it definitely is the best value. Purchasing our case of wine in our port of departure has become really tradition for us and a lot of fun for us. Wines we have never had before and can't get up here in Canada make it a real adventure. When we were on the Liberty in '05 we were not charged corkage once and that made it even more fun. Of course, buying wines in Italy for a euro a litre and having them be fantastic was the best thrill. To pay $10 to cork a bottle we paid a couple of euros for would have been hard to handle.

 

That having all been said, on our cruise next week on the Noordam we have purchased the wine cards which work out to us Canadians to be under $5 a glass. It will be more economical in the dining room. We are still bringing some on board for our cabin but thought we would try this option as it hasn't been one before.

[Ann R]

I have no problem with a corkage fee, just wanted to know what the fee is. Thanks for your help.

[lee-gold]

We're boarding the Rotterdam in Rio, and hope to bring wine from S. America onboard. We'll be in Rio a couple of days and can purchase something there.

 

Now we wonder if anyone has any experience. What should we buy there?

We usually prefer white wines - perhaps a Riesling or Chardonnay.

[Chivalrygirl]

HAL's "Gift Order Form" list three unidentified "Bon Voyage" bottles or red, white, and champagne for under $25. I remember we bought a nice Reisling on board for $28. You can also buy "wine cards" - $41 for 10 glasses or $78 for 20 glasses of house wines. The whites are probably Chandonnays.

 

Yes they are chardonnays and a very, very average (cheapo) Australian one at that. However they are drinkable, trouble is I have a rather refined palate these days :)

[Samme]

Does anyone know if they have Bordeaux or Chianti available in the dining room?

 

I am just learning about wine and these are two of my favorites. There was a Bordeaux in Celebrity's dining room that was fantastic!

 

Diane

[mamaofami]

Can someone give me a link to where they post the wine list for the Noordam? Thanks!

[househunter]

Just curious where the posters live that can buy a bottle of wine for $10 in a restaurant? Even low end chains like TGI Friday and Red Lobster you are going to pay at least $30. I find the wine prices on most cruise lines to be very reasonable compared to land based restaurants.

[househunter]

Just curious where the posters live that can buy a bottle of wine in a restaurant for $10? In the Seattle area, even the low end chain restaurants like TGI Fridays and Olive Garden charge at least $30.

 

I think that the prices that the cruislines charge are very reasonable and many times lower that what I would pay at home.

[Denn33]

Standard markup in good restaurants is generally 2 times retail. $40 for a bottle that sells for $10 in stores is rather high.

[caviargal]

Just curious where the posters live that can buy a bottle of wine for $10 in a restaurant? Even low end chains like TGI Friday and Red Lobster you are going to pay at least $30. I find the wine prices on most cruise lines to be very reasonable compared to land based restaurants.

 

Only in Europe can one buy a bottle of house wine for $10 IME.

 

IMO, the mark ups on cruise ships have become excessive. I drink better wines so pay $60 and up for a decent bottle on a ship. Even then, I prefer to buy and bring wines I really enjoy and pay the fee.

 

When ships are buying duty free then charging 29.00 for a bottle of Caliterra (4.99 at Costco) or simialr, I think it is ripping off their passengers.

 

X now charges 25 per bottle corkage, a ludicrous amount. In itself, that is a reason to choose HAL IMO.

[mamaofami]

Where can I find the web site that would list the types of wines and the cost served in the Noordam dining room?

[mamaofami]

Where can I find the web site that would list the types of wines and the cost served in the Noordam dining room?