wine on board?

[miss nikki]

Hey there!

Does RCI allow passengers to carry on bottles of wine during embarkation? This will be my first time on RC, and I know that Carnival allows each person to bring 2 bottles on board.

If not, do they sell wine on board in the shops and is it a reasonable price? I'll be on the AoS. My husband and I love a good glass of red wine on our balcony before dinner.

Thanks in advance! Only 99 days to go...

[gerif]

No, you are not permitted to bring on any wine or alcoholic beverages. You may order a bottle of wine from room service or purchase one at a bar or in the dining room (or even the Windjammer). Unfortunately, the prices are not at all reasonable (e.g., a bottle of white zinfandel that sells for $4.99 in a liquor store will run about $28 onboard)

[miss nikki]

Darn! Thanks for the response though!

[honeywell]

You can also pre-order wine for your cabin from RCCL's website - the Gifts and Gear section. Here is a link to the Wine Cellar selection..

[Winegirl58]

OMG $31 for Beringer White Zin???:eek: I worked for Beringer for over 10 years. That wine retails for about $5 bottle..... Not trashing the wine, it paid my checks for many years. Trashing the cruiseline for gouging the consumer!

[Gonzo70]

Although they may mark up very cheap bottles by a significant amount, the mark up of moderate to expensive wines is no more than at a typical land based U.S. restaurant. You can also by wine packages where you save a little over buying one bottle at a time.

[DeeDeeRode]

Was on EOS in January. We also enjoy a glass a red wine in the balcony before dinner and have brought my own wine with me on every cruise I have ever been on. I packed three bottles in my suitcase and had no problem whatsoever. Even brought a nice bottle of bordeaux to the MDR to share with my tablemates one night (they didn't charge a corkage fee, although I did tip my waiter a little extra the last night.)

 

I did purchase the 5 bottle wine package for our dinner wine and that worked out very well. Would highly suggest doing that.

[cruisegirl1]

DeeDee’s experiences have been quite different from mine.

 

We had one bottle in our checked luggage and were “caught”. One evening we asked to bring the RCCL that was sent to our cabin (By me) and were told there would be a corkage ( FOR THEIR WINE – Paid for by me!) I was even told by the loyalty desk that if I select wine for my Diamond Plus amenity and have it sent to the cabin , there will be a corkage to take it to the dining room!

 

A previous poster was a correct in that the RCCL moderate priced wines are not as bad a mark up as the cheaper wines.

 

The good old days are gone!

Cheers!

M

[miss nikki]

Thanks for the responses. Perhaps we'll order one of the wine and dine packages from the RCI site to help fill our need, and maybe we'll try to bring on a bottle or two as well.

[xpcdoojk]

Thanks for the responses. Perhaps we'll order one of the wine and dine packages from the RCI site to help fill our need, and maybe we'll try to bring on a bottle or two as well.

 

We always order at least a wine and dine package because we will drink several bottles in the cabin or at gatherings with friends.

 

Anyway on the last cruise 13 days we ordered a Platinum package (middle of the road) and the first night in the MDR, I tell the waiter that I had purchased a Wine and Dine package and prepaid it. He had a panicked look in his eyes. Obviously, it didn't show. So finally he brings me a bill, which I sign. I am not happy, but I am not going to let something like this ruin my cruise. Next day I visit the pursers desk and say what the heck is going on here. They can't help me, but give me a card for the contact person in Miami. So, after the cruise I contacted the person, and I was credited a few days later. I don't see a compelling reason to pre purchase the wine and dine. It is nice to keep the on board account down, but it is not worth the stress of having to pay for it twice and trust that RCI will make it right. Which, of course, they did. Just remember the folks on the ship don't have a ton of authority and it is better to try to resolve it on board, but don't let it ruin a trip if they can't.

 

jc

[Kikkycat]

I pre-bought four bottles of wine for our 1/25/09 cruise on Adventure OTS. It was my intention to order 3 to the dining room and one to our cabin, some bubbly for sailaway. I made an error and ordered two to the dining room and two to our cabin.

 

When we took the cabin-mistake bottle to Portofino I explained to them that I had intended to have it done through them but forgot to change the box on that one bottle, they did not charge us a corkage fee. It may have helped that we were there celebrating our 10th anniversary, but maybe not. Just an honest "oops" on my part actually.