mjobtx

With you there! When one has a cellar full of wine, and it's all getting older, it makes no sense to pay 4-5 times the markup for less than stellar wine. We even take French wine to California when we spend a month there - blasphemy!

 

And appreciate the heads up about the sale, unfortunately I got itchy fingers and have already ordered one!

newbie60. You will love the case. I am an old world collector myself but I do have some new world wines and will likely come back with a couple of cases worth from Mendoza. If you would like, send me a PM at mjobtx@gmail.com and let me have your contact information. I will do likewise. Maybe we can meet sometime at home or in our travels. I have been known to travel for an offline. Hope to hear from you.

Michael

We usually travel with a wine shipper case we bought years ago from UHAUL. It carries a case and has styro inserts. We check it as baggage and have never had any issues.

 

The link to the VinGuard Valise is much appreciated as that would be ideal for our travels overseas. We could not ship any wines back from France during recent trips there (the wineries would not ship) and this would at least allow us a case to bring home.

 

Thanks for sharing!

Happy to share. It solved a problem for me. Came home from Burgundy with a case full. Was traveling business class so no excess baggage issue. Will probably come back from Mendoza with both cases full of wines I can't find here in the U.S. That's a lot of fun for me. Will also go over with one case full for use on the ship. I ran the numbers on the ship's wine list and with few exceptions the multiples were sky high. Hard for me to pay $60 for a $9 wine.

About a year ago, I found this built for purpose wine suitcase. https://vingardevalise.com/ I bought one. Tried it out on a few trips and then bought another. They both will be going with us on our upcoming trip. One will be full of wine for our trip. The other full of breakables, liquids, and assorted odds and ends that we will consume on the trip.

 

Thanks for this link. We have used a rolling carrier for many years and it's considerably cheaper BUT it is not subtle, nor does it roll like a suitcase. It's RED and says WineCheck right on the top! We've never had a problem with it on planes or Oceania ships but the one you posted looks much easier to navigate. Thinking Christmas present for DH.

Had a Wine Check too for a long time but I am getting older. Dragging it and lifting it got to be a hassle. This one is a 4 wheel spinner. Looks like a suitcase and it is but it was designed to hold wine so the dimensions are a little different. Also holds standard liquor bottles and growlers that are shaped similar to wine bottles. The inserts are flexible within reason. I have carried Champagne, Burgundy, and other large bottles too but if you are flying coach you have to watch how many really heavy bottles you put in it. It could exceed 50 lbs. On the other hand, excess baggage charges if you carry a bunch of heavy bottles cost less than shipping wine home or paying for wine when you arrive and I always have what I like with me.

I have it on good authority that during the holidays the case will be on sale for a few days - probably Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Total Wine and IWA carry it so if you live where there is a Total Wine you can probably pick it up for less for a few days. I suspect the companies website will have the same price for the holidays too.

I suspect if you treat yourself, you will be happy. We certainly are. Takes a little breaking in like a new pair of shoes.

Michael

I understand having to cancel a culinary class for illness or maybe even just not liking the Chef teaching the class.

What I don't understand is people that book the classes as a "maybe I will go if I am in the mood" and then cancelling. The number of participants are limited and booking a class you probably aren't going to take uses a spot that someone that really wants to take the class could have used.

As wine lovers we carry wine with us almost everywhere and if we happen to wind up in wine country on our cruise, we usually return with wine as well. Our upcoming cruise will start in Cape Town with a visit to the wine lands and end in Buenos Aires where we will visit Mendoza for a few days while we are there.

About a year ago, I found this built for purpose wine suitcase. https://vingardevalise.com/ I bought one. Tried it out on a few trips and then bought another. They both will be going with us on our upcoming trip. One will be full of wine for our trip. The other full of breakables, liquids, and assorted odds and ends that we will consume on the trip.

I have learned over the years that shipping back wine from abroad is expensive. It can take a long time and sometimes it gets hung up in customs. We prefer to have our wine with us going and coming. This particular case is discrete and has insulating qualities which help to protect our wine in transit. The drawback, you have to check the cases both directions which is why we often fill the bottle pockets with odds and ends on the outbound and of course wine bottles on the return. Even if I had to pay to check the suitcase, it would cost me less than shipping a case home.

The case isn't for everyone but it works very well for us.

Michael

We got the Blue Book. Nothing in it that wasn't already on my Oceania receipt so I chunked it. Too bulky to add to everything else I was carrying.

We need our passports, Visas for Brazil and to prepay the entry tax for Argentina and make sure we had the receipts with us. Got the baggage tags but they were for the wrong cabin. After three calls to Oceania, never could get the right bag tags. They finally told me that we would get them in Cape Town before boarding. I found that a little disorganized. They probably printed the tags for every cabin on the ship. Not sure why they couldn't just grab ours and send them.

I have to say I am intrigued by your handle Pinotlover. As one myself, hope we meet up on a cruise some day.

Michael

Wear what you want and are comfortable wearing as long as you use some common sense.

Pack as many suits, tuxes, ball gowns, sports coats, slacks and dress shoes as you wish.

Don't expect others to have your same taste in clothes.

Don't right a bad review because they don't.

Those are the reviews that make me cringe. It is clear that the people writing them did not go to the trouble to do what everyone here is doing - research and ask questions.

I haven't been on Insignia since last year (late August), but it was the same as usual then. I don't think I'd change plans due to some reviews, but 39 days IS a long time, and if I ever take a long cruise like that, I'd want it to be the right one! We love the smaller ships as much as the bigger ships, but maybe some people prefer the bigger ones for longer cruises due to the extra food and other choices. Personally I don't notice the change in room size between the big and small ships, but on a port intensive cruise, I'm not in the room all that much except at night, so room size has never been a big consideration for me.

Thanks Roothy123. As you probably know our 28 November cruise, Cape Town to Buenos Aires is only 24 days and it is on the larger Marina where all of the cabins are larger than on the smaller ships. 39 days is a long time but the itinerary Singapore to Rome is enticing. As an older traveler (70s), I am concerned that none of the larger cabins on the small ships have stand alone showers. Designed for a time when a tub was a luxury but not so much for older people like me especially without grab bars. You would think they could figure that out. Young families aren't often found on longer cruises but that is just a pet peeve.

If I could find an interesting itinerary on the Marina or Rivera to places we haven't been, they would be my first choice. Still looking.

Thanks again.

I copied the text in the next paragraph from a review of cabin 8045 on the Insignia. If all the small ships are laid out the same, this could be an issue on all of the ships. Sail date was August 2015.

This cabin has one major problem. All of the Penthouse class cabins are on the Deck 8, so they are under the buffet, pool, and grill area. We were under the grill, which has a wooden floor. Service began around 6:30am and that's when we would be wakened from the sound of chairs scraping on the floor. I don't understand why they don't put glides on the chairs. That would alleviate the problem.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=516204

We are leaving on 28 November for a cruise on the Marina and we planned to sign up for a cruise on the Insignia while on board. But the Insignia seems to have quite a few recent poor reviews. Anyone have any personal experience? We are now hesitation to lock ourselves in to e 39 days on the Insignia in smaller cabins if the rest of the experience is not up to par.

Michael & Pat

Plano, TX