frankc98376

What percent of guests do you suppose actually bring more than one or two bottles aboard? On Embarkation? In ports?

 

Europe and FLL likely will have varying percentages but do you think 25% of cabins bring wine? I tend to think the number if smaller than we might think. Curious what others think.

 

We brought 8 bottles of our favorites (that we couldn't get from HAL) and happily paid the corkage fee in the Pinnacle. We had great food, spectacular service, and our favorite wines- what could be better. We like to find small "off the radar" wineries.

This policy is identical to the Princess policy.

 

My only real beef with the policy is that it doesn't allow you to bring on a bottle from a visited port. Say, for instance, you stop in Nice, Rome, San Francisco or other port near a wine producing region. Wouldn't it stand to reason that you'd like to bring a bottle of wine back from shore to enjoy in your cabin?

 

Actually, the same argument could be made for beer. Stopping in Amsterdam, London, Dublin, Germany, etc would be nice to bring back some of the local product.

I was told by friends that Princess allows wine to be brought on board in port with a $15 corkage fee when boarding.

I just don't understand why they don't copy the policy from Princess. NCL also charges corkage at the pier, and seems to work very well.

There was a time and some of you may remember when you started to bring a glass into the dining room a crew member would great you at the MDR door and carry it to your table for you.. my my how times have changed.

Was a very nice touch for them to carry your drinks through the dining room/ Also very smart as in rough seas -many passengers would have worn drinks of non sure footed passengers.

I always remember occasions when exceptional service is more than a snappy slogan! :D

I remember the speech given by the CD on the last day of the cruise (circa early 1980's). They said they could not discuss gratuities, and would only say that HAL's philosophy was that tipping should be for exceptional, not expected service.

I was on the Noordam 3 shortly after the bars went to Philippine crew. Bartenders in one of the lounges put a box on the bar that said "Tips for the boys". The box was there for less than an hour and they went home at the next port.

I will say again my vote is for a corkage fee at the Pier or gangway ala Princess. Wine can be consumed anywhere on the ship with no issues. No "sneaking" a glass into any restaurant or bar. Slap a sticker on the bottle that shows corkage has been paid. Re-evaluate the on board wine list selection and pricing. Does a $12 bottle of California wine really need to be $60 on board? I think Walmart has proven that you sell many more products with lower prices.

In the long run I bet they would sell much more wine on board and see people carrying less on especially at embarkation.

Just doesn't seem like rocket science.

Again I will call foul. When Silversea had their problems with a health inspection it was made very clear in news reports that the US health inspections were for information only and they can't require a cruise line to change their policies or how they are doing things.

Reminds me of Flight Attendants that announce "new FAA regulations" against whatever happens to be their personal pet peeve. I remember an Alaska Flight Attendant announcing that FAA regulations prohibit more than 3 people from standing near the rear lavatories (coincidentally at the door of the the aft galley where most of them sat the entire flight). Or the one that announced that FAA prohibited any non Delta reading material in the seat pocket.

If they wanted to correct the problem from an inspection in the Neptune they could have brought in a crew and be done in a couple of nights or if concerned about noise during a port day when most are ashore.

"Do you seriously think this will change their minds?"

May not change their minds but you will get a lovely letter from the "Office of the President" (likely from Christine Ferris).

This will let you know that Holland America is 140 years old , has five star dining, award winning entertainment, impeccable ships, and is one of the highest rated cruise lines.

They will assure you that your letter has been forwarded to senior management for review.

It's really a lovely form letter that it seems everyone that writes HAL gets. There are the obligatory "insert here" areas to make it personal.

Yes I know that I sound snarky and sarcastic; probably because I have received a few of these letters recently while trying to resolve a major issue.

Nope not yet ive been home only 2 nights ( i was traveling for 2 weeks for work) and before that i was waiting on my laptop repair from bestbuy. Black tie protection, best thing ever. But needed a keyboard. So sorry to keep everyone waiting ! My little phone just would not do...

 

Its finished just needs a closing. Its really just a list, the one posted today was so much nicer! I was thinking that we should only have one but everyone says two is better so ill finish it. Any thoughts?

How about "You'll have to pry our wine out of our cold, dead hands" ? :D

Question I have is when they limit carry on to one bottle why raise the corkage fee to $20. So there will be a $20 corkage fee for the wine you aren't allowed to bring on board?? Hmmm................

It is all pretty simple- HAL marks "average" wines up way too much to try and make up for bring your own free of charge. People bring their own due to grossly inflated prices- creates a "catch 22" for HAL.

Follow the lead of Princess or NCL- One bottle free per person; any more $15 per bottle at boarding. No muss, no fuss- no work for the servers remembering to add the corkage fees. Also, bring the wine prices in line with the competition- I've been looking at wine lists from others and many seem very reasonable.

I can get through dinner without wine and have in many restaurants that were way to overpriced. Would they rather I drink iced tea and coffee at meals and make nothing or let me bring on 3 or 4 bottles of my favorite wines and make 50 or 60 bucks?

I spoke with one woman on board who had brought on "two buck Chuck" (Trader Joe's wine for those that aren't familiar)- she said with the $18 corkage fee was still a better deal than paying $50 for a $12 bottle of St. Michelle.

And I've often wondered if those who bring on water and sodas drink them around the ship or only in their cabins?

I heard that someone tried to sneak out of their cabin with a Diet Coke. Poor person was thrown overboard :D

In the early 80's we bought Kahlua in Mexico and Rum in the Caribbean. Walk up the gangway and flash your room key was all that was required to board. They welcomed passengers from other ships in port aboard to visit and offered tours. I remember meeting some nice folks from am RCCL ship and inviting them to lunch on the Noordam 3. They were overwhelmed by the food and the ship and became HAL converts :-)

One guy at the bottom of the gangway was it for security- no one cared if you were bringing booze on. Amazingly never heard of any major problems (other than a stowaway once or twice) on many many cruises.

We paid close to $80 for a $10 bottle of St Michelle Cabernet in the Pinnacle,

I agree that they really need to re-visit their pricing if people are forced to buy on board only. I'm betting they won't see the anticipated surge in on board wine sales they hoped for.

I know when Washington put a huge tax on tobacco they gambled that people would keep smoking and pay higher prices. Many quit or moved their buying to the Reservations and the state saw a huge drop in tax revenue.

Some times the bean counters just get it dead wrong.

Thank you so much for your response! If you don't mind, I would like to keep in touch with you and see how it went. Choosing a cruise line for this is much more stressful than I thought. And although I'm sure your experience has been good, they didn't respond to my initial email and I had to call and leave a voicemail. Then they emailed me but needed to know which cruise line in order to send me to the right rep! That's my biggest concern! Would my wedding on cruise line A be nicer than cruise line B? So stressful and I just got started lol :confused:

Feel free to email me. Holland America weddings are managed by the owner of Royal Ocean Events Tonia. We've had no issues getting in touch with her.

Really the main thing we had to choose was what kind of cake we wanted.

We are getting married May 19 on Holland America. Royal Ocean Events has been great to work with- VERY thorough and constant communication with us.

We had some "unique" requests that they took care of without a hitch.

Would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone!

Ships are registered in The Netherlands- the first country to recognize marriage equality!! How can you go wrong? :)

All jokes aside we will be getting married on The Oosterdam in May. Everyone we have spoken with at HAL and the wedding planners has been WONDERFUL and supportive.

One woman at HAL in Seattle commented that she would like to get to the ship and see our wedding- I said "please do and make sure and give us a hug".

Will always be #1 with us!

We sailed on HAL just after we got together in 1993 and have never had a desire to go elsewhere (well except for Key West, but that's not a cruise).

I had previously sailed on several lines and HAL is and will be my number 1.

We are getting married on the Oosterdam in May so HAL will always have a HUGE place in our hearts.

We love the low key, no pressure, no conga lines in the hallways atmosphere and the smaller more intimate ships.