Royal Caribbean Reinstates Corkage Fee for Wine Brought Onboard

Does this mean they charge in restaurants etc to open for you or charge per bottle brought onboard wherever it is opened (ie if I open and consume in my cabin, is there a charge?)

I just posted that question to the RC Facebook page. They normally comment within the hour. Let's see. I would buy the drink package if I could get the sale price AND use my onboard credit. But it seems you have to choose one or the other

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A response straight from Royal Caribbean on their Facebook page.

"Hey. Corkage fee applies to bottles of wine consumed in public areas, not stateroom."

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If they can now make a buck on something they took back a couple of years ago they will. It's all about revenue ! More and more revenue..

I am on Anthem in August and purchased the refreshment package when it was on sale for $18 and I used my $50 on board credit with no problem

A response straight from Royal Caribbean on their Facebook page.

 

"Hey. Corkage fee applies to bottles of wine consumed in public areas, not stateroom."

 

 

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Phew!! :) Thanks for clarifying.

They giveth, and then they taketh away...

We were planning on taking a bottle of rosé and a bottle of bubbly to have either in the MDR or just out and about at one of the bars, even though we have the drink package... But now I guess we will reserve that for our balcony.

Honestly I prefer this type of fee vs increased cruise rates. There has to be some way those who work the ship get an annual pay raise. If this helps not increase prices more, ok.

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Three months ago were were on the Nav. Our cabin attendant who did a thorough job told us that she went from having 12 cabins to 18 cabins to clean.BUT didn't get a penny more for the increased rooms to do. But in another way RCI will look at it as they gave her more rooms to clean and that will be her increase. I believe she was also leaving when her contract was up, even though she was not too pleased iwth the increased workload. She told us that there's been no pay increase for cabin attendants in years.

Three months ago were were on the Nav. Our cabin attendant who did a thorough job told us that she went from having 12 cabins to 18 cabins to clean.BUT didn't get a penny more for the increased rooms to do. But in another way RCI will look at it as they gave her more rooms to clean and that will be her increase. I believe she was also leaving when her contract was up, even though she was not too pleased iwth the increased workload. She told us that there's been no pay increase for cabin attendants in years.

Her base pay may very well remain unchanged, but her increase would come from her share of the gratuities from the additional 6 rooms, which would be 50% more than with the original 12. Gratuities are a significant portion of their compensation.

Will the addition of corkage fee for non-cabin consumption of brought-aboard wine also allow for more than 2 bottles/cabin to be brought aboard at embarkation, with the additional bottles automatically being charged $15 each regardless of where they are consumed?

In other words: is RC changing the wine policy to be like the policy Princess has OR are they keeping the 1 bottle/person and simply charging corkage when consumed outside of the cabin?

So far no increase in number of bottles that I've seen. And correct only charge corkage when opened outside the cabin. You can technically consume outside the cabin as long as it's on a cup. Walk around with a bottle and the fee may god you

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Check out the latest Royal Caribbean News from Cruise Critic:

 

Royal Caribbean Reinstates Corkage Fee for Wine Brought Onboard

does this take effect immediately

Immediately

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I doubt that RCI is changing its policy regarding bringing extra bottles of wine on board with the reinstatement of the corkage fee. And it is two bottles per stateroom, not per person.

I find the corkage fee policy annoying in that they originally instituted a $25 corkage fee, then wisely dropped it, now are adding it again but at $15. Just another way IMO - along with the room service charge, and non-refundable suite deposit as other examples - of just trying to squeeze more money out of their consumers.

Very disappointed about this. We were thrilled that we could actually bring our wine to dinner, but alas....So, now if we pour a glass from our own bottles in our cabin is it okay to bring a glass to the dining room? If so, what happens to the glass when empty? Do we take it back to our room, or leave it behind in the dining room? Will we then get fresh glasses? This is only our second cruise (October 2017) so we are newbies and not that much in the know about this sort of thing.

They take the empty glasses in the dining room. Just stop at a bar next time you are heading to your room and ask for wine glasses .

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I pack paper or plastic cups. Tastes the same[emoji3]. Or get a water glass from Wondjammer. It holds a lot of wine!

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It was nice while it lasted, would love to see increase of bottles allowed, not that crazy about RCCL wine list rather bring my own and pay corkage

If I open it in the stateroom and carry it into the dinning room will they still charge me?

If I open it in the stateroom and carry it into the dinning room will they still charge me?

It certainly sounds like you will be charged if you bring a bottle of wine you brought onboard to any public venue, including the dining room.

^ unless you "source" an exempt sticker.

We just got off of the Radiance at the end of May after her first Alaska sailing of the season.

We had onboard credit so used it for a bottle of wine that we liked, $60 for that bottle!!!! We will bring our own next time. We only have one glass with dinner anyway. We will open it in the room and take the glass with us.

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Will we still be allowed to get a glass of wine in Diamond Lounge and take it with us to dinner, or will we have to pay for that too?