Purchasing Wine on Wine Country Coastal Cruise

Have a cabin on hold for 10/18 Star sailing. Not a make or break, but can we buy wines along the way and bring on board?

We're certainly willing to pay corkage.

Have a cabin on hold for 10/18 Star sailing. Not a make or break, but can we buy wines along the way and bring on board?

We're certainly willing to pay corkage.

Yes you can.

they might hold it until the final night.

Have a cabin on hold for 10/18 Star sailing. Not a make or break, but can we buy wines along the way and bring on board?

We're certainly willing to pay corkage.

depends on security if they let you take them onboard and the worst thing to happen they will take them off you and you get back the last night

Yes you can.

Any alcoholic beverages purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at any port of call, will be collected at the gangway for safekeeping and will be delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist guests with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist guests with the shipboard alcoholic purchases.

*Princess Cruises is not responsible for any alcoholic beverages confiscated by shoreside security staff. Such items are not eligible for monetary refund or replacement

as i posted it depends on security if you get the bottles on

I've always been able to openly bring wine on from ports around the world including on a Wine Country Coastal cruise.

I am always prepared to pay corkage to drink it onboard & even if not charged when bringing on the ship we pay the fee to enjoy it in a dining room. The only comment I've had from security was nice bottle of wine. ;)

If wanting to take the wine home they could store it without any fee & have it returned on the last night of the cruise.

While these procedures are not in writing, in past discussions I've read on the Princess FB page they understand that passengers want to enjoy great wines from around the world that are not available from Princess. That's why they'll allow passengers to bring wine from ports which are subject to a $15 corkage fee.

Princess is concerned about spirits being smuggled onboard & prefers to charge corkage for us to enjoy our wine during the cruise. Princess treats wine differently than spirits or beer even though all are technically alcoholic beverages

That's been my experience on numerous cruises & haven't read of anyone being denied bringing wine from ports. But I have read numerous posts from passengers who had the same experience as me. However in the unlikely situation where security seizes wine it would be returned at the end of the cruise.

Have a cabin on hold for 10/18 Star sailing. Not a make or break, but can we buy wines along the way and bring on board?

We're certainly willing to pay corkage.

Yes you can & they're subject to being charged the $15/bottle corkage fee...enjoy! :wine-glass:

My only experience in Australia was in 2009 & they stringently enforced wine procedures but not on other cruises including our Wine Country Coastal cruises. Although from NZ ports we brought on several bottles & paid corkage.

I did the wine tour in Ensenada which featured a bottle of wine plus what every we bought. I carried it back aboard and to my cabin without any problem. On the coastal wine tour the same applied and was able to bring my bottle of wine aboard without any problem. I am not sure what would happen if you tried to being more than one bottle but would guess they would want the $15/bottle fee. I have never had Princess take any bottle of wine for safe keeping until the cruise is finished.

Have a cabin on hold for 10/18 Star sailing. Not a make or break, but can we buy wines along the way and bring on board?

We're certainly willing to pay corkage.

We've purchased wine in Santa Barbara on a couple of past cruises and carried it on with no issues, no fees, no problems. Whether that holds true at every port is questionable.

I did the wine tour in Ensenada which featured a bottle of wine plus what every we bought. I carried it back aboard and to my cabin without any problem.

Several years ago we took the Ensenada wine tour on Carnival which included a free bottle of wine. Returning to the ship security seized the wine from everyone on their wine tour which was returned on the last night of the cruise. Thankfully that didn't happen with Princess which in general has a different demographic.

We've purchased wine in Santa Barbara on a couple of past cruises and carried it on with no issues, no fees, no problems. Whether that holds true at every port is questionable.

We have never had a problem with bringing a bottle each in any port with Princess. One time we bought several high end bottles in South America and they kept 2 all but 2 until the end. Gave them the reds which we were going to shelve anyways for a few years and drank one white. We got them all back the last nite.

Since your cruise is billed as a "Wine Country Coastal Cruise," I would not be surprised if Princess was very casual about wines that you bring aboard on port stops. This was a "California Coastal Cruise," but I went on a Princess-sponsored winery excursion on a San Francisco port stop once. On the bus we were told that the policy regarding carrying on wines when we returned would be the same as embarkation: one bottle per adult could be carried on without any corkage charge and additional bottles would be subject to the $15 corkage charge. On a subsequent port stop to San Francisco, my wife and I walked down to the Ferry Building and purchased two bottles in the wine store there. No issue at all about bringing them back on board. I've done the same thing in Santa Barbara where there are several wine bars and winery tasting rooms within easy walking distance from the tender pier.

Appreciate all the input. Think we would try bringing a bottle or two at an early stop and see how it goes. Since we'd be flying directly back home after the cruise I have no interest in leaving the ship with several bottles of wine.

Since your cruise is billed as a "Wine Country Coastal Cruise," I would not be surprised if Princess was very casual about wines that you bring aboard on port stops. This was a "California Coastal Cruise," but I went on a Princess-sponsored winery excursion on a San Francisco port stop once. On the bus we were told that the policy regarding carrying on wines when we returned would be the same as embarkation: one bottle per adult could be carried on without any corkage charge and additional bottles would be subject to the $15 corkage charge. On a subsequent port stop to San Francisco, my wife and I walked down to the Ferry Building and purchased two bottles in the wine store there. No issue at all about bringing them back on board. I've done the same thing in Santa Barbara where there are several wine bars and winery tasting rooms within easy walking distance from the tender pier.

Based on experiences posted in these discussions that's a logical explanation of their enforcement policy for wine from ports on nearly all of their cruises.

I seem to recall that on Wine Country Coastal cruises they had additional onboard wine tastings beyond the normal Princess Grapevine Wine Tasting ($9.50) and Maître d' Wine Club ($25). They might have also had some wine experts on the cruise to learn more about enjoying wine.

We were on the Pacific Wine Country cruise on Ruby Princess in May. We took the Princess Sonoma Wine Tasting tour and were not stopped or questioned when returning to the ship with four bottles (which was in addition to our allowed allotment we brought onboard in San Pedro).