Your own wine in public areas?

[GarySuzy]

IMO I think it is up to the individual. If you feel comfortable bringing wine from you cabin with you then do it; if you are worried about it then don't. You have to do what you are comfortable with and not worry about what others are doing.

 

Gary:eek:

[Jo-Bob]

Agree wholehertedly. When this cruiseline encourages its' pax to enhance their cruise experience with limiltless wine/beer in their stateroom, when other companies don't allow this, why not stay within reasonable boundaries?

Marilyn

 

Sorry, wine yes. Beer? No.

[jtl513]

We see posts here from time to time complaining about HAL "nickel and diming" us in some fashion or other. I feel that consuming our own wine outside the cabin is nickel and diming the company. That goes for smuggling one's own hard liquor aboard too. ;)

[taxmantoo]

We see posts here from time to time complaining about HAL "nickel and diming" us in some fashion or other. I feel that consuming our own wine outside the cabin is nickel and diming the company. That goes for smuggling one's own hard liquor aboard too. ;)

 

I disagree. It is not nickel and diming HAL if you do it openly and agree to pay the corkage fee if required by the wait staff. I am a certified sommelier and always bring very interesting wines on board that are not on HAL's list. Some of them used to be but no longer are because of price. The waiters are always anxious to see what I have brought and we often have discussions on the merits of each. I offer them a taste if they are interested. It complements the information they get from the ir cellar master and they are quite appreciative. They have often invited me to attend the wine tastings at no cost.

[CowPrincess]

taxmantoo, I think jtl513 was referring to people like DH and me, who will pour a glass and take it to the rail on the Promenade Deck, or sit on the Prom Deck and indulge. And he makes a valid point. He's certainly given me something to consider. We never take our own already-poured-wine to the lounges, restaurants, etc, but perhaps we need to re-think taking a glass outdoors for enjoyment.

[Boytjie]

If you are going to quote me, please quote the entire "thought", not just a few words that can easily be misinterpreted by those who don't read the entire thread.

 

I don't feel qualified to answer on behalf of my DH.

 

I did not mean to quote just part of it to take it out of context - I try to not quote whole posts if I have a comment on only part of it.

 

I was perplexed by you DH's response but if you can't or prefer not answer it, that's OK. Just wonder why quote him then... BTW I did get what you were saying in response to him. :)

[Boytjie]

I disagree. It is not nickel and diming HAL if you do it openly and agree to pay the corkage fee if required by the wait staff.

 

Taking wine in a glass of wine form your cabin into a public is basically avoiding a possible corkage fee, not quite the same as waiters deciding not to charge for the bottle you hand over to them.

[Boytjie]

I don't know what CowPrincesse's rationale is, but one rationale could be that some of us don't feel at "arms' length" with HAL as we would with a mass-market line, but more as though we and HAL are, in many respects, in this together. When the wine cards were cancelled, some passengers might feel that they were a little bit more at "arms' length" with HAL, and therefor a little less obligated to consider HAL's and their own interests together rather than just their own.

I didn't, after the first half-hour or so, but I can understand others who did. I used to enjoy using my wine card as a sort of knowledgeable past passenger's advantage (a pitiful form of vanity, I know), now I have to find other pitiful ways to express my vanity.

 

I don't understand the "at arms' length" reference.

 

HAL stopped the wine card and repleaced it with a general beverage card that carries a discount. I don't get what the issue is with the wine card going away.

[jtl513]

I disagree. It is not nickel and diming HAL if you do it openly and agree to pay the corkage fee if required by the wait staff.

That's not what I'm referring to. That is paying HAL what is due them by their rules, not nickel and diming.

 

Also I don't really mean people who will occasionally take a glass of their own wine out to the promenade on a nice evening, as much as those who make it a practice to regularly bring their own glass of wine to a dining room or bar to avoid corkage, or smuggle their own liquor into their rooms to avoid paying HAL anything.

[cindy1957]

Please clarify something for me since I must not have read the fine print. When wine is brought on board by a passenger is it stated in HAL's policy that the wine must be consumed in the cabin? My husband and I sailed the Ryndam last spring and are booked on the Zuidy this summer. We enjoyed taking a turn on the promenade deck with a glass of wine. We continued to purchase a glass or other adult beverage before dinner but never felt uncomfortable carrying a glass from our cabin. People can bring soda or water on board as well. Does the same policy apply?

[taxmantoo]

That's not what I'm referring to. That is paying HAL what is due them by their rules, not nickle and diming.

 

Also I don't really mean people who will occasionally take a glass of their own wine out to the promenade on a nice evening, but rather those who make it a practice to bring their own glass of wine to a dining room or bar to avoid corkage.

 

I understand and my post was not intended to be argumentative. I just wanted to point out that bringing your own wine to a pool area or bar is not ALWAYS nickle and diming.

 

I couldn't agree more about bringing a glass to the dining room!:eek:

[Boytjie]

I have never had the urge to walk around the Promenade Deck drinking wine. Walking and drinking can be messy. :)

[GeriatricNurse]

I have never had the urge to walk around the Promenade Deck drinking wine. Walking and drinking can be messy. :)

 

Well, you could sit on a lounger on the Promenade Deck to drink the glass of wine, (like I do)!;)

[Boytjie]

Well, you could sit on a lounger on the Promenade Deck to drink the glass of wine, (like I do)!;)

 

But you still have to walk there with the glass. :D

[kazu]

Please clarify something for me since I must not have read the fine print. When wine is brought on board by a passenger is it stated in HAL's policy that the wine must be consumed in the cabin? My husband and I sailed the Ryndam last spring and are booked on the Zuidy this summer. We enjoyed taking a turn on the promenade deck with a glass of wine. We continued to purchase a glass or other adult beverage before dinner but never felt uncomfortable carrying a glass from our cabin. People can bring soda or water on board as well. Does the same policy apply?

 

yes, the policy is that it is for consumption in the cabin only, no public places. Now as to soda & water ? We could all carry a water bottle - whether heading out to port or whatever. I buy HAL's from my cabin and carry it around. I've never heard soda as an issue. It costs so little, especially with the soda card. I don't think (or I've never noticed) people bringing soda from their cabin. People seem to carry the wine more as it costs more.

 

But they are all for consumption in your room :):)

[Oceanwench]

I don't know what the big deal is.
Do what makes you comfortable.

One of the last things I want to do on a cruise is become the wine police. :rolleyes:
So I'm not going to inspect the size and shape of glasses, to determine from which venue they came.
Really, is it that important to pass judgment on fellow passengers?

For anyone making the "money" argument: I find it a lot more interesting that on some cruises, we've had the corkage fees waived the entire week, and on others, we've paid $18 per bottle each night. I guess HAL is missing a lot more money in those circumstances.

[Pettifogger]

Boytjie:

By "arms length" I was referring to a commercial transaction in which the parties understand that each is looking out solely for his or her own interest.

CowPrincess and I do not view our relationships with HAL that way; we want HAL to prosper, in my case for selfish reasons. I want to get a few more cruises in before I embark on my Grand Voyage in the sky, so I generally give some consideration to HAL's interests, as well as my own, and I gather that CowPrincess, and I'm sure some other Mariners, do.

I much prefer wine to general beverages, so I keenly felt the "going away" of the wine card. It was so convenient and was one of the things that made HAL a premium cruise line. Fortunately there are many others.

[Boytjie]

[quote name='Pettifogger']Boytjie:

By "arms length" I was referring to a commercial transaction in which the parties understand that each is looking out solely for his or her own interest.

CowPrincess and I do not view our relationships with HAL that way; we want HAL to prosper, in my case for selfish reasons. I want to get a few more cruises in before I embark on my Grand Voyage in the sky, so I generally give some consideration to HAL's interests, as well as my own, and I gather that CowPrincess, and I'm sure some other Mariners, do.[/quote]

Thanks for the explanation. :)

[quote]I much prefer wine to general beverages, so I keenly felt the "going away" of the wine card. It was so convenient and was one of the things that made HAL a premium cruise line. Fortunately there are many others.[/quote]

Won't the new beverage card be similar (actually more versatile) than the old wine card?

[jtl513]

[quote name='Boytjie']Won't the new beverage card be similar (actually more versatile) than the old wine card?[/quote][FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][SIZE=3]It's much better from the flexibility point of view, especially since you can get a refund of the unused balance (up to the purchase price) if for some reason you don't use much of it. That wasn't true with the punch card.

The only disadvantage I see with the beverage card is that it's only a 10% discount, while the discount with the 20-punch card was more like 28>30%. ($3.88 per glass instead of about $5 including the 15% service charge in each case.)[/SIZE][/FONT]

[happy cruzer]

[quote name='lindylee0803']I'm not looking for anyone's acceptance. I was just wondering if this is something that is commonly done on HAL, as it is on Carnival.[/quote]

So why bring Carnival or any other line into this? No line really wants you drinking a beverage that you brought onboard in a public area vs. ordering from them. The fact that a few lines allow it is different. My opinion is that is [B]not commonly[/B] done on any line but it does happen on a few that do allow you to carryon wine. The assumption is that the cruise lines that do allow carryon wine do so as a courtesy to allow wines not on their wine list to carried on and enjoyed with corkage fee in dining room or at your convenience. How far you take your convenience is up to you.

So if your question is does HAL allow you to carry around a glass of wine either carried on or other, the answer is yes.

[djhsolara]

This post is really none of my business but the tone on here really has me a bit miffed and I just don't understand it. The OP asked a simple question and people are very much going off the end on this one. :(

Unless I missed something, this is directly from the HAL website:

[I][COLOR=red]Except for wine and champagne[/COLOR], alcoholic beverages purchased in the vessel's shops or otherwise brought on the ship cannot be consumed on the ship. Bottles and other containers will be collected for safekeeping and delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the voyage.[/I]
[I]A corkage fee of US$18.00 applies to wine and champagne brought to the restaurants or bars for consumption. [/I]
[I]Room Service offers reduced-price stateroom beverage packages for in-stateroom consumption of alcoholic beverages. [/I]

There is nothing mentioned here about your own wine being consumed only in your stateroom.

What I don't understand is who knows whether the wine that you bring from your stateroom was wine that you either a) brought onboard yourself; b) purchased onboard or c) carried back to your stateroom and are leaving again with it. We're talking about bringing soda or water from the room...and I've seen many people do this in "travel" type mugs/containers...who is to say that these containers are not full of wine.

Come on everyone...there is no beverage police onboard...

If I have brought wine onboard or purchased it onboard, I am certainly going to consume it the way that I want to that follow HAL policy.

[jtl513]

[quote name='djhsolara']Unless I missed something, this is directly from the HAL website:

[I][COLOR=black]Except for wine and champagne, alcoholic beverages purchased in the vessel's shops or otherwise brought on the ship cannot be consumed on the ship. Bottles and other containers will be collected for safekeeping and delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the voyage.[/COLOR][/I]
[I][COLOR=red]A corkage fee of US$18.00 applies to wine and champagne brought to the restaurants or bars for consumption. [/COLOR][/I]
[I][COLOR=black]Room Service offers reduced-price stateroom beverage packages for in-stateroom consumption of alcoholic beverages. [/COLOR][/I]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
There is nothing mentioned here about your own wine being consumed only in your stateroom.[/quote][FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][SIZE=3]Notice the sentence I highlighted. That doesn't say [U]bottles[/U] of wine and champagne, it simply says "wine and champagne". That means HAL has the right, if they choose, to charge you $18 corkage for a single glass taken to a bar or any dining area.

(And no, corkage does not mean physically opening a bottle by a waiter.)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Fixedsys][/FONT]

[homelessguy]

[quote name='kazu']Ok, please don't flame me but I'm about to disagree ;)

Dh will never let us carry a glass from the suite. First of all, we think HAL's policy of allowing us to bring wine on board to consume in our CABIN is very, very nice. :):) If we want a drink of our wine, we have it in our room/suite/balcony/whatever. Second of all dh doesn't like the idea of spilling wine as the ship moves.

if we are going to have a drink in the lounge, ocean bar, listening to the strings or at dinner, we buy HAL's. We just think it's right. But that's us:D[/QUOTE]

Even if they didnt allow wine, I'd smuggle on Vodka :)

[Pettifogger]

Peter(Boytjie):

I'm sorry, but I don't see that the old wine cards and the new beverage cards are "similar."

If I understand them correctly:
the old wine cards were an advance commitment to the sale and purchase of specified products at agreed prices.
the new beverage cards are an offer of a specified discount on unspecified products at unspecified prices, if minimum quantities are purchased.

They are two entirely different propositions.

I'd expect that different passengers would prefer different ones of the two cards if they were offered simultaneously. HAL has access to vast quantities of customer preference data and I do not, so, for all I know, the majority of passengers prefer the versatility of new beverage card. I happen to prefer the certainty of the old wine card.

In my lifetime, I have fallen in love at first sight a number of times; with my wife, with cafe au lait (which I make every morning), with my Border Collie, with HAL, and with my wine cards. I still carry the memory of the wine cards in my heart.

[GeriatricNurse]

[quote name='Boytjie']But you still have to walk there with the glass. :D[/quote]

[B][I][FONT=Arial][SIZE=4]Of course! But when I get to the Promenade Deck, I don't continue to walk around the Promenade Deck while holding onto my glass of wine! :rolleyes: I sit in a lounger & drink it! :D[/SIZE][/FONT][/I][/B]