If you're bringing your wine to the MDR ...

[CounselorCruiser]

Maybe it's just on the Star, that's our hope, but if it's a systemic problem, then it's a bad situation. Here's the deal, we brought 6 bottles of wine with us at a cost of $15 per for a corkage fee to bring it to our evening meals. This I think is a fair price ... if you get the serviced you expect. For us, on 6 nights, we brought wine to the MDR and had to ask at least 3 times (sometimes more!!) to have the wine steward come and give us wine glasses and open our wine with our meal. So ... if you're bringing wine to your meals, our advice would be not to be patient (we're from the mid-west and we're maybe too nice) and say that you aren't going to order your meal until you have your wine opened and poured. For us, it was normally until the 2nd course, at the earliest, before we were able to enjoy our wine. It could very well be that this is the problem with free style dining were you have a different table, different waitstaff and different 'wine stewards' everytime you eat. What we experienced is that the wine steward on NCL really wasn't very well versed in wine at all ... we're not trying to be snobbish here, but on Celebrity, our favorite cruise line, you have bar staff to bring drinks and wine stewards to take care of wine needs. Advice ... if you're bringing your own wine and paying the $15 corkage fee, make sure you get better service ... don't be mid-west nice!!

[debnjoe1438]

I had no problems on the Sun. The wine Steward was always on top of things (well one night he was a little slow)

[newmexicoNita]

Maybe it's just on the Star, that's our hope, but if it's a systemic problem, then it's a bad situation. Here's the deal, we brought 6 bottles of wine with us at a cost of $15 per for a corkage fee to bring it to our evening meals. This I think is a fair price ... if you get the serviced you expect. For us, on 6 nights, we brought wine to the MDR and had to ask at least 3 times (sometimes more!!) to have the wine steward come and give us wine glasses and open our wine with our meal. So ... if you're bringing wine to your meals, our advice would be not to be patient (we're from the mid-west and we're maybe too nice) and say that you aren't going to order your meal until you have your wine opened and poured. For us, it was normally until the 2nd course, at the earliest, before we were able to enjoy our wine. It could very well be that this is the problem with free style dining were you have a different table, different waitstaff and different 'wine stewards' everytime you eat. What we experienced is that the wine steward on NCL really wasn't very well versed in wine at all ... we're not trying to be snobbish here, but on Celebrity, our favorite cruise line, you have bar staff to bring drinks and wine stewards to take care of wine needs. Advice ... if you're bringing your own wine and paying the $15 corkage fee, make sure you get better service ... don't be mid-west nice!!

Thst was just an isolated situation. Usually they are more than happy to bring you wine glasses, if fact usually there will be glasses on the table when you arrive. Sorry you had a problem. Now, as for the wine steward, normally the wait staff will pour as more and mroe cruise lines are doing away with the actually wine stewards.

 

Nita

[rrobynec]

I had a similar problem on the GEM CTN--

It was my friend's birthday, and we were ready to celebrate as soon as we boarded, so we brought a bottle of bubbly.

We waited so long, and then they only brought 3 glasses. :eek:

No problems on the JEWEL CTN, or my week long cruise though.

 

I think some servers are not familiar with the BYOB/corkage fee, and don't know enough to bring the glasses/corkscrew as needed.

[Coasty]

NCL is famous for Free-Style dinning. I can not remember going to dinner once in the MDR or any of the specialty restaurants and not having wine glasses on the table. In the MDR you should expect slow service from the wine steward. If you don't purchase a bottle he will not get much of a tip. We always open the bottle in the cabin, put the cork back in and waltz off to dinner. If you need a ice bucket, ask your waiter for one. I think this is part of Free-Style. It works for us.;)

[marelind]

We just got off the Star on Saturday. We brought on four bottles of wine and paid the corkage. We carried the unopened bottle into whatever restaurant we were going to that night, or we asked the server to collect the partial bottle we had checked. On two occasions we had to ask to have the wine served (once in MDR and once in teppanyaki) and the other five nights the server initiated opening or serving the wine right away (Aqua, Cagneys and Ginza). I'm sorry you had such bad service, but our experience was quite different.

[mcdermott]

just returned from the Jade we had a lot of wine which we took on board for both the bars and the dinning room and nowheere didwe have a problem with glasses or opening or wine buckets not happy with the corckage fee but he thats we signed up to so thats what it is

[luddite]

I'll tell ya this: On the Spirit in Feb, the service was superior. I was chastised for pouring my own wine.