Bringing wine on board

[euro cruiser]

We will be going on our first river boat cruise this June, the Vineyards of the Rhine and Mosel on AMA.

 

Since we'll be touring vineyards, I'm wondering what the policy is regarding bringing wine on board. Is it like the ocean cruise ships, where you can't bring it to your cabin but get it back at the end of the cruise?

[donaldsc]

deleted - dup post

[donaldsc]

Have you called AMA or read your cruise contract? That would be the proactive way of finding out.

 

For example, on HAL or Princess (I know that you are not cruising them but I am using them as an example of what you should have already done), the FAQs suggest that you are limited to 1 bottle per person. However, if you bother to read the cruise contract, it says that you can take "reasonable" amounts of wine on board. Define "reasonable". On my last 7 day cruise, I defined reasonable as 1 case. On my 35 day HAL cruise, reasonable meant 3 cases.

 

DON

[lcj4]

On Uniworld you can bring whatever you want onboard....you are not searched when you come aboard or back from trips. You just can't drink in the bar area unless you pay a 5 euro corkage fee. Bring your own corkscrew and drink on the sun deck. I would think the other river cruise companies would have the same policy.

[Jeff in Torrance]

There's certainly no problem with bringing whatever beverages you wish on board Grand Circle, and I assume all river cruise ships. We always load up before getting onto the ship, or at any of the port stops. There is no "checking of baggage or day packs" like there is on the large ocean cruise ships.

[Talisker92]

We never had a problem on Vantage River cruises

[euro cruiser]

Have you called AMA or read your cruise contract? That would be the proactive way of finding out.

 

For example, on HAL or Princess (I know that you are not cruising them but I am using them as an example of what you should have already done), the FAQs suggest that you are limited to 1 bottle per person. However, if you bother to read the cruise contract, it says that you can take "reasonable" amounts of wine on board. Define "reasonable". On my last 7 day cruise, I defined reasonable as 1 case. On my 35 day HAL cruise, reasonable meant 3 cases.

 

DON

Gosh Don, what crawled up you this evening? Or are you always rude and intolerant in your responses?

 

We only just booked this cruise and I don't have anything other than an invoice to look at, and the AMA web site is woefully inadequate, but thanks for your concern :rolleyes:. The travel agent tells me that they send out the materials only about four weeks prior to the cruise.

[DGK]

Thanks for asking Euro Cruiser as we have also been wondering. We are taking our first river cruise with Avalon this May on the Rhine. Has anyone had a problem bringing wine on Avalon? Thanks so much Donna

[Donray]

AMA allows you bring wine on borad. The wine they serve free at dinner is good.

[Needzavacation]

Embarking the river ships is unlike an ocean-going cruise ship in that you basically walk right on board, no security there to screen anything. So if you can carry it, then you can typically take it on board.

[euro cruiser]

Okay, thanks, it's good to know in case we decide we want to buy wine at the vineyards we visit.

[gnome12]

Just watch your quantities for logistical purposes. Wine is free flowing at dinner anyway. If you like the quality you don't need your own at dinner. (If you don't like theirs you might want to ask about the policy of bringing your own wine into the dining room; there might be a corkage fee or it might not be allowed.)

 

You can drink in your room, or, as other posters stated, bring it up to the sun deck, but how much will you consume?

 

Practically, you have to finish your wine on the trip. Canadians are only allowed to bring back one bottle of wine in their duty free allowance.I don't think the US is much more generous about bringing home alcohol. And of course you must pack it into checked luggage - carefully I assume.

[caviargal]

We are going on the wine theme cruise with AMA this November. One of the pluses of river cruising is that they are totally unlike ocean cruising. Our first two were with Avalon and we often picked up a bottle of special wine in port and brought in aboard.

 

We paid a corkage in the dining room but there was no problem at all in the room. We always pack a corkscrew and the bartenders happily provided glasses.

 

River cruises are not nickel and diming like ocean cruises and we plan to enjoy local wines of our choosing on AMA as well.

[letsgo39]

We have cruised on Avalon a couple of times and always bring Bourbon and Wine onboard to drink in our cabin and on the sun deck at the beginning of our cruise. We have also many times purchased wine and other beverages while cruising with no porblem.You can bring onboard whatever you wish.

 

Ignore Donald,he has obviously never river cruised and must be grumpy today. We try NOT to be snarky on this thread.

 

You will love,love river cruising!:D

[euro cruiser]

We have cruised on Avalon a couple of times and always bring Bourbon and Wine onboard to drink in our cabin and on the sun deck at the beginning of our cruise. We have also many times purchased wine and other beverages while cruising with no porblem.You can bring onboard whatever you wish.

 

Ignore Donald,he has obviously never river cruised and must be grumpy today. We try NOT to be snarky on this thread.

 

You will love,love river cruising!:D

I'm really looking forward to this cruise, it seems like such a civilized way to tour. With a 19- and a 22-year old as well as an 88-year old, we'll probably span the range of ages and interests on board all by ourselves.

 

We have been spoiled by the web sites of the major cruise lines, I've become accustomed to being able to read all about the ship, the excursions, etc. well before stepping on board. AMA's web site is very basic, unfortunately.

 

As for Don, yeah, I kinda figured he was having a bad night, but I felt like I had to call him on it, lest he talk to new members that way and scare them off.

[shoshona2]

Hi Euro cruiser,

 

I understand your frustration about AMA's info. I called them last week to find out when the photos of the new AMA Katarina would be on their website. The gal said, "Well, it's a new ship and was completely redone!" So, I answered that it was almost April and the first cruise on it is May 10th! Tomorrow is April 1st and their website is still not updated.

 

You will love river cruising. This will be our third and we look forward to more.

 

Sheila

[NancyW1354]

Thanks for posting this - we were wondering the same thing! Nice to know that if we find a wine in one of the towns we visit, we have the freedom to bring it on board and enjoy it!

[stretchcruz]

On Avalon we had a refrigerator in our room to keep the wine cold. The wine at dinner was very good, and we always had wine to have on the Sun Deck or you really could even pour a glass and bring it in the lounge if it was cold outside. Nobody cared, what a refreshing change from big ship cruises.

[H2Otstr]

We cruised the Douro with AMA and had a different wine at dinner each evening. There with a small card at our table which explained what the wine was and what the characteristics were.

 

I have cruised on 6 different rivers and every cruise line allowed wine to be brought on board. There was a corkage fee if you wanted to bring it to dinner. Drinking it in your room or on the sun deck was allowed.

[ltansil]

We were on the River Beatrice last October and we felt like we were encouraged to buy wine at the local vineyards. And, as everyone has said, there are no issues whatsoever when you come on board - they are simply welcoming you with something special - a cold drink or warm one - whatever is weather appropriate. Definitely no booze check!

[stretchcruz]

We were welcomed aboard with hot mulled wine one port, hot chocolate another....what a great greeting!

[cruzingrama]

We were on Uniworld's Legenary Rhine and Mosel in 2009 and purchased wine at every winery we visited. We had wine at 5:00 on the upper deck with another couple we had befriended and had a great time.

Had our own cork screw~~no one said a thing!

Enjoy your trip!~