Cellar Masters - cost of wine 'card' ?

[travelingla]

I've read that there is a special card to purchase to sample wine from the Enomatic machines in Cellar Masters.

 

Can someone please explain the details -- the cost - how much many glasses or how it is priced? I also read one can sample the wines there - so this would not be an entire glass 'sample' -- correct?

 

I would enjoy trying new-to-me wines but could not drink an entire glass of several if I want to remember any! ;)

 

Thanks for the info

[CHEZMARYLOU]

On the Equinox last November they did not sell wine "cards", you charged it to you ship account using your sea pass. You have the option of 1, 2 or 3 ounce pours, not a full glass. The price is based on the amount you choose and the price of the wine. We only used it once to taste an expensive cab that we wanted to purchase for dinner so I don't remember specific prices. If you go into Cellar Masters when you board there should be a sommelier in there explaining the machines. He also gave us free samples that day.

 

In addition to the machines you can do several wine flights from different countries which we enjoyed.

 

Mary Lou

[Ocean Dancer]

Anyone know if you can use your achohol package for these machines?

[JezzaC]

Anyone know if you can use your achohol package for these machines?

 

Enomatics aren't included in drink packages. Wines sold by glass in Cellarmasters are however included till price limit.

[helpthejuggler]

We liked to have wine in CMs and were told about the machines. Some wines are as per the CM menu.

 

They mentioned $50 / $100 credits which I thought was on a specific card, but it makes more sense for it just be a sea pass charge. So still unsure.

 

What is the gratuity element for using the machines. It wasn't clear so we didn't use the machines at all and had table service. In theory self service should save me some money....anyone know?

[Lsimon]

We liked to have wine in CMs and were told about the machines. Some wines are as per the CM menu.

 

They mentioned $50 / $100 credits which I thought was on a specific card, but it makes more sense for it just be a sea pass charge. So still unsure.

 

What is the gratuity element for using the machines. It wasn't clear so we didn't use the machines at all and had table service. In theory self service should save me some money....anyone know?

 

I think when they first introduced the machines they ran on a different card you had to purchase in set amounts, but on our last cruise we were able to just use our sea-pass.

 

We did notice that we hardly ever see anyone using the machines. On the Constellation last March we purchased a glass of a nice, relatively expensive Chardonnay that we had just had a bottle of in Tuscan Grill the prior night. The taste out of the machines was nothing like the fresh bottle we had the night before and was terrible. I don't know what the problem was but I suspect the machines get so little use that the wine might have gone stale despite the ability of the machine to keep it fresh longer than usual.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Lsimon

[Mr&MrsBee]

Larry- I enjoy reading your posts as i feel they are very accurate. I have searched and cannot find wine list for the ships. I agree buying a fresh bottle is better than the cellmaster especially when you have many choices. Looking for a Crozes Hermitage or a Blanc-Pessac. Thank you for your help. Larry

[Lsimon]

Larry- I enjoy reading your posts as i feel they are very accurate. I have searched and cannot find wine list for the ships. I agree buying a fresh bottle is better than the cellmaster especially when you have many choices. Looking for a Crozes Hermitage or a Blanc-Pessac. Thank you for your help. Larry

 

I have some recent wine lists online. click on the underlined text.

 

Wine List – Celebrity Constellation – April 2011 (Main Dining Room) This list is similar to the MDR lists from the Eclipse below and hasn’t changed much in terms of general selection or prices from the Constellation’s Sept. 2008 Wine List

Wine List - Main Dining Room – Celebrity Eclipse February 2011 - The wine list is missing a page of red wines, see following two lists which duplicate many of the wines on the list

Wine List – Murano – Celebrity Eclipse February 2011 The “Rare Wines” section of this menu is not shown here but was identical to that section of the Tuscan Grill Wine List below

Wine List – Tuscan Grill – Celebrity Eclipse February 2011

[Mr&MrsBee]

Thank you for the response.

[lizbeth]

Hi -

 

Just got off the Constellation and I "purchased" a wine card to used in Cellar Masters. I charged $10 and was given a special card to use with the wine machines in Cellar Masters. Because I am a very light drinker, I was able to "taste" 4 different wines with this card and only have 3-cents left on it when I finished cruising.

 

I'm not very knowledgeable about wines and just wanted a mini-taste. The small tastes were $2 to $3; the 1/3 full and 2/3 full were about $5 and $8 respectively. You have the option to add more money to your card or to "charge" a larger amount. Of course, if you do charge an amount and you don't use your card, Celebrity has your money & does not refund it. Cellar Masters was deserted every time I was there, but I was there only 4 times around 5:15 pm.

Hope this is helpful to you.

Liz

Edited August 11, 2011 by lizbeth

[Lsimon]

Hi -

 

Just got off the Constellation and I "purchased" a wine card to used in Cellar Masters. I charged $10 and was given a special card to use with the wine machines in Cellar Masters. Because I am a very light drinker, I was able to "taste" 4 different wines with this card and only have 3-cents left on it when I finished cruising....

 

Interesting, perhaps they changed back again for some reason. The first time we cruised on S class almost 2 years ago one had to purchase a card and "load" value on it. But on the Constellation last March when I asked about buying a card we were told to just use our sea pass - we did and it worked. Perhaps they felt a need to change the system since then.

[AtlFirstTimeCruiser]

Does anyone have a copy of the wine list in the Cellar Master?

Thanks

[otto68]

Interesting, perhaps they changed back again for some reason. The first time we cruised on S class almost 2 years ago one had to purchase a card and "load" value on it. But on the Constellation last March when I asked about buying a card we were told to just use our sea pass - we did and it worked. Perhaps they felt a need to change the system since then.

Hy!

First of all, sorry for my english...I studied it twenty years ago and don't remember anything :o! I see you was on Shilouette recently and I would like to know the use of Enomatic wine dispenser in Cellar Master. Particularly

there is a special card to purchase a glass of wine or use your sea pass?

Thank you!

[USVI-4-me]

Hy!

First of all, sorry for my english...I studied it twenty years ago and don't remember anything :o! I see you was on Shilouette recently and I would like to know the use of Enomatic wine dispenser in Cellar Master. Particularly

there is a special card to purchase a glass of wine or use your sea pass?

Thank you!

 

 

Otto,

LSimon is an excellent source of information but the thread you refer to here is from 2011. Others may post here and tell you of their recent experiences.

 

April 2013 on Eclipse the manager on duty in CellarMasters told me I could pay for a wine tasting and receive a special card, "a complimentary one", to match the price of the wine tasting scheduled for a particular time. I didn't have opportunity to participate in the wine tasting that day and was told I could not purchase a special card for less than $50 from the mgr. on duty in CM.

 

I wasn't sure about spending $50 for card to get wines from a machine so didn't charge $50 to my Seapass (cabin card) at that time. When I stopped in at CM from time to time various machines were "out of order" or had a message about something wrong with the gas pressure. And, there was no one on duty.

 

As it turned out I was content to get my drinks from various bars on the ship even if I planned to sit in CellarMasters.

 

I hope this helps.

-Marisa

Edited May 18, 2013 by USVI-4-me

[woozlebear]

I think when they first introduced the machines they ran on a different card you had to purchase in set amounts, but on our last cruise we were able to just use our sea-pass.

 

We did notice that we hardly ever see anyone using the machines. On the Constellation last March we purchased a glass of a nice, relatively expensive Chardonnay that we had just had a bottle of in Tuscan Grill the prior night. The taste out of the machines was nothing like the fresh bottle we had the night before and was terrible. I don't know what the problem was but I suspect the machines get so little use that the wine might have gone stale despite the ability of the machine to keep it fresh longer than usual.

 

 

I couldn't agree more re the taste. Thought it would be a good idea to try a few whites and I have to say even the wine we often drink tasted horrid.

 

I don't think the bottles are changed frequently enough and in my opinion the whole concept is over rated and the lounge underused. On our cruise [Millenium] the sommellier was very unhelpful.

 

Apologies for incorrect spellings

Susan

[KirkNC]

Larry's earlier comment is what concerns me. I just can't imagine that the wine tastes the same out of the machines. My goodness,if you are tasting a fine wine is it too much to ask to have someone pour it?

[bbappel]

We were on the Equinox in December and participated in the Riedel wine tasting and got $20 wine card to use. We didn't have the drink package and I don't think we used the machine without the card. This isn't as much help as I'd like it to be. A year ago, we had the drink package and my husband was able to get us wines to have in our room (not in the good glasses, mind you, in the joker glasses) from Cellarmasters. He couldn't use the enomatic, but as others have mentioned, they would "sell" him a glass.

 

I think the Enomatic is a really cool idea and wish more people used it, so we wouldn't have LSimon's experience. I'm too much of a novice to buy very expensive wines, so it is nice to broaden my experience a bit with tastings of wines I wouldn't want to risk buying. It did give us the chance to compare two wines without much of a commitment.

 

As usual, on Celebrity, it seems the way things work varies from ship to ship and even from sailing to sailing. It does make it more of an adventure. Otherwise, what would we have to look forward to? Easy days at sea and knowing everything? ;)

 

Beth

[otto68]

Otto,

LSimon is an excellent source of information but the thread you refer to here is from 2011. Others may post here and tell you of their recent experiences.

 

April 2013 on Eclipse the manager on duty in CellarMasters told me I could pay for a wine tasting and receive a special card, "a complimentary one", to match the price of the wine tasting scheduled for a particular time. I didn't have opportunity to participate in the wine tasting that day and was told I could not purchase a special card for less than $50 from the mgr. on duty in CM.

 

I wasn't sure about spending $50 for card to get wines from a machine so didn't charge $50 to my Seapass (cabin card) at that time. When I stopped in at CM from time to time various machines were "out of order" or had a message about something wrong with the gas pressure. And, there was no one on duty.

 

As it turned out I was content to get my drinks from various bars on the ship even if I planned to sit in CellarMasters.

 

I hope this helps.

-Marisa

Thank you Marisa!

(I asked LSimon because he was on Shilouette recently )

[hvsteve1]

Probably one of the best known (featured on Travel Channel) places with the wine dispensers is the Wine Room in Winter Park, Florida. It is on toney Park Avenue. When I was there it was mobbed, mostly with younger folks. This is exactly the kind of thing to appeal to young executive types in an upscale area. They don't mind dropping a hundred or more dollars on wine on a Saturday night and enjoy elbowing their way through the crowd to sample glass after glass.

 

I think the crowded nature of the Wine Room is key as I see several complaints about the quality of the wine on the ship. I'm guessing the Wine Room goes through one or more bottles every few days per machine. if Cellar Masters is usually deserted and the typically older passenger on X is uncomfortable with the dispenser concept, the wine is going to be in those machines a long time.

 

While I'm bumping this subject into the present day, does anyone know if the wine menu in Cellar Masters is any different from what you find in any other bar or restaurant on board?

[Lsimon]

... does anyone know if the wine menu in Cellar Masters is any different from what you find in any other bar or restaurant on board?

 

Yes it is. Much different from other bars and a little different from the dining room wines by the glass.

 

I know they are experimenting with doing away with the wine machines, and wine bar concept, on some ships. Not sure if/when this will be fleet wide.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Lsimon

[4774Papa]

We purchased a $50 card to use at CM, but we had so many technical problems using them that it was a real pain. Perhaps Celebrity has solved those problems, but if not, I wouldn't recommend going there.

[WestLakeGirl]

This discussion is effectively moot. The contract for the machines has not been renewed. They are being removed, and are already gone from some ships.

[hallasm]

We did a Reflection Cruise in March 2014 - did have to purchase special card for the machines:

here is a short video with our Cellar Masters experience:

[YOUTUBE]XWT2jE-jLxc[/YOUTUBE]

[bjksgk]

On Eclipse in June the machines were still there but were no long in use as we were told by the sommelier. We really enjoy Cellar Masters, and used it almost every night, ordering many nice wines by the glass and they had several flights (4 pours each) available as well.

 

Several people came in while we were there and were quite unhappy about the machines not being available and gave the sommelier an earful as if it was his decision to stop using them. I felt really sorry for him as he was wonderful and didn't deserve to be treated like that but he handled himself very graciously.

Edited July 30, 2014 by bjksgk

[upwarduk]

On Eclipse in June the machines were still there but were no longer in use as we were told by the sommelier. [/Quote]

 

I have read that Cellar Masters on Equinox has been changed to a Gastro Pub, so the wine machines have been taken away and the Real Ales ( Beers) from Michael's Club have been introduced.

This is a trial and if successful, will be introduced fleet wide by April 2015.

Edited July 30, 2014 by upwarduk