Wine pkg/cork fee

[dpump]

Thinking on purchasing the wine pkg for our upcoming cruise (5 bottles wine, wine tasting and dinner in Pinnacle Grill). Will we also be charged the cork fee if we choose to have these wines at dinner?

[George C]

No , but its still cheaper to bring your own on board and pay the 18 dollar corkage

[peaches from georgia]

A corkage fee is ONLY for wines at dinner that you have not purchased from HAL. It makes up for the fact that you are drinking wine that HAL has realized no profit from, so corkage provides a bit of revenue to the cruiseline.

 

Obviously they do not charge you to open and pour a bottle you (or someone else as a gift) has purchased from the ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you are a 3 or 4 star Mariner -- you can get a discount on that wine package.

[mllewis48]

We usually bring wine onboard for in-room consumption since with the corkage fee the price balances out, our opinion. If you pay $10-12 off ship with the fee it amounts to $28-30 which is the approx. price in the package, much less if you're a 3 or 4 star mariner.

 

Good luck

Mike

[kazu]

You can also arrange for the 5 bottles (or whatever number suits) to be served in the MDR. You don't have to carry them down:D

[Leeroy-Jenkins]

Thinking on purchasing the wine pkg for our upcoming cruise (5 bottles wine, wine tasting and dinner in Pinnacle Grill). Will we also be charged the cork fee if we choose to have these wines at dinner?

 

No.

[torringtonwyo]

if you bring a bottle to dinner and pay fee does that cover same bottle next night??? or is the chg each night????

[euro cruiser]

if you bring a bottle to dinner and pay fee does that cover same bottle next night??? or is the chg each night????

Good question. Also, will they store an unfinished bottle that you brought the same way they do a bottle you buy at dinner and don't finish?

 

And one other question - is the corkage fee the same regardless of the size of the bottle?

[RuthC]

if you bring a bottle to dinner and pay fee does that cover same bottle next night??? or is the chg each night????

The charge is for the bottle, over however many nights it takes to consume it.

Good question. Also, will they store an unfinished bottle that you brought the same way they do a bottle you buy at dinner and don't finish?

Yes.

And one other question - is the corkage fee the same regardless of the size of the bottle?

And yes. However, if you constantly bring magnums, you might want to think about tipping the wine steward a tad more. ;)

Oh, and don't bring those 375 ml mini-bottles. The corkage isn't worth it. :D

[Yodalicious]

When you consider the wine tastings and the dinner at the Pinnacle, it really is not a bad price

[Richie2pies]

Most of the wine I drink comes in boxes or screw-top bottles. I guess I'm not a wine connisewer?

[madera1]

When you consider the wine tastings and the dinner at the Pinnacle, it really is not a bad price

 

I agree. We had a great time at both the wine tastings and had an opportunity to try some different wines than we had never drank before. We are considering purchasing the 5 bottle package once again but supplement it with our own wines that we will purchase in Florida before boarding. This summer we were able to trade up 2 wines from our package to just one bottle of a better quality.

[dpump]

I agree. We had a great time at both the wine tastings and had an opportunity to try some different wines than we had never drank before. We are considering purchasing the 5 bottle package once again but supplement it with our own wines that we will purchase in Florida before boarding. This summer we were able to trade up 2 wines from our package to just one bottle of a better quality.

 

 

What kind of 'better quality wines' are you referring to? This is the kind of info we're looking for.

[JoeMGiants]

I just noticed that HAL has increased the prices on their wine / wine packages and eliminated the 7 bottle wine package on our April 9 cruise.

I found this in the Before You Go, indulgence / beverage section on their web site. This makes carrying on your own wine even more advantageous.

However, I would not be surprised if their next move is to raise the corkage fee to $20 or more. Just FYI. [They just recently raised their cocktail prices and eliminated / reduced the discount on their $50 / $100 drink cards .]

Joe

[Krazy Kruizers]

I just noticed that HAL has increased the prices on their wine / wine packages and eliminated the 7 bottle wine package on our April 9 cruise.

I found this in the Before You Go, indulgence / beverage section on their web site. This makes carrying on your own wine even more advantageous.

However, I would not be surprised if their next move is to raise the corkage fee to $20 or more. Just FYI. [They just recently raised their cocktail prices and eliminated / reduced the discount on their $50 / $100 drink cards .]

Joe

 

Yes -- this all happened near the end of November.

We were on a Collector's Cruise and in the middle of that cruise - Nov 22 -- new bar menus appeared, prices went up, etc.

[kazu]

I just noticed that HAL has increased the prices on their wine / wine packages and eliminated the 7 bottle wine package on our April 9 cruise.

I found this in the Before You Go, indulgence / beverage section on their web site. This makes carrying on your own wine even more advantageous.

However, I would not be surprised if their next move is to raise the corkage fee to $20 or more. Just FYI. [They just recently raised their cocktail prices and eliminated / reduced the discount on their $50 / $100 drink cards .]

Joe

 

Interesting - the 7 package was certainly availble on our Prinsendam cruise in November :D Of course it was the Elegant Explorer so things might be different. I noticed a lot more happy hours and other things on this ship:)