Cellar Masters Wine Package

[kura]

Can someone please advise me.

 

Under indulgences to purchase on line is listed the Cellar Masters Wine package as below

 

"A premium wine tasting experience is available throughout the length of your cruise with the Cellar Master Package. Two wine tasting events conducted by our Cellar Master, two evenings of fine dining in the Pinnacle Grill, five vintage bottles based on the wine navigators' preference, a Holland America Line commemorative bottle and wine gift are included for on board enjoyment. Pricing based on double occupancy, 11+ day voyages. A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item. You must be 21 years of age or older to order and receive alcoholic beverages"

 

I have a couple of questions

 

1. Can this be purchased once on board, or is it only available to pre purchase on line?

 

2. Does it qualify for the 3 star mariner's 25% discount on wine packages.

 

I would presume that if it does qualify for the 25% discount I would be better to wait and purchase on board to ensure i get it. If it does qualify, it seems like good value as it includes 2 evenings in the Pinnacle for 2 and a total of 6 bottles of wine.The regular cost is $323. With 25% off it would only be $242...I am sure there is someone who will know the answer to this one!

[kazu]

Can someone please advise me.

 

Under indulgences to purchase on line is listed the Cellar Masters Wine package as below

 

"A premium wine tasting experience is available throughout the length of your cruise with the Cellar Master Package. Two wine tasting events conducted by our Cellar Master, two evenings of fine dining in the Pinnacle Grill, five vintage bottles based on the wine navigators' preference, a Holland America Line commemorative bottle and wine gift are included for on board enjoyment. Pricing based on double occupancy, 11+ day voyages. A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item. You must be 21 years of age or older to order and receive alcoholic beverages"

 

I have a couple of questions

 

1. Can this be purchased once on board, or is it only available to pre purchase on line?

 

2. Does it qualify for the 3 star mariner's 25% discount on wine packages.

 

I would presume that if it does qualify for the 25% discount I would be better to wait and purchase on board to ensure i get it. If it does qualify, it seems like good value as it includes 2 evenings in the Pinnacle for 2 and a total of 6 bottles of wine.The regular cost is $323. With 25% off it would only be $242...I am sure there is someone who will know the answer to this one!

 

 

I ordered this once - I was three star. i called HAL (for what that is worth) and they told me it had to be ordered in advance before you got on board.

 

When i got on board I discovered that the discount did not apply. (there are other things besides the PG and the wine package).

 

Now, that is only my experience. But for a 3* or 4* mariner, unless you were certain of the discount - I would not order it as you can do better getting the items individually and being able to use your discount.

[dpump]

Was just on the Noordam and we had fully intended on purchasing this pkg. After looking at the wines and what came with the pkg and the very slight curl of lips from our Concierge, we decided on just the pkg with the wine. Glad we did. Conciege then said that was a wise choice. We didn't do the pkg w/the high end wines and really had none we didn't like. That being said, we had brought our own high end wines from home to enjoy in our cabin. Would do this again. Word of caution though, mid trip I requested a summary of our charges. We were being charged for each bottle we ordered and the pkg. it was fixed immediately. No biggie, just glad we are in the habit of checking our charges.

[kura]

Thank you for your replies...I thought it might be better to wait until we were on board

[Redlats]

we decided on just the pkg with the wine

We are considering purchasing the 5 bottle Navigator's Wine Package. I have a number of questions surrounding the wine packages:

1. Are the packages worth it? I.e. is it cheaper than purchasing five bottles from their list at dinner time?

2. Can you buy the package once onboard the ship, or only before we get on the ship?

3. It says in the description "A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item." Is that really true? They never seem to tire of adding a further 15% gratuity.

4. If I am not a true wine connoisseur, but just like some wine with my meal, perhaps it would be better for me to buy some bottles of wine in Tampa for $10 each and pay the $18 corkage. ($140 for 5 bottles vs the $188 cost of the wine package)? Is that true, or are the wines in the list better than $10 bottles of wine from Publix in Tampa?

[dpump]

We are considering purchasing the 5 bottle Navigator's Wine Package. I have a number of questions surrounding the wine packages:

1. Are the packages worth it? I.e. is it cheaper than purchasing five bottles from their list at dinner time?

2. Can you buy the package once onboard the ship, or only before we get on the ship?

3. It says in the description "A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item." Is that really true? They never seem to tire of adding a further 15% gratuity.

4. If I am not a true wine connoisseur, but just like some wine with my meal, perhaps it would be better for me to buy some bottles of wine in Tampa for $10 each and pay the $18 corkage. ($140 for 5 bottles vs the $188 cost of the wine package)? Is that true, or are the wines in the list better than $10 bottles of wine from Publix in Tampa?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We felt we about broke even. We had brought high end wines from home to enjoy on our balcony. I would wait and see what wines are offered before ordering the pkg. They certainly are not going to run out of wine on the ship. When we tried to order once on board, we were told to wait until we were in the dining room. The wine steward will help you. Yes, the 15% was added, the total cost was ~$175.00 or so. To be honest, in the dining room I didn't notice anyone schleeping (carrying) a bottle of wine with them to the meals. We discussed the bring your own vs the pkg and it was truly a wash out. There were no wines we didn't like that we had with our dinners. I will add that when you purchase the pkg., you are sort of 'forced' to eat in a dining venue to have your wine (what I mean is one night during the playoff's we had dinner in our room and couldn't finish a bottle of our wine in the pkg). To do it over again, perhaps on a 10 night cruise we'd only do the 3 bottle pkg ($89.00) and when all was gone, consider purchasing an add'l bottle with dinner. As an example of mark up, we and several others on this board really enjoyed Three Blind Moose. While at Trader joe's, I found it at a cost of $2.99 a bottle!!! Hope that answers your questions.

[kazu]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We felt we about broke even. We had brought high end wines from home to enjoy on our balcony. I would wait and see what wines are offered before ordering the pkg. They certainly are not going to run out of wine on the ship. When we tried to order once on board, we were told to wait until we were in the dining room. The wine steward will help you. Yes, the 15% was added, the total cost was ~$175.00 or so. To be honest, in the dining room I didn't notice anyone schleeping (carrying) a bottle of wine with them to the meals. We discussed the bring your own vs the pkg and it was truly a wash out. There were no wines we didn't like that we had with our dinners. I will add that when you purchase the pkg., you are sort of 'forced' to eat in a dining venue to have your wine (what I mean is one night during the playoff's we had dinner in our room and couldn't finish a bottle of our wine in the pkg). To do it over again, perhaps on a 10 night cruise we'd only do the 3 bottle pkg ($89.00) and when all was gone, consider purchasing an add'l bottle with dinner. As an example of mark up, we and several others on this board really enjoyed Three Blind Moose. While at Trader joe's, I found it at a cost of $2.99 a bottle!!! Hope that answers your questions.

 

Just a heads up - if you want one of your bottles of wine, you can ask it to be delivered in your room. You don't have to use them all in the MDR. You can also ask it to be delivered to the Pinnacle:D Just because your wine package is 'delivered' to the dining room doesn't mean this is the only place you can use it:D

[Willsot]

I recently had the Admirals Package on the Volendam. After previous experiences with pre-ordering online, I now wait until the day I board the ship (they will be set up in the Lido pool area to take package orders with the wines on display). I do this because the labels advertised online are almost always not the same as offered on board (at least from my experiences). When I ordered this time I was informed that two labels even on their individual ship listing were "out of stock" for the cruise. I did have a very good experience with the wine steward on the Volendam who "upgraded" me to more expensive bottles in place of the missing wines. The wine steward also sent one bottle to the Pinnacle for the evening we dined there. I did receive the 25% Mariners discount and was very pleased with the package this cruise.

[kazu]

I recently had the Admirals Package on the Volendam. After previous experiences with pre-ordering online, I now wait until the day I board the ship (they will be set up in the Lido pool area to take package orders with the wines on display). I do this because the labels advertised online are almost always not the same as offered on board (at least from my experiences). When I ordered this time I was informed that two labels even on their individual ship listing were "out of stock" for the cruise. I did have a very good experience with the wine steward on the Volendam who "upgraded" me to more expensive bottles in place of the missing wines. The wine steward also sent one bottle to the Pinnacle for the evening we dined there. I did receive the 25% Mariners discount and was very pleased with the package this cruise.

 

We do the same - wait until we board. Just takes a few minutes and you are sure of your selections that are offered:)

[dpump]

I recently had the Admirals Package on the Volendam. After previous experiences with pre-ordering online, I now wait until the day I board the ship (they will be set up in the Lido pool area to take package orders with the wines on display). I do this because the labels advertised online are almost always not the same as offered on board (at least from my experiences). When I ordered this time I was informed that two labels even on their individual ship listing were "out of stock" for the cruise. I did have a very good experience with the wine steward on the Volendam who "upgraded" me to more expensive bottles in place of the missing wines. The wine steward also sent one bottle to the Pinnacle for the evening we dined there. I did receive the 25% Mariners discount and was very pleased with the package this cruise.

 

 

Sure wish we had your wine steward!

[Redlats]

Thanks for your replies. My assumptions after reading the replies:

1. Are the packages worth it? Answer: Not really, especially if you don't get the Mariner discount (how many cruises do you have to go on to get the Mariner discount?)

2. Can you buy the package once onboard the ship? Answer: Yes

3. It says in the description "A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item." Is that really true? Answer: Not true they add it anyways

4. Are the wines in the list better than $10 bottles of wine from Publix in Tampa? Answer: If you can buy Three Blind Moose from Trader Joe's for $3, better to bring your own and schlep them to the dining room since the HAL package list price is now $37.70/bottle plus 15%.

[Willsot]

Thanks for your replies. My assumptions after reading the replies:

1. Are the packages worth it? Answer: Not really, especially if you don't get the Mariner discount (how many cruises do you have to go on to get the Mariner discount?)

2. Can you buy the package once onboard the ship? Answer: Yes

3. It says in the description "A 15% service charge is included in the price of the item." Is that really true? Answer: Not true they add it anyways

4. Are the wines in the list better than $10 bottles of wine from Publix in Tampa? Answer: If you can buy Three Blind Moose from Trader Joe's for $3, better to bring your own and schlep them to the dining room since the HAL package list price is now $37.70/bottle plus 15%.

 

The mark-ups are high but not all that much higher than what I find in restaurants at home.

I agree that the wine package pricing becomes more reasonable with the Mariner discounts,

25% for 3 Star and especially with 50% for 4 Star. 3-Star is achieved with 75 cruise day credits, 4-Star with 200. You earn credits for number of days on the cruise and also for onboard spending and suites.

[honey-bunny]

We do the same - wait until we board. Just takes a few minutes and you are sure of your selections that are offered:)

Hi Jacqui, can you please tell me when I will order my wine package in Main dining room on day 1 of the cruise or any other night , will our wine steward automatically show me a reduced rate of 25 % less on the bill to sign ? ( Since I am A 3 STAR MARINER) how does it work ? hal will add 15 % gratuity then will remove 25 % for mariner discount , is it the same for dining at Pinnacle Grill that we love when signing the bill should we mention the 25 % off mariner discount or will be automatically reduced when bill arrives for a signature?