Corkage in the MDR

[krehberg]

Want to get a general idea if anyone has been charged recently in the MDR!

 

My experience in my 5 previous cruises are that only once, back in 2006 was I ever charged. The waiter was opening one of the bottles I brought on that was a somewhat unique bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon and the Maitre'd was right there. Our waiter apologized for charging but said he had to. We had brought on 6 bottles (back under Uncle Bob's more lenient policy) and the others we never got charged for.

 

Ever since, that has been the only instance, though now limited to the one bottle per person.

 

The steakhouse is another story. Been charged every time I've brought a bottle there.

 

What are everyone else's experience. I get on the Freedom on Saturday :)

 

 

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[alreadypacked]

Want to get a general idea if anyone has been charged recently in the MDR!

 

My experience in my 5 previous cruises are that only once, back in 2006 was I ever charged. The waiter was opening one of the bottles I brought on that was a somewhat unique bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon and the Maitre'd was right there. Our waiter apologized for charging but said he had to. We had brought on 6 bottles (back under Uncle Bob's more lenient policy) and the others we never got charged for.

 

Ever since, that has been the only instance, though now limited to the one bottle per person.

 

The steakhouse is another story. Been charged every time I've brought a bottle there.

 

What are everyone else's experience. I get on the Freedom on Saturday :)

 

 

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Never been charged a corkage fee, on any ship, but always consume in the room...or buy a glass of wine the first night and take glass back to cabin and reuse (I bring a travel sized bottle of dish detergent to clean cabin glassware).

[steph7021]

I am glad to know charging is rare....was thinking today about maybe just sucking up the charge and bringing wine to dinner. 1 bottle per person...or 1 bottle per table?

[DEBnGAB]

I am glad to know charging is rare....was thinking today about maybe just sucking up the charge and bringing wine to dinner. 1 bottle per person...or 1 bottle per table?

 

 

You can bring as many as you want to the MDR...we've had a 2-3 at the table before. And its hit and miss with us too on the corkage...definitely less than more.

[krehberg]

I am glad to know charging is rare....was thinking today about maybe just sucking up the charge and bringing wine to dinner. 1 bottle per person...or 1 bottle per table?

 

The 1 per person is what you can bring on board (per policy). Multiple bottles would be subject to corkage policy. Just wondering if it's being enforced more now. I have no problem if they do. What I bring would cost over $100 on the wine list, so $10 is nothing really. Frankly, what I don't get charged gets given to server as a tip.

 

On land, $10 is very inexpensive corkage since most good restaurants charge $20+

 

 

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[MsSWhite]

On all my cruises we have brought wine into the MDR and had no problem. Our last trip on the Legend we ordered a 5 bottle wine package that we used once per night. On night 6 we brought in our own bottle. Our waiter asked if we wanted him to open it, we said yes, and he returned with our wine and a corkage fee receipt. I couldn't believe it!

[kelkel2]

Never been charged a corkage fee, on any ship, but always consume in the room...or buy a glass of wine the first night and take glass back to cabin and reuse (I bring a travel sized bottle of dish detergent to clean cabin glassware).

 

on Princess we won a bottle of wine in a contest. We walked straight up to the bar, bottle in hand and asked for 2 glasses. They gave them to us no problem. I plan on asking again on our next cruise. Worst they can do is say no!

[doconner]

on Princess we won a bottle of wine in a contest. We walked straight up to the bar, bottle in hand and asked for 2 glasses. They gave them to us no problem. I plan on asking again on our next cruise. Worst they can do is say no!

 

On my last cruise on multiple evenings we'd ask for and get empty wine glasses from the bar with no problem. We usually got them from the casino bar as it was the closest to our cabin, but I think any bar will give them to you.

 

Duane-O

[near the beach]

We don’t drink much wine. We carry one glass each to dinner from our cabin. No charge.

[Tbay-eh]

We open it in our cabin and use the big wine goblets we get from the the steward. We just carry those in to the MDR with us - we have even carried our open bottle of wine in with us and no one has ever questioned us.

[taragl]

Out of the three times I've brought wine, I was charged once at the steakhouse and once in the MDR (waiter was apologetic too, I wonder if maitre d' was nearby?). The other time was the MDR and we weren't charged. Seems like some waiters try to skate it by if you can. It might pay to be low-key with your bottle when you present it to be opened.

 

I like the "open in your cabin" idea. It's easy enough to get glasses somewhere!

[kellyrnh]

We open it in our cabin and use the big wine goblets we get from the the steward. We just carry those in to the MDR with us - we have even carried our open bottle of wine in with us and no one has ever questioned us.

 

We did the same thing, no issues. We also asked our room steward for a corkscrew (a nifty travel one that we brought home I might add).

[skittl1321]

We've never brought the bottle into the MDR.

We fill the glass in the room, and then take it with us. No corkage issues.

 

 

I like that Carnival doesn't charge corkage for wine consumed this way. Some of the other lines you pay corkage for every bottle you bring on board- even if they are not consumed in the MDR, or, I gather, even if you don't get around to drinking them at all.

[golfadj]

on Princess we won a bottle of wine in a contest. We walked straight up to the bar, bottle in hand and asked for 2 glasses. They gave them to us no problem. I plan on asking again on our next cruise. Worst they can do is say no!

 

We ask our room steward to make sure we always have 4 wine glasses in our cabin and never a problem.

 

Bring a 3 liter box with us and carry a large wine glass to dinner each night we want wine.

[alreadypacked]

We ask our room steward to make sure we always have 4 wine glasses in our cabin and never a problem.

 

Bring a 3 liter box with us and carry a large wine glass to dinner each night we want wine.

 

Out of curiosity, do you bring the 3 liter box as a carry-on or do you put in checked luggage?

 

My friend brought a 1.5 liter bottle of wine (size limit is supposed to be 750ml) and they scrutinized it a bit, but in the end they let her bring it on.

[richstowe]

We ask our room steward to make sure we always have 4 wine glasses in our cabin and never a problem.

 

Bring a 3 liter box with us and carry a large wine glass to dinner each night we want wine.

Is it easier to smuggle a wine box aboard then bottles?

 

BTW you were in Healds blog today in a goodish way.;)

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

We've never brought the bottle into the MDR.

We fill the glass in the room, and then take it with us. No corkage issues.

 

 

I like that Carnival doesn't charge corkage for wine consumed this way. Some of the other lines you pay corkage for every bottle you bring on board- even if they are not consumed in the MDR, or, I gather, even if you don't get around to drinking them at all.

 

I'd be willing to pay the corkage fee if I could bring on more of the wine I like. Until then, I will pay what they charge.

[golfadj]

Out of curiosity, do you bring the 3 liter box as a carry-on or do you put in checked luggage?

 

My friend brought a 1.5 liter bottle of wine (size limit is supposed to be 750ml) and they scrutinized it a bit, but in the end they let her bring it on.

 

Put it in checked luggage.

[golfadj]

Is it easier to smuggle a wine box aboard then bottles?

 

BTW you were in Healds blog today in a goodish way.;)

 

We have been taking a 3 liter box on for each cruise for years now and never a problem.

 

Was nice to see me mentioned in his blog.

[golfadj]

On all my cruises we have brought wine into the MDR and had no problem. Our last trip on the Legend we ordered a 5 bottle wine package that we used once per night. On night 6 we brought in our own bottle. Our waiter asked if we wanted him to open it, we said yes, and he returned with our wine and a corkage fee receipt. I couldn't believe it!

 

I would have gone to guest services and deducted corkage amount from his tip.

[richstowe]

I would have gone to guest services and deducted corkage amount from his tip.

Tempting but is that fair? The waiter may have been told to do this.

Even if he added fee on his own I would have difficulty deducting this from his tip.

He was doing what he was supposed to. I would be annoyed though.

To avoid this issue I also bring full wine glass to MDR.

[golfadj]

Tempting but is that fair? The waiter may have been told to do this.

Even if he added fee on his own I would have difficulty deducting this from his tip.

He was doing what he was supposed to. I would be annoyed though.

To avoid this issue I also bring full wine glass to MDR.

 

Perhaps he was told to do this by the MD. If so lets agree to blame the MD.

 

If not he should remember that he is working for tips. Almost all waiters understand this and will not charge corkage.

 

To avoid this we just make sure we always have large wine glasses in our cabin and bring wine to the dining room ourselves.

[big_duck]

I've never come even close to be charged corkage. Even on the Splendor in Europe when we were bringing on bottles of wine at every port.

 

I wonder how the OP made out on the Freedom, no issues for us.

[klepton]

I never brought wine into the MDR until my last cruise, last month on the Spirit. Both times I was charged the corkage fee. I didn't mind so much because it was the wine I wanted, and the $10 wasn't really that big a deal. Plus, it's far cheaper than the restaurants I usually dine at around here.

 

I will say that I've never had an issue getting wine glasses from any bar, and the only bar I ever had issue with them opening my bottle was promenade. She said there were a bunch of cameras there and she'd get in trouble, but that I could go to any other bar and they'd open it for me.

[mdrobtx]

We were going to be charged the corkage fee for our 1 bottle brought onboard on both Conquest and Freedom.

I asked for the matre'd on Conquest and asked that he wave the fee. He ask why? I answered because I'm asking you to and I thought it wasn't necessary especially do to the fact we open and served the bottle ourselves. He said it was company policy.

I finally had enough of his arguing with me so I politely told him I would take it from his tip. He immediately waived the fee and... he didn't get a tip.

 

I think it's a greedy, greedy policy. What p*ssed me off so bad was on a previous Carnival cruise we had bought a nice bottle of wine. We had about a glass left and the nice waiter said if we wanted to save it till the next night we could. Since we were in a hurry to catch the show we had him save it.

They charged us a $10 corkage fee for that one glass of $40 bottle of wine. I'm determined that will be the last corkage fee Carnival ever get from me.:cool: