Princess Wine Bottle Package Availability

[Astro Flyer]

We bought the 10 bottle silver package on our 14 day Panama Canal cruise in January of last year. We bought four bottles that cost greater than $29. In each case, we paid the for the cost of the higher price wine (without gratuity) and our on board account was credited with $29. Most of the wines be bought were between $28 and $38.

 

Thanks for sharing the procedure for purchasing wines that are more expensive than the package's maximum cost for a bottle of wine.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[!David!]

We bought the 10 bottle silver package on our 14 day Panama Canal cruise in January of last year. We bought four bottles that cost greater than $29. In each case, we paid the for the cost of the higher price wine (without gratuity) and our on board account was credited with $29. Most of the wines be bought were between $28 and $38.

 

 

How were the wines? Still thinking about bringing some wines in carry-on.

[Astro Flyer]

How were the wines? Still thinking about bringing some wines in carry-on.

I found more than enough good choices on the wine list.

 

Here's a link to the MDR wine list from the Royal Princess in October. Others have reported some ships have now implemented this new wine list which appears to be going fleetwide. If you search the board there is a 2013 wine list that you could also view.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=292048&d=1383697791

Edited February 9, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[sailaway5]

We bought the 10 bottle silver package on our 14 day Panama Canal cruise in January of last year. We bought four bottles that cost greater than $29. In each case, we paid the for the cost of the higher price wine (without gratuity) and our on board account was credited with $29. Most of the wines be bought were between $28 and $38.

 

How much is the 10-bottle silver package for a 14 day cruise? I could not fine that information as I read back thru this thread.... Where are these packages and prices listed? Thank you for sharing the information...

[IECalCruiser]

How much is the 10-bottle silver package for a 14 day cruise? I could not fine that information as I read back thru this thread.... Where are these packages and prices listed? Thank you for sharing the information...

$210 plus 15% gtratuity for a total of $241.50 or $24.15 per bottle. A $29.00 bottle of wine would cost $33.35 with gratuity. The cheapest bottle of wine on the new wine list is $24.00 for a cost with gratuity of $27.60. With the 10 bottle package you will save between $4.45 and $9.19 per bottle. With gratuity, the 12 bottle silver package costs $23.00 per bottle and the 7 bottle silver package costs $26.45 per bottle.

[Astro Flyer]

How much is the 10-bottle silver package for a 14 day cruise? I could not fine that information as I read back thru this thread.... Where are these packages and prices listed? Thank you for sharing the information...

Here's his previous post with wine package info:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38226569&postcount=2

 

Silver: $210

Gold: $290

 

An additional 15% tip is added to any package.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[NearEnough]

Here's his previous post with wine package info:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38226569&postcount=2

 

Silver: $210

Gold: $290

 

An additional 15% tip is added to any package.

Thanks for all your input re wine packages Astro Flyer. We are on the BA/LA cruise in March as well. Hope to meet you there - have been impressed with your no nonsense advice. Instead of avoiding sellers of coffee cards etc when we board, will certainly be asking about the wine package. We have the advantage that if there is no wine package, we don't sail until the next day, so can bring some on board and pay the corkage (or these days, is it screwtop-age??) :confused:

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks for all your input re wine packages Astro Flyer. We are on the BA/LA cruise in March as well. Hope to meet you there - have been impressed with your no nonsense advice. Instead of avoiding sellers of coffee cards etc when we board, will certainly be asking about the wine package. We have the advantage that if there is no wine package, we don't sail until the next day, so can bring some on board and pay the corkage (or these days, is it screwtop-age??) :confused:

Thanks & glad that you found it helpful & looking forward to meeting onboard. We've sailed with Aussies Russell & Louise (Fletch1) and looking toward to meeting more fun Aussies.

 

I agree, one way or another we'll have wine to enjoy on our SA cruise. :p

[Cassie_Zuzu]

Thanks for all your input re wine packages Astro Flyer. We are on the BA/LA cruise in March as well. Hope to meet you there - have been impressed with your no nonsense advice. Instead of avoiding sellers of coffee cards etc when we board, will certainly be asking about the wine package. We have the advantage that if there is no wine package, we don't sail until the next day, so can bring some on board and pay the corkage (or these days, is it screwtop-age??) :confused:

We have just returned from the cruise around Australia on the Dawn Princess. There is no wine package available here even though it was 35days long. Very disappointing:confused::eek:

[IECalCruiser]

We have just returned from the cruise around Australia on the Dawn Princess. There is no wine package available here even though it was 35days long. Very disappointing:confused::eek:

Thank you for confirming that unfortunately they are still not offering the packages on Australia based cruises :mad:

[Renmar]

Does any of you know what the answer is to the following;

We are this coming August on a B2B2B aboard the Ruby. This is a 12 day British Isle--14 Day TA & 10 day New England/Canada cruise.

If they have the wine package and we purchase one of the packages during the first leg, would we be able to (in the unlikely case :D) have the unused bottles carry over to the second and/or 3 leg.

 

Theo

[Astro Flyer]

Does any of you know what the answer is to the following;

We are this coming August on a B2B2B aboard the Ruby. This is a 12 day British Isle--14 Day TA & 10 day New England/Canada cruise.

If they have the wine package and we purchase one of the packages during the first leg, would we be able to (in the unlikely case :D) have the unused bottles carry over to the second and/or 3 leg.

 

Theo

In March on the Golden we did a 14 and 17 day B2B and our 12 bottle wine package carried over to the second cruise. I'd suggest to purchase it from your waiter and before I bought it confirmed with him that my wine card would be valid on the second cruise. While I don't know for sure I think selling packages may be commissionable & I'd rather have any potential commission going to my dining room waiter.

 

We enjoyed our gold wine package very much and if we purchased a bottle that exceeded the $45 maximum we only paid the difference but with no additional tip.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[IECalCruiser]

Does any of you know what the answer is to the following;

We are this coming August on a B2B2B aboard the Ruby. This is a 12 day British Isle--14 Day TA & 10 day New England/Canada cruise.

If they have the wine package and we purchase one of the packages during the first leg, would we be able to (in the unlikely case :D) have the unused bottles carry over to the second and/or 3 leg.

 

Theo

I don't know if the card will carry over. I would think that it would. We had two punches left and took those bottles back to our cabin to take them home.

[Renmar]

In March on the Golden we did a 14 and 17 day B2B and our 12 bottle wine package carried over to the second cruise. I'd suggest to purchase it from your waiter and before I bought it confirmed with him that my wine card would be valid on the second cruise. While I don't know for sure I think selling packages may be commissionable & I'd rather have any potential commission going to my dining room waiter.

 

We enjoyed our gold wine package very much and if we purchased a bottle that exceeded the $45 maximum we only paid the difference but with no additional tip.

 

I don't know if the card will carry over. I would think that it would. We had two punches left and took those bottles back to our cabin to take them home.

 

Thanks to both of you. I guess we will ask the waiter or the Head waiter ones on board.

 

Theo

[SWANAGE]

Do not lose wine card we lost ours and MDR staff said they had no way of tracking it and so we lost out We were not to happy this was on the Ocean Princess 2013 We did complain on our return but did not get very far So please be very carefull not to lose your wine card.

[Astro Flyer]

Do not lose wine card we lost ours and MDR staff said they had no way of tracking it and so we lost out We were not to happy this was on the Ocean Princess 2013 We did complain on our return but did not get very far So please be very carefull not to lose your wine card.

 

That doesn't seem fair...the card has your name on it so it shouldn't be able to be used by someone else and your onboard account lists the number of bottles purchased. :(

Edited May 28, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[shiner6]

I did not see the Star listed anywhere. Anyone have experience with her?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[IECalCruiser]

I did not see the Star listed anywhere. Anyone have experience with her?

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Check post #79. It was reported that packages were offered on the South American cruises at the end of 2012/beginning of 2013. I haven't attempted to update this year.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[SWANAGE]

That doesn't seem fair...the card has your name on it so it shouldn't be able to be used by someone else and your onboard account lists the number of bottles purchased. :(

 

We thought it would be easy to track but got very negative response from waiter and supervisor they said not possible to track very unhelpfull we thought the whole episode left a bad taste we put it down to bad training and attitude

[Astro Flyer]

We thought it would be easy to track but got very negative response from waiter and supervisor they said not possible to track very unhelpfull we thought the whole episode left a bad taste we put it down to bad training and attitude

 

If that happens to me, I've found that the maître d' can sometimes effectively solve problems.

[Cruiselover1951]

Royal Princess TA 4/27-5/12/14: Yes

 

(However we found the system flawed: we purchased the "Gold 12 bottle" package and received a "clip" for each bottle acquired on it, and with the flimsy paper the card was made of, it was a mess after 4 "clips". Also, when getting bottles over $45, the folio twice reflected the actual price of the bottle with no $45 credit, despite having receivied a "clip" and thus we should have seen the price minus $45. Also once, I got two bottles at a dinner at the Crown Grill with a total value of $80, resulting in 2 "clips", but on the folio it was listed as $80 minus $45. Sometimes we signed a receip, other times not.

 

My recommendation is to a) keep a copy of the receipt for any wine over $45 (or take a picture of it with your phone) and b) keep better track of the purchases than what we did, i.e. write over each "clip" the Bottle# (from the wine card) that clip was made for. This will make it easier to sort these multiple errors out when going to passenger services)

[Renmar]

Just a follow-up on my earlier inquiry regarding the rules for B2B cruises.

I phoned Princess and asked this question and here is the reply;

 

Wine packages are per voyage and can not be carried over to the following voyage, even when staying in the same cabin.

Any bottles left at the end of the first voyage can be brought to your stateroom but if you like to consume it during the following voyage(s) in the dining room you are required to pay a $ 15.00 corkage fee.

 

This seems wrong to me. We like an occasional glass of wine with dinner but do not need to have it every day. We are planning to have 3 bottles for each segment of our total of 3 cruises. The package cost is

$ 210.00 or $21.00 per bottle.

In this case only the first 3 bottles are $21.00 and the remaining ones will be $ 36.00 each due to the corkage fees for a total cost of $ 315.00 + gratuity on the package.

To me this looks like an other case of nickel & diming like the Alfredo Pizza charge (now removed) and the room service fee (also removed).

 

Needless to say that we decided not to buy the package.

 

Theo

[kiwimum]

We purchased a two wine cards (Silver and Gold) on our Royal TA and did not use all the bottles. The unused portion was carried over to the following cruise. I also asked our waiter prior to purchasing the cards if we could use then on the following cruise with the response 'of course'. We also changed cabins.

 

The cards are only valid in dining rooms and restaurants. I did pick up a bottle at Alfredo's and took it to the room with no problem.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Astro Flyer]

Just a follow-up on my earlier inquiry regarding the rules for B2B cruises.

 

I phoned Princess and asked this question and here is the reply;

 

 

 

Wine packages are per voyage and can not be carried over to the following voyage, even when staying in the same cabin.

 

Any bottles left at the end of the first voyage can be brought to your stateroom but if you like to consume it during the following voyage(s) in the dining room you are required to pay a $ 15.00 corkage fee.

 

 

 

This seems wrong to me. We like an occasional glass of wine with dinner but do not need to have it every day. We are planning to have 3 bottles for each segment of our total of 3 cruises. The package cost is

 

$ 210.00 or $21.00 per bottle.

 

In this case only the first 3 bottles are $21.00 and the remaining ones will be $ 36.00 each due to the corkage fees for a total cost of $ 315.00 + gratuity on the package.

 

To me this looks like an other case of nickel & diming like the Alfredo Pizza charge (now removed) and the room service fee (also removed).

 

 

 

Needless to say that we decided not to buy the package.

 

 

 

Theo

 

As we know, how things are done onboard isn't always the same as HQ policies. Our assistant waiter handled wine packages & had to get an answer from someone else before saying we could use it on our B2B cruises. Based on what you were told someone onboard waived those requirements for us. We had TD at the same table & the same cabin for both cruises & maybe that's why we were able to use it on both cruises.

[Renmar]

As I said before, we will ask the waiter and or headwaiter and see what happens. If we can not use it on the back to back then it is a NO GO and will not purchase any on board. We will bring our allowed quota before each cruise and buy maybe some in one of the ports and take our chance with getting it past the scanners.

 

Theo

Edited May 28, 2014 by Renmar