Princess' replie re: Wine

[SiBreeze]

It is that and the taking of cases of wine onboard rather than a bottle or two.:D

Agree with MicCanberra, I'm sure it was all the cases being loaded on board along with all the bragging that prompted the enforcement of the policy.

 

We usually bring a 3 or 5 ltr box of wine, depending on the length of the cruise. I wonder how Princess will handle that? One box for 2 people. :confused:

[Cruisin' Chick]

how can they tell if you have previously brought wine aboard? If you have flown in to the embarkation port there may not have been time to purchase wine before embarking.

 

so unless they start scanning that onto your cabin card (or keep a long involved list), they wouldn't necessarily know that.

[blondee419]

You're welcome :) I'm mostly a lurker, but since it will affect me in 3 months, I had to post!

[Loonbeam]

The expectation will be they will scan it. Now that they have the handheld scanners this could be accomplished easily. Have a table set up near boarding, passengers show the bottle(s) and get a sticker to put on each one indicating its been processed. First one is no charge, additional bottles are charged to room. It will be easiest if they just credit each room with 1 free per passenger rather than tie it to individuals.

 

 

so unless they start scanning that onto your cabin card (or keep a long involved list)' date=' they wouldn't necessarily know that.[/quote']

[caribill]

The expectation will be they will scan it. Now that they have the handheld scanners this could be accomplished easily. Have a table set up near boarding, passengers show the bottle(s) and get a sticker to put on each one indicating its been processed. First one is no charge, additional bottles are charged to room. It will be easiest if they just credit each room with 1 free per passenger rather than tie it to individuals.

 

And how would they know which passengers need to stop at that table?

[pablo222]

Agree with MicCanberra, I'm sure it was all the cases being loaded on board along with all the bragging that prompted the enforcement of the policy.

 

 

I find it quite amusing when all the bragging comes back to

bite people.

[Loonbeam]

For about $300 per unit they can add a component to the x-ray systems used to scan luggage that will detect any quantity of non-viscous liquid greater than X amount (adjustable but lets say 1/2 liter). Anyone who sets that off gets manually checked sent back to the check-in table.

 

Kind of like the airport 'pull out your liquids first' policy.

 

The trick is to make the check-in at the table easier than the other option.

 

BTW, side note- someone asked why there is a corkage fee. The intent is two-fold, one to recover a small amount of lost revenue, but the other component is to cover the cost of providing stemware, washing said stemware and where applicable, storing the wine.

 

And how would they know which passengers need to stop at that table?

[caribill]

For about $300 per unit they can add a component to the x-ray systems used to scan luggage that will detect any quantity of non-viscous liquid greater than X amount (adjustable but lets say 1/2 liter). Anyone who sets that off gets manually checked sent back to the check-in table.

 

 

The embarkation port x-ray scanning of carryon is done before check-in and is done by port personnel.

 

No place to get sent back to except the table where you fill out the card to indicate if you are sick or not.

[Colo Cruiser]

The embarkation port x-ray scanning of carryon is done before check-in and is done by port personnel.

 

No place to get sent back to except the table where you fill out the card to indicate if you are sick or not.

 

 

And no way to determine exact liquid amounts via an x-ray machine.

[DaisyRose]

I am booked on a California Coast cruise in April, with a stop in Ensenada. I have pre-reserved a Princess shore excursion in Ensenada to a winery in which everyone is given a complimentary bottle of wine as part of the excursion. How can I find out if Princess will charge the $15 corkage fee to bring this bottle of wine on board? Because, if they will charge me a $15 corkage fee after I paid them $39 to go to the winery, I will cancel the excursion.

 

I'm also wondering if they will allow you to purchase wine in port, and turn it in for safekeeping, to be returned on the last night of the cruise, without the corkage fee? Some people may wish to buy a bottle of wine in port to bring home. They should not be charged a $15 corkage fee to simply transport it home "through" the ship.

[2blackcats]

We cruised last year and purchased a wine card, however I do not see that option this year. Instead, we will be bringing a mixed case (there are 4 of us) - even with a $15 fee, the overall amount will be a savings. We get the wines we enjoy and Princess does not need to add to inventory.

[Loonbeam]

No, you would have to divert them for a manual check.

 

The systems in port have the capability, its just a matter of contracting with them to do it.

 

And no way to determine exact liquid amounts via an x-ray machine.

[greenie082756]

I am grateful to Princess to allow us to bring a bottle of wine on. We are flying in and I do not want broken wine in my luggage so I will be purchasing my 1 bottle per person allotment in Honolulu. What I'm hoping (crossing my fingers) is that they will know that we did not bring any on @ embarkation. Thanks everyone who has posted these replies from Princess.:)

[it's5o'clocksomewhere]

I am booked on a California Coast cruise in April, with a stop in Ensenada. I have pre-reserved a Princess shore excursion in Ensenada to a winery in which everyone is given a complimentary bottle of wine as part of the excursion. How can I find out if Princess will charge the $15 corkage fee to bring this bottle of wine on board? Because, if they will charge me a $15 corkage fee after I paid them $39 to go to the winery, I will cancel the excursion.

 

I'm also wondering if they will allow you to purchase wine in port, and turn it in for safekeeping, to be returned on the last night of the cruise, without the corkage fee? Some people may wish to buy a bottle of wine in port to bring home. They should not be charged a $15 corkage fee to simply transport it home "through" the ship.

 

With the CA coastals there are so many wonderful opportunities to purchase wines to take home. Maybe a storage option without the $15 charge? I know the wineries are happy to ship wine for you but this can be costly and not even allowed to some states. I don't even know if one could ship wine from Mexico to the US.

[fun_one]

We are in for a huge storm here in the Northeast starting late tonight. :eek: Keeping our fingers crossed that we won't lose cable, internet, phones,etc. It could be days before we get plowed out.:p

 

I am from Lewiston - Hi there! Hope your storm isn't as bad as they say. Since I have lived in TX for over 26 years, I can honestly say even though I miss the "seasons", I don't miss the bad storms (unless I was still in school and could miss a day of classes!).

 

We cruise out of FLL in 2 weeks and hope they are not enforcing any new rules too seriously but will deal with it if they do! We still always rack up quite a bar tab even though!

 

Enjoy!

Barbara

[Loonbeam]

Given this is what they do now with duty free, this makes sense. Bring it on board, declare it, pay $15 if you want to drink it on board or get it back last night of cruise...

 

There might have to be some limits in consideration of storage space and logistics so people aren't shipping cases around.

 

With the CA coastals there are so many wonderful opportunities to purchase wines to take home. Maybe a storage option without the $15 charge? I know the wineries are happy to ship wine for you but this can be costly and not even allowed to some states. I don't even know if one could ship wine from Mexico to the US.

[Waverunner20]

The following suggestions were included in an e-mail I sent to Princess yesterday. Doubt it will do any good but it was worth a try.

Change the policy to allow passengers to bring back wine purchased on Princess shore excursions free of corkage. Princess advertises some US West Coast cruises as wine cruises. On those and many other cruises around the world, Princess offers a number of shore excursions that stop at wineries for a wine tasting. Some (I believe at least one Ensenada shore excursion) may even include a free bottle of wine. Wineries earn money through the sale of wine after the tastings and passengers like to take a bottle or two of wine back to enjoy in their cabins. This change may encourage more people to sign up for Princess shore excursions and will let the business’s that participate in the Princess tours to know that Princess supports the wineries on those shore excursions. For instance, we brought back several bottles of wine from a Princess winery tour outside of Montevideo and got together with people we met on the tour several times later in the cruise to enjoy the wine and relive the tour.

 

Change the policy from one bottle of wine corkage free per person per cruise at embarkation (or ports) to one bottle per person per week. Longer cruises attract your loyal returning Princess cruisers. One bottle per person on a seven day cruise might be OK, but not on longer cruises. This would more fairly treat passengers on longer cruises. I would propose something like:

·

1-7 days – One bottle/person

·

8-14 days – Two bottles/person

·

15-21 days – Three bottles/person

·

22+ days – Four bottles/person

 

Change the policy to allow passengers on B2B cruises to bring on board all allowed corkage free wine at the first embarkation or any other time. For instance, we did a B2B in Seattle. We brought on board more than one bottle per person at our first embarkation. Pier 93 in Seattle is remotely located and it would have been cumbersome to need to get a cab to get to a location to buy wine. Why force passengers to incur the additional cost of a taxi when all of the wine could be brought on board at one time?

 

Hear, hear!!!!! Princess, if anyone from your admin is reading these threads, please know that there are MANY many of us out there who think the above suggestions are only reasonable. And if you didn't charge double on board, what we can buy wines for off the ship, perhaps the problem (of people wanting to bring, say, two bottles per week's voyage onboard to enjoy in their cabins), wouldn't be so prominent. Be reasonable!! Your customers know if you are being reasonable or not.....

[wrecks]

Agree with MicCanberra, I'm sure it was all the cases being loaded on board along with all the bragging that prompted the enforcement of the policy.

We usually bring a 3 or 5 ltr box of wine, depending on the length of the cruise. I wonder how Princess will handle that? One box for 2 people. :confused:

 

Hmmm, let's see, 5 ltr = 1 btl/day for a 7 day cruise. Why would a case and a half be different for a 20 day cruise?

[MicCanberra]

Hmmm, let's see, 5 ltr = 1 btl/day for a 7 day cruise. Why would a case and a half be different for a 20 day cruise?

We just budget in the extra beverage costs and then we do not have to worry about lugging excess weight to the ship and possibly being charged for it.:D

[azbirdmom]

I'm glad that they weren't enforcing this on the NZ - Australia cruise we just disembarked. We brought on 3 bottles at embarkation and another 3 purchased during a Princess excursion to vineyards in the Marlborough region. I was prepared for them to say something about it but they did not.

 

One complaint I and several others had on this cruise is that Princess pretty much has the same wine list for every cruise no matter what part of the world the cruise is sailing. It would be nice if they could have a side local wine list when they are in popular wine areas such as NZ or Chile. If they did that, I would be more likely to purchase wine from them.

 

We're on the Star in South America in a month and our boarding passes include the language about the new fee. We are visiting a vineyard prior to boarding and if they want us to pay the fee, so be it. I'd much rather do that and be able to enjoy wonderful regional wines on our balcony.

[Northender]

I am from Lewiston - Hi there! Hope your storm isn't as bad as they say. Since I have lived in TX for over 26 years, I can honestly say even though I miss the "seasons", I don't miss the bad storms (unless I was still in school and could miss a day of classes!).

 

We cruise out of FLL in 2 weeks and hope they are not enforcing any new rules too seriously but will deal with it if they do! We still always rack up quite a bar tab even though!

 

Enjoy!

Barbara

 

Hi Barbara, 22+ inches for us. Portland reporting this storm is now #1 on record. We came thru it just fine.

 

Enjoy your cruise:) and let us know how the "enforcement" goes.:D

[dutchess43]

I think it is unfair if Princess charges you the 15.00 corkage fee if you do not intend to drink the wine on board. We just sailed on NCL where the 15.00 corkage fee is charged only if you bring wine on board & intend to drink it during the cruise otherwise they store it for you & you pick it up the night before you disembark. If Princess wants to charge you the 15.00 then they should make arrangements to store the wine you purchased to bring home that seems fair. I am considering not booking a wine cruise with Princess.

[fun_one]

Hi Barbara, 22+ inches for us. Portland reporting this storm is now #1 on record. We came thru it just fine.

 

Enjoy your cruise:) and let us know how the "enforcement" goes.:D

 

Let me know how to email you directly and I'll let you know how our cruise goes - I don't like posting too much information on these boards if you know what I mean!

Barbara

[JimmyVWine]

I don't care what the mechanics of the new procedure is. I am just happy that I can pull wines from my wine cellar and enjoy them on my cruises. If I have to pay $15 to get the wine on board and another $15 corkage if I drink it in the MDR, I can live with that. If the new policy is all smoke and mirrors and I only have to pay the $15 corkage in the MDR with no additional fee, then I am fine with that too. But I certainly won't be doing anything to skirt the fee, subvert the policy, or act in any way that would cause Princess to reconsider its current positon.

[Northender]

Let me know how to email you directly and I'll let you know how our cruise goes - I don't like posting too much information on these boards if you know what I mean!

Barbara

 

adele_ellis at hotmail.com

Please put CC in the subject line.:D