Bringing my own wine questions

[wilson2579]

I am not taking a chance. I will bring my own wine on at Barcelona.

[300dtc]

I am not taking a chance. I will bring my own wine on at Barcelona.

 

We brought our wine on from Barcelona and it worked out great! In Barcelona, you are able to get some local wines for only 2-5 Euros and when you add the corkage fee this was still much more inexpensive than the wine list onboard. The two big pluses were that i was able to try some different Spanish wines that i would have never tasted and it was so nice to have a glass of wine on the balcony after a long day of tours!

[sdmike]

You can order a bottle of wine at dinner I have found this list...I assume it is the latest http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/WineList_Fleetwide_071513.pdf

 

Thanks for the updated link. A bit of a comparison here. The Blackstone Merlot can be purchased at our local BevMo (big box wine shop) for about $8. Add the $15 corkage and you've got a $23 bottle of wine. NCL wants $33. If I were just having a couple of bottles I would not hassle with it. If I planned on drinking a case, it might be worth saving $120 to bring your own.

 

Similarly, their Simi Chardonnay is $45 on the ship, and I can get it for $11 locally. That's a $19 difference per bottle between buying on the ship and bringing your own.

 

Finally, at the upper end, the Duckhorn Merlot is $88 through NCL. That's a $45 bottle of wine. Add corkage and your "carry aboard" cost is $28 per bottle cheaper than buying it on board

 

Again, whether or not you want to hassle with carrying bottles depends on how much you drink and how much hassle are you willing to put up with to get your favorite bottle of wine on board and/or save some money

[garycarla]

So do they have an unlimited drink package? I know on CC they do.

 

Yes they do. Scroll down through postings from the past week and you will find a handful of messages all about it.

[time2cruise1]

The 4-6-8 bottle packages are still very much available onboard. I just had the latest Viva Vino list emailed to me by one of the concierges.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[PeanutBudder]

The 4-6-8 bottle packages are still very much available onboard. I just had the latest Viva Vino list emailed to me by one of the concierges.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

 

What ship was it from?

 

I called ncl again just to see what answer I got today.....even for a supervisor. They know nothing of a bottled wine program on ships. I am thinking of writing to them as this is not right....their horrible, non-consistent information turns me off from their cruise line. The rep I had today said he was going to personally investigate further as he said it was not right and they should know if the ships offer it....who knows if he will follow thru.

[time2cruise1]

What ship was it from?

 

I called ncl again just to see what answer I got today.....even for a supervisor. They know nothing of a bottled wine program on ships. I am thinking of writing to them as this is not right....their horrible, non-consistent information turns me off from their cruise line. The rep I had today said he was going to personally investigate further as he said it was not right and they should know if the ships offer it....who knows if he will follow thru.

 

Miami is clueless of shipboard operations. Call and ask if you can bring your own water. The answer you will always get is no! We all know that is not the case.

 

The ship was the Star

 

"

The wine package is indeed offered on the Star, and you can find attached the list of wines included in each program.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

See you soon!"

2013_09_11_19_30_33.pdf

[PeanutBudder]

Miami is clueless of shipboard operations. Call and ask if you can bring your own water. The answer you will always get is no! We all know that is not the case.

 

The ship was the Star

 

"

The wine package is indeed offered on the Star, and you can find attached the list of wines included in each program.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

See you soon!"

 

 

as a first time cruiser it is discouraging and confusing...thank goodness I knew to come to this board as I have learned so much!

 

BTW...is it just NCL's offices that know nothing or is this typical of all cruise lines?

[doones2]

I find that most cruise lines customer's service to be ok. Not great by any means, but I was told by my travel agent that NCL is the worst. He stopped booking cruises with them. I mentioned this once on here and was quickly told that I must have a problem because customer service was wonderful on NCL. I personally have not had a problem but have only sailed twice with them.

[declansdad]

So if we bring a couple of bottles of wine on-board to have in our cabin, we have to pay the corkage fee?

[Ed]

The answer of paying corkage fees is typically yes on when you bring your own wine on board even if it is consumed in your stateroom unless you are lucky even to get past security and they don't send you to the corkage table. In Barcelona there is a wine store after security so your chances of getting wine on board are good but if you are planning on taking the bottle to dinner you my have to fess up and pay the corkage fee

[the wandering two]

I have been following this thread, so thought i would add our experiences. We have sailed from Barcelona three times to date,(the last being Oct '11) the security on embarkation day is port security in the terminal building. IMHO they don't care if you have wine or not as long as it doesn't tick or go boom. We have never had to pass through further ship security, (on embarkation day that is) so there is a good chance that wine in a carry on would go undetected. Any thoughts or experiences to the contrary?

[300dtc]

I agree with Wandering Two! I was fully prepared to pay the corkage fee in Barcelona and had my 3 bottles in a carry bag that passed through the scanner.The nice gentleman handed the bag to my DH and said have a nice cruise....and we did!:)

[declansdad]

The answer of paying corkage fees is typically yes on when you bring your own wine on board even if it is consumed in your stateroom unless you are lucky even to get past security and they don't send you to the corkage table. In Barcelona there is a wine store after security so your chances of getting wine on board are good but if you are planning on taking the bottle to dinner you my have to fess up and pay the corkage fee

 

 

Thanks for the answer. I'm not a fan of that policy at all.

[johnmpcny]

We just asked our stewart for glasses and poured our wine and walked anyplace with it. Two times paid our corkage before boarding the other time we got to the dock early looking to pay and no one was around, so we and about 20 others just walked on and drank it from our cabin. We did not look for anyone to serve us. Of course our rum runners worked as they always do .

[jdvmd]

OP, you are allowed unlimited amounts of wine to be brought onboard. The corkage fee is $15 per 750-ml bottle. That said, we routinely bring a case or more onboard.

 

Second, when you pay the corkage fee, you are allowed to enjoy your bottle anywhere on the ship. This means bring it to any dining room, specialty restaurant, bar, lounge or your cabin and balcony.

 

Once you pay the corkage fee, a little "Corkage Paid" sticker is affixed to your bottle. If you carry on, you will pay the fee once you go past security. This charge will appear on your shipboard account a few days later. Usually, it is listed as a charge from one of the dining rooms. You will continue to carry on your wine and can enjoy whenever you want.

 

If you have the wine in your checked baggage and it is DETECTED, you will get a letter telling you to come to the Naughty Room, which is where you will pay the corkage. They usually put the letters out once the muster drill begins. If not detected, your luggage will be delivered to your cabin. If you try to take a bottle without the corkage paid sticker to a restaurant, you will then have to pay the fee.

 

If you have wine in your checked baggage and you get called to the Naughty Room, you will be asked to open the luggage and will pay the $15 corkage fee IF you want to drink it on the ship. If you don't want to drink it, they will hold it for you until the morning of disembarkation (sometimes the evening before but it seems to change with every ship). Security has a list of what was detected in the suitcase so don't try to say "I have two bottles only" because they do know.

 

If you do pay the fee and do not drink the wine, you can get the corkage fee refunded to you. This has never happened to use because we drink our stash but we were told to produce the unopened bottle with our receipt to Guest Services and a credit would be issued. Others on CC have reported that they went to a bar or had their butler/concierge take care of it.

 

We always have our wine in our checked bags because they are heavy and we don't want to have to lug around the bottles waiting until the cabins are ready (usually 1:30 on embarkation day).

 

Also, we have been told on two different NCL ships to keep our corkage paid receipt and bring it with us to prove that corkage was paid although we have never been asked to show the receipt.

 

Any server, not just the bar staff, can turn in the "Corkage Paid" sticker. They receive $5 of the corkage fee.

 

Finally, your cabin steward will supply clean wine glasses daily. They can also provide a corkscrew but we bring our own as there are limited supplies onboard.