Update on Wine Petition Status

[ekkc10753]

On October 31, I sent Mr Kruse and Ms Ferris the Wine Petition along with all the comments. I wrote a cover letter and included the URL's for the 3 most vigorous CC threads to show how much discussion the new policy had generated along with a brief summary of the reasons given by CC members for modifying the new policy (and managed to keep the whole thing to one page!)

 

 

I received a very pleasant letter in return from Ms Ferris saying that Mr Kruse had reviewed the correspondence and had forwarded it to "appropriate senior management for their information and review"

 

 

All of which is fine and to be expected.

 

 

But I closed my letter (this is the second one) saying that all my "suggestions" and fussing had probably pretty much crushed our chances of ever seeing the elusive Upgrade Fairy again.

 

And now I know these letters are actually being read in Seattle because someone went to the trouble of looking up my booking and informing me that I have a "Do Not Upgrade" notation on our booking (what?!!! ack!! that's the last straw for our TA:() and that my letters would in no way affect any further upgrades and I may receive a substanially discounted upsell just before sailing.

 

 

I'm very impressed with the level of attention being given to the Wine Policy concerns, but I'm even more pleased with the attention to detail being given to our correspondence. I still think the new wine policy is a bad idea for a dozen reasons but my fondness for HAL has increased greatly in the last few days

 

 

(and I had the "Do Not Upgrade" removed from our booking too, just in case:p)

[George C]

Wine policy was one of the big reasons I have taken 4 Hal ships in last 3 years, but since I heard about new policy we will spend Thanksgiving at Sandals in Jamaica and looking forward to my RCCL cruise in April, doubt we will return to Hal in near future.

[ekkc10753]

I'm still holding out hope that the new policy will be revised to something less draconian...or that the wine service and selection on board will improve dramatically...either one would be fine with me

[SeaBands]

perhaps HAL will bring their wine prices in line with Princess since they have had this policy for a while. I think Princess wine lists are fair and there would little need to carry a lot of wine on board. And their selections are quite good, better than HALs.

[Cruising-along]

Thank you so much for updating us. I agree, so far so good, and hopefully they will reconsider and make some changes (even minor changes at this point would be an improvement) Corkage fees, improved wine lists, all good. I wish they would consider different rules for longer cruises, but since none of the other cruiselines do, the chance of that happening is slim to nothing. :(

 

And good that you had your "do not upgrade" removed! Hope you got rid of that TA. :)

[RuthC]

Thank you for the update. I appreciate that since you first set up the petition you have posted periodic updates so that we may all stay informed.

Best wishes for upgrades or upsells on your cruises! By HAL telling you what was going on re: your booking, you were quite assured your cover letter was actually read, too! Good work all around.

[kazu]

Thanks very much for the update. So glad to hear you were impressed with the reply:)

[frankc98376]

perhaps HAL will bring their wine prices in line with Princess since they have had this policy for a while. I think Princess wine lists are fair and there would little need to carry a lot of wine on board. And their selections are quite good, better than HALs.

 

I'm sure that BYO unlimited wine has hurt their on board wine sales. The Princess model would enable them to greatly reduce on board inventory. The $15 per bottle corkage fee is pretty much all profit as the only cost is the waiter pouring it.

A case of wine weighs about 30 pounds so less wine inventory means less weight on board equating to less fuel burned.

Just seems like a win-win situation.

[innlady1]

Thank you so much for the update and keeping us informed. I hope you find a new travel agent, too!

[startwin]

Thank you for the update. I am still hoping for revisions to the proposed policy, but time is marching on with no new announcements. Perhaps they are simply ignoring their customers. On another thread someone outlined the Princess wine policy and corkage fees, and with onboard wine selections way superior to HAL's and much less costly. If HAL would improve their selection and reduce the ridiculously high prices, I could live with that.

[pris993]

Thanks for the update. We are doing a HAL cruise in April, I hope by then HAL will reconsider their policy, only time will tell.

[innlady1]

Thank you for the update. I am still hoping for revisions to the proposed policy, but time is marching on with no new announcements. Perhaps they are simply ignoring their customers. On another thread someone outlined the Princess wine policy and corkage fees, and with onboard wine selections way superior to HAL's and much less costly. If HAL would improve their selection and reduce the ridiculously high prices, I could live with that.

 

I thought I could, too, Annette...but being able to enjoy the treasures we found in port on our recent cruise has changed my mind...not that it'll do any good. We so enjoyed going back to the ship, enjoying a glass of local wine on the verandah, and talking about our day.

I fear that's over...unless someone chooses to smuggle on a bottle. I doubt that would work anyway.

Edited November 14, 2013 by innlady1

[LindaM]

Thank you so much for your effort and update. Whatever they decide, at least we tried. I doubt if Princess had anyone writing letters or petitions before their policy was put in place. This could work----we can only hope. At any rate, all of us truly appreciate your efforts!

[mamaofami]

Thank you for the update and for sending the letter. At least we let our feelings be known.

[Rosieo]

What is the current wine policy now?

[RuthC]

What is the current wine policy now?

Through January 30, 2014 you are allowed to bring as much wine/champagne/sparking wine on board as you wish. That's both at initial embarkation and at every port.

You may drink it in your cabin without paying any corkage fee. If you bring it to a dining room, lounge, or public area, there is a corkage fee of $18 per bottle.

 

Starting January 31, 2014, passengers are allowed to bring aboard one 750 ml bottle (or equivalent in smaller bottles, according to one reference sent by Seattle) per person at least age 21, at initial embarkation only.

The same corkage rules apply.

[Rosieo]

Through January 30, 2014 you are allowed to bring as much wine/champagne/sparking wine on board as you wish. That's both at initial embarkation and at every port.

You may drink it in your cabin without paying any corkage fee. If you bring it to a dining room, lounge, or public area, there is a corkage fee of $18 per bottle.

 

Starting January 31, 2014, passengers are allowed to bring aboard one 750 ml bottle (or equivalent in smaller bottles, according to one reference sent by Seattle) per person at least age 21, at initial embarkation only.

The same corkage rules apply.

 

Thank you, that will work put perfect for us!!! We are sailing this New Years!

[PatsyAnne]

Thank you so much for the update and keeping us informed. I hope you find a new travel agent, too!

 

To be fair to the TA (possibly), we put a do not upgrade on our room if there are "better" rooms we don't want. We do leave it open for specific upsells

[madera1]

Thank you for updating us on this issue. I am hopeful that there might be some movement by management to modify the new rules prior to my next cruise. Thanks again for taking the time to organize the petition drive.

[sevenseasnomad]

Kudos for your hard work in trying to get HAL to at least review their new policy.

 

We've always received timely and gracious responses from Seattle to every letter we've written. Maybe others have had different experiences, but ours has been positive.

 

Hope the upgrade fairy smiles upon you favorably for your next sailing.

Edited November 15, 2013 by sevenseasnomad

[ekkc10753]

I actually sort of enjoyed pushing Seattle on the new wine policy; it was a challenge I felt I had a small voice in.

We had to cancel our Eurodam cruise for this past August at the last possible minute when my husband became quite ill. So, while he was busy with all that, there really wasn't all that much that I could do besides the obvious supportive stuff. And the whole health issue was out of my hands entirely.

So this wine policy became a pleasant distraction for me; who knows it may due some good. And it looks like my sweetie is out of the woods too:D!

[kazu]

I actually sort of enjoyed pushing Seattle on the new wine policy; it was a challenge I felt I had a small voice in.

We had to cancel our Eurodam cruise for this past August at the last possible minute when my husband became quite ill. So, while he was busy with all that, there really wasn't all that much that I could do besides the obvious supportive stuff. And the whole health issue was out of my hands entirely.

So this wine policy became a pleasant distraction for me; who knows it may due some good. And it looks like my sweetie is out of the woods too:D!

 

Oh that is good news that your sweetie is out of the woods:D

 

I'm happy to hear that - and thank you again for putting this together.

 

You had more than a small voice and we are grateful for you doing it:)

[RuthC]

And it looks like my sweetie is out of the woods too:D!

That's the best part, isn't it. Wishing you both continued good health.

[Drico]

Just how many bottles of wine did people usually bring before the policy change?

[CruiseWhere]

Just how many bottles of wine did people usually bring before the policy change?

 

That depended on the person/couple/family...I have seen ppl arrive with a bag of six and I've seen them arrive with 3 cases. To each his own:)