Wine pairings?

[Ken1359]

I was on the Equinox TA recently and enjoyed the crossing greatly. The ship is in good order, sea was calm and food excellent. I had upgraded my free classic beverage pkg. to premium level to be able to enjoy better wines by the glass during dinner in the MDR.

 

Having read several postings here about the sommelier pairing the wine with each course, I was looking forward to that and asked for it the first night at dinner. I was very disappointed when the "sommelier" told me "just tell me what you want and I'll bring it"! First of all the term "sommelier" was grossly misapplied.....should have been wine pourer. Secondly, she knew next to nothing about wine. She was also incorrect about which wines were covered in the premium pkg. and was trying to charge extra for those covered.....and then said she would comp me on the difference when corrected by someone in charge.

 

In the big picture, my cruise wasn't ruined. I enjoyed the premium pkg. for the convenience of not signing for everything and also trying a couple of premium brand spirits that I hadn't enjoyed before. Did I come out ahead? Probably not. Would I do it again? Probably.

 

I'd enjoy hearing from others if they received the wine pairings only in the specialty venues or in the MDR. Was I expecting too much? Should I have asked for the server's superior? I'm not one to cause a scene over things in public, but it's continuing to bug me after getting home so I guess it's my own fault for getting things resolved at the time.

 

I'm still a great Celebrity fan and am looking forward to my next trip on the Equinox in Feb. I forgot to mention that I discovered the Ensemble Lounge on this sailing and enjoyed the pre/post dinner entertainers greatly. The Elaine Abras jazz quartet is a must see.

 

Oh yes, the hump cabins do have larger balconies than regular CC cabins.....a great place to veg. with a book on the balmy mid-Atlantic days.

[spookwife]

sounds like you had a poorly trained Sommelier. I have had wonderful suggestions/pairing on past cruises in a MDR.

 

some can be afraid to just bring something.. they run the risk of you not liking it.

 

I always tell him/her what I prefer in whites and reds and what I plan on eating for my main course and I generally end up with something that complements semi decently

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We were on the same cruise, had some great sommelier in Select Dinning

[cl.klink]

Only been on two cruises but had tremendous variability in quality of sommelier. Some were little more than wine pouters, as you say. But some were great.

 

I'm curious, why do you conclude the Premium package is something you would do again though was more costly than if you had paid straight up? Was it just being able to order and not think about it?

 

- Joel

[Mel&Ken]

This is exactly what we had hoped to do but alas our sommelier on both the Eclipse and the Reflection weren't able to make it happen.

 

To start, the timing of when we ordered our drinks and our dinner was off. He would come by and take drink orders before we knew what we were eating. Other times we'd be on our second course and he was no where to be found.

 

Knowledge wise they were both fine but timing and the size of their section just made it too difficult. So we usually kept with the same wine throughout dinner and then had a dessert wine afterward.

[HappyTvlr]

This is such a shame because we have had excellent experiences on our last three cruises. We opt for select dining and control the wine service and food service by making our wishes clear to the sommelier and server. We take a couple of hours for dinner and let the server know that it was time to bring a course when he saw we had wine served. As for the sommeliers, we never even looked at the wine list on the cruises. We told them we had the premium package and wanted to stay in the limits and that we were open to any wine suggested. On the occasions we did not like the wine or match, he or she happily brought another choice. I strongly suggest you not give up, and just write it off to having a bad sommelier. If it happens again, speak to the head sommelier and request a different sommelier.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We are on Equinox for the New Years cruise and hope for a better experience. Who was the Cellar Master on this cruise?

 

Mary Lou

[CaroleSS]

We too had tried doing a wine pairing in the MDR on the Reflection and were very disappointed. I had read so many wonderful reviews about never having an empty glass.

 

We had the premium package, so if we weren't thrilled with the wine we would have simply asked for another wine.

 

We had to tell the "wine pourer" which wine we wanted with each course. Many times she was late with our wine and we NEVER got topped off.

 

We will be dining in Blu on our next cruise and are hoping for a different outcome.

[happy cruzer]

I'm wondering how this will work with one person having the classic alch package?

 

One will want a variety of wines by the glass and the other will want a bottle.

 

I hope that the glasses can be brought to the table all at one time or with the courses either would be fine plus the bottle. Also will we get a discount on the bottle?

 

Thanks

[Wine-O]

With everyone nowadays having the beverage package, you want a food and wine pairing in the MDR? :eek: Forgetaboutit -- it ain't gonna happen. Go to a specialty restaurant if you want that kind of service.

 

We normally do TA's, and on the last one, the two sommeliers in Blu had a hard time keeping up -- and most folks on TA's don't have the beverage package, as it's not offered as a perk.

[Christine Frances]

With everyone nowadays having the beverage package, you want a food and wine pairing in the MDR? :eek: Forgetaboutit -- it ain't gonna happen. Go to a specialty restaurant if you want that kind of service.

 

We normally do TA's, and on the last one, the two sommeliers in Blu had a hard time keeping up -- and most folks on TA's don't have the beverage package, as it's not offered as a perk.

 

We had the prem pkg and we had Trad early seating. Never had a problem with service or pairing over 28 days. Our glass was at the very least, always "half full" lol Alexandria on the Millie was excellent as well as Claudia on the Eclipse.

[2theship]

We had an excellent experience on the Silhouette in Select Dining in January. We generally asked for what we wanted but he was always around to top off a glass and make sure we didn't want something else.

[jelayne]

I read on another thread that the assistant waiters are now doing bar service in addition to their previous responsibilities. It could be that they have reduced the number of sommeliers in the dining room recently.

 

If that's the case the days of wine pairing in the MDR are over.

[Christine Frances]

I read on another thread that the assistant waiters are now doing bar service in addition to their previous responsibilities. It could be that they have reduced the number of sommeliers in the dining room recently.

 

If that's the case the days of wine pairing in the MDR are over.

 

Can you quote the thread please.

[happy cruzer]

I'm wondering how this will work with one person having the classic alch package?

 

One will want a variety of wines by the glass and the other will want a bottle.

 

I hope that the glasses can be brought to the table all at one time or with the courses either would be fine plus the bottle. Also will we get a discount on the bottle?

 

Thanks

 

Anyone know how it works with just one package?

[jelayne]

Can you quote the thread please.

 

Sorry, I can't locate it. It was a post in one if the threads that are are talking about staff cutbacks or declining service.

 

Read it within the past week and remembered it because we will be dining in the MDR on our upcoming cruise. Previous cruises we have been in Blu & DH really enjoys having the sommelier pair a wine with each of his dinner courses. So when I read the post saying that the assistant waiters now handled bar service I began to wonder about sommeliers in the MDR.

 

Sounds like service might be a better by doing select dining.

[Willman]

On our Summit 3-29 cruise our MDR asst waiter was responsible for all non wine beverages.

 

Also, our sommelier was way over worked and and a way too large of a section. Wine pairings? I don't think so. We were lucky to get three glasses poured. The guy hustled from table to table pouring as fast as he could the entire dinner.