Wine

[c4blunjit]

Can I bring a glass of wine into the main dining room? Thinking of pouring my own to save some $. Thanx.

[Pam in CA]

Can I bring a glass of wine into the main dining room? Thinking of pouring my own to save some $. Thanx.

Yes. No problem.

[JimmyVWine]

Can you bring in a glass of your own wine? Sure. Is it right? Well, look at it this way. If on day 1 of your cruise you bring a full bottle of your own wine to the MDR, you will be charged a $15 corkage fee. On that day you drink a single glass and ask the MDR to hold your bottle for later consumption. On day 2 you return and have another single glass from your bottle. And you do that again on days 3 through 6 until the bottle is gone. In the end, you have consumed one glass per day from your own bottle and the ship collected $15 from you. Compare that to bringing in a glass of your own wine that you have poured yourself. At the end of 6 days, you have finished the bottle and the ship has collected nothing from you despite their well and oft-stated policy of charging a $15 corkage fee for the consumption of a bottle of personal wine in the MDR. So now I ask: Is bringing in your own wine one glass at a time keeping with the spirit and intent of the corkage policy? The policy states that if you bring a single bottle on board, you may drink it free of charge in your cabin. If you bring it to a public venue for consumption, you will be charged a corkage fee. So now I ask: When you bring your glass to the MDR, are you drinking it in your cabin or in a public venue? Does the policy say that you may drink your free bottle in public venues if you do so one glass at a time? If you are assigned to a table of 6 and choose to share your free bottle of wine with your tablemates, if you bring the bottle to the table you will pay the fee. If you tell your tablemates to meet you in your cabin and pour them all a glass and you all carry your glasses into the MDR you skirt the fee. Is that the right thing to do?

[dorisis]

You can bring a glass of wine from your cabin or from any of the bars into the dining rooms with no problem. Your cabin steward will bring wine glasses for your use.

[rollingstone]

Can you do it...yes

Is it tacky....yes

Just my opinion

[wineforhealth]

Can you bring in a glass of your own wine? Sure. Is it right? Well, look at it this way. If on day 1 of your cruise you bring a full bottle of your own wine to the MDR, you will be charged a $15 corkage fee. On that day you drink a single glass and ask the MDR to hold your bottle for later consumption. On day 2 you return and have another single glass from your bottle. And you do that again on days 3 through 6 until the bottle is gone. In the end, you have consumed one glass per day from your own bottle and the ship collected $15 from you. Compare that to bringing in a glass of your own wine that you have poured yourself. At the end of 6 days, you have finished the bottle and the ship has collected nothing from you despite their well and oft-stated policy of charging a $15 corkage fee for the consumption of a bottle of personal wine in the MDR. So now I ask: Is bringing in your own wine one glass at a time keeping with the spirit and intent of the corkage policy? The policy states that if you bring a single bottle on board, you may drink it free of charge in your cabin. If you bring it to a public venue for consumption, you will be charged a corkage fee. So now I ask: When you bring your glass to the MDR, are you drinking it in your cabin or in a public venue? Does the policy say that you may drink your free bottle in public venues if you do so one glass at a time? If you are assigned to a table of 6 and choose to share your free bottle of wine with your tablemates, if you bring the bottle to the table you will pay the fee. If you tell your tablemates to meet you in your cabin and pour them all a glass and you all carry your glasses into the MDR you skirt the fee. Is that the right thing to do?

 

Jimmyvwine

 

I agree with you, I would add that I have always been one too also purchase a bottle for everyone I bring into the MDR, love that they hold the wine over for you. I have found for my wife and I we tend to drink more than a glass, one bottle would last the evening.

 

I also would like your wine bottle that can hold 6 pours LOL

[dcrow72]

who knows where you purchased it or didn't? The glasses are the same. Bring your own if you have it. The OP didn't say if they paid corkage or not.

[JimmyVWine]

The OP didn't say if they paid corkage or not.

Yes they did: "Thinking of pouring my own to save some $." It they already paid the corkage on the bottle, there would be no need for them to pour their own glass and carry it into the dining room. At that point, they would just carry in the already-paid-for bottle without trying to disguise anything. And they wouldn't be saving some $, as the wine would already have been assessed with no further cost added.

 

I also would like your wine bottle that can hold 6 pours LOL

I just hosted a wine dinner where each bottle was poured out nine ways. Less than a full glass to be sure, but a whole lot more than a "taste". 6 glasses per bottle is a "normal" pour, especially in Princess' small glasses. Granted, pours have been getting bigger in recent years, but back in the day when I learned wine service, we were taught that it was bad form to drain a bottle at a table for 6 in less than 6 glasses, thus forcing the host to order a second bottle. Table for 4--pour 4 glasses and leave wine leftover for topping off. Table for 5--drain the bottle in 5 pours. Table for 6--same. So there is no "right" amount per pour as you have to adjust to the table size. But one should absolutely stretch a bottle into 6 pours if you have a table for 6.

Edited December 26, 2013 by JimmyVWine

[davekathy]

Can I bring a glass of wine into the main dining room? Thinking of pouring my own to save some $. Thanx.

 

Yes. Is it tacky to do so, No. Not just my opinion. Enjoy your Cruise.

[pablo222]

Can I bring a glass of wine into the main dining room? Thinking of pouring my own to save some $. Thanx.

 

I think people should brag about doing this much more here. That will ensure that the first-bottle-comes-onboard-free exception will be revoked. Carry on.

[Astro Flyer]

Can you bring in a glass of your own wine? Sure. Is it right? Well, look at it this way. If on day 1 of your cruise you bring a full bottle of your own wine to the MDR, you will be charged a $15 corkage fee. On that day you drink a single glass and ask the MDR to hold your bottle for later consumption. On day 2 you return and have another single glass from your bottle. And you do that again on days 3 through 6 until the bottle is gone. In the end, you have consumed one glass per day from your own bottle and the ship collected $15 from you. Compare that to bringing in a glass of your own wine that you have poured yourself. At the end of 6 days, you have finished the bottle and the ship has collected nothing from you despite their well and oft-stated policy of charging a $15 corkage fee for the consumption of a bottle of personal wine in the MDR. So now I ask: Is bringing in your own wine one glass at a time keeping with the spirit and intent of the corkage policy? The policy states that if you bring a single bottle on board, you may drink it free of charge in your cabin. If you bring it to a public venue for consumption, you will be charged a corkage fee. So now I ask: When you bring your glass to the MDR, are you drinking it in your cabin or in a public venue? Does the policy say that you may drink your free bottle in public venues if you do so one glass at a time? If you are assigned to a table of 6 and choose to share your free bottle of wine with your tablemates, if you bring the bottle to the table you will pay the fee. If you tell your tablemates to meet you in your cabin and pour them all a glass and you all carry your glasses into the MDR you skirt the fee. Is that the right thing to do?

I also agree with you & for those saying Princess doesn't know if it's from their cabin...look at a pour from a bar & a to the brim pour from the cabin & it's obvious. Princess doesn't know whether that wine brought from their cabin was accessed a corkage although since that bottle could be brought to the dining room why would anyone carry a glass of wine.

[PunkiC]

Yes. Is it tacky to do so, No. Not just my opinion. Enjoy your Cruise.

 

Tacky? Why? Once you have paid the corkage fee, it is your wine to drink anywhere you want. What difference would it make if you took a bottle to dinner or two glasses.

 

I can see that folks might have an issue if you are talking about the "Free" bottle but we always just check a case, pay the corkage fees and drink it wherever we please.

 

This is one of the things that I really like about Princess.

[davekathy]

Tacky? Why? Once you have paid the corkage fee, it is your wine to drink anywhere you want. What difference would it make if you took a bottle to dinner or two glasses.

 

I can see that folks might have an issue if you are talking about the "Free" bottle but we always just check a case, pay the corkage fees and drink it wherever we please.

 

This is one of the things that I really like about Princess.

 

When I said Yes meaning it's ok to take a glass of wine to the MDR from your cabin. When I said No It's NOT tacky to do so. We do it all the time.

[PunkiC]

When I said Yes meaning it's ok to take a glass of wine to the MDR from your cabin. When I said No It's NOT tacky to do so. We do it all the time.

 

My bad. I misread your post. :o

[Kartgv]

I personally couldn't be bothered carrying a full glass of wine from my room through crowded hallways and elevators to the dining room, but I also never thought of judging anyone who did walk in with one. When you see someone walk in with a glass of wine, how do you know that they didn't just purchase it in a bar right outside? We often do that, especially if there's a short wait when using 'anytime' dining; we order wine, then are called to our table before finishing the glass. Are we supposed to leave it behind on the bar or gulp it down?

[elliair]

Can you bring in a glass of your own wine? Sure. Is it right? Well, look at it this way. If on day 1 of your cruise you bring a full bottle of your own wine to the MDR, you will be charged a $15 corkage fee. On that day you drink a single glass and ask the MDR to hold your bottle for later consumption. On day 2 you return and have another single glass from your bottle. And you do that again on days 3 through 6 until the bottle is gone.

 

1 bottle of wine would hold DH and me for 1 night in the MDR. No way would we give any cruise line $15 to uncork our bottle of wine that they have allowed us to bring on board. It is not tacky to bring your own glass of wine to the MDR, how would they know where you got the wine from? We wouldn't carry a glass to the MDR - too afraid of spilling it and that would be alcohol abuse. Get a buzz before dinner - not during.

[IECalCruiser]

I wasn't going to post, but with the recent posts, I thought I would. The Passage Contract to which you must agree to prior to sailing states:

 

"Passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind on board for consumption except one bottle of wine or champagne per person of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage only in his/her carry-on luggage. A corkage fee of $15.00 U.S.D. per bottle (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to wine and champagne brought aboard by You and consumed in the ship's public areas."

 

If you have already paid corkage on more than one bottle per person, then you should be able to drink those bottles in the ship's public areas, but why wouldn't you just leave the bottle in the MDR or Vines and not need to deal with carrying a glass around. If it is from your first bottle per person, then there is no cost to drink that wine in your cabin but you have agreed to pay a $15 corkage fee if you consume in a ship's public area. Bringing that wine to the MDR is not only tacky, but in violation of the Passage Contract you agreed to prior to cruising.

 

It is my belief that the people who brought wine to the MDR that they did not not pay the $15 corkage fee and then boasted about it on CC was one of the factors that caused Princess to change their once liberal wine policy. :mad::mad: Another cause was people boasting about bring bottles of wine to the MDR and not having to pay the $15 corkage fee. I brought bottles to the MDR on 4-5 cruises and always had to pay the corkage, even when I brought 5 bottles during a 14 day Hawaiian cruise. I expected to pay the corkage and had no problem paying the $15/bottle.

[c4blunjit]

Wow.

[rdsqrl]

1 bottle of wine would hold DH and me for 1 night in the MDR. No way would we give any cruise line $15 to uncork our bottle of wine that they have allowed us to bring on board. It is not tacky to bring your own glass of wine to the MDR, how would they know where you got the wine from? We wouldn't carry a glass to the MDR - too afraid of spilling it and that would be alcohol abuse. Get a buzz before dinner - not during.

I think you are missing the point of having wine with dinner. It's not about "a buzz."

 

And no, it's not tacky to carry a glass of wine into the dining room. It is, however, cheap to try to save the piddly $6.50 that a glass of wine would cost. So . . . cheap/tacky; potato/potahto.

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 glasses per bottle is a "normal" pour, especially in Princess' small glasses. Granted, pours have been getting bigger in recent years, but back in the day when I learned wine service, we were taught that it was bad form to drain a bottle at a table for 6 in less than 6 glasses, thus forcing the host to order a second bottle. Table for 4--pour 4 glasses and leave wine leftover for topping off. Table for 5--drain the bottle in 5 pours. Table for 6--same. So there is no "right" amount per pour as you have to adjust to the table size. But one should absolutely stretch a bottle into 6 pours if you have a table for 6.

 

That may have been what you were taught, but there is a standard pour - which is 5 glasses per bottle.

 

"A standard drink is: a 5-ounce glass of dinner wine"

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_glasses_of_wine_in_every_bottle_of_wine

 

Since a regular wine bottle contains 25.4 ounces, there are 5 glasses @ 5 oz each.

 

This is the size that all the anti-drinking [sorry, government information] sources use to calculate alcohol content [e.g. 12-oz can of beer, 5-oz glass of wine, 1.5 oz shot of 80 proof liquor all have the same alcohol content].

[Mississippian]

On most of my recent Princess cruises I found it absolutely necessary to enter the dining room with a glass of wine. Sometimes this would be from my cabin, other times from Vines. The waiters were simply too incompetent or uncaring to get a glass of wine served prior to the arrival of the appetizers.

 

Princess now charges a cork fee on all but two bottles of wine. So it's a fair assumption that the cork fee on this glass of wine has been paid.

[rbt001]

Can you bring in a glass of your own wine? Sure. Is it right? Well, look at it this way....edited.... If you tell your tablemates to meet you in your cabin and pour them all a glass and you all carry your glasses into the MDR you skirt the fee. Is that the right thing to do?

 

 

... and I never even go 31 MPH in a 30 MPH zone....

 

Last year a friend and I took a 30 trip to Italy, and we sandwiched an 11 day cruise in the middle. Both of us are big red wine drinkers, so I visited a retailer (one in the news recently about credit card info) and purchased two pairs of lucite wine ...glasses... One pair was stemmed, very tall, almost obnoxious in size, and the other pair was stemless. Since I was travelling with only ONE carry-on and no other luggage, they were light-weight and practical for having wine at night in hotel rooms. Oh, and as an aside, we didn't stay at one hotel in Venice because I read from upset guests that they were forbidden to bring wine or food to their room: no reason to smuggle in and clearly break hotel policy when there were other hotels just as nice.

 

For the cruise (on a different line, but this does apply to this topic here) I did plenty of research and decided that to be safe, we'd carry on our own wine and pay the corkage, since even a pre-cruise call to the corporate headquarters only yielded vague information as to what would be offered as a wine package; they leave it up to the ship and it varied by cruise.

 

Sit down while reading this part... on the train out to the port I decided that the TWELVE bottles we had bought, certainly would not be enough for the 11 days, so we purchased another 9 bottles at the port town. The proprietor of the store placed them in a cardboard box and then placed the box in a trash bag so as to tie the end of the plastic bag around my friend's to-be-checked-in roller-board suitcase handle upon which this was all all balanced. He had a backpack that had six bottles on his back, and I had a shopping bag with my six bottles in one hand and my carry-on over my shoulder. And YES, we did present all for declaration and to pay corkage.

 

Going up the gang-way, I'm sure the two of us, in our 50's, looked like TWO AMERICAN HILLBILLIES, carrying part of our luggage in a paper shopping bag, plastic trash bag and a cardboard box.

 

I can truthfully say that we MAY have had a single beer at lunch, and NEVER started drinking until, say... 5pm or so, back in the cabin, while getting ready for dinner.

 

I read on the comments about pours from a wine bottle. As mentioned already, the stemmed glasses, which I pulled out the first evening, were veto'd by my friend for the first night: they just looked too big. Turns out those big one each could hold half a bottle.

 

Most nights we settled for the stemless, which required a little top-off to drain the bottle. We'd be opening the second bottle to refill our glasses on our way to the dining room. We NEVER carried our bottles out of the cabin.

 

The staff ALWAYS asked if we'd like them to carry our glasses from the entrance of the MDR to our table, and the wait-staff offered to change out the glassware.

 

I held my breath the one evening, at a community table, when an officer came around to check on everything. In conversation his eyes darted around the table as he was speaking, and I saw him lock in on our stemless lucite, while stating: "Those aren't our glasses." He actually complimented them, saying they looked like expensive GLASS, and how it's a new trend. I explained about our 30 day trip, which wasn't necessary. He wasn't offended or put out by us having our own; he prided himself on knowing the entire ships inventory and just was stating those as not his own. Prior to his arrival at the table, we had shared the hillbilly boarding story which was met with laughs and amusement by our tablemates.

 

We never felt bad or felt we were breaking some rule of contract or morality. Most people that we conversed with would ask us in passing where our glasses were if they were not in hand, since after sunset we'd hardly be without them, our special glasses.

 

Oh, and it turns out that 21 bottles wasn't nearly enough. First time we tried to order a glass of wine, the staff quickly pointed out the economics of purchasing a bottle, which they could hold the unused portion in exchange for a claim check (no need for that. lol) So we did patronize the ship's beverage outlets: I'd bet our "supplimental" purchases over the cruise were more than others total consumption. And that, I'm sure, satisfied the cruise line's bottom line.

 

And before anyone thinks of sending pamphlets for AA... consider that our wine consumption was over at least 7 hours (5pm to midnight... later on a few nights) and there was a meal during this time period as well as several glasses of water. It was also balanced with morning exercise and an afternoon walk.

 

That's the long way of stating "don't sweat the small things."

[elliair]

I think you are missing the point of having wine with dinner. It's not about "a buzz."

 

And no, it's not tacky to carry a glass of wine into the dining room. It is, however, cheap to try to save the piddly $6.50 that a glass of wine would cost. So . . . cheap/tacky; potato/potahto.

 

Why pay the $6.50 when you don't have to? Yes, I'm cheap.;) Oh, and we've never paid a corkage fee either and never plan to.

[!David!]

... and I never even go 31 MPH in a 30 MPH zone....

 

Last year a friend and I took a 30 trip to Italy, and we sandwiched an 11 day cruise in the middle. Both of us are big red wine drinkers, so I visited a retailer (one in the news recently about credit card info) and purchased two pairs of lucite wine ...glasses... One pair was stemmed, very tall, almost obnoxious in size, and the other pair was stemless. Since I was travelling with only ONE carry-on and no other luggage, they were light-weight and practical for having wine at night in hotel rooms. Oh, and as an aside, we didn't stay at one hotel in Venice because I read from upset guests that they were forbidden to bring wine or food to their room: no reason to smuggle in and clearly break hotel policy when there were other hotels just as nice.

 

For the cruise (on a different line, but this does apply to this topic here) I did plenty of research and decided that to be safe, we'd carry on our own wine and pay the corkage, since even a pre-cruise call to the corporate headquarters only yielded vague information as to what would be offered as a wine package; they leave it up to the ship and it varied by cruise.

 

Sit down while reading this part... on the train out to the port I decided that the TWELVE bottles we had bought, certainly would not be enough for the 11 days, so we purchased another 9 bottles at the port town. The proprietor of the store placed them in a cardboard box and then placed the box in a trash bag so as to tie the end of the plastic bag around my friend's to-be-checked-in roller-board suitcase handle upon which this was all all balanced. He had a backpack that had six bottles on his back, and I had a shopping bag with my six bottles in one hand and my carry-on over my shoulder. And YES, we did present all for declaration and to pay corkage.

 

Going up the gang-way, I'm sure the two of us, in our 50's, looked like TWO AMERICAN HILLBILLIES, carrying part of our luggage in a paper shopping bag, plastic trash bag and a cardboard box.

 

I can truthfully say that we MAY have had a single beer at lunch, and NEVER started drinking until, say... 5pm or so, back in the cabin, while getting ready for dinner.

 

I read on the comments about pours from a wine bottle. As mentioned already, the stemmed glasses, which I pulled out the first evening, were veto'd by my friend for the first night: they just looked too big. Turns out those big one each could hold half a bottle.

 

Most nights we settled for the stemless, which required a little top-off to drain the bottle. We'd be opening the second bottle to refill our glasses on our way to the dining room. We NEVER carried our bottles out of the cabin.

 

The staff ALWAYS asked if we'd like them to carry our glasses from the entrance of the MDR to our table, and the wait-staff offered to change out the glassware.

 

I held my breath the one evening, at a community table, when an officer came around to check on everything. In conversation his eyes darted around the table as he was speaking, and I saw him lock in on our stemless lucite, while stating: "Those aren't our glasses." He actually complimented them, saying they looked like expensive GLASS, and how it's a new trend. I explained about our 30 day trip, which wasn't necessary. He wasn't offended or put out by us having our own; he prided himself on knowing the entire ships inventory and just was stating those as not his own. Prior to his arrival at the table, we had shared the hillbilly boarding story which was met with laughs and amusement by our tablemates.

 

We never felt bad or felt we were breaking some rule of contract or morality. Most people that we conversed with would ask us in passing where our glasses were if they were not in hand, since after sunset we'd hardly be without them, our special glasses.

 

Oh, and it turns out that 21 bottles wasn't nearly enough. First time we tried to order a glass of wine, the staff quickly pointed out the economics of purchasing a bottle, which they could hold the unused portion in exchange for a claim check (no need for that. lol) So we did patronize the ship's beverage outlets: I'd bet our "supplimental" purchases over the cruise were more than others total consumption. And that, I'm sure, satisfied the cruise line's bottom line.

 

And before anyone thinks of sending pamphlets for AA... consider that our wine consumption was over at least 7 hours (5pm to midnight... later on a few nights) and there was a meal during this time period as well as several glasses of water. It was also balanced with morning exercise and an afternoon walk.

 

That's the long way of stating "don't sweat the small things."

 

Loved your story ... Thanks for sharing. :cool::cool:

[wineforhealth]

Loved your story ... Thanks for sharing. :cool::cool:

 

Love your avatar, a friend of mine took this picture of the Golden Princess in 2007 as I had a group doing a coastal up to Vancouver