Bringing wine to MDR

[workinmom3]

Last cruise was in 2012 & DH & I did the wine pkg. It worked really well & we enjoyed having wine every night at dinner. We are cruising in May & were going to do the pkg again however since we have 2 cabins booked this time & we are allowed 2 bottles per stateroom I'm not sure we are going to need to do the pkg. I know if we being wine to the MDR there will be a corkage fee but what about if we bring an opened bottle from the cabin? Is that frowned upon? I have heard people say they have filled their glasses in the cabin & brought that to dinner but I didn't know about the bottle.

[leaveitallbehind]

It is fine to take a glass of wine to the MDR, but bringing your bottle from the stateroom could subject you to a $25 corkage fee. So the best way to avoid that would be to leave the bottles in your stateroom and take a glass with you - anywhere on the ship.

Edited January 13, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[sjb317]

Supposedly, if you take your open bottle to the MDR, you will be charged a corkage fee. However, carrying a glass of wine into the MDR does not get charged. We have carried in a bottle & have not been charged, but each time we have done so, the waiter has told us he is supposed to charge us but has not. I feel like we are putting the waiter in a difficult position so we do the glass now.

 

Sherri:)

[QuickGold]

I've brought wine on two cruises to MDR (unopened) and about 50% of the time they actually charge me the corkage fee. I think the waiters either assume the wine is from RC. I don't bring it up but if asked, I do say it's my own wine and happily pay the corkage fee.

[Retired LEO]

I have yet to pay a corkage fee. The asst waiter is always happy to put on ice and serve it throughout dinner.

[jbond]

To me, a glass of wine is like Lays Potato Chips, I can't just have one. Buy a small wine package, it might be less expensive than paying corkage and a lot less hassle than bringing a glass from the room.

Besides, how do you know what wine to bring, red or white. I usually don't decide what to eat until I sit down. I'd hate to have a red with fish or a white with lamb shanks.:eek:

[thedukiesrule]

We are going on AOTS in Feb and were thinking of bring on wine as there are 8 of us going in 4 staterooms. My 1 question is Is it $25 corking fee per bottle you bring to the dining room? I know my parents like more than 1 glass with dinner so bringing a glass to dinner wouldn't work for them.

 

Thanks

[Clarea]

We are going on AOTS in Feb and were thinking of bring on wine as there are 8 of us going in 4 staterooms. My 1 question is Is it $25 corking fee per bottle you bring to the dining room? I know my parents like more than 1 glass with dinner so bringing a glass to dinner wouldn't work for them.

 

Thanks

Yes, $25 per bottle.

 

Also look at the Wine & Dine package.

[TBone2K]

We are going on AOTS in Feb and were thinking of bring on wine as there are 8 of us going in 4 staterooms. My 1 question is Is it $25 corking fee per bottle you bring to the dining room?

 

Per bottle. However, the enforcement is inconsistant, as others have observed. Just ask the waiter first night, if they are going to charge you, don't bring the bottle.

 

Second observation, security checks your bags to make sure you don't bring more than two bottles per person. However they don't check to see if you are exceeding two bottles per room.

 

Third piece of experience: Don't forget a corkscrew! (Lesson learned from trying to use the little freebie corkscrews you can get from the bartenders.) Put it in your carry-on though, just in case security has any questions.

[tonyt]

Per bottle. However, the enforcement is inconsistant, as others have observed. Just ask the waiter first night, if they are going to charge you, don't bring the bottle.

 

Second observation, security checks your bags to make sure you don't bring more than two bottles per person. However they don't check to see if you are exceeding two bottles per room.

 

Third piece of experience: Don't forget a corkscrew! (Lesson learned from trying to use the little freebie corkscrews you can get from the bartenders.) Put it in your carry-on though, just in case security has any questions.

 

DONT put the corkscrew in your carry on if you're flying as it will be confiscated by TSA at the airport. Put it in your checked luggage.

[thedukiesrule]

Thanks for the info! I hope we get the nice server who doesn't charge us a corking fee!

 

Daryl

[janetz]

Last cruise was in 2012 & DH & I did the wine pkg. It worked really well & we enjoyed having wine every night at dinner. We are cruising in May & were going to do the pkg again however since we have 2 cabins booked this time & we are allowed 2 bottles per stateroom I'm not sure we are going to need to do the pkg. I know if we being wine to the MDR there will be a corkage fee but what about if we bring an opened bottle from the cabin? Is that frowned upon? I have heard people say they have filled their glasses in the cabin & brought that to dinner but I didn't know about the bottle.

 

We brought ours opened, no fee charged

[OCruisers]

Lots of times I take a glass of wine from a bar to the MDR ... and DH takes his drink. Never a problem. :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Merion_Mom]

Per bottle. However, the enforcement is inconsistant, as others have observed. Just ask the waiter first night, if they are going to charge you, don't bring the bottle.

 

Second observation, security checks your bags to make sure you don't bring more than two bottles per person. However they don't check to see if you are exceeding two bottles per room.

 

Third piece of experience: Don't forget a corkscrew! (Lesson learned from trying to use the little freebie corkscrews you can get from the bartenders.) Put it in your carry-on though, just in case security has any questions.

 

But if you GO to a bar with your bottle, they will be happy to open it for you! :)

[aloesch]

DONT put the corkscrew in your carry on if you're flying as it will be confiscated by TSA at the airport. Put it in your checked luggage.

 

I lost my favorite corkscrew to tsa cause it was in my carry on. You might want to carry it on to the ship but check it for sure for the flight!

[QuickGold]

If you don't care about going through security twice (or more), you can definitely take 2 bottles onboard with you, leave the ship and go get 2 more bottles from pier/store/car and come back on. There is no check really, beyond bringing 2 bottles on at a time. Even then, I don't think anyone has ever counted.

[TEXASMUNK]

We cruise with friends. We all bring quality wines (an attempt to "one-up" each other). A $20.00 bill on the first night tends to eliminate the corkage fee.

[TBone2K]

DONT put the corkscrew in your carry on if you're flying as it will be confiscated by TSA at the airport. Put it in your checked luggage.

 

Ah, yes. I meant your carry on for the ship.

Edited January 14, 2014 by TBone2K

[jbond]

DONT put the corkscrew in your carry on if you're flying as it will be confiscated by TSA at the airport. Put it in your checked luggage.

According to the TSA website, corkscrews without a blade are allowed in carry on. Corkscrews with a blade must be checked.

[critterchick]

DONT put the corkscrew in your carry on if you're flying as it will be confiscated by TSA at the airport. Put it in your checked luggage.

 

According to the TSA website, corkscrews without a blade are allowed in carry on. Corkscrews with a blade must be checked.

 

We have never had our corkscrew confiscated. It has a round foil cutter instead of a knife, and it's been closely inspected a couple of times, but has always made it through TSA checkpoints.

Edited January 14, 2014 by critterchick

[SSFrance73]

We were on the Allure over the New Year holiday and brought on 11 bottles for 3 families (6 adults; approx "5 1/2" wine drinkers :D), with a total of 5 staterooms. We also bought the 7 bottle package. My learnings...

 

- During the boarding process, they did check four of the adults in connecting staterooms to make sure that we had 4 rooms for the 8 bottles we brought (they asked us to show the check-in docs to prove we had 4 rooms). Luckily the other couple (in a single room) that had 3 bottles wasn't checked.

- We bought our wine at "Total Wine and More" in Ft Lauderdale (great selection and prices). Also bought a corkscrew there for $5.

- 3 bottles were consumed in the rooms, and the rest at dinner. We ended up drinking 15 bottles at dinner for the "5 1/2" wine drinkers. So, we usually drank 2 bottles per dinner.

- I believe we were only charged corkage for 2 of the 8 bottles we drank in the dining room. Early tipping and building up a good relationship with the waiter probably helped, but who really knows.

 

Hope that's helpful. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Edited January 14, 2014 by SSFrance73