Corkage fee is apparently alive and well

[WestLakeGirl]

If its a white, take it to the dining room ahead if time and it will be waiting for you, chilled. Then you don't need to feel u comfortable brining it with you.

 

But look around and you will see others bringing bottles of wine in with them and maybe you'll get past the feeling

[PORT ROYAL]

Bringing full bottles of wine to the dining room, Really? Takes a lot of guts. Do you take your wine with you when you go out to eat at home? What's the difference? What's next, packing a lunch and go eating it in a spevialty restaraunt? We drink wine, but always buy it on the ship.Maybe they should not allow any wine or liquor brought on the ship.[/quote

 

Have to challenge your post.

We brought on board two bottles of excellent Pomerol which we had delivered to our table on two separate occasions. This was because a Pomerol on the wine list was approximately $350.00 plus 15% gratuity and we paid only $120.00

 

Therefore, in our eyes to buy onshore then bringing to the MDR table and paying the corkage fee we saved almost $600.00

 

Out of interest the bottle was was already decanted when we arrived at the restaurant and a small glass was offered to the RM and Som, which they both accepted.

[notanlinesLizz]

Really? How are you going to get your bottle of sparkling wine down to the dining room to exchange for a bottle of white/red if you don't carry it past lots of people? :confused:

 

Lots of people bring their own glass of wine into dinner, especially if they have the Elite coupons for happy hour. It's normal on the big boats. :D

 

I never brought a bottle of sparkling to a dining room, we always order a bottle at dinner. We enjoy our wine/ sparkling wine in our cabin with friends or while relaxing on our balcony in the sun on days at sea when the pool is just too crowded. Or have a small glass while getting ready for the night out! :D

Honestly never crossed my mind to bring anything to dinner til I read this post.

No judgement here, REALLY!

I just never realized anyone did this lol! We never have, always have been happy enuf with the selection offered at the meal. To each his own :sly:

[notanlinesLizz]

If its a white, take it to the dining room ahead if time and it will be waiting for you, chilled. Then you don't need to feel u comfortable brining it with you.

 

But look around and you will see others bringing bottles of wine in with them and maybe you'll get past the feeling

 

Thank you WestLakeGirl! I LOVE this idea! My husband is the real wine lover of many years, would probably love to shop for and choose a yummy special wine on shore one day and have it served to us for dinner. I'll let him know about this! Thank you!! :)

[chamima]

Bringing full bottles of wine to the dining room, Really? Takes a lot of guts. Do you take your wine with you when you go out to eat at home? What's the difference? What's next, packing a lunch and go eating it in a spevialty restaraunt? We drink wine, but always buy it on the ship.Maybe they should not allow any wine or liquor brought on the ship.[/quote

 

Have to challenge your post.

We brought on board two bottles of excellent Pomerol which we had delivered to our table on two separate occasions. This was because a Pomerol on the wine list was approximately $350.00 plus 15% gratuity and we paid only $120.00

 

Therefore, in our eyes to buy onshore then bringing to the MDR table and paying the corkage fee we saved almost $600.00

 

Out of interest the bottle was was already decanted when we arrived at the restaurant and a small glass was offered to the RM and Som, which they both accepted.

 

 

I agree with you.

What a lot of people don't realize is that for that $25 to be worth it, people aren't bringing 2 buck chuck but usually something special that they can't get on the ship.

And we also share with the Maitre D' (if he's around), sommelier and have been known to leave some for the waiter if he expresses an interest.

(We've had some waiters who are really "into" it and come back the next day to compare what we've brought with other wines they've had. :) )

[rwr235]

Thank you WestLakeGirl! I LOVE this idea! My husband is the real wine lover of many years, would probably love to shop for and choose a yummy special wine on shore one day and have it served to us for dinner. I'll let him know about this! Thank you!! :)

 

Hi,

 

Just a reminder that if he shops for and finds a "yummy special wine" during a port stop...it might or might not make it back onboard for dinner that evening (Celebrity's policy is that wine purchased on port stops is held until debarkation)...but enforcement of said policy is varied and unpredictable... ...so best to do that shopping before the cruise and take it on at embarkation as part of the allowable 2 bottles.

 

Enjoy

 

Woody

Edited January 14, 2014 by rwr235

[Cindy]

Bringing full bottles of wine to the dining room, Really? Takes a lot of guts. Do you take your wine with you when you go out to eat at home? What's the difference? What's next, packing a lunch and go eating it in a spevialty restaraunt? We drink wine, but always buy it on the ship.Maybe they should not allow any wine or liquor brought on the ship.

 

We enjoy taking our own wine to the dining room or a specialty restaurant, and don't mind paying a corkage fee to do so. To answer your question, yes, we sometimes take our own wine when we go out to eat at home. There are some fine local restaurants that allow patrons to bring their own wine and pay a corkage fee.

[cruisegirl1]

 

 

I agree with you.

What a lot of people don't realize is that for that $25 to be worth it, people aren't bringing 2 buck chuck but usually something special that they can't get on the ship.

And we also share with the Maitre D' (if he's around), sommelier and have been known to leave some for the waiter if he expresses an interest.

(We've had some waiters who are really "into" it and come back the next day to compare what we've brought with other wines they've had. :) )

 

Exactly. We also offer a glass to the sommelier. We never mind paying corkage, and happily do so to enjoy a special bottle of wine on board. In my original post, I decided not to pay the corkage to enjoy just the remaining glass or so.

 

For the posters who never imagine bringing wine in, the cruise lines accommodate folks who bring in personal wine by providing the corkage fees/service. It is quite common and nothing to be embarrassed to do, or shocked to see other people do.

Cheers

M

[ScubesDad]

Really? How are you going to get your bottle of sparkling wine down to the dining room to exchange for a bottle of white/red if you don't carry it past lots of people? :confused:

 

Lots of people bring their own glass of wine into dinner, especially if they have the Elite coupons for happy hour. It's normal on the big boats. :D

 

We have always asked our stateroom attendant to arrange to have the bottle delivered for us. As previously mentioned this allows for the wine to be decanted or chilled as appropriate. As well, you don't have to carry it around or run back to your cabin to pick it up.

[notanlinesLizz]

Thanks to everyone for your kind replies, I honestly didn't know! I like the idea of asking our room attendant to arrange for a special purchased bottle to be waiting for us forca special meal, that also ensures this klutz won't trip on the way to dining room and lose it splat lol!

Woody, also thank you for reminding me about that policy! ugh! Forgot about that, will do some shopping the week before... :cool:

[richstowe]

 

 

And we also share with the Maitre D' (if he's around), sommelier and have been known to leave some for the waiter if he expresses an interest.

Exactly how big is this bottle ? A Jeroboam ? :D

[surus]

We frequently bring wine to fine restaurants and pay the corkage. As long as it is not something on the restaurants wine list, they don't mind at all and happily accept a small glass to taste. However, it may be the cynical ex-New Yorker in me, but we would never send an expensive bottle of wine ahead to be opened and decanted before our arrival. :rolleyes:

[Lsimon]

Call me old fashioned , but that was my first thought? I'd feel weird bringing my own drinks to dinner, but then again, I'm a little new to the big boats and their "rules" (I'm a relatively new wine drinker too lol!)

I can see now it's "normal", good to know...

I've got to say tho, I will still feel a bit odd carrying a bottle of wine past a lot of people to our table , not sure I can do it.. :confused:

Thanks for the education though!!

 

If we know we're going to do this well ahead of time we leave it with our room steward in the morning to take to the dining room for us. That way it is ready for service at the table, and chilled if appropriate. Just leave a note with your table number if in traditional or the fact that you are in select if not. We've done this at the specialty restaurants as well as the MDR and Blu.

 

From time to time we've also carried a bottle in us as well and have had no issue doing so. If we're heading to a lounge before dinner we'll either carry the bottle with us or stop by the dining room to drop it off.

 

We've also carried in a glass of wine, or a bar drink, if we've not finished our before dinner drink. We've never had an issue with this and more of then not one of the staff will take the drink and carry it in for us.

 

 

...on our last cruise we brought a 1.5 liter bottle of Dominus which we had cellared for quite a few years. If you could buy it now it would be quite expensive. ...

 

I'm glad this worked for you but I'd caution against bringing a valuable large bottle on again. Not long ago Celebrity changed the policy to specify a limit of two 750ML or smaller bottles although in many places the old wording with no size limit appears. While the vast majority of the posts I've read here on Cruise Critic indicate no problem with large bottles of wine, I've read a few which indicated that large bottles have not been allowed. This could be a major issue for you if they confiscate a large bottle of expensive wine so it might not be worth the risk. Better to stick with standard size bottles where there is no issue.