Bringing a case of wine on board CB in Houston

[wineforhealth]

 

At this rate, Princess will be paying me to drink wine.

 

LOL!!

 

DON

 

Now that's a concept! :)

 

My wine source is almost free so paying the corkage fee makes scence for me

[sminfiddle]

 

Nobody ever bothers to figure out all these things when figuring out if it pays to bring wine on board.

Some of us do indeed.

I buy the Costco champagne which comes from Janisson in France:

"The Janisson Champagnes are beautiful wines. This Champagne House is located in the Village of Verzenay, a designated Grand Cru village. Grand Cru signifies the finest and best vineyards in the Champagne region."

It still costs $19.99 and the quality is good, between a Veuve Clicquot and Nicolas Feuillate. Princess sells the Nic at $75 a bottle. With corkage charged, the Janisson is still half that.

Houston/Bayport was good to us and the cost stayed $19.99 plus tax to get 'em on the boat.

The MDR waitstaff was very very good to us too. 'Nuf Said about that!

Can you share how big your wheeled box is and how you got it through the initial screening? I would very much prefer to just carry/wheel it on when we board.

...

Cheers, and happy Friday.

It was one of our matched "set of luggage" but not the biggest checkable one, maybe it's a wheeled carryon bag? It did fit thru scanner so maybe the third-biggest one. Not a box.

Cheers! :D

 

Rick

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

Edited January 25, 2014 by sminfiddle

[scanditaly]

I can answer about Houston. But it may change at any time -

We boarded a Houston B2B last month with enough champagne for both weeks (6 or 8 bottles) and were prepared to defend our 3rd and 4th free bottles (for the second "voyage"), and pay for the ones over that. We carried them on in a wheely and never got an opportunity to pay. We have not heard of any checked wine boxes being charged or quarantined in Houston, and I have been reading ALL the reports.

At ports of call they took our visible hard liquor for holding, not asking for our wine.

 

Again, as we say in the financial biz, Past Performance Is No Guarantee Of Future Results!

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

 

OK, there, now we have another question generated. We too have a wheeled case box, and have been told that they will not go through the x-ray scanners, therefore, we must check it. Since it is an insulated shipper box, we are not worried about damage. Just the timing and the knowledge that it will get delivered. Expect to pay corkage, so that is not the issue. Can you share how big your wheeled box is and how you got it through the initial screening? I would very much prefer to just carry/wheel it on when we board.

 

The best way to transport a case of wine is in a shipper, then you can check it in with your luggage without any worries

 

As I alluded to above, we have done this with now three cruise lines, and have never had a problem. Once, on X, they just asked us to open it (unzip) and show us the contents to be sure that they were not liquor.

 

I will not justify our alcohol consumption, but am happy to state that yes, a case is just enough for one week. Well, perhaps just a bit when one considers that the drinking commences around 5PM, and lasts throughout dinner; switching varietals with different courses. We do take it into the dining room, and may have three different bottles open at the same time.

Cheers, and happy Friday.

Edited January 25, 2014 by scanditaly

[wineforhealth]

Can you share how big your wheeled box is and how you got it through the initial screening? I would very much prefer to just carry/wheel it on when we board.

 

I have traveled with wine sales people that use them, I bet you can search the web and find them. I have seen them in 6,8 and 12 bottle case rollers.

 

Check these rollers out;

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=wine+suitcase+12+bottles&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#biv=i%7C2%3Bd%7Cft-hszL84yMPsM%3A

 

Or even look at wineskin for single bottles to pack in suitcases/carry ons

Edited January 25, 2014 by wineforhealth

[DrivesLikeMario]

One CASE of wine for a 7 day cruise?????? Seriously????????

 

That's what I was thinking! Wow! :eek:

[sminfiddle]

I misremembered on the price of Nicolas Feuillate - $62 including gratuity.

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

[PunkiC]

We really like Vinas Chilenas Reserva Merlot which we can almost always find for about $3.50 a bottle. Add the $15.00 corkage and that costs us $18.50 for a wine we really like, as opposed to $40.00 a bottle on the ship,for a mystery wine. So far we have never found a Princess wine at any price that we like as well so we will always bring our own.

 

In Italy last fall, we were getting amazing local wines for about 2 euros a bottle. That was a real treat. During that cruise we bought lots of inexpensive wine in Italy, Spain and Portugal. The only bad one was a bottle we bought in a wine shop in Alicante, and it happened to be the most expensive of the lot. Go figure.

 

Princess does not care if you check your wine or carry it with you, so just do whatever suits you best.

[bjkTX]

I would agree IF Princess only charged $8 for the 2 Buck Chuck - but they don't.

 

DW likes a mild sweet wine so her wine of choice is white zinfandel, and normally she prefers Berringers. We can buy 6 bottles for $18 - or $3 a bottle. Princess charges $23 when they have it or they sell an even cheaper brand for the same $23.

 

So $3 plus $15 beats $23 anyday.

 

Not necessarily. You have to compare the total cost of the wine including the corkage fee with the price of the same wine on board. Remember, the corkage fee is a fixed price per bottle regardless of the cost of the bottle.

 

Consider 2 wildly different scenarios.

 

1) You love to drink "2 buck chuck". At $2 per bottle, the stuff with corkage fee will cost you $17 per bottle. Princess charges $8 for a bottle of 2 buck chuck. That means that you come out $9 per bottle behind if you bring on 2 buck check.

 

2) You have a wine that you love that costs $50 per bottle. Using the same logic, it costs you $65 per bottle to bring it on board. Princess is going to over charge you $200 for that bottle of wine so you save $135 on each bottle or $1620 for each case you bring on board.

 

You need to do the math before you decide whether to buy on board or bring it on. The more expensive the wine, the better off you are to bring it on board.

 

You also need to consider what wines Princess has available. I will bet that the wines that you love to drink are not available on board. How much is this worth?

 

DON

[paul32]

One CASE of wine for a 7 day cruise?????? Seriously????????

 

That's what I was thinking! Wow! :eek:

I was thinking that, too.

 

Just one case? WOW. You are going to have to ration that case carefully. Between all the meals and relaxation opportunities by yourselves, and the possibility that you are are traveling with friends or a group (or meet new friends) and share your wine with them... I just can't see how you will have enough. ;)

Edited February 20, 2014 by paul32

[Morgsmom]

Oh, hush, I often *knowingly* overpack on wine as I am not sure what I might be in the mood for... and I know that I will have no problem giving it away if there is a bottle or two left at the end of the week. (To be fair, however, I drink the good stuff first and keep the less expensive bottles for later in the week.)

 

I'd happily be tablemates with the posters who bring multiple varietals to dinner -- happy to chip in! We could have a party.:):)

[Anniesails]

At this rate, Princess will be paying me to drink wine.

 

LOL!!

 

DON

this sounds good to me, time to book the Princess is paying me to drink wine cruise.:eek:

Edited February 21, 2014 by Anniesails

[bashawclan]

Carol Ann III,

 

Let me know how it goes. We are going to be on the Star from LA to Hawaii at the beginning of April and taking a case of wine on board was my plan too.

 

The cruise we were on in December the least expensive wine available was $38 a bottle but we drank several bottles that were more in the $75 range. I prefer red blends and can usually fine good California blends for $10-15/btl even adding the $15 corkage fee I'm still head in cost and I get exactly the wine I want instead of settling. I do think that I might also get the "Unlimited Soda & More Package" so I can have so Mocktails again recalling how much I spent in December on this it seems worth it.

 

My logic:

$15/btl + $15/cf= $30x10 = $300

$8/usmp x15/days= $120x2/pp=$240

Total drink $540 for 2 people for 15 days.

 

I think we spent about $800 on the 7 day in December without any drink package. (No judging people it was a vacation)

 

I'm hoping someone will either confirm my logic or explain with the flaw is.

[bashawclan]

We really like Vinas Chilenas Reserva Merlot which we can almost always find for about $3.50 a bottle. Add the $15.00 corkage and that costs us $18.50 for a wine we really like, as opposed to $40.00 a bottle on the ship,for a mystery wine. So far we have never found a Princess wine at any price that we like as well so we will always bring our own.

 

In Italy last fall, we were getting amazing local wines for about 2 euros a bottle. That was a real treat. During that cruise we bought lots of inexpensive wine in Italy, Spain and Portugal. The only bad one was a bottle we bought in a wine shop in Alicante, and it happened to be the most expensive of the lot. Go figure.

 

Princess does not care if you check your wine or carry it with you, so just do whatever suits you best.

I will have to try this wine out. thanks for mentioning it.

[Carol Ann III]

2 weeks from today we will be boarding, I will let you know how it goes!

Still no room assignment for our mini suite.....

:eek:

[Sailin' Shoes]

2 weeks from today we will be boarding, I will let you know how it goes!

Still no room assignment for our mini suite.....

:eek:

 

on the advice of our ta we took a mini guarantee rather than a mini aft for our Feb 8 sailing on CB. got the room assignment 7 days before boarding, a MA midships right by the midship elevators with a short walk to everything including walk off disembark. loved the location and cabin. hope you do as well.

[Cruise Junky]

Don, I understand that logic but you are on the Princess board, not HAL...

 

Most of us probably would never drink 16 bottles of expensive wines... I'd rather bring two very good bottles and savor those on a 8 day cruise... For dinner, one bottle lasts us two days so... For us, it works better to get our wine from Princess... And no taxes charged to boot!

 

Speak for yourself please.

[Cruise Junky]

I forgot to include in my calculations that many wine places offer a case discount of 10% or more. That makes my $10 wine cost only $9 which lowers my break even cost. Also, does Princess add a 15% tip when I buy a full bottle? I know that they do if you purchase wine by the glass. If they do and you factor that into the Total Wine purchase, it reduces the effective cost of the $10 Total Wine purchase to $7.65.

 

Nobody ever bothers to figure out all these things when figuring out if it pays to bring wine on board. And to think - I am a mere chemist and not an accountant.

 

At this rate, Princess will be paying me to drink wine.

 

LOL!!

 

DON

 

The other scenario is that you have a cellar full at home and aren't stopping a total wines on the way to the port. When I board in Vancouver I take on very high end wines that I already own. I have no issue whatsoever paying $15 corkage for some of the Napa reserves we have.

 

And a case in 7 days, no problem there :)

[Sailin' Shoes]

That's what I was thinking! Wow! :eek:

 

Not enough? Certainly not for me.

[Sailin' Shoes]

2 weeks from today we will be boarding, I will let you know how it goes!

Still no room assignment for our mini suite.....

:eek:

 

ps. taking the guarantee vs. what we eventually got was a $2000 win. good luck!

[Tyskie]

I'm anxious to hear how the "case" survives the checked luggage route. We are 3 couples on the Coral for 11 days, we usually drink 2-3 bottles per day. No problem with the cork fee, just would make it so much easier to put in a case and not have to luge it onboard.

[sminfiddle]

 

 

 

I'm hoping someone will either confirm my logic or explain with the flaw is.

 

I only see one flaw: No Coffee Card.

 

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

[wineforhealth]

I'm anxious to hear how the "case" survives the checked luggage route. We are 3 couples on the Coral for 11 days, we usually drink 2-3 bottles per day. No problem with the cork fee, just would make it so much easier to put in a case and not have to luge it onboard.

 

The only way wine can servive the checked route is to use a wine shipper. I have done this many times without a problem. I have a cruise scheduled next month and will be checking in a case at the airport that will make it safely to may cabin.

 

Have a great cruise on the Coral

[sminfiddle]

The only way wine can survive the checked route is to use a wine shipper.

 

They work well. Ours had a footprint on it when it arrived in the cabin but all bottles were fine! No it wasn't completely full, but we had four adults and more than 6 bottles so needed the 12-bottle size.

 

Cheers

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

[jemingway]

Not enough? Certainly not for me.

 

 

Me either!;)

[STREETKING]

I'm anxious to hear how the "case" survives the checked luggage route. We are 3 couples on the Coral for 11 days, we usually drink 2-3 bottles per day. No problem with the cork fee, just would make it so much easier to put in a case and not have to luge it onboard.

 

 

I've checked a case of wine on HAL before with no problems. I got a cardboard case from Total Wine that had the cardboard dividers in the box slapped on a luggage tag and handed the porter some cash to take care of it. By the way I think we're on the same cruise and I plan on doing this again for this cruise.

 

It's getting close now!

 

Brad