Wine Corkage Protocal

[IECalCruiser]

We brought on 8 bottles of wine on our recent cruise on the Grand out of San Francisco. As we went through security, the bottles were flagged and we were directed to a table. We paid corkage for the 6 excess bottles with our cruise card and received stickers to apply to the bottles. We consumed those bottles in the dining room, the Crown Grill and the Horizon Court.

 

 

 

I am planning on bringing 10 bottles of wine on my next cruise - on the Star - out of San Francisco. I am trying to determine the best way to 'carry-on' 10 bottles. How did you bring the 8 bottles? I am more than willing to pay the 'corkage fee' upon boarding, so that is not an issue. I was happy to see that you could pay the fee with your cruise card and there was no problem taking them to the dining rooms. Any other information you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

We drove to the pier. We are a member of a wine club that uses cloth bags for the bottles when we pick up wine wine at the winery. 2/3rds of my carry on bag was the wine transport. The two four bottle carriers fit in the bottom of my carry on. At the alcohol desk I just opened up my bag and showed them the bottles. In the past I have used an old computer bag that holds five bottles perfectly with good padding.

 

I was also glad that the corkage was charged to the cruise card. We had a fair amount of OBC and that used up some of it.

 

I asked that the stickers not be attached to the bottles but got a strip of six. We were able to determine which ones we wanted to bring for dinner and which we opened in our cabin for a pre dinner drink.

 

 

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[Little Rascal]

If you consume it in your room do you pay a corkage fee?

[Yukonbear]

If you consume it in your room do you pay a corkage fee?

 

If you bring on one free 750ml bottle you are not charged corkage but you can only drink it in your room. You could walk around with a glass of wine but the bottle remains in the room. If you bring more than 1 per person you pay the corkage on the additional bottles but you can bring those bottles anywhere on the ship.

[Colo Cruiser]

If you bring on one free 750ml bottle you are not charged corkage but you can only drink it in your room. You could walk around with a glass of wine but the bottle remains in the room. If you bring more than 1 per person you pay the corkage on the additional bottles but you can bring those bottles anywhere on the ship.

 

Nobody is going to stop you from walking round the ship with a bottle of wine whether you paid the fee or not. And they aren't going to check you out on deck to see if you paid.

[Yukonbear]

Nobody is going to stop you from walking round the ship with a bottle of wine whether you paid the fee or not. And they aren't going to check you out on deck to see if you paid.

 

Of course not :rolleyes: but I was quoting what the rules are. I would hate to see the person bring the "free" bottle to the MDR and be told it could not be brought it or have an issue there.

[Colo Cruiser]

Of course not :rolleyes: but I was quoting what the rules are. I would hate to see the person bring the "free" bottle to the MDR and be told it could not be brought it or have an issue there.

 

Yes you are right there. :)

[IECalCruiser]

The additional bottles that have the corkage paid have a sticker applied. Nobody needs to ask or verify if corkage has been paid. It would be easy to request corkage from a bottle without the sticker.

 

 

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Edited March 24, 2014 by IECalCruiser

[Little Rascal]

Im starting my 2015 cruise from South Hampton so I wonder how expensive the wine is in London where we will be staying for a few days? Seeing the price for a glass of very inexpensive wine makes me think that even paying the corkage fee and buying wine in London is more expensive than home is worth taking some with us. We took a case on with us on two cruises prior. I guess they changed the rules. Darn!!! Anyone know of a good wine shop in London?

[saturngazer]

IECalCruiser, thank you for all your advice on bringing mutliple bottles of wine onto the ship. I purchased 10 bottles yesterday and find that they fit perfectly into my carryon ...and it still holds my laptop! Of course, I'm going to need someone to lift it onto the table to pay the fees :D.. LOL

[IECalCruiser]

IECalCruiser, thank you for all your advice on bringing mutliple bottles of wine onto the ship. I purchased 10 bottles yesterday and find that they fit perfectly into my carryon ...and it still holds my laptop! Of course, I'm going to need someone to lift it onto the table to pay the fees :D.. LOL

Yes, it does get a bit heavy, doesn't it?

 

 

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[JimmyVWine]

Can someone with experience in having paid the corkage help me out with some questions? If you pay corkage, I believe you can then drink the wine anywhere on the ship? If you take a bottle to the dining room, does the waiter serve it for you? Seems logical, but then I'm sure the $15 corkage goes to Princess, not to the waiter who provides the service. Anything else helpful about this process?

 

Not sure the question of "where the money goes" was ever answered. The fee goes to the proprietor as a proxy for lost revenue from the diner not ordering off the list. It is not a tip for the server. Your auto-tip will take care of that. Also, the waiter will serve your wine if you choose. Or you can let them know that you'd prefer to pour your own (which is what I prefer). I find that waiters tend to over pour and fill the glasses too full. They also have an annoying habit of topping off your glass after every sip. Sometimes, they pour more wine in your glass even if you haven't taken a sip since the last top-off. None of this is critical, but it does make it very difficult to keep track of your consumption. My wife and I try to allocate a bottle in a 60%-40% ratio and the best way to do that is to pour the wine ourselves.

[Colo Cruiser]

I'll drink to that. ;)

[lhsail]

Again, thank you for all the helpful comments. I went shopping yesterday. Now let's hope the CB sails on Saturday.