Should I bother to bring my two bottles of wine?

[JandKMom]

We signed up for the Classic Beverage. Package. Is it easy enough just to go get drinks and bring them back to the room, or is it good to have the wine for drinking in the room?

[WestLakeGirl]

Very easy to bring drinks to your room

[kenevenpar]

I was also thinking about this. It seems to me that unless you have a special wine and/or special occasion, it is easy enough to just bring something back to the cabin.

[ghstudio]

If it's convenient, then there's no reason not to bring a couple of bottles on board. They will likely be better quality than the wine in the classic package and the cost will be far far less than buying an equivalent bottle on the ship. If it's inconvenient to bring bottles on board, then yes, you can bring a glass of wine back to your room from most of the bars on the ship.

[ludomonster]

If you bring two bottles on board and you have the classic package, maybe you can find someone to help you with those bottles.

[RickT]

Always nice to have a bottle in the room, but a "free" glass of wine almost always tastes better than one you had to pay for. Unless your cabin is located too far (in your opinion) from the nearest bar I'd just go with the package and take a glass back to your room.

 

I had a similar question and a good piece of advice I got was to ensure you have your travel partners card with you when you go so you can get two glasses (apparently you can get one glass per card).

[wpgcycler]

We found it so convenient to bring drinks to our room (usually from Cafe al Bacio) that we ended up taking the two bottles we brought on board (plus the complimentary bottle of bubbly) off the ship with us at the end of the cruise.

[KBD1516]

Sometimes when we have unopened wine left, we give it to our room steward as a extra tip.

 

 

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[wallie5446]

We brought 2 with us last yr even tho we had the Premium pkg. There was just that little something about strolling out on the balcony with the wifester as the waves gently broke against the side of the Ship as she quietly slipped thru the deep blue water. Then sitting down and opening the bottle and pouring a glass, and toasting to the slowly sinking sun on the horizon.

 

Almost made us want to order room service and skip the MDR!:D

 

If you have room, bring em along for the ride!

[tserface]

If you get on the ship early you have to pack them around for a couple hours while waiting to get into your room. It's not a big deal, but it does add a few pounds to your backpack. You also have to buy them and bring them and get them through security, etc. It's not difficult, just more to do for very little gain.

 

I see people packing on cases of soda and water as well and I always think that's kind of overkill to, but to be fair I don't drink much soda and I'm happy enough with the coffee and tea they provide. We do drink a few drinks, but never enough to make it worth it to buy a drinks package.

 

We brought two bottles on our last cruise (14 days) and never got around to opening them and ended up giving them to the cabin attendant. I'm not wasting time doing that again. If you have the drink package you would most certainly be able to get enough to drink unless you need something at 3am perhaps :)

 

Tom

[wpgcycler]

Sometimes when we have unopened wine left, we give it to our room steward as a extra tip.

 

 

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Used mine as a gift for the hotel manager who so kindly allowed me to store my bicycle in his office while we cruised but would not accept a tip. Good ol' cash for the cabin steward.

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

Sadly we to have taken wine on board and never opened it, but the wine offered on the Classic bev. package is very limited. Once we had dinner served in our room and it was nice to have our wine with our dinner. Your choice, enjoy!

[neverbeenhere]

Bottles are always useful, if you invite some fellow pax to the stateroom for drinks.

[jgreenwo17]

Bottles are always useful, if you invite some fellow pax to the stateroom for drinks.

 

Bring the bottles of wine. I regret not doing so on my last cruise.

Bring wine that is not on the classic list.

[Big_G]

Like others have said, if you have a favorite, bring it. DW brings one if we have the premium package and two if we don't. We haven't brought any back home yet.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Big_G

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We had the premium package for our New Years cruise but brought a bottle of champagne on board with us to celebrate the New Year. Of course, we then bought a better bottle when we boarded because we were getting a 20% discount. The bottle we order was never delivered to the ship so the Cellar Master substituted an even better champagne for the same price with discount. We also bought a bottle for the night we dined on the balcony and the Sommelier gave us another bottle, probably because we bought 2 bottles in Cellar Masters. We will bring on a bottle or 2 when we can, even with the beverage package. Can you tell we like our wine? :D

 

Mary Lou

 

PS We also found it easy to bring glasses back to our cabin since we were right under the lido deck.

Edited June 28, 2014 by CHEZMARYLOU

[bighairtexan]

Like some of the above posters, I find it inconvenient to schlep around bottles of wine waiting for the cabins to open up. If I get a package I usually get the premium and I'm more than happy with the wines offered. I did find the classic package rather limited. So when I've gotten the package I often wind up leaving my wine for the cabin steward. Dang they must have wine rolling out of their EARS!! There's no way I'd pack up the wine when I have to fly home. If I drove, I might reconsider taking unopened wine w/ me.

 

But from now on if I have he package I won't be bringing wine on board.

[blubelle57]

We signed up for the Classic Beverage. Package. Is it easy enough just to go get drinks and bring them back to the room, or is it good to have the wine for drinking in the room?

I've been wondering about this too. How do people get two glasses of wine back without spilling them :eek:

[wpgcycler]

I've been wondering about this too. How do people get two glasses of wine back without spilling them :eek:

 

The glasses are of sufficient size that they are not filled to anywhere near the brim - easy peasy.

[wallie5446]

I've been wondering about this too. How do people get two glasses of wine back without spilling them :eek:

 

The glasses are of sufficient size that they are not filled to anywhere near the brim - easy peasy.

 

Well maybe not Ian! If they are your 3rd, 4th, or 5th glass of the evening one could get kinda wobbly walkin dont ya know!:D

 

But that is why we try and book our cabin close to the lifts:rolleyes:

[wpgcycler]

Well maybe not Ian! If they are your 3rd, 4th, or 5th glass of the evening one could get kinda wobbly walkin dont ya know!:D

 

But that is why we try and book our cabin close to the lifts:rolleyes:

 

True enough brother, true enough. :D

 

BTW, if one is really concerned about this, I'd suggest asking for the wine in a to-go cup with a lid then pouring it into a proper glass back in the room. ;)

[rucruisn2]

We will be bringing our 2 bottles with us as we intend on having a mini sail away party on our balcony with some friends.

[wallie5446]

True enough brother, true enough. :D

 

BTW, if one is really concerned about this, I'd suggest asking for the wine in a to-go cup with a lid then pouring it into a proper glass back in the room. ;)

 

When did they add Strawberry Hill and MD 20/20 to the wine list?:eek::rolleyes:

[Cruise Raider]

We were on a cruise in March and had the beverage package plus several wine tasting events. While the wine included in the classic package lack a lot of variety, they aren't swill but the lower end wines you would can find in Costco or your grocery store. So, figure anywhere from $6 - $11 retail for the bottle on what you will be served. They get the job done...:D

 

If you do have a couple of bottles of something you really like, consider that it will weigh down your luggage and there is always the chance they can break. On our March cruise, guess they assumed it might be a spring break crowd (not even) and they were confiscating everyone's wine at check in and you were allowed to go pick it up later than evening. Guess this is how they are enforcing the 2 bottle rule. The cruise director was asked about this at one of our cruise critic gatherings and he said, "we read cruise critic, too, guys ... we know how you all manage to sneak on more than your allotted amount"....made me laugh. Anyhow, along with the carting them around, you may have the hassle of picking them up later on embarkation day.

 

Anyhow, don't forget that you can hand over your roommate's key card and grab two glasses of wine to take back to your balcony. I did all the coffee runs and my DH did all the wine runs. I think they best thing about the beverage package is that you don't have to lug the extra weight along with you. While the premium package does cost more, that would also be worth the cost of breaking one bottle of wine all over your clothing and there are a lot of great wines available on that package.

[wpgcycler]

When did they add Strawberry Hill and MD 20/20 to the wine list?:eek::rolleyes:

 

Hey, come on man! I said paper cup, not brown paper bag! :D