Princess wine policy

[littlekid58]

Ok question we r 6 adults 3 rooms we were just going to have one carry on put 6 wine bottles in one bag. The way I am reading it will be better to have 3bags instead of one. Am I right?

[richstowe]

Ok question we r 6 adults 3 rooms we were just going to have one carry on put 6 wine bottles in one bag. The way I am reading it will be better to have 3bags instead of one. Am I right?

Although not with Princess , I am always the one carrying the bag with the wine on previous cruises.

DW was always close by and if questioned by staff I would point to her and the issue was resolved .

[CruiserNorCal]

JimmyVWine You are on point with my questions, thank you.

 

Based on what I have read on CC, here are my plans and questions…

 

DW and I are bringing six bottles of wine/Champaign for a 14 day B2B out of Houston starting this Sunday. If we weren’t flying I would bring more but then again, honestly, I would prefer not to haul wine along at all… However, good wines on the ship are marked up excessively so I will supplement a glass of ship wine now and then with my own which would be too expensive if bought on the ship.

 

Anyway, we are flying from out of state so the wine is packaged as checked baggage but I intend to handle as carry-on when boarding the ship. I realize there are inconsistencies so I appreciate likely scenarios… I’m not looking to beat the system, just want to avoid problems…

 

Q1: Am I correct, because this is a B2B – two separate voyages, we are allowed one bottle each for each voyage… for a total of 4 bottles with no corkage? And I pay corkage for the other two. All correct?

 

Q2: The wine is sealed in a shipping box which is wrapped with layers of shrink-wrap for added flight protection. I’ve read that stickers are placed on wine bottles for which corkage is paid. After running the box through the security scanner I assume I will have to cut box open for inspection, correct? Or can they just give me the stickers to be applied?

 

Q3: Once a bottle has a sticker on it, am I correct it can be taken to the dining room with no additional charge?

 

Q4: Is it possible to obtain a corkscrew from the room steward / are they available in suites? Just one less thing to pack…

 

And finally, I have read many threads that reflect an overwhelming theme of inconsistent enforcement when bringing wine on at ports along the cruise. This gray area makes it hard to buy a bottle of wine at a visiting port to enjoy on the ship. I agree with many that bringing a bottle of local wine back to enjoy is part of the cruise experience. If I purchase wine and they took it until the end of the cruise, it would be a wasted purchase for me. It wouldn’t be worth the effort to take it home given or ongoing travel / flight plans. I hope to get some clarification onboard for our specific ship and cruise once underway… :)

 

Thank you for your insight.

[newparks]

Of course if you are flying to the port city, you cannot have the wine in your carryon so it must be in your checked luggage.

 

So to meet Princess' rules, you must open your suitcase either at the airport baggage area or outside the cruise terminal and transfer the wine to your carryon which would have to have room in it for the wine.

 

I learned my lesson the one time I forgot to take the wine out of my checked luggage, now its the first thing I do after I my suitcase get off the carousel.

[Astro Flyer]

I learned my lesson the one time I forgot to take the wine out of my checked luggage, now its the first thing I do after I my suitcase get off the carousel.

 

That's always our plan however once our 2 checked bags (1 bottle per bag) didn't arrive on the carousel. :eek:

 

We used Princess eZAir to arrive on the day of sailing (attached tags in case they were misrouted) but didn't get their transportation to the ship. The Princess rep said all bags with Princess tags went directly to the ship. That was the only time our wine was in checked bags when boarding which was out of our control. One bag went directly to our cabin; one bag went to the "naughty room". Thankfully we had a considerate crewmember whose only comment was "that's a good bottle of wine". ;)

[Astro Flyer]

Jimmy already posted the wine policy & covered the ambiguity about it's implementation including bringing on wine from ports of call. I would like to share my experience with bringing wine onboard from ports of call.

 

Previous discussions about it had posts based on Princess Facebook replies to this question. I am not on Facebook but those who use it didn't dispute the posts about what Princess said so I feel that it's accurate.

 

Princess realizes that when traveling to regions around the world noted for their wine passengers may want to bring wine home. In that situation they would hold the wine without any fee until the last night of the cruise. I didn't hide the wine when returning to the ship & got lucky in Italy because they didn't hold it for me which I was taking home.

 

Our wine brought onboard from ports that we wanted to enjoy during the cruise was subject to the $15/bottle fee. We got lucky & not assessed the fee but it didn't really matter for us as we paid the $15 corkage fee to enjoy it with dinner. :D

Edited February 20, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[oskidunker]

Southwest still does not charge for luggage,last time i checked. Use southwest if you can. Some airline credit cards allow free luggage. If you have status with an airline,you can get extra luggage. If you fly business or first class you get 2 free bags each. Often times when you check in, the airline will offer you an upgrade to business or first for cash flying sfo to quebec we upgraded rt for $300 p person on united,were allowed 2 free bags each so we took the wine carrier

 

If none of the above applied,i would not pay the airline to bring the wine. Instead i woulg bubble wrap 2 special bottles and pug them in a bag i was going to check anyway.

 

If you are doing only carry on and going to formal night in your underwear,then forget about bringing wine. [emoji6]

Edited February 20, 2015 by oskidunker

[rpcv77]

But the trouble with that theory is that everyone-naughty or nice can hide behind that excuse. The policy may seem harsh, but at least they enforce it uniformly (apparently regarding wine in the luggage).

 

As for the spotty enforcement you mention, consider it a blessing if you can get away with it. Kind of like running a red light when no cops are around.

 

I agree completely! Goody two shoes, or not, if you get away with it, that's just good luck. However, from a customer service POV, if would be better for a passenger to be called to the naughty room to claim it. I imagine if the crew is very busy or an individual is very by the book, that might not happen and so in accordance with policy, it can be destroyed. I don't think fault or blame needs to be a part of it. We have probably all made errors or overlooked policy from time to time and simply have to live with the consequences.

[IECalCruiser]

To the best of my knowledge, the answers to your questions.

 

Q1: I have not done a B2B with the new rules. You should be allowed two bottles for each cruise but I don't know if there are any issue bringing all 4 on board for the first cruise.

 

Q2: Assume you will need to open the package. They will probably want to examine the bottles to insure that they are wine and not other alcohol. Also, you are sent to a table to record the number of bottles and pay corkage. They wouldn't know the number of bottles you had. In San Francisco we got six stickers and we were able to decide later which bottles we would bring to the DR.

 

Q3: Any bottle with a sticker can be consumed with no additional corkage fee.

 

Q4: You should be able to get a cork screw and wine glasses from your steward. We always bring one along but one cruise it ended up in my carry on and I lost a nice compact model to the TSA :(

[Astro Flyer]

To the best of my knowledge, the answers to your questions.

 

Q1: I have not done a B2B with the new rules. You should be allowed two bottles for each cruise but I don't know if there are any issue bringing all 4 on board for the first cruise.

On my b2b they begrudgingly allowed my wife & me to bring all 4 bottles by showing both boarding passes.

 

I doubt if there is a definitive answer & is probably dependent upon how each crewmember decides to interpret & enforce it. I doubt if b2b cruises are addressed beyond the 1 bottle per cruise limit but Princess management should decide how it's done & to inform crew and passengers to eliminate the uncertainty.

 

Some passengers post they're only allowed to bring 1/bottle/person on each leg of the b2b; others have been allowed to bring both allotted fee free bottles at the beginning of the b2b. :confused:

Edited February 21, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[Corfe Mixture]

We live and learn.

 

We always bring two bottles of champagne with us from Europe and normally have them in our carry on, one of which is a hard shell cabin bag and the other is a soft back pack.

 

However, this year, on the spur of the moment, when we dropped off our bags before returning the rental car to FLL, not needing access to it, we decided to hand in our hard shell cabin bag along with our other bags and both bottles of champagne were in this bag.

 

As it happens, there wasn't a problem and both bottles arrived in our stateroom, but I have made a note to make sure that on our next cruise the bottles are carried on in the back pack.

 

As I say you live and learn and, although it would have been my error, I would have been very unhappy if they had destroyed the bottles without first checking that I had not made an innocent error.

[New Cruiser Girl]

I just get off The Royal and was able to bring each a bottle of wine in our luggage(not carried on) plus a mickey bottle of rye and a 26er of vodka without any interruptions at all~ I conclude that its a random check of luggage as that's a lot of luggage to exray each and every one ! It's a shame that they destroy such fine wine tho....I know I would be disappointed ~

[capriccio]

 

Some passengers post they're only allowed to bring 1/bottle/person on each leg of the b2b; others have been allowed to bring both allotted fee free bottles at the beginning of the b2b. :confused:

 

And in Fort Lauderdale a year ago we had to 'surrender' 2 bottles of wine that were returned to us the last night of the first cruise.

 

Because our B2B was sold also as a single cruise, we brought both boarding passes to initial check-in. That proved to the 'wine desk' staff that we were 'entitled' to the 3rd and 4th bottles.

Edited February 21, 2015 by capriccio

[CruiserNorCal]

Thank you for the clarifications… checked my wine box and included a corkscrew inside, solved that problem. Brought a cheap one in case it is taken as our flight travels continue after the cruise. I'll see how the wine inspection and corkage issue goes when I bored, worst case scenario I suppose is they charge me for the four extra bottles rather than just two. No biggie. $30 isn't worth stressing over. As one of the last posters said… Live and learn. Thanks again.

 

I will report back tomorrow after we board and let you know how it goes.

Edited February 21, 2015 by CruiserNorCal

[dr__dawggy]

There is a current thread about recommended wines from the Princess Wine List. I checked the retail price for several of the recommended wines and found the price ordering from Wine.com, plus 5 the Princess 15 dollar corkage fee to be same as price on the wine list.

 

 

We usually take two bottles on board with us to enjoy in our stateroom, sans the 15 corkage fee, which saves 30 bucks. At times I have taken a wine I particularly enjoy because Princess does not have it on their list....but if pricing holds true across the entire wine list, there's not much money to be saved over purchasing in the dining room from the list.

 

My bigger complaint is bringing wine aboard from ports is indeed part of the experience. It seems almost criminal not to be able to bring a good Italian wine aboard to enjoy while one is actually in Italy or from California...or France...or Chile.....or wherever decent wine is found.

Edited February 21, 2015 by dr__dawggy

[Loonbeam]

Different issue with the wines at port. Has to do with customs and duty.. Technically, as a citizen of many countries, anything you purchase at port and bring on the ship is considered dutiable. If you drink it and don't declare it, the US can't tax it.

 

Now, of course in practice it doesn't make a difference as either most people are under the exemption or say they are. But the ship has to play by the rules.

 

There is a current thread about recommended wines from the Princess Wine List. I checked the retail price for several of the recommended wines and found the price ordering from Wine.com, plus 5 the Princess 15 dollar corkage fee to be same as price on the wine list.

 

 

We usually take two bottles on board with us to enjoy in our stateroom, sans the 15 corkage fee, which saves 30 bucks. At times I have taken a wine I particularly enjoy because Princess does not have it on their list....but if pricing holds true across the entire wine list, there's not much money to be saved over purchasing in the dining room from the list.

 

My bigger complaint is bringing wine aboard from ports is indeed part of the experience. It seems almost criminal not to be able to bring a good Italian wine aboard to enjoy while one is actually in Italy or from California...or France...or Chile.....or wherever decent wine is found.

[NewSalt]

And Princess allows us to bring more wine by paying a $15 per additional bottle corkage fee. Whether it's collected during boarding or when we enjoy it with dinner they get their corkage fee. Our last RCI cruise 2 years ago finally allowed 1 bottle but corkage fee was $25 to enjoy it with dinner.

 

When the Princess wine package is available we only bring the 1 fee-free bottle; if not available we're thankful that Princess allows us to bring additional bottles for $15 each. :)

 

As of last fall, RCI no longer charges any corkage fee to bring your permitted 2bottles per cabin to the table.

[caribill]

As of last fall, RCI no longer charges any corkage fee to bring your permitted 2bottles per cabin to the table.

 

How do they identify that no corkage should be charged.

 

Do they just assume that nobody managed to bring additional bottles on board either at check-in or at a port stop?

[CruiserNorCal]

Ok, here's the scoop for check-In at Bayport / Houston this morning... Brought 6 bottles for B2B. They allowed the allotted two, charges for other four bottles and gave me 4 stickers. Discussed the B2B but they were stricktly enforcing only two bottles. Really don't mind the extra $30, cheap learning experience.

Upon boarding, steward provided wine glasses and offered a corkscrew.

 

Side note, a recent poster noted the value of wine onboard and the rational that an extra bottle you bring with a corkage fee nearly adds up to the cost of wine onboard, so why bringing extra? I agree, in part... If you are bringing inexpensive wines. But I took this opportunity to bring some expensive wines, which I already had, to enjoy in a nice setting. I stopped by the Crown Grill after boarding for reservations and viewed their wine list, they have some nice high end wines but expensive... honestly, glad I brought my own... wasn't that difficult. I'll use up some of my collection and save a bundle...

 

Now that I have 4 stickers, Ill check into bringing local wine back from a port at some point. My 6 bottles for 14 days... and sharing at dinner, won't last long. I'll see how the Emerald handles that. Also, did their wine package on an extented cruise years ago, I will also check into that for future referance.

[Cruise Raider]

Of course if you are flying to the port city, you cannot have the wine in your carryon so it must be in your checked luggage.

 

So to meet Princess' rules, you must open your suitcase either at the airport baggage area or outside the cruise terminal and transfer the wine to your carryon which would have to have room in it for the wine.

 

We do it all the time.....we just check a carry on sized bag with wine in it at the airport and then use it as a carry on for the ship. :confused:

[caribill]

Ok, here's the scoop for check-In at Bayport / Houston this morning... Brought 6 bottles for B2B. They allowed the allotted two, charges for other four bottles and gave me 4 stickers. Discussed the B2B but they were stricktly enforcing only two bottles.

 

I would speak to the food and beverage manager to discuss this. You should get $30 back.

 

Of course, if you were going to bring them to the dining room, you would have been charged the corkage anyway.

[partybarbie]

If one flies on Southwest Airlines, one is allowed to check 2 suitcases (50 lbs. each) at no charge. We use bubble wrap and a heavy duty zip-lock bag (just in case) and haven't had any problem flying with our wine. The suitcase is small enough to go through the ship's security scanners, so there's no need to transfer the wine to another suitcase.

 

Alternatively, one can buy wine at the Sacramento airport (and other airports I'm sure) and that can go into one's carry-on bag and fly in the overhead bin.

 

In the past, I've had three adults in our cabin and we were allowed to carry-on three bottles of wine without paying any corkage.

 

BTW, the majority of the low-end California wines that Princess is selling for $28.00-$29.00 per bottle, can be purchased at almost any grocery or drug store in California for $5.00-6.00 per bottle. If I wanted to drink any of those wines (which I don't recommend them) I could purchase the wine and pay the corkage, and still come out about $10.00 less than buying the same wine on the ship.

 

BTW, in Europe, DH and I brought on at least one, or sometimes two, bottles of local wine from our port stops. It was never taken from us and we were never charged any corkage fees if we consumed it in our room. Additionally, on two different occasions, our waiter didn't charge us the corkage fees in the dining room.

 

Hope this helps someone.;)

[richstowe]

Ok, here's the scoop for check-In at Bayport / Houston this morning... Brought 6 bottles for B2B. They allowed the allotted two, charges for other four bottles and gave me 4 stickers. Discussed the B2B but they were stricktly enforcing only two bottles. Really don't mind the extra $30, cheap learning experience.

Upon boarding, steward provided wine glasses and offered a corkscrew.

When were you supposed to bring on the 2 "free" bottles for the second cruise ?

Did Princess expect you to get off the ship and buy the wine at the pier before reboarding ?

[CruiserNorCal]

Alternatively, one can buy wine at the Sacramento airport (and other airports I'm sure) and that can go into one's carry-on bag and fly in the overhead bin. Hum, never thought of that!... Thanks, good info.

 

BTW, the majority of the low-end California wines that Princess is selling for $28.00-$29.00 per bottle, can be purchased at almost any grocery or drug store in California for $5.00-6.00 per bottle. If I wanted to drink any of those wines (which I don't recommend them) Ah, my point exactly

 

UPDATE on corkage fee

I inquired at Customer Service regarding corkage fee with the rational we are on a B2B, two separate voyages, asking... Are we in fact entitled to two free bottles per voyage even on a B2B? *Short answer, YES. *Long answer... Desk staff clarified that at check-in, the wine table should have collected two bottles for the second voyage which we would receive back at the start of the next voyage... Allow two free bottles and charge for the extra two. *Based on info. I have seen here on CC, I had suggested exactly that however, the young man at the wine table said that was not possible, mistake #2. *To conclude, they Have now allowed me to keep all the bottles and I returned two stickers for a $30 credit. *This was not resolved with a rant, staff was always polite as was I. *

[IECalCruiser]

UPDATE on corkage fee

I inquired at Customer Service regarding corkage fee with the rational we are on a B2B, two separate voyages, asking... Are we in fact entitled to two free bottles per voyage even on a B2B? *Short answer, YES. *Long answer... Desk staff clarified that at check-in, the wine table should have collected two bottles for the second voyage which we would receive back at the start of the next voyage... Allow two free bottles and charge for the extra two. *Based on info. I have seen here on CC, I had suggested exactly that however, the young man at the wine table said that was not possible, mistake #2. *To conclude, they Have now allowed me to keep all the bottles and I returned two stickers for a $30 credit. *This was not resolved with a rant, staff was always polite as was I. *

Glad it was resolved. Pricess needs to have consistent written procedures to address issues such as this.