Wine on Royal

[Christine Frances]

Taking our first cruise with Royal next Feb and it is a fabulous itinerary. I was wondering if there was a wine list for the dining rooms and do they have sommelier's or does your waiter get your wine? I think I purchased the Ultimate Pkg but if I order a wine over the limit do I just pay the difference?

 

Re dining. My original booking invoice shows us wait listed for 6pm.but it seems the Cruise Planner is looking for reservations. We are a group of 8 traveling together so how do we do this. Is there still traditional dining on the Radiance?

 

I think I have a big learning curve lol

[Clarea]

No sommelier's, the waiter or assistant waiter will handle your wine orders. Pay the difference plus 18% for glasses over the limit.

 

There is still traditional dining on Radiance, but it must be full. If you don't clear the wait list, you can make reservations for My Time dining, or you can just show up when you please, your choice.

Edited August 4, 2016 by clarea

[George C]

On our most recent cruise we normally ordered wines a few dollars over the 12 dollar limit so if we wanted was 15, we were charged 3 plus 18percent of the 3 .

[spookwife]

the dudes in Vintages will be the closest thing to a Sommelier on board.

 

sometimes a more experienced bar steward will be in charge of choosing wines for the Chef's Table( well worth the cost)

 

I will be very honest, I always had ..issues.. getting wine let alone refills, in the MDR. I stick to ordering a bottle now and therefore can pour my own dang top ups. if not, I get my glass prior to entering the MDR and then try not to drink it before dinner arrives. ( I usually fail miserably)

 

in Specialty restaurants it is much easier to get service and if you do not purchase a bottle they are better at stopping by and keeping you topped off, esp. when on the package.

[Christine Frances]

Thanks:) Are the waiters very knowledgeable? I don't normally drink wine at home but when we cruise I like to try good/different wines. I hope they know more than me lol

[ducklite]

Don't expect them to know the difference between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, let alone have extended knowledge. Also don't expect the list to be anything special. It will be primarily the international varieties and lean heavily to California. All will be current release. Considering they pay below frontline, it will probably work out to 500% if not higher markup.

[George C]

Another plus on specialty restaurant is they will normally have a slightly better wine list to choose from, we had pretty good luck getting a second glass from MDR waiter also.

[Clarea]

Thanks:) Are the waiters very knowledgeable? I don't normally drink wine at home but when we cruise I like to try good/different wines. I hope they know more than me lol

I would not expect the MDR waiters to be knowledgeable. However, the menu does list wine pairings with certain entrees.

Edited August 5, 2016 by clarea

[Christine Frances]

I would not expect the MDR waiters to be knowledgeable. However, the menu does list wine pairings with certain entrees.

 

I am so used to X but I am very sure that I will find wines that I will enjoy:) I just not too confident about them to make my own selections. I do use my App Vivino a lot to take pictures of labels and file/rate the ones I like.

[spookwife]

Thanks:) Are the waiters very knowledgeable? I don't normally drink wine at home but when we cruise I like to try good/different wines. I hope they know more than me lol

 

 

In Vintages, maybe. Elsewhere, I know more than they do based on my two and a half years living in Monterey and taking every wine tasting class I could get.

 

At least in Vintages I could tell him what liked and he'd offer some recommendations

[critterchick]

Thanks:) Are the waiters very knowledgeable? I don't normally drink wine at home but when we cruise I like to try good/different wines. I hope they know more than me lol

 

 

In Vintages, maybe. Elsewhere, I know more than they do based on my two and a half years living in Monterey and taking every wine tasting class I could get.

 

At least in Vintages I could tell him what liked and he'd offer some recommendations

 

OP is going on Radiance, which doesn't have Vintages. The Champagne Bar has a small, mediocre and expensive selection of wine, and the bartenders didn't know anything about them. In addition, they were swamped with drink package clientele so were run off their feet trying to keep up with the orders. They said it was even worse in Australia, where 90% of the adult passengers order the packages - on our Alaska cruise it was about 80% (and more kids).

[ducklite]

There is a great book called Wine Folly which came out about a year ago. It is easy to read, not bogged down with technical detail, and has a lot of colorful diagrams. You could read and digest the entire book in a month or so of 10 minutes a day, finishing with enough knowledge to order with confidence off of any wine list. It offers everything from pairing suggestions to an explanation of the "flavors" and intensity of each varietal broken down by major producing regions for each. I am making it sound complicated. It is not. I have several shelves of books on wine, some are texts while others are technical references, this one is a favorite quick go to for me for a refresher on the basics. I highly recommend taking a look at it if you are interested in building basic knowledge.

Edited August 5, 2016 by ducklite

[matj2000]

I never saw anyone serving wine or drinks in the dining room on the last 2 RC cruises.

 

In fact I had to get up walk to the other end of the promenade to get my own drinks during dinner each night...

[George C]

We had 1 or 2 glasses every night in MDR, just ask your waiter and he will get someone to serve you. Another great thing about drink package if you do not like what you ordered just order something else

[Clarea]

I never saw anyone serving wine or drinks in the dining room on the last 2 RC cruises.

 

In fact I had to get up walk to the other end of the promenade to get my own drinks during dinner each night...

We've noticed the same thing on certain ships. I speak to the headwaiter and that usually takes care of the problem.

 

On Vision, the bar staff in the MDR is excellent.