What if we want to drink "free" wine in MDR?

[fann1sh]

I know 1 bottle per person per cabin is allowed to be drunk in the cabin without paying corkage.

 

But, what if we know before boarding we want to drink all wine in the dining room?

 

Can we volunteer to pay corkage, and have all bottles taken by beverage service at boarding?

 

Anyone actually done this?

 

Or are we just going to confuse things and hold up the line? :eek:

[grpgrlcdn]

There is an $18.00 corkage fee to all extra wine brought on ship.

[ger_77]

You can certainly take your wine to the Beverage Services desk at check-in; we did that with a few bottles of champagne for sail-away. We told them where we would be for sail-away and by the time we dropped our luggage, had lunch, finished muster drill and got to the Lido deck with our friends, all we had to do was ask and it was brought out, chilled and ready for toasting. The corkage showed up on our bill later. Cheers!

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

Edited September 11, 2016 by ger_77

[RuthC]

Can we volunteer to pay corkage, and have all bottles taken by beverage service at boarding?

You can pay corkage on all the bottles at embarkation, and not declare a "free" bottle. (you will still carry them all on board yourself.)

 

However, why not keep your options open? You can leave that one bottle per person uncharged, then bring it to the dining room (or any public lounge) when you want. You should be charged the corkage then (I say "should", as sometimes the steward forgets). But not paying at embarkation leaves you the option to change your mind about where to drink it, and have it for no corkage in your cabin.

[fann1sh]

Thanks RuthC and ger_77 for clarifying the "wine line up" doesn't result in wine being taken. Somehow I forgot - to schlep? Means to schlep all the way. "Here: take this heavy thing" isn't an option, LOL.

 

I guess this is the first cruise where I'm wholly in charge of wine. :o

 

Ruth, your suggestion I keep our options open makes perfect sense.

 

I found a new wine carrier on Amazon. POAs excellent version is no longer available, so I got this for $9:

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FGQXER4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[kazu]

Thanks RuthC and ger_77 for clarifying the "wine line up" doesn't result in wine being taken. Somehow I forgot - to schlep? Means to schlep all the way. "Here: take this heavy thing" isn't an option, LOL.

 

I guess this is the first cruise where I'm wholly in charge of wine. :o

 

Ruth, your suggestion I keep our options open makes perfect sense.

 

I found a new wine carrier on Amazon. POAs excellent version is no longer available, so I got this for $9:

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FGQXER4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

We got a couple of Total Wine's carriers which are VERY sturdy. I put the wine in and carry on - either by hand or in my carry on which has wheels. Not as heavy ;).

 

Yes, you do carry your wine to your cabin. BUT, you can drop it off early to the MDR or wherever to have it chilled if you need it :)

[jaxw17]

Does the 18 dollars include service and tax?

[kazu]

Does the 18 dollars include service and tax?

 

Yes, it does. It's a flat $18-

[POA1]

We got a couple of Total Wine's carriers which are VERY sturdy. I put the wine in and carry on - either by hand or in my carry on which has wheels. Not as heavy ;).

 

Yes, you do carry your wine to your cabin. BUT, you can drop it off early to the MDR or wherever to have it chilled if you need it :)

 

Total Wine's carriers are $1.99 and are located in Aisle 1 on the left in Fort Lauderdale. They're sturdy enough to reuse, and IMHO, pretty easy to carry. If you are going to Publix to buy your wine, they'll usually give you a free wine tote when you buy 4 or more bottles.

[kazu]

Total Wine's carriers are $1.99 and are located in Aisle 1 on the left in Fort Lauderdale. They're sturdy enough to reuse, and IMHO, pretty easy to carry. If you are going to Publix to buy your wine, they'll usually give you a free wine tote when you buy 4 or more bottles.

 

Ours are a number of years old and just tossed in the suitcase every time :)

 

Best investment I ever made :). Total Wine is like a candy store to we Canadians with limited wine choices - so it's a "must do" trip for us at least once, if not twice ;) on our pre-cruise days.

Edited September 11, 2016 by kazu

[fann1sh]

Total Wine's carriers are $1.99 and are located in Aisle 1 on the left in Fort Lauderdale. They're sturdy enough to reuse, and IMHO, pretty easy to carry. If you are going to Publix to buy your wine, they'll usually give you a free wine tote when you buy 4 or more bottles.

 

Sadly, I can't find any of my Total Wine carriers. :eek: I must have been too generous "sharing" them!

 

Since we're leaving from Vancouver, I had to make do with what's on Amazon.

 

I thought of also getting an Ice Bag from Amazon, POA1, but they only had the neon pink in stock. Would have clashed with the red roses I ordered for the cabin. :cool: Now I see the clear ones are back in stock....GRRRRR.

Edited September 11, 2016 by fann1sh

[ger_77]

They're sturdy enough to reuse, and IMHO, pretty easy to carry.

 

I'm chuckling at your response because you know the exact placement in the store of the wine carriers. That's what I love about this forum - nobody judges (well, in some cases they do), but we all enjoy drinking and try to help each other as much as we can.

 

Total Wine is like a candy store to we Canadians with limited wine choices - so it's a "must do" trip for us at least once, if not twice on our pre-cruise days.

 

You're absolutely correct about it being like a trip to the candy store - we look forward to pre-cruise stays just so we can spend time at the Total Wine and Publix stores. Unfortunately this time we'll be embarking at Barcelona, so we will have to find their equivalent of the Total Wine store prior to boarding.

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[cb at sea]

Just pour your wine into a glass and take it to the dining room with you...they don't know where the wine came from! People bring their drinks into the dining room all the time!

[kazu]

I'm chuckling at your response because you know the exact placement in the store of the wine carriers. That's what I love about this forum - nobody judges (well, in some cases they do), but we all enjoy drinking and try to help each other as much as we can.

 

 

You're absolutely correct about it being like a trip to the candy store - we look forward to pre-cruise stays just so we can spend time at the Total Wine and Publix stores. Unfortunately this time we'll be embarking at Barcelona, so we will have to find their equivalent of the Total Wine store prior to boarding.

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

 

Where abouts are you going to be in Barcelona? There is a very nice Carrefour on Las Ramblas with some decent selections. La Boqueria has a wine shop (a bit pricey) with some FABULOUS selections too :)

 

You won't have any trouble finding good wine in Barcelona.

 

If you like white wine, keep your eye out for the WHITE Rioja's. Of course, the reds are good too.

 

What a great pre cruise stay you have. Enjoy :)

[fann1sh]

Ours are a number of years old and just tossed in the suitcase every time :)

 

Best investment I ever made :). Total Wine is like a candy store to we Canadians with limited wine choices - so it's a "must do" trip for us at least once, if not twice ;) on our pre-cruise days.

 

(my bolding)

 

This Canadian calls Total Wine "the Disneyland of adult beverage stores" !

[RocketMan275]

I use a backpack that could also be used to carry a lap top. It comfortably holds six bottles, probably could hold eight.

 

On our last cruise, wife and I packed in two four wheel roll on carry on bags. Each of these had an extending handle. I sat the backpack with the wine on top of the carry on and used a couple of bunggie cords to hold it in place.

 

This worked quite well as I didn't have to carry anything, I could just roll it along. I did have to life it once or twice to clear a curb but that wasn't a major issue.

 

We arrived early and there were no crew at the security station to take the corkage fee. They took my name, cabin number, and number of bottles but was never billed. I even went to guest services to remind them I owed the corkage. I did get the stickers for the wine so I could take outside our room.

[SLOTheta]

We brought wine from home, we checked a case shipper on our flight because we had high end aged bottles we wanted to drink. We bought a few extra bottles in Barcelona, there are wine shops everywhere. We paid for corkage up front and brought the bottles in every night to the MDR, which included our "free bottles" our wine steward asked if we paid corkage and we said yes. Never an issue. At the end, we tipped on every bottle we brought and bought at dinner.

 

 

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