Do you share your wine with tablemates?

[vvnh16a]

dobie

Can you explain the "wine package" you mentioned. Is this somethign available on all RCL ships??

 

Rich in N VA

[fireguy091]

My wife and I will be cruising with two other couples. We will set at a table for 10. We will be bringing several bottles along every night plus will probably order a couple. Those that are sitting with us can drink all they want or none at all. If they want to buy wine and share with us ,fine, if not that's OK too. Its easy for us because we are wine drinkers and sharinng with 4 others isn't a big deal.....:)

[dobie]

The wine package comes in Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. You have your choice of a 5, 7, 10, or 12 bottle package. Just for example, the 7 bottle package is priced Gold: $158, (value if you ordered the wine separately $231), Platinum is $173 (value $259), and Diamond $189 (value $266). On the Gold the Sparkling is Korbel Brut, the Whites are Beringer Chardonnay, Lindemans Semillon-Chardonnay, Danzante Pinot Grigio, Caliterra Sauvignon Blanc, Mondavi Woodbridge White Zinfandel, and the Reds are Georges DuBoeuf Beaujolais Villages, Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon, Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Vina Tarapaca Merlot, and Footprint Shiraz. In teh Platinum you have all of that plus another sparkling, 3 more whites, and 3 more reds, the Diamond you get even more choices. If for some reason you don't drink it all they package it up for you and you can bring it home. They cork whatever's left at the end of your meal and will retrieve it for you the next evening or at lunch. It is a good deal for us. Of course people with more expensive wine tastes it would not be a good deal for, but the choices are fine for us. It has always been available on all of the RCI ships we have been on--we just had it on the Vision in Oct.

[katiel53]

My husband doesn't drink wine. I bring a glass of wine to dinner on the first night. I look to see if others order wine. I then make my decision for future nights based on the others. If none order wine, then I will order wine other nights and have it corked for the next night, without offering any to other tablemates.

 

Usually though, we travel with family and friends so we have our own table. If traveling with family, my brother-in-law drinks wine, so we share. Other times my good friend drinks wine but her husband doesn't so she and I share.

 

Sometimes though, if we have Champagne, we all drink it. I guess it just depends. Years ago sharing was "THE THING" to do, but for many cruises we have seen people just order wine for themselves and we have no problem with it. Sometimes, it seems like the best idea. I am not a person who knows fine wine, so if someone shared a $100 bottle and I bought a $25 bottle the next night, I would feel awful. Without sharing, it's not a problem.

[KKeeganS]

We had two couples who were friends at our table of 8 on our last cruise. They agreed among themselves to get a few bottles of wine to share. They did offer some to us, but we declined. DH and I prefer different types of wine, so we wouldn't get a bottle to split, and generally order by the glass. Later in the week, we did go to one of the bars after dinner and alternated buying rounds.

 

I do drink, but some cruises/nights, I just stick to water because either service in getting other drinks is so slow or just because I'm so thirsty from the heat/salt/chlorine (okay, and poolside drinks) :D . Also, some folks just don't like to drink with their meals.

 

I think it depends on the circumstances, and you should do what feels comfortable for you based on your tablemates, etc. I definitely don't think this is an issue that you should really stress about, feeling one decision or another indicates a "lack of class" on your part.