formal dining

[John Brand]

The 10 day Mexican Riviera cruise out of San Francisco will be my first cruise.  I have a couple questions.  What is the difference between the 2 nights of formal dining and regular nights other than formal dress.  Are they in a different dining room than normal dining?  Higher quality food?  

 

Also, we are allowed to bring  bottle of wine in our luggage.  Is Port wine okay?  It has a little more alcohol content, but is still a wine.

 

Thank you.

 

John 

[HleeCruiser]

Formal night dining is held in all the Main Dining Rooms aboard the ship on those nights designated "Formal Dining".  Most people dress up for the occasion.

 

Do not know about the wine question.  I'm sure you will get good advice from members of C.C.

 

Have a great time on your first cruise.

[jasbo49]

Fortified wines, such as port, are not allowed.

 

Jim

[Optotronics]

14 minutes ago, John Brand said:

The 10 day Mexican Riviera cruise out of San Francisco will be my first cruise.  I have a couple questions.  What is the difference between the 2 nights of formal dining and regular nights other than formal dress.  Are they in a different dining room than normal dining?  Higher quality food?  

 

Also, we are allowed to bring  bottle of wine in our luggage.  Is Port wine okay?  It has a little more alcohol content, but is still a wine.

 

Thank you.

 

John 

I don't think it matters if it's port, champagne or wine; but it cannot be brought onboard in your luggage, it has to be hand carried onboard.

 

[Optotronics]

1 minute ago, jasbo49 said:

Fortified wines, such as port, are not allowed.

 

Jim

Hi Jim,

ive bought onboard both port and champagne. In fact they've never even taken more than a glace at the bottle. Once I had then in my carry on backpack and they never even asked to look in the backpack.

[paul929207]

I think most people think the formal night menus are a cut above  the other days. For instance lobster is served on one of the formal nights.

[jasbo49]

5 minutes ago, Optotronics said:

Hi Jim,

ive bought onboard both port and champagne. In fact they've never even taken more than a glace at the bottle. Once I had then in my carry on backpack and they never even asked to look in the backpack.

I'm speaking from memory, so I could be wrong. If so, sorry. I know champagne is allowed. It's right in the official policy.

 

Jim

[skynight]

1 hour ago, John Brand said:

The 10 day Mexican Riviera cruise out of San Francisco will be my first cruise.  I have a couple questions.  What is the difference between the 2 nights of formal dining and regular nights other than formal dress.  Are they in a different dining room than normal dining?  Higher quality food?  

 

Also, we are allowed to bring  bottle of wine in our luggage.  Is Port wine okay?  It has a little more alcohol content, but is still a wine.

 

Thank you.

 

John 

Same DR's formal or smart casual evenings. Higher quality food, maybe? Depends on what you enjoy. Specialty restaurants are smart casual every evening, of course you can dress up if you like.

Wine. It's 1 x 750ml bottle per person 21 and older in your carry on. Below is the information from the passage contract. There is no specific mention of fortified wines, but it has been reported that they are not allowed, although some may have been able to board with them.

Guests agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind on board for consumption except one bottle of wine or champagne per person of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage only in his/her carry-on luggage. A corkage fee of $15.00 U.S.D. per bottle (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to wine and champagne brought aboard by You and consumed in the ship's public areas. Any wine(s) or champagne(s) supplied by the Carrier to You as a gift are not subject to a corkage fee. At embarkation, all luggage is subject to scanning and any contraband, including alcohol in excess of the allowed amount, will be removed and discarded. You may be required to attend an inspection if your luggage is locked.  Carrier shall not be responsible for any loss, cost, disappointment or damage of any kind as a result of any contraband or alcoholic beverages removed in violation of the one bottle policy. You agree to surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at ports of call, to Carrier, which will be delivered to Your stateroom on the last night of the voyage.

[XBGuy]

John, as you can see, there is some question as to whether or not you can bring Port on board.  There have been multiple reports in various threads here on Cruise Critic that Princess does not allow fortified wines to be carried on.  However, right above, there is a report from a poster who indicates there was no problem.

 

Like many things on Princess, it looks like the policy is not consistently enforced.  It may be a case of which person does the inspection on embarkation.  If you're willing to be disappointed you can, certainly, bring it and see what happens.  The problem that I see is what are you going to do if it is rejected?  In my case, I would just walk away and let Princess dispose it, but I am something of a profligate.

 

Oh, and there have been multiple reports that Port by the glass is available on board.  I do not recall which venues, though.

 

Have a great cruise.

Edited November 30, 2018 by XBGuy

[OCruisers]

Normally, but not always, lobster is on the last formal night.  

[floridalover5623]

We've always found that formal night the food is definitely better. Most people dress up but it's a matter of choice since they'll allow people in the DR who enjoy the more casual atmosphere.

 

The port wine may of may not be allowed. I have read that some people have had it confiscated when boarding since the alcohol content is higher than regular wine. 

[John Brand]

Thank you all for the information.  I called Princess Cruise and asked about the Port wine and the woman I talked to said it would be okay, but she was clearly unsure.

 

We sail Monday and I'll let you know how it goes.

[GUT2407]

One formal night will usually include lobster so it’s sort of meant to be better, but food, of course is very subjective.

 

I have spoken to people on board who said their Port wasn’t allowed, but again it comes down to who you deal with, if someone from Princess says yes, ask for them to put it in writing.

[XBGuy]

I'm sure you'll have a great cruise.

 

My wife and I are leaving tomorrow on a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise out of Los Angeles.  Maybe we'll pass each other.

 

[satxdiver]

Worse case they will keep the port wine and give it back to you on the last night aboard the ship.  Like everything with Princess it all depends on who is doing the checking.  It has to be either hand carried on the ship or put into your carry on luggage.  You may or may not be asked to remove it from your luggage.  

 

Concerning formal night in all the MDRs, you can dress up as much as you want or as little as you want.  It all depends on who is at the door to the MDR as to what they allow into the room.  The Mexican Riviera cruises out of the west coast I have found to be more on the casual side than the fancy side as to dress.  Last west coast cruise I saw several men wearing Hawaiian shirts and dockers in the MDR on formal night.

 

[TheRabbit]

10 hours ago, John Brand said:

Also, we are allowed to bring  bottle of wine in our luggage.  Is Port wine okay?  It has a little more alcohol content, but is still a wine.

 

Thank you.

 

John 

Port wine is definitely OK as far as I know. Never had it taken, though we did have it packed with several other bottle and paid corkage each time.

[partybarbie]

4 hours ago, John Brand said:

Thank you all for the information.  I called Princess Cruise and asked about the Port wine and the woman I talked to said it would be okay, but she was clearly unsure.

 

We sail Monday and I'll let you know how it goes.

There is a roll call for your sailing.  Since you are new to Cruise Critic, you may not be aware that a few of us have been chatting for the past couple of months.  If you would like to meet some fellow cruise critic members, we are having a very informal "meet and greet"  at the aft pool bar, directly following the muster drill. 

Here is the link to our roll call https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2452467-december-3-2018-grand-princess-10-day-mexico/ 

You will recognize us because we will be wearing Mardi Gras beads. 🙂  Hope you can make it. 

 

[caribill]

6 hours ago, satxdiver said:

Worse case they will keep the port wine and give it back to you on the last night aboard the ship.

 

 

No, the worst case is what is stated in the policy in a post above :   "At embarkation, all luggage is subject to scanning and any contraband, including alcohol in excess of the allowed amount, will be removed and discarded."

 

If the port wine is considered contraband, it will be discarded.

[satxdiver]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

No, the worst case is what is stated in the policy in a post above :   "At embarkation, all luggage is subject to scanning and any contraband, including alcohol in excess of the allowed amount, will be removed and discarded."

 

If the port wine is considered contraband, it will be discarded.

 

On two separate occasions we have forgot and left a bottle of wine in one of our checked luggage.  The luggage arrived in the cabin in two parts.  The first was the luggage without the bottle which arrived in about 2 hours.  The luggage with the bottle of wine arrived about 4 hours later with the bottle of wine and no corkage fee.  Both times we had carried on quite a few bottles and had paid the corkage on all those over the one bottle/pax limit.   What Princess prints and what they do we all know is not the same.  

[floridalover5623]

42 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

 

On two separate occasions we have forgot and left a bottle of wine in one of our checked luggage.  The luggage arrived in the cabin in two parts.  The first was the luggage without the bottle which arrived in about 2 hours.  The luggage with the bottle of wine arrived about 4 hours later with the bottle of wine and no corkage fee.  Both times we had carried on quite a few bottles and had paid the corkage on all those over the one bottle/pax limit.   What Princess prints and what they do we all know is not the same.  

I often forget where I pack my bottles. 😉

[floridalover5623]

11 hours ago, satxdiver said:

Worse case they will keep the port wine and give it back to you on the last night aboard the ship.  Like everything with Princess it all depends on who is doing the checking.  It has to be either hand carried on the ship or put into your carry on luggage.  You may or may not be asked to remove it from your luggage.  

 

Concerning formal night in all the MDRs, you can dress up as much as you want or as little as you want.  It all depends on who is at the door to the MDR as to what they allow into the room.  The Mexican Riviera cruises out of the west coast I have found to be more on the casual side than the fancy side as to dress.  Last west coast cruise I saw several men wearing Hawaiian shirts and dockers in the MDR on formal night.

 

As well as Polo shirts nowadays. Formal night is definitely becoming optional on Princess.

[Colo Cruiser]

18 hours ago, caribill said:

 

No, the worst case is what is stated in the policy in a post above :   "At embarkation, all luggage is subject to scanning and any contraband, including alcohol in excess of the allowed amount, will be removed and discarded."

 

If the port wine is considered contraband, it will be discarded.

I agree, this could be the worst case scenario.

Although the policy is the same each ship could be a different story.

[TheRabbit]

On 11/30/2018 at 9:29 AM, jasbo49 said:

I'm speaking from memory, so I could be wrong. If so, sorry. I know champagne is allowed. It's right in the official policy.

 

Jim

Sounds like your memory is as good as mine on a good day! LOL

 

As for Port, we have brought it on a few times both in a suit case, boxed with other wines, or in a carry on without ever being questioned other than corkage.

[TheRabbit]

19 hours ago, caribill said:

 

No, the worst case is what is stated in the policy in a post above :   "At embarkation, all luggage is subject to scanning and any contraband, including alcohol in excess of the allowed amount, will be removed and discarded."

 

If the port wine is considered contraband, it will be discarded.

Verbiage per the website is slightly different.

 

"As provided in the Passage Contract, guests agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind onboard for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles are welcome, but will incur a $15 corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Liquor, spirits or beers are not permitted. Please remember that luggage will be scanned and alcohol outside of our policy will be removed and discarded.*

 

Alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at ports of call, will be collected for safekeeping and delivered to the guest's stateroom on the last day of the cruise.  A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist guests with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist guests with shipboard alcoholic purchases."

[John Brand]

Follow up...

 

We decided not to bring the Port, and just bring regular wine.  I wouldn't have mattered as out bags were not checked anyway.  We had a really good time on the cruise.