Buying Wine Package in MDR @ embarkation lunch?

[PekingeseLady]

I'm guessing you can tell by my title what I'd like to know, LOL  Can I purchase the Wine Package at Lunch on embarkation day, and get my first bottle with lunch?  Or do I need to get at a bar or wait till dinner?  Thanks in advance!!!

[NavyVeteran]

Often they have a table with people selling the wine packages available when you board, and the waiters at lunch should be able to sell it to you.

 

There is one potential problem depending on the embarkation port. In some ports, anything purchased before you sail is subject to local sales tax, and I'm sure you don't want to pay sales tax on the wine package. Most of the time this is not a problem - but it could be.

[mexicobob]

If you want to buy a wine package I would advise buying it a long time before you board the ship. 

I would also suggest that it is not worth it.

[Kartgv]

Wine packages aren't available on all cruises - neither of our last 2 had them.   The last time we were able to buy one, it wasn't available before boarding - only onboard.    When we did buy it, it was definitely worthwhile - about 2/3 the cost of individual bottles - providing you like the wines being offered as part of the package.   

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, mexicobob said:

If you want to buy a wine package I would advise buying it a long time before you board the ship. 

I would also suggest that it is not worth it.

Some are not available pre cruise.

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, mexicobob said:

If you want to buy a wine package I would advise buying it a long time before you board the ship. 

I would also suggest that it is not worth it.

Wine packages cannot be purchased before boarding the ship.

 

Whether it’s worth it or not is an individual decision.  Paying as little as $28 for wine that costs up to $45 on the ship works for me when wanting to purchase wine onboard.

 

[Astro Flyer]

31 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Some are not available pre cruise.

I’m only aware of a few individual bottles that are available to pre-purchase but no wine packages.

[CruzeQueen2]

My experience with the wine package was great. Very worthwhile. Available on first day onboard, not ahead of time. Great new wine list. I agree that purchasing it at the first dinner would eliminate the extra taxes tied to the port. Order a glass at lunch, easy.

[RMMariner]

The wine package is probably the best deal for alcohol that Princess offers. Still more expensive than bringing wine on and paying the corkage, but so much easier.

[PekingeseLady]

Thank you everyone for your replies.  I know it's not available before hand, or I would have bought already, LOL  And YES it is a great deal.  My cruise is 12 days, I believe the package is only offered on 10 days or longer.  I will look for it when I board, and ask at lunch if not.  And yes I will order a glass at lunch if not available and buy at dinner.  

 

Another question, I read where you could only get your wine in the MDR from the package.  Can you ask your server to bring a couple of bottles to bring to your room, and can you take these bottles to other venues like the  bars, or theater?

Edited March 2, 2019 by PekingeseLady

[KevintheIrishDJ]

FYI.  Just because a wine is on the list, it doesn't mean it is available.   

[lhsail]

1 hour ago, PekingeseLady said:

Thank you everyone for your replies.  I know it's not available before hand, or I would have bought already, LOL  And YES it is a great deal.  My cruise is 12 days, I believe the package is only offered on 10 days or longer.  I will look for it when I board, and ask at lunch if not.  And yes I will order a glass at lunch if not available and buy at dinner.  

 

Another question, I read where you could only get your wine in the MDR from the package.  Can you ask your server to bring a couple of bottles to bring to your room, and can you take these bottles to other venues like the  bars, or theater?

You have a good understanding of how the wine package works. Yes, it is only available on cruises of 10 days and longer. For our last two longer cruises we went to the MDR right after boarding and both times had to work through two or three people before they understood what we wanted. The wine packages were not being sold all over the ship like the beverage package. Also, they must not have charged our account for the package until after sailing as we did not get charged sales tax. And we immediately used it for lunch. 

 

You get your wine in the MDR, you can also get a bottle from the package in the specialty restaurants. And, you can certainly ask your waiter to bring you extra bottles to take to your cabin or to drink anywhere else on the ship since you have purchased it from Princess. We have even gone down during the lunch hour and simply picked up a bottle for consumption elsewhere. 

 

We have been fortunate in that we’ve never really had a problem with availability. That might have been more so when they were turning over the wine list. Wish it was available for our upcoming 7 day cruise. We’ll be bringing our wine onboard and paying corkage.  If they offered the package we would take it for the convenience even if slightly more expensive than paying corkage. The new wine list has som very nice offerings. 

[PekingeseLady]

2 hours ago, lhsail said:

You have a good understanding of how the wine package works. Yes, it is only available on cruises of 10 days and longer. For our last two longer cruises we went to the MDR right after boarding and both times had to work through two or three people before they understood what we wanted. The wine packages were not being sold all over the ship like the beverage package. Also, they must not have charged our account for the package until after sailing as we did not get charged sales tax. And we immediately used it for lunch. 

 

You get your wine in the MDR, you can also get a bottle from the package in the specialty restaurants. And, you can certainly ask your waiter to bring you extra bottles to take to your cabin or to drink anywhere else on the ship since you have purchased it from Princess. We have even gone down during the lunch hour and simply picked up a bottle for consumption elsewhere. 

 

We have been fortunate in that we’ve never really had a problem with availability. That might have been more so when they were turning over the wine list. Wish it was available for our upcoming 7 day cruise. We’ll be bringing our wine onboard and paying corkage.  If they offered the package we would take it for the convenience even if slightly more expensive than paying corkage. The new wine list has som very nice offerings. 

Perfect,  thank you so much,  exactly what I wanted to hear! I'll be getting one of the larger packages since I can bring the bottles to other venues. Much easier then carrying on a case,  lol 

[lhsail]

12 minutes ago, PekingeseLady said:

Perfect,  thank you so much,  exactly what I wanted to hear! I'll be getting one of the larger packages since I can bring the bottles to other venues. Much easier then carrying on a case,  lol 

Another reason to take advantage of the wine package if that is pretty much all you drink. With the roll out last fall of the new wine list and new drink menus, the prices of wines by the glass were increased. They supposedly also increased the pour by one ounce. We found that to be inconsistently applied on the CB in December. That was the first time since the introduction of Vines that we had one drink there the entire cruise, and it was 14 days. 

[Astro Flyer]

4 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

FYI.  Just because a wine is on the list, it doesn't mean it is available.   

Like ihsail thankfully we have rarely had our wine selection unavailable...only one time with several wine packages.

 

As stated during the transition to the new wine list the lack of inventory has resulted in the wine package not being offered as often.  I’ve also experienced it not being offered due to a resupplying problem resulting in less wine inventory.  A Med cruise before our TA had a container with wine delayed & thus depleted the wine inventory.  Princess purchased non-wine list wines in Italy to increase their inventory & some was still available after resupplying the ship with their normal wines where we purchased a wine package.

 

Sometimes problems resupplying ships sailing around the world can result in shortages onboard & not just with wine.  On another Med cruise they ran out of some types of sodas which they again temporarily resupplied from local sources in Italy until they could get their container of supplies.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[Astro Flyer]

17 minutes ago, lhsail said:

Another reason to take advantage of the wine package if that is pretty much all you drink. With the roll out last fall of the new wine list and new drink menus, the prices of wines by the glass were increased. They supposedly also increased the pour by one ounce. We found that to be inconsistently applied on the CB in December. That was the first time since the introduction of Vines that we had one drink there the entire cruise, and it was 14 days. 

We prefer to purchase our wine package from our dining room waitstaff...they’ll serve it & receive extra benefits for selling it.

 

Here’s a link to the new wine list being implemented fleetwide:

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/beverages/Wine-Menu.pdf

[KevintheIrishDJ]

28 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Like ihsail thankfully we have rarely had our wine selection unavailable...only one time with several wine packages.

 

As stated during the transition to the new wine list the lack of inventory has resulted in the wine package not being offered as often.  I’ve also experienced it not being offered due to a resupplying problem resulting in less wine inventory.  A Med cruise before our TA had a container with wine delayed & thus depleted the wine inventory.  Princess purchased non-wine list wines in Italy to increase their inventory & some was still available after resupplying the ship with their normal wines where we purchased a wine package.

 

Sometimes problems resupplying ships sailing around the world can result in shortages onboard & not just with wine.  On another Med cruise they ran out of some types of sodas which they again temporarily resupplied from local sources in Italy until they could get their container of supplies.

We have never been on a world cruise; however, it happened to us several times.  That is why we bring on our own wines.  The point is to ask for specific wines before you sing up.

[trbarton]

40 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

We prefer to purchase our wine package from our dining room waitstaff...they’ll serve it & receive extra benefits for selling it.

 

Here’s a link to the new wine list being implemented fleetwide:

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/beverages/Wine-Menu.pdf

 

Is this the same list that is in Vines?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

[XBGuy]

38 minutes ago, trbarton said:

 

Is this the same list that is in Vines?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

 

Sadly, no.  It's a bit hard to read, but this conversation has a pic of the Vines list.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2597559-vines-bar-wine-list-oct-182018-caribbean-princess/?tab=comments#comment-56926129

 

[crawford]

15 hours ago, PekingeseLady said:

I'm guessing you can tell by my title what I'd like to know, LOL  Can I purchase the Wine Package at Lunch on embarkation day, and get my first bottle with lunch?  Or do I need to get at a bar or wait till dinner?  Thanks in advance!!!

 

We have purchased wine packages on embarkation day with lunch; no additional taxes. 

Bought one 7 bottle package on out 7 day "Wine Country" cruise last September.

Most of the time, for whatever reason, I don't see wine packages advertised at the drink package tables - my experience.

When in doubt, ask in the MDR. The waiters are happy to sell you a wine package.

 

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

We have never been on a world cruise; however, it happened to us several times.  That is why we bring on our own wines.  The point is to ask for specific wines before you sing up.

We’ll never be able to afford a world cruise & was referring to their ships & not to me. ☺️

 

Guess despite not being Irish maybe I’ve had some of their luck with wine package’s inventory? 🍀

 

I was was just sharing our experiences & know that it’s not always the same for you.  Unlike some other cruise lines, I’ve never understood why Princess doesn’t offer wine packages on 7 day cruises.  I feel their wine packages have been mismanaged from the start & due to the lack of any mention of it on their website not many passengers even know they exist.

 

Good idea to ask about availability prior to purchase even though that doesn’t guarantee availability throughout a cruise.  Wonder how they’d react to getting all of our preferred wine at the beginning?

 

Most of our future cruises are 7 day cruises with a drive to the port so we’ll bring our preferred wines & pay the fee.  For our 4 week cruise from Rome to Florida we hope to purchase a wine package & to supplement it with some of my favorite Italian vino.

[Astro Flyer]

4 minutes ago, crawford said:

 

We have purchased wine packages on embarkation day with lunch; no additional taxes. 

Bought one 7 bottle package on out 7 day "Wine Country" cruise last September.

Most of the time, for whatever reason, I don't see wine packages advertised at the drink package tables - my experience.

When in doubt, ask in the MDR. The waiters are happy to sell you a wine package.

 

Lucky you...it’s good that you were able to get it on a 7 day cruise which apparently isn’t routinely available.

 

However since we've never had that option & cannot depend upon it we’re bring our wine from home when driving to the port for cruises that are shorter than 10 days.