Wine list for Classic and Premium Beverage Packages

[adele319]

Hi, I am trying to find a list of brands offered on the classic and premium beverage packages. If any one can provide this, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Ray in NH]

12 minutes ago, adele319 said:

Hi, I am trying to find a list of brands offered on the classic and premium beverage packages. If any one can provide this, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

It has been our experience that this can (and often does) vary greatly from ship to ship and even itinerary to itinerary, and perhaps even by diligence of servers.  We have been told that a particular wine is no longer available, and have it offered to us an hour or so later (at a different service area).  That has been our experience -- we wish you good luck in finding your spirits of choice.

 

NRayH

[adele319]

Thank you. We will be on the Celebrity Summit. 

[helen haywood]

Ditto to what Ray said.  I'd say no point in upgrading from Classic to Premium in the case of wines until you are onboard and can see what is actually being offered.  And even then they can run out of it before the cruise is over....  Any such list would really be "or similar wines..."

[cruisestitch]

"Hi, I am trying to find a list of brands offered on the classic and premium beverage packages. If any one can provide this, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you."

 

There is no such list.  The wine offerings vary from one cruise to another. And from one dining room to another (Luminae, Blue, MDR, specialties).   Even though there may be a printed wine list in one of them, offerings come and go.  The things you see there may not be available on your cruise.

[jelayne]

A search should get you some wine lists from various venues.  There have been many posted in the past few months.  As others of said what is available can vary by ship, itinerary and where the ship is sailing.

[helen haywood]

Also, some posted lists or bar menus are not complete listings of what is available.  The stand up menu on the tables in the Buffet is certainly not everything that is available.  In the MDR I used to request the wine list and look at the wines available by the glass.  At that time there were no Sauvignon Blancs listed under the Classic Package price point.  But I found if I just requested a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the sommelier I always got one and was not charged an up charge.  So that wine list doesn’t list everything.  Especially true in the specialty restaurants!  If I asked for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and said I had the Classic Package I would be told there was an up charge.  In Murano when told that I said I’d just go get a glass myself from the Ensemble Lounge.  Of course they got me a glass in my price point.

[adele319]

Thanks everyone, we had premium package last year and most wines we drank I believe were from the classic package.

[ghstudio]

1 hour ago, adele319 said:

Thanks everyone, we had premium package last year and most wines we drank I believe were from the classic package.

 

We had that same experience.....I had the premium package, the others classic and the wine steward insisted he was upgrading everyone.  I later confirmed that he was serving me a wine covered by the classic package.  It did not go well for the wine steward the next night.....

[little britain]

Are the little carafes of wine they serve on Oceanview Cafe covered by the Classic package? 

[Laurab23]

Is there a champagne on classic package?

 

Laura

[cruisestitch]

Like bottles of wine, the carafes are not covered under any package, AFAIK

[vtcruising]

As people have said, lists will just give you an idea of the types of wine served by the glass. If you scroll down this MDR wine list, there is a wine by the glass list for classic and premium, starting on page 6 (note that the gratuity is now 20% for buying wine or for the difference when ordering wines that are above your package). I have only seen sparkling wine under the classic package and no champagne, but that could be different on other ships/cruises.

 

The key is to talk to your wine steward about what you like and they will try to match it to your package (sometimes they will pull from stock elsewhere and have it available for you).

 

MDR Wine List.pdf

Edited August 4, 2019 by vtcruising

[lifeisrealygood]

We've been on over 30 celebrity cruises, including all of the M Class, all of the S class, the Edge, and, a while back, the Century.

 

We like a good wine.  I can't tell you how many times we have gone up to one of the bars on the first or second night, and they say they don't have that yet, we ran out last cruise, and the bottles for this cruise have not been unpacked yet.  And, the last or next to last night, we hear "Oh, we ran out of that."  Most of the time, what they are saying is not true, they just are too lazy to go get it, as if you go to another bar on the ship, you can find the wine you want, or they will go fetch it.

 

Overall, the bartenders do a pretty good job, but we have seen some of this behavior all too often.  Also, in the main dining room, with the premium package for the last many cruises, we want a particular good wine, by the glass, each night, and we pay the upcharge.  The wines we want are from the specialty restaurants or other bars, and we tell the sommelier the first night what we want on the next night, so he can retrieve the bottle, even though we only drink glasses. Oftentimes my wife doesn't have any wine, and I may have three glasses, so I do not want the whole bottle.  (why pay for the bottle, when the premium package allows me to drink "for free", or with a slight upcharge).  We have had a few instances where the next evening the sommelier has just said "we no longer have that wine available to us", when in fact they just forgot our request or did no want to be bothered to go get it.

 

Now, this sounds like I am unhappy, but I am not.  We know the drill, and make sure the bartenders at the various bars or the sommeliers in the dining venues know what we want.  We really are easy to please, just give us what we are requesting.  After explaining our desires for the remainder of the cruise on the first night, along with a fifty dollar bill, allows us to enjoy our wines throughout the cruise.  Also, leaving an additional ten dollar tip for the dollar or two or three upcharge a few times shows that you appreciate what the sommelier is doing.  

 

So, if you know the drill, there really is no problem.  Maybe the extra tipping is not required, but we really do like good wines, and want specific ones we request.  We are asking the sommelier to go above and beyond, and we are trying to reward him/her for that effort.  

[arielle71]

2 hours ago, Laurab23 said:

Is there a champagne on classic package?

 

Laura

No, but a few sparkling wines from Italy, Spain or California are included.

 

[adele319]

Thank you everyone, based on the MDR menu of wines, the ones I will drink are available in the Classic package. We will pay the difference in price if we choose to get a more expensive one. 

[Jiminy1955]

9 hours ago, vtcruising said:

As people have said, lists will just give you an idea of the types of wine served by the glass. If you scroll down this MDR wine list, there is a wine by the glass list for classic and premium, starting on page 6 (note that the gratuity is now 20% for buying wine or for the difference when ordering wines that are above your package). I have only seen sparkling wine under the classic package and no champagne, but that could be different on other ships/cruises.

 

The key is to talk to your wine steward about what you like and they will try to match it to your package (sometimes they will pull from stock elsewhere and have it available for you).

 

MDR Wine List.pdf 32.84 MB · 37 downloads

What an extensive list!  I had no idea there was a list.  If I were to ask for a list would I be presented with something like this do you think?

[cruisestitch]

No, that list is something gleaned out of corporate.  If you ask for the wine list, you would get a multi-page bound booklet with all the wines by the glass and by the bottle that are potentially available.   Then to make it more complicated you would get something like that in the MDR, and there are smaller lists for Luminae, Blue, and the specialties.  That's why when someone asks if we can provide a wine list for them, it isn't a simple task.  

Edited August 5, 2019 by cruisestitch

[vtcruising]

4 hours ago, Jiminy1955 said:

What an extensive list!  I had no idea there was a list.  If I were to ask for a list would I be presented with something like this do you think?

We have received extensive wine lists onboard upon request in the past, but most of the time the wine steward will ask what we like and what food we are ordering and will offer something in our package range. We have our favorites and they are almost always available, even if not on the official list for that restaurant.

 

With the Premium Package, we have found in the last few years all of the following have been available (though occasionally have run out by the end of the cruise). We like Villa Maria for a Sauv Blanc (Cloudy Bay for a treat at an upcharge), Mer Soleil for a Chardonnay, Cherry Tart for a Pinot Noir (I order La Crema, if available, for $1 upcharge), Decoy for Cab (or Freemark Abbey for an upcharge). We have had the $50/bottle Caymus (with the $10 upcharge/glass). My DH loves Shiraz and that sometimes is more difficult (usually they have Grant Burge from Barossa), but if they don't have one, they will get him a nice Chilean Malbec and he is happy. We sometimes have Conundrum white or red, depending upon our food choices and will sometimes have the 20 year tawny port or ice wine as a finisher. Most of the time we are happy to stay within our package, but it is fun to try other wines at an upcharge, if desired.

 

We have sailed with friends with the Classic Package and they have also been happy with their wines. I have found that most wine stewards will work with you to have an enjoyable experience.

 

 

[Jiminy1955]

6 hours ago, vtcruising said:

We have received extensive wine lists onboard upon request in the past, but most of the time the wine steward will ask what we like and what food we are ordering and will offer something in our package range. We have our favorites and they are almost always available, even if not on the official list for that restaurant.

 

With the Premium Package, we have found in the last few years all of the following have been available (though occasionally have run out by the end of the cruise). We like Villa Maria for a Sauv Blanc (Cloudy Bay for a treat at an upcharge), Mer Soleil for a Chardonnay, Cherry Tart for a Pinot Noir (I order La Crema, if available, for $1 upcharge), Decoy for Cab (or Freemark Abbey for an upcharge). We have had the $50/bottle Caymus (with the $10 upcharge/glass). My DH loves Shiraz and that sometimes is more difficult (usually they have Grant Burge from Barossa), but if they don't have one, they will get him a nice Chilean Malbec and he is happy. We sometimes have Conundrum white or red, depending upon our food choices and will sometimes have the 20 year tawny port or ice wine as a finisher. Most of the time we are happy to stay within our package, but it is fun to try other wines at an upcharge, if desired.

 

We have sailed with friends with the Classic Package and they have also been happy with their wines. I have found that most wine stewards will work with you to have an enjoyable experience.

 

 

 

Thank you!  My favorite red is Pinot Noir and I’ve had both of the ones you listed. My husband prefers the Shiraz wines. As far as white wine I prefer sweeter, him not at all but he will be interested in the Tawny Port or even a Madeira.

 

We cruise in October on the Eclipse on the 15 night Hawaii round trip from Los Angeles.  So we will have plenty of time to try different wines. 

[Jiminy1955]

7 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

No, that list is something gleaned out of corporate.  If you ask for the wine list, you would get a multi-page bound booklet with all the wines by the glass and by the bottle that are potentially available.   Then to make it more complicated you would get something like that in the MDR, and there are smaller lists for Luminae, Blue, and the specialties.  That's why when someone asks if we can provide a wine list for them, it isn't a simple task.  

Thank you.

[ghstudio]

The 20 yr old tawny port is excellent....the port included in the classic package is best served over ice cream.

[Jiminy1955]

Just now, ghstudio said:

The 20 yr old tawny port is excellent....the port included in the classic package is best served over ice cream.

Good to know and sounds good too!

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, Jiminy1955 said:

 

Thank you!  My favorite red is Pinot Noir and I’ve had both of the ones you listed. My husband prefers the Shiraz wines. As far as white wine I prefer sweeter, him not at all but he will be interested in the Tawny Port or even a Madeira.

 

We cruise in October on the Eclipse on the 15 night Hawaii round trip from Los Angeles.  So we will have plenty of time to try different wines. 

That cruise is on my bucket list. Lucky you!  We have found that if you show interest in wine, they will take good care of you (I usually tell the wine steward the first night that they will be my BFF 😉). If you purchase a wine tasting onboard, consider purchasing it from them as they will get a kick back and will remember you fondly.

 

If you like a bit sweeter white, the Conundrum White Blend is very nice. It isn't on every wine list, but I usually do see it somewhere on the ship. We sometimes bring a bottle of that and of the Conundrum Red Blend (around $20-25 each locally) to have in the cabin - good sipping wines as they are quite smooth. 🙂

 

Conundrum White:   "Sourced from California’s premier winegrowing regions, this wine is both exotic and bright, a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscat Canelli and Viognier. It lures you in with scents of apricot, pear and honeysuckle, and if you’re paying attention, orange and lemon meringue pie."

 

Conundrum Red:  "Dried fruit and the taste of chocolate-covered cherries come through on the palate, while a wisp of smokiness makes this wine – created from dark red varietals including Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon."

Edited August 5, 2019 by vtcruising

[Jiminy1955]

25 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

That cruise is on my bucket list. Lucky you!  We have found that if you show interest in wine, they will take good care of you (I usually tell the wine steward the first night that they will be my BFF 😉). If you purchase a wine tasting onboard, consider purchasing it from them as they will get a kick back and will remember you fondly.

 

If you like a bit sweeter white, the Conundrum White Blend is very nice. It isn't on every wine list, but I usually do see it somewhere on the ship. We sometimes bring a bottle of that and of the Conundrum Red Blend (around $20-25 each locally) to have in the cabin - good sipping wines as they are quite smooth. 🙂

 

Conundrum White:   "Sourced from California’s premier winegrowing regions, this wine is both exotic and bright, a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscat Canelli and Viognier. It lures you in with scents of apricot, pear and honeysuckle, and if you’re paying attention, orange and lemon meringue pie."

 

Conundrum Red:  "Dried fruit and the taste of chocolate-covered cherries come through on the palate, while a wisp of smokiness makes this wine – created from dark red varietals including Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon."

Thanks, we are very excited for the cruise and will remember to purchase wine tastings from our sommelier or wine steward.