Hosting a wine tasting

[NanaChar]

We are going to be on Silhouette after it is Revolutionized.  There is a group of us (about 10 people) who will be bringing their favorite special occasion wines to share.  Is there anyplace to gather for this sort of event on the new configured ships?  I had thought about the Alcoves.  Has anyone done anything like this?  

[jelayne]

The Alcoves are not large enough to accommodate 10 and the rental for them is by the day.  Is any if the group staying in a suite?  If so that’s your best bet and the butler would  be able to supply glasses & napkins.   

 

We have been involved in 2 Roll Calls where a group of about 20 +/- wanted to do a DYI wine tasting.  One ship wouldn’t allow it and won’t provide space or glasses. A year later on a different ship we were given a room, glassware,  napkins and had a great time.  

 

 

[vtcruising]

I agree with the suite idea. We have done 2 wine tastings, one in a sky suite and one in a CS (another couple had the CS). We spoke with the butler and MC concierge who comped some platters of food, brought glasses and another bottle or two of wine. There were 8 at one tasting and 9 at the other. We each brought a bottle from home, either a local wine or another favorite and everyone introduced their wines. It was great fun both times and we found some new favorites.

 

Without a suite, it obviously would be tight for 10 people in a cabin. As happened with Jelayne, you may or may not get a space onboard. Maybe they would give you a space at an off time in the MDR or Meeting Place.  I wonder if celebrityonetouch@celebrity.com would help with arranging it pre-cruise? Good luck!

 

[Cruise Junky]

Do any of the restaurants still have a private room like Murano? Or could you approach them about doing this in a specialty restaurant before dinner service? Mid afternoon? 

[jelayne]

The one where ship that provided space it was a small conference room. They brought in glasses & napkins, no food & room was set up as it would be for a meeting

They didn’t really want us too visible, after all they sell wine tastings. 

[NanaChar]

Thank you.  We do have a couple of Sky Suite people in the group.  That was my fallback.  I know the CS would be plenty big.  But I’m not sure about the seating arrangements in SS with the new design.  

[vtcruising]

34 minutes ago, NanaChar said:

Thank you.  We do have a couple of Sky Suite people in the group.  That was my fallback.  I know the CS would be plenty big.  But I’m not sure about the seating arrangements in SS with the new design.  

The SS people could chat with the Retreat Concierge and they may help (or may even get you another space). It sounds like fun!

[OC SeaPA]

15 hours ago, NanaChar said:

Thank you.  We do have a couple of Sky Suite people in the group.  That was my fallback.  I know the CS would be plenty big.  But I’m not sure about the seating arrangements in SS with the new design.  

Hi.  Saw this and wanted your thoughts on our wine crawl on the Eclipse in October.  We good with 10-12 in a cabin?  Or should we try for a different venue? 

 

[Beanb41]

As asoon as practicable after sailaway go to Guest Relations and ask to speak with the Event Coordinator. This is the person who organises all the social events on board. Let her/him know your requirements and I am sure he/she will find you a space and make arrangements.for a great event. I have used this person many times for group meetings where we needed a dedicated space. The Activities manager ( Cruise Director off sider) is also another person who can assist you.

[NanaChar]

1 hour ago, OC SeaPA said:

Hi.  Saw this and wanted your thoughts on our wine crawl on the Eclipse in October.  We good with 10-12 in a cabin?  Or should we try for a different venue? 

 

With the wine crawl, since it is basically drinking wine during a cabin crawl, we will be fine.  And we do end in a suite.  

[Reel Love]

On 9/18/2019 at 6:53 PM, NanaChar said:

We are going to be on Silhouette after it is Revolutionized.  There is a group of us (about 10 people) who will be bringing their favorite special occasion wines to share.  

What a great idea!!!!   We will also be sailing with friends on the Silhouette after the revolution so will be very interested in hearing the outcome of where your wine tasting ends up taking place.  

[NanaChar]

I will keep you posted.  With us we are friends who have never met.  During the sailing is Open That Bottle Now Day.  I thought that would be a great opportunity to meet other wine lovers.  

[Georgia_Peaches]

On 9/18/2019 at 8:53 PM, vtcruising said:

I agree with the suite idea. We have done 2 wine tastings, one in a sky suite and one in a CS (another couple had the CS). We spoke with the butler and MC concierge who comped some platters of food, brought glasses and another bottle or two of wine. There were 8 at one tasting and 9 at the other. We each brought a bottle from home, either a local wine or another favorite and everyone introduced their wines. It was great fun both times and we found some new favorites.

 

Without a suite, it obviously would be tight for 10 people in a cabin. As happened with Jelayne, you may or may not get a space onboard. Maybe they would give you a space at an off time in the MDR or Meeting Place.  I wonder if celebrityonetouch@celebrity.com would help with arranging it pre-cruise? Good luck!

 

VT how did you go about setting this up in terms of participants?  Through the roll call?  My DH and I are on Silhouette in November for 9 night ABC cruise. We are in a RS and would love to host such an event but I really don’t know where to start. 

Thank you!

[vtcruising]

7 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

VT how did you go about setting this up in terms of participants?  Through the roll call?  My DH and I are on Silhouette in November for 9 night ABC cruise. We are in a RS and would love to host such an event but I really don’t know where to start. 

Thank you!

The first one was through a very active TA roll call. Over the year of chatting pre-cruise, we clicked with another couple who loved to do wine tastings as much as we did so we emailed over the year and decided to do one onboard in their CS. We knew we would need to limit it (our roll call had 250 names - probably at least 500 people total) so decided to see who we clicked with onboard. We hit it off with 2 other wine loving couples and invited them as well. They each had some wine they had brought with them. We had a VT ice wine and we bought a wine at Cellar Masters, others brought at least one one bottle and the MC concierge added a couple of bottles, if I remember correctly. Our friends asked the butler about some food and they actually provided really nice hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. This was 5+ years ago on one of the first cruises with the new suites only Michael's Club - was CS and up back then so our friends could use it. The concierge even had invitations printed and delivered to our staterooms - very classy! She even visited us during the party and introduced herself. We started with whites and worked our way through the reds (each person who donated would tell a little something about their wine, why they liked it and what it paired with well, etc.). We tasted and commented on each (I think I had brought little notebooks and pens) and worked our way to the ice wine last. We then had a free for all, with people going back to their favorites. I took the lead since I have done wine tastings at our home (though certainly not an expert!).

 

The second one was on our reunion cruise a couple of years ago (14 night Exotic Carib on Eclipse). The same 8 people, and an additional friend traveling with one of the couples, planned ahead via email for another wine tasting. We each brought 1-2 bottles that were favorites (local or another favorite). The butler brought an ice bucket for the whites, wine glasses, plates, silver, napkins and simple platters (shrimp, fruit and cheese and crackers) and we supplemented with a few items that we had (such as VT chocolates to have with the cabs). We again poured one at a time and each talked about their wines, with a free for all at the end. We did it in our aft S1 and have some great shots of us around the pole. 🙂

 

I think the roll call is a good place to start, but we didn't put it out to the whole group since there were so many people. We, and the people we clicked with and planned ahead of time with for the first cruise, attended the Roll Call Meet and Greet, the CC party, many Elite cocktail hours and had contact with some people due to shared shore excursions so were able to find other compatible wine lovers who might want to join us. I'm sure there are many ways to set one up, but that worked for us.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by vtcruising

[hcat]

Great thread....busy now figuring out  an Art  Crawl but this may be next if we have an active roll call in the future!

Edited September 20, 2019 by hcat

[Georgia_Peaches]

Thank you VT for the great information. It sounds lovely. I want to cruise with you 😉. Think I will have to give this some more thought. 

Hcat, the art crawl sounds very interesting as well!  

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Great thread....busy now figuring out  an Art  Crawl but this may be next if we have an active roll call in the future!

We could do one on the Apex cruise with the Sunset Veranda Gang, if you end up going. 🙂

[hcat]

30 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

We could do one on the Apex cruise with the Sunset Veranda Gang, if you end up going. 🙂

Sounds good, esp  with a great  group of EDGIES... but still iffy for us,.

Our Jan 2021 on Constellation has same itin from TPA,  and we booked our very first suite.... .

[vtcruising]

8 minutes ago, hcat said:

Sounds good, esp  with a great  group of EDGIES... but still iffy for us,.

Our Jan 2021 on Constellation has same itin from TPA,  and we booked our very first suite.... .

Totally understandable!

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Thank you VT for the great information. It sounds lovely. I want to cruise with you 😉. Think I will have to give this some more thought. 

Hcat, the art crawl sounds very interesting as well!  

Hopefully will meet you on a cruise some day! 🙂

[NanaChar]

Thank you everyone for the ideas.  Our cruise isn’t until Feb, but I will post about it’s success.

We did a cabin crawl where everyone ended up in our CS.  I was amazed at how many people attended and floored by how accommodating our butler was.

This time we are roughing it in a lowly SS.  😀

[mahdnc]

On 9/18/2019 at 6:46 PM, jelayne said:

We have been involved in 2 Roll Calls where a group of about 20 +/- wanted to do a DYI wine tasting.  One ship wouldn’t allow it and won’t provide space or glasses.

 

I remember that as well.  Of course, by the time we found out that it wasn't going to happen, we all had brought our wine on board with us.  It didn't go to waste though.....