Corkage fee question

[TrinaLC]

We plan on bringing the allowed 2 bottles of wine. We are likely to have a couple of glasses in our cabin, bringing an opened and partially consumed bottle to dinner. Do they charge corkage for that?  

[JaxsMama]

Just pour a glass and take it to be safe. The corkage fee isn't for opening the bottle so they could charge you if you bring a bottle even if you already opened it. 

[Linda the Book Lover]

I  bring bottles on board to drink in the cabin and I usually just bring a glass with me for dinner. I did find this:

Corkage Fee. A $15 USD corkage fee, per 750 ml bottle, will be charged should guests wish to consume their wine or champagne in the main dining room, specialty restaurant or bar. A corkage fee is a charge assessed at time of service at a restaurant for every bottle served that is not bought on the premises.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, TrinaLC said:

We plan on bringing the allowed 2 bottles of wine. We are likely to have a couple of glasses in our cabin, bringing an opened and partially consumed bottle to dinner. Do they charge corkage for that?  

They could.  I've had a waiter try to charge me corkage for a bottle I bought and opened in the MDR the previous night, took back to my cabin, and brought back to the MDR the next night.

[Organized Chaos]

JaxsMama is right, the corkage fee is basically partial compensation to Carnival for consuming a bottle of wine in the MDR that wasn't bought onboard. The name is a bit confusing because it has nothing to do with opening the bottle for the guest. In the end, it seems like it's usually at the discretion of your waiter as to whether or not they charge the fee. There are some here who say they've never been charged, but that is an exception to the rule. If you want to take the bottle to the MDR, just be prepared to pay the fee, even if it's been opened.

[MooNGaTe27]

On my last cruise I did just what you are thinking & was told there would be a corking fee .I question it because I have done it before with no charge .I have 27 cruises under my belt & this is the 1st time they said there would be a charge . The waiter told me to just put the bottle under the table and then he wouldn't charge me .

 I came home & read the rules again & it does say they can charge you for bringing the bottle it ,But just fill up a glass or two & bring it to the dining room & there will be no charge 

 

[Florida Paesano]

7 hours ago, Linda the Book Lover said:

I  bring bottles on board to drink in the cabin and I usually just bring a glass with me for dinner. I did find this:

Corkage Fee. A $15 USD corkage fee, per 750 ml bottle, will be charged should guests wish to consume their wine or champagne in the main dining room, specialty restaurant or bar. A corkage fee is a charge assessed at time of service at a restaurant for every bottle served that is not bought on the premises.

 

For what it's worth, Carnival defines "on the premises", as noted in the last three words above, as the main dining room.  We got married while on a cruise last year and returned to the ship to find that my sister-in-law had sent us a bottle of champagne from the Fun Shops.  We took the bottle to the dining room that evening for dinner to share with our table mates and even had the gift receipt showing it was purchased from Carnival's Fun Shops and showed it to our waiter.  It didn't matter and he flatly told us that if he or we were going to open it in the dining room that he would charge us the corkage fee.  Thankfully, the $15 fee wasn't a make it or break it deal but it sure did leave a sour taste in my mouth.  Carnival made its money on the purchase already and, in my opinion, the additional was nothing but corporate greed.  Lesson learned for me though and I will NEVER order or gift anyone anything from the Fun Shops again.  Yes, I was familiar with the rules prior to receiving this gift but had incorrectly interpreted "premises" as meaning from Carnival so that was my bad. As the gift giver, I would be embarrassed to gift someone something that was going to cost them money to enjoy like this.  Others may have had different experiences where there server did not charge this fee for a Fun Shop alcohol order but this certainly was mine.

[Sauer-kraut]

I think I would have escalated this to the Maitre 'd or to the Hotel Director.  If a bottle is purchased as a gift from the ship's shop the corkage should be waived, it was a Carnival purchase.  Your experience just doesn't sound right IMO and even if I hadn't pursued it dinner I would have brought it up to have that charged removed from my on board account later that day or the next.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Sauer-kraut

[Florida Paesano]

31 minutes ago, Sauer-kraut said:

I think I would have escalated this to the Maitre 'd or to the Hotel Director.  If a bottle is purchased as a gift from the ship's shop the corkage should be waived, it was a Carnival purchase.  Your experience just doesn't sound right IMO and even if I hadn't pursued it dinner I would have brought it up to have that charged removed from my on board account later that day or the next.

I appreciate your point and don't disagree with it.  However, enjoying having gotten married in port that day and wanting to share the champagne with out table mates, for $15 I was not going to detract from our celebration.  I chalk it up to a $15 tuition fee to learn the lesson and prevent me from being embarrassed by gifting these types of things to others for any occasion.  It did stick with me though because the gift giver also paid the Fun Shops delivery fee as well.  That bottle was sure expensive for what it was! 🙄

[coevan]

7 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

If you want to take the bottle to the MDR, just be prepared to pay the fee, even if it's been opened.

 

 

You can always pour a glass and take the bottle back to your cabin. FYI, We have never been charged a corkage fee.

[simplelife]

On 1/5/2020 at 10:41 AM, DallasGuy75219 said:

They could.  I've had a waiter try to charge me corkage for a bottle I bought and opened in the MDR the previous night, took back to my cabin, and brought back to the MDR the next night.

For bottles bought in the MDR, in a wine package, etc., the waiter always offers to store the unfinished bottle for me and serves it the next day.

[sunonfire]

We are leaving on Sunday on the Legend. Other cruise lines allow you to bring more than the 2 bottles of wine and they automatically charge you the corkage fee for any additional bottles of wine.  Does Carnival allow this or is it strictly one bottle per person?

[DallasGuy75219]

3 minutes ago, sunonfire said:

We are leaving on Sunday on the Legend. Other cruise lines allow you to bring more than the 2 bottles of wine and they automatically charge you the corkage fee for any additional bottles of wine.  Does Carnival allow this or is it strictly one bottle per person?

Carnival does not. The corkage fee is only charged in the dining room. They don't do it shoreside, vs. for example Princess who has ship employees collecting it after security for people who brought on more than their allowance.

[sunonfire]

35 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Thanks

[teknoge3k]

I know some people have stated being charged before but honestly, we take a bottle with us every night to the MDR and have never once been charged a fee. 

[Organized Chaos]

When it's all said and done, all we can do is state Carnival's official policy, which is that if you bring your own bottle of wine into the dining room, you are to be charged the $15 corkage fee, regardless of whether you open it yourself or not. Beyond that, if the waiter decides not to charge the fee, that's on them. Out of all the posts I've ever seen about this, I'd say more people do get charged than don't. So anyone who wants to do it, just be prepared to pay the fee. And if you don't get charged, get up on the table and do a happy dance. 😜

[ah4sail]

We were charged $15 corkage fee in September on the Sunrise.  We had each already had a glass of wine and brought the rest of the bottle and the wine glasses we’d gotten from the bar with us to the MDR.    As soon as we sat down waiter said he HAD to charge us.  

[Ellizabeth]

On 1/8/2020 at 9:30 AM, teknoge3k said:

I know some people have stated being charged before but honestly, we take a bottle with us every night to the MDR and have never once been charged a fee. 

So do you bring more than one per person on board with you?

[teknoge3k]

50 minutes ago, Ellizabeth said:

So do you bring more than one per person on board with you?

 

No, we usually take 2 on with us. However we have 2 friends that cruise with us frequently and they're non-drinkers, so they take on 2 bottles for us as well. That gives us 4 bottles, and we buy more on board if we run out. 

[Ellizabeth]

Just now, teknoge3k said:

 

No, we usually take 2 on with us. However we have 2 friends that cruise with us frequently and they're non-drinkers, so they take on 2 bottles for us as well. That gives us 4 bottles, and we buy more on board if we run out. 

Thanks... So frustrating, I don't mind paying $15 corkage on extra bottles, wish I could bring my own like on Princess.

[jimbo5544]

On 1/8/2020 at 7:30 AM, sunonfire said:

We are leaving on Sunday on the Legend. Other cruise lines allow you to bring more than the 2 bottles of wine and they automatically charge you the corkage fee for any additional bottles of wine.  Does Carnival allow this or is it strictly one bottle per person?

They do not