Recent Experience with no wine sommelier in MDR

[tjcox9]

Just saying and this is just my opinion, mind you. The wine stewards, some of who were quite good, others not so much. However, they are definitely not sommeliers. We have not cruised HAL since they did away with the wine stewards, but since we know what we like and what we want, neither were very important to us. However, I am  sorry to see that the wine stewards are now history apparently. And we do have another HAL cruise booked, so will see how it goes............

[Boatdrill]

On 9/26/2021 at 4:20 PM, rkacruiser said:

It does seem to be the responsibility of the guest anymore to keep one's wine glass full during dinner.  The wine is usually presented (or is already on the table if it is a Red) by my MDR Steward......    More often than not, I am pouring my own and having to leave my seat to get to the ice bucket if I am drinking a white wine.  

The do-it-yourself-wine-service is beneath HAL's reputation, or at least the one they're trying to maintain.   If guests in the MDR want to be able to pour their own wine, fine. The steward can set it up that way by request,  Otherwise guests should expect that the wine will be poured for them as needed, just like  any fine dining restaurant on land.  I don't understand HAL's need to dumb down the service and think no one notices.

Years ago I spoke up about HAL's logo on the china plates not being placed at the 12:00 position when food is served to the guest . This is one of the hallmarks of correct meal service.  The maitre d' turned pale when I mentioned it to him; he knew exactly what I was referring to. Same thing two years ago when I asked the maitre d' to remind our waiter(s) that hot tea is served with an unopened tea bag and small teapot of hot water, not a tea bag already floating in a cup. Problem solved; it never happened again. 

Speak up about the service, sometimes they may have forgotten, or they're taking a short cut. 

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Boatdrill

[prescottbob]

Option #2 coming soon maybe (use the HAL shipboard app to order MDR menu selections & beverages) and then…

 

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2020/07/california-hotel-uses-wine-delivering-room-service-robot/

 

Let the theatre begin! 😀.

 

Be well.

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

[Sharon in AZ]

9 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

We resolved that issue quite a while ago.  We tell our Dining Room Steward/Waiter on the first night that we will not order any food before having been served our first glass of wine.  It is amazing how fast someone shows up to take our wine order 😉

We do this all the time and not just on a cruise. Many land restaurants want your drink and food order at the same time and I refuse to do that, ever. I even do it at breakfast waiting for my Mimosa. 

[Overhead Fred]

15 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

On 9/26/2021 at 7:30 PM, aliaschief said:

Over attention  by a wine steward can equal no wine through main entree. 

 

Chief, I don't understand your comment.  

 

I am guessing he meant that all the wine will be consumed before the main course!

[aliaschief]

1 minute ago, Overhead Fred said:

 

I am guessing he meant that all the wine will be consumed before the main course!

Well Fred your’e right on that one!👍🏻

[taxmantoo]

17 minutes ago, Overhead Fred said:

 

I am guessing he meant that all the wine will be consumed before the main course!

 

15 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Well Fred your’e right on that one!👍🏻

The wine steward only pours the wine, he does not drink it 😉 You do not have to empty the glass every time it is topped up. You are the one that determines the pace of the drinking, not the wine steward !!!

Edited September 28, 2021 by taxmantoo

[Boytjie]

On 9/27/2021 at 2:03 PM, NCTribeFan said:

...I typically wait until I'm at dinner the first night because I want the wait staff to get the service charge, since they'll be doing the work.

 

All of the beverage service charges are shared by the beverage servers; I doubt anyone keeps track drink by drink or package by package who rang the sale up so that they can get that transactions 18%.

[kazu]

22 minutes ago, Boytjie said:

 

All of the beverage service charges are shared by the beverage servers; I doubt anyone keeps track drink by drink or package by package who rang the sale up so that they can get that transactions 18%.

 

You’re right - it is shared - but there is a pro-rata basis.

 

they do give extra credit to the people who take the wine package orders, sell the cellar master dinners, etc.  Once I knew that, I always waited to order my wine package from my wine steward in the MDR.  

I think they do have a system to keep track since each person inputs and not 100% sure on this but I understood that those that get the LUK cards (now feedback on the Navigator app) and high volume of sales also receive the pro-rata basis in the pool.

 

Now that the wine stewards are gone, I’m not sure how it works.  I think HAL thinks everyone is going to just be doing their HIA and not order wine packages.  I, for one, will not be drinking that HIA wine every night  at dinner whether I have HIA or not 😉 

[markwfpb]

This has been a very informative read!

If we bring aboard a "special bottle", do we just carry it to the MDR the night we want to enjoy it and they handle it from there? I'm assuming if we don't finish it, we'll just take it back to our cabin - I can't imagine them keeping track of a random bottle of wine for us for the next night.

I know each passenger can bring aboard one (750ml) bottle at embarkation and then there's a corkage fee for each after that. I assume it's at the discretion of whoever's checking us in, but what's the reality of how many bottles we can bring aboard - as many as three or four bottles each?! It's the 17 day Panama Canal cruise if that matters.

Thanks for any insights.

[kazu]

12 hours ago, markwfpb said:

This has been a very informative read!

If we bring aboard a "special bottle", do we just carry it to the MDR the night we want to enjoy it and they handle it from there? I'm assuming if we don't finish it, we'll just take it back to our cabin - I can't imagine them keeping track of a random bottle of wine for us for the next night.

I know each passenger can bring aboard one (750ml) bottle at embarkation and then there's a corkage fee for each after that. I assume it's at the discretion of whoever's checking us in, but what's the reality of how many bottles we can bring aboard - as many as three or four bottles each?! It's the 17 day Panama Canal cruise if that matters.

Thanks for any insights.

 

If you have a special bottle of wine you can take it to the MDR and they will save it for you.  No need to take it back to your cabin or you can have it sent to another area on the ship if you want.

 

It’s my understanding that there is a corkage fee of $20 on all wine brought on board, now.  The first bottle is no longer “free”.  And to be honest, if you were taking that first bottle to the dining room you would need to pay corkage anyways as the former “free” bottle was only for consumption in the cabin.  You can definitely bring on a few bottles as long as you don’t mind paying corkage.  We do 🙂 

[St. Louis Sal]

On 9/27/2021 at 2:51 PM, kazu said:

 

We’ve always done that too with a we need our wine first while we contemplate the order 😉 

I am the exact opposite! I don’t know what wine I want until I know what my entree is going to be.

 

St Louis Sal

[kazu]

11 minutes ago, St. Louis Sal said:

I am the exact opposite! I don’t know what wine I want until I know what my entree is going to be.

 

St Louis Sal

 

LOL - We’ve usually looked at the menu in advance so have a good idea 😉 

 

[VMax1700]

52 minutes ago, St. Louis Sal said:

I am the exact opposite! I don’t know what wine I want until I know what my entree is going to be.

 

St Louis Sal

 

40 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

LOL - We’ve usually looked at the menu in advance so have a good idea 😉 

 

And I pick my main course to suit my wine 🍷😉

 

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

And I pick my main course to suit my wine 🍷😉

 

 

I drink what I like whether it "suits" my entree or not. 

[rkacruiser]

On 9/27/2021 at 8:38 PM, goldsmip115 said:

Would HAL survived without Carnival?  I don’t have that answer.  

 

I don't have a definitive answer either.  But, I don't think that HAL would have survived without Mr. Arison's intervention.  

 

On 9/27/2021 at 8:38 PM, goldsmip115 said:

What I do know is that I’ve moved on from HAL suite experience but I have to say that under RCL Celebrity has certainly elevated the suite experience in many ways

 

No Celebrity Cruises suite experience, but Neptune Suite experience is what I have had.  MSC Yacht Club's suite experience "blows away" the Neptune Suite experience,  At least some of those who have sailed on Celebrity in such accommodations have the same feeling about the Yacht Club.  

 

Check it out.  

[Cruising-along]

Onboard the Eurodam now. We have the Signature Beverage Package and have dined in the Tamarind, Pinnacle and MDR.
Every single night we’ve had no wait for our wine. Someone is at our table almost immediately. The ship is less than half full, I don’t know how things will be when ships are sailing full again. 

 

We have a great Cellar Master (Alvin) and have had 2 wine tastings within the first week. 

[FlaMariner]

5 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Onboard the Eurodam now. We have the Signature Beverage Package and have dined in the Tamarind, Pinnacle and MDR.
Every single night we’ve had no wait for our wine. Someone is at our table almost immediately. The ship is less than half full, I don’t know how things will be when ships are sailing full again. 

 

We have a great Cellar Master (Alvin) and have had 2 wine tastings within the first week. 

 

Thank you for passing along this info......Glad the wine continues to flow.....Enjoy the Eurodam!

[NCTribeFan]

Yes, good to know.  I'll be on the first Eurodam sailing once she arrives in Port Everglades (and gets her "deep cleaning" which meant our sailing was cut from 10 to 8 days; could be worse; could be cancelled!).

[cruisemom42]

On 9/29/2021 at 10:56 AM, St. Louis Sal said:

I am the exact opposite! I don’t know what wine I want until I know what my entree is going to be.

 

St Louis Sal

 

Same here, although I will admit to often enjoying a glass of prosecco or a nice Provencal rose as an aperitif while I am musing over my further food and wine options.

[cruisemom42]

7 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Every single night we’ve had no wait for our wine. Someone is at our table almost immediately.

 

If I can ask, who is that "someone"?  Is it an assistant waiter (this was the Princess model for a while) or someone else?

[rkacruiser]

14 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

We have a great Cellar Master (Alvin) and have had 2 wine tastings within the first week. 

 

Having a Cellar Master while eliminating the Wine Stewards makes no sense to me.  

[Cruising-along]

12 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

If I can ask, who is that "someone"?  Is it an assistant waiter (this was the Princess model for a while) or someone else?

Yes, the assistant waiter. So far we’ve dined twice in the PG, once in the Tamarind and several times in the MDR and every time have had excellent service from all. 

[taxmantoo]

13 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Having a Cellar Master while eliminating the Wine Stewards makes no sense to me.  

The Cellar Master is essentially the "caretaker" of the wine onboard a ship.  They are responsible for maintaining the inventory, ordering supplies, marketing wine onboard, conducting wine tastings, providing basic training to the servers (whether they be called wine stewards, wine attendants, bar servers or waiters, etc.)  These functions are still required whether you have wine stewards or not.

[St. Louis Sal]

On 9/29/2021 at 10:08 AM, kazu said:

 

LOL - We’ve usually looked at the menu in advance so have a good idea 😉 

 

We do too. Now we look at it on Navigator, but before we’d either get it in a Neptune suite or, without that, we’d take a stroll past the dining room to look. But sometimes there are several choices and I can’t make up my mind until I’m sitting down! 
 

St Louis Sal