Unacceptable Wine List

[austinetc]

We signed up for the Silver Spirits Drinks Package, which reads in part “premium wine by the glass”. We’re on board the Viking Sky in the Med. ALL wine by the glass is $6. In my universe there is no “premium “ wine that costs $6 per glass. I’ve had great wine for $6, but it was never called “premium”. I’m about to make a polite stink. Seeking others’ views. 

[duquephart]

Ranks right up there with "prepaid gratuities."

[Azulann]

Have you seem the wine menu at the Restaurant, viking Bar , Explorer lounge or Manfredi? I remember some the white wines were $9-15 a glass.  I remember they ran out of a nice French white wine at the Aquavit bar during our TA sailing. But they had it at the Viking Bar. Talk to the  sommelier  when you dine tonight.

Let me know what you find. 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by Azulann

[duquephart]

The nice reds are by the bottle only.

[SJD117]

What’s the cause for the stink? Semantics?

[Selion]

56 minutes ago, austinetc said:

In my universe there is no “premium “ wine that costs $6 per glass.

Try NCL next time.  Bad to average wines are marked up to $12/glass.

 

Have fun finding wine(s) you like!  For our 2nd dinner, we tried at least 4 different wines until we settled on one we liked.  Part of the fun!

[TayanaLorna]

Yes the best wines are by bottle only.  And sometimes you get these at the Chefs Table wine pairings.  The SSP entitles you to the better wines for pairing at that restaurant.  However we thought the wines by the glass choices for $6 were very good and there was quite a variety of choices in both red and white. They are considered "premium" because you have a better choice then the 1red and 1 white house wines included with lunch and dinner.  What? You want Viking to charge $12 a glass so you think its better. The only "wine" costing more was Proseco at $8.   Then there are the 2 French champaigns costing $16 - and not within the $15 per drink limit.  In most cases we have not liked the house wines as they have been Undurraga or Frontera which are about the cheapest where we live.

[TayanaLorna]

58 minutes ago, Azulann said:

Have you seem the wine menu at the Restaurant, viking Bar , Explorer lounge or Manfredi? I remember some the white wines were $9-15 a glass.  I remember they ran out of a nice French white wine at the Aquavit bar during our TA sailing. But they had it at the Viking Bar. Talk to the  sommelier  when you dine tonight.

Let me know what you find. 

 

 

There is one wine list for all the bars.  Its either a wine by the glass off that menu or whatever the house wine of the day served at lunch and dinner.  The only venue with more high end drinks is Torshaven.  But i don't believe the wine list is any different, only the liquor.  How about an Armagnac for $55 a glass?

[Jim Avery]

Every ship's wine list is necessarily limited.  If you have the SSBP you can order a nicer wine by the bottle.  When you accept it and drink a glass each the restaurant staff will cork it and serve it again as you wish at no extra charge.  We found a nice Valpolicella we like and the SSBP gave us a 15% discount on the bottle. That put it almost to the penny what the exact wine costs at our local Total Wine.  Not a better deal at sea that I can find.🍷

[duquephart]

5 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

There is one wine list for all the bars.  Its either a wine by the glass off that menu or whatever the house wine of the day served at lunch and dinner.  The only venue with more high end drinks is Torshaven.  But i don't believe the wine list is any different, only the liquor.  How about an Armagnac for $55 a glass?

 

I'd go for that in a heartbeat, unless it's a tiny glass.

Edited April 26, 2022 by duquephart

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, Azulann said:

Have you seem the wine menu at the Restaurant, viking Bar , Explorer lounge or Manfredi? I remember some the white wines were $9-15 a glass.  I remember they ran out of a nice French white wine at the Aquavit bar during our TA sailing. But they had it at the Viking Bar. Talk to the  sommelier  when you dine tonight.

Let me know what you find. 

 

 

It used to be that the bar tender would get your favorite from another bar if theirs ran out of your favorite.  Along with friends, we have drank a bar out of a particular stock and they would go to get more either from storage or another bar.

[SJD117]

9 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

In most cases we have not liked the house wines as they have been Undurraga or Frontera which are about the cheapest where we live.

I enjoyed the Frontera on our recent transatlantic cruise! But I'm prejudiced due to my love of Chile and Chilean products. And I'm not exactly a gourmand -- in fact, far from it. Mea culpa!

[TayanaLorna]

6 minutes ago, SJD117 said:

I enjoyed the Frontera on our recent transatlantic cruise! But I'm prejudiced due to my love of Chile and Chilean products. And I'm not exactly a gourmand -- in fact, far from it. Mea culpa!

There are much better Chilean wines then the Frontera Viking serves.  I am not a wine afficionado either and enjoy both Chilean and Argentine wines.

[Twitchly]

Does Viking let you try a sip of non-house wines before you purchase? (Assuming no drinks package.) Many restaurants are kind enough to do this.

[SJD117]

12 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

There are much better Chilean wines then the Frontera Viking serves.  I am not a wine afficionado either and enjoy both Chilean and Argentine wines.

To each his or her own, I suppose.

[austinetc]

2 hours ago, Azulann said:

Have you seem the wine menu at the Restaurant, viking Bar , Explorer lounge or Manfredi? I remember some the white wines were $9-15 a glass.  I remember they ran out of a nice French white wine at the Aquavit bar during our TA sailing. But they had it at the Viking Bar. Talk to the  sommelier  when you dine tonight.

Let me know what you find. 

 

 

I checked. All the bars on board work off the same wine list. $6 wine by the glass. Everything else is by the bottle. 

[duquephart]

So ----- when you sit down in MDR, buffet, or Manfredi's and your room # ID's you as a SS holder what do they pour?

[LisaDee]

4 minutes ago, duquephart said:

So ----- when you sit down in MDR, buffet, or Manfredi's and your room # ID's you as a SS holder what do they pour?

In our experience, upon initially sitting down (every night for 10 nights, in MDR, buffet and Manfredi’s) they tried to just pour one of the included wines.  Once we stated we had the SSBP a wine list was brought to us.  

[duquephart]

Maybe you could wear a button or something😊.

[Jim Avery]

8 minutes ago, duquephart said:

Maybe you could wear a button or something😊.

A ball cap with SSBP on it....🍷

[LisaDee]

7 minutes ago, duquephart said:

Maybe you could wear a button or something😊.

 

Ha, great idea!  It became a joke after awhile.  Especially at the sit down restaurants where you had to check in with the hostess so they definitely knew your cabin number. 

[duquephart]

15 minutes ago, LisaDee said:

In our experience, upon initially sitting down (every night for 10 nights, in MDR, buffet and Manfredi’s) they tried to just pour one of the included wines.  Once we stated we had the SSBP a wine list was brought to us.  

 

What good does a list do when reds only by the bottle?

[LisaDee]

4 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

What good does a list do when reds only by the bottle?

 

That wasn’t our experience, there was an extensive list of both reds and whites by the glass that we could choose from (this was on the Sea in the Caribbean in Feb.)

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, austinetc said:

I checked. All the bars on board work off the same wine list. $6 wine by the glass. Everything else is by the bottle. 

Thanks for the update. My   Pre Covid  cruise had a variety of prices I thought.

During my two cruises 2021 during the time of Covid, I basically drank cocktails,  something I changed to during COVID lockdown in my city.

I do remember getting  a different set of wines at Chef table and a nice Italian white at Manfredi last summer. I always get the SSBP.

Also the  martini tasting I  attended on the Orion  was no charge because I had the SSBP. 

 My sister who does not drink alcohol came with me. I get the SSBP for her too.  She gave her martinis to the couple at the next table. 

 

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, LisaDee said:

In our experience, upon initially sitting down (every night for 10 nights, in MDR, buffet and Manfredi’s) they tried to just pour one of the included wines.  Once we stated we had the SSBP a wine list was brought to us.  

Agreed.  That is the quickest way to get a glass of wine.  Asking for the Sommelier took the longest.  Getting the wine list sometimes took awhile.  What we finally did last cruise is take photos of the by the glass wine list on our phones.  We would look at that and order what we wanted.  Once we settled into specific choices, our server asked would we like this...or that.