Has the price of drinks gone up?

[HBCcruiser]

California wines have definitely increased in price over the past few months. The speculation is that prices will continue to increase. The water shortage, gas/diesel shortage, fertilizer shortage etc… will impact costs moving forward. 
https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/15-more-meat-5-1-more-alcohol-ca-prices-skyrocket-again

[jimbo1683]

20 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I suppose one answer could be the number of bottles open in the number of locations pouring times the number of ships at sea, coupled with the need to enforce their use. 

It's just a normal way for a bartender to serve wine on land, doesn't make sense why they din't do it on ship

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, jimbo1683 said:

It's just a normal way for a bartender to serve wine on land, doesn't make sense why they din't do it on ship

I don’t see them used all that often on wine bottles. Pretty rare actually. Maybe depends on the type of establishment. 
Edit to add:  Measured pouring spouts are very common in tasting rooms and at industry tastings where one ounce pours are the goal. But I rarely see them in restaurants or bars that have robust wines by the glass programs. You just expect your staff to be well trained. 

Edited June 11, 2022 by JimmyVWine

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

And exactly the reason people who purchased the Plus package are not getting what they paid for in advance.

We had PP and got exactly what we paid for.

And our server in Vines went out of her way to suggest various other wines that we might enjoy, as an alternative to our go to selection (which was in stock).

The advantage of PP is that you can try various wines and not have to worry if they are not to your liking.

[wowzz]

34 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I don’t see them used all that often on wine bottles. Pretty rare actually. Maybe depends on the type of establishment. 
Edit to add:  Measured pouring spouts are very common in tasting rooms and at industry tastings where one ounce pours are the goal. But I rarely see them in restaurants or bars that have robust wines by the glass programs. You just expect your staff to be well trained. 

As has been said previously,  here in the UK wine glasses have lines on them to mark fill levels. Why don't Princess do the same ?

[WmFCoyote]

While on the Grand on a cruise to Hawaii we spent quite a bit of time in the Wheel House bar which also services the Italian restaurant, Sabatini's. The bartender used a water glass placed next to the wine glass to measure her pours. Very consistent and quick.

[Steelers36]

On 6/9/2022 at 12:57 PM, skynight said:

Standard wine serving from what I understand should be 6 ounces. If Princess is pouring 3 to 4 ounces they are not being honest with their customers. 

Been so long since I ordered a glass in the DR, not sure, but I might think a standard pour would be at least 5 ounces and that means 5 glasses per bottle (150 ml pour of 750 ml btl).  6 is NTH for sure. 

 

3/4 is ridiculous and never saw such a thing on PCL.

[Thrak]

We recently returned from a 12 day Alaska cruise on Royal Princess. I didn't notice any difference in the wine pours so I just now asked my wife if she had noticed anything different. She agreed that the wine pours seemed to be "standard" as they have always been. (We consider a "standard" pour to be 5 ounces.) We did drink wine with dinner each night and had a few glasses in Vines as well but, for the most part, I had a lot of straight up doubles - either Talisker or Bulleit. Those pours seemed quite sufficient to me.

 

I also had a single straight up Bullet most mornings when I went down to IC for my morning Vanilla Latte and a bit of a nosh. After the first day the bartender would see me headed his way and get ready for me. There were a couple of folks who were often at that bar in the morning and they laughingly commented on my "morning medicine". Of course they were correct as I had told the bartender in the beginning it was my morning back medicine. (This was absolutely true. My back is a constant trial and gave me major grief on this cruise.) This was one of the people I had intended to tip extra before I had my "casino fiasco" and couldn't get my money out so I had no cash for tips. I also intended to tip Rout - the bartender at the Princess Live Cafe (I have no idea why it's called a "Cafe" since it's just a bar that also sells coffee) but, again, I had no money. Such excellent and friendly service and no way to show my appreciation.

[Steelers36]

On 6/10/2022 at 4:52 AM, majortom10 said:

But if you are on Princess Plus just order. 2 glasses really don't see the problem. It would be a great struggle for the majority to drink 15 drinks in 24hrs so it's just moaning for moaning sake. Currently on Emerald. And yes there are issues with availability but as far as sizes of measures there is no problem.

 

 

 

On 6/10/2022 at 7:44 AM, wowzz said:

I totally agree. The wine measures seemed the same as previously on our last cruise, and with PP getting refills was easy. 

All a storm in a wine glass really ! 

This isn't the point.  Not all of us are on the PLUS.  What should be is a reasonable pour based on at least 1/5 btl (150 ml or 5 oz, but a lot of restaurants offer 6oz std or 9oz extra).

 

[Steelers36]

On 6/10/2022 at 9:53 AM, JimmyVWine said:

For wines by the glass, pricing and inventory is based on 5 glasses per bottle which is the 150 ml (5 ounce) pour. 

Agree.

[Steelers36]

On 6/10/2022 at 10:09 AM, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

Interesting.

This sounds like a pretty acquired skill.

Perhaps the problem is the staff that poured short pours for the poster haven't learned how much is supposed to be in a serving yet. There are certainly a lot of newbie staff on the ships......

 

On 6/10/2022 at 10:55 AM, JimmyVWine said:

I have no doubt that they have not this type of training.  More like: "Hey! You're pouring too heavy!"

 

I have seen establishments with a reserved glass marked such that a pour can be measured to standing beside it.

[JimmyVWine]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

I have seen establishments with a reserved glass marked such that a pour can be measured to standing beside it.

I’ve definitely seen the old “pour it into a small carafe and then pour it into a glass” routine. I just think that’s tacky. Just train your staff on how to serve wine! Servers who are working for tips have no incentive to short pour their best customers. 

[Steelers36]

54 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I’ve definitely seen the old “pour it into a small carafe and then pour it into a glass” routine. I just think that’s tacky. Just train your staff on how to serve wine! Servers who are working for tips have no incentive to short pour their best customers. 

True.  I now recall this happening a lot in Europe.  The carafe comes with the wine measured to a line and then poured into the glass.  What I meant was a glass standing on the bar either with a line or filled to a point with water and then the server/bartender can pour wine into an empty glass beside the reference glass up to the same point.  Someone else mentioned this above.

[majortom10]

7 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

I have seen establishments with a reserved glass marked such that a pour can be measured to standing beside it.

It is common in UK where either glass are marked to notify of measure or have measures behind the bar to pour wine into to get correct amount prior to pouring in glass. Also sizes are different in UK compared to US so possibly that is why you get less complaints about size of drinks onboard from people from the UK.

[CACruiser1973]

20 hours ago, caribill said:

 

And exactly the reason people who purchased the Plus package are not getting what they paid for in advance.

 

It is different when you do not have the package and pay by the drink and thus can pay less for a lesser quality brand.

Exactly. I paid for the Plus package and did not come even close to getting what I paid for.  I really only drink four things with regularity - Domaine Chandon sparkling wine (supposedly available at Bellinis bar), Black Russians (which require Kahlua) and the Milky Way martini (which requires both Kahlua and Baileys).  Occasionally I will also have a Baileys coffee.  
 

On the 5/29 Discovery cruise, they ran out of Domaine Chandon in the first couple of days and never had either Baileys or Kahlua onboard - for the entire week, it was unavailable on the ship. 
 

I am not unsympathetic to supply chain issues but as I was unable to get any money back on my shipboard account as the package was useless to me (especially when you consider the nonexistent internet) then I most definitely did not get what I paid for. 
 

I may be a finicky drinker but I have never had these problems before. For the record, my “consolation” drink of Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc was indeed a smaller pour than I have had previously. That bothered less since as a package holder it just meant more work for the staff when I would have two, instead of one. But I can see where if I didn’t have the package it would be a much bigger issue as the price per volume was not what it used to be. 

Edited June 12, 2022 by CACruiser1973

[GonzoWCS]

Great information here.

 

Cheers

[NRWPA]

I just got off Caribbean Princess a week ago. I did notice they did not have Bailey's but had another brand of Irish Cream, Kahlua was available. There was no Crown Royal on board in any of the bars I went to. I don't drink any of these but did notice. Vines had a sample pour on their back bar (there was a new bartender there along with one who had been there a while Ariel). For myself, my drinks were great pours - I drink mostly Belvedere Vodka on the rocks and split my evening time between 2 red wines - Embruix and Spellbound. Before dinner and before bedtime I would receive a double pour without asking. The prices were not any higher than previous cruises. I paid no extra $$ above the plus package price.