Current Princess Plus and Premium Wine Lists

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, they certainly could but I suspect the problems are they don't understand the Australian wine trends, and they don't have a decent buyer here.

 

But things like delivery costs have skyrocketed here in the past few months due to fuel increases and driver shortages so prices are likely to be higher than usual. Remember they didn't have that much notice that Australia would let them operate here.

 

But that doesn't explain why two wines that cost $15 a bottle from the winery is $12 by the glass, and $53 for the bottle, when a wine that sells for $3.99 at Dan's is $15 by the glass and $68 for the bottle. Go figure!

 

Oh, silly me, the $3.99 wine is a Pinot Noir so of course it has to be priced higher than a Rosè or a Merlot! At least in the US it would be! 🤣🤣🤣

Good comment, now Julie, you live north of the harbour and the big Carnival brands office is at Chatswood, so I nominate you for Carnival wine buyer, lol. $200 k a year, company bmw and wine a/c, lol.

 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Good comment, now Julie, you live north of the harbour and the big Carnival brands office is at Chatswood, so I nominate you for Carnival wine buyer, lol. $200 k a year, company bmw and wine a/c, lol.

 

 

 

Skip the 200k a year, and the BMW, just give me a permanent booking in a premium suite with all drinks and internet comped so I can do regular quality control checks on the wine service.🤣

 

We went to an amazing restaurant in Coffs Harbour today for lunch, Latitude 30. Expensive but worth every dollar. They had a fantastic wine list at better prices than Princess. Naturally I took photos of it.😊

 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[cruiser3775]

Thanks OzKiwiJJ for posting that full list. Very depressing!

I agree that Princess is not getting informed advice on Australian wines. They can certainly do better. The whopping Chinese tariffs introduced last year on Australian wines caused a major headache for Australian wine exporters, and left many holding quality wines they would have exported. Princess should have the buying power to get a much better selection, and the commercial marketing sense to not sell it onboard at rip off prices.

[carlandlyn]

Thanks for putting this together, interesting read. I did google a number of the wines (and I use Vivino, but Dans' price list works as well) and disappointed (but not surprised) by the huge mark up on the bottles of wine. I know how it is in restaurants etc. but...... Oh well.
Cheers all 🍷

Lynn and Carl

[LuckiePuris]

Thanks for putting together this list of wine menus and feedback. Has this improved since?

 

Princess plus is only $50 more per day so sounds like good value but are the wines that poor quality?

 

I believe Grand has a Vines venue. Can plus be used anywhere on ship including Vines as long as you adhere to the drink cap?

can you pay the difference at Vines if going over? Thanks!

[Aus Traveller]

4 hours ago, LuckiePuris said:

Thanks for putting together this list of wine menus and feedback. Has this improved since?

 

Princess plus is only $50 more per day so sounds like good value but are the wines that poor quality?

 

I believe Grand has a Vines venue. Can plus be used anywhere on ship including Vines as long as you adhere to the drink cap?

can you pay the difference at Vines if going over? Thanks!

The Plus package applies no matter where on the ship you buy your drinks and yes, you pay the difference if you order more expensive drinks.

 

Whether or not a person considers the wine available in the Plus package to be poor quality, depends on their own taste. If you usually drink expensive wines, then the Plus package selection wouldn't suit you, but if you are happy with Dan Murphy's $15 wine (or the better cask wines for that matter) then the Plus package wines would be OK.

[cruiser3775]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

if you are happy with Dan Murphy's $15 wine (or the better cask wines for that matter) then the Plus package wines would be OK.

Or of course, you could go to Dan Murphy's and buy some wines you actually like, and pay the $15 per bottle corkage to take them on board.  You'd still be better off in total than paying Princess' ridiculous prices for poor quality wines. Dan's would deliver them to your accommodation the night before the cruise.

Of course, that's not going to work on a world cruise, but OK for shorter cruises.

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 hours ago, LuckiePuris said:

Thanks for putting together this list of wine menus and feedback. Has this improved since?

 

Princess plus is only $50 more per day so sounds like good value but are the wines that poor quality?

 

I believe Grand has a Vines venue. Can plus be used anywhere on ship including Vines as long as you adhere to the drink cap?

can you pay the difference at Vines if going over? Thanks!

The wines haven't improved yet. 

 

I'm not sure what will be offered in Vines as Coral doesn't have that.

 

Yes, you just pay the difference in price if you choose a drink over the Plus limit. We do this quite often. I delight in only paying $4 extra for a Remy Martin XO cognac. 😊 We also sometimes buy a bottle of something that is not offered by the glass and get 25% discount on the price. For one wine we enjoy that makes it around the same price as if we brought our favourite brand onboard and paid the corkage.

 

I'm fairly certain the De Bortoli Willowglen wines are just their cask wines in bottles. The semillon/sauvignon is a classic dry white with no real characteristics from either grape variety but pleasant enough. The chardonnay is over-oaked to my taste and, of course, too young. I can't comment on their reds as they both contain cabernet sauvignon which I can't drink.

 

The two Masterpeace wines are very drinkable. The rose is a very good Provencial-style rose - we're drinking a lot of this wine. The merlot is lovely, with chocolate and raspberry notes so pairs well with the chocolate Love Boat Dream dessert as well as red meats.

 

The Lock and Key pinot noir is also very drinkable. It's lighter in style than the Premier Devil's Corner pinot noir.

 

Of the Premier wine:

The chardonnay is still to oaky for my taste - we tend to drink unoaked or lightly-oaked chardonnays these days. The riesling is past its best, it's starting to get a bit flabby. The sauvignon blanc is Cloudy Bay. The three reds I have tried are very good - I haven't tried the cab sauv though. 

 

Our real disappointment is in the lack of variety. Princess promises 25 wines by the glass for the Plus package but only delivers 9, which reflect Australian wine trend of 30-40 years ago. No pinot grigio, pinot gris, young reisling, gruner veltliner, unoaked or lightly oaked chardonnay. No sangiovese or other Italian varietals, tempranillo, unblended shiraz. 

 

On the other hand there is a superb selection of cocktails under the Plus package including the special cocktails only available in the Good Spirits Bar.

 

We still think the Plus fare is a good deal. We budget a little extra for when we want Premier drinks or a bottle of wine and still come in under the projected cost of us not having the drinks package.

Edited October 21, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[cruiser3775]

6 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I'm fairly certain the De Bortoli Willowglen wines are just their cask wines in bottles.

Yes, I agree. They cost about $A6.99 at bottle shops, and come from the Riverina, not the best Australian wine making area.  It is a shame because the middle and top end of the De Bortoli range has some very good wines. I think someone saw Princess coming and offloaded the el cheapo wines on them.

[Relaxing Robbies]

8 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I'm fairly certain the De Bortoli Willowglen wines are just their cask wines in bottles.

We drink De Bortoli cask wine at home sometimes when we don’t want to open a better bottle. Unfortunately I found the Willowglen versions less appealing than the cask wine.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Relaxing Robbies
Posted too quickly before I finished my post

[JeffroK]

Lots of wine snobbery here. My experience from drinking far too much wine is that it totally depends on the individual, the environment, your mood, what you had just eaten etc etc.

 

Picking by the label, and not even being concerned about the vintage is not the way to go.

 

On my last cruise I tried a $75USD French wine (I wasnt paying) and found it no better than the $20 wine I get from my Wine Club (Stomp, Hunter Valley or their cheaper line, Pissed & Broke)

[OzKiwiJJ]

30 minutes ago, JeffroK said:

Lots of wine snobbery here. My experience from drinking far too much wine is that it totally depends on the individual, the environment, your mood, what you had just eaten etc etc.

 

Picking by the label, and not even being concerned about the vintage is not the way to go.

 

On my last cruise I tried a $75USD French wine (I wasnt paying) and found it no better than the $20 wine I get from my Wine Club (Stomp, Hunter Valley or their cheaper line, Pissed & Broke)

Certainly it depends on personal taste but I don't think this discussion is wine snobbery. 

 

Unfortunately the current wine lists on Princess don't list the vintages and for the wines by the glass you don't actually see the bottles so the only thing you can do initially is go by the label. After that you have to rely on your palate to decide if you've made the right choice or not.

 

Your comment about the French wine merely indicates that your tastes differ from that of whoever provided that wine for you to taste. It does not indicate that the wine is not as good although it might be overpriced. I prefer European style wines (when I can get them at an affordable price) over some Australian wines but that doesn't mean they are better. It just means they suit my palate.

 

 

[LuckiePuris]

Thanks all for replying!

[LuckiePuris]

On 10/21/2022 at 8:55 AM, Aus Traveller said:

The Plus package applies no matter where on the ship you buy your drinks and yes, you pay the difference if you order more expensive drinks.

 

Whether or not a person considers the wine available in the Plus package to be poor quality, depends on their own taste. If you usually drink expensive wines, then the Plus package selection wouldn't suit you, but if you are happy with Dan Murphy's $15 wine (or the better cask wines for that matter) then the Plus package wines would be OK.

That sounds perfect for me! Thank you!

[arxcards]

I don't sense snobbery, but there is a disparity in the plus and Premier packages when it comes to wines.

 

You can drink 100 different cocktails with plenty of them having upper shelf sprits in them.

 

For wine on the package, the choice is far more limited. I thought the Pinot was OK, but Barb doesn't like it. She quite likes the rose and the cab shiraz.

 

Sitting around Good Spirits last night, and I can see why the by-the-glass options are limited - there is barely enough room at the bar for the bottles they have. More variety means every bar needs to stock it, and that might not be physically possible.

[NSWP]

On 10/21/2022 at 8:30 PM, Relaxing Robbies said:

We drink De Bortoli cask wine at home sometimes when we don’t want to open a better bottle. Unfortunately I found the Willowglen versions less appealing than the cask wine.

I have been to De Bortoli winery out near Griffith a couple of times. Last time was mid year. Did a tour, I can tell you what goes in their very drinkable De Bortoli Premium Casks goes into their Sacred Hill Range, $5 a bottle at Dans and also into their Willowglen range, which is their commercial wine produced exclusively for the club, pub industry AND now Princess cruise ships @ $54 a bottle.  It is $15 a bottle at my golf club restaurant/bistro, but to be truthful it is no more than a $6 or $7 quaffer.

[OzKiwiJJ]

My main issue with both the Plus and Premier wine lists is the limited number of wines which means lack of variety. 

 

They claim variety at value ... true for cocktails but not for wines.

 

They claim 25 wines by the glass for the Plus package. There are 9. 

 

 

They claim 40+ wines by the glass. There are only 18 including the Plus wines.

 

 

 

[cruiser3775]

16 hours ago, JeffroK said:

Lots of wine snobbery here.

I am happy to drink a cask wine on some occasions. I also like high quality wines made in small batches by skilled wine makers.  I like wines that state the area of origin, the grape types used and the vintage.   That's not snobbery, it's just experience and a love of good wine.

My objection is to the money grubbing mark ups by Princess on very ordinary wines, the lack of choice and their lying about the number of wines they offer on the drinks packages.

[Russell21]

We refuse to buy wine on a cruise because of the price/quality situation. I see no valid reason for the situation other than sheer laziness on someone's part. We take onboard the quality wines we drink at home, and happily pay the $15 charge. As a wine drinker 78 years old, from a family of wine drinkers, I have many years ago learned the most expensive part of buying wine................the shop. We buy for between $10 - $15 wines with a cellar door price ranging from $25 - $65. OK knock $5 - $15 off for a liquor store price and you can see the savings. Most of the high end stuff in reds are already 5 to 6 years old and are good for another 10 years minimum, fat chance of them lasting that long at our place. The downside is having to buy in case lots, and paying freight for less than a 3 case order, fortunately we get freight free 3 cases at a time.

Over the years our suppliers have changed, usually because the un named bigger retailers have offered them an unrefusable price for their business.

Am I allowed to name our current supplier here? I would like others to benefit too.

[Aus Traveller]

21 minutes ago, Russell21 said:

We refuse to buy wine on a cruise because of the price/quality situation. I see no valid reason for the situation other than sheer laziness on someone's part. We take onboard the quality wines we drink at home, and happily pay the $15 charge. As a wine drinker 78 years old, from a family of wine drinkers, I have many years ago learned the most expensive part of buying wine................the shop. We buy for between $10 - $15 wines with a cellar door price ranging from $25 - $65. OK knock $5 - $15 off for a liquor store price and you can see the savings. Most of the high end stuff in reds are already 5 to 6 years old and are good for another 10 years minimum, fat chance of them lasting that long at our place. The downside is having to buy in case lots, and paying freight for less than a 3 case order, fortunately we get freight free 3 cases at a time.

Over the years our suppliers have changed, usually because the un named bigger retailers have offered them an unrefusable price for their business.

Am I allowed to name our current supplier here? I would like others to benefit too.

Yes, you can name your supplier. The only restriction here is that we cannot name travel agents.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Russell21 said:

We refuse to buy wine on a cruise because of the price/quality situation. I see no valid reason for the situation other than sheer laziness on someone's part. We take onboard the quality wines we drink at home, and happily pay the $15 charge. As a wine drinker 78 years old, from a family of wine drinkers, I have many years ago learned the most expensive part of buying wine................the shop. We buy for between $10 - $15 wines with a cellar door price ranging from $25 - $65. OK knock $5 - $15 off for a liquor store price and you can see the savings. Most of the high end stuff in reds are already 5 to 6 years old and are good for another 10 years minimum, fat chance of them lasting that long at our place. The downside is having to buy in case lots, and paying freight for less than a 3 case order, fortunately we get freight free 3 cases at a time.

Over the years our suppliers have changed, usually because the un named bigger retailers have offered them an unrefusable price for their business.

Am I allowed to name our current supplier here? I would like others to benefit too.

Up until this year we've enjoyed trying wines on cruises that weren't common in Australia but with the present wine list that isn't possible unless you buy something by the bottle. We do have a current favourite white wine, an Australian-made Gruner Veltliner, which we get from the winery at $19 a bottle. By the time the $15 corkage is added it's around the same price as the Austrian Gruner Veltliner onboard after the 25% Plus discount. So it's not worth the hassle of lugging wines onboard with us.

[Russell21]

OK my supplier is Vinomofo.  https://www.vinomofo.com/      and the Black Market items are usually good quality wines too.

[Tripmode33]

11 hours ago, NSWP said:

I have been to De Bortoli winery out near Griffith a couple of times. Last time was mid year. Did a tour, I can tell you what goes in their very drinkable De Bortoli Premium Casks goes into their Sacred Hill Range, $5 a bottle at Dans and also into their Willowglen range, which is their commercial wine produced exclusively for the club, pub industry AND now Princess cruise ships @ $54 a bottle.  It is $15 a bottle at my golf club restaurant/bistro, but to be truthful it is no more than a $6 or $7 quaffer.

Totally agree. Tastes like a $5 or $6 wine. Very disappointing for wine drinkers with the limited range and quality, given that the Plus Package covers a very good range of beers/spirits/cocktails. Hopefully Princess will listen to feedback.

[LuckiePuris]

Would anyone have the new/current Princess plus wine lists now that cruising is back in full steam from Australia? Thank you!

[arxcards]

25 minutes ago, LuckiePuris said:

Would anyone have the new/current Princess plus wine lists now that cruising is back in full steam from Australia? Thank you!

Still much the same on Majestic Princess last week. The menus were brand new for Australia, and looked the same as for the one posted earlier in the thread.

 

The wines by the glass options were identical.