Princess Plus wines

[loge23]

It's sad what has happened to the Princess wine program - once recognized by the Wine Spectator for excellence. Having a Petrus available doesn't quite cut it, guys. Do you have to ask for a proper glass if you order a Petrus??!

Princess has inexplicably gone to generic varietal names in many venues for the Plus selection: Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir for reds; Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc for white.

I made the mistake of ordering the Pinot Noir in Alfredo's on a recent Regal cruise. The "wine" could have been bottled and sold as cough syrup. I asked for a replacement of the Cab which was acceptable if not remarkable. The young server, whom I'm sure knows as much about wine as she did about good service, argued that "that's the way Pinot Noir should taste"! Live and learn, sweetie.

Anyway, there are good selections, you just have to ask - if you're lucky they will bring you a photo-copied version (yes, they do that now) of the wine list in the MDR - which does offer a few more properly identified wines by the glass. Also available are what seems to be a revolving selection at certain venues, like Crooner's for example, which stocked several off-list decent wines.

If your ship doesn't have a "Vines" - and it appears that even the existing Vines are slowly being eliminated - then you have to search around for good quaffs. Even at the Vines, there are a few off-list alternatives, including a reasonable Penley Cab (Australian) that fits into the Plus category. They also had a pretty good Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc at the Vines for Plus shoppers. They still have the Vall Llach Embruix priorat at the Vines though - $14 a glass now, but a worthy $2+ upgrade from Plus.

Cheers!

[gah_cruise]

44 minutes ago, loge23 said:

The young server, whom I'm sure knows as much about wine as she did about good service, argued that "that's the way Pinot Noir should taste"! Live and learn, sweetie.

Anyway, there are good selections, you just have to ask - if you're lucky they will bring you a photo-copied version (yes, they do that now) of the wine list in the MDR - which does offer a few more properly identified wines by the glass.

Had a very opinionated young server on Enchanted last year...was absolutely adamant that the glass of white wine that they served me was "Pinot Noir".....and then had the audacity to suggest that maybe I should learn about wine............

 

Asked for a wine list in Bistro sur la Mer.......none available apparently? , the arrogant waiter told me that he would tell us what wine to have!  .....no way mate.

[XBGuy]

1 hour ago, loge23 said:

 

 

 

I made the mistake of ordering the Pinot Noir in Alfredo's on a recent Regal cruise. The "wine" could have been bottled and sold as cough syrup. I asked for a replacement of the Cab which was acceptable if not remarkable. The young server, whom I'm sure knows as much about wine as she did about good service, argued that "that's the way Pinot Noir should taste"! Live and learn, sweetie.

 

 

1 hour ago, loge23 said:

If your ship doesn't have a "Vines" - and it appears that even the existing Vines are slowly being eliminated

 

 

 

29 minutes ago, gah_cruise said:

Had a very opinionated young server on Enchanted last year...was absolutely adamant that the glass of white wine that they served me was "Pinot Noir".....and then had the audacity to suggest that maybe I should learn about wine............

 

 

29 minutes ago, gah_cruise said:

Asked for a wine list in Bistro sur la Mer.......none available apparently? , the arrogant waiter told me that he would tell us what wine to have!  .....no way mate.

 

We have not cruised since 2020, but the above stories frighten me,  I really don't know which one is worst. 

 

I have enjoyed bringing a few of my own bottles of wine on Princess cruises, but I also enjoyed buying bottles of the various wine lists.  The Sabatini's wine list on our 2019 Royal Princess cruise was terrific, and on the Star Princess in 2020 I discovered three bottles of Chappellet Merlot on display at Vines that were not on the list.  It looks like whenever we are able to resume cruising, I may have to bring an entire wine locker on board.

[JimmyVWine]

3 hours ago, XBGuy said:

We have not cruised since 2020, but the above stories frighten me,  I really don't know which one is worst. 

To me, the worst thing is that for $12 a glass, all you can order is a generic varietal without any idea what country, region or producer you are getting.  And when the wine arrives, it is plonk that aspires to be as good as Yellowtail.  The anecdotal stories are funny/maddening, but in the end can be laughed off.  What cannot be laughed off is paying $60 per day for a package that includes wine the likes of which you cannot discern.  $12 is not a small sum for a glass of wine, and at that price, one should be getting something that can be identified.  At $7 or $8 I can see moving toward generics.  But not for $12.  As noted in some of the posts above, if you hunt, haggle and persist, you might be able to find something familiar to you.  But the level of effort expended and frustration endured whilst on vacation is hardly worth it.  

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

To me, the worst thing is that for $12 a glass, all you can order is a generic varietal without any idea what country, region or producer you are getting.  And when the wine arrives, it is plonk that aspires to be as good as Yellowtail.  The anecdotal stories are funny/maddening, but in the end can be laughed off.  What cannot be laughed off is paying $60 per day for a package that includes wine the likes of which you cannot discern.  $12 is not a small sum for a glass of wine, and at that price, one should be getting something that can be identified.  At $7 or $8 I can see moving toward generics.  But not for $12.  As noted in some of the posts above, if you hunt, haggle and persist, you might be able to find something familiar to you.  But the level of effort expended and frustration endured whilst on vacation is hardly worth it.  

doesn't the wine and others go to $15 when PLUS is increased to $60 pp pd?

[JimmyVWine]

Just now, voljeep said:

doesn't the wine and others go to $15 when PLUS is increased to $60 pp pd?

It appears that way, but that won't matter when the price of the wines now being sold for $12 likewise jumps to $15.

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, JimmyVWine said:

It appears that way, but that won't matter when the price of the wines now being sold for $12 likewise jumps to $15.

I had the Cs cab in Vines on the CB a couple of weeks ago at $13 ... maybe someone onboard soon will be able to post the then current price for comparison.