Non alcoholic wine on Royal - disappointing

[mspink98]

Unfortunately, in my experience anyway, N/A wines available in the US tend to taste like slightly fortified grape juice. Very, very sweet. I have heard from multiple people that the selection is better in the UK, and now apparently Australia too. I have no issue finding N/A beers that I like here, but wine is a very different story. 

[toad455]

7 minutes ago, mspink98 said:

Unfortunately, in my experience anyway, N/A wines available in the US tend to taste like slightly fortified grape juice. Very, very sweet. I have heard from multiple people that the selection is better in the UK, and now apparently Australia too. I have no issue finding N/A beers that I like here, but wine is a very different story. 

 

I've sample my Dad's N/A wines and it essentially tasted like grape juice with a lot of sugar added.

[lucymorgan]

6 minutes ago, BND said:

I have yet to find an even remotely good N/A wine.  I've tried several here in the states and none actually taste like wine at all.    

Its is increasingly common here in Australia for people to seek non alcoholic options so there is a strong and growing market.   (Let's face it - Aussies are known for liking a drink but many of the younger generation don't drink at all anymore - my daughter is 26 and has had one alcoholic drink in her life).   The sparkling whites I like are pretty close to the alcoholic versions and many are made by experienced wine makers.  There are some good pino grigios and sauv blanc and chardonnays too.  I am not a red wine drinker so cannot judge those.   Sansdrinks.com.au ships to the US.  If you can't get recommendations in the states check out the site to see what the reviews say about particular wines.  You might then be able to find them there.  🙂 

[lucymorgan]

16 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Celebrity stocks Fre which I understand is a Berringer brand of alcohol/low alcohol wine.  Not sure what Royal stocks as don't recall seeing a thread about non-alcoholic wines on this board.  Then again my memory is not what it use to be. 

 

Yes that is the brand I had in the suite lounge on Quantum late last year.  Too sweet for my taste unfortunately.  😞 

[lucymorgan]

1 hour ago, mandyleighflies said:

Fellow sober cruiser here!! I bring 2 bottles of NA wine with me for my cabin but for this next sailing I was able to also pre-order 2 bottles (I could have ordered more but didn't see the need for a 5 night sailing) of sparking NA wine for my cabin. I always purchase the refreshment drink package and love RC's mocktail options, as well as their coffee's. They had both NA sparking and NA red/white available for cabin pre-order, I do hope this is a sign them and some other NA options are coming aboard soon! I LOVE Lyre's and also Ritual has a lovely line of NA spirits, an Ritual whisky sour is my go to summer bevvie at home. 

Thanks for the tip about preordering.  I couldn't see any options on my cruise planner gift options but I found a link that lets you purchase https://www.royalcaribbean.com/royalgifts.  It is the fre brand which is sweet but I guess a couple of bottles might be useful.  🙂 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, BND said:

Ever try it?  It's terrible.

 

 No.  I drink regular wine but I have heard that is what was being served.

 

1 hour ago, lucymorgan said:

Yes that is the brand I had in the suite lounge on Quantum late last year.  Too sweet for my taste unfortunately.  😞 

 

No surprising.  My preference is toward red wines so sweet is the last thing I am looking in a wine. 

 

[BND]

30 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 No.  I drink regular wine but I have heard that is what was being served.

 

 

 

 

I drink regular wine also, but have tried Fre and a couple of others.  None taste like wine.

[Cruiser_1977]

I am not celiac or gluten free...however, I do know that sparkling wine, champagne, etc. are naturally gluten free 🙂  SOURCE HERE

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, JennyB1977 said:

I am not celiac or gluten free...however, I do know that sparkling wine, champagne, etc. are naturally gluten free 🙂  SOURCE HERE

Pretty much all alcoholic beverages are gf, seltzers, ciders, hard liqour…

[Cruiser_1977]

@mjkacmom Thanks! I tend to stick to champagne, red wine and bourbon. But also, I don't pay much attention to GF because it doesn't affect me....

[smokeybandit]

On 1/9/2023 at 4:37 PM, mjkacmom said:

It really doesn’t matter if they tolerate it, any gluten is a risk for internal damage. My daughter went to the GI and asked if maybe it went away because there were times she was glutened and didn’t get sick, she was told that it does not go away and any gluten is a risk for damage. 

When properly applied with clarex, the gluten ppm ratio exceeds fda standards for gluten free products

Edited January 11, 2023 by smokeybandit

[mandyleighflies]

I really enjoy Fre but I was a fan of a lighter, sweeter sparkling. The Lyre's Classico is very good, what is RC policy on bringing canned beverages? Would it count as a "bottle" of NA wine? I have heard great things about the "Noughty" NA sparkling Brut and was going to start taste testing to see what ones are my favorite. 

[Starry Eyes]

12 minutes ago, mandyleighflies said:

I really enjoy Fre but I was a fan of a lighter, sweeter sparkling. The Lyre's Classico is very good, what is RC policy on bringing canned beverages? Would it count as a "bottle" of NA wine? I have heard great things about the "Noughty" NA sparkling Brut and was going to start taste testing to see what ones are my favorite. 

From FAQ: “Guests may also bring non-alcoholic beverages as carry-on items on boarding day. Non-alcoholic beverages may not exceed 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom.” 
Here is the full FAQ in a link:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/food-drink-onboard-policy

If you cans of nonalcoholic sparkling (or no sparkling, for that matter) beverage are no more than17 oz, you may bring up to 12 per stateroom.  Somebody might read the label to confirm it is nonalcoholic, I suppose, but it should pass just fine.  If the containers are larger, you have an issue.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Starry Eyes