Unused wine in the wine package

[Sherry H]

Bumping this back up as I would like to know if there are others who have had sucess having one of their wine bottles kept at a favorite bar.

[FlaMariner]

I cannot find the fine print but I recall reading recently that the Sommelier Wine Package wine is available to consume at the dining venues and in your stateroom but the good ole days of having a bottle follow you to the bars onboard is no more.  (At least in the fine print but perhaps onboard they will still do this?)

 

(I think the fine print was listed on the Sommelier brochure from our recent cruise 3/2023 but I do not have it nor can I find it online)

 

We need others to confirm and perhaps someone has the "fine print".

 

(We always get the wine package and enjoy it......and we get package 1 (the cheapest)  and usually end up getting several bottles "upgraded" to package 2 or 3 when they are out of package 1!  We also have no problem taking a glass of wine from our room to anywhere on the ship....we love the wine packages and enjoy our Mariner discount on them also)

[Mary229]

26 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

but the good ole days of having a bottle follow you to the bars onboard is no more.  (At least in the fine print but perhaps onboard they will still do this?)

It likely is a lack of consistency ship to ship.  In the past year we were able to have a bottle at the aft lido bar .  We did it once on the NS and a friend did so once on the Zaandam 

[Wayfairers]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:12 PM, Sherry H said:

Bumping this back up as I would like to know if there are others who have had sucess having one of their wine bottles kept at a favorite bar.

I keep one in every bar I use plus the MDR.  I’ve done this pre and post pandemic and on several ships.   Never had an issue other than remembering which wine is in which bar!

[FlaMariner]

4 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

I cannot find the fine print

 

I found the fine print......found this link for the Sommelier Wine Package Brochure and it states that the wine is for restaurants and in your stateroom......This seems to be a new thing...and perhaps not being enforced.....yet.  

 

http://www.slaintewines.com/images/programs/Holland-Americas-Sommelier-Suite-Wine-Packages.png

 

It does not change the way we drink/enjoy the wine onboard......

[Wayfairers]

12 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

I found the fine print......found this link for the Sommelier Wine Package Brochure and it states that the wine is for restaurants and in your stateroom......This seems to be a new thing...and perhaps not being enforced.....yet.  

 

http://www.slaintewines.com/images/programs/Holland-Americas-Sommelier-Suite-Wine-Packages.png

 

It does not change the way we drink/enjoy the wine onboard......

I don’t recall seeing that before.  Hopefully they won’t enforce this and will soon allow the wine package to be used in bars again.  Based upon my experiences when the wine bottle isn’t kept at the bar where you are ordering, they have to go to the bar or MDR that is keeping the bottle and search for it - typically not a short process - bet HAL is trying to prevent that since they are short staffed.  That is why I keep a bottle in every bar.

[KarefreeKaren]

2 hours ago, Wayfairers said:

I don’t recall seeing that before.  Hopefully they won’t enforce this and will soon allow the wine package to be used in bars again.  Based upon my experiences when the wine bottle isn’t kept at the bar where you are ordering, they have to go to the bar or MDR that is keeping the bottle and search for it - typically not a short process - bet HAL is trying to prevent that since they are short staffed.  That is why I keep a bottle in every bar.

If you read the fine print at the bottom it says 15% gratuity and it’s effective starting August 2017.  Don’t think this is anything new—it does not appear to be the current policy as recently wine package was delivered to my stateroom and my lounge of choice.  

[pmjnh]

We have all the wine bottles from the package delivered to our stateroom. if any bottle is left over we bring it to dinner and share. Last cruise we were doing a side by side cruise ( disembarking the K-dam and boarding the Zaandam) . Guest services on the K-dam notified the Zaandam that we were bringing one bottle from our package with us and made sure that we were not charged a corkage fee.

[Aitchgeye]

Just recently we purchased the 4 bottle, cheapest package and we were able to keep the bottles at the MDR, and the waiter at the Tamerind fetched a bottle for us when we dined there, no problem.  The waiters even swapped one of the bottles (white) for a red.  No issues if you ask nicely.

 

[Mary229]

On 5/10/2023 at 1:40 PM, Wayfairers said:

I don’t recall seeing that before.  Hopefully they won’t enforce this and will soon allow the wine package to be used in bars again.  Based upon my experiences when the wine bottle isn’t kept at the bar where you are ordering, they have to go to the bar or MDR that is keeping the bottle and search for it - typically not a short process - bet HAL is trying to prevent that since they are short staffed.  That is why I keep a bottle in every bar.

This is the way we have done it in the past.  Order one bottle for MDR then one for the aft Lido Bar.   If I want it for the stateroom I just self carry one of those 

[lissie]

On 5/7/2023 at 6:35 AM, Mary229 said:

Yes, you can leave it or take it or have it delivered to another bar.  They put your room number on the bottle and it can be retrieved by any bar.    If you want you can buy one of your bottles in the MDR and another to be kept at your favorite bar. All kinds of options. 

I'm liking what I hear of this system - the only decision left is how many bottles we buy! 

[Alphen]

A bit related to this toppic, just wondering what happens if you have a wine package (8 bottles) which is not finished on the first segment of a booked B2B cruise, but with 2 seperate booking numbers (was not possible to book as one cruise). Can you continue on your wine package on the second segment of your cruise?

[pmjnh]

36 minutes ago, Alphen said:

A bit related to this toppic, just wondering what happens if you have a wine package (8 bottles) which is not finished on the first segment of a booked B2B cruise, but with 2 seperate booking numbers (was not possible to book as one cruise). Can you continue on your wine package on the second segment of your cruise?

Same ship same cabin? or same ship different cabin? referring to my post #33, our side by side bookings were separate booking numbers. Just take the unused with you from cruise #1.

Edited May 12, 2023 by pmjnh

[Alphen]

9 minutes ago, pmjnh said:

Same ship same cabin? or same ship different cabin? referring to my post #33, our side by side bookings were separate booking numbers. Just take the unused with you from cruise #1.

Thanks, I read that, we are same ship, same cabin, but have the wine in the MDR at our table, so bottle by bottle.

[pmjnh]

1 minute ago, Alphen said:

Thanks, I read that, we are same ship, same cabin, but have the wine in the MDR at our table, so bottle by bottle.

 

Got it..then that should be easy by just talking with the sommelier in the MDR.

[Alphen]

3 minutes ago, pmjnh said:

 

Got it..then that should be easy by just talking with the sommelier in the MDR.

Tnx for the answer, will do, probably when buying, just to make sure we can still use unused bottles on second segment. We have always done single bookings on multiple segments, so never encountered this.

[pmjnh]

Just make sure they don't charge you a corkage fee for the second leg bottles. Gosh knows you will have already paid for that!  Enjoy!

[kazu]

2 hours ago, Alphen said:

A bit related to this toppic, just wondering what happens if you have a wine package (8 bottles) which is not finished on the first segment of a booked B2B cruise, but with 2 seperate booking numbers (was not possible to book as one cruise). Can you continue on your wine package on the second segment of your cruise?

 

We had a B2B and changed cabins.  Our package continued on, no problem.  I did ask and did give them the new room number.  We had fixed dining at the time - not sure if that makes a difference or not.  

[Alphen]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

We had a B2B and changed cabins.  Our package continued on, no problem.  I did ask and did give them the new room number.  We had fixed dining at the time - not sure if that makes a difference or not.  

Thanks for the reassurance, we got fixed as well.

[Wayfairers]

5 hours ago, Alphen said:

A bit related to this toppic, just wondering what happens if you have a wine package (8 bottles) which is not finished on the first segment of a booked B2B cruise, but with 2 seperate booking numbers (was not possible to book as one cruise). Can you continue on your wine package on the second segment of your cruise?

Great idea.   We have an upcoming B2B2B (same ship) and I never thought about continuing the package from one cruise to the next. 

[MAVIP]

On 5/12/2023 at 11:00 AM, Alphen said:

A bit related to this toppic, just wondering what happens if you have a wine package (8 bottles) which is not finished on the first segment of a booked B2B cruise, but with 2 seperate booking numbers (was not possible to book as one cruise). Can you continue on your wine package on the second segment of your cruise?

 Last weeks 3 B2B's on Nieuw Statendam: "Rules" can be more complicated than reality was my experience. No separate statements and remaining non refundable OBC just passed to following week etc.  If a remaining bottle might be a complication during you cruise: just take it to your cabin and bring it back to the MDR or other restaurant after the transit. Enjoy your cruise and the wine! 

Met groet van Lenny