New Sommelier Suite / Wine Packages with adjusted prices

[Alphen]

Found an updated Sommelier Suite listing of the wine packages. Do not know if wines have been changed, but prices have changed in some cases, not all.

 

sommsuite_flyer.pdf

[Real NHDOC]

Looks like the selection on Cellar 1 is the same as we just had but the price has increased by $9 for the 8 bottle package ($219 to $228) and $5 for the 4 and 6 bottle packages. 
 

Since the price has been the same for several years the 4-5%  increase is actually less than I expected it to be. 
 

Cellar 2 and 3 prices seem to have not increased and in some cases actually decreased slightly. 

Edited January 6 by Real NHDOC

[FlaMariner]

Prices for us are still quite the deal.....especially with the 50% Mariner Discount.....

 

Package one is $14.25 a bottle (8 bottle package) + 18% tip on $28.50 = $19.38 a bottle......That's less than $5 a glass (4 pours to the bottle).......(somebody double-check my math)

 

Enjoy the journey....and the onboard wine prices!

Edited January 6 by FlaMariner

[Alphen]

16 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Prices for us are still quite the deal.....especially with the 50% Mariner Discount.....

 

Package one is $14.25 a bottle (8 bottle package) + 18% tip on $28.50 = $19.38 a bottle......That's less than $5 a glass (4 pours to the bottle).......(somebody double-check my math)

 

Enjoy the journey....and the onboard wine prices!

Deleted

Edited January 6 by Alphen

[Real NHDOC]

15 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Prices for us are still quite the deal.....especially with the 50% Mariner Discount.....

 

Package one is $14.25 a bottle (8 bottle package) + 18% tip on $28.50 = $19.38 a bottle......That's less than $5 a glass (4 pours to the bottle).......(somebody double-check my math)

 

Enjoy the journey....and the onboard wine 

 

Agreed. The mariner’s discount makes it the best deal at sea. 

[islandwoman]

Is there a discount for buying a Sommelier Suite wine package pre-cruise? 

I'd rather buy one onboard where I could find out for sure which wines are included, but only being a two star Mariner, I don't expect to get a discount onboard.

[crystalspin]

10 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

Is there a discount for buying a Sommelier Suite wine package pre-cruise? 

I'd rather buy one onboard where I could find out for sure which wines are included, but only being a two star Mariner, I don't expect to get a discount onboard.

There is no discount pre-cruise. Many if not most wait to buy onboard for (1) your reason, as wines are not guaranteed to be available, (2) to buy with OBC, including discounted OBC such as from AARP, and (3) the bartender or bar server or MDR steward will get some credit for selling the package. Here is a very recent Sommelier Suite listing:

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sommelier-Suite-2024.pdf

 

[Icarus20]

Did the sommelier wine packages go up again?

 

I've found three internet postings of the prices this year (all 2024, with photos).  April, August and as recent as September  (Mr Jett, pretty reliable, is one of them). 

I'm cruising next week, and the prices listed online for my trip leaving next week  (precruise), are all $25 or more higher  than they were paying just three weeks ago.  The 6 bottle packages, for example, are UP $31, $34, and $38 each.  For the 3 cellars.

Could it be that they recently added the tips into the price?  Did I screw something up or is this a correct analysis?

 

Edited Saturday at 06:05 PM by Icarus20
clarification

[Alphen]

1 hour ago, Icarus20 said:

Did the sommelier wine packages go up again?

 

I've found three internet postings of the prices this year (all 2024, with photos).  April, August and as recent as September  (Mr Jett, pretty reliable, is one of them). 

I'm cruising next week, and the prices listed online for my trip leaving next week  (precruise), are all $25 or more higher  than they were paying just three weeks ago.  The 6 bottle packages, for example, are UP $31, $34, and $38 each.  For the 3 cellars.

Could it be that they recently added the tips into the price?  Did I screw something up or is this a correct analysis?

 

Just off a Dam ship today, had a Cellar One, 8 and 4 bottles packages and these prices were as expected, with the mariner discount and service charge at respective $154,87 and $ 84,31.

[SilvertoGold]

Prices the same but selections on this new list are quite different from the Noordam in both March to April and September, plus from the N Amsterdam in July and now  the Konignsdam is showing on my App as the same prices but the prvious selctions.

Edited Saturday at 08:05 PM by SilvertoGold

[MaxThrusters]

After doing a few sailings with the wine packages as they were at the time (7 years+ ago!) we decided that for our next cruise we would just book whatever package on board that had wines we like (and get the mariner discount) or if we didn't like what was on offer just go by the bottle. This is because the wines on offer for the packages in advance were almost never actually available on the ship! From what I read others saying, that has not changed.

[PSR]

21 hours ago, MaxThrusters said:

After doing a few sailings with the wine packages as they were at the time (7 years+ ago!) we decided that for our next cruise we would just book whatever package on board that had wines we like (and get the mariner discount) or if we didn't like what was on offer just go by the bottle. This is because the wines on offer for the packages in advance were almost never actually available on the ship! From what I read others saying, that has not changed.

Isn’t the Mariner discount only for the packages but not single bottles?

[FlaMariner]

2 minutes ago, PSR said:

Isn’t the Mariner discount only for the packages but not single bottles?

 

Correct. Sommelier Packages get the Mariner discount.....No discount for single bottles.

 

We "upgraded" to package #2 in April 2024 (Oosterdam) and they had all that was published and they were great.....On another previous cruise, we purchased package 1 and three were not available but the substitutes were from higher packages (w/no additional fee).

 

Running out of the Sommelier listed wines is not necessarily a bad thing for us.  We are not picky/knowledgable wine people though...but we certainly enjoy drinking wine!

[MaxThrusters]

2 hours ago, PSR said:

Isn’t the Mariner discount only for the packages but not single bottles?

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply it was.

[PSR]

23 hours ago, MaxThrusters said:

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply it was.

 

No problem...just wanted to clarify. Would be nice if they did have a Mariner discount on the singles!!!

[MaxThrusters]

10 hours ago, PSR said:

 

No problem...just wanted to clarify. Would be nice if they did have a Mariner discount on the singles!!!

Imagine if they did though; we'd all likely order by the bottle haha. I guess that's why they don't!

 

Another question comes to mind, but this might not be the thread for it. You know how at certain Mariner levels we get a discount for the in-stateroom minibars? I'm wondering how that works now (I have not sailed for the past 7 years), because now it seems my upcoming cruise in a category V cabin only has a mini fridge, not a 'no-host mini bar' which seems to be only in Vista suites and above now. Maybe I can ask my stateroom attendant to load it up? How does that even work now? I don't use mini-bars often when I travel, but I do like when they are there but even hotels seem to be cutting back on them.

[FlaMariner]

1 hour ago, MaxThrusters said:

because now it seems my upcoming cruise in a category V cabin only has a mini fridge, not a 'no-host mini bar' which seems to be only in Vista suites and above now. Maybe I can ask my stateroom attendant to load it up? How does that even work now?

 

Wondering if this is very, very new?

 

In April/Oosterdam, the mini bar in our balcony and inside (B2B cruises, changed cabins) was stocked full of stuff to buy.....We actually do the opposite and have been known to ask the room attendant to take out the stuff in the fridge so we could use it.

 

I hope others who have cruises since April can pipe in about what's in the fridge now?