Bring vs buy bottles of wine

[zaylyn2590]

I was planning to bring wine in my carry on but I'm thinking with the corkage fee plus what i paid for the bottle, is it easier to just buy bottles on board?  Im a sparkling wine drinker. 

[Laszlo]

If you bring your own you will have a better choice, go to Total wine and get what you want

[ZsaZsa2019]

I have been thinking about this too.  I'm not going to bring wine from home and travel to San Juan with it, but since we have a day there, I thought if I found a bottle I liked or was interested in somewhere, I might bring one or two on board for our room and such.  If you have the FAS drink package I understand you won't have any corkage fees. 

[mjkacmom]

If you take the FAS udp ($21 a day) you can bring on unlimited wine without paying corkage. Otherwise, it’s still cheaper to buy your own and pay corkage.

[zaylyn2590]

4 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

If you take the FAS udp ($21 a day) you can bring on unlimited wine without paying corkage. Otherwise, it’s still cheaper to buy your own and pay corkage.

I didn't plan on doing the udp... I'm still deciding on what to do. I did manage to look at the wine list

[mjkacmom]

10 minutes ago, zaylyn2590 said:

I didn't plan on doing the udp... I'm still deciding on what to do. I did manage to look at the wine list

It’s a math question, if you drink more than one drink a day, it’s worth it. If you want to bring bottles onboard, it’s worth it.

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

We have the Premium Beverage Package on our Confirmation Email and also ALL4CHO in the "Promos" and can take on all the wine we want.

 

Check your Confirmation to check what you have on yours.

 

How does this compare with the "udp" that is quoted?

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, zaylyn2590 said:

I didn't plan on doing the udp... I'm still deciding on what to do. I did manage to look at the wine list

The wine lists may or may not accurately reflect what is available on board.

[mjkacmom]

40 minutes ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

We have the Premium Beverage Package on our Confirmation Email and also ALL4CHO in the "Promos" and can take on all the wine we want.

 

Check your Confirmation to check what you have on yours.

 

How does this compare with the "udp" that is quoted?

The FAS UBP allows unlimited bottles of wine to be taken onboard.

[zaylyn2590]

2 hours ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

We have the Premium Beverage Package on our Confirmation Email and also ALL4CHO in the "Promos" and can take on all the wine we want.

 

Check your Confirmation to check what you have on yours.

 

How does this compare with the "udp" that is quoted?

I dont have a beverage package. I usually bring wine or just get 1-2 drinks the entire cruise. 

[herbanrenewal]

The cava brut sparkling wine on board isn't that great (but I drink the one that comes with my latitudes specialty restaurant dinner. Their Ventura cava brut is around $11-13 from my store). Since I like wine with dinner but otherwise never drink alcohol I decline the FAS package and save a couple hundred in taxes and fees.

Someone mentioned San Juan - there's a Supermercado about 1 mile or so from port that has a Segura Viudas cava brut for around $17, with corkage fee, $32 total cost, for a wine I liked much better. Since I'm not paying the fees from the free package I figure this is cheaper, and tastes better.

BTW I bring my own champagne stopper with me and have them cork bottle as soon as they've poured so that the bottle isn't flat before the end of a meal. When they open for second glass you hear the pop like first opened if you use a good champagne stopper. Why do people who are supposed to know wines leave an open bottle of bubbly for an hour or more at dinner?

[baflagg]

Our first cruise we brought wine onboard and honestly for us we thought it was kind of a pain having to carry it around all day until our room was ready.  Yes you get better choices by bringing your own but there are some good selections on the ship.  You do pay more then bringing your own but for us we prefer the convenience of just buying what we want onboard. 

[zaylyn2590]

1 hour ago, baflagg said:

Our first cruise we brought wine onboard and honestly for us we thought it was kind of a pain having to carry it around all day until our room was ready.  Yes you get better choices by bringing your own but there are some good selections on the ship.  You do pay more then bringing your own but for us we prefer the convenience of just buying what we want onboard. 

That's the other thing. I would bring a carry on (a smaller one) just for the wine. And then have to carry it around but I'm arriving pretty late so it wouldn't be for too long... I still have about 2 weeks to decide

[hernando52]

We have bought wine near the port if we have flown in or from home when we drive.  Our under airline seat wheeled carryon works great.  The 4 bottles are inside neoprene sleeves & under our cruise documentation folder and prescription medicine.  We have FAS, so we drink the wine we like in our stateroom. 

[mexicobob]

On 3/7/2024 at 5:12 PM, herbanrenewal said:

The cava brut sparkling wine on board isn't that great (but I drink the one that comes with my latitudes specialty restaurant dinner. Their Ventura cava brut is around $11-13 from my store). Since I like wine with dinner but otherwise never drink alcohol I decline the FAS package and save a couple hundred in taxes and fees.

Someone mentioned San Juan - there's a Supermercado about 1 mile or so from port that has a Segura Viudas cava brut for around $17, with corkage fee, $32 total cost, for a wine I liked much better. Since I'm not paying the fees from the free package I figure this is cheaper, and tastes better.

BTW I bring my own champagne stopper with me and have them cork bottle as soon as they've poured so that the bottle isn't flat before the end of a meal. When they open for second glass you hear the pop like first opened if you use a good champagne stopper. Why do people who are supposed to know wines leave an open bottle of bubbly for an hour or more at dinner?

Learn something new every day.

[Martink45]

We brought three bottles just to drink in the room/on the balcony.  Two bubble wrapped in luggage that was checked and and one in a backpack, so it really wasn't any real burden.  Drank the dry rose' and the white, brought the red back home.  Your tiny fridge may not hold more than two sparklers unless you remove the door rack.

[zaylyn2590]

1 hour ago, Martink45 said:

We brought three bottles just to drink in the room/on the balcony.  Two bubble wrapped in luggage that was checked and and one in a backpack, so it really wasn't any real burden.  Drank the dry rose' and the white, brought the red back home.  Your tiny fridge may not hold more than two sparklers unless you remove the door rack.

Yea. I bought the bags on Amazon for the wine. In the past, the room steward has been great with keeping ice in the ice bucket.