Alcohol policy Q and Cruise the Vineyards Q

[Eli_6]

I have decided to go on my Australian to Singapore cruise.  It is a 15-day cruise.  Can I still only take 1 bottle?

Here is the carnival alcohol policy:

 

carnival.com/help?topicid=2633

 

According to this, it appears to me I can only take 1 bottle of wine even though it is 2x as long as a regular 7-day cruise and because my son is only 11. 

 

I don't want to get CHEERS as it comes out to $74 USD per day (because it is $111 AUD) or between $1100-1200 total which is basically what we paid for the cruise per person.  Actually, I think it may be more if you take off the taxes and port fees.  I am thinking about getting Cruise the Vineyard instead...especially because I am told by the Australians that both the fish bowl and pitchers are $66 AUD each, which I think is like $44 USD.  (It was not this much when I last purchased on US based cruise.)   Anyone done Cruise the Vineyard in Australia? What did you think? It appears to have different wines than the US version. 

[1025cruise]

Correct, only one bottle. Length of cruise doesn't change this.

[jimbo5544]

I have not read anything about cheers down under, or for that matter whether they allow port bring ons like they do in Europe.  Might be worth digging onto.

[jsglow]

We almost never get Cheers and routinely get Cruise the Vineyards; typically the Premium. We enjoy wine and usually don't finish our bottle at dinner so there's often a 'room bottle'. We cruise so often that keeping the alcohol consumption down is paramount.

[DallasGuy75219]

Make sure you read the rules specifically for Australia cruises on Carnival's Australia website.  

 

On my 2022 Australia cruise they were confiscating all wine because they didn't allow any passengers to carry wine onboard.

[jimbo5544]

31 minutes ago, jsglow said:

We almost never get Cheers and routinely get Cruise the Vineyards; typically the Premium. We enjoy wine and usually don't finish our bottle at dinner so there's often a 'room bottle'. We cruise so often that keeping the alcohol consumption down is paramount.

The math has never worked for us to do cheers, although I have close to trying from time to time.  We used to regularly do cruise the vineyards, but the last couple of times, they "ran out" of whatever I wanted.  Kind of threw a wet rag on the whole thing.

[crzndeb]

Wine is not usually my drink of choice, but New Zealand wines almost made me a convert last year. One of the stops on my NZ cruise last year was to Picton and I did a winery tour. Some of the best wine I’ve ever tasted. So if Cruise the Vineyards includes NZ wine, I would definitely go for it. Australia also has good wine that I tried from Hunter Valley, but NZ was my fave.

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Wine is not usually my drink of choice, but New Zealand wines almost made me a convert last year. One of the stops on my NZ cruise last year was to Picton and I did a winery tour. Some of the best wine I’ve ever tasted. So if Cruise the Vineyards includes NZ wine, I would definitely go for it. Australia also has good wine that I tried from Hunter Valley, but NZ was my fave.

Interesting input on your experience in NZ.  Made my mouth water.

[Mbcruiser704]

On 6/25/2024 at 10:43 AM, jsglow said:

We almost never get Cheers and routinely get Cruise the Vineyards; typically the Premium. We enjoy wine and usually don't finish our bottle at dinner so there's often a 'room bottle'. We cruise so often that keeping the alcohol consumption down is paramount.

How does that work?  Do you have to carry the bottle back to your room after dinner?  I don’t understand how it works at the “main bars” either that it indicates on the website.

[Mbcruiser704]

Also - how does it work if we eat in the buffet one night?  Going with my grandson and not sure how he will fare with a long dinner every evening. Do I bring a glass with me?

[staceyglow]

7 minutes ago, Mbcruiser704 said:

How does that work?  Do you have to carry the bottle back to your room after dinner?  I don’t understand how it works at the “main bars” either that it indicates on the website.

When you sign up for Cruise the Vineyards.  They give you coupons for the number of bottles in the package and a list of wines to choose from.  When you are at the MDR, a restaurant, or a bar, you hand the server/bartender a coupon and tell them which wine you want.

 

I have never eaten dinner in the buffet in over 100 sea days, but I would think you can stop at a bar first and get your wine.  The bartender can give you glasses if you request them.

[Mbcruiser704]

So does each coupon represent one glass of wine?  Or do they hold the actual bottle for me at a certain location?  Since I likely won’t drink the whole bottle at once 🤪

[staceyglow]

1 hour ago, Mbcruiser704 said:

So does each coupon represent one glass of wine?  Or do they hold the actual bottle for me at a certain location?  Since I likely won’t drink the whole bottle at once 🤪

Each coupon is for one bottle.  If you order it in the MDR, they will store an unfinished bottle.  Otherwise, I think you will have to bring it back to your cabin.