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Wine Package Question.....buy a bottle one at a time or buy the 8 bottles?


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Going on a cruise and do not want to buy the "all in package"......we are three star so have 25% off  wine a bottle in the dining room I think???.....but If I order the beverage wine package I get 8 for $269.....it seems I get not discount when doing on the internet before the cruise..as I seem to get no discount showing up???...trying to save a few $$$ so perhaps someone knows the ins and outs of wine purchase....lol......better to do one at a time?? or just get the 8 with no discount??....Thanks

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Figured it out.....went and looked at fine print of perks....no 25% off....so better to buy the whole package....works out to about $33 a bottle....not sure if the wine list has cheaper ones....will search that out....Thanks

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The package with the 25% discount should be the better deal.  Once you have the package you can ask for a bottle in the dining room and either drink it there or take it to your room.  If you order before you board the ship the discount will not show on your order and they will probably hit your credit card for full price as they did me.  You will then have to deal with them at the front desk and you may or may not eventually get your discount.  Mine was 50% as 5* and I never did get it even after the cruise.  So probably the best bet is to order the package after you board when they will give you the discounted price.  You should also know that you pay the full 18% gratuity on the original price of the package, not the discounted price.  Hope this helps.

Ray

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I understand if you order the package with your table steward they get credit for the sale.  I order the 8 bottle with mariner discount and it is kept at the dinning room and when I want to take a bottle or Two to my cabin I ask my table Stewart.  No problem.   

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4 minutes ago, Kelownabccan said:

Super info....then buy on board and not before......seems to be the thought......wonder how that works with a bottle of rum also.....discount on board I assume???

The discount is only on the wine packages, not liquor.

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2 hours ago, Kelownabccan said:

Super info....then buy on board and not before......seems to be the thought......wonder how that works with a bottle of rum also.....discount on board I assume???

Be careful with liquor purchased in the shops. HAL may hold your purchase until end of cruise (so as not to compete with the bar). 

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1 hour ago, REOVA said:

Be careful with liquor purchased in the shops. HAL may hold your purchase until end of cruise (so as not to compete with the bar). 

You can buy a bottle of liquor for your room, either in advance on the website or from a bar.

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5 hours ago, sandiego1 said:

You can buy a bottle of liquor for your room, either in advance on the website or from a bar.

Yes you'd have to get it online  but if you buy from the shops onboard, they told me they hold it. 

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22 minutes ago, REOVA said:

Yes you'd have to get it online  but if you buy from the shops onboard, they told me they hold it. 

Alcohol purchased in The Shops is held until the end of the cruise; it's returned to you the night before you disembark.

Alcohol purchased online pre-cruise is delivered to your cabin the day you board.

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We are 3* and just finished a 7 night cruise.  We bought a 4 bottle package at 25% off.  When we purchased it, it showed up on the receipt I signed at the FULL price.  But when it was printed on my bill for the week, it showed the discounted price.  That is just the way they do it.  We also received a 25% discount on Starbucks coffee from the Explorations Cafe.  I did not realize we would receive that until I signed the receipt, which DID show the discount, as opposed to the wine package.  How they do things is somewhat "strange", but it's their ship.  Just look at your bill every so often on the room TV, or go to guest services and ask for a print-out.  Also, on the last day of our cruise, I went and got a print-out because I was not going to purchase anything else.  But later that evening, we bought 2 Ginger Ales.  That should have added about $6 to my bill.  When I got home, I checked my Credit Card statement, and they had charged me $34.  And then they had given me a "credit" of $28.  I don't understand it, but I do not like the fact that they do not give you a printed bill, unless you ask, and they DO NOT send you an email with an attachment of your final bill.  If you do find a problem once you return home, it may be very difficult to resolve with HAL.

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2 hours ago, highscar said:

Room service will deliver it to your cabin for in room consumption. 

 

Have you done this recently? We have always done that in the past, but looking at prices of spirits for room consumption, yikes! They are insane prices and very limited choices.

 

Example: a liter of Bombay Sapphire is $112.10

 

 

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3 minutes ago, wombatKY said:

 

Have you done this recently? We have always done that in the past, but looking at prices of spirits for room consumption, yikes! They are insane prices and very limited choices.

 

Example: a liter of Bombay Sapphire is $112.10

 

 

HAL used to have such good pricing on an insuite bottle, not anymore 😢

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We wait until the ship has left port and is in international waters to buy any wine packages, saves us the taxes. The selection of wine varies from ship to ship, we usually talk with the cellar master before ordering, lots of substitutions for out of stock wines. Wait until your on board.

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Two years ago room service for shmirnoff (spell) vodka was $40.00. Now $70.00.   If you order pre cruise it is $82.00 incl 3 tonic. Tiny cans. Even if you have the sods package.  

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Yep...the rum bottle for the cabin is $82.60  including a few cans of coke......no discount on that.....but a big bottle...lol.....at an ounce a drink then 40 drinks.....haha......about $2 a drink.....I guess I can easily bring a few cans of coke  when I come back on ship....easy to do....and stock up the fridge....on the ship for a month but really do not drink much....wife likes a glass of wine at dinner....

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If you buy a wine package I suggest that if there is just one of two wines in the package that you like have them give you all the bottles and put them in your cabin.  They ran out of the one we like a couple years ago before we got all our bottles so now we ask for all the bottles when we purchase the package and store them in our cabin then take them to the dining room in the evening.

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Posted (edited)

My husband and I have purchased the sommelier wine pacakage through online ordering, indicating stateroom delivery.  The mariner discount is given once onboard, but the wine has never been waiting in the stateroom.  For us, it takes +hours on embarkation day to have the wine package delivered to the stateroom.  Since the wine bottles in the package cannot be selected before the cruise, we have tried utilizing the onboard package sales attendant or the MDR staff for selection and delivery.  First, the online purchase has to be verified by numerous people.  Next, the selection of all the bottles in the package become a problem because the expectation is we will select one bottle at a time for consumption in the MDR.  Once the confirmation and selection hurdles are overcome, a manager (or mutiple managers) has to approve the delivery of the package to the stateroom.  Lastly, my husband's stateroom card is taken and we return to the stateroom to await delivery of the wine and the keycard.        

 

We were very surprised to encounter the difficult process on HAL.  We have purchased the wine package on more than one HAL ship and more than one sailing, in case it was an off day or particular to one ship.  The process was problematic each purchase.  At this point, we no longer purchase wine packages for the stateroom.

 

In theory, online wine package ordering should be a simplified process for both passenger and ship management.  In practice, it is not.  

Edited by Tradestock
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