Bring wine on board?

[wcook]

You know what I like about $5 bottles of wine? It’s wine. To be honest, I think a few folks on this board would benefit from a glass or two. 

[Aquahound]

I can only recite RCI's policy because they are the only line I have sailed post-COVID.  You can take aboard 1 bottle of wine per drinking-age adult and if the wine is for cabin consumption, there is no corkage fee.  

[clo]

3 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Sure...just recommend using a site that is more likely to be  wrong.

 

That site is quite reputable. I'm sure they're wrong at time just like the cruise lines and cruise critic are.

[mjkacmom]

16 hours ago, clo said:

So how would they know if you're drinking wine in your cabin?

You get charged the corkage fee before boarding, they don’t care where you drink it, cabin or restaurants, $15 a bottle, unless you have the drink package then no charge.

[mjkacmom]

14 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Wrong!!  You are allowed 1 bottle per person on almost every cruise line except for some high class lines that have no limitations..  Read the wine details on whatever line you are cruising on.  Any more and you pay corkage.  For those who say how would you know remember that they check your carry on stuff when you board the ship.  They will know.

 

People who complain about corkage fees should try bringing your own wine into a land based restaurant.  You will have to pay a corkage fee there as sale of wine is a major profit center to any restaurant.

 

An additional point about corkage fee.  The more expensive wine you like to drink the more you save by bringing on your own wine.  Consider 4 options.

 

Option 1 - you don't want to bring wine on board and you don't want to spend more than $15 on board price for one.  At this shipboard price you are drinking undrinkable swill so don't even bother.

 

Option 2 - you drink $15 per bottle at home.  This $15 wine will cost at least $30 on the ship.  If you bring the wine on board you will pay $20 corkage fee plus the $15 wine cost for a total of $35 to bring it on versus the cost of $30 if bought on the ship.  You are $5 better of to buy it on the ship.

 

Option 3 - you drink $25 per bottle at home.  This $25 wine will cost at least $50 on the ship.  If you bring the wine on board you will pay $20 corkage fee plus the $25 wine cost for a total of $45 to bring it on versus the cost of $50 if bought on the ship.  You are $5 better of to buy it on the ship.

 

Option 4 - you drink $50 per bottle at home.  This $50 wine will cost at least $100 on the ship.  If you bring the wine on board you will pay $20 corkage fee plus the $50 wine cost for a total of $70 to bring it on versus the cost of $100 if bought on the ship.  You are $30 better of to buy it on the ship.

 

In other words the more expensive the wine the better off you are not buying on the ship.  Also if you are used to buying really good wine at home you will have an educated palate and they might not have a wine that you like on the ship.

 

Hope this helps.

 

DON

You can bring as many bottles as you’d like on NCL.

[leaveitallbehind]

46 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

You get charged the corkage fee before boarding, they don’t care where you drink it, cabin or restaurants, $15 a bottle, unless you have the drink package then no charge.

That may be the case with some cruise lines but that has never been the case with RCL or Celebrity. We have never been charged a fee prior to boarding.  If it is enforced (which varies) a corkage fee is only charged if you bring a bottle to a dining or other venue that also serves alcohol. It also does not apply to wine provided in your stateroom by the cruise line. You can bring a glass to those venues without a charge.  You can also drink it anywhere else on the ship and not just your stateroom without a charge.  This is based on many cruises experience with the above referenced cruise lines since the wine policy has been in place.

Edited August 18 by leaveitallbehind

[Cruzaholic41]

52 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

You get charged the corkage fee before boarding, they don’t care where you drink it, cabin or restaurants, $15 a bottle, unless you have the drink package then no charge.

Sounds like you’re describing NCL, the masters of nickel and dime. As others have stated, many lines do not charge corkage for carry-ons unless the bottles are taken to a public lounge to be poured. 

[Hlitner]

Getting back to the OP's original question, the policy on bringing liquids (including wine) aboard, vary by cruise line of which there are dozens.  If the OP wants a good answer they should post the question on the specific cruise line blog.   We cruise on many lines including some who do not allow any liquids to be brought aboard and others who allow passengers to bring just about anything from cases of wine to bottle of liquor.

 

Hank

[mjkacmom]

52 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

That may be the case with some cruise lines but that has never been the case with RCL or Celebrity. We have never been charged a fee prior to boarding.  If it is enforced (which varies) a corkage fee is only charged if you bring a bottle to a dining or other venue that also serves alcohol. It also does not apply to wine provided in your stateroom by the cruise line. You can bring a glass to those venues without a charge.  You can also drink it anywhere else on the ship and not just your stateroom without a charge.  This is based on many cruises experience with the above referenced cruise lines since the wine policy has been in place.

I was replying to a post saying it is NCL that charges corkage before boarding, plus I mentioned NCL earlier. I’m aware that other lines are different. I prefer the $15 corkage over only bring able to bring one bottle onboard. Now that NCL offers FAS for $21.50 a day for unlimited alcoholic drinks and no corkage fee for unlimited bottles being able to be brought onboard, even better.

[njhorseman]

50 minutes ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

Sounds like you’re describing NCL, the masters of nickel and dime. As others have stated, many lines do not charge corkage for carry-ons unless the bottles are taken to a public lounge to be poured. 

Those "masters of the nickel and dime" actually allow you to bring unlimited amounts of wine on board with no corkage fee if you have their beverage package. I don't believe any other mass market line has a similar waiver of corkage fees...not to mention an unlimited quantity to be brought on board. So where's the nickel and diming there?

 

In reading Holland America's FAQs it appears that they also charge corkage regardless of where the wine is  consumed...and their corkage fee is $5 more than NCL's...and of course they don't have the corkage fee waiver either..so Holland America should be accused of nickel and diming, not NCL. 

 

Oh yeah...it's so easy to accuse NCL of nickel and diming...until you start looking at some facts.

[njhorseman]

38 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Getting back to the OP's original question, the policy on bringing liquids (including wine) aboard, vary by cruise line of which there are dozens.  If the OP wants a good answer they should post the question on the specific cruise line blog.   We cruise on many lines including some who do not allow any liquids to be brought aboard and others who allow passengers to bring just about anything from cases of wine to bottle of liquor.

 

Hank

That recommendation was made in post #2...the first reply to the OP's question, so the question was addressed and correctly answered long ago.

Edited August 18 by njhorseman

[Cruzaholic41]

4 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Those "masters of the nickel and dime" actually allow you to bring unlimited amounts of wine on board with no corkage fee if you have their beverage package. I don't believe any other mass market line has a similar waiver of corkage fees...not to mention an unlimited quantity to be brought on board. So where's the nickel and diming there?

 

In reading Holland America's FAQs it appears that they also charge corkage regardless of where the wine is  consumed...and their corkage fee is $5 more than NCL's...and of course they don't have the corkage fee waiver either..so Holland America should be accused of nickel and diming, not NCL. 

 

Oh yeah...it's so easy to accuse NCL of nickel and diming...until you start looking at some facts.

You mean the cruise line that charges daily gratuities on the “free” beverage package?  Lol. Nah, they don’t nickel and dime. 😂. What a joke. 

[njhorseman]

34 minutes ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

You mean the cruise line that charges daily gratuities on the “free” beverage package?  Lol. Nah, they don’t nickel and dime. 😂. What a joke. 

Some simple math comparing beverage package costs shows that  you are wrong.

The $21.80 per day gratuity charge on NCL's included beverage package is a fraction of what you pay for a basic alcoholic beverage package and gratuities on any other mass market cruise line, and once again,  NCL allows you to bring unlimited wine on board with no corkage fee, something no other mass market line permits.

[Cruzaholic41]

3 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Some simple math comparing beverage package costs shows that  you are wrong.

The $21.80 per day gratuity charge on NCL's included beverage package is a fraction of what you pay for a basic alcoholic beverage package and gratuities on any other mass market cruise line, and once again,  NCL allows you to bring unlimited wine on board with no corkage fee, something no other mass market line permits.

So, now we’re going to pretend that NCL’s fares with the “included” beverage package is the same price as their base fares that don’t include it. Now, we’re going to pretend the daily gratuity is all you pay. What’s next?  Pretending that water is included in the beverage package?  Specialty coffees?  Sorry, but there is no defending the Frontier Airlines of the seas. 

[leaveitallbehind]

9 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

I was replying to a post saying it is NCL that charges corkage before boarding, plus I mentioned NCL earlier. I’m aware that other lines are different. I prefer the $15 corkage over only bring able to bring one bottle onboard. Now that NCL offers FAS for $21.50 a day for unlimited alcoholic drinks and no corkage fee for unlimited bottles being able to be brought onboard, even better.

Sorry.  I didn't see that in your post to which I was responding.  But either way I wouldn't like having to pay a corkage fee upfront.  IMO what would be the point of being able to bring wine on board that perhaps you would consume in your stateroom to pay a corkage fee where it is not being opened, served, or stored for you? That is, after all the point of a corkage fee.

 

But different lines have differing policies.  Fortunately we are not big wine drinkers to have that matter.

Edited August 19 by leaveitallbehind

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

So, now we’re going to pretend that NCL’s fares with the “included” beverage package is the same price as their base fares that don’t include it. Now, we’re going to pretend the daily gratuity is all you pay. What’s next?  Pretending that water is included in the beverage package?  Specialty coffees?  Sorry, but there is no defending the Frontier Airlines of the seas. 

I've cruised on probably a dozen cruise lines over the course of more than 35 years, ranging from mass market lines to what I would call upper premium/lower level luxury. In all that time on all those cruise lines over more cruises than I can even count or remember at this point I've never seen the price of a cruise broken down into $A for food, $B for beverages, $C for officers salary, $D for loan amortization, $E for corporate office salaries, $F for fuel, $G for the cabin, etc.

What I see is the total price of the cruise, and that's what you see too.

 

Let's say I'm booking a mass market cruise and have a base fare and port taxes budget of $2,000 per person. I see an NCL cruise that I like that costs $2,000 per person. I also see a cruise on Royal Caribbean that I like costing $2,000 per person. I want to add a basic alcoholic beverage to my booking. Which cruise will cost less when I do that? The answer is very simply NCL...and that price gap is even more significantly in NCL's favor if I want to bring my own wine on board. After all, the original question asked on this thread is about bringing wine on board.

Edited August 19 by njhorseman

[mjkacmom]

11 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Sorry.  I didn't see that in your post to which I was responding.  But either way I wouldn't like having to pay a corkage fee upfront.  IMO what would be the point of being able to bring wine on board that perhaps you would consume in your stateroom to pay a corkage fee where it is not being opened, served, or stored for you? That is, after all the point of a corkage fee.

 

But different lines have differing policies.  Fortunately we are not big wine drinkers to have that matter.

The term “corkage fee” means service charge, it really has nothing to do with uncorking the bottle, but to make up for revenue lost by not selling the bottle to the customer.

[leaveitallbehind]

3 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

The term “corkage fee” means service charge, it really has nothing to do with uncorking the bottle, but to make up for revenue lost by not selling the bottle to the customer.

Absolutely - the goal of the corkage fee is to recoup the loss in revenue from alcohol not being served in that venue.  But the service portion included in the service charge as I understand it is to open, serve, and store said bottle as required in that venue. At least that is what we have been told in those venues. 

 

Either way I would not like to be charged that fee upon boarding as when we have brought wine on board (which not being big wine drinkers as mentioned, does not happen with regularity) we typically would usually consume it with friends on our balcony or anywhere except the dining venues as we prefer other cocktails with dinner. 

 

It might be something that works with you or others and that's fine.  But it doesn't work for me and is just a policy I don't agree with. JMO. Fortunately prepayment of corkage fees is not a policy on our preferred cruise lines.

Edited August 19 by leaveitallbehind

[mjkacmom]

12 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Absolutely - the goal of the corkage fee is to recoup the loss in revenue from alcohol not being served in that venue.  But the service portion included in the service charge as I understand it is to open, serve, and store said bottle as required in that venue. At least that is what we have been told in those venues. 

 

Either way I would not like to be charged that fee upon boarding as when we have brought wine on board (which not being big wine drinkers as mentioned, does not happen with regularity) we typically would usually consume it with friends on our balcony or anywhere except the dining venues as we prefer other cocktails with dinner. 

 

It might be something that works with you or others and that's fine.  But it doesn't work for me and is just a policy I don't agree with. JMO. Fortunately prepayment of corkage fees is not a policy on our preferred cruise lines.

Are you allowed unlimited without corkage?

[XBGuy]

4 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

The term “corkage fee” means service charge, it really has nothing to do with uncorking the bottle, but to make up for revenue lost by not selling the bottle to the customer.

 

In that case, if I bring a corkscrew and pull the cork myself, or, if I bring a bottle with a screwcap and open it myself, are you saying that I shouldn't be charged a corkage fee?  I think most restaurants (on land or sea) would add that their corkage fee also includes providing clean stemware for the table.  

 

Allowing a restaurant to try to recover missed revenue does not sound evil to me.  Why shouldn't they do so?

 

All the handwringing over corkage fees seems a bit silly to me.  I am a wine geek.  I appreciate that Princess, for example, allows me to carry on all the wine that I want.  I am happy to pay $20 per bottle corkage fee to be able to drink what I know is excellent wine.  (More than once I have impressed restaurant management and staff by sharing some of my wine with them.)

 

Would I be happier if they didn't charge me?

 

Sure. 

 

Here is how I look at it.  It is their ball.  They make the rules.  As long as I want to play the game using their ball, I am happy to follow their rules.

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

Are you allowed unlimited without corkage?

No.  But that is not the point.  You seem to want to convince me that one is better than the other.  I have said - an will say again - that we are not big wine drinkers and very infrequently bring wine on board.  So the fact that in the rare instances that we do, we can only bring two bottles on board is fine with us.  We also don't pay any corkage fees for that privilege. And since we don't typically bring it to venues where a fee could be imposed, we aren't charged a fee on board.  So for us the two bottles of wine we can bring on board is usually totally without fee for us to enjoy on board. (And BTW, the corkage fees are not always enforced anyway in our experience).

 

That is why I say what works for you is fine.  Allow what works for me to be equally as fine without challenge. Whether or not one is argued to be better than another is irrelevant to me as the policies in place, as said before, with our preferred cruise line is what works for us.

 

Enjoy your cruises. 

Edited August 19 by leaveitallbehind

[mjkacmom]

21 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

In that case, if I bring a corkscrew and pull the cork myself, or, if I bring a bottle with a screwcap and open it myself, are you saying that I shouldn't be charged a corkage fee?  I think most restaurants (on land or sea) would add that their corkage fee also includes providing clean stemware for the table.  

 

Allowing a restaurant to try to recover missed revenue does not sound evil to me.  Why shouldn't they do so?

 

All the handwringing over corkage fees seems a bit silly to me.  I am a wine geek.  I appreciate that Princess, for example, allows me to carry on all the wine that I want.  I am happy to pay $20 per bottle corkage fee to be able to drink what I know is excellent wine.  (More than once I have impressed restaurant management and staff by sharing some of my wine with them.)

 

Would I be happier if they didn't charge me?

 

Sure. 

 

Here is how I look at it.  It is their ball.  They make the rules.  As long as I want to play the game using their ball, I am happy to follow their rules.

I’m not sure why you quoted me, I see nothing wrong with a business that sells wine charging a fee if someone brings their own wine as a service charge. Restaurants will also charge a cake fee to those bringing in their own dessert. 

[mjkacmom]

17 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

No.  But that is not the point.  You seem to want to convince me that one is better than the other.  I have said - an will say again - that we are not big wine drinkers and very infrequently bring wine on board.  So the fact that in the rare instances that we do, we can only bring two bottles on board is fine with us.  We also don't pay any corkage fees for that privilege. And since we don't typically bring it to venues where a fee could be imposed, we aren't charged a fee on board.  So for us the two bottles of wine we can bring on board is usually totally without fee for us to enjoy on board. (And BTW, the corkage fees are not always enforced anyway in our experience).

 

That is why I say what works for you is fine.  Allow what works for me to be equally as fine without challenge. Whether or not one is argued to be better than another is irrelevant to me as the policies in place, as said before, with our preferred cruise line is what works for us.

 

Enjoy your cruises. 

I definitely bring on more than 2 bottles.

[XBGuy]

59 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

I’m not sure why you quoted me, I see nothing wrong with a business that sells wine charging a fee if someone brings their own wine as a service charge. Restaurants will also charge a cake fee to those bringing in their own dessert. 

 

I interpreted your comment about restaurants trying to recover missed revenue as a negative.  Rereading your comment, I can see that I put my own spin on your words.

 

I apologize.

 

However, restaurants also do justify charging a corkage fee by citing the fact that they provide clean stemware for the table--not just open the bottle.

 

I had never heard of a cake fee.  Very interesting.

[mjkacmom]

54 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

I interpreted your comment about restaurants trying to recover missed revenue as a negative.  Rereading your comment, I can see that I put my own spin on your words.

 

I apologize.

 

However, restaurants also do justify charging a corkage fee by citing the fact that they provide clean stemware for the table--not just open the bottle.

 

I had never heard of a cake fee.  Very interesting.

It’s pretty common here if you want to bring a birthday cake. My friend was told a 2 tiered cake for 50 would be $750, she happily paid the cake fee for the $50 cake she brought.