Wine Carry-on Policy

[mp006]

Ok, I give up...the search engine is down and I've looked at 5 pages for the thread about the wine. Sorry to bring this up again. If my DH and I bring on a bottle of wine that is included in HAL'S wine list that they serve, will we be able to take the bottle to dinner with us without a corkage fee? Thank you!

[ljnunley]

I believe you can bring on as much wine as you want but they do charge $15 corkage in the dining room.

[garydm]

You could probably get away with it. Tacky tho.

 

Gary

[cccole]

There is nothing "tacky" about bringing your own wine to the dining room. If you have a suite the concierge will have it delivered for you or you can just bring it to your table. There will probably be a $15 corkage fee but that is really insignificant compared to the price of the bottle of wine. There is a lot of wine brought on board by passengers in ALL categories of cabins and you should not feel that there is something wrong with you for doing so. If you are leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale there is a wine store, Total Wine, who will have your wine boxed and ready for you to pick up on your way to the ship. Total Wine has a web site and is about 5 minutes from the port, and on the way from the Ft. Lauderdale airport to the port.

 

Have a great cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[boco5]

if you bring your wine to the dining room, you pay the corkage fee whether that wine is on the ships wine list or not.

[ILoveScotland]

And there is no corkage fee if you open the wine in your cabin and drink it there or pour it in a glass and take the glass with you. Just remember to take a wine opener!

[cruisingcouple07]

My boyfriend and I were in an SA on the Zuiderdam a few months ago and we went to the totally wines store (thanks to suggestions from this board). We brought several bottles of our favourite wines and carried them through with no trouble at all. We would open a bottle pre dinner on our balcony and then carry a glass to dinner. We sometimes would order a glass at dinner or not. The prices that HAL upcharges for wine is insane!!.

We are from Canada and our prices are terrible compared to US due to taxes, but Hal upcharged a bottle we bought at totally wines for 15.00 and they wanted 54 dollars for it plus gratuity. We had no trouble buying a bucket of Stellas etc but the overcharge for wine was insane. Don't feel bad and shame on people for calling you tacky, have they not ever brought a bottle of wine to a friends house for dinner?. Similiar principle when you think about it.

I know I will open a floodgate now but I am not a person who buys an inside cabin and hopes for an upgrade. I just don't like to be fleeced by a company that I already pay good money to. Just a thought IMHO

[mybagsarepacked]

My boyfriend and I were in an SA on the Zuiderdam a few months ago and we went to the totally wines store (thanks to suggestions from this board). We brought several bottles of our favourite wines and carried them through with no trouble at all. We would open a bottle pre dinner on our balcony and then carry a glass to dinner. We sometimes would order a glass at dinner or not. The prices that HAL upcharges for wine is insane!!.

We are from Canada and our prices are terrible compared to US due to taxes, but Hal upcharged a bottle we bought at totally wines for 15.00 and they wanted 54 dollars for it plus gratuity. We had no trouble buying a bucket of Stellas etc but the overcharge for wine was insane. Don't feel bad and shame on people for calling you tacky, have they not ever brought a bottle of wine to a friends house for dinner?. Similiar principle when you think about it.

I know I will open a floodgate now but I am not a person who buys an inside cabin and hopes for an upgrade. I just don't like to be fleeced by a company that I already pay good money to. Just a thought IMHO

 

I agree wholeheartedly. I take my own wine, and also buy wine from HAL. I have taken on special wines for dinner and glad paid the corking fee.

 

I think the same idiocy holds for the "no liquor" rule. Telling people they can't bring on liquor without having it confiscated is stupid. It is a vacation!

 

I just get the martini of the day if i want liquor, but if the rules relaxed, i would totally bring a bottle of vodka or gin as well as wine. I don't understand their rules, but I comply with them. But I still think it is pedestrian for HAL to enforce such a silly rule.

 

BTW, we always book an inside cabin - because we like the complete darkness! We sleep like babies on the boat. We have been upgraded, but if we aren't we don't care because we actually prefer inside rooms. :-)

[cccole]

cruisingcouple2007 - It is a bit unbelievable how arrogant some people can be isn't it? We loved our week on the Zuiderdam and we also enjoyed wine in our suite and had it sent to the dining room. The mark up of wine on HAL is not 100% but more like 300%. As you say no one should be labeled as tacky for bringing their own wine and/or champagne on board. Cherie

[garydm]

cccole-Sorry, but if the intent is to avoid an established charge then it is tacky. We too bring at least a case of wine onboard, but always pay the established corkage fee when bringing wine into the dining room. HAL's exhorbitant wine charges do not excuse anything. It is interesting that one would consider smuggling a like bottle into the dining room with the intent of avoiding a fee when this person would never consider changing a price on an item in a retail store. The net effect is the same.

 

Gary

[cccole]

I apologize if MP006 said they wanted to smuggle wine onboard. I didn't get that impression. I think that even if someone brought something onboard that was on the wine list the dining room would graciously serve it to them with just the corkage fee. I personally had other things to deal with before I purchased wine for our Zuiderdam cruise then to check what was or was not offered by HAL. I think that most think it is not tacky to take your own wine on board and OOPS if you bring something that HAL offers. Oh Well!!!!! I hope that there are worse things that happen in the world. Cherie

[jtl513]

I apologize if MP006 said they wanted to smuggle wine onboard. I didn't get that impression. I think that even if someone brought something onboard that was on the wine list the dining room would graciously serve it to them with just the corkage fee.

The way I read it is that the intent is not "smuggle" wine, but to specifically choose a brand/type that will not incur the corkage fee.

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Ok, I give up...the search engine is down and I've looked at 5 pages for the thread about the wine. Sorry to bring this up again. If my DH and I bring on a bottle of wine that is included in HAL'S wine list that they serve, will we be able to take the bottle to dinner with us without a corkage fee? Thank you!

Bring your favorite wines and pay the corkage fee and enjoy. Life is too short not to drink great wine.

[cccole]

Jtl513 - you're correct. I just assume that ANY bottle of wine that you bring to the dining room will have the $15 charge. I am sure there is no way to avoid the corkage fee, you just have to decide if the fee is beneficial to you. Thank you for reading the original post more closely than I did:) Cherie

[cruisingcouple07]

My Bags are Packed....

Great perspective about the darkness in the inside cabins that I had never considered!. :)

 

BTW, we always book an inside cabin - because we like the complete darkness! We sleep like babies on the boat. We have been upgraded, but if we aren't we don't care because we actually prefer inside rooms. :-)

[allen.crawford]

We will be stopping at Total Wines to buy a case of wine to bring aboard with us on our next cruise. Like our last cruise, we brought our own wine aboard and paid the corkage fee. We do feel the corkage fee is a bit excessive like the 300% markup on the wine.

 

Just by contrast, we went on one cruise with *gasp* Costa. Their mark-up on wine was far more reasonable. So we bought their wine package (which also included a few bottles of water). If HAL was more reasonable on the markup for their wines, we likely would do the same. But maybe HAL prefers passengers bring their own wine and pay the corkage.

[cage keeper]

I agree. If HAL had more resonable prices they would sell huge amounts of wine. I think most people would rather not carry on their own. The wine I drink (and I'm not really that picky) is way out there:( . I could buy a case for a little more than they want for 2 bottles. I will pay the corkage fee when we dine at the PG, but for the dining room I will most likley carry a glass (a large glass) from my cabin.:D

[caviargal]

There is nothing "tacky" about bringing your own wine to the dining room. I!

 

It is tacky to bring a bottle specifically to avoid a corkage fee IMO which is what the OP asked.

 

We bring a case on a 7 night HAL cruise and happily pay the corkage when we bring it to a public area. We would never bring a wine on the list to try and avoid what is a generous and reasonable policy.

 

Hopefully, others will also respect that HAL is more gracious than other lines in this regard and not ruin it for the rest of us.

[klr]

Hi, were is the list of the wine packages you can buy? The search function is down again.

[Spokaneman]

In the big picture, $15 corkage fee is minimal, compared to the alternative.

We will definitely be bringing some of our favorites from home,while our travelling companions will be doing one of the packages, so we will get the best of all worlds.

For those that have shopped at Total Wines, do you know if they have a reasonable representation of Washington wines? We are a bit spoiled by the wonderful wineries we have in our backyard, and if we can just buy them there without lugging ours cross-country that would be MUCH simpler.

[klr]

Totalwine.com will show you what is available. The web site states they delivers orders of $200 or more but the FLL store does not which means I would have to take a cab to get the wine.

[Spokaneman]

Thanks...checked it out...nothing in the way of Washington wines. Oh well-guess I am lugging mine to Florida.

[cccole]

We brought some of our favorite California wines with us and just packed them in our suitcases. I didn't learn about Total Wine until we were on the cruise. If you are staying in a hotel by the port in Ft. Lauderdale there is a trolley that goes right to Total Wine, or you can have your taxi stop by on the way to the port and you can just run in and pick up your box. Our taxi made a stop for us on the way to the port at Walgreens and he really did not seem to mind. Cherie

[mybagsarepacked]

Totalwine.com will show you what is available. The web site states they delivers orders of $200 or more but the FLL store does not which means I would have to take a cab to get the wine.

 

Perhaps I am having an off day. I am searching totalwine dot com and can find no listing of wines that are offered. What am I missing? Is there a button and/or link on the front page I don't see? I would like to investigate getting wine from them for my upcoming cruise, once I land in Ft. Lauderdale, rather than having to check wine in my suitcase.

 

Thanks for any suggestions...

[dogo88]

We bring Black Box wines onboard for our room and buy the wine cards for dinner. Black Box wines are good quality, less weight and less space.

 

As far as the markup on HAL with their wines, I too agree it's high. I mean Sutter Home wines go for about $6-7 at home, but onboard we're looking at $27ish.

 

Dan