Wine & Dine questions?

[thehogsters]

I don't know much about wine except that I like to drink it with dinner sometimes.

Is it worth the few extra bucks for the Diamond vs. the gold or platinum?

Can you bring the wine back to your room?

Do you have to wait till dinner to get your wine?

Any info on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[graciepuppy]

Which package for wine and dine depends on which wines you like to drink. You can take it back to your cabin, but you have to purchase it in the Windjammer or Dining room. If you order it on line it will be almost impossible to get a bottle on the first day until the dining room opens at night. Believe me I tried! After the first day, I took several bottles back to my cabin. If the wines you like to drink are on the gold package, that's the best value. However, if the wine you like to drink is only on the diamond package, then you need to go with diamond. I have copies of the wines in the packages from our recent Radiance cruise. If you have questions please email me at callplum @ aol dot com. I also wrote down the current prices of wines on the main menu.

[Fargo2]

We purchased the wine and dine, platinum/7 bottles, for our Serenade cruise in March, found the platinum pkg to be adequate. The first night, we let our waiter know we had the pkg, he put a sticker on our seapass, and then each night he would bring us the list to choose our wine for dinner. We intended to bring part of the bottle back to the room after dinner, but there didn't seem to be any left in the bottle each night...:) I've read that others have requested a bottle at dinner to bring back to the room, your stateroom attendant will bring you a bucket of ice, glasses, and a bottle opener if you ask. I think with this package, the wine needs to be obtained from either the main DR or the Windjammer, not from any of the bars. The WJ is open often, so you could pop in there and get one at various times of the day/evening and bring back to the room.

[robtulipe]

I would suggest that you review all the W&D packages as the same wines sometimes are offered on all three levels as is the case with the Danzante Italian pinot grinio and the Lindemans Semillon/Chardonnay, two of our favourites. Why play for the Diamond package when you can get the wines you like on the less expensive Gold pkg. One confusing thing is if you buy the W&D pkg online precruise the price indicated includes the 15% gratuity and when you buy it onboard, it is advertised without the gratuity which is than added on when you purchase this package. In both case the price is the same. Go to RC web site to see offerings.

You can see wine offered on each package by clicking on Selection at

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/giftcatalog/category/home.do;jsessionid=00003sjyD_sc56hsXA6mfp8QUg0:13hldcgo7?catCode=WINDIN

You can see the Wine Cellar price list of individual bottles at

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/giftcatalog/category/home.do;jsessionid=00003sjyD_sc56hsXA6mfp8QUg0:13hldcgo7?catCode=WINE

[cinnamon]

Thanks very much for those links. Very helpful. I hadn't realised I could find this info on the RCCL site. The prices quoted were shown in GBP for me. It has emphasised just how much costlier the wine onboard is than in restaurants here. The prices on the Gold package are between £18.50 and £26.40 per bottle. In a quite classy hotel yesterday in England, the wine list prices started at £11.95 per bottle.

 

I do understand the gratuity has already been added but that is still a big difference for an inexpensive table wine.

[megr1125]

I don't know much about wine except that I like to drink it with dinner sometimes.

 

 

 

Is it worth the few extra bucks for the Diamond vs. the gold or platinum?

 

no...the Plat 7 bottle package has the lowest average cost per bottle..click the link at the end of this post!

 

Can you bring the wine back to your room?

 

yes!!! :D

 

Do you have to wait till dinner to get your wine?

 

i think you can get it in the WJ too....not sure, never bothered!

 

Any info on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

another CCer made this chart....using this we saved probably 50 bucks over the per bottle cost by ordering ones that have the biggest savings...we got the 7 night pkg on our 12 night cruise and wound up bringing home 1 unopened bottle!

 

we aren't wine snobs, but we really like the danzante pinot griogio, the faustino rioja, the lindemanns chard, and the korbel....

 

hth!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=805524&highlight=wine+package+analysis

[xpcdoojk]

Thanks very much for those links. Very helpful. I hadn't realised I could find this info on the RCCL site. The prices quoted were shown in GBP for me. It has emphasised just how much costlier the wine onboard is than in restaurants here. The prices on the Gold package are between £18.50 and £26.40 per bottle. In a quite classy hotel yesterday in England, the wine list prices started at £11.95 per bottle.

 

I do understand the gratuity has already been added but that is still a big difference for an inexpensive table wine.

 

We have bought the wine and dine package on every cruise since it was first offered to us which for us was 2001. It is the cheapest way to have a glass of wine or two or three with dinner. Or to take a couple of bottles to someone's last sight of land party. That said it is horribly over priced. My English friends near Chelmsford always go across the English channel to France to the wine warehouses there and bring back their Mercedes estate wagon loaded to the top. O, well you are on holiday and not having wine would ruin it for me! The way RCI's wine list works, is that cheap wine is marked up about 400%. Whereas, if you buy a really premium bottle sometimes it will be less than 200%. It is frustrating to pay so much for cheap wine, but...:D

 

jc

[cinnamon]

Hi JC, good to hear from you about this. Are you still in touch with Danny and Tricia from our TA in 2007?

[xpcdoojk]

Hi JC, good to hear from you about this. Are you still in touch with Danny and Tricia from our TA in 2007?

 

I think Tricia checked in on my current roll call for the Indy this fall on the TA, to say hi, last year. I may have her email somewhere. I teased her that I got a flight deal for like $49 each way and that we might show up on her doorstep. ;)

 

We are doing some sightseeing for about 10 days before the TA. We are flying in to Brussels, because Krystal wants to show me Bruges, where she visited right after we got engaged 29 years ago without me with her sister. Then we are taking the Eurostar into London for a couple of nights to take in some plays on the West End, and to see what kind of damage she can do at Selfridges, etc. Then we are going to take the train to Bath for a couple of nights and then the night before the cruise we will stay in Salisbury to view the Cathedral and Stonehenge.

 

jc

[VickyMcG]

Here's the current choice(s) and their price analysis. DH & I prefer the diamond.

wine pkgs.pdf

[thehogsters]

Thanks for the imput guys.

 

I'm still not certain which package to get since I know zilch about wine.

 

What do you all get? Is the extra choice in Sparkling (Codorniu) any better than the Korbel? My Fiance likes Sparkling so this might be worth it.

Gold:confused:

Plat.:confused:

Diamond:confused:

[VickyMcG]

Thanks for the imput guys.

 

I'm still not certain which package to get since I know zilch about wine.

 

What do you all get? Is the extra choice in Sparkling (Codorniu) any better than the Korbel? My Fiance likes Sparkling so this might be worth it.

Gold:confused:

Plat.:confused:

Diamond:confused:

Sorry, don't know why this was submitted twice-deleted. see next entry.......................................

[VickyMcG]

Thanks for the imput guys.

 

I'm still not certain which package to get since I know zilch about wine.

 

What do you all get? Is the extra choice in Sparkling (Codorniu) any better than the Korbel? My Fiance likes Sparkling so this might be worth it.

Gold:confused:

Plat.:confused:

Diamond:confused:

Okay, if you order the platinum, you will get avg okay wines. There are a couple of better reds on the diamond like the Rioja (DH's general fav')& one better white that I like. None of the wines in these pkgs are very good but pretty good at best, some are sad. If you do not have a choosy palate, gold or plat are fine. The Cordoniu is better than the less than spectacular (& I'm being kind) Korbel. In my unhumble opinion. CHECK out the wine pkgs pdf's I sent you. Do the math. Then make your best choice ;)

[oconnor10]

I did the Diamond package last year. We are doing another cruise this year, and I might go for the platinum, but for less nights. I have a question though - does anyone know if I can go to a bar on the ship and buy a bottle of wine, preferably unopened, and bring it back to the room to drink later. I know you can request a bottle from you package to do that, but if you don't have a package - can you still do that. I really enjoy wine, but felt very limited in the package choices - even the diamond. I mostly prefer chardonnay, and the chardonnays on the package were no great bargain. Just wondering if, for me, the limitation is worth the cost savings.

 

Also, anyone have a copy of the regular wine list? I never even looked at it on my last cruise.

[oconnor10]

 

Also, anyone have a copy of the regular wine list? I never even looked at it on my last cruise.

 

Oops - found it above.

[VickyMcG]

Oops - found it above.

Note that the pdf's in this thread are of the wine pkgs only, not the "regular" wine list.