Wine on board

[Pokeynose]

Thanks Peter, one less thing to pack. Barb:)

[cocos]

The package of 20 glasses of wine for $77.63 is interesting. Do you purchase it at front desk, or at the dining room? Also, ¿can wife and me share the package at the dining romm, like 10 glasses for her and 100 (:p I mean 10) for me?

[taxmantoo]

The package of 20 glasses of wine for $77.63 is interesting. Do you purchase it at front desk, or at the dining room? Also, ¿can wife and me share the package at the dining romm, like 10 glasses for her and 100 (:p I mean 10) for me?

 

You can share without any problems anywhere on the ship where wine is available except maybe Pinnacle Grill where the wine list is different.

[CowPrincess]

The package of 20 glasses of wine for $77.63 is interesting. Do you purchase it at front desk, or at the dining room? Also, ¿can wife and me share the package at the dining romm, like 10 glasses for her and 100 (:p I mean 10) for me?

 

Yes, you can share the wine card -- it is a punch card, so when you get a glass of wine, the server punches the card. We share one with no problem, and shared it 3 ways one time.... of course we needed another one before THAT cruise was over :D

 

You can buy it from the HAL website, or you can purchase it in the dining room or in one of the lounges. We've purchased from the website, in the dining room, AND in one of the lounges.

[FloridaAdGuy]

You can check a case of it but beware, some of it may break. We had one broken bottle in our case.

 

So at the risk of looking like a major party boy, am I allowed to carry a case of wine when first coming on board and not checking it with the butterfingered handlers? I live on a horse farm and wrestle with 60 pound hay bales often...a case or two of wine will be nothing to sherpa along if it's allowed. That said, this cowboy would start crying if some of his specialty wines showed up broken. :(

[fatcat04]

Peter:

 

Not trying to be argumentative here but in saying "HAL is very generous in thier wine policy" what do you mean?? Generous how? You buy your own bottle and they charge you $18 to uncork it, which part of that do you personally find generous, or is there something I am missing?? :)

 

Thanks

 

 

The fact that no other cruise line allows you to buy a fantastic a case of $15 a bottle wine that on any other cruise line (or on HAL for that matter) would cost you $40+ grat (and that is even if that bottle of wine is available on board) and ONLY charges you $18 to uncork it in the DR or Lido so you can enjoy it with your meal... that is EXCEPTIONALLY generous to me considering the alternative and the fact that I end up saving quite a bit of $. We are wine people. We took on board 18 bottles for a 7 day cruise recently. Having our own wine on board was one of the highlights of our cruise.

[brownie1005]

The package of 20 glasses of wine for $77.63 is interesting. Do you purchase it at front desk, or at the dining room? Also, ¿can wife and me share the package at the dining romm, like 10 glasses for her and 100 (:p I mean 10) for me?

 

 

We bought the 20 glass card from the wine steward in the dining room on the first night and shared without a problem.

 

Does anyone know if the person you buy the drink cards from gets some sort of "credit" for the number of cards they sell? If so, might be nicer to buy on the ship vs online...

[fatcat04]

So at the risk of looking like a major party boy, am I allowed to carry a case of wine when first coming on board and not checking it with the butterfingered handlers? I live on a horse farm and wrestle with 60 pound hay bales often...a case or two of wine will be nothing to sherpa along if it's allowed. That said, this cowboy would start crying if some of his specialty wines showed up broken. :(

 

Yep... we used one of those cheap folding hand trucks you get from an office supply store like Office Max. Put two boxes of wine on it and used bungies to secure them. Pulled that sucker all the way to our stateroom without any issue. As easy as rolly luggage.

[FloridaAdGuy]

Yep... we used one of those cheap folding hand trucks you get from an office supply store like Office Max. Put two boxes of wine on it and used bungies to secure them. Pulled that sucker all the way to our stateroom without any issue. As easy as rolly luggage.

 

Now these are the folks I want to hang with on HAL! Oh wait, I'm trying not to appear like a major party boy...have to remind myself I'm on HAL and not Carnival. :p Thanks for the info!!!

[Boytjie]

So at the risk of looking like a major party boy, am I allowed to carry a case of wine when first coming on board and not checking it with the butterfingered handlers? I live on a horse farm and wrestle with 60 pound hay bales often...a case or two of wine will be nothing to sherpa along if it's allowed. That said, this cowboy would start crying if some of his specialty wines showed up broken. :(

 

Yi-ha! Grab that case (or two) and step right up to the the carry-on luggage scanner. As long as it fits through there and you can manage it on yoru own, it should not be a problem. :D

 

(They will make you take your hat off, though)

[canadarocks]

We were on a Western Caribbean cruise in March and hubby didn't trust the luggage guys with our box of 9 bottles. So he schlepped that thing all the way:D:... we got smart in about a minute, and one of us stayed with the box (on the floor) at the end of each line as it crisscrossed, while the other stayed in the line. We were the hit of the line, everybody wanted to know which cabin we were in and what time they should come over! ;):D

 

When we head to Alaska this summer, we'll either invest in a lightweight hand truck or repeat the same Caribbean method!

[fatcat04]

We were on a Western Caribbean cruise in March and hubby didn't trust the luggage guys with our box of 9 bottles. So he schlepped that thing all the way:D:... we got smart in about a minute, and one of us stayed with the box (on the floor) at the end of each line as it crisscrossed, while the other stayed in the line. We were the hit of the line, everybody wanted to know which cabin we were in and what time they should come over! ;):D

 

When we head to Alaska this summer, we'll either invest in a lightweight hand truck or repeat the same Caribbean method!

 

I think our hand truck cost $20 and was well worth it. That setup was very very handy!! We too had more than a few folks look at us and ask where and when the party was and if they were invited. :D

[canadarocks]

I think our hand truck cost $20 and was well worth it. That setup was very very handy!! We too had more than a few folks look at us and ask where and when the party was and if they were invited. :D

 

Will it fit in a suitcase?:)

[dandro]

I'm jealous of all of you that can schlepp all that wine onboard. We are going to be flying into Seattle, then taking the HAL transfer to port...no time to buy wine. :(

[canadarocks]

I'm jealous of all of you that can schlepp all that wine onboard. We are going to be flying into Seattle, then taking the HAL transfer to port...no time to buy wine. :(

 

Really? We landed in Tampa (we're from Canada) and stopped at a place called Total Wine that I had learned about here on CruiseCritic. I had preordered our wine and they had it boxed and ready to go.... worked like a charm! Is there no place in Seattle that you could do the same sort of thing?

[dandro]

Really? We landed in Tampa (we're from Canada) and stopped at a place called Total Wine that I had learned about here on CruiseCritic. I had preordered our wine and they had it boxed and ready to go.... worked like a charm! Is there no place in Seattle that you could do the same sort of thing?

 

I don't think the shuttle driver would stop at a store. Did you do a HAL transfer or take a taxi on your own?

[canadarocks]

I don't think the shuttle driver would stop at a store. Did you do a HAL transfer or take a taxi on your own?

 

We went on our own. It was really easy and the extra stop only cost us about $10 including the extra tip! ;)

[fatcat04]

Will it fit in a suitcase?:)

 

It did fit in a large (not jumbo) suitcase but the wheels make it quite heavy so plan for that.