Purchasing wine in Copenhagen?

[noteasilyimpressed]

For those familiar with Copenhagen, we would like to purchase a couple of bottles of good red wine to enjoy with our meals on board the Eurodam. Does Copenhagen have any good 'wine shops' where we might be able to purchase some? Is the price going to be significantly more than just buying it on board? (HA lets you take wine onboard in your carryon for no charge, and we're big wine aficionados, so we figured this might be a good opportunity to purchase some before boarding).

 

TIA for any answers!:)

[bcirish]

Check the post for the posters who lives in Copenhagen - that would be your best bet. Unless you are going to be there a few days early and then you can look around for yourself. Take your money with you - we found Copenhagen prices on everything to be very high.

[P&C]

To add to your question....... When we set sail from Barcelona in 07 we went through the check in process , walking onto the ship we then went through a duty free shop!!! and we were able to get wine, water etc to take on board (a very pleasent suprise!) is this the same at Copenhagan?

 

PS. We just purchased the mandatory 2 bottles.

[Danish viking]

I don´t think that there are any duty free shops at the port in Copenhagen.

 

About the wine, if you look some pages back i posted some addresses in a thread.

 

I think that the title also was purchasing wine in Copenhagen or something like that.

[Rickey 88]

I agree that wines and liquors are heavily taxed in Denmark and throughout Northern Europe. Actually, I doubt that there are any "duty-free" shops anywhere in Copenhagen.

 

The only place to purchase without paying a heavy tax would be on one of the ferries from Norway or Sweden OR at Kastrup airport when you arrive.

 

You could wait until you land and make your purchase before you exit the airport, or depending upon your flight, you might purchase at an airport duty-free on your way over....

[chcats]

I put up a similar post on April 8th so you might want to check out the responses, To summarize, one person said that in 2002 wine could be purchased at a grocery store near the train station. Another suggestion was that wine could be purchased in the basement of department stores. Don't buy wine in the small wine stores since they don't keep it properly refrigerated. Finally, several people said they simply bring their own wine on board since prices are very high in Copenhagen, and even with the corkage fee it is cheaper than what the cruise line charges. We are thinking of bringing our own wine and if we can pick up a few bottles in some of the ports along the way we will try to do that. Also you could purchase a wine card on the ship, where you prepay for a certain number of glasses of wine. These prices seem to be very reasonable although it is only for their house wines which one has to first try and see if they like these wines.

[noteasilyimpressed]

LOL, I'd love to bring some wines from the US, but I think it impractical to pack/ship them, and we arrive directly in Copenhagen from DC (me thinks the wine exceeds the 3 oz liquid requirement in a clear plastic bag, yes?;)) so the only option to purchase wine is in Copenhagen before boarding. I guess we could also wait and do so in Berlin the next day, but that involves schlepping the wine all day and taking it on a train back...so pretty much we're relegated to purchasing it on the ship unless we buy it in Copenhagen.

 

I guess I've never paid attention to duty free shops--I thought they only had liquor, not wine!

 

Thanks for all who replied. I think we'll try to find a reasonable dep't store wine section and maybe also check out the addresses some have posted previously when this was asked. Alternatively I hope there is some at Duty-free in CPH. I saw the listing of the house wines offered by HA and ..well, they did not impress me. Ha ha!:o

[LobstersLass]

LOL, I'd love to bring some wines from the US, but I think it impractical to pack/ship them, and we arrive directly in Copenhagen from DC (me thinks the wine exceeds the 3 oz liquid requirement in a clear plastic bag, yes?;)) so the only option to purchase wine is in Copenhagen before boarding. I guess we could also wait and do so in Berlin the next day, but that involves schlepping the wine all day and taking it on a train back...so pretty much we're relegated to purchasing it on the ship unless we buy it in Copenhagen.

 

I guess I've never paid attention to duty free shops--I thought they only had liquor, not wine!

 

Thanks for all who replied. I think we'll try to find a reasonable dep't store wine section and maybe also check out the addresses some have posted previously when this was asked. Alternatively I hope there is some at Duty-free in CPH. I saw the listing of the house wines offered by HA and ..well, they did not impress me. Ha ha!:o

The 3oz rule only applies to liquids that you are taking from land-side through security to air-side in the airport. Once you are air-side you can buy whatever you like (so long as it's within the Duty Free limits). You'll be perfectly fine buying Duty Free wine in DC and bringing it into Copenhagen.

 

I suspect that it will also be the cheapest option for you.

Of course, anything you buy will need to be part of your hand-luggage allowance on the plane as you will already have been parted from your suitcase.

[DebbieS732]

The 3oz rule only applies to liquids that you are taking from land-side through security to air-side in the airport. Once you are air-side you can buy whatever you like (so long as it's within the Duty Free limits). You'll be perfectly fine buying Duty Free wine in DC and bringing it into Copenhagen.

 

I suspect that it will also be the cheapest option for you.

Of course, anything you buy will need to be part of your hand-luggage allowance on the plane as you will already have been parted from your suitcase.

 

I don't know if you can do this in DC but we've done this before (bought liquor in the duty-free shop once we cleared security). They usually box it up and give it to the people at the gate to put in the holding area with the rest of the carry-on luggage that won't fit into the cabin (luggage checked at the gate). When you leave the plane at your destination, they will give it to you.

[12B@C]

For those familiar with Copenhagen, we would like to purchase a couple of bottles of good red wine to enjoy with our meals on board the Eurodam. Does Copenhagen have any good 'wine shops' where we might be able to purchase some? Is the price going to be significantly more than just buying it on board?

 

To come back to your question: I think you will find that 'good wine' in Copenhagen will be expensive. Plus you will have a corkage fee if you bring it to the dining room of most cruise ships.

If, however, you start your cruise in England or Amsterdam (perhaps even Rotterdam), you would be better off to buy your wine there.

But also keep in mind that wine claimed to be 'California wine' is not necessarily 'good wine'. It is produced in large stainless steel vats, then shipped in drums to Europe where it is bottled and sold as 'California Wine' with labels that have no counterpart in that state.

If you know your French wine (or now about imports from Chile, Australia, etc) you might have another look, but the same might apply nowadays.

[bcirish]

No duty free shops where the Eurodam is docked ( seems to me it is Freeport ) there were some shops where RCL was docked ( closer to the Little Mermaid statue) when we were there in May but do not remember a Wine or liquor store in that row of stores but there may have been one there. The wine cards are for house wine only - rather a narrow choice if you are particular about wines. We were offered several packages when we boarded for more expensive wines but we had brought our own ( got on in Florida) so I did not really pay attention. We drank our case in our room and on the veranda. Is your flight direct from DC? We were flying home to Chicago from Edinburgh ( spent a couple of days there after the cruise) and decided to buy our Scotch in the duty free shop but the fellow in the shop( bless him) discouraged us because although we had a connecting flight on Aerlingus in Dublin - we had to go through security again and we would not have been able to take the scotch with us- that would have been a shocker or as we joked - we would have had to drink it before going through security and then they would not have let us through security because we had had too much to drink. I have heard from others that they have successfully packed wine in their suitcase with sufficient padding and sealed in plastic in case of issues- they used a bag that they were going to use for souvenirs on the way home and used lots of packing - no clothes- that way when they got there- they had wine to start and a suitcase for souvenirs.

Heads up - are you going to Berlin from Waremunde? It is a seaside resort town and I am sure you could find something there and the town is within easy walking distance from the ships- your only issue would be what time you get back from Berlin - are you on your own there or what. Good luck and enjoy your trip!

[camella]

The best bet is to take your own in a styrofoam shipper. We have done this repeatedly when we go to Europe. You are allowed to take 4 liters of wine into the UK and other European countries. So just pack them in a styrofoam shipper and check them as luggage. Otherwise, you can put them in bubble wrap and put them inside a 2 gallon zip lock bag just in case anything breaks, and that way you will already have them packed for the ship. You are usually allowed 2 bottles per cabin so you may have to make some friends fast if you want to take more than your two :) We usually hand carry two and check a couple more in our luggage for the ship. Hope this helps! Linda

[noteasilyimpressed]

Thanks guys! I'm going to look into duty free in DC and potentially add a couple bottles there to either my carryon or my luggage. We're hopefully only at two luggage pieces pp (plus carryons), so we should be able to add one more item in DC for an international flight at no charge. Does anyone know if duty free can package up wine in a styrofoam container for you or do I need to bring my own? Yet another thing to remember...:rolleyes:

[camella]

I don't think the duty free shops have those containers. I have even seen the ships bubble wrapping bottles(liquor) for the ones that people purchase on board. You live in DC so I would think you should be able to find these things that they call "wine skins". They are basically bubble wrap shaped like a wine bottle that you just slide the bottle inside and close with the pre-taped ends. I took them a step futher and put Velcro where the adhesive was so I could re-use them. Not sure when you are cruising, but I will check next time I go to the airport.

[12B@C]

Thanks guys! I'm going to look into duty free in DC and potentially add a couple bottles there to either my carryon or my luggage.

 

Wait a minute. Perhaps I am missing something, but if you buy duty free at the airport you cannot put it into your luggage because it already has been checked in. Right?

So if you want to take it as 'carry-on' why worry about all this extra packaging? Of course, on top of all that consider that if you have a connecting flight in Europe, you may have to go through the same thing and you are back at point zero.

 

Buy what you want at the port of embarkation or on the ship and don't worry about having red, smelly underwear in your suitcase.

[LobstersLass]

Thanks guys! I'm going to look into duty free in DC and potentially add a couple bottles there to either my carryon or my luggage. We're hopefully only at two luggage pieces pp (plus carryons), so we should be able to add one more item in DC for an international flight at no charge. Does anyone know if duty free can package up wine in a styrofoam container for you or do I need to bring my own? Yet another thing to remember...:rolleyes:

 

As I said in post #8, anything you buy will need to be part of your hand-luggage allowance on the plane as you will already have been parted from your suitcase.

Duty-free is air-side, once you are through security.

[camella]

Just checked TSA website for you and like Lobsterlass said, you will be getting the items after security so you will be able to carry them ON the plane. The only requirement is that they are sealed in a special tamper proof bag. See attached article from TSA website:

 

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/duty_free_travel_alert.shtm

 

Ok have we beat this poor horse to death yet?? LOL

[LobstersLass]

Just checked TSA website for you and like Lobsterlass said, you will be getting the items after security so you will be able to carry them ON the plane. The only requirement is that they are sealed in a special tamper proof bag. See attached article from TSA website:

 

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/duty_free_travel_alert.shtm

 

Ok have we beat this poor horse to death yet?? LOL

You only need a tamper-proof bag if you've got a connecting flight, so for example - DC to London to Copenhagen.

If your flight is a direct one, then this is not an issue.