DCL Wine Package

[CMM MOM]

First time on Disney Cruise and I have some questions regarding the pre-paid wine packages that DCL offers.

Do you really save money buying ahead of time?

Does the cruise have different wines available to buy that are not listed in the package?

DH and I can drink a bottle over dinner...as well as our friends. We were both thinking of getting the wine package but leaning towards the premium wines...which we really don't consider to be premium. I would hate to buy the package and find out there were other wines available on the ship.

I am assuming that Palo and Remy have different wine lists. I am looking towards the wine package for the regular nightly dinners.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Evasmommy]

I was wondering about this myself. I have heard about the wine packages but haven't seen any info on them on the DCL site. How much is a bottle of wine typically at dinner?

 

[shburks]

I was wondering about this myself. I have heard about the wine packages but haven't seen any info on them on the DCL site. How much is a bottle of wine typically at dinner?

They're in an odd place on the site, IMO! Go here: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/gifts-and-amenities/ choose your departing port, and then scroll down to Spa, Photo, and Beverage Pre-purchase Options to see the wine packages.

 

[FJS961]

We have done the premium wine package in the MDR and usually wind up sticking to the Santa Margherita pino grigio and the King Estate pinor noir.

 

[MakesCakes]

Thank you for pointing this out. We can drink a bottle during dinner and this looks like a good way to purchase wine for our meal. If we wanted to have some wine in our room, do we order that through room service?

 

[ItAllStrtdWAMouse]

Do you have to order the wine package that matches your cruise length? i.e. on a 4 night cruise can you order a 3 night package? Interested in going to Remy and having the wine paring. Will not need a 4th evening of wine. from a package.

 

[usplus3]

DH and I have also been considering the wine packages and did a little research. First off, you have to remember that you are paying restaurant prices not what you would pay at your local wine shop. That considered, the margin that Disney marks up the wine doesn't seem to be out of the norm. For instance, take the Premium Package (Port Canaveral) for 5 nights at $219. That's $43.80 per bottle. I can find the King Estate Pinot Noir (one of our favs, too) for about $28 in a store and have seen it on a wine list for $40-45. Some of the wines retail closer to $20, but with the wine package you're not paying a corkage fee or having to carry bottles on board. We agree with the poster who said that they are not really premium wines, but I don't know that I would want to pay what it would cost for them to stock what one might actually consider to be premium.

My advice would be to consider the level of wine you are comfortable with at a restaurant and see how the math works out.

 

[Evasmommy]

They're in an odd place on the site, IMO! Go here: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/gifts-and-amenities/ choose your departing port, and then scroll down to Spa, Photo, and Beverage Pre-purchase Options to see the wine packages.

Thank you so much!

 

[gichicdoc]

Do you have to order the wine package that matches your cruise length? i.e. on a 4 night cruise can you order a 3 night package? Interested in going to Remy and having the wine paring. Will not need a 4th evening of wine. from a package.

We considered this as well but I was told when I called that you must purchase the package specific to your cruise length - i.e. a 4 bottle package for a 4 night cruise. They do not offer a 3 bottle package on a 4 nt cruise.

Consider this...Even if you do the wine pairing at Remy's, you can get the 4th bottle delivered to your room and enjoy a glass each evening on your verandah or while strolling the ship. I know ours wouldn't go to waste

 

[Annal606]

Oh, thank God I can grow a beard and am uninterested in picking up other men on message forums!

 

[CMM MOM]

Interesting, because I was told you could pick a package that is less nights than your actual cruise. Of course, I agree with you about having the extra bottle for the stateroom, but I wonder what you really can do---

I guess that is part of the reason I started this thread. I want to hear from other people. Thanks so much!

 

[sshaw10060]

There is a second wine list you have the request which has a number of wines not on the usual wine list. Most of these from anywhere from $50 to several hundred dollars.

It has a very nice selection of wines. Some of which are hard to find.

 

[FJS961]

We considered this as well but I was told when I called that you must purchase the package specific to your cruise length - i.e. a 4 bottle package for a 4 night cruise. They do not offer a 3 bottle package on a 4 nt cruise.

Consider this...Even if you do the wine pairing at Remy's, you can get the 4th bottle delivered to your room and enjoy a glass each evening on your verandah or while strolling the ship. I know ours wouldn't go to waste

you can have a bottle off the list served to you in Palo (assume Remy too) ... we ordered a bottle in Palo once and were given "credit" for that nights wine allocation of the package

 

[PredzMan]

Some observations from past wine experiences on DCL.

First, they don't tell you the vintages of the wines on the website. For some people this can make a difference, for us, not a real big deal. The good part is that most of the wines are of vintages that you can't get in your local wine shop. A couple examples are the Kim Crawford (white) and the Greg Norman (red) wines offered on the premium package. Both of them I can't get locally, but only online.

Now for the math, on our 7 night cruise, it came down to about $41 a bottle. Price out what you can get locally and match it up to the selections you think you'd want. In our case both the Crawford and Norman wines run under $20 each, so we 'lost' money on them.

Now for those of you who don't know, there is a special wine on the premium package that is only made for Disney and only served on the cruise ships. We've heard rumors of it being served at the Grand Floridian for weddings, but never seen that in person. It's the Iron Horse Fairy Tale Celebration Cuvée. The Iron Horse website does have it for sale direct, but only 1000 cases are released for this offer. It goes for $50 retail. If you have not had this sparkling wine it's spectacular. Almost worth getting the wine package alone just to save the money on getting this one and having it more than once during the cruise.

For wines during dinner and later, it's pretty easy. Have your beverage server bring the wine for dinner and if you don't use it, they'll store it for you at the next restaurant's location in your rotation. Or you can have them move it to a club, or your room later in the night.
Say you use one bottle over 2 nights are are "ahead" one bottle. Just tell your server during dinner where you want a new bottle delivered and it'll be there. This works great for the dessert buffet night. We had a bottle of the Iron Horse waiting for us when we arrived.

If you do the math and figure out it's cheaper for you to bring bottles onto the ship, go for it. DCL does state it's $20 corking fee per bottle, but honestly, I've very rarely seen this enforced. If you have a good relationship with your head server (had ours on multiple cruises) they have the ability to spread some pixie dust and make the corking fee disappear.

Hope this helps, and I didn't ramble too much!

Jerry

 

[goofymama]

Do you really save money buying ahead of time?

Thanks for your help.

the answer to this part of your question is yes. You do get a discount thru the package vs buying a bottle from Disney each night.

I'd love to learn the answer to your question about if you can buy a smaller bottle package on a 7 night cruise. We only have 2 adults and I don't think well drink a whole bottle each night ... Well we could but I'm sure we'd like to drink something other than wine too.

 

[PredzMan]

the answer to this part of your question is yes. You do get a discount thru the package vs buying a bottle from Disney each night.

I'd love to learn the answer to your question about if you can buy a smaller bottle package on a 7 night cruise. We only have 2 adults and I don't think well drink a whole bottle each night ... Well we could but I'm sure we'd like to drink something other than wine too.

No, you can not purchase a wine plan for a shorter time of nights of the cruise. If you don't use a bottle, you always can take it with you off the ship, or use it during the dessert buffet.

Jerry

 

[dylan'smom]

Some observations from past wine experiences on DCL....

If you do the math and figure out it's cheaper for you to bring bottles onto the ship, go for it. DCL does state it's $20 corking fee per bottle, but honestly, I've very rarely seen this enforced. If you have a good relationship with your head server (had ours on multiple cruises) they have the ability to spread some pixie dust and make the corking fee disappear. ........

Every time I read something like this, I don't know whether to feel envious or like I did something wrong...lol

We have bought the wine package several times, but have also brought our own choice in wines to dinner with us to share many other times, and the corkage fee has NEVER been waived....ever!!!!!!!!

It is $20 now, plus gratuity, and as far back as when it was around $15 (2001), we have been charged the fee every time. I do enjoy the servers & have gotten to know quite a few, but I'm starting to think that I didn't do something right with my head servers, because we always have paid it.

the answer to this part of your question is yes. You do get a discount thru the package vs buying a bottle from Disney each night.
I'd love to learn the answer to your question about if you can buy a smaller bottle package on a 7 night cruise. We only have 2 adults and I don't think well drink a whole bottle each night ... Well we could but I'm sure we'd like to drink something other than wine too.

No, you can not purchase a wine plan for a shorter time of nights of the cruise. If you don't use a bottle, you always can take it with you off the ship, or use it during the dessert buffet. Jerry

Well, here's another one where my experience has been different! On the longer cruises (12-14 nights) I have purchased a 7-night package, a 3 and a 4-night package, and one time, two 7-night packages. Now, this is not a 7-night cruise, so maybe that's the difference? Or maybe it's just less publicized that there are options??

But, I agree that you can take the bottles off the ship. One time we had several left over & took them on with us to WDW.


The bottom line with a wine package (for us, anyway) is CONVENIENCE. It was easy & so fun to order a bottle of the Iron Horse for brunch at Palo or a red at a late lunch...with no bubble wrap or wine diapers required, thank you very much!!!

But as for savings....... I think in all cases, with every bottle we have brought on board and taken to the dining room with us, it was far less money to bring it, even with the corking fee. Where I live (central coast of CA), I have Trader Joe's & Costco selling true premium wines for killer prices, so if we bring it ourselves, it is a better bargain, especially if we opt to have it elsewhere & not take it to dinner. You will save at least 10% of the individual pricing by buying the package though.

.

 

[EllinK]

I see that in the wine packages there is a Chardonnay and a Cabernet described as "Captain's Choice Santa Barbara County".

Does anyone know which winery makes the "Captain's Choice"?

 

[owensamo]

I see that in the wine packages there is a Chardonnay and a Cabernet described as "Captain's Choice Santa Barbara County".

Does anyone know which winery makes the "Captain's Choice"?

Looks like it's a trademark of " Terravant Wine Company, LLC, Santa Barbara, CA 93101", who apparently makes a number of premium private-label wines. The Captain's Choice website is down or gone - but the Google cached page indicates it's exclusive to Disney Cruise Line.

 

[cwdefouw]

No, you can not purchase a wine plan for a shorter time of nights of the cruise. If you don't use a bottle, you always can take it with you off the ship, or use it during the dessert buffet.

Jerry

From our experience it is indeed possible to buy a package with less bottles than nights of the cruise. They may not tell you this voluntarily, but if you ask, they will gladly sell you a 3 or 4 night package on a seven day cruise. We did this for an Alaskan cruise in 2011, we didn't realize this was possible, but asked and they did sell us a 4 bottle package for a 7 night cruise. I think they realize that some people may not want a bottle every single night, and at least they are still selling something they might not have sold otherwise.