DCL Wine Package

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.

Yes, we did the same thing. I also don't remember the price being different (though I could be wrong) when we ordered it on the ship during the first night's dinner. We bought the 3 night package for a 7 night cruise, and we even upgraded to the 4 night package without an penalty when we (ahem) finished the 3 bottles prior to the end of the cruise!
 
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.

Jerry, I looked on the Iron Horse website and see that this is rose in color? Is it a sweet sparkling wine or dry?

J
 
Does the corking fee apply if you bring your own wine and keep it in your room? I enjoy a glass in the evening but not with dinner.
 


cwdefouw said:
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.

Our server on our 5 night Western Carribean, January 14th told us automatically that we could purchase 3, 4 or 5 night bottle wine package. Thankfully, we only bought a 4 night because we had trouble finishing it all.....but we did it! LOL
 
FWIW - we purchased a 7 day package for a 4 night cruise. DW prefers white while I prefer red. Some nights we didn't finish our bottles so we started out with it the next night. Some nights, we took the "leftovers" to sit on the verandah and enjoy. Some nights we ran through the leftovers, went through the next bottle and considered starting a new one.

Somehow ;) we ran out on the last night and I had to order cocktails...

We'll probably order a 7 and 3 day package for our upcoming 7 nighter...

SLIDCT (sorry liver, it's Disney Cruise time)
 
Can you only use the wine package at dinner in the dining rooms? Or can you also use it at lunch in the buffet?
 


I was approached during embarkation lunch and asked if I'd like to buy one of the wine packages. I was on a 6 night repositioning cruise, so I bought the 3 night package. (Don't I sound like a prim little wine sipper??? :lmao:)
I was handed a brochure that listed all the wines available in both regular and premium packages and was happy with what was offered in the regular package. It was $84. (I enjoyed the Murphy Goode Savignon Blanc so much that I looked for it at the local wine shops and it seems DCL has bought up the stock! :sad2:)
The bottle followed me around from Palo to the MDRs, even at brunch and lunch.
Being a pretty pedestrian wine drinker, this worked well for me. A couple I was seated with at dinner purchased the premium package and would study the wine selections every night at dinner and they seemed happy, as well.
 
On our 5-nt last May on the Dream, we purchased the 3 night package for our 5 nt cruise, and that ended up being the perfect amount for us--drank about 3/4 of a bottle or so between the two of us each night at dinner. They save the wine for you in the back and will bring it to you in whichever restaurant you are in the next night!

We had not considered doing it before we got on the ship, but our servers brought it up on the first night, showed us the list, explained that we could indeed do a package that was shorter than the actual cruise, etc.

So, if you're getting conflicting info. regarding whether you can purchase a package that is fewer nights than your cruise, maybe you could just wait and decide at your first night of dinner? I think what we paid by getting the package on the first night was exactly the same as booking in advance.
 
PredzMan said:
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

Incorrect

We have also purchased a 3 night plan while on a 7 night sailing. This was in Sept 2012.
 
You are correct. We are just off the Fantasy on Feb 16th and you can purchase any # you want.
Agreed. We were on the January 12 Fantasy Eastern and purchased a 5 bottle premium package for a 7 night cruise. At the last dinner we shared the fifth bottle (a sparkling wine) with our table mates as a celebration (we loved our table mates!). We would have preferred a champagne, but there wasn't one on the list. We did not have to choose all of the wines when we ordered the package, but chose wines that complimented our entrees during the cruise. The process was very smooth and we'd do it again.
 
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.

When you say locally, I presume you mean from a liquor store or wine merchant, not another restaurant, correct ?

The 41 dollars a bottle also gives you the opportunity to avoid corkage fees. sure you could get the same bottle of wine cheaper somewhere else, but not many landlocked restaurants would let you bring in your own wine and not charge corkage. with restaurant mark up of wine being about 100% ( depending on the market) I dont think you "lost" much on anything on them ( this is with the assumption that you are getting the bottles retail).

If you want middle of the road wines, I think its pretty much a wash if you consider the cost + corkage. If I get a 20 dollar bottle of norman and then have the 20 dollar corkage that's not all that far off from the 41. I think the only time it makes sense is for exceptional wines where the difference between the retail cost and the cost in a restaurant is in great excess of the 20 dollar corkage fee. like a 100 dollar bottle that would be 120 with corkage vs 200 if bought on the ship ( assuming the markups are the same)
 
Great info. Now I am thirsty ;-) If I have a favorite wine not listed anywhere, can I request it be stocked and included in my wine package?
 
On our two previous trips we took wine. Bought it in Vancouver when we went to AK and brought it from home when we went to MR. Knew it would be a hassle to get it to FL but nothing on the wine list is speaking to me. So, I think I will put together a 6 pack of red, white and champagne (we have a great collection of our own) and check it with our luggage. Now I'm looking forward to choosing those bottles...
 
EllinK said:
So, I think I will put together a 6 pack of red, white and champagne (we have a great collection of our own) and check it with our luggage.

You can check it for the plane, but you will need to repack it into a carryon to bring it onboard.
 
Great info. Now I am thirsty ;-) If I have a favorite wine not listed anywhere, can I request it be stocked and included in my wine package?
No, but you can bring it on board and simply pay the corkage fee to have it served at your table.
 
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.

To add to this, DH and I were on the Dream recently and did a 4 & 3 nt. back-to-back. On the first day we purchased a 3-bottle order and were able to carry it over from the first cruise to the second (we drank about half a bottle at dinner...wine lightweights, I know!). They seem to be very obliging about the packages.
 
BoosGram said:
To add to this, DH and I were on the Dream recently and did a 4 & 3 nt. back-to-back. On the first day we purchased a 3-bottle order and were able to carry it over from the first cruise to the second (we drank about half a bottle at dinner...wine lightweights, I know!). They seem to be very obliging about the packages.

That is great to hear. We are doing back to backs for our next 3 cruises and figured we wouldn't be getting a wine package at all as we don't drink a full bottle each night.
 

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