Does anybody bring their own wine onboard & pay the corkage fee?

[DVC Mary]

Has anyone had experience with bringing your own wine onboard? DH & I are not crazy about the wines in the package. We'd rather bring our own wine & pay the corkage fee. It seems it would be cheaper than the wine package & we would have wines we love.

 

[ThreeCircles]

Don't forget that DCL also has an extensive Reserve wine list. The lists posted online are only a small fraction of the wine that is offered onboard.

Although, bringing you own wine onboard is always an option of course.

 

[rcomputers]

We have brought our own wine (in our carry-ons) on 2 Disney cruises and were not actually charged the corkage fee. I've heard this from others too. The wait staff probably realizes that if they forget to charge you, it might find its way into their tip envelope.

Gail R

 

[rcdisneyfam]

We ALWAYS bring our favorite N.Y. state wine with us and we were NEVER charged with the corkage fee. I don't know the reason on how they charge some and not others. I guess it is a hit or miss. Good luck and have fun.

 

[AprilN]

We brought several bottles of wine on board, and brought them to both the regular dining rooms and Palo - and we were charged the full $17.25 corkage fee ($15 + 15% autogratuity) for each and every bottle, even when we brought two bottles to one meal.

We didn't mind paying the fee, as it was probably cheaper in the long run anyway (the markups are pretty dramatic on the DCL wine list), and some of the wines we brought were special and definitely not available on board. I just wouldn't count on not being charged, that's for sure...

 

[ThreeCircles]

I would have to say that my experiences are more in line with AprilN's. Through personal experience and through oservation, I have never seen DCL not charge the corkage fee. That's not to say that it doesn't happen but it is not something I would count on.

 

[tvguy]

Part of the fun for DW and I was picking a wine from the wine list that we had no experience with. I never would have tryed Fess Parker Chardonnay at home .
I highly recommend the wine tasting also.

 

[DVC Mary]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think we'll try the wine tasting, bring some wine, and try some wines. I am willing to pay the corkage fee to save money & enjoy some of the South African wines we love. Jiko & a trip my hubby made there got us hooked on South African wines.

 

[confal1]

I had also read a post a while back that someone brought their own wine on board along with a corkscrew and opened it themselves before going to the dining room and were not charged anything. Good Luck.

 

[rcomputers]

Well, I wouldn't go that far (take an open bottle to dinner.) We too have favourites that are not offered on the ship so we took our own wine to dinner, fully expecting to pay the corkage fee and were pleasantly surprized when it did not appear on our bill. We did, however, have a little left over from the bottle in our fridge so we took it to lunch in plastic cups.
Your plan sounds good, Mary.


Gail R