Corkage Fee

[bhurley]

Please let me kmow what the corkage fee is for each bottle of wine you bring on the cruise? I would like to bring my own wine on board.

 

[ThreeCircles]

The fee is $15 per bottle.

 

[bhurley]

Thanks Have a good cruise.

 

[natt]

If you arrive to dinner with the bottle already opened, will they still charge the fee? (I'm guessing YES ) What else would the charge cover?

 

[AprilN]

I just wanted to point out (in case there was any confusion) that the corkage is only charged for bottles of wine brought to dinner - you can bring as many bottles as you like onto the ship for free. We're certainly planning to bring a few bottles!

There are some conflicting reports about when the corkage is charged at dinner. You'll almost certainly be charged for an unopened bottle (but not always!), but other cruisers have indicated that when they showed with a bottle already opened, most of the time they weren't charged. And no one has reported being charged for bringing a glass of wine to dinner.

The corkage fee covers washing the glassware you'll be using, occasional breakage (we're talking over time, here), and the extra time the servers will spend serving your wine. But really, it's a fee to cover the money they lose when you don't buy a (marked-up) bottle of wine from their list.

Based on the wine lists we've seen from the Magic and Wonder, you'd only save about $5 for the less expensive wines on the list by bringing your own bottle, factoring in the corkage fee, so that's your call. But for the more expensive bottles, it's almost certainly worth bringing your own.

The list is pretty good, although they don't include vintages (grr). Here's a version online to check out pre-cruise: Disney wine list.

This was probably more info than you were looking for, but oh well! Have a great cruise!

April

 

[my3kids]

As was stated, the fee would only apply to bottles taken into the dining room. You can open and enjoy whatever you want elsewhere. The room steward or room service will be happy to bring you a cork screw and glasses. You can also ask for the glasses you need from a bar. We took a couple of bottles to drink by ourselves. In the dining rooms we just bought their wine.

 

[bnickle3]

quote: "The list is pretty good, although they don't include vintages (grr). "

April...I was just watching a show on the Travel Channel about cruises....this one featured a Royal Carribbean ship. During the segment about preparing and serving the food and the myriad choices that guests have, the whole not carrying vintage wines thing came up. Apparently vintage wines are higher maintenance, and require steady, cool, STILL storage. Ships are apparently not condusive to the STILL part. That is what they said on the show, don't know if that is the actual reason. But then, I thought MD 20/20 was pretty daring when I was in college, and frequently, we drink wine from a box. *g*

 

[AprilN]

binckle3,

Thanks for the information from the travel show - that makes a lot of sense, and it appears that Disney doesn't offer many if any vintage wines. However, instead of vintage wines, I was complaining about the lack of indicating vintages - the year the wine was harvested. Even Beringer white zinfandel, selling for $3.14 a bottle at Costco, marks the vintage year on the bottle.

Most restaurants that care about wine try to include that information on the wine list, and it's too bad Disney hasn't gone to the same trouble. We'll just see what they offer on the ship!

April

P.S. - Nothin' wrong with wine from a box - my parents have Franzia almost every night!

 

[Windermere]

Ask the server. They have always known which year they currently have on board. I would guess that they don't put the year on the list cause they don't change the list very often and who knows what years will be brought on board Saturday morning.

 

[ThreeCircles]

The link to the wine list provided by AprilN is only a small part of the wines actually offered on DCL. The wines listed here are the ones most ordered by guests and they are also the less expensive wines onboard.

If you ask your waiter for the Reserve List you'll have a much wider selection, including many vintages. Although I didn't actually order any wine from the Reserve list ( a little pricy for me) I was amazed at the selection. I believe the list has about 8 pages to it, front and back.

As for the Corkage Fee, ANY bottle you bring into the dinning room, opened or not, will be charged a corkage fee. This fee, which is standard in the food industry, accounts for the service to provide the wine consumer with clean glasses, service to pour the wine, etc.

 

[TinkHappy]

This maybe off topic...but, if I don't finish my glass of wine with dinner (doubtful-but possible) can I bring it with me when I leave?

 

[Hopelessly Hooked]

for posting the link to the wine list. We have been very curious about the ships wine list in preparation for our upcoming cruise.

 

[obsessed]

Thanks for posting the link to the wine list. I just have to add that the Caymus Conundrum is one of our favorite wines and usually difficult to find. The price for the wine is only about $5.00 less than what we pay for it in the liquor store, too.

Enjoy it, but leave some for us to try in July!

 

[NejTheLion]

I have to second that about Caymus Conundrum. The first time I tried it was at California Grill. Our waiter recommended it to go along with my sushi. Later in that trip we found it at Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney and ordered a whole bottle to share. I was delighted to see that it's on DCL's wine list and a part of the premium wine package. We're seriously thinking about doing that package since Conundrum is an option. It's a really solid white table wine, full-bodied, not too dry, not too sweet. We aren't fans of chardonnay, so we always enjoy finding other good whites.

Anyone else have any wine recommendations? We should probably start a thread for that!

Jen

 

[wnissen]

Originally posted by obsessed
[BI just have to add that the Caymus Conundrum is one of our favorite wines and usually difficult to find. The price for the wine is only about $5.00 less than what we pay for it in the liquor store, too.
[/B]

Well then, by all means you should make your next vacation to California. I saw Caymus Conundrum at our local Costsco the other day for $21 a bottle. You could easily "save" enough to pay for the trip.

Walt