Something I hadn't read here....wine w/ dinner

[NYDisneyMom]

I haven't gotten to my trip report, but I promise I'll work on it! One thing thing I did want to share though was ordering wine with dinner. They offer the wine package, which if you can drink a bottle of wine with each dinner, it is the best value. However, my husband doesn't drink wine and there was no way I could have more than just a glass of wine with dinner, or I'd be snoring in my dessert!

What you can do is choose a bottle of wine and your assistant server keeps it for you and you can have a glass or however much you want the following nights. The bottle follows you to your next restaurant! Pretty cool, I thought. It saves a couple of dollars from ordering a glass of wine off the menu. I drink the same wine all the time (Santa Margharita) so it worked out nicely. I finished it by Thurs and then Friday I ordered a "drink" with my meal for a change.

 

[IASW Rider]

Hi!

We also did the wine package (on the Wonder) last week, and I believe that it was worth it. We were so overwhelmed with all of the packages that they were throwing at us (the soda package, the water package, the picture package........) that after awhile, it was hard to distinguish what was really a good value and what might not have been! But they all turned out well. And we would have ordered wine by the glass at dinner anyway, so the wine package came in handy!

 

[TootyJane]

I agree -- the wine packages are a good value. Remember that if you don't finish all of the bottles you can take any unopened ones with home you.

 

[ThreeCircles]

Originally posted by TootyJane
I agree -- the wine packages are a good value. Remember that if you don't finish all of the bottles you can take any unopened ones with home you.

Originally I was under this assumption as well. However, after looking into it, customs (repeat, customs, not Disney) will only allow cruise passengers to bring a total of two bottles of wine back from the ship. And, they count against your duty-free liquor limits too.

This information is posted on the back of the “Wine and Dine: 7 Night Package” brochure that they hand out on embarkation day.

(Now, with that being said, I'm sure that many people bring much more than those two bottles and much more than their "standard" liquor limits without declaring them.)

 

[MikeJ]

We did the wine package on the Magic a couple of years ago, and it was a waste of money for us. We are not big wine drinkers and basically had to drink a bottle/day between the two of us (along with the rest of the tippling we were partaking). We had 3 bottles left at the end of the cruise and ended up leaving one of them in our cabin for the steward as we couldn't take them all with us back to Canada.

We found it also limited us as to trying other things. ("We've already paid for this wine, and we're going to drink it, goshdarn it!" ) After discussing it following the cruise, it's safe to say we will never again order the wine package for just the two of us.

- Mike

 

[abitjaded]

Ohh, Phyllis, we usually get the package, but this is nice to know. Maybe have a bottle of that Italian Muscat following us for every dessert!

Carla

 

[FLGalInTN]

Does anyone know how much wine by the glass costs? I know it can vary a lot so ballpark figures will be fine with me.

 

[NejTheLion]

We've also gone with the wine package for our both of our cruises, but we almost always drink wine when we go out.

Something else to think about if you don't want a bottle every night...this past cruise on Tropical night, we were all still a little hot and thirsty from our day in St. Maarten and didn't feel like drinking wine, so we just ordered tropical drinks instead. If you don't want to bring any wine home with you (and it is limited to two bottles), you can always apply a bottle or two to ordering something off the main or reserve wine list. They simply divide the cost of your wine package by seven and apply that money towards whatever you'd like. In the mood for something different that isn't on any of the package lists? That's how you do it!

We applied two bottles' worth to ordering one of their expensive Super Tuscans for our dinner in Palo. Still cost us extra, but the wine was divine.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by FLGalInTN
Does anyone know how much wine by the glass costs? I know it can vary a lot so ballpark figures will be fine with me.

I believe it was $6.95 a glass. but now I'm not sure if that was just for the wine I wanted or if it's for every wine.

 

[crisi]

The menus (including the wines and prices - by bottle or glass) are on dcltribute.com.

I've heard of several other options. One is to ask your tablemates if they would be interested in splitting the wine package. Maybe you could even pre-arrange tablemates interested here on the Disboards.

Another is to bring your own bottle. DCL will charge corkage, but you can bring one.

And, not to start the huge debate this turned into last time (some people think this is tacky), people have been known to pour a glass of wine in their rooms and take it into the dining room with them.

I drink wine, hubby doesn't. I just stuck to martinis for the cruise.....

 

[crisi]

$6.95 would be the glass you wanted. They vary - low end around $5. I think I saw a $12 glass of wine out there. Don't forget an automatic gratuity is added to liquor purchases.

 

[tvguy]

We ended up buying 3 bottles of wine, and a bottle of champagne for New Years Eve, and total cost was less than the cheapest package, and it was the perfect amount of wine for my wife and I.