Too Gauche to bring own wine to Palo?

[arlinek]

I don't consider Palo to be any different than any other fine, upscale restaurant. It is standard practice, when allowed, to bring a bottle of wine and pay the corkage fee. There is NO reason to be hesitant "just" because it's Palo! So what - it's no more special or different than any other fine rest. as stated. I see no reason, either, that the bottle should be "special" or memorable. Palo is a business, not your personal friend who might prefer to serve his own wine. They charge you for the privilege (corkage) and you pay your money and enjoy your wine, whether it's an expensive, or special, bottle or not. I've eaten in some of the finest rest. and often we have brought our own: sometimes a Chateau Lafite and sometimes a $20 California wine. We really resent when a restaurant charges 4 X the retail price ... and feel it's gouging! If rest. were not so greedy, more people would order their bottles of wine. As long as they allow it by charging a fee you should feel totally at ease by bringing your own! Enjoy with gusto.

 

[Epperbiker]

I brought a bottle of wine to Palo last week. It was a $40-$45 bottle but was a gift to me, so I had no problem with the $15 corkage. I knew it was a decent wine and that it wouldn't be on the wine list. I politely acknowledged to our server that I was aware of the charge, and he very graciously served our wine. (He had even found it on whatever database they use) I asked him the keep the last third of the bottle that was left after dinner. He was very thankful and apparently 'forgot' to charge us for either the corkage or the bottles of mineral water we had both at dinner and brunch.

 

[eva]

We have a fellow traveler on our cruise who will be shipping wine for us so we can all share it on the cruise. She and her DH have a wine shop in California and will be sending plenty of bottles for us to drink on the cruise.

While there are some nice wines on the cruise, I prefer to drink the wine we will bring aboard. DH and I will be bringing a glass of wine to dinner but the majority of our wine will be consumed elsewhere,

Just remember that DCL does not accept any kind of food or drink to be delivered to the ship. I believe that they used to allow it, but have changed that policy.

 

[crisi]

My husband's favorite wine is the Caymus that DCL does stock - and sits near the bottom of the wine list in terms of price. We have it at home on occations (rare occations - DCL doesn't mark it up much - its $99 plus gratituity on the ship - its an $80 bottle at the wine shop - too expensive for me to drink regularly). We ordered a bottle at Palo on the second night of our cruise - the end result being that every sommelier on DCL knew who were on day three - its possible that they know you if you bring your own bottle of two buck Chuck and treat you the same (and with DCL it wouldn't surprise me), but it was a kick to have a sommelier look at me when I was shocked he knew me and say "of course I do, madam, your husband has excellent taste in wine."

With some idea of the markup on the bottle we had, it might be worth looking at the wine list (you can get any of the wines onboard at Palo - not just the ones that are showing up on the Palo menu.) Add a $15 corking fee and we really wouldn't have saved anything (we would have tipped the gratuity anyway). I think most wines on the menu aren't marked up much (the Alice White's DCL carries are a decent Austrailian wine that retails around here for about $12 - and are about $24 on the wine list) I don't know that you'd save enough after the corkage fee (which IS often 'forgotten' - but don't count on it) to make it worthwhile just for savings.

 

[DIS NURSE]

Good gracious, people! We ate at Palo's two times last sailing and walked right into the dining room carrying glasses of wine! They don't care!

This isn't rocket science.......they want you to be happy and bend over backwards for you! Yes, we also ordered wine from Palo thereafter...........we were a group of 4 one night and a group of 10 the other night.

Enjoy and don't stress about the small stuff.

 

[Empress Room]

How about if you get the wine package? Would you be able to get your wine from the package in Palo?

Yes, the wine package works at Palo. You have two choices: 1) you can order one of the wines from the wine package list and it will be brought to you at Palo (even though it does not appear on Palo's wine list) or 2) you can apply the value of the wine package wine towards a wine on Palo's wine list and simply pay the difference in price. We have done it both ways, without hesitation.

I would, however, hesitate to bring in a bottle of wine to be consumed, especially, as one previous poster bragged, if it's a "$20 California wine." (The extra special bottle notwithstanding.) To each his/her own, but it does border right on the cusp of social awkwardness. IMHO, if you do not want to pay the prices for wines at fine restaurants (Palo included - and they can be higher than retail) then enjoy your $20 bottle before you dine, or perhaps choose a different restaurant more in line with your budget.

On the other hand, Palo has never looked twice at customers who walk in with a glass of wine purchased at either another bar or brought from a private stock.

 

[crisi]

Yes, the wine package works at Palo. You have two choices: 1) you can order one of the wines from the wine package list and it will be brought to you at Palo (even though it does not appear on Palo's wine list) or 2) you can apply the value of the wine package wine towards a wine on Palo's wine list and simply pay the difference in price. We have done it both ways, without hesitation.

I would, however, hesitate to bring in a bottle of wine to be consumed, especially, as one previous poster bragged, if it's a "$20 California wine." (The extra special bottle notwithstanding.) To each his/her own, but it does border right on the cusp of social awkwardness. IMHO, if you do not want to pay the prices for wines at fine restaurants (Palo included - and they can be higher than retail) then enjoy your $20 bottle before you dine, or perhaps choose a different restaurant more in line with your budget.

On the other hand, Palo has never looked twice at customers who walk in with a glass of wine purchased at either another bar or brought from a private stock.

Though much of DCLs wine list is the "$20 California (Australian or South African)" wine marked up by $12-15. Frankly, if you are wine snob in the worst sense, DCL only has a few bottles worth looking down your nose at.

And if you are going to schelp a $12 bottle of wine all the way from wherever you are from, risk packing it, pay $15 to have it opened, and tip appropriately like you bought it there - You'll have gone though a lot of bother and cost yourself and extra $3. (If you skip the tipping appropriately, you'll end up saving yourself about $3).

 

[CraftyMouse]

To each his/her own, but it does border right on the cusp of social awkwardness.

It is only "socially awkward" if you allow it to be. I would not hesitate to bring my own bottle if that is what I wanted to drink...whether it was a $20 Californian or a top-of-the-line rare vintage. My dinner, my palate and I'm not bothering anybody else by doing it. That said, I wouldn't bring a bottle that was offered on their wine list but other than that I'd have no problems bringing my own...let the snobs be darned!

 

[eva]

I know that all the restaurants on board allow it, but I just don't think I could bring myself to do it. I'm just not used to a restaurant doing BYOB. Seems strange. But to each his own.

 

[bmr12]

I certainly wouldn't hesitate to bring a special bottle if it was worth the hassle of bringing it on board. Certainly I do not think the wait staff will mind a bit. It's a special place for the right bottle.

 

[rgroves]

We've purchased wine in the dining rooms and Palo before on our last 3 cruises. This time we're bringing a bottle or two of our favorites to have outside of the dining room, and maybe bring a glass or two to the table.

We liked the Caymus Conundrum in the past, but it has become too sweet for us now. We can get it at home for $25-29 a bottle and it's $45+ on the ship. I think we're going to bring a new one we like called "Abrazo Reserva" Very nice dry red wine (not too heavy on the oak). It's like $9-10 at Trader joes.

 

[winegirl]

On our previous two cruises we were able to have dinner at Palo. Both times my husband brought a really nice ($100-150) bottle of wine from home that he had wanted to share with his brother and sister in law. We will be cruising DCL again in September and I know my husband is really looking forward to sharing some wine with his uncle from California, who is also bringing some bottles of wine.

I know the wine will not all be consumed in Palo, but I do know the nicer bottles will be had at the nicest restaurant onboard.

My husband is an Executive Chef at a fine dining restaurant here in the East Lansing, Michigan area. Being from New York and in the profession he is in he understands the nuances of fine dining and wine service. My husband will offer the sommelier a glass for tasting as the bottle my husband brings is not usually available onboard.

Wine is usually about sharing a special bottle you've been saving or that someone special gave to you. It's about more than paying for a bottle of wine it's about sharing the moment. (Do I sound like a commercial or what?)

I guess I wouldn't go out and buy a bottle to have on board just to try and save money. If you have a special bottle bring it, the wait staff is completely ok with it.

Cathy

I completely agree with Cathy. I work in the wine industry and I know that anyone that appreciates wine would not be offended by this, but rather excited to perhaps learn about a new wine. There are SO many good wines and it's always exciting to try something new. Wine is about sharing and appreciation; not about the price - what makes it good is more than just cost; it's what's unique about it to you.