Trying to decide on the wine package...

[sambycat]

also, side note, you can take a partial bottle or a whole bottle to your room if you wish and the wine "follows" you at MDRs, specialty dining as appropriate and seated lunches (at whatever MDR is serving the sit down lunch). my first cruise i had the idea from my reading that i could order a glass of wine off my package at any old place, which doesn't make any sense at all, but that's what i thought. and you can start off with a lesser package and increase it through the cruise if desired. i like the package with dinner, i'm the only one that really drinks and usually on a 7 night, i get a 5 night package and my husband will pick a sweeter wine he likes from the package for himself.

 

[JJsmama]

is there a longer wine list than the one posted for buying individual bottles? I am not a wine snob by any margin. I just like what I like and it isn't especially $$. For instance, I have seen La Crema chardonnay listed somewhere but it is not on that list.
Also, the link to cruisemapper only lists Italian wines...?

(Last year, Dh and I spent a week in St Martin. All that was ever available was french white wine. After a couple evenings, I just gave up drinking...Give me some California or Australian please! they did have really good croissants though.)

 

[Natalie Herbert]

I really love posts like this that help a first timer cruiser

 

[dmunsil]

is there a longer wine list than the one posted for buying individual bottles?

This is where I got my numbers: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/menus/main-dining-room-wine-menu/

 

[sambycat]

I usually end up buying the premium or whatever it's called because I enjoy la crema Chardonnay. Yes, it's overpriced compared to the grocery store, but I can't deal with the carry on policy and all that. This is easier for me. My first cruise I brought wine and I actually didn't use it all because I wasn't in my room that much it didn't want to leave poolside to go fetch a glass of wine or drink it in my room.

 

[JJsmama]

I usually end up buying the premium or whatever it's called because I enjoy la crema Chardonnay. Yes, it's overpriced compared to the grocery store, but I can't deal with the carry on policy and all that. This is easier for me. My first cruise I brought wine and I actually didn't use it all because I wasn't in my room that much it didn't want to leave poolside to go fetch a glass of wine or drink it in my room.

Yes, that was my experience of having it in the room too. Plus, I rarely had a clean glass to use. (Havinf a glass on the verandah IS nice.) I was wondering if I could just buy La Crema one bottle or one glass at a time. Otherwise, I will just do the 3 night.

Here's a thought. I was thinking of ordering Champagne/ sparkling for Bon Voyage on our verandah. If I got that in my 3 night package, would they bring it to my room before departure? Sounds like complicating things...

 

[reddog1473]

Sorry if this has been answered before but how much is the corkage fee?

 

[Agent 86]

This is a helpful thread!

Does Disney offer wine tastings? I'm not familiar with any of the wines on either the basic or deluxe lists. Do Disney provide a tasting so that you can decide whether you want to buy the entire bottle or not?

And, if you buy a single bottle on the first night, can you "upgrade" to the package if you decide that it would be more cost effective?

 

[DIS_Ag]

Corkage fee is $25.

 

[sambycat]

They want your money and I know you can increase nights on the package so probably if you ordered something off one of the package lists, I'll bet you can.

I doubt you can coordinate a bottle of sparkling wine to be available via the wine package for sail away. IIRC you can purchase the package at the sit down lunch the first day I think. Or maybe I'm remembering that wrong. I want to say they start it at dinner the first night. We have liked in the past getting a bottle of something bubbly to take to the room.

 

[sdjen]

Question for you. If you order a bottle of wine from the stateroom gift section (waiting in your room) will they automatically provide glasses and corkscrew? TIA

 

[sambycat]

Yes

 

[tvguy]

n. You can run the numbers in a variety of ways to show it costs more, less or the same as buying off the menu.

I agree. We skipped the package, and ended up buying 3 bottles of still wine, 1 of champagne and 2 bottles of Martinelli's Sparking cider (at $20 a bottle!) on a 7 night cruise for $125. Only specific wine I remember buying was the Fess Parker Chardonnay (which they were pushing hard on the ship), so that price range, low end. I suspect if your tastes are to more expensive wines, you might be ahead a bit with a package.

 

[Sparkie]

Give me your wine preferences. We usually drink "cheap" Moscato and occasional sweet reds. I would like to try other wines. So tell me your favorite white and red. I want to have the GOOD STUFF.

 

[EllinK]

I would suggest against the wine package because the choices are limited.

If you don't get the package, you can order from a longer list, or from any of the bar menus, or even from the Palo wine menu, in any of the MDRs. Just let your drinks server know what you want and they'll be happy to get it because they get 15%.

I've always wondered about this. I find the wine list selection pretty poor but the Palo list is good. How can I order from the Palo list in a MDR? Does Guest Services have the Palo wine list?

 

[dmunsil]

Give me your wine preferences. We usually drink "cheap" Moscato and occasional sweet reds. I would like to try other wines. So tell me your favorite white and red. I want to have the GOOD STUFF.

Of the stuff on the July 2015 wine list, some of the stuff we've had and liked, not necessarily on a Disney ship, and that I can remember well enough to recommend:

White:
Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio - Nice summer wine; crisp and not too oaky. Dry, but with some nice fruit.
Louis Latour Pouilly-Fuisse - Very dry, kind of mineral-y. This is French-style Chardonnay, so more restrained and less oaky. Very nice with fish.
Conundrum - A little more oak than we usually like, if I remember correctly. But still good; pretty big flavor for a white.
Stags Leap Chardonnay - Very nice California Chardonnay. We often avoid California Chard because it's often all oak and that flavor they call "buttery" that doesn't taste anything like butter to me, but this had nice balance.
Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc - Hard to go wrong with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Tart, dry, with nice fruit flavors.

Red:
Banfi Chianti - Classic Italian food-friendly red done well. Good table wine and goes with lots of Italian food or garlicky food in general.
Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages - Light-bodied red similar to a Pinot Noir, kind of goes with anything. Great one for when you don't know what you're going to eat yet.
Chateauneuf-Du-Pape Mont-Redon - Big fat red with lots of complexity. Great with big meaty flavors.
Castle Rock Cabernet Sauvignon - A perfectly nice big California Cab. Medium tannins. Nothing special, but a pleasant steak-friendly wine.
Penfold's Rawson's Retreat Merlot - Good Australian Merlot, with a lot of fruit. If you like Yellow Tail or one of the mass market Aussie merlots, this is a bit more refined and less jammy.

If you're new to wine and just want something friendly and accessible, I'd probably suggest the Pinot Grigio for a white, or the Beaujolais-Villages in red. They're easy drinking.

Overall I feel like Disney's wine list is pretty good. There's plenty on there I know well enough to know it's good, and quite a few bottles I'd like to try.

 

[CM Dad]

I usually end up buying the premium or whatever it's called because I enjoy la crema Chardonnay. Yes, it's overpriced compared to the grocery store, but I can't deal with the carry on policy and all that. This is easier for me. My first cruise I brought wine and I actually didn't use it all because I wasn't in my room that much it didn't want to leave poolside to go fetch a glass of wine or drink it in my room.

If you had unopened bottles at the end of the cruise, you could have taken them off the ship with you.

 

[CM Dad]

Question for you. If you order a bottle of wine from the stateroom gift section (waiting in your room) will they automatically provide glasses and corkscrew? TIA

If you bring your own wine on board you can also request wine glasses and a corkscrew from room service.

 

[Sparkie]

Thanks dumsil! And yeah, I dont get "buttery" either. I had a nice red one time from South Africa that had a hint of chocolate- and who doesnt like chocolate. But thanks a lot. This gives me a lot of information to make some new choices.

 

[sambycat]

K

If you had unopened bottles at the end of the cruise, you could have taken them off the ship with you.

i brought my own wine from home the first time and didn't drink it because it wasn't convenient to when and how i wanted wine. I did take some home. We've also brought a bottle off before (unopened) when we hadn't finished a wine package I think that was the time I thought we could drink a bottle a day on a 7 night.