Trying to decide on the wine package...

[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.

Another La Crema Fan here. I was just looking at DCL Blog and it looks like I was seeing the La Crema on a 2012 list. It is not on the 2015 list they show, which is very limited even in the premium package. When was your cruise?

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.

No idea how you managed that with grocery store $11 wines costing $35-45 each. Maybe you found a more extensive list onboard....? How was the 'pushed' chardonnay?

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.

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Very helpful! I will try these at at their regular prices before we cruise.

 

[vinotinto]

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?

Ask your drink server for it. He/she can bring you the Palo wine list and is usually able to fetch most of the wines on the list for you.

 

[JJsmama]

Since the wine drinkers are here, I will ask this champagne question vs starting another thread:

I would like to have glass or 2 of champagne for sail away. Was thinking of ordering the Bon Voyage Champagne package.
Pros/ Cons?
Seems nice to have it delivered -- IF it is there when you get to your room - I don't want to order it if it comes at dinner time/ after. When/ how does it arrive?
Otherwise, on Fantasy, is there a bar open to get a glass or two and take room's verandah before sail away? I was thinking bars are closed when in port...?
I am actually not a big drinker, but some bubbly at sail away sounds nice and I am doing my online check in soon, package ordering soon, so trying to get my decisions made. Maybe the sparkling should be what I carry on since I will otherwise just want wine in dining rooms with dinner...

 

[JJsmama]

I am replying to my own comment here- correcting myself. On the (very hard to find) actual DCL wine package list on the website, La Crema is listed on premium. Thought I would mention since other posters mentioned that wine specifically.

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.

 

[tvguy]

No idea how you managed that with grocery store $11 wines costing $35-45 each. Maybe you found a more extensive list onboard....? How was the 'pushed' chardonnay?
.

Well, I cruised 2003/2004 so prices have gone up, the wine list price generally was exactly double the grocery store price when we cruised, the Fess Parker Chardonnay is $7 a bottle in these parts. It was good. Although the Navigator had a typo several days in a row, calling is Fess PACKER, not PARKER.

 

[bethann2103]

does anyone know if you pre purchase the wine package online do you save money vs. buying it at the table the first night?

 

[dmunsil]

does anyone know if you pre purchase the wine package online do you save money vs. buying it at the table the first night?

The prices appear to be the same right now, except that you'll pay sales tax (for Port Canaveral - 6%) if you buy in advance, but no tax if you buy once you're at sea.

 

[sambycat]

the sail away or bon voyage or whatever it is, the one you preorder, i believe the entire point of that is to prepurchase and it should indeed be in your room waiting for you.


we just cruised over thanksgiving on the wonder, so my la cream experience is recent. and i think they have a la cream pinto noir because 9/10 they try and bring me the pinot wherever i go! ha! people will cringe, but usually i've asked to pay for the premium and still get a bottle or two off the "cheaper" list, which they have accommodated.

you probably can buy a bottle of champagne from a bar somehow onboard and some bars will be open (the promenade lounge equivalent, cabanas has a bar in the middle of it for sure), but i had an interesting experience on our last cruise leaving from galveston (from which we had cruised once before) - ordered a dirty martini at the promenade bar while we were still in port and was charged double the price! apparently while in port there is some weird charge about alcohol, but IIRC its spirits rather than wine, I am sure we had a group toast on a previous galveston cruise and not everyone in that group was a wine drinker, but i don't recall being charged $20for a drink! the server this last go around didn't give me this info before he brought the drink and they graciously allowed me to return the drink as i didn't really want a $20 martini, but other than that little weird thing, we've usually gotten a drink somewhere in port right after boarding.


also, i would really like a glass of wine now.

 

[rwjx2kahaj]

I had La Crema Chardonnay by the glass on our January 2016 Dream cruise.

 

[JJsmama]

I had La Crema Chardonnay by the glass on our January 2016 Dream cruise.

Thanks for the recent update

 

[OKW Lover]

Could you order the same bottle of wine almost every time? I'm trying to decide if I want to do this in advance or just order by the bottle.

Yes you could do that. Of course you'd not get the best wine/food pairing experience but that might not be important to you.

 

[CScott095]

I buy the 5 night wine package for our 7 night cruises. Generally, there is one night we don't finish a bottle and so we carry it over the next night. You sign for the bottle each time they open one and I generally tip at that time, though it is not required. I love the wine package because it is paid for before I get on the ship! No fuss, no muss!

 

[OKW Lover]

I buy the 5 night wine package for our 7 night cruises.

I didn't know there was a 5-night package. I only recall 3, 4 and 7 night packages. I wonder if its new.

 

[CScott095]

I didn't know there was a 5-night package. I only recall 3, 4 and 7 night packages. I wonder if its new.

I am not sure if it is new, but this is the 2nd year I have purchased it.

 

[OKW Lover]

I am not sure if it is new, but this is the 2nd year I have purchased it.

Interesting. I've only purchased the package on board and their standard offerings then were the 3, 4 and 7 day options.