Wine drinking on board

[Laurarn]

My DH likes to drink good wine. We're bringing a couple of bottles with us on our trip. We know about the corkage fee in the restaurants. Our question is....Does DCL have wine glasses and can you walk around with your glass of wine (just like if you have beer or smoothies)? Or can you only drink it in your stateroom? we're trying to decide whether or not to pack some wine glasses. I've been on these boards for months and thought I could answer his every question, but he got me this time. We're so excited. Just 3 more days til our first cruise! Thanks for all your help and advice over the past year
Laura

 

[Rikersmom]

Just ask a bartender for a wine glass or two. We've done this before with no problems. I think they are aware that guests often bring their own wine or purchase wine at the various ports.

 

[DVC4US]

We brought some of our own on our last cruise also. We like good wine also, and had been looking at the wine list on some of the websites and we were not real impressed. But, we found once we were on board that they have an excellent selection. Just some of the ones I can remember getting were Opus 1, Caymas, and Christal. We will only bring a couple of bottles for the cabin next time and you can just ask for a wineglass and then have it in your cabin if you do not want to pay the corkage fee.

LeiLani

 

[Tesabat]

ON another board - I've read several times that you can NOT bring a corkscrew aboard a cruise ship - even in packed luggage. Does that seem wrong to anyone?? We also plan on bringing aboard some nice wines. I've been given a gift certificate to a really good local wine shop, just for this purpose...and of course, one bottle will POP, but the others we will need a corkscrew. I'm planning on packing one anyway - has anyone EVER heard of that being a problem??

 

[DVC4US]

I packed one last in our luggage last March and did not have a problem. I think as long as it is in the checked luggage it should be okay. I hope this is true because I plan on bringing one for our cruise in April (although the Walt or Roy suite may have one )

LeiLani

 

[RellingTwin]

I have brought a corkscrew on 2 previous cruises including the one just 10 days after 9/11. Just pack it in your checked luggage, just in case they object to you having it in your carry on.

I asked my cabin steward for a wine glass, and he got it for me, no problem. Just remember, no glass by the pool areas. Otherwise bring it where ever you like! ENJOY!

 

[ofiesty4u]

I'm even making up cutsie wine labels for our wine. I just hope that this cruise doesn't turn out to be one big hangover with all the celebrating!

 

[dianthus]

When you meet your cabin steward just ask him/her for a couple of wine glasses for the room for the duration of your cruise. We brought a corkscew in our luggage as well. No problems at all. We bring a vac u vin with us too, it caps the bottle & air doesn't get in the wine. The vac u vin is a little pusher thingie that goes over a rubber bottle cap, with a small slit in it. By pushing on it, it sucks the air out of the bottle and seals the bottle at the same time. Your wine will last longer & stay fresh! You can get them at wine & liquor stores now. We love it!

The best part of the cruise for us is sitting out on the verandah in the evening with a glass of wine. Sitting out there with a cup of morning coffee rates pretty high on our list too!

Have a great time!

 

[Favorite Auntie]

I have read on other posts that if you ask your room steward he/she will bring you glasse as well as a cork screw, for you to keep! And it has the DCL logo on it, kind of a cute FREE souvenier....

 

[ofiesty4u]

Originally posted by Favorite Auntie
I have read on other posts that if you ask your room steward he/she will bring you glasse as well as a cork screw, for you to keep! And it has the DCL logo on it, kind of a cute FREE souvenier....

ooh, I like the sound of that!! So, say we bring a few bottles of wine, our favorite, that they don't have on the ship, are we allowed to take it to dinner? We have a friend who's been making his own wine for about 15 years... we'd like to take that along with us, he gave it to us as a gift.

 

[AprilN]

Originally posted by ofiesty4u
So, say we bring a few bottles of wine, our favorite, that they don't have on the ship, are we allowed to take it to dinner?

You can bring any bottle of wine that you'd like to dinner - I don't think it matters if it's on the list or not. You will have to pay a corkage fee, however - $15 plus 15% automatic gratuity.

 

[ofiesty4u]

Originally posted by AprilN
You can bring any bottle of wine that you'd like to dinner - I don't think it matters if it's on the list or not. You will have to pay a corkage fee, however - $15 plus 15% automatic gratuity.

What about an already opened bottle? If they are bringing people corkscrews to their room, can you then bring that bottle to dinner?

 

[Laurarn]

Ofiesty4u: I loved your smilies! ROTF LOL! I'm packing right now since we leave tomorrow.
dianthus: Thanks for the vac-u-vin idea. I almost forgot about it.
Favorite Auntie: Thanks for the info on the corkscrew.
I'll let all of you know how I made out. Thanks for the fast replies from everyone.
My husband was wondering if he can walk around the ship with his glass of wine. We understand that you can't near the pool areas, due to the glass,that makes sense.
back to packing,
Laura

 

[ofiesty4u]

Originally posted by Laurarn
Ofiesty4u: I loved your smilies! ROTF LOL! I'm packing right now since we leave tomorrow.
dianthus: Thanks for the vac-u-vin idea. I almost forgot about it.
Favorite Auntie: Thanks for the info on the corkscrew.
I'll let all of you know how I made out. Thanks for the fast replies from everyone.
My husband was wondering if he can walk around the ship with his glass of wine. We understand that you can't near the pool areas, due to the glass,that makes sense.
back to packing,
Laura

LOL..Thanks!! Let me know your wine stories when you return, I'm due to sail soon! I've got my vac and my corkscrew all ready to be packed!

Watch out for pink elephants!

 

[ofiesty4u]

just out of curiosity, what part of NC are you from?

 

[Laurarn]

We're in Mooresville. About 30 minutes north of Charlotte. If you're into NASCAR, we're "Race City, USA".

 

[ofiesty4u]

Originally posted by Laurarn
We're in Mooresville. About 30 minutes north of Charlotte. If you're into NASCAR, we're "Race City, USA".

I know where that is, I'm from Raleigh, but I've been in NY/NJ area for 6 years.

 

[abitjaded]

Another wine tip, if you still have little kids in pull-ups or diapers, use them as packing for the wine, then zip lock it up. The ladies can imagine other things that work well, too. Prevents your clothes from being dyed pink or burgundy should a suitcase or carry-on mishap occur. I noticed the luggage storage area after everyone disembarked was pretty alcohol scented.

Did your room CM bring a plastic or glass wine glass? They had great very heavy duty plastic ones at the pool. I bogarted mine for a few days. Wine in a juice glass or refillable resort mug just does not feel right to me.

Love the pink elephant!

Carla

 

[ofiesty4u]

Originally posted by abitjaded
Love the pink elephant!

Carla

Thanks!

 

[AprilN]

Originally posted by ofiesty4u
What about an already opened bottle? If they are bringing people corkscrews to their room, can you then bring that bottle to dinner?

You can definitely bring a previously-opened bottle to dinner - they're not going to turn you away. In fact, if you have your server open a bottle at dinner one night and then fail to finish it off, you can bring it back the next night (or they will keep it and bring it to your table the next night) and you won't be charged corkage a second time. You can also bring a glass of wine to dinner without extra charge, and that can come from a bottle in your room, of course.

However, if you open the bottle in your room just to avoid the corkage fee (totally intending to drink it at dinner), that's allowed, just a little on the shady side, IMHO. The server will still end up with most of the work, and DCL will lose the profit (from either corkage or the marked-up wine list) by allowing guests to bring their own wines onboard. I know, we're all paying a lot for the cruise, it's only $17, etc., but they could always just disallow us from bringing wine at all - and we'd be stuck with their shorter wine list. No thanks!

This is all IMHO (and my DH's as well) - like tipping, it's up to each individual.

The wine glasses we had in our room were glass - but I think we picked them up in a restaurant one evening. I'm not sure what your stateroom host would provide. I wish we had received one of those DCL corkscrews as a souvenir- we brought our own. Oh well!