Wine Package Research with 2022 Prices

[JonMcIntosh]

I couldn't find a "should I or should I not buy a wine package" forum with updated prices, so I did the research and wanted to post this here for anyone else looking for these same answers. (Warning: there is a lot of info here.)

I'm listing current prices (9/2022) for 3,4,5, and 7 day packages for both "classic" and "premium" selections. I then broke down each package to the per bottle price. That number is important because the wine package in only "worth it" if you select wines at that price point or better.

	3 Bottle (Per Bottle)	4 Bottle (Per Bottle)	5 Bottle (Per Bottle)	7 Bottle (Per Bottle)
Classic	$98 ($32.66)	$128 ($32)	$153 ($30.60)	$206 ($29.43)
Premium	$148 ($49.33)	$196 ($49)	$240 ($48)	$316 ($45.14)

Then you have to look at each package list to see which wines you might order from that list (note: with a package, you can only order from the package list, not the entire wine menu).

From the classic list available on most North America sailings, here are a few wines that would interest our family with the price per bottle if you were to order it on its own.
Baccorosa Zonin Rosé ($31)
Murphy-Goode Sauvignon Blanc ($36)
Honig Sauvignon Blanc ($31)
Robert Mondavi Merlot ($38)
Wolf Blass Cabernet Sauvignon ($39)
Cune Crianza ($37)
Zolo Malbec ($36)

As you can see from the classic list, most of these are above the per bottle price (but only slightly) especially if you're buying a 5- or 7-bottle package.
Unfortunately for me, it's really other wines not on this list that interest me more, so let's take a look at the premium list.

Here are sample of wines from the premium list available on most North American sailings. This list has many more of the actual wines that we tend to drink at home.
Conundrum White ($58) (Marked up an insane amount, BTW.)
Domaine Chandon ($43)
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc ($46)
Sofia Rosé ($48)
Ferrari-Carano Fumé Blanc ($49) (Also marked up too high to be worth ordering on the ship, IMO.)
Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard ($46)
Conundrum Red ($38)
Château Peymouten Saint-Emilion Grand Cru ($65)
Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Merlot ($41)
Terrazas de los Andes Malbec ($42)
Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon ($60)

Unfortunately, it appears that that there are more wines on the classic list that hit the per bottle break even point than on the premium. In fact, the premium package only becomes a "deal" if you just order the Château Peymouten and the Mondavi Cab Sav. (Unfortunately, in real life the Château Peymouten is a $12 bottle with only average ratings, so I would stay away from it.) Other wines we would order like the Conundrum Red Blend and the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are actually cheaper if purchased per bottle and not with the package.

What I might actually do for our 7-Night cruise is pre-order a 3 Bottle premium package and just get Mondavi's CS, saving roughly $10 a bottle. (Of course, you have to calculate the 15% gratuity on top for each package purchased, and at that point is there any value left at all?)

One last note about overall wine prices on DCL: some wines on the main list seem only to marked up a moderate amount and still feel like a good value. Most notably, the Heitz Cabernet in the real world retails for $60 - $70 and the fact that you can buy it on the ship for $63 is incredible (shhh... don't tell Disney). Other wines are marked up so much to be a complete waste of money, IMO. For example Conundrum white blend retails for $15. The fact that they sell it on the ship for $58 is insane to me.

This maybe more wine price research than the average cruiser needs, but for me it was helpful and hope this helps at least one other person.

What wines do you tend to buy on the ships? Have you ever pre-bought a package and did you feel like it was worth it?

Edit: The above prices are for purchasing the packages in advance via the website. According to this menu, if you wait till you're onboard to purchase, each package is $3-$4 more: https://disneycruiselineblog.com/menus/wine-dine-packages/#jp-carousel-55338
Both add an 18% gratuity.

 

[IL2FL19]

I couldn't find a "should I or should I not buy a wine package" forum with updated prices, so I did the research and wanted to post this here for anyone else looking for these same answers. (Warning: there is a lot of info here.)

I'm listing current prices (9/2022) for 3,4,5, and 7 day packages for both "classic" and "premium" selections. I then broke down each package to the per bottle price. That number is important because the wine package in only "worth it" if you select wines at that price point or better.

	3 Bottle (Per Bottle)	4 Bottle (Per Bottle)	5 Bottle (Per Bottle)	7 Bottle (Per Bottle)
Classic	$98 ($32.66)	$128 ($32)	$153 ($30.60)	$206 ($29.43)
Premium	$148 ($49.33)	$196 ($49)	$240 ($48)	$316 ($45.14)

Then you have to look at each package list to see which wines you might order from that list (note: with a package, you can only order from the package list, not the entire wine menu).

From the classic list available on most North America sailings, here are a few wines that would interest our family with the price per bottle if you were to order it on its own.
Baccorosa Zonin Rosé ($31)
Murphy-Goode Sauvignon Blanc ($36)
Honig Sauvignon Blanc ($31)
Robert Mondavi Merlot ($38)
Wolf Blass Cabernet Sauvignon ($39)
Cune Crianza ($37)
Zolo Malbec ($36)

As you can see from the classic list, most of these are above the per bottle price (but only slightly) especially if you're buying a 5- or 7-bottle package.
Unfortunately for me, it's really other wines not on this list that interest me more, so let's take a look at the premium list.

Here are sample of wines from the premium list available on most North American sailings. This list has many more of the actual wines that we tend to drink at home.
Conundrum White ($58) (Marked up an insane amount, BTW.)
Domaine Chandon ($43)
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc ($46)
Sofia Rosé ($48)
Ferrari-Carano Fumé Blanc ($49) (Also marked up too high to be worth ordering on the ship, IMO.)
Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard ($46)
Conundrum Red ($38)
Château Peymouten Saint-Emilion Grand Cru ($65)
Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Merlot ($41)
Terrazas de los Andes Malbec ($42)
Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon ($60)

Unfortunately, it appears that that there are more wines on the classic list that hit per bottle break even point than on the premium. In fact, the premium package only become a "deal" if you just order the Château Peymouten and the Mondavi Cab Sav. (Unfortunately, in real life the Château Peymouten is a $12 bottle with only average ratings, so I would stay away from it.) Other wines we would order like the Conundrum Red Blend and the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are actually cheaper if purchased per bottle and not with the package.

What I might actually do for our 7-Night cruise is pre-order a 3 Bottle premium package and just get Mondavi's CS, saving roughly $10 a bottle. (Of course, you have to calculate the 15% gratuity on top for each package purchased, and at that point is there any value left at all?)

One last note about overall wine prices on DCL: some wines on the main list seem only to marked up a moderate amount and still feel like a good value. Most notably, the Heitz Cabernet in the real world retails for $60 - $70 and the fact that you can buy it on the ship for $63 is incredible (shhh... don't tell Disney). Other wines are marked up so much to be a complete waste of money, IMO. For example Conundrum white blend retails for $15. The fact that they sell it on the ship for $58 is insane to me.

This maybe more wine price research than the average cruiser needs, but for me it was helpful and hope this helps at least one other person.

What wines do you tend to buy on the ships? Have you ever pre-bought a package and did you feel like it was worth it?

Thank you! We were discussing wine packages last night. This is good information to have!

 

[cvjw]

Thank you so much! I tried to do this research myself once and just gave up! Seems like just ordering the wine by the bottle may be the better deal!

 

[mmouse37]

Thank you so much for that research and information. Going to show this to our friends.

MJ

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Just an fyi they charge a corking fee so that Robert Mondave cab was actually $80. Not sure if they charge this when you get the package. We wound up getting wine in port opening it in our room carried the entire bottle to dinner the servers poured it for us and did charge a corking fee.

 

[JonMcIntosh]

Thank you! We were discussing wine packages last night. This is good information to have!

@IL2FL19 @mmouse37 @cvjw Thanks for saying so, y'all. Glad it can be helpful. And, yes, you're right, @cvjw, 95% of the time it's better to just order off the main list.

 

[JonMcIntosh]

Just an fyi they charge a corking fee so that Robert Mondave cab was actually $80. Not sure if they charge this when you get the package. We wound up getting wine in port opening it in our room carried the entire bottle to dinner the servers poured it for us and did charge a corking fee.

I'm 99% positive that if you've pre-ordered a wine package, you can ask your server at any restaurant to bring you a bottle from that package without paying the corkage fee. They'll also save your bottle for your next restaurant if you don't finish it all that evening. The corkage fee is for wine you bring on to the ship yourself.

 

[mmouse37]

I'm 99% positive that if you've pre-ordered a wine package, you can ask your server at any restaurant to bring you a bottle from that package without paying the corkage fee. They'll also save your bottle for your next restaurant if you don't finish it all that evening. The corkage fee is for wine you bring on to the ship yourself.

Correct, any bottle from any package purchased or if you win a bottle at a game show or even the Castaway Club wine bottle gift does not get charged a corkage fee if brought to dinner.

The corkage fee is only for bottles not purchased through DCL, like if you brought your own bottle from your room to dinner.

MJ

 

[Intr3pid]

While good work, the only research we look at in this context is the medical kind.

Like this:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/more-6-drinks-week-leads-210612931.html?guccounter=1

Or, this:
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20220125/no-amount-alcohol-safe-heart-whf

 

[tvguy]

What and how much you drink are the factors on a wine package. We only drank 4 bottles in 7 days, so buying individual bottles was less than the cheapest package.
And where you live appears to make a difference on your home price. Heitz Cabernet is $52.97 here so they are marking it up 20% on the ship from my local prices at Total Wine. Bevmo is $69.99

 

[JonMcIntosh]

While good work, the only research we look at in this context is the medical kind.

Like this:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/more-6-drinks-week-leads-210612931.html?guccounter=1

Or, this:
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20220125/no-amount-alcohol-safe-heart-whf

@Intr3pid Move along, then. Nothing for you to see here.

 

[JonMcIntosh]

What and how much you drink are the factors on a wine package. We only drank 4 bottles in 7 days, so buying individual bottles was less than the cheapest package.
And where you live appears to make a difference on your home price. Heitz Cabernet is $52.97 here so they are marking it up 20% on the ship from my local prices at Total Wine. Bevmo is $69.99

Good intel. Still a moderate mark up in comparison to the rest of the bottles on the list.

 

[tvguy]

Good intel. Still a moderate mark up in comparison to the rest of the bottles on the list.

We are flying , usually cross country so bringing our own wine is more of a hassle than it's worth. And with your Heitz Cabernet and the corkage fee of $26 if bringing it to the dining room, buying on board is actually $16 a bottle cheaper.

 

[gzmtlock]

This was super helpful, thank you!

 

[happycamper47]

While good work, the only research we look at in this context is the medical kind.

Like this:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/more-6-drinks-week-leads-210612931.html?guccounter=1

Or, this:
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20220125/no-amount-alcohol-safe-heart-whf

Depends on who did the study... Remember Dr's are practitioners since it is not an exact science. The life expectancy in both France and Italy went up between 2019 and 2022.... Tell me they don't drink.

Over the years some studies have associated drinking small amounts of alcohol with lowered risk of heart disease.

In those studies, people who drank moderate amounts of alcohol (less than two drinks a day most days) had about a 20% lower risk of dying from heart disease — including heart attack, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and coronary artery disease — when compared to those who didn’t drink.

 

[Pens Fan]

Thank you for this. Very helpful!

 

[JonMcIntosh]

This was super helpful, thank you!

@gzmtlock @Pens Fan Thank you both!

 

[Intr3pid]

Depends on who did the study... Remember Dr's are practitioners since it is not an exact science. The life expectancy in both France and Italy went up between 2019 and 2022.... Tell me they don't drink.

Over the years some studies have associated drinking small amounts of alcohol with lowered risk of heart disease.

In those studies, people who drank moderate amounts of alcohol (less than two drinks a day most days) had about a 20% lower risk of dying from heart disease — including heart attack, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and coronary artery disease — when compared to those who didn’t drink.

That's old news - already debunked in one of the links I posted.

 

[limespy]

Wait... if you buy a package, you get the pick which individual bottles you want? I figured they'd be selected by DCL.

 

[ichoose2believe]

Thanks for the breakdown.