I'm leaving next month to cruise on the Fascination. One of my cruise mates said tha the read that you can bring ONE bottle of wine on board free of charge, no corking fees either. Is that true? And if it is, is there a certain size the bottle has to be, we usually drink Sangria and it comes in many size JUGS, not regular size/shape wine bottles? Thanks
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09/07 CCL Fascination
03/07 RCI Voyager of the Seas
03/06 RCI Explorer of the Seas
10/03 CCL Carnival Legend
07/94 CCL Ecstasy
The Carnival Alcohol Policy says bottle but it doesn't go into detail as to the size. I'd say a gallon jug would be pushing it but a half-gallon would not.
My mother has her own grape vine and we make our own wine.On our last cruise, we brought 2 bottles in our checked luggage without any trouble. If you wish to consume your own wine in the dining room,then there will be a $10.00/bottle corkage fee. I wanted to have it with dinner and gladly paid the fee (getting a bottle on the ship would run $20.00+/bottle)
Yes they did charge me - The waiter's attitude was that if it was up to him he wouldn't have charged me, but if the Maitre D noticed my own wine and no charge - then he would have a lot of explaining to do!
I heard one trick around the fee is to bring a bottle on board that is on their wine list - that way they can't tell if it was from a gift basket!
Originally posted by PC GUY:
Yes they did charge me - The waiter's attitude was that if it was up to him he wouldn't have charged me, but if the Maitre D noticed my own wine and no charge - then he would have a lot of explaining to do!
I heard one trick around the fee is to bring a bottle on board that is on their wine list - that way they can't tell if it was from a gift basket!
That is one maitre'd that wouldn't be getting a tip from me. His tip went towards the corkage fee!
Many, many, cruises and I always bring 3 bottles of wine in my checked baggage. Never have I been charged a corkage fee. I usually tend to bring unusual vintages of wine and it is not uncommon for the maitre d to stop and say a few words about it. I always offer the maitre d the option of trying some of the wine. Sometimes they accept the offer and sometimes they don't. Still in all, I would be offended by a ten dollar corkage fee. I know champagne and white wine are a little more troublesome for the waiter as he or she also has to set up a wine chilling stand. But, being a steak fanatic, I tend to stay with the darker reds on cruises. Nothing better than the perfect union of flavors from a prime, midwestern grain fed, thick steak and a correctly kept(at least 4 yrs. old) merlot or syrah.
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