Fairly self-explanatory question. I read briefly about someone who paid one corkage fee to open two bottles of wine at dinner, so I was wondering if this was common or acceptable to do on most cruise lines. Is it possible to open 3 at once?
Since the corkage fee is charged for the service provided in serving a bottle of wine, I would think it would apply to each bottle of wine; if somebody was served two bottles for one fee, good for them; I hope they tipped well. I would neither think to ask nor expect the wine steward to serve me two or more bottles for one corkage fee.
We've brought multiple bottles of wine to our dinner table (one for my wife and me and one or two for the rest of the table, depending on how many table mates and if they were a "good" table-if nothing else, I am discerning). They have always charged per bottle. We did have a private table on a Mexican cruise a few years ago (not by choice, but our four table mates failed to make the cruise for whatever reason), where our waiter told us he would not charge us the corkage fee. Of course, we were going to apply the corkage fee that would have been charged as an added tip for our waiter and assistant waiter, but the headwaiter got involved and "reminded" the waiter to charge the corkage fee. That was the only time we saw our headwaiter; how much do you think we tipped him?
Just curious, did the head waiter make any effort to place you at another table with other guests? Or to seat other people at your table? You sound like you prefer a large table, as do I.
I like leisurely dinners with good company and good conversation. No offense to my dear wife, but I have dinner with her every night.
If he made no effort, he should be sent back to the buffet line for a while for an attitude adjustment.
Both my wife and I love to cruise; part of the enjoyment is meeting new people, sharing stories, learning about other parts of the country/world. We have met several people at our dinner table with whom we maintain contact. Heck, one couple showed up at our doorstep unexpectedly so we all went out to dinner that evening.
We advised our waiter that we would love to have some other guests at our table. It was a nice window table, early seating. I can only presume that our waiter told the head waiter (we watched our waiter converse with the headwaiter moments after advising the waiter we'd love the company). The head waiter never made his way to our table, at least until it was time to remind the waiter about the corkage fee, and our table remained "private" throughout the cruise.
Wow.. I'm with Mattox of this one.. the Headwaiter's only function is to make your dinning experience the most enjoyable as possible for you. I can't beleive he didn't at least come talk to you and ask you if you wanted company. Can you imagine having available seats at a window table and not using them.. He could have made you happy and someone else happy and caught some tip money for two couples. Instead he costs you money...
We are scheduled for a late seating on our May cruise...I only hope we can get into the early seating. I don't mind being sat with strangers, that is part of the fun of cruising- finding new friends!
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================================================== ========== Carnival Cruise Lines:
Fantasy 90, Celebration 95, Victory 05, Conquest 05, Spirit 6/06, Freedom 6/08, Holiday 7/08, Victory 6/09, Valor 9/09, Dream 6/10, Splendor 8/10,Conquest 8/11,Magic 11/11,Triumph 4/12,Spirit 7/12,Freedom 11/12, Triumph 2/13 - The fire cruise
NCL Dream October 2006, RCCL Mariner OTS June 2007
He was tipped a nickel...I wanted to send a message to him directly. I also made a note in the customer satisfaction survey they sent out near the end of the cruise. Regarding the nickel tip, had I not tipped at all, the head waiter might have thought I forgot to tip and I really didn't want that.
We had another "unusual" experience with a head waiter. While on the Grandeur of the Seas out of 'Nawlins in 2003, we attended the Wine Tasting program (complimentary to C&A members). While at dinner that evening, my wife and I were sharing a special Bordeaux blend we brought with us and asked the head waiter if he could summon the Somalier (sp?)/Wine Steward so we could get his opinion on our wine. The head waiter came back shortly with a wine glass and poured at least a three ounce pour (for reference, a standard wine tasting pour is one ounce), and left. 20 minutes later the head waiter returned to advise us that the Wine Steward thought quite highly of our wine. My gut feeling was that the Wine Steward never got any, or received a small taste, at best. The Steward never came to acknowledge receipt of the taste. On each of the next two nights, the head waiter made it a point to uncork our wine, and waited for a long time before leaving our table (he expected us to offer another taste I think, which of course, due to his bad manners the previous night, prevented me from offering a taste of any future bottles!). Our main waiter opened the remaining 2 or 3 bottles thereafter. The head waiter received a nickel and a bad bit of press on the customer satisfaction questionaire.
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