This has probably been answered a hundred times before, but I swear I can't find it anywhere and I figured it was much safer to ask here than on CC! LOL Didn't want to get bashed to death!

We are sailing on the Navigator (first time on RSSC) to the Caribbean this December. As far as bar setup, Diana and I rarely drink anything but wine and champagne. Can you request champagne for your bar setup and does it get replentished or are you limited to just the two bottles? Also, does RSSC have a policy against bringing your own wine or champagne onboard to drink in your suite?

Thanks!

Bring Away!

We brought wine onboard, on most cruises, purchased in port - no problem at all - I doubt champagne/wine gets replinished in your cabin, if that is what you order for your 2 bottles in cabin.. The pros will answer -

Don, you will already have a bottle of sparkling something on ice in your room when you arrive. They don't care what you choose for your two in-room suite bottles other than that, but they will not be replenished....until all inclusive!

I knew a "pro" would answer!!!

Thanks guys. I knew I could count on y'all. It is good to know that we won't be thrown overboard for bringing on our own choice of liquid enjoyment! <img border="0" alt="[beer]" title="" src="graemlins/beer.gif" />

Hey Don! I take it you switched your Silversea Barbados-FLL booking over to this Navigator booking? And you have another booked on Voyager next year...should Silversea be worried? ;)

Either way, keep the champagne flowing, I'm with you!!!

If you bring wine or champagne on board, unless the policy has changed you can bring the bottle with you to dinner and they will happily open it and, if required, put it in an ice bucket for you. No "corkage fee" nonsense or anything.

Quite a bit different from cruise lines that actually search their passengers to make sure they're not bringing any booze on board!

-- David

There is so much champagne available on board that I don't know why anyone would want to bring more with them. Also, the wine served at dinner flows freely. If you don't care for the ones they're serving on any particular evening, you can ask for one that they've served previously that you like. I always ask for pinot grigio and they happily bring it. You can ask for wine for your stateroom instead of booze as well. If you ask for room service in the late afternoon for snacks you may be able to get some wine that is being served at dinner with it at no charge. Don't know for sure, because we've never tried it, but it doesn't hurt to inquire with room service. As the lovely Miss Lynn says, "You have a mouth, ask". Relative to the champagne, we always have to have an end of cruise party where everyone brings their left over bottles of champagne, since most folks don't use the bottles provided on boarding. Ask around and I'm sure you'll find plenty of spares to keep you supplied.

Yes, there is an astounding quantity of champagne on board. But one can never have too much champagne. Especially now that it is not just a breakfast drink anymore.

-- David

Yeah, that is how I want to start my cruise...getting frisked to ensure I am not bringing some drinks of choice with me ;) Viva RSSC!!

Kristin, Silversea said they lost money on us with all the champagne that we drank!!! LOL

Actually, we were supposed to go on MUSH next month, but some things came up and we are not able to go and since we had cruise certificates from our cancelled Diamond cruise that expire by the end of the year, we moved our booking to this one. Plus, this way we will be Seven Seas Society and it just gives us more options with RSSC going AI next year.

Oh, and we are waiting till this fall to see what sailings that SS puts on as Silver Sailings for next Spring.

Sounds smart, Don! Good, then we will be more likely to share a cruise with you and Diana someday, between SS and RSSC. We are among the newest Seven Seas Society members, having returned recently from the PG. I'm looking forward to the official start of A/I on RSSC!

Now I know that Regent only serves the best French Champagne. Correct? I have a problem with lower end champagne, especially if it isn't Brut, I know I am a wine and champagne/sparkling wine snob. Hey nothing wrong with a little California bubbly as long as it is Methode Champenoise!!(then I call it Champagne)Enjoy!!Bon Voyage!! Jeanine

Jeanine, I'm not a champagne drinker, let alone "snob". But I like wine, and RSSC suits me fine with their dinner pourings! I'm told that nothing can be labeled "champagne" if it does not come from France. Not sure what Regent serves in the dining room, but what is in the cabins is not French, that I remember.

On Voyager it was a California Brut from Sonoma, I believe. It was on the drier side. I prefer a little Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin, but, that is NOT what they give you en suite.

The champagne on Voyager was okay, glad Kathy remembers approximately what it was, I didn't, except it was not Veuve Cliquot, that's for sure. We drank it finally in our wonderful hotel room in northern Portugal.

Hmmm! Don't know why, but we always get a bottle of the Vueve Cliquot and a bottle of the regular stuff in our stateroom. We never drink it. Lynn doesn't drink any alcohol and I'm not really fond of champagne. Give me a good old Jack Daniels black or a Meyers and coke and I'm a happy camper. If any of you are on a cruise with us you're welcome to our champagne. Next is the first leg of the WC and then the Norway cruise aboard Voyager next June.

Also, Don the wine mark-up on the RSSC ships is really not that much,so rather than lugging bottles with you, you can buy it on board for just a few more $. I did not check the prices of champagnes but for instance Opus One was only $150 on the Mariner. That is considerably less than we have paid in land based restaurants. Maybe you could find out what the price is for your beverage of choice from customer service and see if it is worth it to BYOB. Leave more room in the luggage for shoes!
24 days to go for our first SS cruise!

Regent serves Veuve Cliquot on New Years Eve, for special events for guests on a full long cruise (WC, SA, GA) and for some of the new Platinum gatherings.

One of Dag's specials returning south over the Arctic Circle is "Arctic Marys." That's a bloody mary with Aquavit instead of vodka and ice from a glacier. Different but quite tasty. We should get them on the Norway cruise in June 07.

we got some weird looks boarding our may 14th cruise to alaska because we were carrying a huge bottle of champagne, a jeroboam! i know many were thinking that there's enough on board, why bring more. we had gone to the tiburon wine and art festival the day before boarding in san francisco and won that bottle of champagne and two magnums of wine in the silent auction. it wasn't until we went to pay that we found out they don't ship so we schlepped those huge bottles to alaska on the mariner, then to vancouver and home to florida on our aa flight. so people, appearances can be deceiving! if it looks like someone thinks there might not be enough champane on board and they're boarding with a ridiculous amount, it just might be someone in our situation who didn't pay attention to details. it seems like there's a lesson to be learned by us, not the first time we get into a pickle by not paying attention to details, our cingular cell phone bill after the cruise is a shining example!

A jeroboam!! Wow!!

Doug, I met you briefly on last year's world cruise during the Asia segments. I will gladly trade you your VC champagne and order a bottle of JD Black (if they will give it to me) for my cabin on Captain Dag's cruise. I also accept champagne leftovers as long as still fizzing and above Korbel level!

greenflash, do you remember meeting me on the WC? We spent an evening together in the VL. Are you going on FJORDS cruise? I can add you to the roll call.

One of the great joys I get from being someone who has done our recent cruising on Regent is to go on the CC boards for other lines and follow all the threads on how to sneak booze onto the ship. What a pleasure to be on a cruise where they don't care what you bring on (unless it's contageous or will blow up). One less bit of aggravation, tension and stress.

Hmm, we were in a C Cat on the PG last Nov and had no champagne in our cabin.

Yeh, I don't think they do that on the PG, Vaitape. Last time we went, we got a bottle of the good stuff (Veuve Cliquot!), canapes for the whole first week, and a box of truffles. But that was something special, and no doubt a mistake. The Voyager bubbly is Californian, not bad, but nothing to write home about.

As Wendy said, the daily Veuve Cliquot and canapes was probably a mistake. We did a galley tour and saw our names on the VIP list on a bulletin board.

It is sort of like when you are in jail and the guard comes and says you can go. You don't ask why, you just silently go. Even (or especially) if you think it is a mistake.

We certainly never asked why we were on the VIP list on the PG.

-- D

Do you think anything has changed on this policy since the FAA ban on liquids in carry on luggage? The only reason that I ask, is because our friends said the RCCL after the attempted attacks in August, has now banned completely any bringing onboard of water, sodas, and alchohol.

I realize that RSSC is a far cry from RCCL, but figured that it was safer to ask than to show up to the pier and have some of our bubbly be tossed! I figured that the RCCL measure had little to do with security and more to do with onboard profits!

I don't know for sure, Ngaire would be the best to ask but I brought several kinds of liquids back from shore excursions and nothing was said.

We returned from MUSH with soooooo much liquor in our suitcase. We had been way overweight returning from South America cruise so left heavy jackets and bottles of Sambuca onboard the Mariner knowing we'd be back on again on MUSH. We also flew with liquor this past weekend to San Jose so I know there's no problem with it in your checked luggage.