Saving money during a cruise vacation isn’t easy.
Opportunities to purchase add-ons abound, and ordering extras like pricey cruise cocktails and other alcoholic beverages is a surefire way to rack up an onboard bill.
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Keeping this in mind, many smart cruisers take advantage of the money-saving opportunity that comes with the fact that most cruise lines will allow you to bring at least one bottle of wine on board to drink on the ship.
Royal Caribbean permits each passenger of drinking age to bring one sealed 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne on board on embarkation day. Other types of alcoholic beverages are not permitted.
Royal Caribbean doesn’t prohibit passengers from drinking their personal wine in dining rooms or bars on board its ships. However, passengers should be aware that the cruise line states on its website that passengers “who consume their personal wine and champagne in public areas will incur a $15 corkage fee per bottle.”
Although most cruisers who have brought their own wine on board Royal Caribbean ships report that they’ve never been charged a corkage fee, even when they’ve taken the bottle to the dining room, new reports from the ships suggest that practices may be changing.
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Bringing your own bottle of wine to the main dining room on a Royal Caribbean ship may result in a corkage fee.
Image source: Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty
Royal Caribbean may be stepping up corkage fee enforcement
The cruise line appears to be taking new steps to enforce the corkage fee for wine bottles brought on board, according to RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com, an unofficial fan blog not affiliated with the cruise line.
Passengers are reporting that “corkage fee waived” stickers are now being applied to wine bottles gifted to Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society loyalty club members and Casino Royale rewards program members on board. This seems to indicate that the cruise line is upping corkage fee enforcement for the wine bottles passengers bring on board.
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The corkage fee may apply regardless of whether your wine bottle has a cork or screw cap or whether you open it yourself. Corkage is not specific to opening a bottle of wine; it’s more about providing wine service for bottles brought on board.
So, even if you open a bottle of wine in your stateroom and bring it to the dining room, you could be charged a corkage fee for consuming it there.
There’s an easy way to avoid a corkage fee on a cruise
If you don’t want to run the risk of being charged a corkage fee for the wine you brought on a cruise ship, simply keep the bottle in your cabin. Open your own bottle and fill your glasses there. A corkage fee does not apply to personal wine consumed in staterooms.
You can request wine glasses and a corkscrew from your stateroom attendant at no charge. Or if you prefer, bring a screw-cap wine bottle or pack your own corkscrew.
If you want to take your own wine into the dining room or other public areas of the ship but want to avoid a corkage fee, it’s best to leave the bottle in your stateroom and just carry a glass with you.
Related: Royal Caribbean drops perk from popular cruise program
If you’re flying to your cruise departure city and don’t want to pack a bottle of wine in your luggage, consider purchasing a bottle in your embarkation city before arriving at the cruise port. This can help you reduce the chances of arriving to your cruise with a broken bottle of wine and a big mess in your suitcase.
Even if you do end up getting charged a corkage fee during your cruise, you probably will still spend less in the end than you would if you purchased a marked-up bottle of wine on the ship.
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Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me’s Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at [email protected] or call or text her at 386-383-2472.