“Bon Voyage,” they all scream, though this cruise isn’t a barge trip in France or an Atlantic crossing. If you’ve ever done one of those, you know how great they can be and how wine- and food-centric they are. And anytime you’re on a cruise that’s specifically called a wine cruise, you can count on that being the focus.
This time, however, we explored wine on a good old fashioned Caribbean cruise. The verdict – in a word? Disappointing.
Cruise was fun. Being with a group added to the experience. On the wine side, however, there was a lot left to be desired. So, if we can, we’d like to pass along a few tips if you’re planning a cruise.
First. Know the rules. We checked ‘em out and found out that they apply to just about every ship in the Caribbean from the small 10 or 12 family boats right up to the 4000+ people on the ship we traveled on.
You’re limited in what you can bring on. We had checked in advance and were told that, yes, we could carry on some of our favorites – Jeff Mayo’s Russian River Zin and Port Zin, and Pride Mountain Merlot. We thought we were pretty clear. Ah, but when we boarded, all baggage was screened and they kept all but 2 bottles – wouldn’t you know, the two we would have most likely left behind – and gave us a note that we could get the rest back at the end of the trip. Sorta like getting caught with a comic book in 3rd grade and getting told you’d get it back at the end of the year.
- You’re limited in what you can buy on board. Yep. You’d think that if they’re going to limit what you can bring on, there’d be a huge variety. Not so on this cruise and, as we asked around, we found that this is the norm. There were three “levels” with each being a five-bottle package…you choose 5 from the wines listed in that package. We actually found the biggest taste for the buck in the lowest priced package (about $25 a bottle)
- Know what you can buy in port. You can’t. Whatever you bring on gets stored for you until you leave. And, when you leave, it’s a liter per person. So if two people try to bring on 8 bottles and they “save” them for you till you disembark, you may have to pay duty on 5 or 6 of the bottles you brought on!
Yes, we got back our carry-ons, but it changed a lot of plans – we were hoping to have some tastings in our stateroom that would include what we brought on but didn’t get to. Instead, we “existed” with what was available. Not bad, but pretty ordinary. Nonetheless, gathering on one stateroom or another we managed. You’ll pay approximately restaurant prices. Fair enough. But, you’d think that if that’s the case, they’d just add a nice corking charge and let you bring aboard your personal favorites. Nope. Doesn’t work that way.
Caribbean wines: There are a couple of wine producers but from talking to one, we found that when you factor in the laws, politics, the scientific challenges and high humidity then combine that with cost of the land and popularity of Caribbean distilled liquors, well, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to try to make really good wines.
Wine classes. This particular cruise repeated the same wine and food matching class three times. What it really was was steering attendees to particular wines they sold on board as they might match with the menu. Admirable but way too specific for our tastes. Not to pat ourselves on the back but our comments on complement or contrast go farther than this class takes you.
All that said, a fun time. But as for enjoying and learning more about wine, our advice is check in advance – what are they serving, what can you bring on, what are they offering about wine, and book a cruise that specifically references wines. These will board great wines and pair them with chefs’ choice meals then, throughout the day, offer other wine tastings and classes. We found a couple online.