The Wine Fairy

The thought of being stranded at sea for seven or more days–away from your cellar and favorite decanter, at the mercy of a dismal list of house wines–strikes fear into the heart of any wine enthusiast.

But don’t worry! With the help of this guide, you will be able to navigate through an ocean of hazards and find your wine paradise onboard.

After my last cruise, I was thinking about what would happen if a cruise expert and a wine expert got together and chatted. What questions would they ask each other, and what knowledge would they share?

I’m certainly no wine expert. And while I’m not claiming to be an expert on cruising, I’ve gotten pretty good at schmoozing and boozing onboard the ships. I’ve now been on more than a dozen cruises, including four recent sailings on Princess Cruises. Which seems like…maybe a lot of cruises.

I also love wine and I enjoy helping people find wine they will love. So here it is, folks: My unofficial, unbiased, wine-focused guide to getting happily tipsy on Princess Cruises.

Are Princess cruises good for wine lovers?

First, the bad news: Princess Cruises does not focus on wine service very much. Perhaps more than other mass-market cruise lines, but nowhere near what you would find on a luxury cruise line or wine-centric restaurant.

Shortages of advertised wines are common. The main bar menu offers mostly mass-produced varietal wines of mixed quality. All the bars and dining rooms have a core lineup of wines–but the offbeat bottles are scattered around the ship, making finding your favorite sometimes feel like a scavenger hunt.

Then, there’s the service aspect. According to many experienced cruisers, Princess has reduced their sommelier presence fleetwide. Drink service emphasizes speed and volume. Even in the premium dining venues, it can be difficult to find a waiter who’s able to make an informed wine recommendation.

Another shortcoming? Glassware. The Bellini’s Cocktail Bar menu (below) boasts of Riedel flutes, but there’s little premium glassware aboard. I didn’t see any on my most recent cruise (2025) on the Enchanted Princess.

On a past cruise on the new-ish Discovery Princess, when a crystal glass did appear, it was reserved for high-end bubbly and vigilantly guarded by the bar staff until safely back behind the bar. Fine–but that’s not exactly the most relaxing way to enjoy a Champagne toast.

Bartenders are usually very conscientious about following presentation standards and trying to serve wine at the right temperature and in the right glass. But they’re limited to the resources on hand. During the rush of service, it’s not always possible.

A few venues–the steakhouse bar and the wine bar, for instance–can exceed this level of service. So can some individual servers and bartenders. They’re worth identifying early in your cruise and seeking out for the optimal wine experience. Although bar gratuities are automatically billed to your onboard account, I carry small bills to tip extra for outstanding service.

Incidentally, Princess’s spirits/cocktail program is much stronger. The craft cocktail bars are where you’ll find the expert staffers, the creative menus, and greater attention to the details of service.

I have a huge amount of respect for Princess’s bar team–they run circles around most bartenders on land in terms of professionalism and cocktail knowledge. In fact, the level of bar service is one of the main reasons I cruise. (Exceptional food and drinks are easy to find in most places back home. Exceptional service, not so much.) The quality of the wines and cocktails themselves is really secondary to the service experience.

In short, wine lovers: The wine program on Princess Cruises is totally adequate. You won’t have trouble getting a red blend or a Pinot Grigio to accompany your meal, or a voluminous pour of Prosecco for your morning mimosa.

There are even some hidden gems to be found on the wine lists. (Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is slaying California on quality/price ratio.) But overall, you’ll have a better wine time if you moderate your expectations.

Can you bring wine onboard?

If the wines onboard are uninspiring, then just pack your own, right? Not so fast.

Princess has published fleetwide rules for passengers bringing wine onboard their cruise. Each adult can carry one bottle of “wine or champagne” for free on embarkation day only.

Some people choose to take advantage of the carry-on allowance to save a little money on their tab, or to commemorate an occasion with a special bottle from their cellar. Each person carrying wine must be the legal drinking age onboard, which is 21+ on most sailings.

Here’s the official policy from the Passage Contract:

For Guests of legal drinking age, an allowance of one (1) bottle of wine or champagne (750 mL in volume or less) per Guest per Voyage may be presented to security during embarkation. 

You can bring more than one bottle–but a whole case is probably pushing it–and you gotta pay extra for the privilege:

A US $20.00 corkage fee (which is subject to change without notice) will apply to each additional bottle (750 mL in volume or less) beyond the one-bottle per Guest per Voyage allowance. Limitations apply, and wine brought in quantities deemed to be excessive by the vessel or security will be refused.

You carry the bottle onboard in your hand luggage. Alcohol isn’t allowed in checked bags. Generally, the embarkation port has a separate screening line for wine-bringers. Here, your carry-on wine will be inspected and logged before you board.

The rules specify that only 750ml (or smaller) bottles are allowed. That means no magnums, liters, six-packs, bag-in-box, and other non-traditional packaging. Anything larger will usually be confiscated and held until the end of the cruise. (But it could be destroyed instead, depending on the port authority’s policy.) If you forget the rules and pack some hooch in a checked bag, it will be removed and you won’t see it again until someone from guest services reaches out to you to come retrieve it.

Liquor is not permitted to be brought onboard at all, so bringing a wine-based cocktail or fortified wine is a gamble. Wine-a-ritas and pre-mixed fruit bellinis are popular beverages at my homeport of Galveston, Texas. And so, I have seen people try to bring on these products on cruises a bunch of times with mixed results. You can try it–but basically, the less your bottle looks like “regular” wine, the worse your chances of getting it past the carry-on screening.

On a related note, it’s wise to make sure that your bottle says “wine” or “champagne” somewhere on the label that you can point to. Most bottles do, of course, in order to be legally sold in the United States. But the baggage screeners will look for that text and be very skeptical if they don’t find it.

I once saw a fancy bottle of Prosecco denied entry at check-in because the port employee didn’t believe that it was wine and not liquor. Eventually Google came to the rescue and the cruiser was re-united with their bottle…still, what a pain.

Finally, note that embarkation day is the only day that Princess lets you mosey across the threshold with wine. You can’t bring wine or liquor from a port of call to drink on the ship.

So, if you’re going wine shopping in Marseille or Sicily–sorry, you’ll have to wait until you’re home to pop those corks! Any alcohol purchased in port is surrendered at the gangway security checkpoint and held until the last night of the cruise.

What are the corkage fees on Princess Cruises?

The first wine bottle brought onboard by the passenger may be consumed in private areas–such as your stateroom or balcony–without a corkage fee. Bartenders are happy to lend you wineglasses, and your stateroom steward or room service can bring an ice bucket to chill your bubbly after that long, hot plane ride.

If you want to drink your wine in a bar or restaurant, you’ll have to pay a corkage fee. It’s currently $20 per bottle (up from $15), charged to your shipboard account. Cruise forums report that corkage is usually–but not always–enforced in the main dining room, specialty restaurants, and bars.

My experience has been that it is not enforced in casual common areas like the lido deck and comedy lounges. As long as you aren’t clamoring for wine service or taking up space at a bar or primo restaurant table, nobody really cares about the bottle tucked under your arm.

There’s no “double corkage” fee on Princess. If you paid at embarkation to bring on a second (or third) bottle of wine, it’s stickered to indicate that the corkage fee has already been collected. You can then consume it anywhere on the ship–including bars and restaurants–without incurring an additional charge.

Is it worth it to carry on wine when you board? Because I usually get the drink package on Princess (more on that in a sec), I don’t personally find it to be a good use of luggage space and effort. Wine is heavy and it slows down embarkation…and there’s thousands of yummy bottles already waiting for me on board.

However, on sailings where I don’t opt for the drink package, my partner and I will bring on a couple of bottles of sparkling or screw-top wine. (It’s easier to open without asking for a corkscrew and risking that pesky corkage fee.) We’ll pour it up on the main pool deck with a slice of pizza (Cava and anchovies, yes please!) or as a sail-away toast from our window or balcony.

Is there a wine bar on Princess Cruise ships?

There are currently 10 ships in Princess’s fleet with a dedicated wine space, called Vines Wine Bar. Vines has an expanded wine list and wine-food pairings (for a modest extra charge) that include crudités, charcuterie boards, and chocolate truffles.

There are Vines restaurants on the following ships: Caribbean Princess, Crown Princess, Emerald Princess, Grand Princess, Majestic Princess, Regal Princess, Royal Princess, Ruby Princess, Sapphire Princess, and Sky Princess.

Princess appears to be winding down the Vines Wine Bar brand. (I spent time at Vines on Caribbean Princess last year and found that it was functionally a cocktail bar–or worse, extra spectator seating for the atrium activities of beer pong and line dancing.)

On new and newly-remodeled ships, Vines has been replaced with brewpub concepts including O’Malley’s and the Salty Dog Gastropub.

How much is wine on Princess?

Wine by the glass starts at $11. The median cost is about $15. Champagne, Napa Valley wines, and other premium by-the-glass wines go for about $17-$22. For a complete and current repository of Princess’s bar menus, check out the excellent blog Professor Cruise.

All food and beverage charges incur an 18% gratuity. This is in addition to your daily gratuity charge that’s shared among crew members, and any cash tip you may decide to leave at the bar.

I’ve always felt that cruise line drink prices are only slightly more expensive than similar bars on land. (And now that I’m in a high cost-of-living city, I think that they’re slightly less expensive…go figure.) Pours are generous, and crew members go out of their way to help you find something you will enjoy.

What does the drink package cost?

There are two tiers of packages, with different levels of benefits: Princess Plus and Princess Premier. On my recent sailing, Princess Plus was $70 per person, per day of the cruise, and Princess Premier was $95 per person, per day. (These prices are for packages purchased onboard–you get a slight discount if the package is added to your booking before you sail.)

This info is current as of Fall 2025–please be aware the Princess is constantly tweaking their package offerings and things might have changed since then. A $5/day increase to each package has been implemented for 2026 sailings and new bookings.

Copious quantities of booze are the main selling point, of course. But that’s not the only reason to consider signing up for a package. In addition to alcohol, Princess bundles their onboard packages with lots of extras like soft drinks and coffee, gratuities, Wi-Fi, reserved theater seating, specialty desserts, photo discounts, and waived cover charges in the premium restaurants.

Is the drink package worth it?

This question has been asked and answered on cruise forums about a bazillion times. The answer is, “It depends.” You need a good grasp on both the drink package pricing and your own habits to get an accurate answer.

When doing the back-of-the-envelope math, ask yourself two questions: One, how much you plan to imbibe. And two, whether you value the convenience and peace of mind of a package price over pay-as-you-go.

Personally, I never used to buy the drink package on cruises–but on Princess I do, because the bundled extras make the Princess Plus package an exceptional value. I feel I get my money’s worth with the prepaid gratuities, internet, coffee, and bottled water alone. A couple of poolside drinks and a glass of wine with dinner, and I’m already way ahead.

I also tend to spend more time at the bar on Princess cruises than I do on other cruise lines. That’s because the bar staff and lounge musicians are very, very good, as I’ve said–and also because there are fewer onboard activities that interest me. (No bingo or karaoke, thank you.) On a slow sea day, I like the feeling of saying “yes” to another round without worrying about the bill.

However, the answer may be “no” on other cruise lines where the drink package is priced or structured differently. For example, Carnival Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises generally charge more per day for their drink packages and have fewer included perks.

What wines are included?

For cruisers with Princess Plus, you can select any wine by the glass that’s $15 or under. For Princess Premier folks, it’s any wine $20 and under.

On most printed and digital menus, the Plus- and Premier-tiered wines are helpfully sorted into two columns. That makes it very easy to learn what’s included in your package. If you want to order a wine that exceeds your package price, you just pay the difference (plus an 18% auto-gratuity).

Neither package includes wine by the bottle, but you do get an attractive discount on those. See: “How does wine by the bottle work?”

Is there a limit on wine on Princess Cruises?

Alcohol beverages are limited to 15 per adult drink package, per day. This is very strictly enforced and there’s no getting around it even if you’re prepared to pay for your drinks. Wine, beer, mixed drinks, and spirits all count toward the total. If you hit the limit (you lush), you’ve gotta chill out until 6 AM the next day.

Beverage purchases are tracked via your Medallion (wearable shipboard ID). Your face pops up on the screen when you’re in physical proximity to a point-of-sale terminal.

Acting rowdy? Bartenders on Princess have the ability to put you in a ship-wide “time-out”–or even cut you off for the day–with the touch of a button. This is rare. I’ve only seen it happen a couple of times when a passenger was dangerously intoxicated or verbally abusive.

Princess has announced plans to make cuts to the drink package soon where a 15-drink limit could apply to some non-alcohol beverages, too–not just booze. The gradual rollout of the negative changes is planned for 2025-2026 and promises to be a little complicated. If you’re currently booked on a cruise or traveling soon, I would recommend getting specific details from your vacation planner before choosing a package.

How does wine by the bottle work?

You can order wine by the bottle from a restaurant or bar, where it will be uncorked and served to you. As you would expect, the bottle selection is much larger, more premium, and more adventurous than the wine-by-the-glass list. It features older vintages and some of the most prestigious labels from around the world.

However, the fancy wines are all cellared together on the ship (usually near the steakhouse). They are kept under lock and key. So depending on where you are dining, it can take a while for a runner to locate the bottle and deliver it. When planning a special evening in one of the restaurants, it doesn’t hurt to call ahead and let them know your wine choice.

Once you have been served your bottle, it’s yours. You can walk around the ship with it, drink it at a bar, or take it back to your stateroom. Corkage fees never apply to wine purchased onboard.

If you don’t finish the bottle–say you prefer having a glass with dinner every night–let your server know and they can store it for you for later. I would still try to drink it within a couple of days, because most bars and restaurants onboard don’t have a wine preservation system.

For people who plan to drink luxury wine, a drink package can be well worth the investment. Either the Princess Plus or the Princess Premier package gets you 25% off wines by the bottle. Before the discount, wine by the bottle is comparable to wine at an upscale land-based restaurant. After the discount, it’s often better–and the wine list has some enticing options.

To pick a random pricing example, in my area (DFW Metro) a bottle of Moët Impérial goes for about $120 to $150 plus gratuity in restaurants. On Princess the base price for that particular Champagne is $121, or $90.75 with the package discount. The 25% discount applies to both basic and high-end bottles.

Thrifty tip: You can’t share drink packages, but you can share wine by the bottle purchased with the package discount. That makes this a very smart strategy for traveling or dining with groups of friends who drink wine but don’t opt for the drink package.

In the past, Princess offered bundles of three or more bottles of wine for pre-purchase before embarking (or alternatively, on the first day or two of the cruise). You choose from a selected list and there are various price tiers: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

I’ve heard different reports about whether this deal is still being offered or has been permanently shelved as Princess pushes their drink packages hard. Check with your travel agent or ask a crew member about it when you board.

Are the drink package’s wines any good?

At the Princess Plus level, wines by the glass are not fine wines. They’re table wines: Budget-priced bottles from mostly South America and California. You order by varietal (Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, etc.) and the exact wines may vary depending on what can be procured for that sailing. Staff typically take great pains to hide the label (and the screwcap) whilst pouring.(

(Update: Want a detailed rundown of what to sip and what to steer clear of? I posted tasting notes of 23 Princess Plus wines here!)

Choosing the Princess Premier package opens the door to more brand-name producers, celebrity partnership wines, and premium world regions. The Princess Premier wines include restaurant-list standards like Silverado Cab, Whispering Angel rosé and Chalk Hill Sauvignon Blanc.

But we’ve drank all those before at The Wine Fairy. Besides, we are cheapskates and gluttons for punishment!

I am proud (?) to report that on my last cruise I tasted all the basic varietal wines included on Princess Plus–the ones that I could find, anyway. Spoiler: They ranged in quality from almost undrinkable to really enjoyable.

I’ll share my tasting notes in a future post. Meanwhile, I encourage you to have fun exploring and trying different grapes and styles on your vacation!

Which bars are the best for wine?

Wine connoisseurs should make a beeline for the premium cocktail bars onboard. This is where you’ll find the most interesting drinks offerings and the most experienced bar staff.

On Royal Class ships (currently there are six in the fleet) check out Bellini’s, Crooners Martini Bar, and the Crown Grill bar. The new Sphere Class ships have similar themed venues.

On the older Grand Class ships (seven in the fleet), try Crooners, Crown Grill, the Wheelhouse Bar, and Vines (where available).

Any bar on the ship can serve you wine, but selections will be much more limited in the pool and casino bars and the main dining areas.

Does Princess have wine tasting events?

Yes! Princess cruises often feature wine tastings among the onboard activities. These tasting events are organized by the ship’s head sommelier in conjunction with the entertainment director. A cover charge applies, billed to your stateroom account. Seating is limited–if you want to be sure of getting a spot, you can reserve in advance on your mobile device.

Wine tasting events usually happen on a sea day. On my recent Western Caribbean sailing, there were at least three different wine tasting events available during the cruise.

They included the beginner-friendly Grapevine Wine Tasting ($24), the regionally-focused International Wine Tasting ($34), and the Fine Wine Tasting ($40). In case you didn’t get to taste enough wine in the afternoon, that cruise also offered a six-course Caymus Vineyards wine dinner for $145 a person.

In these roughly one-hour tastings, you’re usually seated in one of the main dining rooms between lunch and dinner service. There are light snacks including cheese and baked goods. A sommelier walks you through a comparative tasting session. He or she will pour five or six wines and cover topics like wine appreciation, world wine regions, and the basics of food pairing.

The number, content, and price of the wine tasting events varies. Check your daily stateroom newsletter (the Princess Patter) or the app for details during your sailing. Wine tastings aren’t included or discounted for holders of a drink package.

On past Princess vacations (in 2023 and 2024) the cost for the wine tasting activities wasn’t listed in the description. Bartenders and maitre d’s didn’t know, because selling tickets wasn’t part of their department. Interested cruisers needed to call guest services and ask…which took a while because they then had to consult the activities staff and get back to you by phone or chat. Kind of annoying! But they seemed to have fixed this as of July 2025 and pricing is now provided in the app. (It was $24-$40/person on our recent Enchanted Princess cruise, depending on the tasting’s theme.)

Are the wine tastings worth doing?

Princess’s wine tasting events are a fun way to kill some time aboard. You get to eat snacks and chat with other wine lovers while the waves roll by.

However, I don’t think they present a good value for people who have purchased the drink package. The wines–with maybe one or two exceptions–will be the same wines available in bars and restaurants onboard.

Also, there’s always one person seated at your table who doesn’t like any of the wines and makes a fuss about it. (Why are they there? Who knows. You just get yourself a refill of the Tuscan red and hope you don’t end up in a lifeboat with them if the ship sinks.)

Finally, the sea-day wine tastings are targeted toward a general audience rather than a wine-nerd audience. Unless you are a total wine beginner, very little of the information will be new to you. This is probably why I’ve see more of them on Caribbean cruise itineraries than on cruises that visit the more food- and wine-focused ports of call.

How about wine-focused shore excursions?

One of the things that has kept me coming back to Princess Cruises–besides the bar staff–is the quality of the ports of call. The ships tend to be smaller than other mainstream cruise lines, and the itineraries more varied. Princess sails to many wine-producing places around the world, including Italy, France, Spain, and the California coast. This makes it a breeze to design your own wine-centered vacation using the ship as a starting point.

I am, at heart, a food-and-booze tourist. I don’t want to melt into a beach chair–I want to to be out nibbling and sipping on all the best things a place has to offer!

I usually prefer to book tours on my own through local guides. But if you’re nervous about doing that, the cruise line offers wine and food focused shore excursions in many ports of call.

My cruises with Princess have taken me to vineyards in Ensenada, craft breweries in Boston and Nova Scotia, and mezcalerias in the Yucatan peninsula. Cruising to the doorstep of all these places is more relaxing and often more economical than flying or driving.

I haven’t gotten to do a European cruise voyage yet, but I hope that’s in the cards. Princess sails to three ports in Sicily–a must-see on my wine bucket list. Mediterranean excursions include exciting options like visiting a winery in Santorini and a local wine and cheese tasting in Aix-en-Provence.

The future of wine on Princess Cruises

Are the major cruise lines breaking up with wine? I’m not sure–but the relationship seems to be on the rocks. (So to speak.)

We’ve all seen the news about how poorly the wine industry is doing. We’ve heard how younger consumers prefer getting buzzed on canned cocktails/seltzers, cannabis products, or nothing at all. We’ve seen how wine-adjacent business are trying to limit their exposure to a sector of the beverage market that some feel may never recover from its current slump.

Cruisers, as a group, drink like freakin’ fish–and on the major cruise lines quantity is often prioritized over quality. Serving a canned beer or simple mixed drink takes two seconds. Celebrity collaborations generate press and grab eyeballs. (On my last cruise, promos for actor Matthew McConaughey’s Pantalones Tequila brand were ubiquitous.) A “liquor is quicker” attitude prevails among passengers–and crew members are rushing to accommodate their preferences.

Clearly–observably–Princess Cruises is hedging their bets with wine. The phasing-out of the Vines Wine Bar concept and wine package sales reflects a pulling away from the sector.

At the same time, vacation consumers still associate wine with luxury and leisure and so it needs to be part of the cruise line’s brand, if only superficially. Princess’s marketing materials feature wine heavily–but one could argue that they over-promise.

Wine is labor- education-, and cost-intensive, so maybe a wine focus doesn’t make sense for the cruise lines and their crew. The endless parade of vodka sodas and blender drinks means there really isn’t time to offer sample tastes or to expound on the nuances of Barolo vs. Barbaresco.

You’ll find no moral panic from me on this blog–I think people should drink what they enjoy–but I do hope the major cruise lines don’t abandon wine entirely.

Wine is the most romantic of beverages, after all–and ocean liners are the most romantic method of travel. Cruise ship wine lists and wine service should reward the depth of attention that a seven-day sea voyage allows for.

I’ve been out of the food and beverage industry for a while, as regular readers of this blog know. But a big piece of my heart still misses working the line. The chaos and the routine. The thrill of team coordination and the relentless pace. One of my favorite things to do is to hover at the bar and take in all the sights, sounds, and skills that make up a successful service.

Chatting with bar staffers, many have said they are interested in expanding their wine education, even though they work extremely long hours that leave little energy for tasting and study. “I go to the crew bar, but I don’t have time to swirl my wine,” one told me with a grin. Most also speak English as a second or third language and are now tackling the French, Italian, and German terms that make up the wine lexicon.

Two lead bartenders on Enchanted Princess proudly told me they had just taken and passed the WSET Level 1 Wines exam, and one even showed me their pin! Among cruise ship workers, wine (and whiskey) knowledge is widely seen as a career gateway: To better restaurants, more luxurious ships, and more desirable itineraries.

This was very inspiring to me personally. I’m lucky enough to be able to devote a great deal of time to wine exploration, and I still find it to be a dense and challenging topic. I wish these hardworking and ambitious folks the best, and I hope there are opportunities for them in the wine sector if that is what they choose.

I will continue to celebrate cruising–both for the scrumptious destinations, and to enjoy the talents of some of the best food and beverage professionals on land or sea. I hope this guide has been helpful in planning your next journey, and happy sailing!

Further reading:

Cruise Industry News: Princess Makes Further Changes to Premier and Plus Packages

The Points Guy: Are cruise drink packages worth the price?

Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.