Looks like corkage fees may be enforced

[Pattycruise]

I was on Icon the week of March 22 and my bottles said corkage.   (See photo) I gifted my bottles to staff so I have no idea if there would have been a fee. 
I just saw another photo from a group I’m in that said corkage  fee waived on the sticker.

 

[wordell1]

I have been charged one time a few years back.  It was weird because it was the 2nd bottle I had brought and the same waiter didn't charge for  the 1st bottle. It's always been the policy so i didn't complain.  Its still a good deal to bring 2 bottles of wine if you are a wine drinker.

[Pattycruise]

3 hours ago, wordell1 said:

I have been charged one time a few years back.  It was weird because it was the 2nd bottle I had brought and the same waiter didn't charge for  the 1st bottle. It's always been the policy so i didn't complain.  Its still a good deal to bring 2 bottles of wine if you are a wine drinker.

It’s one wine bottle per adult now. I agree-bring it!

[USFFrank]

Dumb question. If my wife brings a wine bottle with a screw top to the MDR and asks for a wine glass, will she be charged a corkage fee?

[WAAAYTOOO]

22 minutes ago, USFFrank said:

Dumb question. If my wife brings a wine bottle with a screw top to the MDR and asks for a wine glass, will she be charged a corkage fee?

Potentially.  The "corkage" fee isn't really a fee for uncorking the bottle...it's a fee for bringing your own wine onboard.  So whether they actually uncork/unscrew the bottletop is irrelevant.

[barjpoe]

If the bottle is one you get as a gift (already in your cabin when you board) or D amenity is a 'corking fee' applied?

[WAAAYTOOO]

10 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

If the bottle is one you get as a gift (already in your cabin when you board) or D amenity is a 'corking fee' applied?

No.  If the wine is a C&A or casino gift there is no corkage fee.

[wordell1]

47 minutes ago, USFFrank said:

Dumb question. If my wife brings a wine bottle with a screw top to the MDR and asks for a wine glass, will she be charged a corkage fee?

The rule has been in place for a long time - You are allowed to bring 1 bottle per double occupancy room - must be carried on.  Officially you can be charged the corkage fee if you drink the bottle in any public place (anyplace but your room), including the dining room.

In practice, it is very rare to be charged.  I have been on 10+ cruises and always bring 2 bottles and always bring them to dinner where the waiter opens and provides glasses.  I have been charged 1 time at the MDR and that was several years ago.

However, it is the rule - so take that into consideration.  It appears from OP's post that they may be enforcing again.  It wouldn't shock me based on other recent rule changes.

[Momof4crazytocruise]

I get around this by bringing my own opener, pouring a glass in the room and walking with that glass and the bottle to the dining room. Have never had a problem but I supposed they could try to charge me. If they do, I won't get worked up about it. 

 

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, USFFrank said:

Dumb question. If my wife brings a wine bottle with a screw top to the MDR and asks for a wine glass, will she be charged a corkage fee?

Wouldn't that be a...screwage fee?

[Rackham]

1 hour ago, Momof4crazytocruise said:

I get around this by bringing my own opener, pouring a glass in the room and walking with that glass and the bottle to the dining room. Have never had a problem but I supposed they could try to charge me. If they do, I won't get worked up about it. 

 

The fee should only be charged if their staff opens the bottle. I have heard on another line they charge the corkage fee at embarkation. Security flags luggage with bottles, and then cruise staff have the passenger pay corkage there in the terminal.

59 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Wouldn't that be a...screwage fee?

They're waiters, not whores, and Royal's trying to keep it classy.

[USFFrank]

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Wouldn't that be a...screwage fee?

As in we're being screwed (monetary wise) for bringing in our own screw top bottles onboard and being charged for it, yes.

[barjpoe]

You can always pour a glass in your room then carry it to the MDR

[Last2Know]

5 hours ago, USFFrank said:

If my wife brings a wine bottle with a screw top to the MDR and asks for a wine glass

I've never been charged a corking fee.  But the easiest answer is to ask your room attendant for wine glasses.  Fill your wine glass in your stateroom and take it to the MDR for dinner.

[karl_nj]

In my experience, it's always been kinda random on if they end up charging the corkage fee or not.

If I don't get charged, I end up tipping the waiters more at the end of the cruise, so it's really a wash to me either way. Either royal gets the money as a fee, or the waiters get it as an extra tip.

[Pattycruise]

I suspect my bottles on Icon must have been labeled incorrectly.  My bottles Wonder this week are labeled corkage waived.  These are the free bottles for reaching “x” points crown and anchor.  I can’t imagine they’ll start charging to pop them open. 
What happens to carry on bottles? They don’t have stickers, is that an automatic fee?

 Time will tell!

[WAAAYTOOO]

On Explorer last week I noticed some of the red stickers on some wine bottles.  I didn’t even read the sticker to see what it said since I’m not a wine drinker….but I did see them.

[Rackham]

I'm wondering now if the red "Corkage" stickers aren't for indicating corkage has been paid for the bottle, not charge corkage for opening it? No sticker tells the waitstaff to charge the fee and add a sticker. This also gives the staff options if they're out of the "Corkage Waived" stickers too.

[HeWhoWaits]

14 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I suspect my bottles on Icon must have been labeled incorrectly.  My bottles Wonder this week are labeled corkage waived.  These are the free bottles for reaching “x” points crown and anchor.  I can’t imagine they’ll start charging to pop them open. 
What happens to carry on bottles? They don’t have stickers, is that an automatic fee?

 Time will tell!

{carefully peeling off the sticker before discarding the empty bottle}

[TXcruzer]

On 3/31/2025 at 10:29 AM, wordell1 said:

The rule has been in place for a long time - You are allowed to bring 1 bottle per double occupancy room - must be carried on.

You are allowed one bottle per adult of drinking age. 

[TXcruzer]

On 3/31/2025 at 12:13 PM, Rackham said:

The fee should only be charged if their staff opens the bottle.

Corkage fees have nothing to do with the actual opening of the bottle. 

[Atlantix2000]

3 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

Corkage fees have nothing to do with the actual opening of the bottle. 

Yep despite having the word "cork" in it, a corkage fee is really an item-not-purchased-here fee.  The cruise ship (or a land restaurant that allows you to bring your own wine) doesn't make any profit on a bottle purchased elsewhere so they charge corkage instead.

[JimnKathy]

I always give my waiter a $10 handshake when giving them a bottle of wine to open for the Mrs. and me...seems to do the trick. 

[Doug_Texas]

A friend on our current Explorer sailing this week just got zapped.  $25 + 18% gratuity.  
 

We always just carry generous pour in a glass from the stateroom to remove the issue.

[Pattycruise]

1 hour ago, Doug_Texas said:

A friend on our current Explorer sailing this week just got zapped.  $25 + 18% gratuity.  
 

We always just carry generous pour in a glass from the stateroom to remove the issue.

$25!!! Plus a gratuity!  Why even bother bringing a bottle?  That’s nuts!

[JimnKathy]

14 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

$25!!! Plus a gratuity!  Why even bother bringing a bottle?  That’s nuts!

That fee is WAY over the top. 

Fine dining restaurants in our neck of the woods charge $10 corkage fees if we bring our own bottle. 

[wordell1]

On 4/13/2025 at 3:58 PM, Doug_Texas said:

A friend on our current Explorer sailing this week just got zapped.  $25 + 18% gratuity.  
 

We always just carry generous pour in a glass from the stateroom to remove the issue.

Thier website still says $15

Does Royal Caribbean charge a corkage fee? | Royal Caribbean Cruises

[Doug_Texas]

On 4/16/2025 at 9:09 PM, wordell1 said:

Thier website still says $15

Does Royal Caribbean charge a corkage fee? | Royal Caribbean Cruises

Since my report of $25 + Gratuity was a verbal from our travel companions, I’ll defer to the web site and assume they reported an incorrect figure.

[Curt From Canada]

On 4/21/2025 at 5:44 AM, Doug_Texas said:

Since my report of $25 + Gratuity was a verbal from our travel companions, I’ll defer to the web site and assume they reported an incorrect figure.

Not sure what the Celebrity website says, but this was an interesting development …

On Celebrity right now. The “sommelier” said last night (in the MDR) that the corkage fee was $42 USD. 

That is @WAAAYTOOO much!

I do not think they were surprised that the wine bottle remained on the table (unopened) for the entire meal. 

It appears as though our bottles might be making a close to 10,000 mile return trip home.

Curt from Canada

 

 

 

[Curt From Canada]

45 minutes ago, Curt From Canada said:

Not sure what the Celebrity website says, but this was an interesting development …

On Celebrity right now. The “sommelier” said last night (in the MDR) that the corkage fee was $42 USD. 

That is @WAAAYTOOO much!

I do not think they were surprised that the wine bottle remained on the table (unopened) for the entire meal. 

It appears as though our bottles might be making a close to 10,000 mile return trip home.

Curt from Canada

 

 

 

Website says $35 USD

This is starting to feel like a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

Curt from Canada

[Doug_Texas]

1 hour ago, Curt From Canada said:

Website says $35 USD

This is starting to feel like a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

Curt from Canada

$35 + 18% gratuity = $41.30 - perhaps that is the difference.  ????

[Curt From Canada]

5 hours ago, Doug_Texas said:

$35 + 18% gratuity = $41.30 - perhaps that is the difference.  ????

Glad you started crunching the math. My super smart soulmate took one look at your comment (a mere glance) and said:

”20% gratuity”

Yup …

$35 + 20% gratuity = $42

Mystery solved … but the ongoing case of is Celebrity in a Different Time Zone remains. 

Identical Wines by the Glass on RCL at $14 per glass are listed at $19 per glass on Celebrity. 

I think I might write a crime thriller and include this thread as a sub-plot.

Curt from Canada

[Jolly Ogre]

Just got off Enchantment of the Seas and yse got dinged for the $15 corkage fee.

1st time ever got charged.

[JimnKathy]

If we get dinged on our upcoming September cruise, I'll be visiting guest services to remove all of my prepaid gratuities and let them know they lost several hundred bucks for the sake of gouging me for $15 or $25 or $42.

Gotta send a tough love message to the corporate finance and marketing folks.

[ChessE4]

5 minutes ago, JimnKathy said:

If we get dinged on our upcoming September cruise, I'll be visiting guest services to remove all of my prepaid gratuities and let them know they lost several hundred bucks for the sake of gouging me for $15 or $25 or $42.

Gotta send a tough love message to the corporate finance and marketing folks.

I'm guessing that hurts staff more than RCL management. Just a thought.

[Jolly Ogre]

17 minutes ago, ChessE4 said:

I'm guessing that hurts staff more than RCL management. Just a thought.

It is not the wait staff fault for having to enforce the policies it is management's fault for creating the nick and dime policy in the 1st place.

Our waiter informed us of the policy before getting my consent to proceed. Very nice and professional of him to do so. He even stated that I should open it in my stateroom before and then bring it in to avoid the charge. We were not going to go back and do that so I just let him proceed.

 

[Atlantix2000]

1 hour ago, JimnKathy said:

If we get dinged on our upcoming September cruise, I'll be visiting guest services to remove all of my prepaid gratuities and let them know they lost several hundred bucks for the sake of gouging me for $15 or $25 or $42.

Gotta send a tough love message to the corporate finance and marketing folks.

Yeah, that's just hurting your stateroom host and serving team.  Corkage fees are not new.  Land restaurants have used them for a long time.  It has nothing to do with opening the bottle.  It's purely a "not-purchased-here" fee.  The alternative is you aren't allowed to bring your own wine.  Just open the bottle yourself and bring a glass with you to dinner.  The glass can be any size including the entire bottle!

[Curt From Canada]

15 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Yeah, that's just hurting your stateroom host and serving team.  Corkage fees are not new.  Land restaurants have used them for a long time.  It has nothing to do with opening the bottle.  It's purely a "not-purchased-here" fee.  The alternative is you aren't allowed to bring your own wine.  Just open the bottle yourself and bring a glass with you to dinner.  The glass can be any size including the entire bottle!

This ended up being our process for the rest of our last cruise.  It is fairly easy to do (especially if the wine is extra special).

Our biggest issue was $42. A post above said $15 on RCL. $15 is entirely reasonable. 

Next cruise is in OCT and it is a large group travelling together for our friend’s 20th wedding anniversary. The “adventure” will continue then and we are planning LOTS of champagne. 

Curt from Canada

[Matt]

17 hours ago, JimnKathy said:

If we get dinged on our upcoming September cruise, I'll be visiting guest services to remove all of my prepaid gratuities and let them know they lost several hundred bucks for the sake of gouging me for $15 or $25 or $42.

Gotta send a tough love message to the corporate finance and marketing folks.

I'm sorry, but that's not going to solve anything and hurts the wrong people.

The corkage fee has been a published policy for years (dare I say, decades). Up until now, we've gotten a reprieve so we're ahead of the game with all those bottles that never got charged. 

This isn't a new policy or a surprise. It's them actually enforcing the rules they've had for a long time.

Plus, I don't see how taking away gratuities from your cabin attendant or dining room staff teaches anyone any lesson.

 

[JimnKathy]

44 minutes ago, Matt said:

I'm sorry, but that's not going to solve anything and hurts the wrong people.

The corkage fee has been a published policy for years (dare I say, decades). Up until now, we've gotten a reprieve so we're ahead of the game with all those bottles that never got charged. 

This isn't a new policy or a surprise. It's them actually enforcing the rules they've had for a long time.

Plus, I don't see how taking away gratuities from your cabin attendant or dining room staff teaches anyone any lesson.

 

We always tip the staff we encounter on each sailing anyway, so that's not an issue for them.

My point is to have the EXCESSIVE corkage fees removed if we're dinged with them. $10 wouldn't bug me, but when you're talking about $15 or $25, that's just ridiculous.

As other posters have stated, to solve the problem going forward, we'll just open our wine bottles in the cabin and carry a glass to the MDR.