Cost of drinks on Cunard line ships

Ooops I just deleted my wordy post before posting so to summarise. We have 2 x 2 week sailings from Southampton over the coming months. We drink red wine for my husband and white for myself, opting for the cheapest bottles available from the wine list. At home we buy the M&S wine when it’s on offer at 2 for £12 and buy 6 save 20% making each bottle £4.80. We’ve thought about doing this before but haven’t bothered as it’s “too much hassle”. Can someone tell me please, if you’ve taken your own onboard, when do you take the wine to the MDR and do you take it when you need a new one or hand them over earlier in the day, one at a time or all your stock. Thanks.

PS I can see why people take an expensive or special bottle onboard but wondered how much of a cheapskate I would look if we take our lower priced bottles on.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Nope, I'm English. If I was comparing them to the pub at the end of my road then yes they are expensive.

 

I also think the vast majority of people who complain about prices are on this forum and not actually drinking in the bar on Cunard. Not once did I hear a complaint. I expected to pay a higher price. Can you imagine if the drinks were as cheap as the pub down the road, the complaints then would be of a ship full of drunken louts!

Interesting idea. The all German TUI Cruises (joint venture of TUI and RCI) does include most alcoholic drinks in the fare. Evidently it's easier to sell an expensive cruise to Germans than to lure them into expensive bars onboard. This concept seems to be working, So far I haven't heard anything about problems with drunk people.

For what it's worth, a couple of years ago, we cruised with friends on Celebrity. The basic beverage package was included in our fare and we upgraded to deluxe which allowed us unlimited drinks in the bars (all labels) and a generous dining room allowance for wine. I think most shipmates were in the same situation (at least to the gratis basic package). I had expected that there might be problems of overindulgence. However, the atmosphere really was no different than a "normal" cruise with per drink pricing (at any level). Personally, on a 14 day cruise, I may have had one last martini before bed that I might have bypassed otherwise on one or two occasions - but primarily it simply made things easier (also for picking up a bottle of cold water from any bar at any time - including before going ashore).

It may have not really affected alcohol consumption to any great degree. Anecdotally, it reminded me of one summer when I was cooking at a dorm kitchen and a vacation-replacement supervisor insisted we put the ever-popular french fries in a pan in the self-serve vegetable cart in the dining room instead of the usual long lineups when they'd have to come to the counter for more fries.

We used fewer fries. (but the experience was so counter-intuitive that we went back to the old way after she left)

= Mark

Purely anecdotal, but last night I had a $12.00 cocktail (Manhattan) in a Dallas 'quick casual' chain restaurant.

Paying $10.50 for the same drink - in the Commodore club -of the QM2 - does not seem too bad.

Purely anecdotal, but last night I had a $12.00 cocktail (Manhattan) in a Dallas 'quick casual' chain restaurant.

Paying $10.50 for the same drink - in the Commodore club -of the QM2 - does not seem too bad.

I hope it was a decent Manhattan.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Nope, I'm English. If I was comparing them to the pub at the end of my road then yes they are expensive.

 

I also think the vast majority of people who complain about prices are on this forum and not actually drinking in the bar on Cunard. Not once did I hear a complaint. I expected to pay a higher price. Can you imagine if the drinks were as cheap as the pub down the road, the complaints then would be of a ship full of drunken louts!

Great response.

Sadly it's the same on most cruising forums: it's all about money and little to do with the majority of cruisers habits.

I read all this with interest, we are sailing for the first time on Victoria in May.  It's my opinion that things on a ship or a really nice restaurant should cost twice what they would in a store.  If Cunard charges more than twice, it will be our one and only cruise with them.  While I appreciate that we can bring alcohol on board for our cabin, I am not interested in hauling  bottles of wine in from each port we visit.  We drink mostly wine, I like a cocktail before dinner but we do drink plenty of it when travelling.  The drinks package is about $130/day and that will probably be just fine, as we enjoy good coffees and juice and tea during the day. 

Did the transatlantic to NY just before Christmas and stayed in an average NY hotel for 5 days after.

Thought prices on QM2 were higher than I’d pay on most nights out in UK but mainly due to the 15% (I’d much prefer to just see the final price on the menu), without that they are not far off town centre bar cocktail prices etc.

Yes, you can get cheaper cocktails/offers but the bars on board have a relatively captive audience so don’t need the same promotions to entice people to purchase the drinks.

However, once I got to hotel and saw the hotel bar prices were the same for a very mediocre cocktail in a glorified deli as on QM2, it suddenly felt like the prices hadn’t been so high after all and that it’s more the US:UK difference that makes it seem that way.

Basically, the prices are on a par with an average NY hotel price and on QM2 were generally made far better, had more options and a willingness to customise if you needed/wanted something different. 

My memories of the day spent wine tasting, cocktails before dinner, wine with meal and more cocktails in G32 is one of the best of the holiday.....my other half even dragged me up to dance, a first in over 30 years - it’s always been me doing the dragging. Managing to dance in heels during a very uneven crossing was an experience too!

So for our next trip we’ll pay as we go and have some days with several drinks, some with very few and just factor it all into the total holiday cost.

Hi all cruisers, wife and I will be on QV for71 nights so not looking foreword to our bar bill. Can we buy a wine package before boarding? Maybe our agent can help? Hunk o spunk.

17 hours ago, Hunk o Spunk said:

Hi all cruisers, wife and I will be on QV for71 nights so not looking foreword to our bar bill. Can we buy a wine package before boarding? Maybe our agent can help? Hunk o spunk.

Follow links here....

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/frequently-asked-questions.life-on-board.FAQ49.summary

You can buy a drinks package online ... use the Little Luxuries tab.  Or you can purchase it on board.   We had our first on an Alaska cruise ... it was wonderful to have a special coffee every afternoon, a glass of champagne before dinner and know that it was "free".  I've been studying this topic for a May cruise on QV and it seems like a good deal if you drink a lot!  OTOH, you have to purchase the thing for every day of your cruise ... 71 days might bankrupt you.  Bet you can put something together after your cruise starts.

Not a huge wine or spirit drinker but i do enjoy a beer (or 2!!) in the evening, preferably draught and by the pint, on our first Cunard cruise at the end of May, assume they do have draught beer in the Golden Loin? Seen people saying prices are very steep on board, so just how much is a pint of beer?

Thanks in advance :-)

On 6/20/2018 at 7:10 PM, cook68 said:

 

Well this cheapskate brazenly carried said bottle first to the pub [unopened] had a pre-dinner drink then carried it into the restaurant. I did not notice anyone faint nor point any fingers. Really don't let this forum put you off. Our sailing last week on QM2 was full of so many different kinds of people from all walks of life including a Dame we met. All wonderful down to earth people without any judgments.

We too have met a well known Dame on QM2, but what Pantomime did your one appear in?

10 hours ago, Hammer61 said:

Not a huge wine or spirit drinker but i do enjoy a beer (or 2!!) in the evening, preferably draught and by the pint, on our first Cunard cruise at the end of May, assume they do have draught beer in the Golden Loin? Seen people saying prices are very steep on board, so just how much is a pint of beer?

 

Thanks in advance :-)

 

Hammer, I believe all of the bars on Cunard have draught beer. The problem is their choice of brands. I don't particularly like Stella in a can, bottle, or on draught. You will have a better choice in the Pub where you can get Guiness and Fuller's.

On 6/25/2018 at 1:00 PM, Solent Richard said:

 

Great response.

 

Sadly it's the same on most cruising forums: it's all about money and little to do with the majority of cruisers habits.

Richard you have nailed it. Much of the chatter on the board seems to be about money and how to not spend it on board. I have been able to travel extensively in my dotage and I consider the total experience to be key. I would rather take one cruise every other year on QM2 in QG, than to take less expensive cruises on lesser cruise lines. And, I am not about to try to wedge my back side into a coach seat on an airplane for 6 to 10 hours. 

12 hours ago, Hammer61 said:

Not a huge wine or spirit drinker but i do enjoy a beer (or 2!!) in the evening, preferably draught and by the pint, on our first Cunard cruise at the end of May, assume they do have draught beer in the Golden Loin? Seen people saying prices are very steep on board, so just how much is a pint of beer?

 

Thanks in advance 🙂

 

Hammer61,

Here a pictures I took in September in the Golden Lion of some the beers on tap. 

There were a few more on tap, including London Pride, but these are the ones I got pictures of.

Jack

Thanks guys, especially Jack for the great photos, 8 beers (at least!) on tap😁 Think i will need to sample them all....

But what about cost? im guessing $8 to $10 if like i read on the Cunard site its in line with London hotel and restaurant prices.

On 1/29/2019 at 9:34 PM, jsn55 said:

It's my opinion that things on a ship or a really nice restaurant should cost twice what they would in a store.

You should refamiliarize yourself with restaurant wine markups. Your opinion is not reflective of reality in land-based restaurants or at sea.

Draft beer is 6.50-6.75

Sorry, that's in US dollars.

10 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

Draft beer is 6.50-6.75

 

+15% service charge.

On 3/13/2019 at 4:53 PM, Bigmike911 said:

Richard you have nailed it. Much of the chatter on the board seems to be about money and how to not spend it on board. I have been able to travel extensively in my dotage and I consider the total experience to be key. I would rather take one cruise every other year on QM2 in QG, than to take less expensive cruises on lesser cruise lines. And, I am not about to try to wedge my back side into a coach seat on an airplane for 6 to 10 hours. 

Good afternoon Mike.

I too fully concur with your views.

I've also always said that the moment one allows any financial worry to set in, whether it be gratuities, ship's excursion costs, or even the price of drinks, then the old 'clapometer' measure of personal enjoyment falls relatively.

Have a nice day.

Richard

18 hours ago, Underwatr said:

 

You should refamiliarize yourself with restaurant wine markups. Your opinion is not reflective of reality in land-based restaurants or at sea.

Too true.

As a retired Restauranteur I'd be looking at a mark up to give me a GP (Gross Profit) of 75%.

We often like to have a glass of white wine each with the starter, followed by a glass of red each with the main course. It would seem better value to order a bottle of each instead of by the glass except... we wouldn’t be able to finish 2 bottles! 

Would they “hold back “ the half empty bottle(s) so we could finish it the next evening? Or should we take it back to our room & bring it out ourselves? 

Thanks

2 minutes ago, Alsun said:

We often like to have a glass of white wine each with the starter, followed by a glass of red each with the main course. It would seem better value to order a bottle of each instead of by the glass except... we wouldn’t be able to finish 2 bottles! 

 

Would they “hold back “ the half empty bottle(s) so we could finish it the next evening? Or should we take it back to our room & bring it out ourselves? 

 

Thanks

Yes you leave it on the table , they hold  back your bottles for the following evening/s  and throughout the voyage.  Standard procedure on all cruise ships. (  including a bottle Port if that tickles your fancy)