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Cost of drinks on Cunard line ships


Crewserman
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Hello folks ...

Instead of dancing around the issue with obtuse references, what are some actual examples of prices for wine / beer / liquor on board Cunard?

And tell me you're joking that mixed drinks are priced separately for the liquor and for the mix!

PJ

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Hello folks ...

Instead of dancing around the issue with obtuse references, what are some actual examples of prices for wine / beer / liquor on board Cunard?

And tell me you're joking that mixed drinks are priced separately for the liquor and for the mix!

PJ

 

 

 

Here’s a link to a drinks price menu in a bar on QV

 

https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/QV_chart_room.pdf

 

Go to page 41 to see the additional mixer costs and from page 23 for the spirit prices and don’t forget to add 15% extra to the total

 

 

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Here’s a link to a drinks price menu in a bar on QV

 

https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/QV_chart_room.pdf

 

Go to page 41 to see the additional mixer costs and from page 23 for the spirit prices and don’t forget to add 15% extra to the total

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Thanks for the link. I subsequently found the QM2 link as well (but don't ask me to find it again!)

Well, I guess those prices seem reasonable in the circumstances.

Sure they're overpriced, but no more than most urban bars.

With some moderation, I suppose I'll survive ...

PJ

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Hopefully ! We usually drink cocktails (me) & beer (him) in the bars and wine by the bottle in the restaurants.

We travelled with friends for New Year a couple of years ago, one evening in the Queens Room she ordered a large glass of red wine & he wanted a Godfather, Amaretto & whisky. I nearly fell off my chair when the bill arrived !

 

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We held my 65th in a 4star hotel in the South of England last year and the prices were roughly the same as Cunard.The difference is we don't drink in a 4star hotel every night for a fortnight.

 

 

Or 56 days even.

 

But hey, isn't this a holiday we are on?

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i am new to Cruisecritic but my wife and I have cruised several times. Overall I like Cunard ships and the general ambience is great. However we do have a complaint about the cost of drinks on board. To pay around $40 + 15% service for bottles of mediocre wine and excessive prices in the bars is extortionate. We never book as early savers and so do not usually qualify for on board spend. We feel that we are subsidising those with on board spend by paying these prices.

No wonder the bars are nearly empty after dinner. We would usually have a bottle of wine between us for dinner but cut down to a half on Cunard. It has put us off taking a Christmas cruise with the line this year.

End of rant!

 

Hatie. I think the point here is that we are trying to bring to Cunard’s attention cients objections to overpriced slcoholic drinks on their liners not the finite way they measure them. I believe rightly or wrongly they are losing clients and onboard business by their charges. Maybe they could provide an answer and not a cc moderator telling us what we already know.

 

Good morning Crewserman.

I have read your comments with interest as I am probably diametrically opposed to you with my views on drinking alcohol, and in particular wine, onboard any cruise ship.

Both my wife and I enjoy wine most evenings with our dinner at home and, purely on the grounds that we believe wine enhances the dining experience, we continue the practice onboard.

While I would not dream of factoring in the cost of wines and other beverages when I book a cruise I am aware that, with few exceptions, most cruise lines wine and beverage prices are on a par with Cunard.

The real joy with Cunard though is that I know I'm going to be attended by a dedicated Somelier who will give me not only outstanding service, but advice if ever I needed it.

But the point I would make really like to make is that should I ever start worrying, or moaning, about the price of what I consider part and parcel of the overall experience then my measure of enjoyment of the cruise starts to diminish.

And that Sir, is a strict No-No.

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Cheers.

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The other difference is that the hotel was paying very high duty and VAT on all the alcohol it sold.

 

e.g around 50p duty and 20% VAT on a pint of beer; £2.16 + 20% VAT on a bottle of wine.

 

Cunard, and all the other cruise lines, don't do that.

 

Ah, but while the VAT is paid by the Customer the hotel/restaurant reclaims the VAT element they paid to their supplier: the net difference being forwarded to HMRC.

 

Yes the customer feels the burden of the VAT but effectively the hotel's profit is linked to the net cost.

 

Meanwhile I', happy to state that while I'm drinking wine ashore I'm supporting things like the NHS and my military pension through my VAT element and while on board I'm supporting my Carnival dividend. :evilsmile::evilsmile:

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We take very few organised shore excursions - usually just one per trip - so I take the view that money saved in this respect can be enjoyed sipping cocktails in the Commodore Club, which is one of my very favourite things to do. I haven't felt that cocktail prices have increased significantly in recent years: I don't drink spirits and mixers but can understand the frustration of those who do following the introduction of the separate charge for the tonic or whatever. My other half sometimes has a mocktail in the evening, or he will have a whisky or sometimes a beer. A bottle of wine at dinner will last us a couple of nights. We tend to be fairly slow drinkers too, so whilst our account gets charged with something everyday, we've never been shocked when our final bill has arrived.

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Ah, but while the VAT is paid by the Customer the hotel/restaurant reclaims the VAT element they paid to their supplier: the net difference being forwarded to HMRC.

 

The mechanics of how VAT is paid along the supply chain does not alter the fact that along that chain, a net total of £4 VAT will be paid to HMRC on a bottle which retails at £20; a cost which Cunard doesn't have to bear.

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The mechanics of how VAT is paid along the supply chain does not alter the fact that along that chain, a net total of £4 VAT will be paid to HMRC on a bottle which retails at £20; a cost which Cunard doesn't have to bear.

 

...and your point is?

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I think the point is that Cunard are making out like bandits on the drinks prices! But that tells us nothing about what the margins are on each trip. If margins on the room rate are low then the bar bill is the main source of profit. And Cunard have to make a profit to satisfy shareholders. They aren't a charity.

 

That being said I do find the prices a little on the high side. I don't drink much at home but do like a cocktail or two before dinner, wine over dinner and possible a cocktail or two after dinner. It adds up quickly and we do get a bit of bill shock at the end even though we are pretty good at estimating our costs. The Australians on our last cruise removed tips to offset the bar bill which is an option I won't take but I can see why other people might. If its gets too much for me to afford I'll start looking at other lines or just reduce the amount of trips I take.

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All I know is that on our last cruise on QE, which was just after the price increases and measurement changes, I hav enever in over 40 cruises with different cruise lines seen bars throughout the ship empty. Many in Queens Room were drinking water, and not by the bottle, and while many have said well dancers get hot and drink water they were not drinking other drinks as well and not everyone drinking water was dancing. Such a shame because I think the price of the drinks in which what I am used to paying in my part of the UK even in 4 star establishments is extortionate spoils the atmosphere in an evening on a ship and sometimes as early as 1030 were empty. We sat in one bar and got talking to a couple over a drink and we were the only ones in there and the waiters were hanging around that cannot be right.

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I was just on ROYAL PRINCESS a couple months ago and I’m Elite status with them so I’ve sailed them often. Most of my bartenders would pour the alcohol in a standard measure then pour a little more from the bottle into the glass as they poured the alcohol from the measure into the glass. Of course I could only see this if I was sitting at the bar chatting with them. But even when I ordered a drink in a lounge it was stronger than what I get on Cunard. I’m guessing the American standard pour is larger than that of Cunard.

 

Sorry you didn’t have the same experience.

That's just the courtesy top up to compensate for any spillage when tipping in the thimble.Not really a free pour.The reason you think the drinks are weaker on Cunard is that they are now served in 1 and 2 ounce measures,so you have to ask for the larger one.Princess still serve 1 1/2 ounce measures as apparently Cunard used to.Cheers,Brian.
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That's just the courtesy top up to compensate for any spillage when tipping in the thimble.Not really a free pour.The reason you think the drinks are weaker on Cunard is that they are now served in 1 and 2 ounce measures,so you have to ask for the larger one.Princess still serve 1 1/2 ounce measures as apparently Cunard used to.Cheers,Brian.

 

 

 

Well on Cunard I don’t even see a courtesy top off. It does make a difference. Between that and the measure Cunard is using, they are the most expensive weak drinks I’ve experienced at sea. I think drinks on Oceania were more expensive, but they were are good pour so that compensated.

 

I have had bartenders on ships use the measure but then keep pouring in generous amounts of alcohol. I do consider that a free pour. It’s more than just a top off. I don’t expect it but it’s nice when it happens. Never on Cunard.

 

In Cunard’s favor, they are extremely lenient in bringing on your own alcohol, so that is my plan. I’m not one to sit in the cabin and drink, but I will at least have my first drink in the cabin before heading out for cocktails and dinner/show.

Edited by eroller
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Curious. We have parallel and ongoing threads on the Cunard Board 1) extolling formal wear aboard ships in the evening and 2) complaining about the cost of drinks aboard the same ships and that one can buy the same wine or spirits cheaper at your local or at your supermarket. Which begs one to ask the last time you wore formal dress and ambled down the road to your pub for a pint or two.

 

The reality is that Cunard drink prices are on the high side for ships yet entirely in keeping with the prices charged say at a Chewton Glen or Victoria Hotel or any top end London or New York hotel. Indeed, cheaper than the later two examples in most cases. In the U.S., you'll pay $17.95 for a martini in most top end big city hotels.

 

Reading these threads one conjures up the incongruous image of tuxedoed and gowned passengers in their cabins at cocktail hour drinking their £6.95 cava from Tesco.

 

 

Beautiful! Well said. And a wonderful image you've created in my mind!

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That comparing Cunard and hotel prices is unfair on the latter, since they pay duty and VAT on the alcohol they sell, which Cunard don't.

 

Good afternoon Wiltonian.

 

Alas I cannot agree.

 

Both, as profit seeking businesses, will have a Gross Profit (GP) to pursue which excludes VAT.

 

Whilst in the trade myself my target was an overall GP of 75%.

 

Net profit will of course be an entirely different matter.

 

Meanwhile, of course, my view remains that its all rather immaterial because Cunard know what they are doing and it's only a relative few who complain through forum media while the great majority are out there enjoying themselves on their cruising holidays.

 

Have a nice day.

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BTW, our favourite drink on QE was discovering Chapel Down English champagne. Superb. Cost per bottle $55. Cost at a cheap U.S. wholesale wine merchant: $46.99

 

And that as they say, is that.....

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Well we are on the side of those who think the drinks prices on Cunard are high, and the charging for mixers is ridiculous for things like tonic water that could, like coca cola, be dispensed from post mix.

 

We spent around $100 per day for the 2 of us on our recent 3 day ‘trial’ of Cunard. That did not include the $20 per bottle corkage fee we paid for our wine at dinner (having researched the list prior to sailing, there was no way I was prepared to pay $35 plus 15% for the same bottle of wine available on land in a bar for $18!).

 

Seeing that Cunard do not offer a beverage package, that's another reason we can’t see ourselves returning to this line in the near future.

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I didn't think the drinks were that expensive for where you were at all. I paid just over $15 for a single G&T with a dash of tonic form a mixer tap and served in a plastic cup at Bryant Park in New York, then paid less for a double including fever tree tonic on the QM2 4 days later.

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Sparkling wine please, champagne is French !

 

and overrated - one is inclined to say.

I don't understand why Cunard (or anybody else) is able to make money with this French marketing scam. The only difference between a traditionally produced sparkling wine and champagne is the fact that one is from the region called Champagne and the other one isn't.

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