First Cruise Ever - Queens Grill Questions

[SouthWestBoy]

Hello all!

 

My partner and I are have just booked our first ever cruise for our honeymoon and have opted to sail in Queens Grill on the Queen Victoria next year. We have never cruised before and are wondering a few things.

 

1. I have read about off menu ordering in the queens grill and wondering how far this really extends and what limitations there may be over a weeks cruise?

 

2. I understand that the Queens Grill restaurant has a daily menu and an a la carte menu at dinner. Are you charged additionally for dining on the a la carte menu or does this come included?

 

3. How does the butler differ from a regular room steward?

 

4. How do the spa passes work onboard?

 

5. Are there any other tips from seasoned cruisers of things we may be unaware of (things to look out for or things that are unadvertised but may be available upon request) or any general tips or tricks that you may have for a couple of newbies that want to take full advantage of a week onboard in a Queens Grill Suite?

 

Thank you all for your experience and expertise 🙂 

 

SouthWestBoy

Edited September 29, 2021 by SouthWestBoy

[majortom10]

No extra charge for a la carte items on the menu but there might some items that have to be requested in advance either breakfast or lunch. Never needed to order off menu as food on provided menu is excellent.

Edited September 29, 2021 by majortom10

[BigMac1953]

6 minutes ago, SouthWestBoy said:

few things.

 

1. I have read about off menu ordering in the queens grill and wondering how far this really extends and what limitations there may be over a weeks cruise?

Limited to what's in the Galley. With a few dishes, advance notice is required. Discuss with maitre d'

 

2. I understand that the Queens Grill restaurant has a daily menu and an a la carte menu at dinner. Are you charged additionally for dining on the a la carte menu or does this come included?

All food and coffee/tea is included

 

3. How does the butler differ from a regular room steward?

You get both. The butler looks after your personal needs and organises such things as your cocktail parties, and serves any food and drinks that you may wish to have in your room.

 

4. How do the spa passes work onboard?

Negotiate an offer

 

5. Are there any other tips from seasoned cruisers of things we may be unaware of (things to look out for or things that are unadvertised but may be available upon request) or any general tips or tricks that you may have for a couple of newbies that want to take full advantage of a week onboard in a Queens Grill Suite?

Assuming we're Covid free, the QG opens at 1:00pm on embarkation day. Your table number will be in your room. If table not suitable, discuss with Maitre d' asap.

 

Happy cruising

 

[BigMac1953]

Don't forget to bring your own Champagne on board for your room (as much as you want).

[Bell Boy]

Just replying 

 

1) The kitchen within the grills are very accommodating at meeting guests requests off menu

    one can give  an advance order for something within reason. You may find you will not need to request anything off menu within a one week cruise.

 

2) No, the a la cart'  section is all part of the Grills menu.

 

3) The suite Steward/ss is far more visible than the Butler 😉

[Wonky]

Couple of things we didn’t know on our first cruise in grills which were not pointed out…

When first on board you can have lunch in the grills (afternoon tea at the moment) we just assumed it was in the main restaurants🤦‍♂️
Your table is always your table whenever you come to the restaurant. We love this.
Teas and coffees are free in the grills lounge most of the day but not soft drinks which is a bit odd.

Wifi is the most expensive on the planet I believe! 
We have only been twice so some of this could be wrong but will find out Friday (subject to successfully passing the COVID test🤞)

[Jack E Dawson]

3 hours ago, Wonky said:

Couple of things we didn’t know on our first cruise in grills which were not pointed out…

When first on board you can have lunch in the grills (afternoon tea at the moment) we just assumed it was in the main restaurants🤦‍♂️
Your table is always your table whenever you come to the restaurant. We love this.
Teas and coffees are free in the grills lounge most of the day but not soft drinks which is a bit odd.

Wifi is the most expensive on the planet I believe! 
We have only been twice so some of this could be wrong but will find out Friday (subject to successfully passing the COVID test🤞)

Wonky,

Hope you will share your onboard experience with us, either during or shortly after your cruise.

Thanks

Jack

[exlondoner]

1. If there is something you really, really, want that they are unlikely to have aboard,  (I can't imagine what that could be, but still.) a request before boarding might enable them to provide it. Once we were next to a party of eight who had managed to commission a whole suckling pig.

 

Otherwise, a word of warning. In 1997, because our QE2 voyage was going to be a one-off holiday of a lifetime, we upgraded to the QG. Over the past 24 years, this decision has cost us quite a considerable amount of money. Not that I regret a penny. 😀

[Wonky]

55 minutes ago, Jack E Dawson said:

Wonky,

Hope you will share your onboard experience with us, either during or shortly after your cruise.

Thanks

Jack

I’ll do my best!

[Mickb]

The Grill’s experience is really very nice. I agree with exlondoner - we too took the holiday of a lifetime on the QE2 in Queens Grill in 1989 - it spoilt us for ever! 
can’t wait for our mini cruise on the QM2 in November - sadly only Princess Grill this time!

[rakkor]

We're taking our first Grills cruises soon,  we're sailing Princess Grill in November, and Queens Grill for Jane's birthday in February and  I'm certainly hoping this isn't the start of more expensive things to come.

We like travelling  Britannia, especially on a large table for 10 for dining. The anytime dining option in Britannia if it carries on, means I will be very reluctant to travel with Cunard again. I want to share a table with other people, but not different ones every night where the conversation ends up being reduced to the same old "And where are you from?" & "Is this your first Cunard cruise?" things that you get over on the first night on a proper fixed table allowing you to move on to more interesting conversations.

[mklions]

We are sailing the QE on 6th Jan and it will be our first time in the Queen’s Grill. 
I have read that if available in the QG you can order ( if available) almost any food you like.

I’m particularly fond of mussels and wondered if they have been requested previously?

Also on the subject of a stocked bar, will it get replenished every day or is it a one time only situation.

My wife will drink gin and fever tree tonic (if available)  but me I don’t do spirits and prefer cider and ales, and the odd glass of red wine.

Will this be available or will we need to stick to a basic drinks menu.

Really looking forward to the QG experience, any other tips and recommendations would be very much appreciated.

kind regards,

mklions 

[Host Hattie]

Just don't forget that you will need to give notice for any special orders, if it's on the ship you can have it !

Bottles are replenished as they are emptied, there is a standard list but ask your butler if you would prefer something different.

[exlondoner]

I think that from time to time mussels have been an item on the menu of the day, so I should have thought they would certainly have them on board.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, mklions said:

We are sailing the QE on 6th Jan and it will be our first time in the Queen’s Grill. 
I have read that if available in the QG you can order ( if available) almost any food you like.

I’m particularly fond of mussels and wondered if they have been requested previously?

Also on the subject of a stocked bar, will it get replenished every day or is it a one time only situation.

My wife will drink gin and fever tree tonic (if available)  but me I don’t do spirits and prefer cider and ales, and the odd glass of red wine.

Will this be available or will we need to stick to a basic drinks menu.

Really looking forward to the QG experience, any other tips and recommendations would be very much appreciated.

kind regards,

mklions 

You will get allocation of 1 litre of spirits per person at beginning of cruise and depending on your butler and how good he is whether they will be replaced when empty. When we were on QE they were not replaced and we just had the one bottle each and he said I couldnt request brandy. The drinks in the fridge i.e. soft drinks and beers are replenished daily if needed. There will be no wine provided unless you forsake your bottles of spirits for wine but dont think if you did it would be replenished on a regular basis.

Edited December 28, 2021 by majortom10

[BigMac1953]

We've travelled QG at least a couple of dozen times, and always had the spirits replenished when getting low. On our recent QE November trip, with only 2 days left our butler offered to replenish them but we weren't going to consume the stuff as quick as that, so politely declined his offer.

 

Greasing the wheels always helps things along, especially if you are hosting a wee cocktail party. On our recent trip, our butler provided extra seating, ice buckets and extra glasses, nibbles, canapes and a large tray of HOT canapes.

[exlondoner]

30 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

You will get allocation of 1 litre of spirits per person at beginning of cruise and depending on your butler and how good he is whether they will be replaced when empty. When we were on QE they were not replaced and we just had the one bottle each and he said I couldnt request brandy. The drinks in the fridge i.e. soft drinks and beers are replenished daily if needed. There will be no wine provided unless you forsake your bottles of spirits for wine but dont think if you did it would be replenished on a regular basis.

 

I have always had wine replaced.

[Victoria2]

7 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

I have always had wine replaced.

As have we, always, and usually before  down to the dregs. Our butlers over the years have obviously recognise the need!!😄

 

Bombay Sapphire has been replenished too but that was after guests had consumed most of it.

[Wonky]

Been trying to think and I’m pretty sure it’s Thatchers cider. This wasn’t on the menu you get at the start but just ask if there’s something you’d prefer. Bizarrely the only thing they struggled to replace was Diet Coke which was “out of stock”! Funnily enough it was available around the rest of the ship.

[majortom10]

Like I have stated on here before it was our first and only time in QG so didnt really know how things went but obviously we had a poor butler because he didnt greet us on our arrival in suite for a couple of hours and it was the steward that gave us the run down of things when we arrived. There was a list of available spirits for you to tick off required ones and we didnt fill it in as there was no brandy on the list and when we finally had a visit from the butler he said I couldnt order brandy so had one bottle of whisky and one bottle of vodka and he didnt replace them when they were empty. We hardly saw the butler for the rest of the cruise a total waste of money that is why I wouldnt go in QG again because personally dont think the extra over PG is worth it.

[Underwatr]

On 9/29/2021 at 3:10 PM, exlondoner said:

Otherwise, a word of warning. In 1997, because our QE2 voyage was going to be a one-off holiday of a lifetime, we upgraded to the QG. Over the past 24 years, this decision has cost us quite a considerable amount of money. Not that I regret a penny.

My first reaction to the thread was that choosing QG for one's first cruise would end up being a very expensive decision in the long run.

[majortom10]

18 hours ago, Underwatr said:

My first reaction to the thread was that choosing QG for one's first cruise would end up being a very expensive decision in the long run.

It may well be if its your first Cunard cruise not knowing what PG and other restaurants/suites/staterooms are like. But as far as we are concerned having done other staterooms and PG we would never book a QG again as dont think it is worth the extra on top of PG for what you get.

[exlondoner]

20 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

It may well be if its your first Cunard cruise not knowing what PG and other restaurants/suites/staterooms are like. But as far as we are concerned having done other staterooms and PG we would never book a QG again as dont think it is worth the extra on top of PG for what you get.

 

It may depend what ship. For me, on the Vistas, it is worth every penny for QG over PG, because I find the cabins vastly nicer. On QM2 not so much.

[majortom10]

7 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

It may depend what ship. For me, on the Vistas, it is worth every penny for QG over PG, because I find the cabins vastly nicer. On QM2 not so much.

Just shows how different people have differing views. My only experience of QG was on QE and Princess Grill was also on QE and I certainly wouldnt pay the extra now being asked for a QG over the price for a PG as I certainly dont think what you get extra is really worth the money. I dont want "parties" in my suite with people I have never met before the cruise which is just an excuse to show off how big your suite is and how much money I have and other than bringing the often inedible canapes to our suite which we didnt see every day the only time we saw him was bringing croissants and tea first thing in the morning so a butler is a complete waste of money. Not being a cruiser who spends a lot of time in any suite/stateroom during my cruise is not  a deal breaker and even though our suite at the aft of the ship on deck 5 was very nice it was certainly not good in rough weather. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by majortom10

[Victoria2]

We don't hold loads of  drink dos in our cabin, but when we do, those whom we invite are usually our fellow table Grillers plus friends if onboard. As it's just a normal way of holidaying for us and all the Grill repeaters we meet, as we're all in the same boat, [literally in this case,] room to move around is usually welcomed at drinks parties rather than seen as showing off.

 

We happened to have the biggest cabin [sorry about that] on one cruise when two fellow table guests got married. It was our pleasure to have drinks and 'nibbles' [the  prawns looked like mini lobsters!!!] after the ceremony, for our table and a few friends of the newly weds,  rather than any 'look at us' scenario.

I think most 'Grillers' will have the same approach as it wouldn't occur to think otherwise.