Drinks package

[Summergee]

We are considering the drinks package and have looked at prices as well as Ts and Cs. Does having to wait between drinks include when buying glasses of wine with dinner?

[D&N]

33 minutes ago, Summergee said:

We are considering the drinks package and have looked at prices as well as Ts and Cs. Does having to wait between drinks include when buying glasses of wine with dinner?

I believe that should be the case. We never encountered a problem with that. When we travelled wine was being served in 150ml measures. I can't remember if the wait time was 10 mins or 15 mins. I see it is currently 10 mins and in line with recent menus that I have spotted small measures have been increased to 175ml for most wines.

You would need to be gulping it down to empty a glass in 10 mins while eating, and an easy answer would be to call the sommelier before placing your food order, then immediately after 10 mins had elapsed.

As I said the wait time restriction was never an issue. I suspect it's main purpose is to limit any attempt to order more than one drink and pass them to others not on the package.

 

edit: Found the Dec 2019 version of Ts&Cs. It was 10 mins, and I was wrong, double measures of spirits could be available on request, we didn't feel the need to ask. We might do now since the measures have been reduced.

Edited March 5 by D&N

[Bell Boy]

1 hour ago, Summergee said:

We are considering the drinks package and have looked at prices as well as Ts and Cs. Does having to wait between drinks include when buying glasses of wine with dinner?

Wine by the glass ( with a drinks package) 'in the Main restaurant' is a hassle, not only for you but for those of us who purchase by the bottle.

Trying to flag down a Sommelier to reach into the ice bucket to top up my glass isn't easy, as they are often back and forth to the Galley Bar dispensary, no sooner have they delivered a 'glass of wine to one person' on a large table of 6/8, another guest on the same table will often make a request for a glass of wine too - And so the sommelier disappears again for a good 5/10 minutes and has to wait in line whilst their colleague/s are being served.

Don't get me started on this,  it's often the bane of my life  😅

 

To answer your question - From my observations you may have a wait time of a good 20 mins, however,  I understand that on busy evenings the sommelier will often encourage the Bar dispensary to give a larger pour.    

Edited March 5 by Bell Boy

[BigMac1953]

Officially, it's all small measures, whether wine or spirits.

[D&N]

29 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

Officially, it's all small measures, whether wine or spirits.

The conditions when we travelled in 2022 stated: "Wine will be served in 150ml measures and spirits will be served in 1oz measures with mixer of your choice (double measures for spirits only and premium mixers are available on request)."

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/my-cunard-tcs
This link recently updated on Feb 20th 2024 states: "Wine will be served in 175ml measures and  spirits will be served in 25ml measures with mixer of your choice (double measures for spirits  only and premium mixers are available on request).

 

I hadn't noticed the doubles bit before.

[D&N]

34 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

Trying to flag down a Sommelier to reach into the ice bucket to top up my glass isn't easy,

I like playing a game where I top up our glasses before they catch me. 🙂

[Pushpit]

I would say the time restriction in the drink packages is in case of issues, to be hopefully never used, In common with many other areas, what is written and what happens can be 2 different things on Cunard, with the general and welcome policy of treating us all as sensible adults.

 

The issues raised above relate to the difficulties - on occasions - of flagging down sommeliers and wait staff, which seems to me to be harder since the pandemic. Not an issue in Grills or Club. But in Britannia and some of the bars service can be slow at peak times. So that would apply whether or not you had a drinks package, and therefore I would say the 10 minute rule isn't something to worry about.

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

We’ve most often found that we are served large pours on the package. Whether we are charged for two small or one, I don’t know, but it’s never been a problem. In fact, one night, we asked to have the Cunard Reserve red rather then the regular only to be told by the sommelier that we had been drinking the reserve all along. 
 

In short, they will do their best to treat you well. No one’s losing money on this anyway.

[Jack E Dawson]

10 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

Don't get me started on this,  it's often the bane of my life  😅

If that is the bane of your life, then you lead a very good life Bell Boy.

But seriously, you make a good point, one that I had not thought about. We just booked a cruise on the QV that came with the drinks package. We will certainly try to be considerate in our ordering, for sure ordering together and not playing tag-team with the sommelier.

Thanks,

Jack

[david,Mississauga]

20 hours ago, D&N said:

The conditions when we travelled in 2022 stated: "Wine will be served in 150ml measures and spirits will be served in 1oz measures with mixer of your choice (double measures for spirits only and premium mixers are available on request)."

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/my-cunard-tcs
This link recently updated on Feb 20th 2024 states: "Wine will be served in 175ml measures and  spirits will be served in 25ml measures with mixer of your choice (double measures for spirits  only and premium mixers are available on request).

 

I hadn't noticed the doubles bit before.

 

The measure of one shot of spirits is shrinking again.  It wasn't long ago it was 1.5 ounces, then reduced to one ounce. The 25 ml measure is a mere .8 of an ounce.  I wouldn't even taste the gin in a G&T.  Thankfully they are offering doubles.

[majortom10]

37 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

The measure of one shot of spirits is shrinking again.  It wasn't long ago it was 1.5 ounces, then reduced to one ounce. The 25 ml measure is a mere .8 of an ounce.  I wouldn't even taste the gin in a G&T.  Thankfully they are offering doubles.

25ml is the standard serving of a spirit in any licensed bar or hotel in the UK.

[D&N]

12 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

25ml is the standard serving of a spirit in any licensed bar or hotel in the UK.

It traditionally varied between Scotland and England. When England started serving fifth gills, Scotland were still serving quarters.

I read that legally spirits must be served in 25ml or 35ml or multiples of those with exceptions for cocktails. That's according to: https://sltn.co.uk/legal-qa-2019/#:~:text=In terms of weights and,two or more other drinks.)

And it's suggested most Scottish venues still serve 35ml.

 

Many years ago we decided that pouring spirits freehand wasn't healthy and started using eggcups as measures. The ones we use hold 35ml (quarter gill), and that's ideal for us. 25ml seems a bit miserly, we would need doubles or two glasses, with 10 mins between. 

 

[david,Mississauga]

59 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

25ml is the standard serving of a spirit in any licensed bar or hotel in the UK.

 

We always have a G&T at the interval of plays in London and noticed that many years ago. I wondered why there was so little gin in the glass.

 

In the 1980s and 1990s we cruised several times on the P&O Canberra. The spirit measurement was one-fifth of a gill which I calculated as one ounce.

 

The standard measurement in bars and restaurants in Canada used to be 1.25 ounces but has dropped to one ounce - which is better than 25 ml.  It is strange that despite having gone metric decades ago, wine and spirits in restaurants are still measured in ounces. Bottles purchased in wine and liquor stores are metric, however.

[D&N]

Other than being given a very small glass of limoncello or other liqueur free at end of a meal we don't normally order spirits, preferring to wait until we walk home and have a nightcap once we've settled down.

However I'm fairly sure that most restaurants in France offer spirits in 4cl measures or larger.

[NE John]

I pour two ounce cocktails at home. No complaints from DW. 

[mnocket]

On 3/5/2024 at 10:30 AM, D&N said:

spirits will be served in 25ml measures with mixer of your choice (double measures for spirits  only and premium mixers are available on request).

 

I hadn't noticed the doubles bit before.

I'm guessing "catch" with the drink package is that since drinks are limited to $13.50, a double will exceed that limit and you will wind up paying for the double (less 20%). So ordering a double if you're on the drink package wouldn't make sense.

[D&N]

42 minutes ago, mnocket said:

I'm guessing "catch" with the drink package is that since drinks are limited to $13.50, a double will exceed that limit and you will wind up paying for the double (less 20%). So ordering a double if you're on the drink package wouldn't make sense.

No. Remarkably few doubles of spirits are priced above the limit. We're only really interested in Grand Marnier and it's $10.30 for 50ml.

[LittleFish1976]

2 hours ago, mnocket said:

I'm guessing "catch" with the drink package is that since drinks are limited to $13.50, a double will exceed that limit and you will wind up paying for the double (less 20%). So ordering a double if you're on the drink package wouldn't make sense.

They tend to just use up two of your allocated number of alcoholic drinks for the day (but I've never kept count as I wouldn't come close to the maximum).

[mnocket]

1 minute ago, LittleFish1976 said:

They tend to just use up two of your allocated number of alcoholic drinks for the day (but I've never kept count as I wouldn't come close to the maximum).

I wasn't aware that there was a daily allocation.  So how many drinks are allowed on the package?

[LittleFish1976]

2 minutes ago, mnocket said:

I wasn't aware that there was a daily allocation.  So how many drinks are allowed on the package?

Like other Carnival brands - I think it's 15 from memory or maybe 11. Someone else on here can confirm but it is in the T&Cs of the drinks package.

Edited March 6 by LittleFish1976

[D&N]

12 minutes ago, mnocket said:

I wasn't aware that there was a daily allocation.  So how many drinks are allowed on the package?

The link to Ts&Cs is in post #5

[BigMac1953]

It's a max of 15 per 24 hours, with at least a ten minute interval between.

[maggielou362]

We had the Drinks Package on our recent QM2 sailing.

The sommelier, David, was wonderful. Each evening, we would tell him our menu selections and he chose the appropriate wines for each course from the "by the glass" list. He magically showed up with two generous glasses of wine (one for me, one for husband, often different wines) as soon as the waiter delivered each course. We never seemed to wait any set time if we wanted another glass of the same, and he seemed to be attending to other passengers with bottled wine equally as proficiently. And this was in "steerage", in the Britannia Restaurant (late sitting).

Edited March 9 by maggielou362
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