Add-on Packages

[babs135]

Princess has an upgrade to Princess plus, Holland America has Have It All, other cruise lines offer similar packages but Cunard offers...... Nothing.    Do you think this could change and if not, why not?   Even P&O now includes gratuities in their fares.

 

Surely Cunard doesn't think it would 'lower standards' by offering such packages?

[exlondoner]

What do these packages consist of?

[tacticalbanjo]

Gratuities, WiFi, some form of drinks package are the basics. Sometimes a speciality dining package, shore excursion credit, exercise classes. Essentially, anything that might be an additional cost item.

[carlmm]

What for?

If one desire one or some or all of the addtional items, one can buy them.

To have "Cunard plus" guests vs lowely normal guests might be quite a bit against the overall brand image.

Edited April 10 by carlmm

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, carlmm said:

What for?

If one desire one or some all of the addtional items, one can buy them.

To have "Cunard plus" guests vs lowely normal guests might be quite a bit against the overall brand image.

Also I was reading reports by someone who had an excellent, though pretty expensive, dining package on a Royal ship. He said it made such a difference because the MDR food, and other venues included in the basic price, were so poor. That is not the case on Cunard, and one wouldn’t want them to move towards that.

[Bell Boy]

13 minutes ago, carlmm said:

What for?

If one desire one or some all of the addtional items, one can buy them.

To have "Cunard plus" guests vs lowely normal guests might be quite a bit against the overall brand image.

Exactly!  There is no such thing as a Free Lunch . I do have to smile when some folks often refer to Saga or  some other cruise lines as being wonderful and  free from gratuities or inclusive drinks etc even complimentary transport from home to ship & return  .

At the end of day it's part of the original booking price - they've paid a hefty sum for it   😉

[stan01]

Cunard is offering different options to customers based in different countries.  In the US, they do at times have offers that include service charge and drinks packages bundled.  Right now they are offering this for Grills only I think.  Of course, when those get bundled in the fare is likely higher so hard to tell whether it really is a bargain or not.  We don't like having to pay for every little thing, but at the same time one has to consume a lot of alcohol to get their money's worth from a package.  To be honest, although they are very different experiences, being US based we find Seabourn with its more inclusive pricing to be a better value for us than Grills.  But we do enjoy Transatlantics and long cruises round trip from US/Brooklyn such as to Norway with no international air so we do both.  Grills are cost effective if international business class air is part of the equation.

[tacticalbanjo]

31 minutes ago, carlmm said:

What for?

If one desire one or some or all of the addtional items, one can buy them.

To have "Cunard plus" guests vs lowely normal guests might be quite a bit against the overall brand image.

Some people like to prepay so they know how much their bill is going to be at the end of the cruise even if it means paying more.

 

I had Princess Plus last year and it was nice knowing that I'd be leaving the ship with absolutely nothing extra to pay because my drinks and gratuities has already been paid for. Having had a drinks package a few years ago on Cunard I enjoyed not having the inner tightwad whisper that I could make a cuppa for free in the buffet instead of paying to have one in a nicer location.

[exlondoner]

14 minutes ago, stan01 said:

Cunard is offering different options to customers based in different countries.  In the US, they do at times have offers that include service charge and drinks packages bundled.  Right now they are offering this for Grills only I think.  Of course, when those get bundled in the fare is likely higher so hard to tell whether it really is a bargain or not.  We don't like having to pay for every little thing, but at the same time one has to consume a lot of alcohol to get their money's worth from a package.  To be honest, although they are very different experiences, being US based we find Seabourn with its more inclusive pricing to be a better value for us than Grills.  But we do enjoy Transatlantics and long cruises round trip from US/Brooklyn such as to Norway with no international air so we do both.  Grills are cost effective if international business class air is part of the equation.

But from what I was reading in another thread, Seabourn is not actually all inclusive. You have to pay a lot of extra money per day to be admitted to a special area, filled with things rather like the posh beach huts Bournemouth Corporation installed a few years ago, from which it is hard to see the sea, but which is obviously very exclusive.

Edited April 10 by exlondoner

[david63]

The main reason that packages are "add-ons" is to keep the headline price down in order to make the cruise look cheaper. It is also a marketing tool to offer a free drinks package for a limited time- although it probably will not be free as the base price will have increased!

 

In an ideal world I would prefer cruise lines to be all inclusive so that you pay an increased price and that is it - tips, drinks, Internet all paid for before leaving home. The problem comes in moving to such a model as there will be the inevitable moans "I don't drink so why do I have subsidise everyone else", "Why do have to pay for the Internet when I don't use it" and "I want to decide who I tip/bribe and how much"

[stan01]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

But from what I was reading in another thread, Seabourn is not actually all inclusive. You have to pay a lot of extra money per day to be admitted to a special area, filled with things rather like the posh beach huts Bournemouth Corporation installed a few years ago, from which it is hard to see the sea, but which is obviously very exclusive.

 

Yes there are up charges everywhere and I don't think anything is fully all inclusive.  There is zero reason to go to that Retreat area unless you want a private area other than your balcony, plus it is only on two of their seven (soon to be six) ships.  You can pay for premium wine and spirits, you can pay for spa treatments, you can pay for shore excursions.

 

 

[Catchum]

7 hours ago, exlondoner said:

What do these packages consist of?

Princess plus is $60 per day per person  which includes all tips/gratuities/service charges. Unlimited WiFi for one device, Unlimited sodas, premium teas and coffee. Room service and 15 alcoholic drinks a day (covers most drinks and if you want something not covered then you only pay the difference- so an Irish coffee is covered but an expresso martini will be $3 ish). If you plan on paying your gratuities anyway and drink more than four drinks, alcoholic or nice coffee then basically you get free WiFi room service and one or two other bits and pieces. If like us you enjoy a couple of coffees or decadent hot chocolate in the morning, a beer at lunch, wine with dinner and maybe a nightcap then they are definitely worth it. 

[Catchum]

5 hours ago, carlmm said:

What for?

If one desire one or some or all of the addtional items, one can buy them.

To have "Cunard plus" guests vs lowely normal guests might be quite a bit against the overall brand image.

The princess plus is not a category, you don't get special privileges like suite guests, you simply don't have to pay for some things on the ship because you have pre purchased them. I might have the cheapest inside cabin or the most expensive suite if my card is marked as plus (yes I know it's a medallion) then when I order a glass of wine, beer, soda or expresso I don't get charged, likewise at the end of the cruise I won't receive a bill for service charges and I can check my email and order room service without any additional cost.

[sonoma03]

Also the packages like Princess Plus offer a discount compared to separately paying for the gratuities, WiFi package, and drinks package.  But if you aren't going to make use of all the benefits, you are probably better off paying for things separately.  I did the math on the last 10-night cruise that I took on Princess, and since my husband and I don't drink alcohol, it was far cheaper for us to just pay the gratuities and buy one WiFi package to share, and pay for any drinks individually if we actually wanted one.

[Jack E Dawson]

On 4/10/2024 at 5:58 AM, babs135 said:

Princess has an upgrade to Princess plus, Holland America has Have It All, other cruise lines offer similar packages but Cunard offers...... Nothing. 

babe 135,

Sorry if I am misunderstanding your point here. Also, I'm aware that not all promotions that are offered here in the States are available in the UK. We recently booked a cruise on the Queen Victoria and we upgraded to Princess Grills. That upgrade came with free gratuities, free drinks package, access to the Princess Grills restaurant, the Grills lounge and the two Gills terrace levels. Also included in the upgrade is priority boarding. Does this have any similarities at all to Princess Plus or Have It All. I've on Cunard.

Thanks

Jack

[UKdaisy]

On 4/10/2024 at 3:02 PM, carlmm said:

 

To have "Cunard plus" guests vs lowely normal guests might be quite a bit against the overall brand image.

Surely a two tier system already exists?  We already have a system with us Britannia guests the lowly option compared to Grill guests. 
If packages were brought in there would be no obvious distinction between guests. In the same way currently while onboard you can have no idea who has bought an internet package, who is paying service charges and who has had them taken off. You would not know who had bought a package so how could that bring about a new two tier system?

I would welcome the introduction of packages. I like to start my cruise knowing all the essentials are taken care of. It would be good to have choice. Those who do not want a package could choose not to have them. 

[Bell Boy]

On 4/10/2024 at 7:59 PM, Catchum said:

Princess plus is $60 per day per person  which includes all tips/gratuities/service charges. Unlimited WiFi for one device, Unlimited sodas, premium teas and coffee. Room service and 15 alcoholic drinks a day (covers most drinks and if you want something not covered then you only pay the difference- so an Irish coffee is covered but an expresso martini will be $3 ish). If you plan on paying your gratuities anyway and drink more than four drinks, alcoholic or nice coffee then basically you get free WiFi room service and one or two other bits and pieces. If like us you enjoy a couple of coffees or decadent hot chocolate in the morning, a beer at lunch, wine with dinner and maybe a nightcap then they are definitely worth it. 

Cunard offers similar to that, it's referred to as a Drinks package. The majority of Cunard seasoned guests have loyalty levels which enables them to take advantage of a WIFI deal , Room service is free on Cunard (unless ordering Caviar) The only plus I see from the above is the paid gratuities.  

[Victoria2]

21 minutes ago, UKdaisy said:

Surely a two tier system already exists?  We already have a system with us Britannia guests the lowly option compared to Grill guests. 
If packages were brought in there would be no obvious distinction between guests. In the same way currently while onboard you can have no idea who has bought an internet package, who is paying service charges and who has had them taken off. You would not know who had bought a package so how could that bring about a new two tier system?

I would welcome the introduction of packages. I like to start my cruise knowing all the essentials are taken care of. It would be good to have choice. Those who do not want a package could choose not to have them. 

I prefer to think of the different dining and accommodation options as personal choice rather than using any 'high-low' terminology.

 

No one is low, no one is high as passengers but as far as add ons are concerned we already have  drinks packages which are available to those of us in the UK. We avoid that one just as I would prefer other  'packages' to be available to buy  to that of 'inclusive additions' [apart from the service charge which I would welcome as part of all fares].

We purposely will avoid any inclusive cruise lines if possible, if we ever desert Cunard. Why pay for amenities we have no intention of using.

[TowandaUK]

Sadly I can see where Daisy is coming from. I have seen posts here which refer to Britannia guests as riff raff in steerage. I suspect that it was a dubious attempt at humour, but it doesn’t feel like that when you are one of the aforementioned riff raff. The people on these boards are very helpful and generous towards us new to Cunard. However I do get the impression that a very few posters do have a high-low mindset. I choose to ignore posts like that. 

[david63]

Just an observation.

 

In the early days of cruising most, if not all, cruise lines had different classes of passenger (steerage, first class, second class, etc). Over the years the cruise lines reduced then abolished the different classes with the exception of Cunard (there may have been others, but I cannot recall any) who maintained the Grills classes.

 

The idea of the different classes was to restrict where those of other classes could go on the ship. Now with some cruise lines "classes" are starting to reappear (Princess Reserve Class for example where there is a part of the MDR just for them)

[King Amo]

I think it's an interesting point Victoria makes about packages, as everyone sees value in different things. For me personally, in an ideal world I would have the notion of cabin and restaurant classes as separate, so that you could potentially have grills class dining allocation without the need for the suite, butler service etc. which is, quite honestly, wasted on me. We spend so little waking time in our cabin that I'm quite happy to be in a small inside room, but the dining experience is one that I'd much prefer to spend extra on. I know that is somewhat possible through alternative dining, but it's not the same going to somewhere with the same menu every night rather than somewhere which challenges your palette and opens your eyes to new things. 

 

For my mum, for example, her absolute must have is the balcony, and she will pay anything to ensure she has that, but wouldn't see the absolute need to pay anything additional from dining at the buffet. 

 

In terms of standard packages I've very much enjoyed the benefits of inclusive cruises, even if I would never use the benefit to the extent that the majority of others would, but given the choice I'm very much with Victoria (i.e. get the service charge included in the main fare, but have everything else as opt ins).

[exlondoner]

30 minutes ago, david63 said:

Just an observation.

 

In the early days of cruising most, if not all, cruise lines had different classes of passenger (steerage, first class, second class, etc). Over the years the cruise lines reduced then abolished the different classes with the exception of Cunard (there may have been others, but I cannot recall any) who maintained the Grills classes.

 

The idea of the different classes was to restrict where those of other classes could go on the ship. Now with some cruise lines "classes" are starting to reappear (Princess Reserve Class for example where there is a part of the MDR just for them)

MSC, NCL, RCI all have their first class equivalents, with a far larger area with restricted access. Much more divisive than Cunard.

[Catchum]

2 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

Cunard offers similar to that, it's referred to as a Drinks package. The majority of Cunard seasoned guests have loyalty levels which enables them to take advantage of a WIFI deal , Room service is free on Cunard (unless ordering Caviar) The only plus I see from the above is the paid gratuities.  

I agree, except on a Cunard cruise the price for just the drinks is between $95 and $55 per person per day. Add the gratuities of $16.50 or $14.50 a day and cost per day for a two week cruise is minimum of $86.50 per day. That is a significant amount more than Princess where you additionally get unlimited wifi with the package no matter what your status. When considering a cruise the total cost of the trip is a huge factor for us, given we have unlimited vacation time and limited income the less we spend per trip the more we can travel.

[esrs]

4 hours ago, TowandaUK said:

Sadly I can see where Daisy is coming from. I have seen posts here which refer to Britannia guests as riff raff in steerage. I suspect that it was a dubious attempt at humour, but it doesn’t feel like that when you are one of the aforementioned riff raff. The people on these boards are very helpful and generous towards us new to Cunard. However I do get the impression that a very few posters do have a high-low mindset. I choose to ignore posts like that. 

My impression has been that it is usually Brittania guests who refer to themselves by those terms!

[NE John]

9 hours ago, TowandaUK said:

I have seen posts here which refer to Britannia guests as riff raff in steerage.

As one who has sailed in both classes, I too have been upset when reading various riff-raff type comments. Not too long ago, a guy called some pax akin to being in a Walmart. Luckily that poster hasn’t been around for a while. However on these pages, I have read some classic British self-deprecating humo(u)r. One calling himself a “rower” as a Britannia pax -  that’s actually pretty funny. 
Bottom line, compared to the other suite level offerings from other lines, you’ll see pax from both Grills and Britannia sit next to each other at; the GL Pub, the Theatre, Insight talks, Queens Room, Comm Club…just about anywhere. 85-90% of each ship is open to everyone. 
So I’d argue that Cunard is one of the least class based system at sea.  I’d be mortified to have a butler escort me to the front of a line and sit me in a suites only section at a public venue. 

Edited April 17 by NE John