Trying to make sure I understand the beverage pkg

[Carnevale]

We are planning to purchase the beer, wines and spirits pkg for a QM2 sailing in November and want to make sure that we understand how it works. I know there’s a 10 minute gap requirement between drink orders but I don’t know if that only applies to alcoholic drinks or to all beverages. Can I order soda water and an alcoholic beverage at the same time or do I have to wait 10 minutes between them?

 

Also, is sparkling water included in this pkg and, if so, what is offered ( San Pellegrino, Perrier, or etc.)?

[Onescoop]

The waiters/bartenders will bring you a sparkling (or still) water with your drink if you ask them. I also found, although I think the package says small waters, they'll generally give you a big bottle if you ask. Especially if it's a couple of you or a larger group.

I don't know if it changes but we mostly got Harrogate Spring, with the occasional San Pellegrino.

[Pushpit]

Firstly, do the maths carefully on drink packages since they make money for Cunard, and are priced accordingly. If you are a light or moderate drinker they may not save money, particularly if there are a lot of port days as opposed to sea days. Also note that the 1 litre bottles of Harrogate still and sparkling water are relatively good value, only 11 cents more than 500 ml glasses of soda water. In theory only small bottles are on the package (500ml for Harrogate, 330 ml for Perrier and San Pellegrino)

 

The 10 minute rule isn't strictly applied in my experience, it's just to stop people tanking booze. That said the order taking process in most bars / cafés is fairly leisurely so it makes it difficult to get 2 orders in 10 minutes anyway. A soft drink with the alcohol is usually ok, traditional mixers and well sodas are definitely OK. At meal times outside the grills, the sommelier works on the basis of one order per meal - you can do more but you will need to flag them down rather than wait for them to rotate. But it would be no problem to have  a soft drink with wine at the main meal order.

 

Harrogate is the main water supplied, but San Pellegrino and Perrier are available. If you ask specifically for them you should get them (some smaller bars don't stock Perrier), otherwise you will get Harrogate. Occasionally there's Acqua Panna and Hildon, but these are only in large bottles so shouldn't be available on the package. Soda water from the well is also available if you prefer that.

[Megabear2]

I'm currently using the drinks package on Queen Anne and can confirm that when I order water they ask do I want large or small.  The water is Harrogate and comes in glass bottles.

 

Unfortunately in some bars I am virtually invisible!  However I am not (well I believe!) a heavy alcohol consumer so was dubious the cost was worthwhile.  I can confirm that I am break even or just over most days.  I'm no wine connoisseur and everyday offerings more than suffice but the price cap is very restrictive even on these with limited choice.  However I like wine from Greece and luckily there us a very pleasant one available in Carinthia but my dining room availability is limited, particularly on white wine to small glasses of Pinot or Chardonnay.

 

The choice for cocktails and spirits is far higher and virtually all offerings fall within the drinks package.  

 

Convenience is the best part of the deal.

[D&N]

6 hours ago, Carnevale said:

Also, is sparkling water included in this pkg and, if so, what is offered ( San Pellegrino, Perrier, or etc.)?

When we were on they were also serving CanO Water. Sparkling was in a black can and still in white. There was no problem in Queens Room or G32 getting glasses of wine plus bottles/cans of water at same time.

I wasn't given a tutorial the first time I saw one of these lids and just about butchered the can to get remaining water out! 🤣 In my defence the lighting wasn't great and I didn't spot any instructions.

[Megabear2]

Yes the cans were out yesterday for shoreside but seem to be a bit limited in availability at present. I'm guessing they'll be out more now the sun's come out.

[Carnevale]

Many thanks for all of this great information!  Much appreciated!

[Carnevale]

17 hours ago, Pushpit said:

Firstly, do the maths carefully on drink packages since they make money for Cunard, and are priced accordingly. If you are a light or moderate drinker they may not save money, particularly if there are a lot of port days as opposed to sea days.

 

Thanks @Pushpit for this advice. I hadn't done the maths so I went back and had a closer look and it seems the pkg will be good for us. We'll drink at least 3 espresso coffees a day (yup lots of coffee but it will all be decaf), a glass of wine at lunch and dinner, a cocktail or mocktail before dinner, and a night cap (all of which is way more than our 1 glass of wine with dinner at home but when we cruise this is part of the fun). If I've done it correctly based on some menus I've seen, three cappuccini come to $15 and looking at the average cost of cocktails, glasses of wine and after dinner drinks each would be about $14 when the service charge is included so at 4 x $14 plus the coffees it comes to around $71/day. We also drink a lot of sparkling water so that pushes us easily above the $72/day cost (based on the length of our voyage). Plus the pkg means we don't have to try to follow a long list of drinks charged to our account daily and we have the freedom to try things and move on to something else if we don't like them. 

 

It was an interesting exercise. Thanks again for suggesting it.

[DMac1983]

1 hour ago, Carnevale said:

 

 Plus the pkg means we don't have to try to follow a long list of drinks charged to our account daily and we have the freedom to try things and move on to something else if we don't like them.

This is the main point in drinks packages for me. Piece of mind. I already paid for it so I am free to not consider price on the menu. 
 

My wife always says we don’t “need” the drink package. She is correct. But it’s nice to have. We will, however, most likely at least break even if not, more realistically, go over every day. 

[Onescoop]

The other great thing about the package is you can try (nearly) all of the drinks without feeling too much guilt if you aren't keen on one. I think we managed work our way through every $13.50 and below cocktail on the various menus in four days, which was a lot of fun.