renji

Hello. Anyone have the current bar menu and onboard purchase price for the premium non-alcoholic package?  It’s jumped from $36 to $40.5 online…

12 hours ago, TowandaUK said:

I think it’s a very individual choice as each persons’ habits can vary greatly. For us what helped us to decide is the temperature of the area we are visiting. I don’t cope very well in the heat and will drink much more bottled water, juices and soft drinks in warmer climates. As with D & N I will drink water with every meal to keep hydrated. The 15% service charge is also a factor. I really think it pays to spend half an hour doing the maths before deciding. 

We find the $36 a day for non-alcoholic to be great value.  So am spending that thousand on a 14-day.  The question is whether to double it or to put the thousand dollars to 5 or 6 nice bottles of wine we actually want and a few cocktails.   

4 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Yes, it does include soft drinks as well as specialty tea and coffee. The package price is inclusive of the 15% gratuity which would otherwise be charged on the listed menu price of each drink. As such, the package is better value than people give it credit for. As someone who has bottled water with each meal as well as a glass of wine with each meal, and maybe even two with dinner if I have a dessert wine as well, and the odd soft drink and non-alcoholic cocktail as well as a couple of alcoholic cocktails during the day, I find it reasonable value. I also like being able to try out drinks I'm not sure I'll like and feel okay about not finishing them.

And that is why I sometimes get the drinks package even though it’s a terrible value for me because I primarily buy bottles of wine for dinner and maybe have 1 or 2 cocktails at most. Just so I can try whatever I want and abandon it without feeling like I have to finish. My other alternative is to do the non-alcoholic package ($36 a day) because we drink a lot of latte, sparkling water and virgin Bloody Mary’s, and just pay for the occasional cocktail. 

50 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

as well as a glass of wine with each meal

 

Don't you get funny looks at breakfast?

Mimosas are very popular at breakfast!

I love Cunard.  That said, the drinks package on Cunard is absolutely awful unless you’ll drink anything.  Unlike any other line I’ve been on, they don’t just upcharge the extra (ie, don’t even give you credit for the $13.50 allowed on the package), but they also deliberately overcharge on any decent wine glasses and cocktails to take them out of the package.  If they increase the package allowance, they increase the glass price.   There is no premium package and the bottle discount is half what it is on other lines and the amount it applies to is capped. Both RCCL and NCL have better options.  
 

go on Cunard for everything else and allocate X to  your alcohol…

18 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I suppose it partly depends on the quality of the air conditioning.

Exactly! The kilt is heavy but comes with its own air conditioning 😂

2 hours ago, BigMac1953 said:

Kilts are perfectly acceptable on any occasion.

 

Most of us would not be happy with a drop in dress standards. I have seen nothing to suggest that will be the case.

 

There are plenty other Lines catering for those who like to dress as if they've just finished an afternoon in the vegetable plot.

Thanks everyone.  We will go with the kilt especially since he’ll have it.  Will also have two jackets for smart attire but I suppose  if jackets are scarce he might lose his some nights….

Hello, we’ve been on all the other ships and several men wore kilts (with Prince Charlie jacket and bowtie) as formal wear. (And jackets on smart attire night even though they aren’t required). I’ve heard that Queen Anne is intended to be less formal—we’re on the May 10 voyage so curious if there’s a different expectation.  (He’s going to St Andrews for several days before so will have his kilt anyway, it’s quite heavy so would hate to also have to take a tux).

35 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

The 20% discount is almost worthless as they add the 15% gratuity on to the list price so it ends up being roughly 5% discount depending when they calculate the pluses and the minuses.

That’s a great point. I’m so used to Royal Caribbean where they only charge the excess…and it’s 40% on bottles under $100.   Maybe I cancel the package until I see the wine list.  

41 minutes ago, D&N said:

Sadly I think you will be disappointed.

Any menu that shows wine in 150ml small glasses or spirits in 1oz (29.574ml) or 2oz (59.147ml) measures is out of date.

Cunard now serve most small glasses of wine in 175ml and spirits in 25ml & 50ml measures.

It clearly tells you that in the current terms and conditions for the drinks package: https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/my-cunard-tcs

The most recent prices for wines that I would like to see included in the package are: Chablis $15.40, Whispering Angel Rosé $15.40, Rioja $14.40, Chianti $14.20.

It’s especially ridiculous since those are not even pricey bottles. Do you know what bottle dollar amount the 20% discount applies to now?  

48 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

 

Thanks very much for those rakkor. Interesting to see the Rioja still within the package despite the comment by @D&N above.

 

It’s an old menu from April almost a year ago—the Chablis was at $13.50 and also within the package.  I’ve seen menus where they upped the pricing. 

4 hours ago, benel204 said:

Speaking of food on the Haven, I have a question about how to arrange a dish being served in the MDR.

We are primarily fish eaters (no shellfish, so if you see us in the Haven DR, you can have my lobster tail)....

I see Tuna and Trout on the Haven menu as the only fish options.

In the MDR, I assume like many cruise ships they will regularly serve either Branzino/Seabass or Salmon (all farm raised of course).

If I request either of those fish options a day in advance, does the Haven dining staff prepare it? Or is it prepared in MDR and then they just bring it upstairs? 

 

I’m in the same boat (pescatarian but no shellfish) and stayed in the Haven twice.  I wound up doing the specialty dining a lot for dinner because I had friends outside the Haven.  I found egg whites and smoked salmon the perfect breakfast and did fall in love with the squash for a light lunch.  But most dinners I ventured out.  (I found more salmon and branzino availability on Royal Caribbean and Cunard).  But it is worth asking your concierge at the beginning of the week (or in advance) if they would get it for you, perhaps even prepare it there.  

10 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

@Treasure Hunter Please share your review after your trip.  Crystal seems to be coming back stronger then they were.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

I’ve been on old Crystal twice and loved it.  Curious to hear as well…

For what it’s worth, I find the new policy an extreme turn off and it actually will keep me from booking the Haven. And the kicker is, I don’t even order lobster. So you might think that’s crazy, but when I pay for the luxury of a suite experience or deluxe drink package, it’s the experience of being treated a certain way. 
 

I just don’t trust NCL’s offering remaining consistent from the date of booking to the date of sailing anymore—I signed on for a drink package that included Moet and when I traveled, it was no longer included.  Things like that are diminishing of the experience—when you are spending $20-30k on a trip, being “nickel and dimed” is unpleasant.  
 

And I am also happy on certain lines in an inside cabin with no frills—but I’m getting what I paid for and my expectations are set.  
 

That’s my personal take…I totally respect the other views.  

1 hour ago, D&N said:

Given where we live, we normally only drink French wine. Although there is a local deli with an eat in facility that serves Basque cured meats and cheeses and does have a nice Rioja. And we'll consider a few Italian wines, although I'm only confident in my knowledge of a few of them. That might change in May when we visit Rome for several days. The other couple we're meeting there are looking forward to visiting all the old relics, and I just want the food and wine! 🙂

I would only drink New World wines in exceptional circumstances.

The Sancerre was just within the package when the limit was $12. I don't think they are likely to price it above the package. We'd be very happy if the Chablis was included.

 

I love Italian reds, especially Amarone, Tignanello and Bolgheri Superiore but they are so pricy.  If you find an Argentiera it is the best value for money of the high ends.  But French seems to have better moderately priced wines.   

14 minutes ago, D&N said:

 

This might be the Chart Room menu rakkor was looking for. I found it a few weeks ago. It claims to be May 2023.

It doesn't list the Cunard own label wines, which are fine for refreshments. I don't know if the Chart Room stocks them.  We'll drink the white and rose over an evening of dancing, alternated with gulps of still water. We drink lots of similar wine in France (mainly red) on a daily basis poured from boxes. The Pinot Grigio and Sancerre were ok as well.

For dinner we're looking for decent Burgundy Chardonnay or Bordeaux reds and you probably need to be looking at between $60 and $90 for them. We had a Paulliac over two nights that was delicious.

 

qm_chart_room_menu_may_23.pdf 188.69 kB · 0 downloads

Thank you!  My concern is that I mostly drink French white, and they seem to be raising the by the glass prices over $13.50 even on $22-30 bottles. So that Sancerre in the chart room is now at $13.40.  Given that they raised the basic Chablis in the Commodore Club over $15 just to keep it off the package, I have to wonder what they’ll do here.  So expect I’ll just be having cocktails outside the dining rooms.

29 minutes ago, rakkor said:

I thought I had an up to date menu from the chart room but I was mistaken and have now to post something as I can't delete it

Thank you for trying!  My mad calculations are that I’ll treat the 20% discount to bottles as the equivalent of a drink for each of us that night. Then 2 more alcoholic drinks and we’ll be “even”.  (I would have gotten refreshment anyway as we drink several lattes, Virgin Bloody Marys, and bottles of sparking water). 

and really I don’t need to be even. I’ll pay something extra for the package just for the psychic ease with which I’ll abandon a drink I’m not loving.  

7 hours ago, Zeg said:

We did both.- paying corkage and buying a the Commodore Collection. The corkage fee recently on QM2 was $25 and a few cents and no additional service charge. (even the Sommelier didn’t know what the few cents represented). 
 

The Commodore Collection was available to us at a useful discount before sailing but involved a phone call to Cunard. The CC makes a significant difference to wine list prices making the wisdom of paying.a corkage charge debatable. 
 

it’s not difficult to do the maths and the decision really depends on your personal love of particular wines. Be advised though particularly wines in the CC do get replaced. 
 

 

 

 

Thanks! I’ve done the Commodore Collection twice. Loved it the first time, not as much the second time, so think if I prefer the variety of the full list. But they didn’t have several of the wines on the full list that I requested on the last voyage…so maybe I’ll bring a few. 
 

To me it’s bizarre that they now charge over $15 a glass to remove from the drink package a Chablis that is essentially a $30 retail bottle. 

On 1/16/2024 at 4:07 PM, D&N said:

I recently watched a video from late July 2023, which included shots of bar menus.

Those where I could easily identify the wine by glass prices were from Commodore Club, and I've modified those from an older menu in the attachment.

Sparkling wines by the glass appear to have been reduced from 150ml to 125ml.

Small glasses of still wine are listed as 175ml, where they were previously 150ml.

Some of the prices for 250ml glasses have been slightly reduced.

The Chablis, Whispering Angel, Chianti and Rioja, which would be amongst our favoured wines have all been increased above the $13.50 drinks package limit.

I assume the same measures and prices are applied in other venues where same wines are offered.

 

Spirit measures appear to have been reduced to 25ml and 50ml rather than 1oz and 2oz, which are closer to 30ml and 60ml.

 

 

QM2 Commodore Club wine by glass late July 2023.docx 15.38 kB · 30 downloads

That’s disturbing given that the Chablis was within the limit and what I would drink. Raising the limit to $13.50 is not very helpful when the drinkable wines have been moved outside the package. All other cruiselines I’ve been on charge the difference, not the whole drink. Now I’m conflicted about the alcohol package. 

Hi, the language in the drink package regarding the 20% discount refers to it on drinks above $13.50 and “some bottles of wine”.  It used to be all bottles of wine under a dollar amount (I believe $150).  Does anyone know what the current dollar limit is?  Or is it just particular bottles?

anyone know the corkage fee at dinner if bringing wine aboard?  It appears we can each bring only one bottle on board?  

I was not so crazy about the Commodore Collection and would rather get a few fine bottles or even bring some onboard. If the 20% discount doesn’t apply to any of my wine choices, I’d probably be better off without the package. 
 

Thank you!

On 12/22/2023 at 8:34 PM, 2Oldpeopleinlove said:

I kept track this last time, and after waiting until the second day to buy in and adding the 15%, we did slightly better than break-even. For us the point is the luxury of not having to think about what things cost, as we habitually do in our frugal “real lives.”

This is why I do it.  It’s going to sound crazy but I get it so I feel free to try things and free to abandon drinks. 

On 3/23/2023 at 6:23 AM, sabreline said:

Just read an interesting article about a man from New Hampshire who had a stroke in Curacao while on a cruise. His family was distraught because they did not feel the hospital he was being treated in was good enough. Their insurance....Allianz....would not pay for his return to an American hospital because, as the policy CLEARLY states, they will cover transportation to the CLOSEST adequate hospital. That is in almost every policy. They made a big stink in the media and now Allianz is going to pay for him to come home. THIS is why you have a MedJet policy!!!!!!

I actually now have Allianz annual plan and just got Medjet Horizon because I had booked a cruise and forgotten to renew (so preexisting conditions won’t be covered, so now I need GeoBlue also for that trip also!) But generally, perhaps both are warranted— perhaps Allianz will get someone to the local hospital and Medjet will get them home. 
 

Any idea of medjet horizon will help in an attack where the conflict is ongoing (such as Israel)?

On 10/3/2022 at 1:12 PM, iamtrustworthy said:

Hi fstuff1,

 

I asked Deanna and she sent you that information because no policies tell you all the places where the transports can originate from. She thought it was best for you to see what the policy said.

 

Steve Dasseos

so does Geoblue trekker cover us? We have medjethorizon which would work from a hospital (but not the cruise ship) and Allianz annual premier for medical. But unfortunately I did not purchase it within 14 days of one of our trips so am concerned about preexisting conditions and getting off the ship…

42 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Agree QV food at end of August was outstanding.

Seems like a Chef issue on QM2 rather than corporate cost cutting.

Yes—sushi was such different quality too. the last late night buffet had 3 potato dishes and one pack of frozen vegetables and then rice and polenta with one meat pasta (which people also said was awful). I had to laugh at how thoughtless. 

2 hours ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

Rust (the exterior of the ship looks pitiful), better and more varied food (we got off QM2 yesterday, October 13 and the food was, at best, mediocre to bad), return the operation of the bookshop to Ocean Books, get rid of open seating in Britannia, bring back the live musicians when boarding and on formal nights in the dining room.
 

Apparently the WiFi is now Starlink and, for the most part, worked very well.

The WiFi worked (mostly) in public spaces, but not in the rooms.  I was shocked at how bad the food was, so many items actually inedible and so little variety.  Do they not taste their food or time the cooking?  I was on QV just a few months ago and the food was great.