What was the best deal you ever got on a Cunard cruise?

Ours was way back in 1984, British Airways had just launched a promotion with Cunard. Here's the package deal we got from British Airways:

We flew Concorde from Heathrow to JFK

5 nights at the Grand Lady of NYC hotels at that time, the Waldorf Astoria.

New York to Southampton onboard the QE2, arguably the most luxurious ocean liner at the time.

All that set up back a whopping the equivalent of $3900 each in 1984 money! Deal of a century!!!

PS: We met and dined with Meryl Streep a couple of nights on that sailing!

May 1977 RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 Southampton-New York $400 First Class student fare (reduced to $250)

They completely screwed this up in that the London office refused to honour 1st Class at a student fare even though the New York office promoted it. I spent about four hours in First Class, was thrown out (literally) of the Columbia Restaurant in the middle of lunch. And after some "words", was assigned an outside three-berth Tourist Class cabin on my own and refunded $150. I got to keep my First Class deck chair, too!

So before anyone complains about the ineptness of Cunard reservations on either side of the Atlantic, it was a lot worse 41 years ago.

Best deal ever: $5600 Princess Grill, 16 nights, $335 on board credit, prepaid grats, drinks pkg. I'm afraid to say when the cruise is, they might throw me off the ship. Deal was removed 2 days later. That price is for 2, not each.

Plus free rubber gloves when you have to do all the dishes after dinner? Or did you not read the fine print? That is... a deal. And a half. Congratulations.

Our very first Cunard cruise we were upgraded from balcony to Queens Grill! We had the time of our lives! Smart on Cunard’s side as we have always booked The Grills ever since.

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Ours was in October 1997 to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary and was first time we cruised. Flew to New York on Concorde, BA kindly left one of our suitcases at Heathrow and took 3 days to get it to us, 4nts Waldorf Astoria and 6nts TA to Southampton. Day before we were due to fly we got a phone call from out travel agent saying we had been upgraded and meant we ate in Caronia restaurant instead of Britannia all for the sum of £1100pp.

Two great deals come to mind:

1. Westbound transatlantic on QM2, Deck 4 balcony cabin, solo occupant with no single supplement, transfer in New York from ship to airport, and flight back to the UK... £499 :) .

2. Free upgrade on QE for a seven-night cruise... from a Britannia grade balcony cabin... to a Queens Grill Q3 suite :) .

My best deal has to be in 2000 on QE2. Cape Town and back in a single cabin. 29 nights for less the £2,000

Second best deal was a 2 night cruise on QM2 with $200 OBC each ($400 in total).

A while back on QM2 I went from and Inside to Princess Grill-very nice but I did not have clothes for all the drawers and closet space!!!!! Found it very nice:D

We are only three years in to our relationship with Cunard. Last year we booked a BY balcony grade at $1749pp on a 14 day RT crossing. This year I would think our $1999pp for a BF balcony cabin (with $50pp OBC) for the same number of nights was the better deal. But we'll wait til we arrive at our stateroom before saying for sure. This is an interesting question! I always wondered what price point other people jumped at.

September 1979 QE2 Transatlantic:

At the time, the standard promo was "one way free" which normally meant a one way flight on BA and the other direction by sea.

There were a handful of what they called "matched sailings", odd pairings of dates where you either returned on the turnaround sailing or had to stay in Europe for several month, but your free return was by ship, not air.

I was fortunate to work this out for myself so that I enjoyed two crossings, 10 days for the price of 5.

Our best would have to be 2001.

We were booked on an 18 night Caronia cruise ending in NY then flying home. We had called Cunard to arrange the flights when they said, "BTW, the day you're due to fly home QE2 sails from NY for Southampton. Would you not rather sail home?" Well of course we would, six hours in a tin tube or six days on QE2, but how much extra would that cost?

After they deducted the airfares we didn't need from both cruises, and applied some sort of back-to-back cruise discount to both cruises, the price came out at £100 less than we had already paid!

So Cunard paid us £100 to sail on QE2 (cash, not OBC!)

Our 2010 cruise on QV at £37pppn comes a close second.

Regards, Colin.

Now, that is a good deal !

We were due to fly home after the Christmas cruise on QM2 in January 2010 & they asked us the same question.

We had 7 nights in Queens Grill for £749 each.

My cheapest cruise was in November 2013. I had 12 nights in a balcony stateroom for £600 as there was no single supplement. (An inside stateroom would have been £500.)

How prices have changed. That cost me £50 per ROOM per night in a balcony stateroom. Now I think I am doing well when I pay £200 per room per night in an Oceanview room.

The recession is well and truly over.

I don’t know about the best deal we have had, but we certainly got a great deal yesterday - replacing a cruise we already had booked.

We cancelled, lost the deposit, moved from a P2 to a Q6 and still saved ourselves a load from the original Q6 price!

My " best deal" was on my first T/A in Nov of '16. Eastbound ( 7 days ) was $1117 for a balcony with me as the solo occupant. The return, Westbound, that trip, was $1317 for a different stateroom, still a balcony, with me as the solo occupant.

Could not " score" such a deal, on the Nov. '17 T/A ( 14 days crossing ) so my travel buddy & I shared a balcony stateroom.

FOUR (4) GREAT GIFTS FROM CUNARD

1.) Queen Elizabeth 2017 first leg of her World Cruise: Transatlantic. I booked an outside single balcony - paid about $1,800. One week before departure, the call came in. "Mr. Schwartz, we have an upgrade to a Princess Grill suite..." uh oh, I thought as I quickly pulled up the fares for the crossing..."The upgrade cost would be $600..." (*&$@(*#&($@$)@#)...I though, for one second, and accepted. If I had booked and paid for this prior, it would have cost me $9,800. I ate every meal in the Grill. Of course, the purchase of a tux was at this point an irrevocable decision.

2.) Queen Victoria, Transatlantic January 2018. I really wanted to get on this crossing. I love Cunard and love crossing the Atlantic, especially in January knowing the seas will be big (I am a wave chaser...) One night as I was searching the net, I was looking for a balcony (single) and OMG, a fare popped up without the supplement - so one person, one fare. It was late so I went to the Cunard site and found the same deal: It was booked and paid for at $1,200 on the spot.

3/4.) On July 27th of this year, I will sail QM2 Transatlantic in one of her FABULOUS single cabins number 3006 - the ones on deck 3L with the huge circular windows. I did the same last year in number 3002. First of all, these cabins are really hard to get - there are only nine of them. Second, if they are available, they are more expensive (typically) than booking a balcony and paying the supplement. On both occasions, I beat the balcony offer and this year paid only $1,600 ! Normally, and if they are available, the cost is over $2,500.

OH, CUNARD AIR - My air from Miami to the UK, and from NY to Miami has never cost me more than $500. On my July 27th crossing, my air cost $350 (British and America.) TOTAL.

When I tell people about my affair with Cunard, a typical response is, "oh, it's stuffy and expensive..." My response is "you don't know what you don't know..."

JD

Ours was way back in 1984, British Airways had just launched a promotion with Cunard. Here's the package deal we got from British Airways:

 

We flew Concorde from Heathrow to JFK

5 nights at the Grand Lady of NYC hotels at that time, the Waldorf Astoria.

New York to Southampton onboard the QE2, arguably the most luxurious ocean liner at the time.

 

All that set up back a whopping the equivalent of $3900 each in 1984 money! Deal of a century!!!

 

PS: We met and dined with Meryl Streep a couple of nights on that sailing!

Cunard Ambassador ,7 day cruise from NYC to Bermuda ,extremely large OV cabin for $699.00 including tax and port charges .That is for the both of us .

We had originally booked a Greek line ship but that ship broke down 6 days before our cruise.Our TA made the offer to us and we could not refuse.

The entertainment was first class as was the food.

My cheapest cruise was in November 2013. I had 12 nights in a balcony stateroom for £600 as there was no single supplement. (An inside stateroom would have been £500.)

 

How prices have changed. That cost me £50 per ROOM per night in a balcony stateroom. Now I think I am doing well when I pay £200 per room per night in an Oceanview room.

 

The recession is well and truly over.

2 thumbs up (y)(y)

Surely you could argue that if you are more than happy with the price you have paid then you have the 'best deal'?

On that basis I would have to see our best deal was our most recent trip - Queen Elizabeth 2018 Southampton to San Francisco. 29 nights on board ship + 3 nights in a very good hotel in a prime location + (obviously) the flight home to Manchester - all for the sum of £2700 pp. £85 pppn.

Two very happy people.

Queen Elizabeth - January 2014 - first 8 nights of the world cruise - transatlantic crossing form Southampton to NYC - £299 each - cruise only in an inside cabin. We paid an extra £100 each for an ocean view making it £399 each for 8 nights. 'Twas glorious :-)

Of all my cruises Cunard has been the cheapest. £499 for a balcony cabin to the fjords in mid May 2013. It was booked 3-4 weeks prior to the cruise.

As far as deals go with Cunard I have had a number but the most lucrative in terms of cost savings has to have been our 2016 Queen Mary 2 Christmas Trans Atlantic in Queens Grill, a 4 night New York stay at the Hilton New York Fashion District and return flights to UK.

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/01/02/queen-mary-2-remastered-trans-atlantic/

And the cost?

£1729.00 per person. No wonder we were smiling...

(y)

As far as deals go with Cunard I have had a number but the most lucrative in terms of cost savings has to have been our 2016 Queen Mary 2 Christmas Trans Atlantic in Queens Grill, a 4 night New York stay at the Hilton New York Fashion District and return flights to UK.

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/01/02/queen-mary-2-remastered-trans-atlantic/

 

 

And the cost?

 

£1729.00 per person. No wonder we were smiling...

 

applause ,applause, (y)applause

We got a flight out to Miami, transport to hotel, overnight accommodation, breakfast and transport to Fort Lauderdale to catch Queen Victoria back to Southampton, via Canaveral, Charleston, Bemuda and Azores for £669.00 each in 2017.

It was only an inside booked, but we got upgraded to an outside and then to a balcony. Ok, if was closed in but we were thrilled.

We keep looking.