Cost of drinks on Cunard line ships

[Alsun]

Good to know, thanks.

[Underwatr]

4 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

 (including a bottle Port if that tickles your fancy)

You know, that never occurred to us! (Doh!) 

 

Several of us had glasses of 20-year-old Port at the end of dinner. I'm sure we could have made it thru a bottle over 12 nights. I'll have a lot of OBC at Christmas, so I think you've helped me! 

[david,Mississauga]

On 6/19/2018 at 2:02 PM, Tangoqueen said:

Just to add it doesn’t help that the pound is weak against the dollar so it possibly feels more expensive anyway

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I have finally looked at this thread. When we receive our credit card bill, Canadians also pay a lot more in our money due to the weak Canadian $.  So for a decent gin and tonic (two ounces, what is the point of one ounce!) plus the tonic plus the service charge plus the bank exchange rate we are paying about $20. That is absurd, but it won't stop us from enjoying it now and then.

 

Due to medical issues we both have had to reduce our already modest consumption of alcoholic beverages. This is not a bad thing considering the cost.  We used to be able to drink a bottle of wine between us at dinner; now we have to make it last two dinners. So the high cost of drinks and wine doesn't bother us.

 

During a previous discussion of the cost of alcohol I found the bar list from our first Cunard crossing in 1973. Using the Bank of Canada inflation calculator I could see the current value. I won't bother doing this again to see how much more profit Cunard is making on alcohol.

 

Regarding the passage fare, it was interesting to get the current value of the modest fare we paid then. It is, adjusted for inflation, cheaper now than it was in 1973 for an outside cabin. On our last few crossings we had a balcony cabin for less than what we paid then for a small outside cabin, when adjusted for inflation of course. As a bonus, we get seven nights on a crossing as opposed to a mere five back then.  I would prefer to pay higher prices for drinks and wine than for the actual fare.

Edited March 31, 2019 by david,Mississauga

[jsn55]

Your last paragraph is VERY thought-provoking, David.  Thank you for doing these calculations.  Instead of moaning about the cost of drinks on QV, we'll think about the good fare we got for our cruise to Norway in May.  I think we're going to skip the drinks package ... they want full payment for the day we board which makes no sense to me.  Paying $138 for a cocktail and some wine with dinner??  I hate being chisled. So we'll see how much our glasses of champers and dinner wines cost us vs the package.  And you never know, maybe we'll drink less!

[Happy Cruisers 67]

Whilst I agree with David's comments re the cost of cruising reducing in real terms, this is almost certainly the case with other cruise lines as well, especially those owned by Carnival corporation.  

Last November I sailed on QM2 transatlantic and purchased several bottles of wine.  One in particular stands out.  It was a Corney & Barrow St Emilion. The price for this bottle was $62.10 including gratuity.  Whilst tidying out some paperwork, i found the receipt this morning.

Last week I sailed on P&O Britannia and as coincidence would have it,  I bought the exact same bottle of wine. The cost was £25.95. At todays exchange rate (1.31), this is $34.00.

Both Cunard and P&O are owned by carnival corporation who presumably purchase the wine in bulk for all of their subsidiaries. So can anyone explain why the same bottle costs $28.10 more on Cunard than P&O unless they are charging "what the market will take" and overcharging  Cunard passengers. 

[Crewserman]

Happy Cruisers has hit the nail bang on the head. My trip back from Dubai to Southampton was spoiled by the ludicrous price of Cunard drinks. It’s not just the cost but after dinner evenings are spoilt by the lack of cruisers in the jazz and other bars put off by the high prices. We are not poor but I hate being ripped off by cruise lines with a captive audience. We loved the QM2 and would like to do a transatlantic crossing but I will never book Cunard again until they change their ways. Next trip is with Celebrity on their Baltic/ St Petersburg cruise with an all in package at a reasonable price, that way I can drink all I want when I want without the dreaded bill at the end of the trip. Surely Cunard must know that drinks purchased per passenger is well down on others in their various fleets. 

[babs135]

If I can see high cost of drinks = less drinkers vs sensible cost of drinks = more drinkers why can't Cunard?  Or am I missing something here?

[majortom10]

We did a cruise on QE in October 2017 and on one night we were sitting in a bar and besides us there was one other couple across the other side of the bar. They came across and asked if they minded sharing a table and chatted. We were glad of the company and from about 10ish until midnight we were the only ones ever sat in the bar and there was more staff than customers. QM2 in October 2018 wasnt much better except for the Queens Room and even then a lot of tables people were sitting but not drinking. Do not remember the cost of drinks onboard last October on QM2 but went out for a meal last week at a local pub and a pint of Guinness was £3-29 and John Smith's bitter was £2-29 and I should confidently guess that prices on Cunard are double that.

Edited April 9, 2019 by majortom10

[myjillian]

On 6/14/2018 at 6:18 AM, Wiltonian said:

We're not wine connoisseurs, but like a glass or two with a meal. We're going to take a few bottles from our cellar (which looks like a cupboard in the kitchen) and pay the $20 corkage on the bottles we take to the dining room. Should save a few £/$! And going down one deck from our cabin to the Promenade Deck with a glass should be nice on warm evenings.

Love your 🤗wine cellar...we have one just like it

[funinhounslow]

On 4/8/2019 at 6:42 PM, Happy Cruisers 67 said:

Whilst I agree with David's comments re the cost of cruising reducing in real terms, this is almost certainly the case with other cruise lines as well, especially those owned by Carnival corporation.  

Last November I sailed on QM2 transatlantic and purchased several bottles of wine.  One in particular stands out.  It was a Corney & Barrow St Emilion. The price for this bottle was $62.10 including gratuity.  Whilst tidying out some paperwork, i found the receipt this morning.

Last week I sailed on P&O Britannia and as coincidence would have it,  I bought the exact same bottle of wine. The cost was £25.95. At todays exchange rate (1.31), this is $34.00.

Both Cunard and P&O are owned by carnival corporation who presumably purchase the wine in bulk for all of their subsidiaries. So can anyone explain why the same bottle costs $28.10 more on Cunard than P&O unless they are charging "what the market will take" and overcharging  Cunard passengers. 

 

And on Atlantic tier (not that hard to get to) P&O will knock 7.5% off that £25.95. It all adds up...

[Tonopah]

If it’s a screw top is the fee still “corkage” or...

[Underwatr]

Why, yes it is! 😄

[Windsurfboy]

I've taken a different approach. The better the wine the less the corkage .We have some special occasions this time. So I will take some of our favourite very special vintage South African bubbly, $50 at the vinyard in SA, a great wine in a country where a basic bubbly is $5 at vineyard . Also my favourite red wine $45 at the vineyard  . They are not on Cunard wine list but wines of that quality would be $150 plus on Cunard . So paying the $20 corkage is proportionately less. Saving $80 per bottle.

[Underwatr]

I agree. I just mentioned in a different thread here that if you bring "value priced" wines to save money it's probably a better value to buy the Cunard label wines from the cellar. 

For wines that I might bring onboard I choose wines that retail in the range of $40-50/bottle in shops near my home. 

[PORT ROYAL]

3 hours ago, Underwatr said:

I agree. I just mentioned in a different thread here that if you bring "value priced" wines to save money it's probably a better value to buy the Cunard label wines from the cellar. 

For wines that I might bring onboard I choose wines that retail in the range of $40-50/bottle in shops near my home. 

 

If seeking a bargain, then the Sommeliers mostly have to hand a "bin-end" list.

[Windsurfboy]

Just been looking at the vintage port, some are extremely good value only 50% premium on wine merchants prices

[Underwatr]

Over Christmas we enjoyed after-dinner glasses of 20-year port with several of our tablemates. We really should have been buying bottles of it.

[Windsurfboy]

16 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

Over Christmas we enjoyed after-dinner glasses of 20-year port with several of our tablemates. We really should have been buying bottles of it.

 

I think I'll treat myself to bottle of good vintage Port to finish off with the cheese, even though I'm supposed to be watching my cholesterol 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 6/18/2018 at 9:34 AM, vistaman said:

those very expensive prices on Cunard started when Cunard was purchased by Carnival

years ago the drinks and wines were even cheap -

if you do not take a package Oceania is even more expensive

the time of real duty free drinks and wines on cruise ships is gone ...

A half pint of beer was 5 cents...a mixed drink was 35 cents and wine was served gratis at lunch and dinner in First and Cabin Class...in 1965...lol.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

These prices are ridiculous.  Start complaining on your comment cards.  Most of you are Brits for heaven sakes...cruising wouldn’t be British unless it included cocktails, wines, beer and Port!  START ROCKING THE BOAT!!

[Tonopah]

38 minutes ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

 START ROCKING THE BOAT!!

 

That won’t work. The Queen Mary 2 has state-of-the-art stabilisers...

[CGTNORMANDIE]

32 minutes ago, Tonopah said:

 

That won’t work. The Queen Mary 2 has state-of-the-art stabilisers...

LOL...agitate...agitate!  

[jsn55]

We just returned from ten days on Queen Victoria in the Norwegian Fjords.  We drink a lot, so I was very worried about the prices after reading these boards.  It was not a problem.  A glass of sparkling wine was $8 or so ... less than a nice restaurant in San Francisco would charge.  The required gratuity is annoying, but I'm sure it's only in response to previous experience with cheapskates.  I'm sure if your some kind of wine snob the stuff you'd want to drink is way too expensive ... but isn't that the case in a restaurant as well?

[ToadOfToadHall]

18 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Just been looking at the vintage port, some are extremely good value only 50% premium on wine merchants prices

 

We always have port at the end of our meal and with regard to ordering a bottle;

 

One cruise, after ordering a couple of glasses, the sommelier suggested a vintage bottle which he said represented very good value. So we accepted his offer.

 

On the next cruise, again, after ordering a glass each over 1 or 2 nights, the sommelier suggested we have a bottle as it would be cheaper for us if we intended to have port every evening. I looked the bottle up online and the mark up was very low, around 50% as Windsurfboy says. The sommelier also said they always to this; if someone orders the same thing 2 nights running then they always suggest a bottle.

 

So on our last cruise we expected the same thing to happen, only it didn't. So we asked about buying a bottle and this time the sommelier was quite suprised so he went a fetched the port list for us to choose from.

 

But if you want port or something similar at the end of your meal it's definitely worth buying a bottle I'd say.

[ToadOfToadHall]

With regard to Carnival charging different prices for the same drink on their various lines (Cunard, P&O etc), this is no different to on land in the UK. Plenty of big chains charge different prices depending on location. And equally there are pub companies that own multiple pub chain brands, and one chain will charge a different price to another, but it's all the same parent company at the end of the day.

 

And it's not just drink either. Years ago I needed a new glass for my wing mirror. It was a Lotus and it turned out it was exactly the same bit of glass that was fitted to a Citroen. So I bought the new glass from Citroen for half the price that Lotus wanted.  It was the same thing, one came in a Lotus cardboard box, the other in a Citroen, but they charged differently.

 

At the end of the day the price is determined by what the market will stand.  I'm not saying it's right, but that's how it is.