Reasonable Grills Premium

[CabinC]

 

Greetings,

 

I know this topic is very subjective. I am simply curious as to each persons view of at what point a Grills upgrade becomes a reasonable upgrade cost? I've never travelled in Grills so have no experience to draw from. For example: I am doing two sailings on Cunard in the next two years. One of those sailings is 10 nights and one is 14 nights. Both sailings are in Balcony Cabins. I was interested in paying for the upgrade to Princess Grill for the 14 night sailing but the premium to move to Princess Grill was $8,000 more or $572 more per day (on top of the hefty price I already paid for the cabin I already have.) While I would surely enjoy the experience I cannot justify such a big jump. On the QM2 is this considered a value/standard upgrade price and do you think it provides value for money? What sort of upgrade premium is Princess Grill a bargain at? If it had been $3,000 more I feel I would have found value in the fare but $8,000 more is another Balcony Cabin on another sailing in my eyes. Of course I understand that to some this might be a great deal and hence I was interested in the opinions. 

Happy Sailings

Edited January 13, 2020 by CabinC

[BigMac1953]

Is that price quoted for one or two people?

 

Single travellers in Grills pay 200% of normal fare.

 

If it's $8000 each (for two) then it's a bad deal. We always travel QG and expect to pay around £300 per person per day, if that helps.

[CabinC]

2 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

Is that price quoted for one or two people?

 

Single travellers in Grills pay 200% of normal fare.

 

If it's $8000 each (for two) then it's a bad deal. We always travel QG and expect to pay around £300 per person per day, if that helps.

 

$8000 for two of us in one cabin/$4000 each premium. 

[Clagmeister]

3 hours ago, BigMac1953 said:

Is that price quoted for one or two people?

 

Single travellers in Grills pay 200% of normal fare.

 

If it's $8000 each (for two) then it's a bad deal. We always travel QG and expect to pay around £300 per person per day, if that helps.

£300 pp per day in QG is a very good price. I am about to embark on my third consecutive cruise on the QV in PG and was pleased that this 10 voyage was only £6000 for the two of us. That works out at £300 pp per day too and was cheaper that the previous two voyages which were about £400 pp per day in PG. You must be well on in the loyalty program. 

[BigMac1953]

35 minutes ago, Clagmeister said:

You must be well on in the loyalty program. 

 

Nothing to get too excited about. The free internet is useful, but other than that there's not much else. On one trip, we even forgot to arrange the free lunch.

 

We also tend to book on board, which gives us the extra OBC, and we book well in advance (almost 2 years) before the prices inevitably start to creep up. The room we booked for our trip in October this year almost doubled in price after a year.

[Se1lad]

13 hours ago, Clagmeister said:

£300 pp per day in QG is a very good price. I am about to embark on my third consecutive cruise on the QV in PG and was pleased that this 10 voyage was only £6000 for the two of us. That works out at £300 pp per day too and was cheaper that the previous two voyages which were about £400 pp per day in PG. You must be well on in the loyalty program. 

It all depends on the cruise.  If you book one of the less popular positioning cruises then there are some good deals to be had. I’m just back from 4 nights in a Q3 Penthouse on QV for £270pp per night.

 

I’ve also got a TA at the end of the year on QM2 for £340 per night in a Q5.  When you factor in the OBC it works out at £275 per night.

[navybankerteacher]

Of course, there are occasional good deals on Grills accommodations - but those generally occur when there are also good deals on Britannia.  The real point is:  not what the accommodations cost, but how much of a premium do you think a few bells and whistles are worth.

[Se1lad]

15 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Of course, there are occasional good deals on Grills accommodations - but those generally occur when there are also good deals on Britannia.  The real point is:  not what the accommodations cost, but how much of a premium do you think a few bells and whistles are worth.

It would have been round £70 a night Pp less for Britannia Club so for that I get:

-Free soft drinks and bottles of spirits in my cabin - this probably saves me about £20 a day on drinks 

-access to the Grills Bar, which I value as a nice place to end Dinner with an after dinner coffee 

-Access to grills terrace - not so handy on a winter TA, but means you can always find space in the hot tub

-more space in cabin and possibility of hosting for pre dinner drinks

-Ability to order off menu in the restaurant which I enjoy greatly  

 

I’d say £70 per day uplift for the above is reasonable 

 

[Clagmeister]

2 hours ago, Se1lad said:

It all depends on the cruise.  If you book one of the less popular positioning cruises then there are some good deals to be had. I’m just back from 4 nights in a Q3 Penthouse on QV for £270pp per night.

 

I’ve also got a TA at the end of the year on QM2 for £340 per night in a Q5.  When you factor in the OBC it works out at £275 per night.

I haven't done a TA but I can see the benefits. 

[BigMac1953]

Our last roundtrip TA was August '18 and it worked out at £330 pp pn plus a lump of OBC, for a Q5.

 

Much depends on WHEN you book, and if it's on board, it's better still.

[charlesspinney]

Grills...... Priceless!  If you can afford it, do it.  The service is over the top.  Caution, once you start, there's no going back. 

[cruiseluvva]

Our next QG trip is in a few weeks and works out at a hefty £412 pppn - for a Q5. And the flights are on top of that and a similar price! It is, however, a cabin and itinerary we wanted, so we have accepted it - with gritted teeth!

[exlondoner]

13 hours ago, charlesspinney said:

Grills...... Priceless!  If you can afford it, do it.  The service is over the top.  Caution, once you start, there's no going back. 

 

Mainly I agree, though for a short cruise, I think Britannia Club is good, and I don't think it's worth paying the extra for the PG cabins on the Vistas. But, as you say, there's no going back.

[Host Hattie]

I disagree, we started in the Grills but now we're quite happy in Britannia unless there's a really good offer !

[CabinC]

Just booked a 21 night Cruise on the QM2 in a Balcony Cabin. It was an additional $6,000 for Club Balcony and an additional $14,000 for Princess Grill. Think I'll stick with Britannia Balcony and save that money for another sailing 🙂

Edited January 16, 2020 by CabinC

[Windsurfboy]

I've never managed £300 per night , nearer to £380.

 

This is an impossible question, everything depends on individual circumstances. 

 

If the choice is 1 week in QG vs 2 in Brittania that is one question, then I'd say the premium wasn't worth it.

 

If you can afford QG and don't have to sacrifice anything else,  e.g. other holidays etc etc, and it will only go to tax man in the end , then spend it, the premium is worth it.

[hypercafe]

We are going on the QM to Boston over July 4 so it's a premium trip. We are in the PG because I like the dinning experience although my last trip was 40 years ago on the QE, hope it's similar. It's over 600$ pp per night so I hope I am not disappointed.

[Clagmeister]

On 1/16/2020 at 3:16 AM, charlesspinney said:

Grills...... Priceless!  If you can afford it, do it.  The service is over the top.  Caution, once you start, there's no going back. 

I agree.  Each of our cunard cruises (including the one planned for April) have been grills. There is no looking back!

[david,Mississauga]

On 1/15/2020 at 10:16 PM, charlesspinney said:

Grills...... Priceless!  If you can afford it, do it.  The service is over the top.  Caution, once you start, there's no going back. 

 

We had our first Grills experience in 2009 - an upgrade from a Britannia balcony to a P2 on the QM2.  Being spoiled, the next year we booked Princess and were upgraded to Queens. The same happened in 2011. I knew our luck wouldn't last, but we continued to book Princess for a few voyages.

 

Then reality set in. The cost of Princess went from double to triple the cost of a sheltered balcony for any voyage that we were interested in.  On our next voyage, PG is almost four times Britannia.  We got a reasonable fare for Britannia Club once, but otherwise we have been in Britannia. Most of our crossings on the QE2 were in Britannia (later called Mauretania.)  Britannia on the current "Queens" is,  in almost every  way, superior to what we were used to on the QE2.

 

Of course we miss the Grills somewhat, but not to the extent that it has any impact on our enjoyment of the crossing or cruise.

[CabinC]

2 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

We had our first Grills experience in 2009 - an upgrade from a Britannia balcony to a P2 on the QM2.  Being spoiled, the next year we booked Princess and were upgraded to Queens. The same happened in 2011. I knew our luck wouldn't last, but we continued to book Princess for a few voyages.

 

Then reality set in. The cost of Princess went from double to triple the cost of a sheltered balcony for any voyage that we were interested in.  On our next voyage, PG is almost four times Britannia.  We got a reasonable fare for Britannia Club once, but otherwise we have been in Britannia. Most of our crossings on the QE2 were in Britannia (later called Mauretania.)  Britannia on the current "Queens" is,  in almost every  way, superior to what we were used to on the QE2.

 

Of course we miss the Grills somewhat, but not to the extent that it has any impact on our enjoyment of the crossing or cruise.

Thanks for this analysis. I have been debating. The cost  of Princess/Queens Grill for a 7 day Trip is the same cost as Britannia  Balcony on my 21 day trip and I was trying to decide if the upgrade was worth that much. 

[CateW]

On 1/16/2020 at 2:41 PM, CabinC said:

Just booked a 21 night Cruise on the QM2 in a Balcony Cabin. It was an additional $6,000 for Club Balcony and an additional $14,000 for Princess Grill. Think I'll stick with Britannia Balcony and save that money for another sailing 🙂

 We did the same thing.  BC was sold out but PG was $16,000 more.  We can enjoy alternative dining for way less than that (and will some nights).   One one Caribbean sailing we were upgraded to QG for less than $1000 for both of us because the sailing wasn't that popular I guess.  I loved the experience but not so much that I would pay an insane amount of money for it.

Edited January 21, 2020 by CateW

[Windsurfboy]

Because of timing, there beingbno Cunard Mediteranean cruises in early summer, I booked a suite on P&O, for a 19 night cruise for £10k c.f. the Cunard equivalent,  but in September not early June as we wanted which was £18k. Physically P&O suites are as good a QG, if not better , you get a proper dining table. You don't get grills deck or QG dining.  However will eat in speciality dining most nights, spend a lot on Wine and Champagne and still have a healthy saving. 

 

Would and will still go QG for the right cruise at right time, but Cunard must get it right to be worth it. QG competition isn't  Britannia but suites on other lines. P&O, offer same space for less, other cruise lines offer better service at same price, but without the special feeling of dressing for dinner on Cunard.

[tv24]

We cross on the QM2 frequently and usually book Princess Grill because we like the real estate, the larger stateroom.  We generally pay about $500-$600 per person per day.  This is what it costs.  It is not a bargain and probably a lot of money for what we get.  We could pay a lot less for a Britannia class sheltered balcony, but we like the larger room.  So there is some price point comparison for you.

[ExArkie]

My wife and I splurged on PG for our "once in a lifetime" TA on QM2 in 2010 and found we really liked the extra space and the dining arrangements. With "once in a lifetime" now being eight crossings, we have stayed with PG because of the same reasons, along with the QM2 Grills Terrace hot tub (although it was not really pleasant out there on one December crossing). We generally book only when there is a good deal, with the prices we have paid ranging from US$290 to US$410 per night.

 

About half of our trips were in April or the first week in May, and the other half in November and December. Crossings during the summer, between the months we've been on QM2, tend to be much more expensive.

 

I should also point out that the one we booked at the high end was the only one where we did not wait for a lower fare (I was teaching a course in the UK and we wanted to sail home at the end of it). Because there was a drop in published fares before final payment, Cunard upgraded us to a Q5 for the same cost, so technically the highest per night rate we've paid staying in PG is US$370.

[hypercafe]

Something to figure in is Cunard includes drinks and tips in the price of the grill rooms.