Drink prices

[LLOM]

Does anyone know were I may get an updated drink price menu please,  I had seen an example of a glass of wine at approximately £11, if that is a large glass then it would be about £35 ish for a bottle which I assume includes the service charge (tip ) also I have read conflicting advice regarding bringing alcohol on embarkation day, we usually take a bottle of gin on other cruise ships where allowed and perhaps a bottle of our favourite wine but after reading some posts on other sites, I am not sure if we would be ok bringing them on board now.  I have read Q/A on Cunard alcohol policy but unsure if it has been updated. Many thanks .

[frankp01]

I can't address Cunard's alcohol policy, but I can tell you that I carried 6 bottles of spirits when boarding the QM2 at Southampton in December. Those bottles were intended for home consumption, not on board, so I was prepared for the scenario that they might have been confiscated. There was no attempt, on my part, to hide them and they were all in one bag. The x-ray attendant didn't blink an eye. We did, in the end, crack one or two open to enjoy in our cabin, and paid the corkage fee to enjoy one with dinner.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, LLOM said:

Does anyone know were I may get an updated drink price menu please,  I had seen an example of a glass of wine at approximately £11, if that is a large glass then it would be about £35 ish for a bottle which I assume includes the service charge (tip ) also I have read conflicting advice regarding bringing alcohol on embarkation day, we usually take a bottle of gin on other cruise ships where allowed and perhaps a bottle of our favourite wine but after reading some posts on other sites, I am not sure if we would be ok bringing them on board now.  I have read Q/A on Cunard alcohol policy but unsure if it has been updated. Many thanks .

I dont know where you have seen wine at £11 dont forget all prices on Cunard are in $ and even with 15% service charge it wont cost £11 for a glass of wine.

[lissie]

If you search there are plenty of threads with recent drink prices. They are all in US$ plus 15% tip . You literally carry anything on that you want - soda, spirits, wine, beer. If you drink it outside  your cabin you will pay a $25+15% corkage - which still may be cheaper than buying on board. 

 

There is also no real point in buying per a glass - buy a bottle and  if you don't finish it they will keep it for you in the MDR (and elsewhere  I suspect)- there is the odd bottle around the $30 price point - the sky's the limit of course 

[LLOM]

Thankyou for your replies frankp01 and , Majortom 10 the price I quoted was from Emma cruises from the internet,  it has a price list ,wine £11.30 ($14 ) as well as prices quoted for other drinks, looking further into it I believe this is 2021 prices so fairly recent.

[LLOM]

Thank you Lizzie for your reply, I knew about the corkage fee as this is standard on most ships, but  $30 for a bottle of wine sounds pretty reasonable and a lot cheaper then I had seen on other posts. Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

[Victoria2]

11 minutes ago, LLOM said:

Thank you Lizzie for your reply, I knew about the corkage fee as this is standard on most ships, but  $30 for a bottle of wine sounds pretty reasonable and a lot cheaper then I had seen on other posts. Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

I can't remember the last time we had a bottle of wine at $30 on Cunard.

[lissie]

11 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I can't remember the last time we had a bottle of wine at $30 on Cunard.

Well we did in Feb 2020 -  I was tracking expenses because I was genuinely curious to see if the packages were worthwhile for us (they weren't) .  I had to dig through the menu - and they weren't French on US - Croatia springs to mind - it was perfectly acceptable wine 

[LittleFish1976]

53 minutes ago, LLOM said:

Thankyou for your replies frankp01 and , Majortom 10 the price I quoted was from Emma cruises from the internet,  it has a price list ,wine £11.30 ($14 ) as well as prices quoted for other drinks, looking further into it I believe this is 2021 prices so fairly recent.

 

Hi LLOM, not sure how much store I'd set by Emma cruises on this matter. Just checked her website and her tips for cruising Cunard include the following:

 

😎 No corkage fee

Unlike other larger cruise lines I have been on, on Cunard you can bring on alcohol/wine onboard at no extra charge. Maybe this explained why the bars were always so empty.

 

 

 

 

'No corkage fee' is in fact NOT the Cunard policy (although your waiter will exercise his or her discretion on that one).

 

But she does correctly say that on Cunard, they tend to allow you to bring on some alcohol, with no fuss. If you consume it in your room, there's no charge but if you were to take a bottle of your wine to the dining room, they would be entitled to apply their corkage. I'm sure your couple of bottles would be no big deal to them to bring on board.

 

As for drinks' prices and as others have pointed out, the wine list etc are all in USD, to which will be added service charge. I'm not a big drinker so I prefer to buy wine by the glass with dinner so I'm not stuck with finishing the same bottle, night after night.

 

Emma also states in the video I started watching that 'nothing is relaxed on a Cunard cruise'. But that's the assessment of a 27 year-old with which I would heartily disagree. But then I'm not 27.

 

Whatever alcohol policy you are finding on the Cunard website would be the current one.

 

 

[Victoria2]

45 minutes ago, lissie said:

Well we did in Feb 2020 -  I was tracking expenses because I was genuinely curious to see if the packages were worthwhile for us (they weren't) .  I had to dig through the menu - and they weren't French on US - Croatia springs to mind - it was perfectly acceptable wine 

I have never looked at Croatian wine so thank you for that however, it will be interesting to see how many $30 bottles of wine will be on the '22 wine list.

[lissie]

2 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

I have never looked at Croatian wine so thank you for that however, it will be interesting to see how many $30 bottles of wine will be on the '22 wine list.

I like to drink unusual wines - in NZ we never get Eastern European wines . The wine waiter was really helpful - she was from Europe and  knew her wines, we also just said we were looking for lower price points.   We said we like pinot gris in NZ/Oz wines and she accurately could relate the overseas grape varieties to our preferences. 

 

I have a feeling  there were some around the $28 price point too 

[hamrag]

11 hours ago, frankp01 said:

I can't address Cunard's alcohol policy, but I can tell you that I carried 6 bottles of spirits when boarding the QM2 at Southampton in December....

.....We did, in the end, crack one or two open to enjoy in our cabin, and paid the corkage fee to enjoy one with dinner.

Wow, a bottle of spirits with dinner....did you find the way to your cabin OK? 😂

[PORT ROYAL]

8 hours ago, lissie said:

I like to drink unusual wines - in NZ we never get Eastern European wines . The wine waiter was really helpful - she was from Europe and  knew her wines, we also just said we were looking for lower price points.   We said we like pinot gris in NZ/Oz wines and she accurately could relate the overseas grape varieties to our preferences. 

 

I have a feeling  there were some around the $28 price point too 

Sounds like the Sommelier may have been Amarta…. (Master of Wine)

Edited January 26, 2022 by PORT ROYAL

[frankp01]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

Wow, a bottle of spirits with dinner

In the interest of typing economy (since I was using a tablet) I said 6 bottles of spirits when I should have, more accurately, said 5 bottles of spirits and one of wine!

[majortom10]

13 hours ago, LLOM said:

Thank you Lizzie for your reply, I knew about the corkage fee as this is standard on most ships, but  $30 for a bottle of wine sounds pretty reasonable and a lot cheaper then I had seen on other posts. Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

Having recently done a cruise on Cunard on QE there are very, very limited wines available by the bottle at less than $30 majority are $40+ and then 15% extra service charge on top. You can certainly get wines by the glass, obviously depending on size of glass, for less than $14 so I wouldnt pay too much attention to prices on that website.

[majortom10]

13 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

I can't remember the last time we had a bottle of wine at $30 on Cunard.

They did have a Macedonia red on offer at $28 + service charge which was IMO, being not a great wine drinker, very nice but not much else for that price.

[majortom10]

13 hours ago, lissie said:

Well we did in Feb 2020 -  I was tracking expenses because I was genuinely curious to see if the packages were worthwhile for us (they weren't) .  I had to dig through the menu - and they weren't French on US - Croatia springs to mind - it was perfectly acceptable wine 

Well in November 2021 there was very few under $30 so I think you might have a shock on your next cruise with increase in prices.

[PORT ROYAL]

54 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Well in November 2021 there was very few under $30 so I think you might have a shock on your next cruise with increase in prices.

TBH, one could not care if the prices onboard increase, being happy to sail on our desired Cunard voyage and will continue to cruise how we wish.  One is not concerned if a few additional enjoyment dollars per day are spent.

 

 

 

 

[LLOM]

Thankyou to all for your replies, i am not a connoisseur on wine nor a big drinker of it , although we do like one (or two ) with dinner, we pay approximately £20 -30 or slightly more in the specialty restaurants on other cruise lines, pre evening meal we like a gin and tonic.  I know about the corkage although I have not see any one taking their own wine into the restaurant, Although l am sure some do. 
many thanks to all .

 

[majortom10]

5 hours ago, LLOM said:

Thankyou to all for your replies, i am not a connoisseur on wine nor a big drinker of it , although we do like one (or two ) with dinner, we pay approximately £20 -30 or slightly more in the specialty restaurants on other cruise lines, pre evening meal we like a gin and tonic.  I know about the corkage although I have not see any one taking their own wine into the restaurant, Although l am sure some do. 
many thanks to all .

 

Well I would say add another £10 and expect to pay £30-£40 on Cunard for a bottle of wine.

[jimbo1683]

On 1/25/2022 at 11:10 PM, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Hi LLOM, not sure how much store I'd set by Emma cruises on this matter. 

😎 

I guess she probably didn't forge the photos of the drinks menu which shows that the cheapest glass is $6.80 for a small glass or $10.50 for a large. The prices go up from there.

[LittleFish1976]

1 minute ago, jimbo1683 said:

I guess she probably didn't forge the photos of the drinks menu which shows that the cheapest glass is $6.80 for a small glass or $10.50 for a large. The prices go up from there.

 

I didn't see that photo and wasn't referring directly to it. It doesn't actually relate to what I said which was that she did make some statements that were not true regarding Cunard's rules regarding alcohol which makes one question the accuracy of her other reports on this. No matter.

 

BTW, I think $6.80 in USD for a glass of wine would be five quid in GBP rather than that being a starting price of GBP11.

 

 

 

[jimbo1683]

6 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

BTW, I think $6.80 in USD for a glass of wine would be five quid in GBP rather than that being a starting price of GBP11.

It is. But who buys a small glass of wine😆

Edited January 27, 2022 by jimbo1683

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, jimbo1683 said:

It is. But who buys a small glass of wine😆

Thought he was on first….

[penlady]

On 1/25/2022 at 4:19 PM, frankp01 said:

I can't address Cunard's alcohol policy, but I can tell you that I carried 6 bottles of spirits when boarding the QM2 at Southampton in December. Those bottles were intended for home consumption, not on board, so I was prepared for the scenario that they might have been confiscated. There was no attempt, on my part, to hide them and they were all in one bag. The x-ray attendant didn't blink an eye. We did, in the end, crack one or two open to enjoy in our cabin, and paid the corkage fee to enjoy one with dinner.

I have sailed a few times on the queen Mary 2 and am booked for July. I

just got off the phone from speaking to a rep from Cunard when calling on a different matter her attitude told me she clearly does not like her job or maybe dealing with people. it is the first time in many years of dealing with Cunard I ever had to deal with someone with a poor attitude. When I was done discussing the other matter, I asked her if we are still allowed to bring spirits on board and her exact words were if you bring alcohol in your bags, you will never see it as it will be taken away. She lectured me on Cunard needs to make money and how would I like it if I had a business, and someone was doing that to me. I am wondering just how many people still take it on board. It was almost like she was a bully. I told her I travel solo and pay a lot for my cabin they are making plenty of me. Let me know your thoughts please....