Drinks Package with Every Bar (QM2)

[kshannon5]

4 hours ago, starquake said:

 

 

 

The only thing we missed was 1/ Champagne, and 2/ Certain cocktails, which we partook in the later QM2 cruise (as a lot of the commodore club specials are > 12).    It's worth noting that there are VERY good drinks available in terms of whiskey and port from many of the bars which are not on the small paper menus, that are "accepable" on the package.   I tried a vast selection of single malts as an example of this, I think only 3-4 of the whiskeys were over $12 in fact, and many doubles could be had for the $12 limit.

 

 Interesting, but I'm guessing the Champagne bar and Commodore Club still have options within the package?

[techteach]

@starquake Thanks for sharing about the single malts and ports!

[ClipperinSFO]

12 hours ago, kshannon5 said:

 Interesting, but I'm guessing the Champagne bar and Commodore Club still have options within the package?

 

My Gordon's martini (pictured above) was included in the package in the CC.  Interestingly my DH's Makers Mark Manhattan was not - it was just over the limit, yet they seem like very parallel drinks in terms of quantity and quality grade/shelf level of spirit.

[starquake]

13 hours ago, kshannon5 said:

 Interesting, but I'm guessing the Champagne bar and Commodore Club still have options within the package?

 

Yes *some*,  and the bartenders tend to be able to make "most" drinks under the $12 if asked.   

The one thing you cannot get fullstop for under $12 is champagne itself as mentioned, but 2 types of prosecco were available...      The commodore clubs "special" cocktails I think only 2 of the 8 or so were included however, as said, they could make many cocktails that were included.

 

The best items we found were at the midships bar on QE at the "gin" bar for "unique" cocktails on the plan.    Some truely unique cosomopolitans and some gin-based cocktails we've never tried anything close to elsewhere all included.   Again some were over the $12 and not sampled.

 

Do be warned though, us spending near same on bar bill in 4 days on QM2 as in 10 on QE with package means we did get extreme "value" from the package.

 

Something we would note is that when compared to Princess, there IS no comparison, Cunard is hands down better (we just price in drinks package on Cunard as part of booking as of now)..

Princess was weak, used loads of pre-mixes, no hand made drinks like mohitos.    Cunard, premixes rarely used, proper Mohitos at every bar, and best singapore slings I've had to date.

 

I also don't like that if you go over the $12 it's near enough full price to pay for the dirnk (20% discount on an $18 drink, so what $14 ish instead of $18), rather than on the difference between 12 and 18, which I'd happily have paid.   Therefore when on Cunard we tend to never pay outside of package.

[ClipperinSFO]

2 hours ago, starquake said:

 

Yes *some*,  and the bartenders tend to be able to make "most" drinks under the $12 if asked.   

 

To your point, we did get the aforementioned Makers Mark Manhattan made in a manner that kept it below the $12 limit (at the seldom visited Verandah bar).  I think it had to do with charging separately for the ingredients (1.5  oz of Makers Mark plus the requisite amount of sweet vermouth) and then throwing in a "free" dash or two of bitters.  All those machinations to get a drink included kind of takes away some of the no-stress benefit of having a drinks package in the first place imo.

[starquake]

16 minutes ago, ClipperinSFO said:

 

To your point, we did get the aforementioned Makers Mark Manhattan made in a manner that kept it below the $12 limit (at the seldom visited Verandah bar).  I think it had to do with charging separately for the ingredients (1.5  oz of Makers Mark plus the requisite amount of sweet vermouth) and then throwing in a "free" dash or two of bitters.  All those machinations to get a drink included kind of takes away some of the no-stress benefit of having a drinks package in the first place imo.

 

We had found the bartenders kept the machinations on how they achieved the goal of the package $12 limit to themselves mostly, once they spotted the "on package" stickers.  I fully suspect for some double gin and tonics they achieved the desired goal by charging for shots of gin (doubles) and charged the mixer as a solo (as a non alcoholic drink) 10 mins later.  But the staff never divulged this, as there was no apparent limit on amount of non-alcoholic drinks, and it was common for a bottle of water to also appear on table at same time as drinks.   We got no bill issued, and just got the drink we desired with little faff.   This was on QE at least.

 

 

[charlesspinney]

We have found that all the bartenders and sommeliers go out of their way to keep all your drinks within the limits of the package.  On our last western TA on QM2 the sommelier gave us a bottle of prosseco to take to our cabin so we could bring it to breakfast on our last morning to have mimosas.  There are no drink charges allowed on your debarkation day.  The staff cannot do enough for you.  Looking forward to our upcoming Alaska cruise on QE.  How is the bar service on the two open grill's decks?  Looks like a great venue for observing the glaciers. 

[tv24]

The $12 maximum is somewhat limiting, especially if you are a wine drinker.  But the servers will often help you select a beverage that stays within the $12 max.  We have a drinks package for our scheduled crossing and are looking forward to it.

[Se1lad]

On 3/28/2022 at 5:40 PM, starquake said:

 

I also don't like that if you go over the $12 it's near enough full price to pay for the dirnk (20% discount on an $18 drink, so what $14 ish instead of $18), rather than on the difference between 12 and 18, which I'd happily have paid.   Therefore when on Cunard we tend to never pay outside of package.

I would probably go for the package if they allowed you to pay the difference on cocktails over $12 and a better deal on bottles of wine - maybe $48 off any bottle but it uses up 4 of your daily alcoholic drink allowance or something similar?

[July1963]

On 3/28/2022 at 3:19 PM, starquake said:

 

We had found the bartenders kept the machinations on how they achieved the goal of the package $12 limit to themselves mostly, once they spotted the "on package" stickers.  I fully suspect for some double gin and tonics they achieved the desired goal by charging for shots of gin (doubles) and charged the mixer as a solo (as a non alcoholic drink) 10 mins later.  But the staff never divulged this, as there was no apparent limit on amount of non-alcoholic drinks, and it was common for a bottle of water to also appear on table at same time as drinks.   We got no bill issued, and just got the drink we desired with little faff.   This was on QE at least.

 

 

So when on the package do you not sign for anything, they just bring the drink to you? . It seems that the bartenders/Sommelier's work the best deal for you from the package. My wife does not drink, so I will have to work out the total value to us as she would have to get the package as well. We also have our 13 year old son with us so will still have to sign for his drinks. Does anyone know if they change the price per day when the package is purchased onboard?

[rakkor]

On a previous Caribbean cruise, we had tablemates who were on a back to back TA, had a split package, He had the full drinks package and she had the premium soft drinks package. It's not possible to book this on mycunard pre-voyage, but it may be possible once on board, depending on how helpful the person selling the packages are.

[BigMac1953]

10 hours ago, July1963 said:

So when on the package do you not sign for anything, they just bring the drink to you? .

You still sign for the drinks. That way they ensure that you don't have more than one drink every 10 minutes and you don't have more than 15 (I think) in a day.

 

Some friendly sommeliers are more helpful than others, but don't rely on it.

 

If two of you have to purchase and only one is using it, I'm not sure if you might be better off just buying as you go along.

[exlondoner]

I didn't think anyone was was signing for anything at the moment. I cetainly didn't last week, which I found rather annoying, as I like to have a record.

[BigMac1953]

I suppose it's a "virtual" sign, in other words it's not a free for all!

[Victoria2]

15 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I didn't think anyone was was signing for anything at the moment. I cetainly didn't last week, which I found rather annoying, as I like to have a record.

 We had a rather large bar receipt assigned to our cabin on our last cruise. I was able to show we had signed for drinks in another bar and also the signature and name, wasn't ours.

Not quite so easy to do with no actual bar chitty.

[Yaldi]

30 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I didn't think anyone was was signing for anything at the moment. I cetainly didn't last week, which I found rather annoying, as I like to have a record.

I suspect the replacement for a paper receipt is looked upon as the “my voyage” app. From memory it shows where you have been and how much you spent but doesn’t detail what you consumed much like a “live” online version of the paper invoice provided at the end of the voyage.

[exlondoner]

18 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

 We had a rather large bar receipt assigned to our cabin on our last cruise. I was able to show we had signed for drinks in another bar and also the signature and name, wasn't ours.

Not quite so easy to do with no actual bar chitty.

 

In the matter of final accounts, the Purser's Office seems to live up to its usual standards of helpfulness and efficiency. Over the years, I have had other people's drinks on my bill, our drinks missed off, and on one occasion someone else's complete account enclosed with our own. So best to have a check.

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Yaldi said:

I suspect the replacement for a paper receipt is looked upon as the “my voyage” app. From memory it shows where you have been and how much you spent but doesn’t detail what you consumed much like a “live” online version of the paper invoice provided at the end of the voyage.

 

But it doesn't give me my own bits of paper to check against their version. It's just another copy of their version.

[Yaldi]

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

But it doesn't give me my own bits of paper to check against their version. It's just another copy of their version.

Agree, I mean from their point of view I suspect Cunard is regarding the app as an adequate substitute for the bits of paper.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

 

In the matter of final accounts, the Purser's Office seems to live up to its usual standards of helpfulness and efficiency. Over the years, I have had other people's drinks on my bill, our drinks missed off, and on one occasion someone else's complete account enclosed with our own. So best to have a check.

I did ask for a print out from  the Front Desk every now and then in the past.

 

I have a feeling it will be more now rather than then in the future! 🙁

[tiggis]

You can also monitor expenditure in real time on the Cunard app, but only, I think, if using Cunard Wifi. I found that helpful last week. 

[Mudhen]

We would check every other day for a print out from the front desk. Worked perfectly.

Unfortunately I was hacked using the Cunard wifi.....never again. On our next cruise, I'll ask to be connected only thru one of the library desk tops. Will never use their wifi again....probably my bad, somewhere along the line, but not taking any chances again....

[naturelovergirl]

On some lines you can “pay the difference” between your package limit and a more expensive drink

But

That is not the case on Cunard

You would pay the full price of the more expensive drink

 

In our case, we do not buy the package… but know we are very moderate drinkers… opting instead to have a lovely (probably more expensive) cocktail than offered in the price limit… love the Commodore Club and the Midships Bar on QE with the Gin & Fizz menu.

I’ll buy wine by the bottle for dinner… my husband does not drink wine and I just drink one glass a night… so bottles last a long time for me.

 

I think for people who want to have the ease of paying upfront and not worrying about it, packages are a great choice-

They just don’t work out mathematically for us

[LifeonMars]

2 hours ago, tiggis said:

You can also monitor expenditure in real time on the Cunard app, but only, I think, if using Cunard Wifi. I found that helpful last week. 

Yes you can monitor your spending with the Cunard web page  "My Voyage"  The instructions are placed in your cabin, or ask the Pursers desk. Accessing 'My Voyage' is free . If you are on a drinks package then nothing is added to it, other than your payment for the complete package at time of buying. Unless you obviously buy a drink over the  limit of your package. No receipts were issued last month,

Edited April 20, 2022 by LifeonMars

[rakkor]

6 hours ago, Mudhen said:

We would check every other day for a print out from the front desk. Worked perfectly.

Unfortunately I was hacked using the Cunard wifi.....never again. On our next cruise, I'll ask to be connected only thru one of the library desk tops. Will never use their wifi again....probably my bad, somewhere along the line, but not taking any chances again....

 

I'm confused as to how you would get "hacked" through the Cunard WIFI? It's just a connection to the web, that's like saying getting hacked when connected to EE is EE's faullt, it doesn't make sense.