Cunard Loyalty

[Kristal Blade]

So, when I board in New York in a few weeks can I take as many bottles as I like on board? I’m not sure I will be able to take anything as we are overnight at Times Square the night before and I’m not sure we will be able to buy wine or spirits on a Sunday morning. I doubt there is a Bargain Booze equivalent at Times Square!

[PORT ROYAL]

58 minutes ago, Kristal Blade said:

So, when I board in New York in a few weeks can I take as many bottles as I like on board? I’m not sure I will be able to take anything as we are overnight at Times Square the night before and I’m not sure we will be able to buy wine or spirits on a Sunday morning. I doubt there is a Bargain Booze equivalent at Times Square!

A thought

There are Liquor stores in NY who deliver.

Speak with the Concierge at one’s Hotel to “hold” the liquor delivery prior to arrival.

Problem solved.

Or

Purchase everything in Duty Free prior to flight.

Then on arrival in NY go to “Something to Declare” at US Customs, declare the bottles over allowance, explain on a cruise etc and volunteer to pay tax.  Personal experience is there will be a polite waive through as the actual tax involved is less than the paperwork cost involved.

The queue for declare will be empty, while the nothing to declare could possibly be very long.

Win win?

 

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by PORT ROYAL

[tv24]

Back to the original question about Cunard's loyalty program:  After years of sailing, we have managed to slog our way to fancy pants Diamond status.  At this level we will get a free lunch in the specialty restaurant and some free internet time, and that is about it.  I am happy to receive whatever amenities I can get, but I do find Cunard's loyalty program to be less than generous.  However it is not the reason why we sail the QM2.

[exlondoner]

28 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

A thought

There are Liquor stores in NY who deliver.

Speak with the Concierge at one’s Hotel to “hold” the liquor delivery prior to arrival.

Problem solved.

Or

Purchase everything in Duty Free prior to flight.

Then on arrival in NY go to “Something to Declare” at US Customs, declare the bottles over allowance, explain on a cruise etc and volunteer to pay tax.  Personal experience is there will be a polite waive through as the actual tax involved is less than the paperwork cost involved.

The queue for declare will be empty, while the nothing to declare could possibly be very long.

Win win?

 

 

 

Or you can dispense with all the hassle and clanking, and simply drink Cunard's wines, which are pretty nice, and, while not cheap, are less expensive than those in the Devon hotel we stayed in the other week.

[PORT ROYAL]

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

Or you can dispense with all the hassle and clanking, and simply drink Cunard's wines, which are pretty nice, and, while not cheap, are less expensive than those in the Devon hotel we stayed in the other week.

Well said

For us, if anyone is interested, the star of the Wine List at a reasonable price is the Amarone

However, we do clank, with bringing on a selection of fine wines for decanting by the Sommelier, plus Rhum/Rums and Cognacs

 

 

[Kristal Blade]

1 hour ago, PORT ROYAL said:

A thought

There are Liquor stores in NY who deliver.

Speak with the Concierge at one’s Hotel to “hold” the liquor delivery prior to arrival.

Problem solved.

Or

Purchase everything in Duty Free prior to flight.

Then on arrival in NY go to “Something to Declare” at US Customs, declare the bottles over allowance, explain on a cruise etc and volunteer to pay tax.  Personal experience is there will be a polite waive through as the actual tax involved is less than the paperwork cost involved.

The queue for declare will be empty, while the nothing to declare could possibly be very long.

Win win?

 

 

I’m liking the delivery idea, Port Royal

Unfortunately we have an internal flight from Denver to NY and I don’t think we can take booze on the internal flight. But if anyone knows differently….

We fly into LaGuardia if anyone has info about that.

Thank you

[PORT ROYAL]

22 minutes ago, Kristal Blade said:

I’m liking the delivery idea, Port Royal

Unfortunately we have an internal flight from Denver to NY and I don’t think we can take booze on the internal flight. But if anyone knows differently….

We fly into LaGuardia if anyone has info about that.

Thank you

Delivery option has never failed us……😉

[frankp01]

If you take the delivery route, Astor Wines and Spirits is in lower Manhattan. It's a pretty big store with a very good selection. Their deliveries are free to NY addresses.

[PORT ROYAL]

49 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

If you take the delivery route, Astor Wines and Spirits is in lower Manhattan. It's a pretty big store with a very good selection. Their deliveries are free to NY addresses.

A kind suggestion to the questioner and other CC members…. Thank you

[njguy_south]

Amazing: Today I email Cunard World Club requesting information about my upcoming “rise” in status, and I received a response which started, “ Your Princess Captain’s Circle Membership“

 

Princess? Princess? Is this the start of the slow slide into the abyss? 

[frankp01]

8 minutes ago, njguy_south said:

Princess? Princess?

I knew both Princess and Cunard were managed out of the same office. I thought they were better about keeping them separate, however!

[bluemarble]

6 minutes ago, njguy_south said:

Amazing: Today I email Cunard World Club requesting information about my upcoming “rise” in status, and I received a response which started, “ Your Princess Captain’s Circle Membership“

 

Princess? Princess? Is this the start of the slow slide into the abyss? 

 

That is bad form to have confused the two accounts, but it is understandable how that could have happened. Cunard and Princess have adjoining US office addresses in Santa Clarita, California. And in the US at least, they do share information and probably share many of the same back office systems.

 

You may have noticed your Cunard World Club number is the same as your Princess Captain's Circle number (assuming you've sailed with Princess). I've only sailed Princess once many years ago, but a few years ago when I supplied my current cell phone number to Cunard, my Princess Captain's Circle profile was automatically updated to show that new cell phone number as well.

[njguy_south]

24 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

]That is bad form to have confused the two accounts, but it is understandable how that could have happened.

I appreciate knowing about Princess and the accounts being the same number. (Does that mean if I sail Princess again, I will be at the higher level?)  BUT that is NO excuse for the confusion by a company this size. They are not 3rd graders running a fund-raising event; for that I can accept confusion, but NOT from Cunard -- who is touting they have been in the business how long? 

Edited May 20, 2022 by njguy_south

[frankp01]

More on liquor and wine stores before boarding the QM2. I could understand if you didn't want to leave such an important errand to the last minute, but if you board the QM2 early enough to drop off your luggage and head out again, there are two small, but high-end and well-curated, liquor and wine stores a few blocks from the Brooklyn terminal. I met one of the QM2 sommeliers at one of them.

Dry Dock Wine & Spirits, 442 Van Brunt St

Wet Whistle Wines, 357 Van Brunt St

[techteach]

@frankp01 This is good information. But, how will I remember it until we do the New England 4th of July cruise in 2023? I wish there was a way to book mark this useful information!

[bluemarble]

2 hours ago, techteach said:

@frankp01 This is good information. But, how will I remember it until we do the New England 4th of July cruise in 2023? I wish there was a way to book mark this useful information!

 

@techteach, it is possible to bookmark specific posts for future reference. If you click on the post number in the upper right corner (such as the #39 in @frankp01's last post), it will take you directly to that to that post. You can then use your browser's bookmark functions to create a bookmark that will take you directly to that post in the future. Hope this helps.

[Kristal Blade]

5 hours ago, frankp01 said:

More on liquor and wine stores before boarding the QM2. I could understand if you didn't want to leave such an important errand to the last minute, but if you board the QM2 early enough to drop off your luggage and head out again, there are two small, but high-end and well-curated, liquor and wine stores a few blocks from the Brooklyn terminal. I met one of the QM2 sommeliers at one of them.

Dry Dock Wine & Spirits, 442 Van Brunt St

Wet Whistle Wines, 357 Van Brunt St

 

9 hours ago, frankp01 said:

If you take the delivery route, Astor Wines and Spirits is in lower Manhattan. It's a pretty big store with a very good selection. Their deliveries are free to NY addresses.

These are excellent tips, Frankp01,

I’m checking out Astor now, plus looking at the distance from the ship to Dry Dock and Wet Whistle. I’m not sure how long it will take to get on board, but we are going to be on our first post Covid cruise and I’m not sure we will be able to drag ourselves off once we board! 
Thanks for these tips!

 

[Kristal Blade]

Doing a bit more thinking about our drinking dilemma.

We have a private transfer from our Times Square hotel to Brooklyn. 
 

Do you think our driver will be amenable to a stop at a liquor store before we board? I’m thinking a few dollars in her/his hand might help.

[swjumbo]

22 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Drinks Packages are never or very rarely included when you book a Grills suite in the UK. That is what really annoys me about Cunard and their treatment of UK cruisers. Have challenged Cunard many times even writing to CEO in Cunard UK and they give varying poor excuses every time but still treat UK cruisers with contempt.

 

I have just returned from the USA and looked at the prices for my cruise which I booked in the U.K.

It was much more expensive so that may be the reason.

[Jack E Dawson]

7 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Doing a bit more thinking about our drinking dilemma.

We have a private transfer from our Times Square hotel to Brooklyn. 
 

Do you think our driver will be amenable to a stop at a liquor store before we board? I’m thinking a few dollars in her/his hand might help.

Kristal Blade,

Your driver should have no problem stopping if you let him know he will be compensated. If you know what you want, may I suggest that you call ahead to the liquor and have your ordered pulled and waiting for you. Then just pop in, pay for it and you are on your way. 

Jack

[Kristal Blade]

Thanks Jack,

excellent advice! I’m feeling happier about achieving a few pre dinner drinks in our cabin now.

Isn’t life grand?

[Jack E Dawson]

2 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Thanks Jack,

excellent advice! I’m feeling happier about achieving a few pre dinner drinks in our cabin now.

Isn’t life grand?

One other tip. Before each of the gala nights we had champagne in our cabin with the friends we were traveling with. I would order a wine bucket with ice from our cabin steward and extra glasses from Room Service about an hour before our friends would arrive. The cabin steward would always come by and grab the bottle of Champagne so that he could put it in the wine bucket first and then add the ice. He would also bring a few extra pillow chocolates to nibble on. Very nice touch. When we would get back to our room at the evening, everything was all picked up.

Jack

 

 

[Underwatr]

15 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Doing a bit more thinking about our drinking dilemma.

We have a private transfer from our Times Square hotel to Brooklyn. 
 

Do you think our driver will be amenable to a stop at a liquor store before we board? I’m thinking a few dollars in her/his hand might help.

My experience is old but in the 90's at least, alcohol sales of any sort (including beer and wine, available in many grocery stores in NY) were not permitted before noon on a Sunday in New York State. Hopefully you can work around that restriction.

[Kristal Blade]

Just now, Underwatr said:

My experience is old but in the 90's at least, alcohol sales of any sort (including beer and wine, available in many grocery stores in NY) were not permitted before noon on a Sunday in New York State. Hopefully you can work around that restriction.

What! I didn’t realise we were visiting a puritan state.

[Underwatr]

On 5/21/2022 at 6:15 PM, Kristal Blade said:

What! I didn’t realise we were visiting a puritan state.

It appears that some time in the past 30 years the state legislature has approved the sale of beer and wine after 8 AM on Sunday.