Queen Victoria Britannia Club Questions

[Minnie29]

We are debating whether to book Britannia balcony or Britannia club for our first Queen Victoria cruise next year.

There is a significant additional cost so we are wondering if it’s worth it? We realise the cabin is the same but are the additional perks worth £ 1300 more for a 12 night cruise?

thank you

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, Minnie29 said:

We are debating whether to book Britannia balcony or Britannia club for our first Queen Victoria cruise next year.

There is a significant additional cost so we are wondering if it’s worth it? We realise the cabin is the same but are the additional perks worth £ 1300 more for a 12 night cruise?

thank you

Many do think BC is worth the extra.  They sell out quickly.  
Wonderful dining ambiance in separate elegant dining room, impeccable service, own table for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 100% flexible dining times, upgraded menu, flambé at one’s table, proper cheese trolly, etc., etc..

Best to try oneself.  Probably one will not go back.

 

Link…..

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/photos/ships/queen-victoria-376/britiannia-club-restaurant-371674/britiannia-club-restaurant--v16923611/

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by PORT ROYAL
Link

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Many do think BC is worth the extra.  They sell out quickly.  
Wonderful dining ambiance in separate elegant dining room, impeccable service, own table for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 100% flexible dining times, upgraded menu, flambé at one’s table, proper cheese trolly, etc., etc..

Best to try oneself.  Probably one will not go back.

 

 

Link…..

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/photos/ships/queen-victoria-376/britiannia-club-restaurant-371674/britiannia-club-restaurant--v16923611/

 

Additional to assist

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/the-cunard-experience/staterooms-and-suites/britannia-club-experience

 

 

[philsuarez]

Seems an awful lot more for what is essentially just enhanced dining! We’ve done normal Britannia class and food has always been very good. On some 12 night cruises it’s £5k extra per cabin. That’s crazy pricing

Edited September 17, 2022 by philsuarez

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, philsuarez said:

Seems an awful lot more for what is essentially just enhanced dining! We’ve done normal Britannia class and food has always been very good. On some 12 night cruises it’s £5k extra per cabin. That’s crazy pricing

It’s one’s money, one’s choice and if Club is “x” additional, then okay. Same goes for QG and PG.

The same rationale is applied to drinks on Cunard.  It is what it is, so who cares?

Life is too short to count beans

 

[jimbo1683]

Its a very personal decision. We are in BC in November and are first time cruisers. The price was, we felt reasonable, i think for us it worked out as something like £45pppn (which is similar to your extra cost but yours is a much longer cruise than ours).

This was worth it to us because the dining experience is important to us - flexibility in dining time and having a table to ourselves matters to us - to the point that if we had to share a table with strangers then I (controversially) wouldn't be going on the cruise.

[Kynance]

We tried out Britannia Club on the QV on a short trip back in November 2018 - I did post my thoughts on this board when we returned. I am sure that thread is still on here somewhere…

We liked the dining room itself - it was very elegant - and was much quieter than the main Britannia restaurant, which some people might prefer. On a short cruise, the additional cost per night was much smaller than for a longer cruise and I’m pleased we tried it out.
 

We don’t ever eat breakfast in the restaurant - we go for a late breakfast to the Lido and my other half prefers the Lido lunch options too, so for a longer trip, paying a higher rate per night, I’m not sure that we would personally get the benefit. On our short cruise, I don’t think we ended up eating that much earlier than second sitting in the Britannia and we always book early enough and pay the Cunard fare to secure a table for two in the main restaurant, so aside from a few additional menu choices (which would mainly appeal to me), I think eating in Britannia with one or two visits to the Verandah and Lido evening alternatives,  works better for us in terms of value for money. 
 

I would therefore say if you prefer a quieter, more relaxed dining experience and are likely to make better use of your reserved table than we would, then it may work for you on a longer trip. However, I’d certainly give Britannia Club a go on another quick trip - and we are due to try Britannia Club on the QM2 next October, on a 4 nighter to Hamburg. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Underwatr]

I've never booked above Britannia and although the BC dining upgrade would be nice, like you I can't reconcile the increased fare to that enhancement.

[scottiebhoy]

On 9/16/2022 at 9:01 PM, Minnie29 said:

We are debating whether to book Britannia balcony or Britannia club for our first Queen Victoria cruise next year.

There is a significant additional cost so we are wondering if it’s worth it? We realise the cabin is the same but are the additional perks worth £ 1300 more for a 12 night cruise?

thank you

To be honest @Minnie29 I would say the answer to your question is no. Currently on QE and in Britannia however did a four night to Scotland in Britannia Club as there was only a £25 difference in price so in this case it was well worth it. Yes the Britannia Club dining room was lovely, service was excellent however minus a few specials, anytime dining there was nothing that made it special enough in my opinion to justify an increase of £1300. Have you checked the grills? Lately I have noted PG coming in cheaper in many cases than Britannia Club. Hope you get booked but save £1300 and go for Britannia which on this cruise on QE has been excellent.   

[gfs1ram]

I started a similar thread in April and this is what I posted following our experience and in reply to someone else's thread in August.

It's a definite NO from us as you will see below

 

"Hi. A few days ago I updated a thread that I started in April regarding Britannia Club. You may be interested in our experience. I list the update again below.

 

 

"As the OP for this thread I thought I would post an update / my findings as during the last month we have undertaken two cruises on the QV, the latter being in Britannia Club.

Firstly we enjoyed both cruises immensely ( Norway & Western Isles).

 

Focusing on the differences we found with Club I can now be specific.

Regarding the Cabin.Deck 8. - Identical layout to an ordinary Balcony cabin.

Additions - Two foot stools on the balcony.

                     Coffee machine provided in addition to a kettle. (We did not use it)

                     Bottle of still water provided each day. (Providing you use it)

                     Large bottle of Pol Acker provided. ( half bottle in standard balcony cabin)

                     Dressing gowns a softer, heavier material. (But no slippers)

That's it regarding the cabin.

 

We have now completed 26 Cunard cruises so we were aware that the 'big' attraction was always said to be the dining experience.

The dining room was very nice, clean, bright and attractive.

The 'anytime' dining was very convenient and 7.30 meant no rushing for the 10pm show.

Additional "A La Carte" menu provided that little extra to choose from.

 

Now for the experience - and WHAT A LET DOWN !!

 

Firstly very surprised that the evening dress code was not adhered to with several men wearing open necked polo shirts and no jackets. Not looking smart at all. 

 

The food was very good but no better than what we have regularly received in the Britannia Restaurant.

BUT the service - oh dear! It was so disappointing.

The Waiters were pleasant but the Assistant Waiter in particular was obviously struggling to cope.

It is all very well having 'anytime dining' but then on one night having to apologise the fact that 'a lot of people had all arrived at 7.15/30 !! 

It still did not stop the table next to us arriving 30 minutes after us but getting their 'mains' served first??

 

It was however the lack of etiquette that was most noticeable and to me disappointing.

Call me old fashioned but in my experience the Ladies are always given the menu's and served first - but not with our Assistant Waiter!!  We have never experienced that at all in the Britannia Restaurant.

The anticipated 'Five Star Service' was just missing!

 

So there we are. I know that Britannia Club is very popular and must be so for a reason especially noting the premiums paid so I guess we were just unlucky but that is how it was.

 

Thankfully our dining experience did not spoil the cruise and we will most certainly travel with Cunard again - just not in Club."

 

 

 

 

[Underwatr]

On 9/25/2022 at 9:53 AM, gfs1ram said:

 Large bottle of Pol Acker provided. ( half bottle in standard balcony cabin)

For what it's worth, as a returning Cunard passenger I've received a full bottle of Pol in a standard balcony cabin on every embarkation after the first.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Underwatr

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, Underwatr said:

For what it's worth, as a returning Cunard passenger I've received a full bottle of Pol in a standard balcony cabin on every embarkation after the first.

One will take this as a legitimate complaint 😉

Edited September 26, 2022 by PORT ROYAL

[gfs1ram]

2 hours ago, Underwatr said:

For what it's worth, as a returning Cunard passenger I've received a full bottle of Pol in a standard balcony cabin on every embarkation after the first.

So have we but we didn't on the Victoria Norway cruise in July??

We did have a full bottle in replacement for the World Club Gala.

So 1 1/2 bottles for the cruise in a standard balcony cabin.