Signing for drinks with package

[maggielou362]

Trivial question, I apologise!

We have purchased the Drinks package for our upcoming QM2 voyage from Fremantle to Sydney.

Do we have to sign a receipt for every drink as we receive it?

I know it's a bit petty, and it's not the primary reason for buying the package, but it would kind of dampen my fun if I have to sign a chit every time we get a drink!

 

[NE John]

Yes. You give your cruise card to the server and sign for every drink. The good part is the drinks package is inclusive of gratuities but you’ll end up with a stack of chits. 

[alibabacruisers]

Plus that lets you go thru and add it all up to see if the package is a good deal for you.

 

[maggielou362]

OK, this spoilt princess will sign for the drinks (sigh...😉)

Thanks, and good point  @alibabacruisers, but one of the attractions of prepaying for a drinks package for me is that I don't want to do any arithmetic on my cruise, nor do I want to discover too late that the drinks package was not a good deal for me (although that is not likely, especially if I try to keep pace with my husband)

[Bell Boy]

18 minutes ago, maggielou362 said:

OK, this spoilt princess will sign for the drinks (sigh...😉)

Thanks, and good point  @alibabacruisers, but one of the attractions of prepaying for a drinks package for me is that I don't want to do any arithmetic on my cruise, nor do I want to discover too late that the drinks package was not a good deal for me (although that is not likely, especially if I try to keep pace with my husband)

I expect signing for a drink on a drinks package  is not for the benefit of the guest , rather it's for the F&B accounts department to keep a track on the amount of alcohol used . 

[maggielou362]

Yes, I am sure you're correct Bell Boy

[D&N]

This may be a more recent change. In June 2022 for 14 nights on QM2 we were never asked to sign for a drink. We didn't receive any chits. We were also told there was no way of obtaining a list of what we had received. The waiters that we dealt with most frequently either noted or remembered our details and didn't even want to see our cards.

 

The only times we signed, and received chits, were for the 3 bottles of wine that we ordered outside the package.

[sucramdi]

1 hour ago, D&N said:

This may be a more recent change. In June 2022 for 14 nights on QM2 we were never asked to sign for a drink. We didn't receive any chits. We were also told there was no way of obtaining a list of what we had received. The waiters that we dealt with most frequently either noted or remembered our details and didn't even want to see our cards.

 

The only times we signed, and received chits, were for the 3 bottles of wine that we ordered outside the package.

This was my experience as well. I never got a receipt for any of my drinks. The sommelier in the Britannia dining room only asked to see my card on the first night and then remembered I had the drinks package. Most bartenders asked to see my card, but usually only for the first drink and sometimes not at all if they remembered me. 

[ClipperinSFO]

When I have had “drinks included” fares (I am assuming the same system as a drinks package) I soignée for drinks, and they hit my onboard account, only to be manually removed within 12-24 hours.  It makes for an awkward Final Bill, as that will inevitable contain drinks consumed on the last night out, which are charged to my CC on file, only to be refunded separately a few days later.  

 

I read elsewhere on this board that QM2 may have gotten a new POS system in the bars as part of the re-fit, so hopefully this will eliminate the kludgy nature of of how they handle “free drinks”. 

 

 

[fabnfortysomething]

sailed QM2 August 2022 with drinks package and never had to sign-just hand over card

Sailed Queen Victoria last month with drinks package and again never had to sign

[Bell Boy]

1 hour ago, fabnfortysomething said:

sailed QM2 August 2022 with drinks package and never had to sign-just hand over card

Sailed Queen Victoria last month with drinks package and again never had to sign

The procedure of signing was the norm in October ( 1st October) my fellow travel companions (friends on drinks package) were' presented a chit to sign 'at the end' of the evenings in the Commodore bar.  

[Bell Boy]

3 hours ago, sucramdi said:

This was my experience as well. I never got a receipt for any of my drinks. The sommelier in the Britannia dining room only asked to see my card on the first night and then remembered I had the drinks package. Most bartenders asked to see my card, but usually only for the first drink and sometimes not at all if they remembered me. 

That is correct , and not only for those on 'drinks packages', the same is 'often applied' to those who are regulars 'every evening at a bar venue of their choice or in the restaurant.   I'm sure many seasoned Cunard guests allow their drink/wine orders to go through ( as I do)  without a signature  from time to time .    

Edited November 19, 2023 by Bell Boy

[Victoria2]

7 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

That is correct , and not only for those on 'drinks packages', the same is 'often applied' to those who are regulars 'every evening at a bar venue of their choice or in the restaurant.   I'm sure many seasoned guests allow their drink/wine orders to go through ( as I do)  without a signature  from time to time .    

On the other hand, we always try and sign a chitty.

It's hard to disprove a reasonably sizeable chitty isn't yours if there's no signature to compare or, as in our case, able to prove it's difficult to be in two bars at once.

[exlondoner]

7 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

On the other hand, we always try and sign a chitty.

It's hard to disprove a reasonably sizeable chitty isn't yours if there's no signature to compare or, as in our case, able to prove it's difficult to be in two bars at once.

I always like to have documentation. After all, we all know what Cunard admin. is like.

[Pushpit]

I did try out the short trip soft drinks package a few months ago. What may be complicating matters here is the use of handheld devices by serving staff members. So in my case the card would go over, the sticker on the card would give the indication about the package, sometimes the staff member would mention the drink package. But the card alone would be handed back after scanning it through. I didn't get a receipt, but I've no doubt one could be produced upon request. In the Britannia restaurant, sometimes the sommelier would take the card away for a while, sometimes they would just scan it through the handheld device. This was on Open Dining so memorising the stickers wouldn't be viable.

[WantedOnVoyage]

In October and May always got a receipt and had to sign for it in the bars and on deck. Never once in the restaurant (Princess Grill).  If you are sailing in Spanish and Italian territorial waters or originating from these countries and not going outside the EU, you probably want to see a bill since you are paying their taxes, package notwithstanding, on the whole tab.

 

I do remember the "contactless" whatever they tried on QM2 in Jan 2022... it worked until Lisbon, three days into a 28 day voyage and then it was, wonderfully, pencils and handwritten receipts when the whole system just packed in.  It was like being back aboard ST HELENA c. 1990. Pencils and paper never "go down". 

[tv24]

We were on the Elizabeth in September in Queens Grill with a drinks included package.  We had to sign for every beverage.

[D&N]

With these comments about handheld devices and signing for drinks; I wonder if waiters will be able to be so creative in providing larger measures than officially included in the package?

 

We're perfectly happy with advertised measures, but many have commented on receiving larger measures in past.

Edited November 21, 2023 by D&N

[Sussexboy]

On 11/19/2023 at 6:08 AM, alibabacruisers said:

Plus that lets you go thru and add it all up to see if the package is a good deal for you.

 

Or be a nerd like me and log it all into a spreadsheet each evening, much to my wife’s amusement/disgust/despair. 

[Stephenqantas]

 

I drink and my wife does not , but you cannot  get a package without both of you buying a package

 

There are 12 family members  going on the Queen Elizabeth  most  are adults and not all drink .It seems ridiculous that 1 adult in one room and another in another room cannot share a package for two..

 

We also have a 19 year old  in a room with his sister who’s 15 and cannot drink , so does that mean he cannot buy a package ?

 

Or do I move into his room and both of us buys a package and the underage teenager moves in with my wife. I am not desperate to drink but it seems ridiculous that 1 adult in one room and another in another room share a package for two..

 

Or do I pretend to move in then go back to my room

 

Or  if both husbands who drink and wifes  dont buy a package for a room  I use the door pass my drinks or do ships door passes have photos on them ?

 

Any advice please 

 

 

[exlondoner]

Have a word when you get on board, perhaps?

[Host Hattie]

Just pay as you go

[Victoria2]

I don't drink fine wines but I am particular in the wines I do drink. I'm also very particular with pre and post dinner drinks so I'm with Hattie.

PAYG. 🙂

[exlondoner]

13 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I don't drink fine wines but I am particular in the wines I do drink. I'm also very particular with pre and post dinner drinks so I'm with Hattie.

PAYG. 🙂

And you can keep track easily.

[Splice the mainbrace]

We’re currently on QV with a drinks package. The answer to original query is that sometimes you get a receipt to sign and sometimes you don’t even in the same bar or restaurant. We only need to give one of our 2 cards rather than both but other times they remember us and don’t need a card.

 

It is rather an antiquated system and I particularly don’t like using a pen that countless others have used and then some nibbles/canape come out to eat, I tend to sign after the finger food.