Included drinks

I am looking at an ad. for drinks included packages on several cruises next year, in the Grills. It says drinks under $12 are included - has this happened before, or can anyone advise on what would be likely to be included, please. I would hope wine by the glass, and obviously some pre-dinner cocktails and g.t.s etc. Presumably as many as you wanted?

We have wondered about trying Cunard again after many years (last one was on Vistafjord!), and it would definitely be in the Grills class anyway. We have got used to the luxury of having all drinks included on the lines we currently use, and it is great not to have to sign for everything. Any advice would be welcome, thanks.:)

Just remember there is nothing free in life the price of cruises in Grill suites has increased considerably to cover the cost of "free drinks". We booked a QE grill suite at release of brochure in April and paid £3000pp before Cunard/TA discounts and the same cruise is now £3600pp including "free drinks".

Here's a copy of the Commodore Club menu

http://www.cunard.com/Global/Images/Ships/QM2/refit/Commodore_Club_bar_menu_2016.pdf

Just remember there is nothing free in life the price of cruises in Grill suites has increased considerably to cover the cost of "free drinks". We booked a QE grill suite at release of brochure in April and paid £3000pp before Cunard/TA discounts and the same cruise is now £3600pp including "free drinks".

Quite right majortom , there's no such thing as a free lunch. Can't believe how many people fall for these promotions.

I had a go at it once on Cunard, and came away thinking, I really didn't get my monies worth. Unless you want to drink throughout the day there really is no point looking for these deals, which on Cunard, only come around now and again. ;)

Thanks - I am well aware of what most if not all of the lines do to try to sell their cruises! Just wondered what exactly the included drinks might mean - not at all sure if we would go for it or not. Cunard does seem to have various offerings at different times, probably more than most, and I am not used to them at present, not having looked them up recently.

If you were going to book a grills cabin anyway it's a good deal and includes most drinks and cocktails as well as some wine by the glass. It also includes coffee, tea and soft drinks.

The blurb says you will sign for everything as usual, as if being being charged, and will have the cost refunded daily overnight.

The blurb says you will sign for everything as usual, as if being being charged, and will have the cost refunded daily overnight.

They like you to sign as then you can add an additional tip :)

Thanks all for the advice. The cocktails in the Commodore Club certainly look very interesting. However, having to sign a chitty for each drink is exactly what we like to get away from. I thought it might be just showing a card. And tipping is something else we don't care for. I think we have been spoilt travelling for some years now on the smaller all-inclusives, so I guess we might stay with our current lines. Thanks anyway.

Hi there,

We were just in QG and had this package, I asked about tips and was told they were included. Yes, they make you sign and there is a place you "could" add an extra tip but I never did and there was no snarky reaction from a server - not once.

It really includes almost anything you may want, except some fancier champagnes/vintage ports/premium wines and some "souvenir" type cocktails. But you can have a standard champagne, any sort of cocktail you are likely to want, fancy coffees & soft drinks. The odd bit is that you can't order a bottle of wine at dinner, but there is a very good selection of wines by the glass (maybe about 8-10 whites and similar number of reds). I thought they did a great job of covering the "territory" of different types of wine to suit a variety of meals, and although technically you can only order a "small" glass of wine for under $12, the sommelier in the QG has a workaround and will charge you for 2 small glasses & bring you one large one if you like. We actually found we enjoyed ordering by the glass as we could sometimes have one wine with the starter and a different one to match the main. My husband is very into wine and he did not feel hard done by with the choices available.

No problems with drink charges showing up on our bill either.

It really worked well!

We booked a P2 in November with the drinks package offer, total cost £6198, Today, without drinks package, £4698! So we need to spend £1500 on drinks in 10 days to break even, and my wife does not drink alcohol! A timely reminder not to book early.