Order off menu?

I am currently on QM2 in princess grill, I asked last night could I have a curry for the following evening, done this many times in the past, however, answer was no, go and eat in corandier restaurant, I said my husband doesn't like curry, he said one eat in one restaurant the other in a different restaurant!

Also, asked for sparkling water at breakfast this was a no as well - have some still with ice!

Maybe I gave just been spoilt on past trips!

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It sounds as if you have a waiter with minimal people skills. I would be right with the maître' d and if that is not satisfactory then the ship's hotel manager. You are paying a serious premium for the cabin and dining room. Attitude of this sort should not come with the premium.

Chipsdog:

That is absolutely unacceptable for Princess Grill.

I agree with Lakesregion. Speak to the Maitre D and if that is not satisfactory go higher up.

I am beginning to question my sanity in booking a World Cruise with Cunard.

I am Britannia Club but by the sounds of things, I might be better off with just Britannia. Our month on QM2 in PG was a highlight of our cruising experiences so far.

I hope that things improve from here on.

Good luck.

And it almost sounds like something that Basil Fawlty might say to a guest. That waiter needs to be removed from PG.

Chipsdog:

That is absolutely unacceptable for Princess Grill.

I agree with Lakesregion. Speak to the Maitre D and if that is not satisfactory go higher up.

I am beginning to question my sanity in booking a World Cruise with Cunard.

I am Britannia Club but by the sounds of things, I might be better off with just Britannia. Our month on QM2 in PG was a highlight of our cruising experiences so far.

I hope that things improve from here on.

Good luck.

And it almost sounds like something that Basil Fawlty might say to a guest. That waiter needs to be removed from PG.

Unless I had zero stress in paying out for a grills cabin, I would and have always stuck with Britannia or Mauritania on the QE2 for dining. I have even been able to go off menu in that venue and with the exception of Lingonberry pancakes (no longer shown on the Grill menu) was able to get all of the breakfast items in steerage. I love good food and good service but to stretch for a grill or even the B club makes no sense. Once out of that little cocoon the rest of the ship is non-denominational.

I say take the world cruise in Britannia and think of the extra cash you will have for the lounges and on shore.

Like Lakesregion, I would suggest saving the money and going in Britannia unless the small dining room and no fixed dining time means a whole lot to you. The staterooms are exactly alike (the one I had on deck 7 for the world voyage was much quieter than the one I had in Club on deck 8). The money you save could cover the cost of excursions for the entire cruise.

I thought there was a thread about ordering off menu in grills and noting that this was not available any more in PG, only for those in QG. If so, apart from the terrible service skills of the waiter, the OP would not have been able to order a curry. The sparkling water is another matter and I would have expected that to be supplied.

Sorry to rain on the Cunard parade. We were in Princess Grill on the June 21 crossing from Hamburg. We tried to order a special meal off menu by talking ot the Maitre'd. He said he would get back to us, but then we never saw him again. We tried again a few days later by talking to the Head Waiter. He called over the new Maitre'd who apologized, very politely, and even after we tried to compromise and bargain a special meal that would be easy to prepare (it was a curry BTW), he explained that it was a no go, that it is now impossible to order off menu in Princess Grill. So sorry about that. Disappointing, but I must say that we did enjoy the cuisine in PG. And since we loved the extra space in our stateroom, we would definitely consider PG again, just lower our expectations, which seem to be a theme on Cunard, IMHO.

Haven't sailed Cunard yet and this comes as a bit of a shock, never had an issue with any other line we've been on.

Haven't sailed Cunard yet and this comes as a bit of a shock, never had an issue with any other line we've been on.

Have you been able to order a totally different meal than is listed on the menu on other lines?

Have you been able to order a totally different meal than is listed on the menu on other lines?

Certainly both Miss and Mrs Gut havevdone it on Princess. I'm fairly sure Mrs Gut did so on Celebrity.

Not that it has ever been anything terribly complicated, in fact at times the staff have suggested she do so.

Sparking water is a Bar ancillary and therefore would incur a payment,

whilst it may be complimentary in Queens Grill there has to be a differential between the two brands.

I'm afraid I'm with Cunard on this one.

Certainly both Miss and Mrs Gut havevdone it on Princess. I'm fairly sure Mrs Gut did so on Celebrity.

 

Not that it has ever been anything terribly complicated, in fact at times the staff have suggested she do so.

Some lines have an "always available" section of maybe chicken, salmon or steak but that is not the same as ordering completely off menu. This is only advertised as available in QG on Cunard.

I have often ordered the curry with 24 hours notice in PG. Does this mean it no longer appears in the a la Carte section of the PG menu or that there is no longer an a la carte section?

Some lines have an "always available" section of maybe chicken, salmon or steak but that is not the same as ordering completely off menu. This is only advertised as available in QG on Cunard.

No I'm talking about ordering things no where in the menu.

... whilst it may be complimentary in Queens Grill there has to be a differential between the two brands. I'm afraid I'm with Cunard on this one.

As sparkling water would be bottled, then a charge could/should be payable everywhere but Queens Grill. Maybe the stewards should be trained to say that sparkling water is available, at bar prices.

On the subject of "off menu" ordering, I also think there must be differences. Not that I've been in the Grills but, from Cunard's point of view if you can order anything/everything off menu in Princess, why would you pay extra for Queens?

As you say, Princess and Queens Grill have to be demonstrably different, or there is no incentive to pay the huge premimum and book Queens Grill.

(I bet that the staff in Princess would like to help... but are under strict instructions from shoreside)

Don't the menus in Princess Grill have a large choice available each evening (above that offered in Britannia and Britannia Club that is) or am I mistaken?

No I'm talking about ordering things no where in the menu.

Is this because of food allergy/intolerance or because nothing on the menu interested them? I have heard of people being able to arrange off-menu items (with notice) on Princess but from what I understand this is not the norm and 98% of passengers order from the menu of the day or the always available choices.

There are plenty of options on the Britannia menus each night and I have always found something to tempt me (usually there are too many tempting choices!)

Back to Cunard, and I agree with pepperm in his comments that it important for QG to differentiate itself as the premium category and if this means that off-menu is not offered elsewhere then that's the way it is.

... whilst it may be complimentary in Queens Grill there has to be a differential between the two brands. I'm afraid I'm with Cunard on this one.

On the subject of "off menu" ordering, I also think there must be differences. Not that I've been in the Grills but, from Cunard's point of view if you can order anything/everything off menu in Princess, why would you pay extra for Queens?

 

As you say, Princess and Queens Grill have to be demonstrably different, or there is no incentive to pay the huge premimum and book Queens Grill.

Why should there be all of the sudden the need to substantially downgrade the Princess Grill experience?

It is not like they have to make up a new business model.

The way it was done until the implementation of the recent downgrades was proven and well appreciated by paying passengers for many years.

Already on the QE2 it was absolutely normal for Princess Grill passengers to order off menu what ever they desired (Yes, including e.g. caviar, which seems to have disappeared already in previous cost cutting rounds.) The current Queens have continued the off-menu offer for many years. Maitre d's encouraged to do so.

The current downgrades help nobody but just diminish the experience of the Princess Grill guests.

I would assume that cost is driving the recent changes to menus in PG. The removal of the ordering off menu is probably one of many economies being made by Cunard. I have read lots of posts on CC (and not just about Cunard), that inclusions, food etc have been quietly downgraded over a number of years. Many lament the 'good old days' but if you compare pricing, fares have become relatively cheaper over this time. Some thing has to give somewhere and Cunard have decided that this is one area that can be cut. On another travel board I belong to, these are referred to (in a somewhat sarcastic tone) as 'enhancements'.

Is this because of food allergy/intolerance or because nothing on the menu interested them? I have heard of people being able to arrange off-menu items (with notice) on Princess but from what I understand this is not the norm and 98% of passengers order from the menu of the day or the always available choices.

There are plenty of options on the Britannia menus each night and I have always found something to tempt me (usually there are too many tempting choices!)

Back to Cunard, and I agree with pepperm in his comments that it important for QG to differentiate itself as the premium category and if this means that off-menu is not offered elsewhere then that's the way it is.

While Mrs Gut follows a largely vegan diet, no, simply when she has said, nothing takes my fancy lets go somewhere else, we've had waiters ask if there is anything special she'd like to see if they can arrange, even when we haven't had that waiter before so they don't know she's likely to order vegan or vegetarian.

Have you been able to order a totally different meal than is listed on the menu on other lines?

On our cruise on Princess, we were encouraged by the Maitre'D to order a special meal, not on the menu, several times during our long voyage. We did.

Sparking water is a Bar ancillary and therefore would incur a payment,

whilst it may be complimentary in Queens Grill there has to be a differential between the two brands.

 

I'm afraid I'm with Cunard on this one.

Agreed. I've never got sparkling in QG without it going on a bar charge, complete with "service" extra.

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Well, yes one can order off-menu on both Crystal and Seabourn, although I must admit that our efforts to do so were not successful in terms of quality. But that's another story. Crystal and Seabourn are luxury lines with lots of extras that one does not necessarily find on Cunard, but as I recall, the basic prices for staterooms on those 2 lines are comparable to the basic price for Princess Grill on Cunard. So if one is paying luxury line prices to travel in Princess Grill class, then one would expect some luxury amenities.

In my mind, the way Cunard differentiates Queens Gill class from Princess Grill class is primarily in the stateroom. In Queens class one gets a substantially larger stateroom with more features plus butler service.

And I want to reiterate that we were quite happy with the food in Princess Grill, even if we were unable to order off menu.

After the recent thread about dining off menu in PG I wrote requesting confirmation, as it will directly affect two of our trips next year.

They had to seek advice from the ships, so it took a few days, but I now have it in writing that it is still permitted to order off menu in PG - though not encouraged too often!

I have filed this with my documentation.

After the recent thread about dining off menu in PG I wrote requesting confirmation, as it will directly affect two of our trips next year.

 

They had to seek advice from the ships, so it took a few days, but I now have it in writing that it is still permitted to order off menu in PG - though not encouraged too often!

 

I have filed this with my documentation.

Hi cruiseluvva. I hope I'm not being too cynical, but was it specified that policy will still be in effect next year during your trips? -S

They claimed they are currently "monitoring" the situation and the range of off menu ordering is not as wide as QG - whatever that means! But they acknowledged that dining off menu remains part of the PG experience we booked.

I have no doubt they will try and wriggle out, but at least I'll be able to make my point.