akmday10

2 minutes ago, Colin_Cameron said:

That's why Cunard insist you have travel insurance.

Will be getting the best cover possible, I think I will also be self-isolating for two weeks before my cruise as well!

I am not surprised, just want to know what happens if you do test positive before boarding, can you then get credit for another cruise? 

I am not sure if this has been mentioned, but I have just seen the new guidelines Cunard have announced, which can be found here: https://www.cunard.com/content/dam/cunard/marketing-assets/experience/return-to-sailing/rts-pdfs/Cunard Return to Sailing Oct8 - UK.pdf

I understand where they are coming from, however my concern is if you do test positive in the days leading up to the cruise, will you be able to move your cruise or get credit? As I cannot afford to waste my money, and neither can my family. I am now thinking it may be best to move my holiday unless I know that I will not lose my money if I do test positive or have symptoms. 

I do not like the Cunard Excursions, however will do one on my cruise if one really jumps out to me, so this is not a major issue to me. 

Whats everyones thoughts on this?

I would definitely recommend doing the QE three night cruise, not only is it longer, but after next year, the QE sailing from Southampton and at a reasonable price could be a while. The QE is my nans favourite ship and we have not sailed on her since 2015, as we do not do fly-cruises and do the shorter cruises for the price.

If you enjoy Cunard and the 3 night cruise, it is worth looking at the QV's 6-10th January 2022 cruise to Hamburg. We have done it for the last two years in Britannia Club and then Balcony, both extremely cheap prices.

Also its nice to know another young person wants to try Cunard, I did my first cruise at 12 years old which was 12 years ago, and I am addicted lol. 

EDIT: Just seen you were referring to the 2 night Hamburg cruise in Jan 2022. The QV has the cruise on offer nearly every year I think? I have done the 4 nights for last two years and can say it is great. It will likely be on offer in 2023, so you can always aim to do that 🙂 

My only concern if Cunard follows Crystals new rules is having to take the COVID test, while I understand it is a good idea, what if you do test positive, do you get a refund on your holiday? Or is all the money lost?

6 hours ago, ariesknowbest said:

Is it worth it?

It really depends on how much you drink and what you drink. As far as I know the limit on the drinks package that includes all alcohol is $12, which for me is fine, as I would not purchase a drink that is over $10/11. I am also not fussy on what drinks I get, I am happy with cocktails and the lower value wines. I know you can only get single servings of spirits and I think the wine is 175ml from what I remember. There is a limit on 15 alcoholic drinks in 24 hours, twice myself and grandad hit the limit on a 5 night cruise, but this was a 2am, so I think that is pretty reasonable.

But the drinks package includes small bottled water, speciality coffees, soft drinks and alcohol which I think is a great deal. The cost of the drinks package includes the gratuity so you do not need to worry about that

What we did was have a couple of coffees before 12pm, and then have a few drinks before having a nap, and then have drinks in the evening. 

What I recommend doing is look at the drinks menu with the prices on, work out how much you would normally spend without the drinks package (include the gratuity on top as well), and then look at what you would spend with the drinks package, and even add a few bottles of water and coffees if you would normally not spend. 

I have tried to find the drinks menus for the bars that include the prices but cant find them. Hopefully someone else can share them. 

20 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

That's a great price, I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you, extremely excited! What cruise have you booked? 

22 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

We already have our cruises booked for 2021 which we booked 12 months ago but even if we hadnt would be of no interest to me because thing the prices are too strong for me. Obviously Cunard are thinking that people are that desperate to cruise they will pay a premium price. Not for me and if Summer 2022 prices are as strong then I will be looking elsewhere whether it be another cruise line or land based hotel holidays. 

I thought the prices were extremely decent, I have paid £950 for a Princess Suite on the QE for 7 nights. I have never been on in a Princess Suite as they have always been out of my price range. The QV and QM2 seem to be quite pricey for 2021.

We have booked ours through our Travel Agent and got our first choice of cabin grade, just waiting for them to get back to us with our booking reference and stateroom numbers, and at the price that was being offered last week. Fingers crossed the cruise actually goes ahead now!

We are going to try and get PG, its worth it I think, exciting times! Hopefully the cruise goes ahead. 

BigMac, I hope you get to do your cruise next year, got my fingers crossed for you, same for you Majortom!

QG looks great! Think slightly out of our budget, but I will get there one day 🙂 Have you got another booked? 

That is true, £30 a day extra is not much! 

I am wondering where I can find pictures of all the restaurants for all of the ships? I want to know what the restaurants look like and how they are different, e.g. Britannia Club compared the Princess Grill

Thanks all 🙂

The lounge does sound nice, and the coffees do too, but we will have the drinks package so are able to get speciality coffees with that. 

The courtyard terrace is the main appeal to me, however we will be sailing around Ireland and Scotland in April, and I feel the weather may not permit us to use it. 

The menus for BC and PG look very similar to me. 

princeton123211 - unfortunately in the UK, you rarely get offered drinks package when you book, and I dont think this is the case for the cruise I am planning to book, I wish it was!

I would love to sail in PG grade, but not sure if it is worth the extra £200 each for this cruise. 

Thanks BigMac1953! 

That does sound good with drinks in the stateroom, but I'm not sure how much time we would spend in there drinking, as we like to be in the bars. 

We have purchased the drinks package before, and it works for us, as I would normally not spend more than $11-12 on drinks. 4 drinks in an hour is good with us, I normally wouldn't have more than 2 an hour. We also like the speciality coffees, which you can get with the drinks package. 

What is the grills lounge like? do you get any free coffees there? Can you have pre-dinner drinks with canapés there? Have you used the courtyard terrace?

Hi All, 

I am planning to book a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth April 16th 2021. As they are offering free upgrades, we will definitely be treating ourselves. I will be booking a stateroom for myself and boyfriend and then another stateroom for my grandparents. We want the option of flexible dining, and have experienced the balcony club on the Queen Victoria last year. 

For the cruise we are booking, the princess grills does not cost much more, but as I have not had this experience before, I am wondering if it is worth it. What extras do you get with the princess grills compared to balcony club? E.g. I know there is a lounge, but is this worth it, as I have heard it is quite small. 

Will April weather around the British Isles allow us to use the courtyard terrace? 

We are all Diamond members so already get a few benefits such as priority embarkation and disembarkation. 

Is it worth looking in Queens Grill? 

We are all big drinkers and will be going for the drinks package. 

When buying bottles of water to take back to the room, we just said we were saving them for later and they would remained sealed. Ask politely and you should have no problem 🙂

Just wondering, can you order the 'smoothie of the day' in the MDR?

When we miss breakfast and have to go to the Lido, I do like to get the smoothie, but have never seen it on the menu in MDR. I have seen it in the Grills restaurant though. 

17 hours ago, Bigmike911 said:

Seven cocktails a day and three bottles of wine. I am sure not in your league these days. But then I have a much older liver and it has seen days like that in my youth. 

Only 450ml of wine in total, so less than a bottle, I don't think I could manage three bottles!! 😂

4 hours ago, tv24 said:

Another reason to wait until you are on board:  If you have some on-board credit that you won't use for gratuities, excursions, spa, etc., your booze is a good way to use up your credit.  You cannot use OBC by purchasing a drinks package before you board,

No onboard credit for us, but I think we will wait until we are onboard, and hopefully will be able to purchase from one of the pop up desks 

2 minutes ago, Stella1250 said:

Actually, all people in the cabin do not have to purchase the package. If you cannot drink alcohol for health reasons, and bring a note from your doctor, you can opt out of the package, while others can still purchase it.

That is good that they accommodate this. I would assume that it is the same if there is an underage person in a stateroom. 

Thanks all for the responses. Thanks majortom10, the tables to sign up sounds good, I think we will wait until we get on board. 

With the drinks package, there is a limit to 15 alcoholic drinks per day, but I doubt anyone would reach that. And yes everyone in the stateroom must purchase. Also spirits are single measures, wines by the glass are 150ml. You will need to wait 15 minutes between each drink I think. The package includes alcoholic drinks under $11, soft drinks, mocktails, teas, coffees, and 500ml bottles of water. 

When on holiday, we tend to drink a lot, and likely over the course of the evening have around 7 drinks or more. I personally would never go for a drink over $11 as I think it is a waste of money to go for the more expensive drinks when they actually have plenty around $8-10. We will also enjoy a bottle of wine at dinner, which is not part of the deal, therefore I have looked at the wine list and theres a page at the back - 'wines by the glass', out of 25 choices, only 7 of them are over $11, you would have the choice of 18 different wines. 

Now normally on cruises, we would not buy tea/ coffee or water as you can get it in the lido, but as it is included in the drinks package, we think we might as well make the most of it. We do late sitting, and like to have a few drinks before we head down to the restaurant, and then we do not normally head to bed until 2am, this is why the package appeals to us. 

For one day, I think a lot of people spend over $69 on drinks. I've worked it out below what I think I will spend on the cruise.  Of course a lot of people will not drink this much, or may drink more. 

10am - Tea or Coffee $3.25 

12pm - Wine with lunch $8.75 (150ml)

2pm - Tea and Coffee $3.25

3pm - Cocktail $10.50 

4pm - Bottle of Water $3.25

7pm - Cocktail $8.95 

8pm - Cocktail $10.50 

8.30pm - Wine with dinner $8.75 x 2 (150ml) 

10pm - Cocktail $10.50 

11pm Cocktail $8.95

12pm Cocktail $8.95

1am - Cocktail $10.50

1.30am - Bottle of Water $3.25

This totals up to $111.35 and with the gratuity it would be just under $130 for drinks in a day, thats nearly double what you would pay with the drinks package.If you only drink Pints, which are roughly $6.50 without gratuity, then you would have to drink around 10 a day. 

I hope this helps anyone questioning the drinks package, and how could anyone possibly spend $69 a day on drinks. 

So we will be sailing on the QM2 in May, and are trying to decide whether to purchase the drinks package before or after boarding. I'm just wondering if it will make a difference. I am assuming you go to the pursers desk to purchase the package, which could be busy, however we normally get on the ship before 12.30pm so I doubt we will be waiting long. 

If anyone has any advice then I would really appreciate it, as we have never purchased the Drinks Package. Also would our TA be able to buy the package for us and get us a deal? 

1 minute ago, UKGirlyUSA said:

Thank you so much for replying, may I ask about water? I drink alot of water too

Water is free in restaurants, when you request it, however in bars I would assume they will bring you bottled water which you would then be charged for. And yes buffet area has water 🙂

26 minutes ago, UKGirlyUSA said:

 there are now several drink packages the one for soft and alcoholic ones is $69 a day I am wondering the add up of consumption , How about soft drinks even water at breakfast, dinner and evening meals at the table I am concerned with out a drinks package this will add up, then purchasing alcoholic beverages on top a day will add up. say I want a cuppa tea in the day I drink alot of tea. any advice Hattie would be great - I am sailing in May just to get my dog home and I am worried the bills will add up - only soft drink are free in the buffet area's is this correct? thank you in advance

You can go to the buffet area to make tea (english breakfast, herbal, earls grey etc.), filter coffee from the machine, hot chocolate, and the soft drinks (orange juice, apple juice, water etc.) - these are all free of charge. 

When in the restaurants you can request tea and coffee which is free of charge. 

They coffee I assume is better quality when you pay for it, e.g. speciality coffees, but if you drink mostly tea, then you can make your own in the buffet area. You can also make tea and coffee in you room. 

The QM2 also has a drinks station near Connexions, which is at the front of the ship on deck 2. 

Hope this helps 🙂

We will be travelling on QM2 in May and will most likely be trying the drinks package. For the three of us, we tend to spend over $180-200 each night including bottle of wine at dinner, so will definitely be worth it for us. We tend not to order any drinks before 6pm in the evening, so with the package, we will be able to buy hot drinks, soft drinks and perhaps a alcoholic drink in the afternoon. 

While $69 seems a lot per person each day, if you are drinking from 6pm - 1am, thats less than a drink an hour, so we are more than happy to purchase the package. Also gives us the piece of mind that we are not spending loads. We try not to go for expensive drinks, as it really isn't worth it, when you can get it much less at home, and we don't like to drink in our rooms, as we want to be experiencing the ship. 

If you don't drink more than 3-4 drinks, then it really is not worth it. 

If you are looking for budget room, then I'd recommend the Travelodge Southampton Central you know what you are getting and you are  one street away from the high street with shopping centre about 5 minute walk away. Do not recommend the Star Hotel, we inquired about prices in Southampton before and it is extremely over priced considering how out-dated it is.