Using Soft Drink Card for Cocktails

[DWhit]

As I understand it, I believe Cunard charges for the alcohol and the mixer separately.   If so, could you use your soft drink beverage plan to cover the "Coke" portion of a Rum and Coke cocktail?

 

[Bigmike911]

I have never had them charge me for alcohol and mix separately. If you order a gin and tonic you get a glass of gin with tonic. If you order a bloody Mary, you get the vodka or gin and the bloody Mary mix for one price. 

 

Is this some new policy that you have seen somewhere? I have traveled on Cunard 16 times and have not experienced this situation.

[DWhit]

12 minutes ago, Bigmike911 said:

I have never had them charge me for alcohol and mix separately. If you order a gin and tonic you get a glass of gin with tonic. If you order a bloody Mary, you get the vodka or gin and the bloody Mary mix for one price. 

 

Is this some new policy that you have seen somewhere? I have traveled on Cunard 16 times and have not experienced this situation.

I hope you are correct.  I do not recall it being the case when we were on QM2 back in 2013, but I was recently reading a thread entitled "Cost of drinks on Cunard line ships", and it stated Cunard would charge separately for the mixers.  I am not sure the date of the the thread.

[Host Hattie]

26 minutes ago, Bigmike911 said:

I have never had them charge me for alcohol and mix separately. If you order a gin and tonic you get a glass of gin with tonic. If you order a bloody Mary, you get the vodka or gin and the bloody Mary mix for one price. 

 

Is this some new policy that you have seen somewhere? I have traveled on Cunard 16 times and have not experienced this situation.

It started last Summer and was widely discussed here at the time.

If you order gin & tonic, you will be asked which tonic you want and charged accordingly.

[Bigmike911]

Just now, Host Hattie said:

It started last Summer and was widely discussed here at the time.

If you order gin & tonic, you will be asked which tonic you want and charged accordingly.

 

Interesting, I traveled in November last year 2017, and didn't have that experience. I had several vodka tonics and don't recall an additional charge. Perhaps it was an upsell where if you ask for a G and T, they offer you a "premium brand". If you say the house tonic, is there still a charge?

[Host Hattie]

Fountain mixers are shown as $1.75 or $1.80 depending on which menu you believe. Were you charged the price shown on the menu for just the spirit ?

[majortom10]

There was an extra charge on QE last Oct/Nov 2017 whatever mixer you had with a spirit its a policy that was introduced fleet wide in Summer 2017

[DWhit]

I was considereing purchasing the fountain soft drink package, and thought that if it would also cover a fountain soda mixer for cocktails, then that would clinch it for me.

[Bell Boy]

12 hours ago, DWhit said:

As I understand it, I believe Cunard charges for the alcohol and the mixer separately.   If so, could you use your soft drink beverage plan to cover the "Coke" portion of a Rum and Coke cocktail?

 

Just as long as you are happy with Pepsi ?  as Cola  or tonic & dry ginger aren't  mentioned on the soft drinks menu. At the end of the day I think it might be more hassle than it's worth. You might even up with a 'confused bar waiter' reminding you of a 15 minute break between ordering two drinks. 😂

 

Edited ; sorry I stand corrected, yes it does mention Tonic & Soda water. 

Edited December 31, 2018 by Bell Boy

[Bigmike911]

22 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Fountain mixers are shown as $1.75 or $1.80 depending on which menu you believe. Were you charged the price shown on the menu for just the spirit ?

To be honest, I usually don't check, I just sign. Well if they have introduced this misguided pricing approach I will see it in September on my next crossing.  I hope they just raise the prices of the drinks. Making passenger pay separately is a foolish marketing scheme. It's like saying would you like to buy hot water to go with your tea. When you spend tens of thousands of dollars for a solo, QG trans Atlantic it is an absolute insult to be asked to pay extra for a mixer. If I find that has happened, Mr. Arnold will get a word or two from me. Happy New Year. 

[Matelot70]

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 6:28 PM, Bigmike911 said:

To be honest, I usually don't check, I just sign. Well if they have introduced this misguided pricing approach I will see it in September on my next crossing.  I hope they just raise the prices of the drinks. Making passenger pay separately is a foolish marketing scheme. It's like saying would you like to buy hot water to go with your tea. When you spend tens of thousands of dollars for a solo, QG trans Atlantic it is an absolute insult to be asked to pay extra for a mixer. If I find that has happened, Mr. Arnold will get a word or two from me. Happy New Year. 

 

Being just off the New Year Queen Elizabeth.a cruise I can tell you not only have they introduced this system but they seem to be getting pushier about selling drinks. I was invariably asked if I wanted a double gin (2 oz) instead of a single (1 oz) and in spite of asking for draught tonic on the side I was being pushed to have a bottle of Fever Tree Tonic (nearly twice the price). And you have got your wish of a price rise as well - for a double gin and tonic the price was also about $2.50 higher for the two of us than last New Years Eve. We are off on Queen Victoria to San Francisco on Thursday so it will be interesting to see if we have a similar experience.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Matelot70

[Bigmike911]

On 1/7/2019 at 3:06 PM, Matelot70 said:

 

Being just off the New Year Queen Elizabeth.a cruise I can tell you not only have they introduced this system but they seem to be getting pushier about selling drinks. I was invariably asked if I wanted a double gin (2 oz) instead of a single (1 oz) and in spite of asking for draught tonic on the side I was being pushed to have a bottle of Fever Tree Tonic (nearly twice the price). And you have got your wish of a price rise as well - for a double gin and tonic the price was also about $2.50 higher for the two of us than last New Years Eve. We are off on Queen Victoria to San Francisco on Thursday so it will be interesting to see if we have a similar experience.

Amazing and a bit pathetic as well. When I am back, I will complain to the management. It will be interesting if they try this little stunt with a bloody mary, which I usually have in the Grills Lounge before lunch. The rest of the time I will stick to Johnny Walker Black on the rocks singles in the lounge and the Commodore which will be covered by my 'free' drinks plan. In my suite, I can pour as big a scotch as I want from the supply in my bar. I presume that they will continue to keep it stocked as they have in the past, but who knows even that may change. They would be well advised to not spend a lot of time nickel and dimeing their passengers. The grown up thing would be to raise the price to cover the costs. Constantly adding additional charges is what makes the so called budget airlines so awful, and best to be avoided on a cruise line that wants to maintain it's sense of exclusivity.