Queen Elizabeth Balcony Club vs Princess Grill/Queen Grill- Advice please!

[akmday10]

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. 

[BigMac1953]

In QG you will get a "free" mini bar. What that means is, you will have the choice of 2 x litre bottles of spirits of your choosing, plus unlimited beers and mixers. I've even got the butler to fill the adjacent cupboard with tins of beer.

 

The spirits will be replaced, free of charge, if required, providing you are nice to the butler.

 

Not sure the drinks package is a good idea. You're limited to single measures up to $12 and no more than 4 per hour.

 

That means that although a large glass of wine is below the limit, you still can't have it as it's considered a "large" measure.

 

We have taken the Commodore's and Captain's wine package, although they are dumbing it down every year. Champagne disappeared three years ago, then Chateaux Neuf went two years ago. The port was also changed, so check what's on first. Savings are around 15%, but a lot more if you are in Spanish waters as they add IVA (VAT) on all purchases in their waters.

 

Not sure about PG. Never been, so can't advise, sorry.

Edited September 22, 2020 by BigMac1953

[akmday10]

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?

[BigMac1953]

We use the Lounge quite a lot.

 

Coffees are available in the morning from about 10:30 am.

 

HOT canapes are available pre-dinner, but we tend to avoid them as it becomes just too much.

 

We've used the Courtyard many times for both breakfast and lunch, but obviously it's weather dependent. Your own waiters and sommelier will attend to you outside.

 

Afternoon tea used to be served in the Grill Lounge, but it got too busy. Now it's in PG or a slimmed down version up top, served from trollies. 

[exlondoner]

The weakness of PG on QE is the cabins, which are long and thin and rather gloomy. The restaurant is nice, and slightly less crowded than QG, and the menu is fine. I love the Grills terraces, but that early in the year, the weather may be discouraging. We went in PG once, but never again, simply because of the cabin. For a short cruise I would book BC, for anything longer than five nights, QG.

[princeton123211]

15 hours ago, akmday10 said:

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.

I feel like, outside of the cabins themselves, there is a bigger jump in experience from BC to PG than from PG to QG. If there isn't much of a price difference from BC to PG than I think its sort of a no brainer with the additional facilities that you have with the lounge, terrace, etc. Additionally, Cunard is giving away drinks packages left and right currently for Grills bookings so that could be a huge value getting that gratis vs having to pay for it in BC if its available on the sailing you are looking at. 

 

Obviously the cabins are going to be the major draw in QG, along with some enhanced off menu ordering and caviar if thats your thing. 

[akmday10]

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. 

[princeton123211]

6 hours ago, akmday10 said:

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

The daily menus are pretty close for both-- where Princess Grill is different is that there is an additional a la carte menu. This includes a lot of tableside preparation items like dover sole, chateaubriand, beef wellington, etc. You can also request special tableside desserts such as crepes suzette, bananas foster, etc. 

[BigMac1953]

but not sure if it is worth the extra £200 each for this cruise. 

 

It's less than £30 per day extra, so I would say go for it! 

[akmday10]

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

 

 

[BigMac1953]

Here's her indoors at lunchtime in the QG (last year):

 

[BigMac1953]

...and here's the team photo of those who looked after us (waiter and his assistant, Zoltan, Head Waiter, Ico, Maitre d', Anton, Head Waiter, Fernando, Sommelier).

 

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

Here's her indoors at lunchtime in the QG (last year):

 

 

Southampton. Oh sorry, wrong thread. 😀 It will be so nice to be there again.

[akmday10]

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

 

[BigMac1953]

8 minutes ago, akmday10 said:

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

 

 

Was meant to be going for 2 weeks in October, but that was cancelled, as you know.

 

Already booked for 1 November '21, same trip, Canaries, Madeira and Lisbon.

[exlondoner]

PG is very similar to QG, but has slightly fewer tables.

[majortom10]

On QE we were in QG and had afternoon tea in PG (not available in QG) and we thought that PG was a nicer restaurant with more room and less tables. We are booked on QV in PG for next November hopefully.

[akmday10]

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!