When will Cunard even upgrade the Grills experience?

[pumpkin 11]

haven't posted on this forum in ages but this is a serious question. I am not referring to the dining experience of the grills or so much the larger cabins, but everything else! 

 

For example, Celebrity includes:  Faster Wifi, Gratuties, Premium Drinks package, and even OBC for shore excursions! All for FREE.

 

Cunard offers nothing of the sort. Kind of a shame for what you have to pay IMO.

 

I realize the Grills are nice (it has been many years since we have traveled Cunard), but many lines have more enticing "ship within a ship" offerings. 

 

I must say Cunard itineraries are better on the whole.

 

Should Cunard update or is what they have enough? I think not but wondering what others think as we come out of this pandemic...

[Victoria2]

This is purely a personal view and I would imagine out of kilter with most, but as far as travelling QG is concerned, we don't want a drinks package; we don't want included excursions because for particular reason, we get Cunard to provide us with a car, driver and guide when we really want to get out and about. Sit on the stairs of a lift lobby and the wifi speed is fine and as we have no need to be online much whilst away from home,   the max 'free' mins. suffice. Gratuities should be included, I'll give you that but all these points are some  of the reasons why we choose Cunard and not an all inclusive line such as Regent,

[LadyL1]

Nothing is “FREE”, it is built into the cost of the cruise. No cruise line could afford to ply thousands of passengers with alcohol and excursions and send on free excursions without going into administration.

I do feel that in today’s world wi-fi should be fully available: technology and how we use it is very different to when these Cunard ships came into service. It will be interesting to see if this applies on the QA!

We make a choice and pay Regent or other premium lines for everything or have an account to settle at end of cruise. As in theme with previous response, with Cunard you pay for the items you want. I have to say, that it is nice when you don’t have to continually sign for drinks in the lounges!

[AspirationalFlyer]

Premium Wi-Fi should be free. I appreciate not everyone wants to use it, but it should be available if you need or want it. I was on the QM2 World Cruise that ended early in 2020 and decent Wi-Fi would have made life much easier to make alternative travel arrangements. 

 

Tips should be included too. 

 

Many people already have OBC that can be used for excursions. 

[Colin_Cameron]

1 hour ago, AspirationalFlyer said:

Premium Wi-Fi should be free. I appreciate not everyone wants to use it, but it should be available if you need or want it.

What you mean is that those that don't need or want it should still have to pay for it, subsidising those who do?

[Victoria2]

25 minutes ago, Colin_Cameron said:

What you mean is that those that don't need or want it should still have to pay for it, subsidising those who do?

Same can be said about drink packages and excursions. No thanks. We pay enough as it is, and to to pay for items we won't use will be  a considerable thorn in a Cunard bouquet. We will follow the PAYG style and hope Cunard continue in that vein.

[AspirationalFlyer]

1 hour ago, Colin_Cameron said:

What you mean is that those that don't need or want it should still have to pay for it, subsidising those who do?

I think Wi-Fi should be free for all passengers. I think a premium form of Wi-Fi should be free for all passengers in the Grills, or at least a free package provided. 
 

More generally, Cunard needs to invest in onboard internet. It is poor at best currently. 
 

I don’t follow arguments about some passengers subsidising others. You could make that argument for lots of things - those who eat more at dinner, people who have an extra glass of wine at drink events, people that order room service vs those that do not. 
 

When I stay at hotels with free Wi-Fi I don’t feel like I’m ‘subsidising’ others when I don’t use it. 
 

Hope that clarifies. 

[Victoria2]

44 minutes ago, AspirationalFlyer said:

I think Wi-Fi should be free for all passengers. I think a premium form of Wi-Fi should be free for all passengers in the Grills, or at least a free package provided. 
 

More generally, Cunard needs to invest in onboard internet. It is poor at best currently. 
 

I don’t follow arguments about some passengers subsidising others. You could make that argument for lots of things - those who eat more at dinner, people who have an extra glass of wine at drink events, people that order room service vs those that do not. 
 

When I stay at hotels with free Wi-Fi I don’t feel like I’m ‘subsidising’ others when I don’t use it. 
 

Hope that clarifies. 

To be fair, the analogies you have given involve situations which already exist so buyer beware and all that. The point in question was should 'things', be introduced,

[Windsurfboy]

Nothing is free, I wouldn't want a  drinks package as find it better to buy the wine i really like. If we had a drinks package would be playing for average wine I wouldn't drink, then paying again gor wi e i likeNot a fan of ships excursions, prefer private ones, don't go for coach trips

 

As for Wi-Fi, not addicted when on holiday. HOWEVER if a situation like the cruise being stopped, then it is bad that Cunard didn't give everyone who needed it as much Wi-Fi as they needed

[Windsurfboy]

 

Sorry a few typos snuck in abov4

 

Nothing is free, I wouldn't want a  drinks package as find it better to buy the wine i really like. If we had a drinks package would be playing for average wine I wouldn't drink, then paying again for wine i do like.

 

Not a fan of ships excursions, prefer private ones, don't go for coach trips so wouldn't want those included would use them

 

As for Wi-Fi, not addicted when on holiday. HOWEVER if a situation like the cruise being stopped, then it is bad that Cunard didn't give everyone who needed it as much Wi-Fi as they needed

[alc13]

The "free" wines on ships where we've had them were decent at best to pretty poor.  I don't disparage decent wines, but if you want better you pay for them.

 

My grievance is with equating "all-inclusive" with luxury, with the single exception that it is nice not to sign for every drink.  Everything is is paid for eventually, regardless of the level of comfort.

[tv24]

We do love the QM2, and usually travel Princess Class as that suits us fine.  We enjoy the extra space in the stateroom.  But we also sail on other lines, including luxury and semi-luxury, and must admit that the PG experience is not necessarily a good buy, when you compare the group of amenities that one gets.  And when you look at PG on QE/QV, where the staterooms are of modest size, it's really not a good buy at all, in comparison to other lines.  I do note that we do enjoy our cocktails and wine, and that lots of wifi is an absolute necessity for us for various reasons.  For sailors who don't drink and don't use much wifi, a pay-as-you-go system is more cost effective.

[jimbo1683]

14 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

we don't want a drinks package;

You're not forced to drink it

[david,Mississauga]

3 hours ago, tv24 said:

...  And when you look at PG on QE/QV, where the staterooms are of modest size, it's really not a good buy at all, in comparison to other lines... 

 

Even though the QE/QV cabins in PG are approximately the same sq. footage as those on the QM2, the layout - particularly the tiny balcony - is not appealing. But we prefer the Grills restaurants, lounge and generous deck space on the smaller "queens" to those on the QM2. The lounge is smaller, but more elegant. The restaurants have large windows on three sides that offer great views. Even the public washrooms on the Grills deck are elegant, compared to the rather basic ones (reminiscent of a shopping mall) near the QM2 Grills.

 

We don't travel in the Grills too often, but our disappointment with the QE cabins hasn't stopped us from booking PG on our Alaska cruise this year.

 

 

[Victoria2]

9 hours ago, jimbo1683 said:

You're not forced to drink it

How true, but my comment was in reply to  the opening post mooting a more inclusive 'Grills experience' which would include a drinks package which I repeat, we don't want and at the moment, without an inclusive 'experience', we don't presently pay for. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Victoria2

[navybankerteacher]

19 hours ago, jimbo1683 said:

You're not forced to drink it

But if it is  included in the fare, you are forced to pay for it.

Edited February 13, 2022 by navybankerteacher

[Wonky]

On 2/12/2022 at 2:24 AM, Victoria2 said:Sit on the stairs of a lift lobby and the wifi speed is fine

This did make me laugh out loud! Of course in 2022 it’s natural that you should need to leave your cabin and sit on the stairs in order to send an email or text!!! Sadly we did experience exactly this last year on QE, watching many elderly people have to do just that.

I’ve had a constant discussion with Cunard over the last few years about wifi. At times they have told me the charges are in line with other cruise lines. I pointed out that it wasn’t even in line with sister companies, which they had to agree with in the end and were apologetic. For me the obvious thing to do would be what P&O do, £10 per day for the whole cruise, think they might actually make more money as a lot of people simply won’t pay the extortionate fees currently in place. 
Having done an MSC Yacht club cruise a couple of years ago I agree with the OP, Cunard are very much stuck in the 80s/90s and need to haul themselves into the 21st century.

[Victoria2]

Wonky, I'm glad I made you smile but, in hoping to eventually dismiss the stairway internet  connection, you're missing a vital part of Cunard social interaction.

 

Forget the laundry as a social focal point of the ship, over the years I have met such lovely passengers as I sat on Stairwell B stairs on QE/QV with my iPad. Indeed, a few meet ups for drinks have ensued, folk we wouldn't have met otherwise!  😄

[jimbo1683]

13 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

How true, but my comment was in reply to  the opening post mooting a more inclusive 'Grills experience' which would include a drinks package which I repeat, we don't want and at the moment, without an inclusive 'experience', we don't presently pay for. 

Shame that several comments in the thread are very closed minded. It's a hypothetical question about what the grills experience could be so who is to say that there shouldn't be an option with and without the drinks package that Victoria2 does not want, who is to say that there couldn't be a range of drinks packages pitched at different qualities and price points. Go sit on your staircase and surf the web.

Edited February 13, 2022 by jimbo1683

[Mickb]

Whilst I am a great fan of the Cunard Grills experience and in particularly the dining, it is absolutely true that other lines offer more perks ( whether or not one choses to use them). The wifi on Cunard annoys me more than anything - I run my business single handed mostly through email and I’m afraid it simply isn’t good enough to sit on the stairs of a lift lobby to get a good service, even though I am obviously missing the social hub of the ship! It’s for this reason that we are tending to confine ourselves to shorter cruises, which is a shame for us and ( small) loss of potential revenue for Cunard.

[Victoria2]

32 minutes ago, jimbo1683 said:

Shame that several comments in the thread are very closed minded. It's a hypothetical question about what the grills experience could be so who is to say that there shouldn't be an option with and without the drinks package that Victoria2 does not want, who is to say that there couldn't be a range of drinks packages pitched at different qualities and price points. Go sit on your staircase and surf the web.

There are already a limited range of drinks packages, none of which we buy apart from once when there were a very limited number of excellent bin ends, grouped into packages of three red and three whites. Our table did our best to help out.

 

I quite understand why some would want a more robust wi fi signal but until then, I'll stick to to my staircase, it's proven to be quite convivial so I'll continue my post 6pm stair sitting.

[Victoria2]

46 minutes ago, Mickb said:

Whilst I am a great fan of the Cunard Grills experience and in particularly the dining, it is absolutely true that other lines offer more perks ( whether or not one choses to use them). The wifi on Cunard annoys me more than anything - I run my business single handed mostly through email and I’m afraid it simply isn’t good enough to sit on the stairs of a lift lobby to get a good service, even though I am obviously missing the social hub of the ship! It’s for this reason that we are tending to confine ourselves to shorter cruises, which is a shame for us and ( small) loss of potential revenue for Cunard.

The need for a more robust wi fi signal has always been an issue, hence my staircase sitting which I hope you saw my social comment as the jocular comment it was meant to be even if it is true.

However, I take issue with more inclusive perks. The price is bound to increase to take into account  inclusive 'extras' and as we wouldn't use them, that's an added expense for no gain. 

As this is all hypothetical, we are all allowed our views and mine is added the expense for no gain is not in our interest.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Victoria2

[pumpkin 11]

I take nothing away from the grills experience already in place, and yes nothing is FREE (I knew I'd get that comment from someone LOL). But many competing lines include these things (even if at a modest level) for prices in-line with Cunard.

 

I do agree with @Wonky that Cunard seems to be stuck in the past with regard to this a little. Once you go all-inclusive with tips and drinks, it is really hard to go back to not having it. Maybe even if they had wine with lunch and dinner, or an included happy hour in the grills lounge? Wouldn't have to go all in.

 

Thanks for the comments all, I think this is a necessary conversation in this ever-changing industry. 

[lissie]

5 hours ago, Wonky said:

I’ve had a constant discussion with Cunard over the last few years about wifi. At times they have told me the charges are in line with other cruise lines. I pointed out that it wasn’t even in line with sister companies, which they had to agree with in the end and were apologetic. For me the obvious thing to do would be what P&O do, £10 per day for the whole cruise, think they might actually make more money as a lot of people simply won’t pay the extortionate fees currently in place. 

I think the issue is that the current physical  infrastructure can't handle  more people! 

 

I would have thought that one thing a pandemic has taught us all  that dropping off the planet with no access to news is no longer an option.  How do people even fill in PLF's - are they expected to pay  for an internet package to do that? 

 

I actually have more sympathy about not having access in every cabin - metal walls makes that very expensive. But at a very minimum on the QE -  you should get a clear consistent and affordable signal anywhere in the foyer area up, down and around the library and surrounding bars 

[Jonem2001]

Currently aboard the QM2 and the Wi-Fi situation is… poor. I can get 4G right now in my cabin but not Wi-Fi, so I don’t think metal walls are the problem. And I was on the Regal Princess last summer and had no issues whatsoever using Princess’s Medallion App offering anywhere at all.

 

I think this is a question of Cunard choosing to roll out more transmitters/receivers, and whether there’s enough appetite (and investment!) to do so. I certainly think there’s demand amongst many customers, and the pandemic has really highlighted how technologically out of step Cunard is compared to many brands even within the Carnival family.
 

I do think the fact that they’re now asking us to use a website to manage onboard reservations, and their infrastructure can’t seem to support it, is poor service on their part. So if an autumn rollout is on the cards, I’d say it’s great news.