Pol Aker?

[Mudhen]

I can see the cringes before I've even sent this....(haha!)

Is Cunard still supplying this "bon voyage treat" (?) in the grill cabins?

It's been awhile since we've cruised Cunard. Need to know if we should

tote our own bubbles....or, by some miracle, maybe something actually drinkable

is being offered now.

[exlondoner]

23 minutes ago, Mudhen said:

I can see the cringes before I've even sent this....(haha!)

Is Cunard still supplying this "bon voyage treat" (?) in the grill cabins?

It's been awhile since we've cruised Cunard. Need to know if we should

tote our own bubbles....or, by some miracle, maybe something actually drinkable

is being offered now.

In QG last time, there was a bottle of Laurent Perrier Champagne awaiting us, then, towards the end, a bottle of PA from the World Club appeared. We didn’t get that as by then we were in quarantine.

[Mudhen]

So sorry to hear about the quarantine. Been there, done that! Not fun!

The Laurent Perrier would be lovely, but we're in a Princess Grill cabin. Not sure we get such luxury!

You're not missing much with the PA, but when I was in quarantine, I would happily accept ANY alcohol!

I ordered A LOT!

[exlondoner]

No, I think it is only QG that gets champers. PG gets sparkling wine, plus another bottle from the World Club in due course.

[Bell Boy]

The complimentary embarkation Fizz ( in Britannia category & PG)  is still being offered ( and long may it last - even though I don't drink it)  However, it is NO LONGER Pol Acker it is now a new brand.   The bottle I received recently  is  'Contessa' Vino Spumante , apparently it's Italian and surprisingly it's quite drinkable. An additional bottle was received  compliments of the world club to make up for the lack of the CWC parties. 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Bell Boy

[BigMac1953]

Hi BellBoy. Last November, we had the QG champagne as usual and a few days later the dreaded Pol Acker definitely turned up. It's probably still there.

 

I did notice that the last time we were on board when cocktail parties were still going on QE, it was Spumante that was being served. I think that was three years ago.

[Bell Boy]

Hi BigMac , the Pol Acker has now defiantly gone for good  since our trip in October/November. The Italian Spumante is now the additional complimentary bottle as of the other week (Dec 11th)  even two for those of us in the CWC.

 

I have to admit for the first time I opened the bottle and enjoyed a glass  before hitting the Bar at 7pm  

My neighbours are not too pleased that I didn't manage to take the complimentary PA  home for them as I usually do for keeping an eye on the house ..😉

 

[2BACRUISER]

On QV in Aug Britannia class we got pol acker. Very nice imo so long as served very cold in chilled glasses. 😀 

Edited January 4, 2023 by 2BACRUISER
Typo

[3rdGenCunarder]

It made a return appearance on QM2 in September.

 

On QE in June, I was in PG and got two half bottles of an Italian fizz, don't remember the name. One was embarkation, the second one was WC. I was pleased to discover that I liked it. 

 

I was disappointed to discover PA in my cabin (I was in Britannia) on QM2. There was a note saying that half bottles in general had become difficult to get, so I would get a whole bottle of PA instead of the two half bottles of something else. 

[Red Ray]

17 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

Hi BigMac , the Pol Acker has now defiantly gone for good  since our trip in October/November. The Italian Spumante is now the additional complimentary bottle as of the other week (Dec 11th)  even two for those of us in the CWC.

 

I have to admit for the first time I opened the bottle and enjoyed a glass  before hitting the Bar at 7pm  

My neighbours are not too pleased that I didn't manage to take the complimentary PA  home for them as I usually do for keeping an eye on the house ..😉

 

It definitely hasn't gone for good - there was a bottle in our stateroom when we embarked QM2 on 22nd December. I don't drink alcohol but Mrs Redray quaffed most of it - possibly a mistake as another bottle turned up a week later!

[BigMac1953]

1 hour ago, Red Ray said:

It definitely hasn't gone for good - there was a bottle in our stateroom when we embarked QM2 on 22nd December. I don't drink alcohol but Mrs Redray quaffed most of it - possibly a mistake as another bottle turned up a week later!

 

You must have done something really naughty to end up with two bottles!

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

 

You must have done something really naughty to end up with two bottles!

I imagine they came second in something where the winners got one bottle.

[david,Mississauga]

On our June cruise in Princess Grill on the QE we had Contessa. On our October voyage in Britannia Club on the QM2 we had P.A.

[Mudhen]

Thank you all for your responses....Guess we'll deal with whatever comes our way. Maybe all the PA will be gone by December!!! haha! Almost ANYTHING is better than that one!

[jrmende63]

9 hours ago, Mudhen said:

Thank you all for your responses....Guess we'll deal with whatever comes our way. Maybe all the PA will be gone by December!!! haha! Almost ANYTHING is better than that one!

It is almost making me hope a bottle will appear in our Queen Anne Cabin. I kinda want to say I have tried this stuff!

 

[Mudhen]

2 hours ago, jrmende63 said:

It is almost making me hope a bottle will appear in our Queen Anne Cabin. I kinda want to say I have tried this stuff!

 

Oh no!

Be careful what you wish for!!!

[exlondoner]

4 hours ago, Mudhen said:

Oh no!

Be careful what you wish for!!!

I can’t say I like the stuff and we usually leave the bottle untouched, but it’s not that bad. Or rather, it seems to vary a bit, and is not consistently that bad. Rigorous chilling is said to improve it.

[ExArkie]

23 hours ago, Mudhen said:

Thank you all for your responses....Guess we'll deal with whatever comes our way. Maybe all the PA will be gone by December!!! haha! Almost ANYTHING is better than that one!

The key word being "almost." The new sparkling wine, in my opinion, isn't better than Pol Aker. (Actually, I didn't have a great problem with PA - inoffensive and somewhat bland, but not horrid.) The new stuff, which was in our PG cabin in December, has slightly less depth of character, but again not offensively horrible. 

[Mudhen]

1 hour ago, ExArkie said:

The key word being "almost." The new sparkling wine, in my opinion, isn't better than Pol Aker. (Actually, I didn't have a great problem with PA - inoffensive and somewhat bland, but not horrid.) The new stuff, which was in our PG cabin in December, has slightly less depth of character, but again not offensively horrible. 

Sigh.....I'd really be happy with just a respectable sparking whatever. It most certainly doesn't need to be champagne....a nice prosecco, maybe?

Anyway, none of this really matters...we'll be happy to be just going!!!!!

[ExArkie]

21 hours ago, Mudhen said:

Sigh.....I'd really be happy with just a respectable sparking whatever. It most certainly doesn't need to be champagne....a nice prosecco, maybe?

Anyway, none of this really matters...we'll be happy to be just going!!!!!

Definitely agree…on both the wine (There are several reasonable sparkling wines available at low prices. Spanish cavas tend to be the best quality per unit price, in my opinion) and being happy to be just going.

[david,Mississauga]

25 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

Definitely agree…on both the wine (There are several reasonable sparkling wines available at low prices. Spanish cavas tend to be the best quality per unit price, in my opinion) and being happy to be just going.

 

When Cunard asked us to complete surveys I always suggested cava as a substitute for the usual PA.

[Jonem2001]

This afternoon departing Southampton on QV, it’s an Italian ‘Ciaosecco’, which amuses me greatly. My parents, who sent me the photo, are excited to try something different!

 

The printed card indicating placement in the fridge is more permanent than I expected, though. Have ice buckets been done away with? I always enjoyed that touch.

[exlondoner]

Last time on QM2, our champagne was waiting for us in an ice bucket on the table.  But I had to undertake a lengthy search or, actually, ask the butler for the thing that you put ice in that goes in the fridge. It was somewhere, but not in the fridge full of ice, until I mentioned it. I suppose they reckon there’s no point wasting ice, unless people are going to use it, and a lot of people don’t.

[exlondoner]

29 minutes ago, Jonem2001 said:

This afternoon departing Southampton on QV, it’s an Italian ‘Ciaosecco’, which amuses me greatly. My parents, who sent me the photo, are excited to try something different!

 

The printed card indicating placement in the fridge is more permanent than I expected, though. Have ice buckets been done away with? I always enjoyed that touch.

And I must say that if I were making up a bogus name for an Italian wine, I could hardly do better. Of course it could be very nice.

[TheOldBear]

Back in October both the complementary wine ["Duc" something] and the champagne purchased as part of a 'celebrations' package were sitting warm on the table. The flutes were in the refrigerator, but were not that cold - must have just been tossed in. The bubbly in my carryon was still fairly cold, so we had that first.