Advice on 1st time Cunard cruise

[ClaireRuss]

Hey folks

I'm looking at the 12 night Norway and Northern Lights cruise on the QV in November for our honeymoon. We've had a couple of cruises before on RC and NCL. We've chosen this QV cruise as we like the more formal approach for our honeymoon and we are also keen ballroom dancers (we're 48 and 54).

 

There is an early saver option at the moment which works out at £280 cheaper than the full Cunard Fare. Though the Cunard Fare does give you $350 onboard credit. I'm just curious if the full Cunard fare other benefits are really worth it? i.e. guaranteed dining preference, free in port shuttles (there are only 4 ports on this cruise) and higher priority for cabin upgrades. Is it that likely that we would be upgraded?

 

Also, whats the thoughts on the drinks package? $70 per person per day just seems like an awful lot of money. We're not big drinkers and I'm guessing the seas may be rough at times on that route given the time of year.

 

Grateful if anyone would share their thoughts on the questions above.

Thanks

[exlondoner]

If Cunard are cunning, particularly if they know it is your honeymoon, they will upgrade you. Then you will be theirs forever. I think you have to be quite a keen drinker for the package to be worthwhile. If you like wine with your meal, it might be worth considering one of the wine collections. You can buy it on board with your obc.

[naturelovergirl]

I always book the Cunard Fare.

 

The drink package is not worth it for me. We pay as we go.

(FYI On Cunard you have a drink price limit with the drink package… and unlike some other lines where if a drink costs more you can pay the difference… if the drink costs more on Cunard than the package limit you pay for the drink.)

 

Enjoy your planning!!!

[bluemarble]

One benefit of the Cunard Fare which hasn't been mentioned is "Choice of stateroom number". Naturally there are differences of opinion on how important that is. For me, that's probably the most important attribute of the US Cunard Fare. I don't book the US equivalent of the UK Saver Fares (called "Our Lowest Fare") because it does not allow me to select a specific stateroom. Of course if you get an upgrade, the original choice of stateroom number becomes irrelevant. But I want to know exactly where we are going to be in lieu of an upgrade.

Edited February 12, 2023 by bluemarble

[TheOldBear]

I don't know how much of a benefit the 'free shuttle bus' actually is. In the ports where I have used the Cunard shuttle (Southampton, Hamburg, Trondheim) no one has looked for cruise cards.

[Host Hattie]

Where the port needs a shuttle to exit the docks it will be free of charge for all passengers. Otherwise cruise cards will be scanned and accounts charged if you're in the cheaper fare 

Congratulations on choosing Cunard for your honeymoon, we book both types of fares but usually only if the Saver is much cheaper.

[D&N]

At time of typing the onboard credit would make the Cunard fare $12.37 cheaper!

 

That's before you consider that you can choose a specific cabin away from noise sources or one without connecting doors, and choose guaranteed dining times etc. Then possible upgrades if you think you might like that. But be careful, check what the grades above might be, just in case the next grade up might take you to a part of the ship you wouldn't like.

 

I can't see why you would consider the saver fare.

 

We took the drinks package when it was $69/day/person. We certainly saved money at 6 to 8 alcoholic drinks per day plus coffees, teas, bottled water etc. You get a 20% discount on drinks over the $13 limit and bottles of wine.

Problem for us was lack of choice in wines, and ended up buying 3 bottles over 2 weeks as the wines by glass were unsuitable for some of our meals. For that reason, rather than value for money, we won't take the package again.

 

 

[ClaireRuss]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Much appreciated. I think we will just go with the Full fare as we are slightly "quids in" on that. 

As for the drinks package, I think we'll skip that but might consider one of the wine collections. 

Cheers for the tips 🙂

[lissie]

7 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Where the port needs a shuttle to exit the docks it will be free of charge for all passengers. Otherwise cruise cards will be scanned and accounts charged if you're in the cheaper fare 

 

In which ports is this?  I've never seen any scanning of cruise cards at any of our stops on QE and we've done 70 nights on her! 

[BigMac1953]

Before Covid struck, it became routine. Pax on "Saver" fares paid for shuttles that Cunard provided, usually into a town centre. Port provided shuttles were always free.

 

Had our cards scanned many times using the shuttles.

[lissie]

4 hours ago, BigMac1953 said:

Before Covid struck, it became routine. Pax on "Saver" fares paid for shuttles that Cunard provided, usually into a town centre. Port provided shuttles were always free.

 

Had our cards scanned many times using the shuttles.

Where though? I've done 70 nights on QE in Australia - USA trans Atlantic, Med, trans Indian - never had anything scanned 

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, lissie said:

Where though? I've done 70 nights on QE in Australia - USA trans Atlantic, Med, trans Indian - never had anything scanned 

I have at a number of European ports, though I can’t remember which.

[BigMac1953]

Madeira and the some of the ports in the Canaries and possibly Lisbon.

[Lakesregion]

20 hours ago, ClaireRuss said:

Hey folks

I'm looking at the 12 night Norway and Northern Lights cruise on the QV in November for our honeymoon. We've had a couple of cruises before on RC and NCL. We've chosen this QV cruise as we like the more formal approach for our honeymoon and we are also keen ballroom dancers (we're 48 and 54).

 

There is an early saver option at the moment which works out at £280 cheaper than the full Cunard Fare. Though the Cunard Fare does give you $350 onboard credit. I'm just curious if the full Cunard fare other benefits are really worth it? i.e. guaranteed dining preference, free in port shuttles (there are only 4 ports on this cruise) and higher priority for cabin upgrades. Is it that likely that we would be upgraded?

 

Also, whats the thoughts on the drinks package? $70 per person per day just seems like an awful lot of money. We're not big drinkers and I'm guessing the seas may be rough at times on that route given the time of year.

 

Grateful if anyone would share their thoughts on the questions above.

Thanks

If you are getting an OBC larger than the discount in fares then it should be a no brainer. Take the full fare. Plus it has some cancellation abilities that the discount fare does not.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Lakesregion
spelling

[Host Hattie]

11 hours ago, lissie said:

In which ports is this?  I've never seen any scanning of cruise cards at any of our stops on QE and we've done 70 nights on her! 

My memory isn't that good but it happens fairly regularly in Europe. 

[bluemarble]

11 hours ago, lissie said:

In which ports is this?  I've never seen any scanning of cruise cards at any of our stops on QE and we've done 70 nights on her! 

 

Southampton has been an example of this. It's been a few years since we've been there but Cunard offered a shuttle service into town with the drop off point near Westquay Shopping Centre. They scanned our cruise cards when we boarded the shuttle. We were told we might be charged for it but since we had booked the equivalent of a UK Cunard Fare, we were not charged.

[Anne001]

How do you know if they will be running shuttle buses? A couple of our ports are a distance from the town centre and we don’t fancy the excursions.

[Host Hattie]

There is usually a shuttle unless you are in the centre of the town. There used to be a list on the Cunard website but I can't find it now.

If you post your ports someone will probably know.

[sfred]

6 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

There used to be a list on the Cunard website but I can't find it now.

If you post your ports someone will probably know.

 

This is an old Cunard list of port shuttle arrangements, dating from 2015, but it is the only one I have.  Many ports probably haven't changed too much, and it is perhaps a good place to start..

 

 

Cunard Shuttle Information.pdf

[Host Hattie]

Thanks, that's the list I was thinking of. 

Shuttles were included in Valencia last year though so it's not totally reliable. 

[Anne001]

Thank you both. The list is exactly what we needed, especially as it covered Brisbane! 

[sfred]

In Brisbane, we have a new cruise terminal, enabling large ships to avoid using the grain terminal industrial pier on Fisherman Island.  The new terminal is located at Luggage Point on the north side of the Brisbane River.  It is a nice new facility, although it is still a ways away from the city.  Shuttles usually go to ANZAC square, about 30min.

Edited February 14, 2023 by sfred