Coffee Question

[napria]

I’m confused about whether there’s coffee in cabins.  I’ve watched videos and it looks like there’s only an electric kettle and tea.  If I don’t get a drinks package, what are my options? I don’t need Illy, but I do need my morning coffee.  Is there any I can get without paying extra?

 

Thanks in advance.

[jrmende63]

I havre seen the coffee packets in photos of regular rooms  to use with the electric kettle. I believe the club balconies, PG, and QG have coffee machines.

I am planning to take Folgers coffee bags to use in my cabin. 

[JT1101]

They have both coffee and (of course) tea. Also sugar and creme and so on. 

[Host Hattie]

You can also order via room service 

[rhiannon84]

It's just Nescafe instant sachets in Britannia, so I order coffee via the breakfast room service card (free) as my 'alarm clock', with the plan of eating breakfast in the restaurant or off ship afterwards. You can get a coffee/juice for free with any room service food delivery. 

[Pushpit]

I must admit I bring a small tin of my own coffee since (a) the Nescafé Original brand used is the bottom of the barrel brand and (b) if it's not Nescafé it's Douwe Egbets, which is somewhat better but just not me. 

 

The Lakeland sticks were replaced by a 100ml UHT carton marked Devondale on last week's QM2, that's an Australian brand, but I was nowhere near Oz! Anyway this is what is replenished in the stateroom and if necessary have a word with your steward to ensure the relevant supplies are topped up.

 

Room service has been mentioned, that comes in a coffee pot so you'll get several cups out of that.

 

Your other options are at meal times in all the restaurants. The Lido / Artisans' Foodhall / Kings Court has a coffee machine permanently switched on and so you can self serve there and carry a mug off with you, perfectly acceptable to do that. The serving size isn't right to the brim. On QM2 there is a coffee machine facing into Connexions 4 and 5 on deck 2.  Grills passengers get premium coffee in their lounge. Premium coffee (such as espresso) is available at meal times but it comes from a general coffee machine rather than via specialist equipment.

[Pushpit]

24 minutes ago, rhiannon84 said:

It's just Nescafe instant sachets in Britannia, so I order coffee via the breakfast room service card (free) as my 'alarm clock', with the plan of eating breakfast in the restaurant or off ship afterwards. You can get a coffee/juice for free with any room service food delivery. 

I'm not sure that's my experience in Britannia. If you are on a large table with a mix of people asking for different teas and coffee, in Britannia they will bring you a large pot of hot water and a selection of sachets, but you normally have to ask for that. Otherwise the Britannia coffee is from freshly ground beans via these 2 machines, it fills up a pot of coffee very quickly and the wait staff then decant this coffee into the cups over several tables (particularly at breakfast) or do a small pot if it's quiet and place that on the relevant table. The machine on the right does espresso, lattés etc, the one on the left a bulk coffee and hot water. The bulk coffee is essentially an Americano coffee.

 

 

 

[Host Hattie]

I think @rhiannon84 meant the instant sachets in Britannia cabins not in the restaurant. 

[exlondoner]

Milk sachets in our cabin are currently Lakeland, if it makes a difference.

[Millieloulou]

We always ask our very kind steward to bring a carton of milk which we keep in the fridge.Cannot stand the little sachets that always tear in the wrong place or go everywhere.Tea is a ritual at 7am where ever we are in the world.

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, Millieloulou said:

We always ask our very kind steward to bring a carton of milk which we keep in the fridge.Cannot stand the little sachets that always tear in the wrong place or go everywhere.Tea is a ritual at 7am where ever we are in the world.

These aren’t quite as bad as the ones they used to have on South Western trains, where I always ended up squirting the person diagonally opposite me on the other side of the aisle. Alas, SWT ultimately solved that problem by abolishing catering altogether.

[napria]

You all have a wealth of information.  Thank you so much!

 

In the picture Pushpit posted, are those machines the ones that are available to me 24/7? Or are they only for the waiters to use?

 

Oh and yes, I’m Britannia class.  We booked a sheltered balcony on deck 5.  

[Mudhen]

While we're on the subject of coffee....

We have the "drink package".....we've never used Sir Samuels for coffee or anything, for that matter (QM2). Can we get coffee or anything else in there for no up charge?

[TheOldBear]

1 hour ago, Mudhen said:

While we're on the subject of coffee....

We have the "drink package".....we've never used Sir Samuels for coffee or anything, for that matter (QM2). Can we get coffee or anything else in there for no up charge?

I think the full drinks package includes the specialty coffee package - applies to Sir Samual's, Carthinia and other venues.

[Liberal_Baggie]

6 hours ago, Millieloulou said:

We always ask our very kind steward to bring a carton of milk which we keep in the fridge.Cannot stand the little sachets that always tear in the wrong place or go everywhere.Tea is a ritual at 7am where ever we are in the world.

We also ask ours for a carton of Oat milk for the fridge.

[Pushpit]

4 hours ago, napria said:

You all have a wealth of information.  Thank you so much!

 

In the picture Pushpit posted, are those machines the ones that are available to me 24/7? Or are they only for the waiters to use?

 

Oh and yes, I’m Britannia class.  We booked a sheltered balcony on deck 5.  

I hope that you have a good time on deck 5, they are probably a bit better than the deck 6 sheltereds since there can be some noise from promenade deck 7, depending on position and the weather.

 

Those machines in the earlier photo are used by the waiters in the Britannia restaurant, so only during meal times.

 

The machines in the Lido and Kings Court look like these below, on the left, and they deliver a three quarter mug of coffee on a simple button push - these are always available (not sure about the early hours, I'm not that determined to check this...). I imagine on QA Artisans' Foodhall will be the same but my first trip is a few weeks off yet. 

 

 

==

For the record this is the Princess Grill version, which includes the Illy capsules for the Illy machines in the Grill suites, which cause so much amusement and hardwork for such little reward.

 

 

 

[Pushpit]

4 hours ago, Mudhen said:

While we're on the subject of coffee....

We have the "drink package".....we've never used Sir Samuels for coffee or anything, for that matter (QM2). Can we get coffee or anything else in there for no up charge?

 

2 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

I think the full drinks package includes the specialty coffee package - applies to Sir Samual's, Carthinia and other venues.

 

And Commodore is the other big venue that has the premium coffee service. They can get it for you in the Chart Room and Golden Lion too. Carinthia is, in my view, the best venue for coffee and does a slightly bigger range than the other locations. 

[napria]

I wanted to be low, center and stable. I read about the sheltered balconies and decided that might be just the thing. When I saw that deck 5 had guest cabins above and below I figured it was my best bet.  Fingers crossed for a pleasant experience.  We’re booked in a similar cabin on deck 5 for two years from now for a TA crossing.  I’m hoping that the weather will cooperate (July), the ship will be stable and all in all I’ll have a better experience than my last two cruises.

 

We also decided that it probably won’t pay for us to get a drinks package.  We typically drink coffee (me) and green tea (husband) for breakfast, water throughout the day and at lunch, and water or a glass of wine each for dinner. I guess in this respect we’re awfully dull.

 

Thanks for the pictures.  They’re very helpful.

Edited May 22 by napria
Clarification

[Pushpit]

13 minutes ago, napria said:

I wanted to be low, center and stable.

On QM2 you will be fine. On the basis that this is your first QM2, if you get a patch of bad weather (Force 8 or above) I hope you go up to the Atlantic Room on deck 11, or the Commodore Club on deck 9, and see just how stable she is. Those should be the most rocky locations but I suspect you will not notice much more than in your stateroom.

[TheOldBear]

We've had six crossings so far [three round trips] booking category BU or BV rooms on deck 5.

All the crossings were enjoyable - even when you could observe waves washing over the windows in the Golden Lion [deck 2] or promenade access restricted due to 'force 11' winds.

 

We also feel that the drink package does not represent a good value - I think for our 26 night sailing in 2022 we spent less that $300 total [soda, wine by the bottle, a few fancy coffee drinks]. 

[rhiannon84]

9 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I think @rhiannon84 meant the instant sachets in Britannia cabins not in the restaurant. 

Yup! Sorry it wasn’t clear. Coffee in the restaurant is good 

[DMac1983]

Going on the QM2 for our first Cunard experience on the Canada Day/July 4th jaunt up the east coast. My wife enjoys a good coffee with some of that coconut flavor pumps they have in the shops. Would these types of flavors be available at any of the venues listed above? I haven't been able to find that uniquely specific information anywhere. 

[Jim_P]

I take my own coffee on board for my cabin. I dont like the stuff they have in the sachets. The room service coffee isnt great either (but the hot chocolate is amazing!). To get a good coffee you need to go to Sir Samuels or the Corinthia lounge. They do takeaway cups too.

2 hours ago, DMac1983 said:

My wife enjoys a good coffee with some of that coconut flavor pumps they have in the shops. Would these types of flavors be available at any of the venues listed above? I haven't been able to find that uniquely specific information anywhere. 

You can ask for caramel, vanilla, almond and gingerbread flavor to be added to your coffee in the  lounges. I dont know about coconut. Its not on the menu, but that doesnt mean they dont have it if you ask. 

Edited May 23 by Jim_P

[NE John]

20 hours ago, Pushpit said:

 

 

And Commodore is the other big venue that has the premium coffee service. They can get it for you in the Chart Room and Golden Lion too. Carinthia is, in my view, the best venue for coffee and does a slightly bigger range than the other locations. 

Don’t forget the excellent deluxe hot chocolate service too offered in various venues around the ship. Not the hot chocolate in the buffet area - the real stuff with little marshmallows on top. 

[BklynBoy8]

4 hours ago, NE John said:

Don’t forget the excellent deluxe hot chocolate service too offered in various venues around the ship. Not the hot chocolate in the buffet area - the real stuff with little marshmallows on top. 

 

I had the HC in the Golden Lion and it was great. Had it during BINGO. Extra surcharge but worth it.

 

And the one in Kings Court is very good. Got it when we got home from Amazon and now our HC for the house. Comes in good size bottles, not like the packages in KC.