e&mcruise Posted July 19 #1 Share Posted July 19 If two people in the same cabin book a non alcoholic drinks package, if one of them likes a glass of wine with dinner is there any discount as with drinks above $13.50 or bottles of wine being discounted on the alcohol package? Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 19 #2 Share Posted July 19 I believe not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted July 19 #3 Share Posted July 19 (edited) No, and you would have to be a heavy consumer of soft drinks to get value out of them. These packages are net earners for Cunard, hence their promotion. The hot drinks package needs you to be drinking 5 coffees a day on top of breakfast, lunch and dinner coffees, and the coffee in your stateroom/suite. The one partial exception is that on the soft drinks and premium soft drinks packages, if your mixer is from the fountain / draught, then that's discounted out. So a G&T with fountain tonic would be just the gin price. On the premium package then the Fentimans tonic (etc) isn't charged. Edited July 19 by Pushpit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e&mcruise Posted July 21 Author #4 Share Posted July 21 Thanks everyone. We can't buy one non-alcoholic package and one alcoholic package either can we? Just seems very unfair that if you are a non drinker & drinker in the one cabin there isn't a way to solve the conundrum. What if one person is sober? Just don't understand the requirement for both people in the cabin to have the same package when you still have to present your card for drinks anyway when you go to the bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted July 21 #5 Share Posted July 21 You are correct everyone has to have the same package. I think similar rules apply on most cruise lines. Drinks packages are big revenue earners for all cruise lines and they are not looking for ways to minimise this revenue making opportunity. If only one person drinks alcohol most people find pay as you go more financially viable. However unfair it seems I don’t think it’s a requirement that will go away any time soon. Anecdotally I have heard of people supplying supporting medical confirmation from a doctor that one person can’t drink alcohol but that in itself would cost so probably not worth the hassle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadge Posted July 21 #6 Share Posted July 21 3 hours ago, e&mcruise said: Thanks everyone. We can't buy one non-alcoholic package and one alcoholic package either can we? Just seems very unfair that if you are a non drinker & drinker in the one cabin there isn't a way to solve the conundrum. What if one person is sober? Just don't understand the requirement for both people in the cabin to have the same package when you still have to present your card for drinks anyway when you go to the bar. It's like that on nearly all the cruise lines these days. Obviously, far too many people in the past (on all lines, not just Cunard) have taken advantage of just the one person in a cabin buying a drinks package and then procuring "free drinks" for other people. This requirement stops that. I too suffer from this rule on Cunard, as The package is well worth it for me but not for my wife who may only have 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks and the rest of the time drinks tap water. As it happens, on my one Royal Caribbean cruise I called US customer support and very easily got "permission" to purchase just one beverage package after explaining that my wife hardly drinks. Obviously, I paid for any drinks that my wife did consume. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e&mcruise Posted July 21 Author #7 Share Posted July 21 In this day and age of accomodating everyone's peccadilloes, as mentioned you have to provide your ship card to get any type of drink on a package so why they insist on the 'twofer' concept as opposed to individual requirements I just don't get. 😞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 21 #8 Share Posted July 21 5 minutes ago, e&mcruise said: In this day and age of accomodating everyone's peccadilloes, as mentioned you have to provide your ship card to get any type of drink on a package so why they insist on the 'twofer' concept as opposed to individual requirements I just don't get. 😞 Basically - abuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted July 21 #9 Share Posted July 21 1 minute ago, david63 said: Basically - abuse Please elucidate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e&mcruise Posted July 21 Author #10 Share Posted July 21 9 minutes ago, david63 said: Basically - abuse sorry but not sure what you mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 21 #11 Share Posted July 21 7 minutes ago, exlondoner said: Please elucidate. Two passengers in a cabin, one drinks package, drinks shared Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e&mcruise Posted July 21 Author #12 Share Posted July 21 As you have to present your cruise card to get drinks on a package it would be nice if Cunard treated their Guests as adults not thieves in your suggested concept of abuse. Just like they have "flexible" rules for bringing something onboard by way of a bottle of alcohol it would be nice if they didn't treat us like criminals who will abuse the system in terms of drinks packages too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted July 21 #13 Share Posted July 21 13 minutes ago, david63 said: Two passengers in a cabin, one drinks package, drinks shared I thought you might mean abuse of staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 21 #14 Share Posted July 21 13 minutes ago, e&mcruise said: it would be nice if they didn't treat us like criminals who will abuse the system in terms of drinks packages It would but, unfortunately, there are those who will, and do, abuse these things and how does the cruise line differentiate the abusers from the non abusers? Social media does not help as those who abuse the rules then brag about, telling others how to "get round the rules" which results in the honest being penalised. At the end of the day whether any of us agree with it or not it is their cruise line therefore their rules. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted July 21 #15 Share Posted July 21 50 minutes ago, e&mcruise said: In this day and age of accomodating everyone's peccadilloes, as mentioned you have to provide your ship card to get any type of drink on a package so why they insist on the 'twofer' concept as opposed to individual requirements I just don't get. 😞 As a shareholder I like these packages, but as a consumer I'm very much aware that they are not bargains. On the Beers, Wines and Spirits option you will be drinking something like twice the UK average adult alcohol consumption - so 5 units each and every day - to make it pay. So in many cases I doubt the consumer is missing out by not buying a package. They are marketed for Cunard's benefit, not the customers, and you can see that in other cruise line companies where packages can be a lot cheaper as part of some marketing initiative, Fred. Olsen 10 day alcohol offer is about £25 compared to Cunard's $67, and FOCL will give special offers even on that price. But from my understanding, though this can't be done remotely, once on board the purser's desk is receptive to separate packages, so long as there is some evidence that abuse won't happen. The obvious one is a parent and child sharing a stateroom, there is no way that a 12 year old can drink alcohol at the ship's bars, so there wouldn't be an issue in having separate packages there. I've also heard of medical certificates being successfully deployed at the purser's desk. It's probably impossible to resolve a fairly common scenario where one person likes 1 or 2 drinks a night, the other person in the couple likes much more than that and Cunar's position would be that they would be cannibalising the revenue of the first person if the second person had a single package. Nevertheless that may be the halfway house - don't do it online, try to get the packages you want via the purser's desk once onboard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell Boy Posted July 21 #16 Share Posted July 21 42 minutes ago, e&mcruise said: As you have to present your cruise card to get drinks on a package it would be nice if Cunard treated their Guests as adults not thieves in your suggested concept of abuse. Just like they have "flexible" rules for bringing something onboard by way of a bottle of alcohol it would be nice if they didn't treat us like criminals who will abuse the system in terms of drinks packages too. But folks DON'T have to present separate key cards - It doesn't 'Always' work like that. I've often sat with couples both who I assume are on the drinks package , often the waiter will just nod and accept one card , Ok, possibly he/she may already be aware that both have the package, However, on the other hand I've also witnessed some 'unscrupulous folk' ( mainly in the late night venues - Yacht club etc) boldly ordering drinks from their package card and handing them over to their newly found guest friends . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadge Posted July 22 #17 Share Posted July 22 21 hours ago, Pushpit said: As a shareholder I like these packages, but as a consumer I'm very much aware that they are not bargains. On the Beers, Wines and Spirits option you will be drinking something like twice the UK average adult alcohol consumption - so 5 units each and every day - to make it pay. So in many cases I doubt the consumer is missing out by not buying a package. In my case I would have no problem getting my money's worth with a package, bearing in mind that I also enjoy speciality coffees, soft drinks, hot chocolate, soda water, beer etc throughout the day, wine with a meal, as well as easily having 3 or 4 whiskies/cocktails of an evening. I have absolutely no interest in the UK average. The "problem" is my wife 😄. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 22 #18 Share Posted July 22 46 minutes ago, nadge said: The "problem" is my wife 😄. I could comment but I would run the risk of being banned🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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