The Grills Experience by Cunard

Cunard's Grills Experience represents a different kind of luxury cruise suite than its modern competitors. Rather than the resort amenities and activity buffets typical of mainstream lines, Cunard harks back to the tradition of formal ocean liners, where the centerpiece is the restaurant and the service is genuinely personalized. The Grills operate as a self-contained enclave within the ships, but the real product is the dining ritual itself: exclusive restaurants with set menus, reserved seating at the same table each evening, and staff who learn your preferences and remember them night after night.

The Grills divide into two tiers, each with its own restaurant and level of service. Queens Grill sits at the top. Suites here range from around 500 to 2,250 square feet depending on the ship and category, with the grandest being duplex-style apartments found only on Queen Mary 2. A personal butler comes with every Queens Grill suite, responsible for unpacking your luggage, pressing clothes, making reservations, and anticipating needs before you state them. The butler service ratio is the real distinction: one butler per suite household, which is dramatically higher than the typical "butler" programs on other ships where one or two people serve dozens of guests. Queens Grill suites also include a complimentary in-suite bar stocked with wine, Champagne, and spirits, plus welcome Champagne at embarkation. The suite bathrooms feature marble, premium toiletries, and robes; guests also receive priority tendering ashore and check-in at embarkation.

Princess Grill, the entry-level grill tier, trades the butler for a dedicated concierge-style steward assigned to your suite. Suites are smaller here, ranging from 300 to 510 square feet across the fleet, though still substantially larger than a standard balcony cabin. There is no complimentary bar (drinks are charged separately), though water is free. Princess Grill guests receive welcome Prosecco rather than Champagne. The steward service, while professional and attentive, is not at the personal butler level: the ship schedules them across multiple suites and they respond to requests rather than anticipating them. Nonetheless, concierge support is dedicated and responsive, handling spa bookings, shore excursions, and dining preferences.

Both tiers share access to the Grills Lounge and the outside Grills Terrace, private areas exclusive to Grill guests. These spaces are noticeably smaller than the sprawling pool decks on other mainstream ships, but they carry an uncluttered, sophisticated aesthetic and never feel crowded. The Grills Terrace offers ocean views without the deck-chair sprawl of the main sun areas; it suits quiet reading or small gatherings rather than beach-resort-style lounging.

The real heart of the Grills Experience is dining. Queens Grill offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily in an intimate restaurant with single seating (you dine at your reserved table each night, with the same companions). The menu is set; there is flexibility for special requests and allergies, but you cannot simply order à la carte from any dish in any category. This is by design, matching the precision of classical fine dining ashore: the kitchen plans each night's service as a coherent progression. Dinners typically feature three to four courses, styled as French-influenced formal dining with service courses between plates. The wine list leans toward premium bottles, reflecting the line's heritage. Breakfasts are full hot service with eggs-to-order. Lunch transitions between hot dishes and cold buffet options. Princess Grill operates similarly but offers dinner service only (breakfast and lunch are available elsewhere on the ship); it also follows set menus but with slightly less formal presentation. In-suite dining from both menus is available to either tier, served to your accommodation if you prefer privacy.

Compare this directly to the main dining room, Britannia Restaurant, which caters to the majority of passengers. Britannia features open seating or assigned times in a much larger venue, buffet-style breakfast service (though eggs are available made-to-order at a station), and à la carte lunch and dinner menus printed fresh each day. The restaurants operate on different philosophies: Britannia is volume-service hospitality; Grills are French-trained precision service. Whether you prefer one over the other is a matter of taste. For cruise passengers accustomed to buffets and casual dining, the multi-course formal dinners may feel slow or rigid. For those who value ceremony, sequence, and knowing that someone remembers how you take your coffee, Grills dining is the draw.

Cunard operates four ships, and the Grills Experience is available on all of them: Queen Mary 2 (the original transatlantic liner, the largest and oldest of the four), Queen Elizabeth (the newest and most recently refurbished), Queen Victoria, and Queen Anne. However, the suite configurations and counts vary considerably by ship. Queen Mary 2, the flagship, has the most generous Queens Grill inventory and the only duplex apartments in the fleet. Queen Anne, the newest, carries both Queens and Princess Grill suites but in different configurations than the older ships. A traveler considering a Grills booking should verify the specific ship and category, because a 500-square-foot Queens Grill on one ship may be entirely different in layout and location from a 500-square-foot suite on another.

The premium over a standard balcony cabin is substantial, typically running 2 to 3.5 times the base fare. On recent sailings, a standard balcony might cost $150–200 per night for a basic inside cabin, while a Princess Grill entry starts around $3,550 for a short cruise and Queens Grill suites run significantly higher. This pricing reflects more than just square footage: you are paying for the butler (on Queens), the exclusive dining, the concierge service, and the reservation system that prioritizes your needs. For a week-long sailing, the total premium can easily be $3,000–7,000 or more over a standard balcony.

This raises the honest question: for that premium, would you be better off booking a luxury all-inclusive line instead? Celebrity Cruises and other upmarket operators offer dedicated butler service at lower per-night costs, plus shore excursions and gratuities included. Disney Cruise Line's Concierge Suites cost less and offer more onboard amenities (theater shows, character meet-and-greets) and better suite-to-ship ratios. The trade-off is that Cunard delivers a fundamentally different experience: it is not a modern resort at sea with butler add-ons, but a formal dining ship where the suite service is secondary to the restaurant philosophy. If you want the ritual of formal dining, the quiet lounge, and the personal attention of a butler who knows your name, Cunard's Grills justify the cost. If you want amenities maximization (specialty restaurants, unlimited drinks, included excursions), Cunard may disappoint because those are not the focus.

Cunard's Grills Experience suits travelers who value formality, tradition, and personalized dining over activity variety. It appeals to repeat cruisers on other lines who want to try something different, to transatlantic crossing enthusiasts (Queen Mary 2 holds this market), and to those who enjoy dressing for dinner and prefer a predictable dining schedule. It is a strong offering within the Cunard brand, but it is a niche product: mainstream cruise lines are built around buffets, casual dress codes, and abundant onboard activities, none of which define the Grills. Those travelers are better served by suites on MSC, Royal Caribbean, or Norwegian; Cunard Grills are for a specific traveler willing to pay premium prices for the ritual of ocean liner hospitality.