Beef Wellington being served in the Queens Grill Restaurant on board Queen Victoria

On board with Cunard New to cruising Food and drink

Cunard On Board Dining System Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Dining on a Cunard Queen

So many culinary experiences await you on a Cunard cruise, from fine dining and pub fare to our renowned Afternoon Tea. This guide will help you to navigate the breadth of options available – and how to book (if applicable) – so you never miss a culinary moment on board your chosen ship.

5 min 08 Apr 2025

Main Dining: Your go-to for Complimentary Fine Dining

Complimentary on Board Dining Options

Alternative Dining

Gala Evening Dining

Dietary Requirements and Allergies

Dining on The Cunard Fare versus Saver Fares

Set Dining Versus Freedom Dining

Frequently Asked Questions about our Dining System

Main Dining: Your go-to for Complimentary Fine Dining

There are four main dining rooms on board each of our Queens: the Britannia restaurant, the Britannia Club restaurant, the Princess Grill restaurant, and the Queens Grill restaurant.

Each of these dining rooms corresponds to an accommodation grade on board our ships, so if you book a Britannia Stateroom your main dining room will be the Britannia restaurant, and so on.

Britannia Club, Princess Grill and Queens Grill guests

If you’re staying in one of our Britannia Club, Princess Grill, or Queens Grill suites, you’ll benefit from a dedicated table in your main dining room for the duration of your voyage. This gives you the flexibility to dine at your leisure, without pre-booking or joining a virtual queue. For these restaurants, you can simply turn-up at any time during opening hours and you’ll be guided straight to your table by your friendly Maître d’.

Britannia Staterooms guests

If you’re staying in our Britannia staterooms, you’ll still have flexibility around when you dine, just without the guarantee of the same table on each visit. Rest assured, there’s plenty of space for everyone – our Britannia dining room is the largest on each of our ships. Dining here gives you the choice of an early or late seating, or you could keep things flexible by opting for open dining and just joining a virtual queue when you’re ready to eat. Alternatively, you can pre-reserve a table at selected times, either by logging in to our My Voyage digital planner or speaking to your restaurant Maître d’ on the day of embarkation.

Complimentary On Board Dining Options

Whether you’re in the mood for a four-course meal or just a late night snack, you’ll find it on our ships. So much of your on board dining is included in your cruise fare. Breakfast in bed. Afternoon Tea. 24 hour room service. It’s all part of the price you pay for your holiday when you sail with us. You’ll also be free to indulge in complimentary fine dining at your main restaurant each day, refined pub fare at the Golden Lion, and an ever-changing line-up of hot and cold dishes at your ship’s buffet. Much of our inclusive dining isn’t pre-bookable, so it’s simply a case of first come, first served. Venues like the Golden Lion pub tend to fill up fast, so it’s always a good idea to arrive a little early to guarantee a table.

Room Service and Breakfast in Bed

No matter which of our on board accommodation types you choose for your cruise holiday – be it an inside stateroom or one of our luxury suites – you’ll benefit from the opportunity to order 24 hour complimentary room service throughout your stay.

You’ll find the room service menu in your suite or stateroom, with details of each dish and how to place an order. We also offer a complimentary breakfast in bed menu as standard, which includes a choice of continental or cooked breakfast favourites.

Breakfast in bed is orderable by completing your order card the night before and hanging it outside your door. Your breakfast will be delivered to your room at the time you selected on your card, so you can enjoy a little extra time to sleep in, while our chefs get to work preparing your order.

Alternative Dining

In addition to our complimentary dining venues, each of our ships also offers a choice of alternative dining experiences, bookable on board and before you set sail. These range from our steakhouse and seafood restaurant, The Verandah – available on Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth – to Aji Wa, Queen Anne’s Japanese-inspired Omakase restaurant and sushi bar. Some of these dining experiences carry a cover-charge, while others can be booked with a deposit, redeemed against your final bill.

Alternative dining experiences booked in My Cunard before sailing are subject to a 10% discount, compared to booking on board. Booking in advance also gives you a greater chance of securing a table at your chosen restaurant(s) on the day and time of your choice.

Gala Evening Dining

On at least one night of your Cunard cruise, we’ll throw a spectacular Gala Evening celebration, where we invite you to dress-up in your finest eveningwear for a special night of food, music, and entertainment. On these nights, your main dining room will serve a celebratory Gala Evening menu, offering you the chance to enjoy a feast of up to five courses, complete with amuse-bouche and petit fours. Just like all meals in your main dining room, our Gala Evening menu is automatically included as part of your cruise fare, so there’s nothing extra to pay for this experience. For guests of our Queens Grill Suites, the Gala Evening menu has been designed by two Michelin starred chef, Michel Roux, adding yet another wonderful culinary dimension to your holiday.

Dietary Requirements and Allergies

We appreciate that dining is a big part of your holiday, so we offer specially prepared dishes to accommodate a wide range of dietary requirements. Vegan and vegetarian options are offered as standard at all our on board venues. You only need notify us of these dietary preferences if you’re travelling on a fly-cruise. For food intolerances or diets such as halal, we ask that you notify us at the time of booking, or at least ten weeks’ before you sail. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate dietary requirements with less than ten weeks’ prior notice, so if you have a special diet or food intolerance we advise you to speak to our customer contact centre before booking your cruise.

Dining on The Cunard Fare versus Saver Fares

We offer three different fare types on our voyages, each of which comes with slightly different booking conditions. The most flexible of these fare types is The Cunard Fare. If you choose this fare, you’ll have the flexibility to request a table size of your choosing in your main dining room, together with receiving other benefits, such as on board spend to use on your ship. If you opt for our Late Saver Fare, you’ll have to pay the full balance of your holiday at the time of booking, and your stateroom and dining time will be allocated for you. For Early Saver Fares, you can give your dining preference in My Cunard in advance of sailing, and this will be confirmed once on board.

A group of guests enjoying Alternative Dining in the Lido on board a Cunard Queen

Set Dining Versus Freedom Dining

Whether you prefer to eat early or late, you’ll be accommodated on board our ships. Our Britannia Club, Princess Grill, and Queens Grill restaurants, all offer freedom dining, so you can simply turn up when you’re hungry (during the restaurant’s respective opening times) and be guided straight to your table.

In our Britannia restaurant, you can choose an early (6pm) or a late (8:30pm) set dining time, or you can choose freedom dining and keep things more flexible. If you choose freedom dining, you’ll need to have a mobile-enabled device so you can join a virtual queue in My Voyage. When you’re ready to dine, simply select the Britannia restaurant and the ‘Join a Virtual Queue’ option. When your table is ready, the restaurant will notify you and ask you to confirm that you are ‘on your way’. You’ll then have a 15-minute grace period to get to the restaurant, where you’ll be guided straight to your table.

Guests dressed for a Gala Evening on Queen Mary 2

We hope this guide has provided you with all the information you need to dine in style and comfort on board our ships. Should you wish to find out even more about any of the topics we’ve covered, we recommend taking a look at our web pages on Dining, Gala Evening, and sailing with Dietary Requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions about our Dining System

How do I book alternative dining for my cruise?

You can book alternative dining in My Cunard before sailing. This will give you the greatest chance of securing a table at your chosen restaurant at a time of your choosing. You’ll also save 10% on the cover charge, compared to when you book on board.

If you prefer to wait until you’re on board to book your dining, you can book in one of three ways: log-in to the My Voyage app and book your alternative dining directly on your device, visit the restaurant in person, or call our reservations hotline on 38000.

Please note: alternative dining on board our ships books up quickly, so we recommend pre-booking in My Cunard to avoid any disappointment.

How do I join a virtual queue on board?

To join a virtual queue on our ships you will need to connect to the Cunard Guest Wi-Fi using an internet-enabled electronic device such as a tablet or a smartphone.

You will also need the last six digits of your cruise card (the long number that appears beneath the barcode).

Restaurants that are open for virtual queuing will appear in the ‘dining’ section of your My Voyage portal. Simply select the restaurant you would like to queue at and then select ‘join a virtual queue’. Once in a virtual queue you will need to keep My Voyage open on your device to receive your notification from the restaurant telling you when your table is ready.

Can I pre-book a table at the Britannia restaurant?

Yes, if you would prefer to book your table at the Britannia restaurant in advance, rather than join a virtual queue, you can do so in My Voyage, by calling the reservation hotline on 38000 (once on board), or by visiting the restaurant in person. Reservations at the Britannia restaurant are only taken at selected times. To avoid disappointment, we recommend making your enquiries as soon as possible on the day of embarkation.

We’re sailing with friends on board – can we dine together?

If you know other guests sailing on the same voyage, and you would like to dine together, please give our Customer Contact Centre a call to request for your voyages to be ‘linked’.

You will all need to be travelling in the same accommodation grade in order to dine together in your main restaurant. If you are in a Britannia Stateroom and your friends have booked a Princess Grill Suite, it will not be possible for you to dine together in the same main restaurant. You can, however, still dine together in many other areas of the ship, such as any of our alternative dining restaurants, your ship’s buffet, or the Golden Lion (lunch only).