Onescoop

They might be referring to the overarching tax regime of running a business in the UK but wine duty and VAT are applied in the same way to wine produced here or imported. I think this is also a bit of an ESW marketing technique to justify pretty high prices.

Pickerings Gin is the more easily available gin from the distillery (Summerhall in Edinburgh) that makes Cunard and they’re all very nice. The Navy strength and standard gins are really solid for a G&T.

We went from Mayflower in Feb and all six of us got through with our pre-supplied photos. We followed the guidance on the pics exactly (bright, white background etc), so not sure if that helped.

And by sea you could drive Southampton to Portsmouth, ferry to Cherbourg, then ferry to Dublin. I imagine that would be significantly less efficient though!

Forgot to take any photos from my trip in May but, looking at the QE-QV-QA list, the drinks package wines are pretty much the same. IIRC the Pinot Noir, Merlot and Californian Riesling were all pretty solid. The Sauternes was surprisingly decent too.

The other great thing about the package is you can try (nearly) all of the drinks without feeling too much guilt if you aren't keen on one. I think we managed work our way through every $13.50 and below cocktail on the various menus in four days, which was a lot of fun.

The waiters/bartenders will bring you a sparkling (or still) water with your drink if you ask them. I also found, although I think the package says small waters, they'll generally give you a big bottle if you ask. Especially if it's a couple of you or a larger group. I don't know if it changes but we mostly got Harrogate Spring, with the occasional San Pellegrino.

Thanks @rakkor and @Jim_Iain - both really helpful answers.

Thanks, that's helpful to know. Sounds like we may as well wait it out and see if prices come down later then. The current OBC offer doesn't seem all that amazing to actually book right now. I see that this year's equivalent cruise is quite substantially cheaper than the 2025 one.

Hi everyone, Recently did our first Cunard cruise on QM2 to Hamburg and back. Naturally the 'new passenger development' cruise worked and now looking to book another! We're looking at V521 next year, which is the Barcelona > Citavecchia, 18 Aug - 1 Sep cruise via Italy and the Adriatic on QV. Thinking of booking now as there's an OBC and champagne breakfast offer but I have a few questions, which I can't quite find an answer to: - Does anyone know if the Barcelona sales tax is applied to drinks package purchases on embarkation? We'd use the OBC to pay a decent chunk of one drinks package, but this is much less attractive if we have to pay the onboard purchase premium and sales tax too. - Do Cunard cruises ever get cheaper? The price for a Britannia Balcony has increased by about £500 in the last week, so not sure whether to hold off and see if there's a sale. It appears that the rooms we want are selling out though. It's at the limit of our budget now, so don't want to wait much longer if prices are only going upwards. - Is there anything in particular to bear in mind about QV vs QM2? We're looking at a Forward balcony on the 8th floor as we had similar on QM2 and enjoyed that location. Thanks in advance!

Does anyone know what wines are currently included in the package? I see there are menus on the Cunard site but they mostly list 150ml, which sounds like it is no longer the serving size? On QM2 with family next weekend for first time and trying to work out what we are getting with the drinks package!