Hello!...and wine package question...

Firstly, hello one and all!

I've been doing a bit of 'lurking' on thus fantastic site since booking our first cruise for later this year (Brittania Fjords). It's been really enlightening!

I suppose it is only right that my first question is wine related! Hubby and I like a glass of red - at dinner, or before....or after.. Anyway, we have been considering a wine package but can't seem to find any info anywhere about where/how you access the wine once on board. For example, could we get a bottle from our package at an on board bar or pub? Is it only restaurants? Cabin? Hard to find out from the P and O website so was hoping to find another wine lover on here who might be able to help.

Thank you in advance :) happy cruising!

:cool:

Firstly, hello one and all!

 

 

 

I've been doing a bit of 'lurking' on thus fantastic site since booking our first cruise for later this year (Brittania Fjords). It's been really enlightening!

 

 

 

I suppose it is only right that my first question is wine related! Hubby and I like a glass of red - at dinner, or before....or after.. Anyway, we have been considering a wine package but can't seem to find any info anywhere about where/how you access the wine once on board. For example, could we get a bottle from our package at an on board bar or pub? Is it only restaurants? Cabin? Hard to find out from the P and O website so was hoping to find another wine lover on here who might be able to help.

 

 

 

Thank you in advance :) happy cruising!

 

 

 

:cool:

The wine package is obtained in the dining room. You cannot use it in bars. I think you can use it also in alternate dining areas. Of course you can take your half full bottle from the dining room to be consumed elsewhere on the ship.

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The wine packages are a waste of time and a bit of a con.

Although they claim a saving for the majority of the bottles in the collection the saving is only 5% so it is not worth committing yourself to buying a specific number of bottles (and bottles from a limited range) for that insignificant saving

We don’t often bother with the package. There is a small saving but a little bit of additional hassle (like remembering to take your voucher booklet, etc)

The wine is reasonably priced, IMO, and P&O don’t skin you on glasses v bottles, so you can enjoy tasting lots of different wines till you find your favourite!

Hello and welcome.

We don’t bother with the wine packages either. The wine is a reasonable price by the glass or the bottle and the range pretty good.

In the Glass House they do wine flights so you get 3 small glasses across a range to see what you like / don’t like. We usually try these out at lunch on the first day to see what wines we then want to buy in a bigger measure or by the bottle.

They also do a really informative wine tasting session, usually paired with small snacks of appropriate food. If you are interested then book up quick as places are limited, ask one of the waiters at the Glass House which sea day it is on. Very reasonable, if I remember correctly oabout £15 pp.

There are also wine pairing diners which vary in price depending on the food and wines they are serving but again very good value compared to a meal out at home and the speakers are knowlegable. It makes a very pleasant evening out. Again they tend to book up quickly.

Have a wonderful cruise.

Really helpful answers, thank you!

It sounds as though the consensus is not to bother with the package and taste and see once on board - good advice which we will use.

I'll also have a look into the taster evening and glass house offers.

Very exciting stuff for our first cruise!

Thank you 😎

Beware - cruising is a very expensive addiction!

Enjoy Britannia; enjoy the fiords.

I would highly recommend the Glass House food and wine pairing dinner. My husband booked it as a treat for us last year on Aurora and it was wonderful. The only disappointment was the petit fours that accompanied the coffee. All of the people who were dining with us agreed and left them. The head waiter asked about this and we all said that they had an unpleasant taste and texture - nothing like the description on the menu (involved strawberries and white chocolate). Didn't matter because despite having skipped lunch I was so full I couldn't have eaten them anyway.

Hi, we had the wine package the last P&O Cruise we were on, there are some good points and bad points. No problem in the dining rooms slight problem at the bars though, we asked the bar staff and they did pull a bit of a face and said he would have to go and get the wine from the cellars. (So)

We would then take the wine to dinner. So it really depends on the savings. I would do it again as it saves on the bill at the end.

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I would agree that the wine packages are pointless. A small saving but you can only choose from a very limited range.

If you don’t finish a bottle, the wine waiter will save it for your next visit (we really like this as we rarely drink a full bottle each meal). If you are dining in a Select Dining restaurant they are quite happy to collect part bottles from the main dining room for you.

We are great fans of the Glasshouse. Lovely for lunch as rarely busy (other than on Britannia where it’s busy and service is slow). Another vote for the Tasting dinner. Well worth the supplement.

As for wine flights, sadly the new Glasshouse menus have got rid of the vast majority of them. Just a few left of relatively uninspiring ones. Great shame as we really enjoyed them.

Things must have changed. We have always have the wine package. We were on the world cruise in 2015 and someone we met on there also had the wine package. He would have a pre-dinner drink from a bottle in his wine package in the Crow's Nest and there was no problem at all in doing that. Our next cruise is on Cunard but we are booked on the Aurora in January next year. I very much enjoyed the wine flights in the Glasshouse I'm sorry to hear they have got rid of the vast majority.:(

Disagree Sorry!

I have the commodores wine package, it has the french wines that we choose to drink.

The wine waiter holds onto my wine coupons and presents one for signature each evening, at which time I tell him what wine I want for the following evening.

So when I arrive at my table each evening my wine is already there.

On the first evening I go down to the restaurant before service, and set this up

And I save 5% on what I would have chosen and drunk anyway.

Suits me.

Disagree Sorry!

 

I have the commodores wine package, it has the french wines that we choose to drink.

 

The wine waiter holds onto my wine coupons and presents one for signature each evening, at which time I tell him what wine I want for the following evening.

 

So when I arrive at my table each evening my wine is already there.

 

On the first evening I go down to the restaurant before service, and set this up

 

And I save 5% on what I would have chosen and drunk anyway.

 

Suits me.

I can see that, if you go Club Dining, this could work very well, especially if the wines you like are all within the package. As you say, an easy 5% saving. We do Freedom Dining and like a number of wines that aren’t included, so it doesn’t work for us, sadly. Hope you are both well?

Selbourne

Like most threads on here, its Horses for Courses.

The decision is, what is most advantageous for yourselves.

Just cannot understand how we are being conned!

Personal choices.

We are fine within the bounds, trust that the same applies to yourselves.

I would agree that the wine packages are pointless. A small saving but you can only choose from a very limited range.

 

If you don’t finish a bottle, the wine waiter will save it for your next visit (we really like this as we rarely drink a full bottle each meal). If you are dining in a Select Dining restaurant they are quite happy to collect part bottles from the main dining room for you.

 

We are great fans of the Glasshouse. Lovely for lunch as rarely busy (other than on Britannia where it’s busy and service is slow). Another vote for the Tasting dinner. Well worth the supplement.

 

As for wine flights, sadly the new Glasshouse menus have got rid of the vast majority of them. Just a few left of relatively uninspiring ones. Great shame as we really enjoyed them.

Re. the wine flights Selbourne I usually spend a lot of time in the glasshouse sat up at the bar. I enjoy watching the staff make up the drinks. What I have noticed is that few people have wine from the wine dispensing system behind the bar and few people have the wine flights. Perhaps they have dropped them as they were not selling. The y now have moved on to gin flights and of course the gin menu. Although for the full list you have to go to the Planet Bar or Metropolis. In the glasshouse they have now got Fever tree and pink grapefruit to go with the Andersons. So I am very happy.

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Selbourne

 

Like most threads on here, its Horses for Courses.

 

The decision is, what is most advantageous for yourselves.

 

Just cannot understand how we are being conned!

 

Personal choices.

 

We are fine within the bounds, trust that the same applies to yourselves.

Just to be clear, it wasn’t me that said they were a con. I did say I felt they were pointless, which in our case they are, but I absolutely see how they work well for you. We’re OK thanks.

Just cannot understand how we are being conned!

The con is the packages are advertised as saving "up to" 20% or 15% when in reality for most of the wines you only save 5%.

Fair enough if you know and were buying the wine anyway. However for some they will be needlessly restricting themselves to a limited selection and buying a minimum quantity, all for a saving which doesn't exist.

And I notice these days P&O don't publish the full wine menu with prices on their website so you can work this out before you get on board. I wonder why.

Selbourne

Sorry, most defiantly not aimed at you.