Drink packages

[welshrich]

Hello, We've cruised quite a few times but only ever on RCI, we are trying MSC soon and looking to book a cruise with P&O on Iona in December.   Pleasantly surprised reading some posts at how much more reasonable bar prices are than on RCI, can anyone tell me if P&O do drinks packages and if so what the approx cost is please?

[showingdiva]

Link here:   (Non-alcoholic and hot drink packages on the following pages)

https://www.pocruises.com/onboard-activities/bars-and-lounges/ultimate-drinks-package?otprrf=https_www.google.com%2F

[yorkshirephil]

P&O are likely the cheapest mainstream cruise company for drinks, they do have several drinks packages, probably best to go to their web site and dig out the details. You need to be a fair drinker to get value from the drinks package, you also need to check what is not in the package as there is an upper drinks limit on cocktails and wine.

 

MSC drinks packages are good if you can get a deal especially when hot drinks and ice cream is in.

[sammyh25]

40 minutes ago, welshrich said:

Hello, We've cruised quite a few times but only ever on RCI, we are trying MSC soon and looking to book a cruise with P&O on Iona in December.   Pleasantly surprised reading some posts at how much more reasonable bar prices are than on RCI, can anyone tell me if P&O do drinks packages and if so what the approx cost is please?

Just been looking into the same thing for our UK Staycation cruise on Iona in a few months.

 

The variety of drinks available on P&O is quite poor/basic compared to RCI and a lot of their cocktails have gone up to £7.95 which is £1 above the drinks package threshold!!!!  We decided we could "slum" it enough with what cocktails and drinks are available in the package. 😉

I'll post a link the the thread that has a bar menu on it and you can have a look and decide.  The actual price of the drinks isn't too bad, but if like us you'd rather not have a bill at the end of the cruise it might be worth considering.

 

Page 2, post 49 of the thread below has a picture of a bar menu. 👍

 

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by sammyh25
Added URL and page reference.

[majortom10]

I personally knowing the prices of drinks on P&O wouldnt consider the drinks package at £39-95pppd unless you have a lot of sea days and are a very serious drinker.

[welshrich]

thankyou for this, we got so used to RCI prices where a cocktail is $14-15 so nice to see lower prices on here.   We are not huge drinkers but do like a coffee, juice, a beer with lunch and then some drinks in the evening so would probably get value out of a package.

[Eddie99]

Your holiday; your choice

 

It’s difficult to counsel caution without sounding like someone from the Temperance movement but I think the huge majority of posters here would say that you simply don’t get your money’s worth with the P&O package.  At P&O prices, £40 per day is a lot of drinking, even factoring in luxury teas & coffees and mocktails 

 

Remember that you’re hoping to be ashore on port days, so that’s lots of hours you won’t be indulging on board

 

Have you seen these exclusions?

• Any drink over £6.95 as listed on our menus
• Bottles of wine, spirits, or any items from our on-board shops
• Large bottles of water (750ml & 1.5L), canned and bottled premium soft drinks, juices and smoothies
• Drinks from room service, mini-bar, self-service or vending machines
• Any drinks featured in other programmes or promotions (on-board specials, events such as wine tastings, cocktail masterclasses, buckets of beer, buy one get one free offers etc)
• Double measures of spirits

All in all, over the course of a 7 or 14 day holiday, I think the majority of passengers would not gain a financial advantage with the package and might well feel frustrated at the restrictions, like no premium soft drinks or juices - so mixers from the “gun” only

 

Your choice though.  Enjoy your holiday, whatever you decide

Edited July 14, 2021 by Eddie99

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, sammyh25 said:

The variety of drinks available on P&O is quite poor/basic compared to RCI and a lot of their cocktails have gone up to £7.95 which is £1 above the drinks package threshold!!!!  We decided we could "slum" it enough with what cocktails and drinks are available in the package. 😉

I am not certain but I think the range of drinks has been reduced due to the start up but would hope it would return to normal in due course. Also because of the type of cruise tax has had to be added to the price. 

[Stokie33]

The last time we cruised in 2019 we had the drinks package, which is when all cocktails were included and I definitely smashed the £40 every day, my hubby who only drinks pints never hit the £40 but taken overall we definitely spent more than £80 everyday so it worked out for us. We sat down before we left and priced on average how much we’d spend on soft drinks, speciality coffee’s and drinks. As far as I’m aware you can start the drinks package on day 2 so if you don’t think you’ll drink much on embarkation day wait until the following morning 

[welshrich]

2 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

Your holiday; your choice

 

It’s difficult to counsel caution without sounding like someone from the Temperance movement but I think the huge majority of posters here would say that you simply don’t get your money’s worth with the P&O package.  At P&O prices, £40 per day is a lot of drinking, even factoring in luxury teas & coffees and mocktails 

 

Remember that you’re hoping to be ashore on port days, so that’s lots of hours you won’t be indulging on board

 

Have you seen these exclusions?

• Any drink over £6.95 as listed on our menus
• Bottles of wine, spirits, or any items from our on-board shops
• Large bottles of water (750ml & 1.5L), canned and bottled premium soft drinks, juices and smoothies
• Drinks from room service, mini-bar, self-service or vending machines
• Any drinks featured in other programmes or promotions (on-board specials, events such as wine tastings, cocktail masterclasses, buckets of beer, buy one get one free offers etc)
• Double measures of spirits

All in all, over the course of a 7 or 14 day holiday, I think the majority of passengers would not gain a financial advantage with the package and might well feel frustrated at the restrictions, like no premium soft drinks or juices - so mixers from the “gun” only

 

Your choice though.  Enjoy your holiday, whatever you decide

Thanks, the more I read the more I think it's better to pay for each drink, I am so used to prices on RCI where you'd only need 2-3 drinks to break even.

 

[hollyjess]

My daughter and son in law are going on a staycation cruise for 4 days and they are not sure whether to take dinner suit and evening gown etc  for celebration night or to go smart casual. This will be their first cruise so not sure what to do.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, welshrich said:

Thanks, the more I read the more I think it's better to pay for each drink, I am so used to prices on RCI where you'd only need 2-3 drinks to break even.

 

I have cruised RCI and P&O (amongst others). Drinks package is a no brainier on RCI due to the cocktail prices. The best surprise ever was on the Symphony where there wasn’t an upper limit! All drinks (excluding bottles) were included! Made great use of the Robot bar😂

 

P&O prices are like U.K. pub prices. Depends what you drink in a day, but I worked it out and I’d struggle to break even every day. And I’m in my 20s! 

[emam]

Someone mentioned this before. I don't know if it's up to date but will give you an idea.

 

https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/cruise-drinks-package-calculator/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=your_drinks_package_calculator_is_inside&utm_term=2021-05-08

[emam]

Don't forget that if there's two adults in a cabin both have to buy the package.

[kruzseeka]

7 hours ago, emam said:

Someone mentioned this before. I don't know if it's up to date but will give you an idea.

 

https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/cruise-drinks-package-calculator/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=your_drinks_package_calculator_is_inside&utm_term=2021-05-08

 

Just done an average for me - almost all other lines were just about double the cost of P.O!  Long time since we sailed with Celebrity and NCL and as we're not big drinkers, although i knew they were significantly more expensive,  I'd not really bothered to do the maths. This is an excellent tool to make comparisons and to assist in making an informed choice.  Thanks for posting it.

 

[The Med]

10 hours ago, hollyjess said:

My daughter and son in law are going on a staycation cruise for 4 days and they are not sure whether to take dinner suit and evening gown etc  for celebration night or to go smart casual. This will be their first cruise so not sure what to do.

 I asked the same question on another thread because even though I’ve cruised before, I wasn’t sure if people would be dressing up on the shorter cruises.

The answer was a resounding yes, most people are wearing black tie on Gala nights and plenty of ladies in long gowns.

 

[brian1]

Bear in mind P&O measures are 25 ml ie. a little dribble in the bottom of the glass.The American measures are 2 ozs.

[zap99]

42 minutes ago, brian1 said:

Bear in mind P&O measures are 25 ml ie. a little dribble in the bottom of the glass.The American measures are 2 ozs.

But our gallons are bigger than theirs🤔

[rattla]

15 hours ago, welshrich said:

Thanks, the more I read the more I think it's better to pay for each drink, I am so used to prices on RCI where you'd only need 2-3 drinks to break even.

 

I’d agree I assumed I would want the drinks package but actually it’s the restrictions that make the package unappealing for me.

i.e.

- Only fountain soda (so no cans and a restrictive selection),

- Only single 25ml measures are allowed.  Now I’m not a big drinker, but as mentioned above a US single is a nice size measure 😁

- The amount of cocktails included I think shockingly low compared to other cruise lines, plus it’s not like the US lines where you only pay the $1-2 extra for a more expensive drink.  On Britannia under £7 I think they only have 11 on the whole ship.

 

I think it’s better if you drink wine or beer as most things are included, but I don’t drink beer and while I have wine occasionally at home, I prefer spirits and mixers.  And on cruises I normally stick to those and cocktails for my alcoholic drinks.

 

I’m going on Brittania this month so will be interesting to see how the cruise feels without a drinks package as while I’ve been on multiple cruise lines, I’ve only ever had inclusive drinks or a package.

so will be interested to see how I deal with ordering drinks knowing I have to pay for each one 😂 

im wondering if I’ll start to think twice about ordering etc whereas normally I wouldn’t 😂 

[kruzseeka]

1 hour ago, brian1 said:

Bear in mind P&O measures are 25 ml ie. a little dribble in the bottom of the glass.The American measures are 2 ozs.

You're right of course the comparison should be made using equivalent measures.  Iirc Marella serve 40ml measures.  But it prompted me to try to determine the spirit size served by different lines.  In general I failed!   

Cunard and P&O are upfront with 25mls (1 ounce is apparently approx 30mls)

I'd be really interested to know (just because my interest has been piqued now) if anyone can unearth the figures for other lines as that would be the definitive comparison. 

Apparently Utah is the only state which specifies - a single being 1 ounce, otherwise it might be between 1.25 - 1.5 ounces in the States. .  Doubles could be over 2 ounces - 60 mls!!!!!!!  I wouldn't need many of those! 😆

[sagaris]

14 hours ago, hollyjess said:

My daughter and son in law are going on a staycation cruise for 4 days and they are not sure whether to take dinner suit and evening gown etc  for celebration night or to go smart casual. This will be their first cruise so not sure what to do.

We took ours on a short cruise and found that about 80% of the passengers got "dressed up" for celebration night, which was nice.

[jaydee6969]

14 hours ago, hollyjess said:

My daughter and son in law are going on a staycation cruise for 4 days and they are not sure whether to take dinner suit and evening gown etc  for celebration night or to go smart casual. This will be their first cruise so not sure what to do.

 

We will be taking ours and wearing them when we board next week.  We also do this on any 2 or 3 night breaks we have taken too, and even on these the vast majority of passengers do take the effort to dress up.

 

I have worked in either very casual offices most of my working time, and from home for the last 6 years, so jeans and a polo shirt is my normal attire, except when I play golf and trousers must be worn.  Makes a very nice change to dress up once in a while.

Edited July 15, 2021 by jaydee6969

[brian1]

3 hours ago, zap99 said:

But our gallons are bigger than theirs🤔

2US fluid ozs are 59ml.Sorry I should have elaborated.

[brian1]

2 hours ago, kruzseeka said:

You're right of course the comparison should be made using equivalent measures.  Iirc Marella serve 40ml measures.  But it prompted me to try to determine the spirit size served by different lines.  In general I failed!   

Cunard and P&O are upfront with 25mls (1 ounce is apparently approx 30mls)

I'd be really interested to know (just because my interest has been piqued now) if anyone can unearth the figures for other lines as that would be the definitive comparison. 

Apparently Utah is the only state which specifies - a single being 1 ounce, otherwise it might be between 1.25 - 1.5 ounces in the States. .  Doubles could be over 2 ounces - 60 mls!!!!!!!  I wouldn't need many of those! 😆

Just to confuse and upset some of their guests,Cunard for a couple of years now serve 1oz or 2oz measures.I think 2oz being the default which ups the price a bit.

[Angel57]

1 hour ago, sagaris said:

We took ours on a short cruise and found that about 80% of the passengers got "dressed up" for celebration night, which was nice.

Really nice to hear that a large majority are getting “dressed up” for the formal/gala/celebration night. I really think that it enhances the cruise experience for all (but I appreciate that this is a purely personal opinion).