Drink Package queries

[jeanlyon]

2 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

The Prosecco they serve on P&O is called Canti….it’s £8 a bottle in the supermarkets.

Alcohol by volume=11%

The measure on P&O supposed to be 125ml.

I agree with you the measures are all over the place,,,depends on which bar server and which bar you go in.

Yes, I hate Prosecco.  11% is very low.  Agree.

[zap99]

On 2/26/2023 at 2:43 PM, Ardennais said:

We could never justify having a drinks package. We had £200 OBC on Iona week before last and only spent £225 - and that included 6 x £2.50 room service delivery for breakfast and some ice cream in Ripples. Spending on drinks was around £180 for both of us for a week. 

On Azura in a week we just about did our £350 OBC which included 3 speciality restaurants. We are on again in April with no OBC, but some loyalty discount, so expect to spend about the same. If we purchased the package, even for 6 days, that's £480 just for drinks. Not for us.

Edited February 28, 2023 by zap99

[jeanlyon]

Our spend on drinks on a 19 night cruise is somewhere in the region of £600.  A large glass of wine in the bar and then a bottle of wine with dinner which we don't always finish.  Maybe the odd coffee.  Don't do soft drinks or speciality restaurants.  Might try one on our next cruise though.  Specially if the MDR food is awful!!

[JeanieC,Aston]

One thing I still can’t work out,,,we had the DP on Iona two weeks age.

It says any drink up to £6.95.

My wife asked for a J2O,,,,server said sorry mam not on the DP,,,,J2O is priced at £2.85.

[terrierjohn]

22 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes, I hate Prosecco.  11% is very low.  Agree.

That's like saying I hate champagne, Prosecvo is a type of wine and comes  ia a wide variety of qualities

. 

[wowzz]

44 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

One thing I still can’t work out,,,we had the DP on Iona two weeks age.

It says any drink up to £6.95.

My wife asked for a J2O,,,,server said sorry mam not on the DP,,,,J2O is priced at £2.85.

Is it because the DP only covers "pump" soft drinks ?

[JeanieC,Aston]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Is it because the DP only covers "pump" soft drinks ?

Not so,,,we got cans (small) with mixed drinks ie Vodka and slimline tonic or cans of Ginger Ale.

Probably because they wasn’t available on draught.

 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[Cruisemeister2002]

Whilst I am highly unlikely to ever purchase a drinks package. I cannot understand the logic by P&O that restricts the cost of a drink to £6.95. Whilst I am aware that there has to be some sort of restriction otherwise you'd probably have people quaffing champagne from morn to night and also that when going abroad to these package type holidays the drinks aren't branded, why does there have to be such a strict limit on consumption and what is drunk by P&O. Is it because their cruises in the main are cheaper than many competitors and they make up the difference by charging more for drinks and the standard of fare in the MDR's isn't what it was so as to steer passengers to places like Sindu and the Glass House ?

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Whilst I am highly unlikely to ever purchase a drinks package. I cannot understand the logic by P&O that restricts the cost of a drink to £6.95. Whilst I am aware that there has to be some sort of restriction otherwise you'd probably have people quaffing champagne from morn to night and also that when going abroad to these package type holidays the drinks aren't branded, why does there have to be such a strict limit on consumption and what is drunk by P&O. Is it because their cruises in the main are cheaper than many competitors and they make up the difference by charging more for drinks and the standard of fare in the MDR's isn't what it was so as to steer passengers to places like Sindu and the Glass House ?

The Princess Plus package is much more attractive, although at first it looks expensive. £50pppd, but when you take the autotips into account, plus free wifi, the actual drinks element comes in at well under £40. That buys you 15 alcoholic drinks a day, up to $15 each, plus soft drinks, coffee etc.

The big advantage over P&O is that far more drinks, including cocktaiks, fall within the $15 barrier. And if you do want, say, an $18 glass of wine, you only pay the difference, plus 18%, so a total of $3.54.

P&O must make money out of the drinks package, and I suspect they would get a greater uptake if the £6.95 limit was increased, and the Princess policy regarding more expensive drinks was adopted.

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

The Princess Plus package is much more attractive, although at first it looks expensive. £50pppd, but when you take the autotips into account, plus free wifi, the actual drinks element comes in at well under £40. That buys you 15 alcoholic drinks a day, up to $15 each, plus soft drinks, coffee etc.

The big advantage over P&O is that far more drinks, including cocktaiks, fall within the $15 barrier. And if you do want, say, an $18 glass of wine, you only pay the difference, plus 18%, so a total of $3.54.

P&O must make money out of the drinks package, and I suspect they would get a greater uptake if the £6.95 limit was increased, and the Princess policy regarding more expensive drinks was adopted.

Plus you get American measures for spirits.

[Mad4WDW]

On 2/28/2023 at 1:46 PM, JeanieC,Aston said:

Not so,,,we got cans (small) with mixed drinks ie Vodka and slimline tonic or cans of Ginger Ale.

Probably because they wasn’t available on draught.

 

 

They will give you the cans of mixer if what you asked for isn't on the pump gun at the bar. In a few of then bars asking for a gin and tonic will get you gin and a tonic from the pump. Ask for a gin and slimline tonic and you'll get a can.

 

[zap99]

On 2/28/2023 at 1:51 PM, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Whilst I am highly unlikely to ever purchase a drinks package. I cannot understand the logic by P&O that restricts the cost of a drink to £6.95. Whilst I am aware that there has to be some sort of restriction otherwise you'd probably have people quaffing champagne from morn to night and also that when going abroad to these package type holidays the drinks aren't branded, why does there have to be such a strict limit on consumption and what is drunk by P&O. Is it because their cruises in the main are cheaper than many competitors and they make up the difference by charging more for drinks and the standard of fare in the MDR's isn't what it was so as to steer passengers to places like Sindu and the Glass House ?

Lots of ' package type holidays ' serve branded drinks.

[jeanlyon]

On 2/28/2023 at 1:06 PM, terrierjohn said:

That's like saying I hate champagne, Prosecvo is a type of wine and comes  ia a wide variety of qualities

. 

Ha ha, I do hate champagne.  Don't like anything fizzy.   A good white, red or rose wine any day.

[Gimpfacemctavish]

On 2/28/2023 at 3:05 PM, wowzz said:

The Princess Plus package is much more attractive, although at first it looks expensive. £50pppd, but when you take the autotips into account, plus free wifi, the actual drinks element comes in at well under £40. That buys you 15 alcoholic drinks a day, up to $15 each, plus soft drinks, coffee etc.

The big advantage over P&O is that far more drinks, including cocktaiks, fall within the $15 barrier. And if you do want, say, an $18 glass of wine, you only pay the difference, plus 18%, so a total of $3.54.

P&O must make money out of the drinks package, and I suspect they would get a greater uptake if the £6.95 limit was increased, and the Princess policy regarding more expensive drinks was adopted.

When we were on the Iona over Christmas and New Year the cocktails we had were dire, no more than flavoured water. At least Princess drinks are pretty consistent throughout.