Potentially a new P&O Customer

[Shrewsbury on Tour]

Good morning,

 

Thanks in advance for any advice/ help given.

 

Looking to switch to P&O after 3 Cruises with RC and 2 with NCL

We currently have a cruise booked with RC leaving this September from Southampton.We booked on the previous cruise and today the price is £500 cheaper including the room credit, it makes my blood boil!!!

 

So before I cancelled and rebooked with gritted teeth. I checked out P&O

There are some possible benefits….

Free parking. — Is that at the cruise terminal??

Better room credit….

Drinks package £40 PPPD. £70 on RC

Do P&O do I dining package?? Or is it PAYG??

All good I think…..but

On all are other cruises I have been able to wear shorts in the evening at any venue. I understand that this probably not possible with P&O. Happy to wear dark denim jeans in needed too…is this possible??

Cheers…

[jeanlyon]

You don't get both free parking and on board credit.  One or the other.

 

You need to work out whether the drinks package is worth it.  It isn't for us, even with a large glass of wine before dinner, bottle of wine with dinner and the odd coffee.  Both people have to take the package and I could not get through £40 every day.

 

Dining is all in unless you want to go to one of the specialty restaurants.

 

Denim jeans are fine unless it's a formal night when you will not be able to eat in the main dining room.  You would need to use the buffet.

[Shrewsbury on Tour]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

We both like a drink on holiday, so we will definitely get value for money on the beverage package,

 

That all sounds fine, as we tend not to use the main dining room.

 

Many thanks

[Dinglebert]

2 minutes ago, Shrewsbury on Tour said:

Hi,

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

We both like a drink on holiday, so we will definitely get value for money on the beverage package,

 

That all sounds fine, as we tend not to use the main dining room.

 

Many thanks

You say that but it is worth pricing it up.  Drinks are far cheaper on pando.  There is a limit on the package on the price of each drink at £6.95 and up to 15 drinks a day.  With the time off ship it mah not be worth it.  Remember you can also have a litre each of spirits in you cabin.  While I can easily make a RCI drinks package work for me I can’t on pando.  

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, Shrewsbury on Tour said:

Hi,

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

We both like a drink on holiday, so we will definitely get value for money on the beverage package,

 

That all sounds fine, as we tend not to use the main dining room.

 

Many thanks

You only get drinks to the value of £6.95 (iirc) Not a great deal, imho.

[yorkshirephil]

55 minutes ago, Shrewsbury on Tour said:

 

Good morning,

 

Thanks in advance for any advice/ help given.

 

Looking to switch to P&O after 3 Cruises with RC and 2 with NCL

We currently have a cruise booked with RC leaving this September from Southampton.We booked on the previous cruise and today the price is £500 cheaper including the room credit, it makes my blood boil!!!

 

So before I cancelled and rebooked with gritted teeth. I checked out P&O

There are some possible benefits….

Free parking. — Is that at the cruise terminal??

Better room credit….

Drinks package £40 PPPD. £70 on RC

Do P&O do I dining package?? Or is it PAYG??

All good I think…..but

On all are other cruises I have been able to wear shorts in the evening at any venue. I understand that this probably not possible with P&O. Happy to wear dark denim jeans in needed too…is this possible??

Cheers…

I would give P&O a try or you could also check out MSC, some great deals from Southampton. You will never know till you try. 

[Camberley]

Re: the drinks package - just check the package and the conditions/limitations as the drinks package might not be for you. But it might well be. Some folk love it, some take it and regret it, some never bother again, some buy it each time……And there are days in port when you might be off ship all day and some might feel you have effectively “lost out”. We love a drink but don’t bother with the package at we find it far from “ultimate”: it’s often not the nice stuff (accept have at best) and we’ve found it easier buying as we go from the full range and when we want: still works out much cheaper for us, But you will only know it so for you if you have bought the package

 

I’ve often worn dark denim even in formal nights, with shirt and tie, and all has been fine. Some venues on board are strict, some are not, but shorts in buffet are fine less so elsewhere in the evening. But the enforcement of very variable,

 

But enjoy any planning for the cruise.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Camberley

[Britboys]

33 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

You don't get both free parking and on board credit.  One or the other...

Not necessarily Jean. If they are doing an "Additional Spending Money" deal when you book, you can get both. For this summer, I have free parking plus £265 obc... the best deal I've ever got out of P&O mind...

[kalos]

36 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

You don't get both free parking and on board credit.  One or the other.

 

You can on some cruisers but it comes off your OBC .

Some I have seen were offering £500 OBC and if you selected parking you got £350

and your parking .

[Britboys]

14 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

You can on some cruisers but it comes off your OBC .

Some I have seen were offering £500 OBC and if you selected parking you got £350

and your parking .

I had the choice of £60 obc or free parking plus the obc mentioned above.

[Onelung]

We booked this week and got free parking and £240 onboard credit.

 

[WECRUISEUK]

A few major plusses with P&O compared to RCI,no gratuities,no waterslides taking up space on top deck and no added tax when you purchase a drink.As for shorts in the main dining room,why would you even want to do that?The drink package is never worth it for us as the wife hardly ever touches alcohol and there's no way we could get through at least £80 worth everyday,you have a drink on land then your paying for it twice.Obviously the imediate benefit for you is your only going to pay £80 instead of £140 per day,plus no daily tips.They all have their good and not so good points so read the smallprint.

[Shrewsbury on Tour]

Indeed they do….

Personally we never use main dining room, it’s just pre plated buffet food. Weatherspoons is probably better…

Why shorts, I suppose in much hotter temperatures it’s more relaxing in shorts, than suit etc. There’s a perception that a suit is smarter, most are I’ll fitting, creased etc. Just my opinion….

 

Cheers 

[Dinglebert]

28 minutes ago, Shrewsbury on Tour said:

Indeed they do….

Personally we never use main dining room, it’s just pre plated buffet food. Weatherspoons is probably better…

Why shorts, I suppose in much hotter temperatures it’s more relaxing in shorts, than suit etc. There’s a perception that a suit is smarter, most are I’ll fitting, creased etc. Just my opinion….

 

Cheers 

Firstly I’ll take your Weatherspoons as an attempt to be provocative. Secondly the choice is not shorts or a suit. Just my opinion…

[indiana123]

Just a thought.   P and O is different to some lines.  In the drinks package if your drink is over the amount stated, is it £6.95, you pay for the whole drink, not just the excess

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, indiana123 said:

Just a thought.   P and O is different to some lines.  In the drinks package if your drink is over the amount stated, is it £6.95, you pay for the whole drink, not just the excess

Less 20%, iirc.

[Interestedcruisefan]

Basically it rules out doubles and more expensive cocktails

 

I would say?

 

So depends what you like to drink.

 

Interestingly I met a Scottish guy on a 14 day cruise who could drink lots! And had paid for the package

 

He said most days he could drink his moneys worth but definitely not 14 days in a row

 

And that just having 2 or 3 days in the cruise where he wanted a day off drinking made the package not worthwhile even for him

 

You can certainly argue on the longer cruises it's not healthy to get your money's worth every day without fail

Edited March 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Cathygh]

16 hours ago, Shrewsbury on Tour said:

Indeed they do….

Personally we never use main dining room, it’s just pre plated buffet food. Weatherspoons is probably better…

Why shorts, I suppose in much hotter temperatures it’s more relaxing in shorts, than suit etc. There’s a perception that a suit is smarter, most are I’ll fitting, creased etc. Just my opinion….

 

Cheers 

The food served in the MDR is different to what is served in the buffet. Sadly the days of silver service are long gone. I get the shorts thing in hot temperatures but the air con is very effective. My DH has never complained of being too hot in a suit inside.

[gsmt47471015]

14 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Basically it rules out doubles and more expensive cocktails

 

I would say?

 

So depends what you like to drink.

 

Interestingly I met a Scottish guy on a 14 day cruise who could drink lots! And had paid for the package

 

He said most days he could drink his moneys worth but definitely not 14 days in a row

 

And that just having 2 or 3 days in the cruise where he wanted a day off drinking made the package not worthwhile even for him

 

You can certainly argue on the longer cruises it's not healthy to get your money's worth every day without fail

£7,901 for two on the world cruise !!! Try getting your moneys worth out of that, although I accept it includes soft drinks and specialty coffee etc.

Were not big drinkers of any type (beer, specialty coffee ,soft drinks) but enjoy a couple of glasses of wine before the evening and with our meal and sometimes a short to finish off the evening, and are considering taking the package on our upcoming 14 night cruise to see how it works, once again personal choice  

[gsmt47471015]

4 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

The food served in the MDR is different to what is served in the buffet. Sadly the days of silver service are long gone. I get the shorts thing in hot temperatures but the air con is very effective. My DH has never complained of being too hot in a suit inside.

From our experiences on Arcadia shorts would be the last thing I would wear on an evening ,more like a thick jumper !!!!🥶

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Cathygh said:

The food served in the MDR is different to what is served in the buffet. Sadly the days of silver service are long gone. I get the shorts thing in hot temperatures but the air con is very effective. My DH has never complained of being too hot in a suit inside.

I honestly don't think there is too much difference between MDR food and buffet nowadays

 

Buffet allowed us to try more things each night.  Have total freedom of when to dine and more time to enjoy other things on the ship in the evening than MDR would allow

 

On Arvia we did a mix of speciality restaurants, buffet and The Quays as a result

 

Speciality restaurants offered enough different food to attract us away from the buffet and The Quays. And to devote time to dining in a set place  at an agreed time

 

MDR  didnt offer anything really different to make us want to go there ahead of buffet, quays or speciality restaurants

 

We could have a very good meal in the buffet and/or Quays in 30 to 40  minutes approx on an evening where we had lots of other things we wanted to do on the same night. Certainly the food we had would be comparable to MDR other than we had more choices. And could eat more. 

 

A benefit of helping yourself. 

 

I pretty much had an assiette of 3 desserts every time I did the buffet or quays!!

 

And you just remove any ordering and  waiting time etc you get in a served restaurant of course

 

Bit like we don't have time to enjoy a balcony. We like to visit lots of places on the ship in the evening. And so buffet or quays dining allows more time.

 

But intermingled with speciality restaurant nights when dining became more of the main event for us

 

Again I realise this wouldn't suit everyone but it suits us right now.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Fionboard]

7 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

From our experiences on Arcadia shorts would be the last thing I would wear on an evening ,more like a thick jumper !!!!🥶

On Arcadia Xmas cruise with doors open all night, people we're wearing coats in the pub! Expect that when going North at that time of year though.

[wowzz]

7 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

From our experiences on Arcadia shorts would be the last thing I would wear on an evening ,more like a thick jumper !!!!🥶

We had to wear coats in our cabin, it was so cold.

[lebreos]

Not sure on the newer ships but if you dont like MDR then shorts of an evening will be fine for buffet and pub, some of the other bars will ask for smart casual or formal attire on the relevant night, crows nest and metropolis bar comes to mind. Smart casual is just dark denim and polo shirt and not obvious white trainers - opens up more options for you to enjoy the ships. Personally I like to be served a portion size and like the formal nights but we all want different things on a holiday. I'm a jeans and trainers man normally

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

Crows Nest is no shorts after 6pm