Do you have a budget for onboard spending p&o

[ann141]

I think drink packages tend to be more appealing to people on shorter 7 night cruises where the total extra cost doesn t sound as if it costs the same as the cruise! On 14+ nights the amount sounds scary and I have heard that on the current 35 night Ventura they are offering the package on half the cruise which may appeal to some particularly if there are lots of sea days.We buy drinks when we want to but hubby doesnt drink at all (apart from tea and water!) and I probably only have a couple of alcoholic drinks a week and the odd costa coffee or mocktail-I do miss the costa and pepsi cards)so definitely wouldn t work for us.We often have an inside cabin which means the cost of the drinks package in proportion to what we paid for the cruise is greater than someone who has paid for a balcony or suite

[Adawn47]

Thanks for working that out Jean. We're doing a 19 nights and it seems we roughly drink the same as you.

[Vampiress88]

2 hours ago, NoFlyGuy said:

We don't a set budget - after all we are on holiday. However on our last few P&O cruises we've been pretty consistant and have spent about £55 a day between us overall on drinks. Obviously that's a mixture of good and bad days.

So with P&O the drinks package is not for us especially as the spirits are singles only, sometimes we like to order a large spiced rum with a splash of coke.

When we've been on RCI we NEED the drinks package else we would probably have to sell the house.

I’d love to not have a budget and I get what you mean that your on holiday but at the end of the day most people must have a budget otherwise they could struggle to pay it. Obviously if I had lots in the bank then I wouldn’t have to but unfortunately I have to save for the holiday and working out a top end budget means I can then pay the balance with no debt which is what I need to do. 
 

I wouldn’t ever think I’m not doing that if I found something special I wanted so won’t deprive myself but I don’t like coming off holiday in debt. I used my credit card to pay for everything as it keeps my credit rates good, give me time if I needed it and also no foreign transaction fees but I feel so much better if I can put my card to 0 when I get home. 
 

so far it’s worked for us to have a budget. 
I just always like to make sure I have estimated enough in the budget. 

[Tangoqueen]

We’ve been home for a week now after a wonderful 2 weeks on Britannia.  On port days we were off the ship until at least 3.30pm so by the time we changed and had a quick bite to eat it would be well after 4.30pm before we bought our first drink onboard (of course we’d had a few local beers on the beach earlier).  We’d have a cocktail and a beer in the Sunset Bar, then a drink in our cabin getting ready for the evening, a pre dinner drink and a drink after dinner.  We no longer have wine with our meal and just take the chance to rehydrate with water (wine is reasonable prices but after the high cost on previous Cunard cruises were we found we were often the only people drinking at the table made the switch to water).  On sea days we would have a large glass of wine with lunch and an additional beer or two during the afternoon.  We also had steaks in the Beach House with wine one evening.  Our total bill came to a little over £450, averaging £32+ a day for the 2 of us.  With an obc of £390 the final bill of only £60 was very welcome.  We enjoy dancing most evenings so i can’t get carried away with extra drinks otherwise I’d be breaking my ankles.  We didn’t buy bottled water or teas/coffees onboard. 

 

 

[manonabike]

On 2/22/2020 at 10:37 AM, jeanlyon said:

OK, we are nowhere near that.  I am beginning to think I don't drink enough!  We don't do soft drinks during the day, just water, but go to the bar at 7pm and have one large glass of wine for me and a whisky/ginger ale for other half, so that's about £11 ish.  We have a bottle of wine at dinner, and usually don't finish it, so it comes back the following day.  So if we did finish it, that's about £17 for the bottle or £18, so let's say £31 a day.  that's for 2 of us.

 

Are we unusual?

I hope that's a whisky OR ginger ale and not a mix! 
We spend much less, but our boys are happy drinking water or occasionally we take some squash to make up in their water bottles. My wife has the costa coffee twice a day and we tend to have pre-dinner drinks, wine with the meal and, if it's a hot day, a couple of beers at lunch. So far we've never got above £40 per day. We even have to raid the shop on the last day to use up the rest of our OBC the lat couple of cruises!! 

[jeanlyon]

Nah whisky WITH ginger ale :0)

 

I;ve not yet seen anybody actually come up with what they drink each day that would come to £39.95 EACH or more.  Because there wouldn't be much point in the package if you only just got to the same price, in case there were a few days when you didn't.  So in practice you need to be spending a lot more than the package price to make it worthwhile.

Edited February 23, 2020 by jeanlyon

[peteukmcr]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Nah whisky WITH ginger ale :0)

 

I;ve not yet seen anybody actually come up with what they drink each day that would come to £39.95 EACH or more.  Because there wouldn't be much point in the package if you only just got to the same price, in case there were a few days when you didn't.  So in practice you need to be spending a lot more than the package price to make it worthwhile.

Well I will try again and post my breakdown, but as it was reported by someone before on another thread, no doubt it'll go "poof" again.

 

I have guessed at only 2 prices (coffee and digestif).

 

I know what everyone says about port days, but the maximum saving for us on a port day would be the Peroni and 1 soda (Diet Pepsi or such) which amounts to £6.35. Still making a daily total of £44.75. The rest would still be consumed, special coffee in the morning, 1 bottle of water going off the ship, another in the evening before bed, soft drink when getting back on board or when I've been to the gym.

 

I know we could make sure we drink the ship water (not on port days), so that would save £3.50, that's still £47.60.

 

I know we could bring a litre of spirit on board at embarkation or purchase a bottle from the room service menu, but that means drinking in the cabin and we'd rather go to a venue (we'd still have to purchase mixers).

 

At the end of the day, we like to enjoy ourselves, and not worry about the amount we spend each day so we believe a package will work for us.

 

I know some maybe shocked about our drinking habits, but please try and refrain from being judgmental, we're all different. We don't judge those who don't drink alcohol and I can assure you were are never 'wasted' as my US friends would say. 

 

Oh as a comparison to P&O being like pub prices we went out for a pub dinner last night to meet up with friends and we spent £60 on drinks between us (2 G&Ts, 2 Jack and diets and 6 glasses of wine - the wine alone cost £35). This was not in the city centre either. 

 

[Adawn47]

Peroni, was it a glass or a pint , a bottle or draught? 

 

[Vampiress88]

8 minutes ago, peteukmcr said:

Well I will try again and post my breakdown, but as it was reported by someone before on another thread, no doubt it'll go "poof" again.

 

I have guessed at only 2 prices (coffee and digestif).

 

I know what everyone says about port days, but the maximum saving for us on a port day would be the Peroni and 1 soda (Diet Pepsi or such) which amounts to £6.35. Still making a daily total of £44.75. The rest would still be consumed, special coffee in the morning, 1 bottle of water going off the ship, another in the evening before bed, soft drink when getting back on board or when I've been to the gym.

 

I know we could make sure we drink the ship water (not on port days), so that would save £3.50, that's still £47.60.

 

I know we could bring a litre of spirit on board at embarkation or purchase a bottle from the room service menu, but that means drinking in the cabin and we'd rather go to a venue (we'd still have to purchase mixers).

 

At the end of the day, we like to enjoy ourselves, and not worry about the amount we spend each day so we believe a package will work for us.

 

I know some maybe shocked about our drinking habits, but please try and refrain from being judgmental, we're all different. We don't judge those who don't drink alcohol and I can assure you were are never 'wasted' as my US friends would say. 

 

Oh as a comparison to P&O being like pub prices we went out for a pub dinner last night to meet up with friends and we spent £60 on drinks between us (2 G&Ts, 2 Jack and diets and 6 glasses of wine - the wine alone cost £35). This was not in the city centre either. 

 

is that per person? 
also what is digesif?

 

the package only works for couples who are big drinkers. It could have worked if I did alcohol but I don’t and as you have to have the same in the cabin it makes it difficult. I also cannot consume that much liquid I’d just not manage. 

[AndyMichelle]

14 minutes ago, peteukmcr said:

Well I will try again and post my breakdown, but as it was reported by someone before on another thread, no doubt it'll go "poof" again.

 

I have guessed at only 2 prices (coffee and digestif).

 

I know what everyone says about port days, but the maximum saving for us on a port day would be the Peroni and 1 soda (Diet Pepsi or such) which amounts to £6.35. Still making a daily total of £44.75. The rest would still be consumed, special coffee in the morning, 1 bottle of water going off the ship, another in the evening before bed, soft drink when getting back on board or when I've been to the gym.

 

I know we could make sure we drink the ship water (not on port days), so that would save £3.50, that's still £47.60.

 

I know we could bring a litre of spirit on board at embarkation or purchase a bottle from the room service menu, but that means drinking in the cabin and we'd rather go to a venue (we'd still have to purchase mixers).

 

At the end of the day, we like to enjoy ourselves, and not worry about the amount we spend each day so we believe a package will work for us.

 

I know some maybe shocked about our drinking habits, but please try and refrain from being judgmental, we're all different. We don't judge those who don't drink alcohol and I can assure you were are never 'wasted' as my US friends would say. 

 

Oh as a comparison to P&O being like pub prices we went out for a pub dinner last night to meet up with friends and we spent £60 on drinks between us (2 G&Ts, 2 Jack and diets and 6 glasses of wine - the wine alone cost £35). This was not in the city centre either. 

 

I have seen plenty of passengers buying/using it so it obviously works... 

Enjoy your holiday your way Pete, ignore the pessimists. 

We are all different. 

Andy 

 

[peteukmcr]

9 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Peroni, was it a glass or a pint , a bottle or draught? 

 

Bottle

 

[peteukmcr]

9 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

is that per person? 
also what is digesif?

 

the package only works for couples who are big drinkers. It could have worked if I did alcohol but I don’t and as you have to have the same in the cabin it makes it difficult. I also cannot consume that much liquid I’d just not manage. 

Yes, it is per person. Mine would probably be slightly less as mine would be G&T not Woodford Reserve bourbon. A digestif is something after dinner such as a brandy

Edited February 23, 2020 by peteukmcr

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, peteukmcr said:

A digestif is something after dinner such as a brandy

Mine come in a brown wrapper with McVities on the side.😇

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, peteukmcr said:

A digestif is something after dinner such as a brandy

Not a biscuit then. 😊

[Vampiress88]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

Mine come in a brown wrapper with McVities on the side.😇

haha. 
 

that’s what I thought first. 

[AndyMichelle]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

Mine come in a brown wrapper with McVities on the side.😇

If it's a brown wrapper, you are posh and can afford the chocolate ones...😊 

Mine is red... 

Andy 

[peteukmcr]

1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said:

Not a biscuit then. 😊

Yes, as opposed to an Aperitif which is something before dinner (which in my case is a G&T).

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

If it's a brown wrapper, you are posh and can afford the chocolate ones...😊 

Mine is red... 

Andy 

Only buy them when they are on offer in Tesco, fortunately it's fairly often.

[Vampiress88]

Wish you’d lot would stop talking about biscuits. I could kill for some with a cuppa right now

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Vampiress88 said:

Wish you’d lot would stop talking about biscuits. I could kill for some with a cuppa right now

Some, some, how extravagant, it's one at a time for us.

[Vampiress88]

12 minutes ago, peteukmcr said:

Yes, as opposed to an Aperitif which is something before dinner (which in my case is a G&T).

pete if it works for you and your family then that’s ok. Not everyone is the same. We couldn’t possibly have that many drinks, hubby could probably have the alcohol but as I rarely drink it would be a waste for us. 

[Vampiress88]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

Some, some, how extravagant, it's one at a time for us.

yes unfortunately I cannot just have one biscuits. Hence the reason I am not having any biscuits now

Edited February 23, 2020 by Vampiress88

[Adawn47]

56 minutes ago, peteukmcr said:

Yes, as opposed to an Aperitif which is something before dinner (which in my case is a G&T).

Oh , and there's me thinking it's what Frank puts in a glass in the bathroom at night😆

[Francisdrake]

I could probably make the drinks package pay but i've always been in a cabin with someone who doesn't drink much so it's not worth it overall.   However the 7 nighter I've got booked for next year is first one where I've managed to be able to stomach the single supplement because it's been fairly reasonable as opposed to being virtually double the price so might give it a go.

[newbie cruissy]

3 hours ago, peteukmcr said:

Well I will try again and post my breakdown, but as it was reported by someone before on another thread, no doubt it'll go "poof" again.

 

I have guessed at only 2 prices (coffee and digestif).

 

I know what everyone says about port days, but the maximum saving for us on a port day would be the Peroni and 1 soda (Diet Pepsi or such) which amounts to £6.35. Still making a daily total of £44.75. The rest would still be consumed, special coffee in the morning, 1 bottle of water going off the ship, another in the evening before bed, soft drink when getting back on board or when I've been to the gym.

 

I know we could make sure we drink the ship water (not on port days), so that would save £3.50, that's still £47.60.

 

I know we could bring a litre of spirit on board at embarkation or purchase a bottle from the room service menu, but that means drinking in the cabin and we'd rather go to a venue (we'd still have to purchase mixers).

 

At the end of the day, we like to enjoy ourselves, and not worry about the amount we spend each day so we believe a package will work for us.

 

I know some maybe shocked about our drinking habits, but please try and refrain from being judgmental, we're all different. We don't judge those who don't drink alcohol and I can assure you were are never 'wasted' as my US friends would say. 

 

Oh as a comparison to P&O being like pub prices we went out for a pub dinner last night to meet up with friends and we spent £60 on drinks between us (2 G&Ts, 2 Jack and diets and 6 glasses of wine - the wine alone cost £35). This was not in the city centre either.