Drink package- is it worth having?

[nyckfocus]

Can I use my OBC/pay for drinks the first few days then buy the drinks package for the last few days or can you only buy it for the week??

[Jennizor]

2 minutes ago, nyckfocus said:

Can I use my OBC/pay for drinks the first few days then buy the drinks package for the last few days or can you only buy it for the week??

No, you can only buy it on day one or two (unless things have changed recently).

[Ehg]

Is there 20% off bottles of champagne?

It says wine but not champagne…..

[SteveH2508]

1 hour ago, Ehg said:

Is there 20% off bottles of champagne?

It says wine but not champagne…..

Champagne is a style of wine.

[BornLucky]

The Ultimate Drinks Package is a bad joke. For the sake of your sanity I strongly suggest you avoid it.

Soft drinks equals fountain pepsi, pepsi max, R. Whites lemonade. Nothing else included. Only been a choice of two cocktails within the limit (although this has recently been extended a touch). The restrictions will drive you crazy. Unless you only drink single measure basic spirits / beer in high quantities, forget about it. P&O guest services always say they are looking to improve the inclusions. Track record suggests otherwise.  The P&O package is the worst  offering of any major cruise line. Enjoy your cruise and pay drinks as you go. 

[No pager thank you]

In terms of the OP question, my personal view is that the drinks package overall is priced so high and so restrictively that it's almost as if P&O don't want the American "all inclusive" cruise line to permeate too much.  They would rather rack up on board spend in other ways IMHO.

 

I saw references in the thread to wines and champagne - there is another option to consider.  Guests can purchase either the "Captains" or the "Commodore" selection of wines.  There is a reasonable choice, good quality, and can be purchased in either six or twelve bottles in the MDR only. 

 

Notably, the price comes to around £20 per bottle on the "Captains" package (£245 for 12 I believe), which is considerably better value than purchasing a bottle from the standard menu in the MDR in most cases which were increased in price and reduced in breadth of choice as part of the post pandemic changes.  They can be purchased on board in the restaurant and not the worst way to use P&O's OBC ... particularly the "free £150" some of us have received ... 😉

 

However, it's not pushed, so you have to ask.

 

On a separate point, I'm not sure if they still do a Costa coffee card (X10) which comes to about £2 - £2.50 a cup.  That's not bad if you prefer a different brand to the buffet (and better than the "hot drink" package - anyone who drinks that much caffeine to make that package great value we are yet to meet)!!

[FangedRose]

17 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

In terms of the OP question, my personal view is that the drinks package overall is priced so high and so restrictively that it's almost as if P&O don't want the American "all inclusive" cruise line to permeate too much.  They would rather rack up on board spend in other ways IMHO.

 

I saw references in the thread to wines and champagne - there is another option to consider.  Guests can purchase either the "Captains" or the "Commodore" selection of wines.  There is a reasonable choice, good quality, and can be purchased in either six or twelve bottles in the MDR only. 

 

Notably, the price comes to around £20 per bottle on the "Captains" package (£245 for 12 I believe), which is considerably better value than purchasing a bottle from the standard menu in the MDR in most cases which were increased in price and reduced in breadth of choice as part of the post pandemic changes.  They can be purchased on board in the restaurant and not the worst way to use P&O's OBC ... particularly the "free £150" some of us have received ... 😉

 

However, it's not pushed, so you have to ask.

 

On a separate point, I'm not sure if they still do a Costa coffee card (X10) which comes to about £2 - £2.50 a cup.  That's not bad if you prefer a different brand to the buffet (and better than the "hot drink" package - anyone who drinks that much caffeine to make that package great value we are yet to meet)!!

They don't have the Costa coffee card anymore. I'm pretty sure they didn't do it on my last pre-covid cruise (Sept '19).

[No pager thank you]

8 hours ago, FangedRose said:

They don't have the Costa coffee card anymore. I'm pretty sure they didn't do it on my last pre-covid cruise (Sept '19).

Thanks for confirming - 🙂

[Reef Dreamer]

We have just come off Britannia having had the drinks package.

 

We probably had good value out of it, but I wouldn’t do it again! It was ok for us because we had two kids included, we like bottled water, and had a couple of costa’s a day, on top of alcoholic drinks. Inevitably we got the odd mock tail for the kids on the side.

 

however, it drove me mad. Things like J20 not included, no fever tree for G&T, and about 4 cocktails in total are included, the rest are extra. This made it limiting which then meant we chose the drinks that were included rather than the ones we liked. I regret that.

 

also, once i wanted a small can of beer for the room - to put in the fridge - and they refused to sell it without opening it first, which led to some words being exchanged (i do feel sorry for the bar staff and endeavour to be thoughtful but also express my disappointment so they can feed it back)

 

Buyer beware.

[Francisdrake]

Depends what you drink really, Might be worth it if you just drink pints and manage 8 or 9 a day plus a couple of speciality coffees. 

 

It wasn't worth it for me when I went on Iona earlier this year because I tend to drink cocktails while on a cruise & the majority were over the price limit meaning it was extra cost on top of the drinks package.   

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

Always find this question baffling.  Once you're aware of the quirky restrictions, its really down to you as the individual to decide if it would be worth it or not.  You know far better than us what you like to drink, what you might be capable of drinking etc. etc.

[BornLucky]

Why are you baffled at the qustion coming up? Most people asking are yet to cruise and are looking for a heads up from those with recent experience.

I also doubt anyone has a total handle on the full extent of the absurd restrictions. I was told on a  P&O cruise this year that some wines listed  in The Glass House were not allowed despite being 6.95. They refered me to the T&C's which mean they have full discretion on what is included / excluded.  You end up drinking what you can have rather than what you want. You onlly realise how bad the package  is by having the misfotunate to have chosen to buy it. P&O should drop it, ot at the very least stop calling it Ultimate.

[zap99]

18 minutes ago, BornLucky said:

Why are you baffled at the qustion coming up? Most people asking are yet to cruise and are looking for a heads up from those with recent experience.

I also doubt anyone has a total handle on the full extent of the absurd restrictions. I was told on a  P&O cruise this year that some wines listed  in The Glass House were not allowed despite being 6.95. They refered me to the T&C's which mean they have full discretion on what is included / excluded.  You end up drinking what you can have rather than what you want. You onlly realise how bad the package  is by having the misfotunate to have chosen to buy it. P&O should drop it, ot at the very least stop calling it Ultimate.

The OP had a whole string of cruises listed under their signature, including many with P&O.🤔

[Ehg]

8 hours ago, Reef Dreamer said:

We have just come off Britannia having had the drinks package.

 

We probably had good value out of it, but I wouldn’t do it again! It was ok for us because we had two kids included, we like bottled water, and had a couple of costa’s a day, on top of alcoholic drinks. Inevitably we got the odd mock tail for the kids on the side.

 

however, it drove me mad. Things like J20 not included, no fever tree for G&T, and about 4 cocktails in total are included, the rest are extra. This made it limiting which then meant we chose the drinks that were included rather than the ones we liked. I regret that.

 

also, once i wanted a small can of beer for the room - to put in the fridge - and they refused to sell it without opening it first, which led to some words being exchanged (i do feel sorry for the bar staff and endeavour to be thoughtful but also express my disappointment so they can feed it back)

 

Buyer beware.

 

18 minutes ago, BornLucky said:

Why are you baffled at the qustion coming up? Most people asking are yet to cruise and are looking for a heads up from those with recent experience.

I also doubt anyone has a total handle on the full extent of the absurd restrictions. I was told on a  P&O cruise this year that some wines listed  in The Glass House were not allowed despite being 6.95. They refered me to the T&C's which mean they have full discretion on what is included / excluded.  You end up drinking what you can have rather than what you want. You onlly realise how bad the package  is by having the misfotunate to have chosen to buy it. P&O should drop it, ot at the very least stop calling it Ultimate.

Thank you both for these really helpful responses. 
You’re right that we have previously had the  premium drinks package on Celebrity which basically means you don’t have to pay for anything extra. And we’ve not sailed on P&O since the drinks package was introduced, so we’re curing to know how it compares. 
Not well it seems! I think we will board and decide, but I’m so glad I asked the question as the responses are really helping me. Xxx

[Ehg]

3 minutes ago, zap99 said:

The OP had a whole string of cruises listed under their signature, including many with P&O.🤔

Hopefully my last post will explain. 😏

[Ehg]

48 minutes ago, zap99 said:

The OP had a whole string of cruises listed under their signature, including many with P&O.🤔

Also, thank you for bringing my attention to my out of date signature. I’ve now updated as it had some cruises on there which sadly didn’t happen. 😩

[emam]

Give this a try, but you will have to remember the restrictions that everyone has mentioned. 

 

https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/cruise-drinks-package-calculator/

[Ehg]

7 hours ago, emam said:

Give this a try, but you will have to remember the restrictions that everyone has mentioned. 

 

https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/cruise-drinks-package-calculator/

Wow! That’s nifty! Thank you! 

[Waju]

We were undecided about the drinks package many moons ago when it first came out and this is how we resolved it - we took with us £40 each per day in cash and deposited it with reception.  We then drank whatever we liked without any restrictions - we have not yet had a cruise where we didn't bring a substantial amount of our 'drinks package' home.  If we had paid for the package and not used up the £40 per day it would be lost.

 

On a sea day it is not too difficult to use it up but on a port day we would only probably have a couple of glasses of wine in the evening. 

 

It works for us 🍷

[Bazrat]

29 minutes ago, Waju said:

We were undecided about the drinks package many moons ago when it first came out and this is how we resolved it - we took with us £40 each per day in cash and deposited it with reception.  We then drank whatever we liked without any restrictions - we have not yet had a cruise where we didn't bring a substantial amount of our 'drinks package' home.  If we had paid for the package and not used up the £40 per day it would be lost.

 

On a sea day it is not too difficult to use it up but on a port day we would only probably have a couple of glasses of wine in the evening. 

 

It works for us 🍷

Did you use the speciality restaurants or buy anything onboard ?

[Dinglebert]

Its one of those odd things.  I would pay £40 a day for Royal drink package as their drink prices are high and the package is easily worth it.  On the other hand I would never pay £40 a day for the P+O one as their restrictions are complicated and their drink prices are far cheaper.  I doubt I would come close on a port day of spending anything close to the £40. 

 

It is as if P+O really didn't want to do a drinks package but as all the others had they were forced to copy.

[Waju]

37 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Did you use the speciality restaurants or buy anything onboard ?

Yes we occasionally use a speciality restaurant but we don't really use the shops - shopping isn't my thing!  We do have shareholder benefit and this gets used up first, we also still have to register a credit card.  This method works for us, of course you don't have to use cash you can just budget for £40pppd on your card - I still think most wouldn't spend it all.

[Bazrat]

26 minutes ago, Waju said:

Yes we occasionally use a speciality restaurant but we don't really use the shops - shopping isn't my thing!  We do have shareholder benefit and this gets used up first, we also still have to register a credit card.  This method works for us, of course you don't have to use cash you can just budget for £40pppd on your card - I still think most wouldn't spend it all.

Drinks package of no use to us but prefer the way Marella do it

[paulatsea]

Never found any package on any ship that was worth it - we drink prob about a bottle of wine each per day - pre dinner and dinner - perhaps a g&t or margarita.

much cheaper to payg.

 

On one ship - I can’t remember which one - the waiter tried to explain the cost / benefit saying if I drank at least 10 pints a day plus a few shorts it would be worth it - so may suit a few people !

I think some just have the package as it’s easier with billing etc and they are not too concerned with cost.

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, paulatsea said:

Never found any package on any ship that was worth it

Drinking the amount you mentioned would make the Princess Plus package worthwhile.