Drink package- is it worth having?

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, waddle said:

Can I ask if any liquor coffees are included in the package or is it a case or ordering a single measure of spirit and throwing it into a coffee yourself? 😀

I asked for an Irish Coffee last week and was told it wasn’t on the DP.

[Malibustacey79]

7 hours ago, waddle said:

Can I ask if any liquor coffees are included in the package or is it a case or ordering a single measure of spirit and throwing it into a coffee yourself? 😀

Sorry I’m not sure - I’m an iced coffee girl!

[Chrish2]

I noticed most of the comparisons include "wine by the glass" with an evening meal. I assume wine by the bottle is still sold?  Off package would people not order a bottle of wine with their evening meal instead?

 

Related, does the 6/12 bottles of wine on the Captain’s or Commodore’s Collection still exist?

[wowzz]

38 minutes ago, Chrish2 said:

I noticed most of the comparisons include "wine by the glass" with an evening meal. I assume wine by the bottle is still sold?  Off package would people not order a bottle of wine with their evening meal instead?

 

Related, does the 6/12 bottles of wine on the Captain’s or Commodore’s Collection still exist?

Yes, wine by the bottle is sold. We just buy the Ollie Smith house wine.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Chrish2 said:

I noticed most of the comparisons include "wine by the glass" with an evening meal. I assume wine by the bottle is still sold?  Off package would people not order a bottle of wine with their evening meal instead?

 

Related, does the 6/12 bottles of wine on the Captain’s or Commodore’s Collection still exist?

You can still buy the Captain and Commodore selections. The included bottles are listed on the website. 

[Fionboard]

Ollie Smith Bon Viveur is not the house wine any more but it is on the wine list - very drinkable and reasonably priced. The new P&O house wine, however, is awful! 

[terrierjohn]

13 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Ollie Smith Bon Viveur is not the house wine any more but it is on the wine list - very drinkable and reasonably priced. The new P&O house wine, however, is awful! 

I don't think I saw any Ollie Smith wine on the MDR wine list on Iona last month, certainly not among the reds, but I admit I wasnt looking for it, however the list is short enough that I would have thought I would have noticed it.

[Wonky]

I’m sure it’s been said before but the most annoying thing we find about the drinks packages (soft drinks included) is that both guests have to have it. Mrs Wonky will drink a maximum of one glass a day whereas, although not a big drinker, when totting up all the soft drinks during the day plus alcohol in the evening, I would get decent value.

[Fionboard]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I don't think I saw any Ollie Smith wine on the MDR wine list on Iona last month, certainly not among the reds, but I admit I wasnt looking for it, however the list is short enough that I would have thought I would have noticed it.

I do not drink it with dinner but have had it in the bars and lunch in MDR on all three ships this year. Maybe it is not on the evening MDR list though.

[galeforce9]

9 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Ollie Smith Bon Viveur is not the house wine any more but it is on the wine list - very drinkable and reasonably priced. The new P&O house wine, however, is awful! 

The White House wine is truly disgusting. It smells like lilt and oh described it as a potential headache in a glass.  We first encountered at the welcome on board lunch and left the glasses, requesting more sparkling, which is ok.  The red is tasteless but not as awful 

[Fionboard]

14 hours ago, galeforce9 said:

The White House wine is truly disgusting. It smells like lilt and oh described it as a potential headache in a glass.  We first encountered at the welcome on board lunch and left the glasses, requesting more sparkling, which is ok.  The red is tasteless but not as awful 

Yes I agree. Not tried the red but the white is not white it is yellow, which is always a bad sign! 

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

We were on the Iona 2 weeks ago- neither myself or husband drink alcohol but we thought we’d go for the non alcoholic tea/ coffee package and soda package for the 9yr old

 

No. Def not worth it. Sodas were only Pepsi, or lemonade, that was it

 

no smoothies included, really limited choice of tea pig teas, j2o not included

mocktails- there were about three to choose from. That was it.

 

it’s subjective, wether a package is right for you. But imo the choices of non alcoholic drinks was too limited

 

the prices of drinks individually are pretty good tbh. Next time we sail p&o we’ll skip the package. Live & learn

[alun.jones.nl]

A question I cannot find an answer to - so hope someone has been in a similar situation. We are travelling with our 17 year old son and thought that if we had the Drinks Package that he would qualify for the Children's drink package but found the following on the P&O site :-

 

You can pay with on-board spending money and if you purchase the Ultimate drinks package and you’re travelling with children 16 and under, their package is included without charge.

 

Does this mean he just wouldn't qualify or would we also have to pay the full cost of the Drinks Package for him even though he is not old enough to drink?

[terrierjohn]

8 hours ago, alun.jones.nl said:

A question I cannot find an answer to - so hope someone has been in a similar situation. We are travelling with our 17 year old son and thought that if we had the Drinks Package that he would qualify for the Children's drink package but found the following on the P&O site :-

 

You can pay with on-board spending money and if you purchase the Ultimate drinks package and you’re travelling with children 16 and under, their package is included without charge.

 

Does this mean he just wouldn't qualify or would we also have to pay the full cost of the Drinks Package for him even though he is not old enough to drink?

I doubt they would allow him to have the alcohol drinks package, but I imagine he could have the soft drink package, but it would not be free.

[Deltronic]

I've never found the drinks package worth it on any cruise. The main reason being is that my wife doesn't drink alcohol. Also the amount of drink you would have to consume to justify buying the package would probably make most people drunk for most of the day. I find it ludicrous that cruise companies, who are buying drinks at vast discounts and duty free, choose to make huge profits from these packages. Surely they would sell many more and make more money if they reduced the prices of these packages even if they limited the amount of drinks to 10 per day. More than enough for most mortals!

[jeanlyon]

1 hour ago, Deltronic said:

I've never found the drinks package worth it on any cruise. The main reason being is that my wife doesn't drink alcohol. Also the amount of drink you would have to consume to justify buying the package would probably make most people drunk for most of the day. I find it ludicrous that cruise companies, who are buying drinks at vast discounts and duty free, choose to make huge profits from these packages. Surely they would sell many more and make more money if they reduced the prices of these packages even if they limited the amount of drinks to 10 per day. More than enough for most mortals!

Actually all anyone needs to do, provided they have cruised before is look at their last bill and compare it to the package.

 

Our last bill was £560 for 19 nights.  Package over £1200!   we have a large glass of wine in the bar and a bottle with dinner.  I have the odd coffee.  We don't do soft drinks at all, so that might make a difference.  I see people at the pools drinking vast quanities of coke etc.

[zap99]

30 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Actually all anyone needs to do, provided they have cruised before is look at their last bill and compare it to the package.

 

Our last bill was £560 for 19 nights.  Package over £1200!   we have a large glass of wine in the bar and a bottle with dinner.  I have the odd coffee.  We don't do soft drinks at all, so that might make a difference.  I see people at the pools drinking vast quanities of coke etc.

We used our £560 obc on Arvia and had to cough up £6 for 14 nights. Drinks,coffee a few  speciality meals and a bottle of perfume. A couple joined our table at the afternoon quiz one day. He had 3 pints and the Lady 3 glasses of wine. I guess some folk like to get full value from their drinks package.

[Dobbers]

It’s a no from us. Had it on our last cruise (20% discount offer) and didn’t drink anywhere near the package cost and I get cans of Diet Coke at £3.30 as a mixer as I don’t like the pump fakery syrup/soda mix.

I also found the fruit/herbal teas in the buffet were quite good and no extra charge.

Our next cruise is just under 3 weeks away and the package is on offer at just over £1400. It will be interesting to compare what we do spend.

[Red Leicester]

Not sure how this thread got randomly revived after 18 months! 

 

As I said above back then drinks packages are very marmite.  Either love or hate.  If you want one then take it.  If you don't think it's worth the value then don't.  Don't sweat the small stuff about what others do, their choice!

 

Mrs RL and me take the soft drinks package, weighed it up and it works for us.  Pay as we go on alcohol.  It'll be different for others no doubt and that's fine.

[JeanieC,Aston]

Hi

My wife likes Prosecco,,,,2 before dinner,2 during dinner and 2 after dinner at £6.25 a glass that’s your days DP paid for.

Not much is it with 125ml glasses.

Me,,I drink like a fish my DP is paid for by 17:00 hrs.

 

Each to their own I say,,,as my old dad used to say ‘If it suits the wearer beggar the starer’

Edited May 21 by JeanieC,Aston

[JeanieC,Aston]

13 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

My wife likes Prosecco,,,,2 before dinner,2 during dinner and 2 after dinner at £6.25 a glass that’s your days DP paid for.

Not much is it with 125ml glasses.

Me,,I drink like a fish my DP is paid for by 17:00 hrs.

 

Each to their own I say,,,as my old dad used to say ‘If it suits the wearer beggar the starer’

Edit.

It is now £6.45 for a Prosecco not £6.25.

[Mymarina Bay]

We came back recently from a 7 day Arcadia cruise our spend was £300 between the two of us.  This included a meal in Sindhu, three bottles of wine in MDR (not same night), drinks before and after dinner including cocktails, costa coffee and Irish coffee for me nearly every day . No soft drinks only water. Also a couple of purchases from onboard shop. We had exactly what we wanted and still came in under the drinks package cost.

 

What I have an issue with is PO upselling the drinks package to customers who don't understand what the package includes. There was a lady on our cruise travelling solo and a first time cruiser age early 70s at a guess. She had been sold the drinks package and thought this meant tea & coffee in cabin, at breakfast, lunch and dinner.  She knew it was 15 drinks per day but had barely touched alcohol the whole cruise. Our waiter explained she could have what she liked but she was very reluctant saying she would rather drink unlimited tea/coffee. She had booked directly with PO and the agent had sold her the package saying she wouldnt have to worry about her drinks bill at the end of the cruise.  It really irked me that she had been taken advantage of when it was obvious no one had explained to her exactly what she was purchsing.

[Megabear2]

Yes, they really are pushing it.  They couldn't understand why I didn't take it for my Baltic cruise when they could see it on my Caribbean one. I didn't see the need to explain but it was a bit off putting.

[showingdiva]

That would irk me too.   I'm teetotal, but included in my drink package (MSC) is:

 

Non-alcoholic cocktails - there's about 10 to choose from

Fresh fruit and protein cocktails

Energy drinks

Sodas / soda by glass and bottle - Full fat Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite and Fanta

Flavoured water

Wide range of hot drinks

Soft serve ice cream - up to four flavours, sauce and toppings

 

(Beverage gratuities included)

 

No limit.  Cruising out of the UK, works out at £21 pppd

[Sussexboy]

Just got off Arvia this morning. We did not get the drinks package as it did not seem to offer good value for money. We like a glass of wine with dinner, a cocktail or two before and after, and various sundry drinks scattered here and there. According to my calculations from the final bill, we saved £630 by pay as you go rather than having the drinks package. That is a considerable difference. There were several off piste drinks that would not have been covered by any package, that Remy XO was just too tempting.