Deluxe drink package possible bargain

[cuatbar58]

We are travelling with our 2 grandchildren soon and have looked at the new drink packages. I have read many negative opinions on this in the past and did not consider buying a package. I realise it is an eye watering amount to pay upfront but I believe it could now work for us.

 

I have factored in the free soft drink package for the kids and paying before the cruise for the 10% discount and we have a 8.5% loyalty discount. We will also miss paying the Spanish tax. We have never gone crazy when going all inclusive in hotels and would not feel the need to do this on the cruise.

 

If we had 2 beers, 2 cocktails, 2 wines and a 1 coffee a day each along with the kids soft drinks we would be in credit. We try to pretend that we have what ever we want on holiday but to be honest we do end up having a mental budget without meaning to.

 

I think the new drinks selection is excellent and wonder if P&O are getting unfair criticism. I am interested if people might have changed their minds.

[jeanlyon]

I don't know how you work out you would be in credit with those drinks.  I worked on £8 x 2 for the cocktails, £8 x 2 for wines, £7 x 2 for beer.  I still only get to £44 and then a coffee at £4, is £48.  You both have to take the package which is £80, (or more)??

 

Then there is all the time you are ashore/

Edited August 20, 2023 by jeanlyon

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I don't know how you work out you would be in credit with those drinks.  I worked on £8 x 2 for the cocktails, £8 x 2 for wines, £7 x 2 for beer.  I still only get to £44 and then a coffee at £4, is £48.  You both have to take the package which is £80, (or more)??

 

Then there is all the time you are ashore/

I think the OP states each person is having those drinks each plus his children getting the freebies.  That would give him a total of £96 daily based on your figures.

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

I always find these discussions amusing, as ultimately each individual group is the one who should know their own drinking habits and itinerary best. 

 

At £40pppd last year on a fjords cruise, 3 of us spent less than half that, though there were only two sea days. If we were to go transatlantic however, we might think different. 

 

My only advice (if you don't sup like a fish), is to pay as you go first time for each different type of cruise, then afterwards have a look at your actual bill/consumption etc. to decide what would likely work best for you next time. 

[jeanlyon]

53 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

I always find these discussions amusing, as ultimately each individual group is the one who should know their own drinking habits and itinerary best. 

 

At £40pppd last year on a fjords cruise, 3 of us spent less than half that, though there were only two sea days. If we were to go transatlantic however, we might think different. 

 

My only advice (if you don't sup like a fish), is to pay as you go first time for each different type of cruise, then afterwards have a look at your actual bill/consumption etc. to decide what would likely work best for you next time. 

Yes I wasn't sure how to read.  We were the same  Our consumption came in at half the price of the package, mind you we don't do soft drinks at all.  There are days ashore and days when you possibly aren't well. 

[Harryjacobs]

It never works for us.  Just the pressure alone "to get my moneys worth" gives me heartburn thinking about it.  Price of drink is reasonable and Im happy to pay as i go but fully understand peoples desire to get value for money.

[Snow Hill]

We sat and worked out the pros and cons of the drinks package and given that it is a package person, we quickly came to the conclusion that it would cost us more than we actually drank. On port days we are usually of quite early and return around the 5pm for a 6pm departure, so would drink less on board in a port day. 
 

If the was a cabin option which we could use then we might consider it, most cruise companies don’t appear to offer that option for some unknown reason. 
 

Virgin Cruises offer a prepaid Bar Tab option which allows you to purchase drinks for a fellow passenger or Sailor as they call them.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Snow Hill

[Maamgu74]

I totally agree with you Cuatbar58 

2x costas each morning 

2x beers lunch 

2x ciders afternoon 

2x berry coolers

costa 

2x procescos

2x red wines Dinner 

2x Beers

2x cocktails  

4 x bottles water 

then the kids 

4x sodas a day 

2x hotchocs

6x bottled water 

this adds up to more than £40 pp per day 

and you’re getting your extra 7.5% off

making it £ 37 PDPP 

 

great choice Mate !!! 

 

 

[bee-ess]

59 minutes ago, Maamgu74 said:

I totally agree with you Cuatbar58 

2x costas each morning 

2x beers lunch 

2x ciders afternoon 

2x berry coolers

costa 

2x procescos

2x red wines Dinner 

2x Beers

2x cocktails  

4 x bottles water 

then the kids 

4x sodas a day 

2x hotchocs

6x bottled water 

this adds up to more than £40 pp per day 

and you’re getting your extra 7.5% off

making it £ 37 PDPP 

 

great choice Mate !!! 

 

 

Isn't there a limit on the amount of alcoholic drinks you can have on the package ?

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Maamgu74 said:

I totally agree with you Cuatbar58 

2x costas each morning 

2x beers lunch 

2x ciders afternoon 

2x berry coolers

costa 

2x procescos

2x red wines Dinner 

2x Beers

2x cocktails  

4 x bottles water 

then the kids 

4x sodas a day 

2x hotchocs

6x bottled water 

this adds up to more than £40 pp per day 

and you’re getting your extra 7.5% off

making it £ 37 PDPP 

 

great choice Mate !!! 

 

 

I would be waterlogged with much less than a quarter of those adult drinks.

[gsmt47471015]

Can I just confirm that if you buy before you sail you are entitled to 10% discount , are you also able to add your loyalty benefit thus possibly getting a 20% discount in our situation ? 

[cuatbar58]

Yes you do get the discount and your loyalty bonus. I would never suggest that it suits everyone but because of our grandchildren travelling with us we will have to give up our long lunches ashore so it will work for us. I have looked at the wine selection and you can have large glasses of wine that would could cost £12+ and other drinks that we probably would have denied ourselves. We are approaching retirement and I am am aware that a drink package will not appeal in the future so going for it now.

[JeanieC,Aston]

I wait for a double OBC (like now) before I book,,,,use that against the DP cost,instead of wasting it on rubbish in the shops.

[Red Leicester]

I agree with a post up there somewhere...  Find out what you drink on your first cruise and go accordingly with a package / no package on the second.  I would always go for the non-alcoholic package now, I've worked out I get my monies worth over the course of a holiday and don't then have to worry having paid up front.  No doubt some port days I don't break even but on most I easily do and then some so it balances.  I just don't drink enough alcohol to justify double the fee so I pay as I go for beer.  I think you are limited to 15 per day.  That's a lot, even at height of my student days I rarely went north of ten.

 

Each to their own on it. If you think it's worthwhile then do it, if you don't then don't!  Having paid for 90% of my drinks upfront leave me one less bill to worry about,

[sandancer]

3 hours ago, bee-ess said:

Isn't there a limit on the amount of alcoholic drinks you can have on the package ?

Yes, 15 in 24 hours. 

[gsmt47471015]

2 hours ago, cuatbar58 said:

Yes you do get the discount and your loyalty bonus. I would never suggest that it suits everyone but because of our grandchildren travelling with us we will have to give up our long lunches ashore so it will work for us. I have looked at the wine selection and you can have large glasses of wine that would could cost £12+ and other drinks that we probably would have denied ourselves. We are approaching retirement and I am am aware that a drink package will not appeal in the future so going for it now.

Well you learn something everyday, We booked the drinks package for the first time ever on our recent Azura cruise and obviously received the 10% discount but did not receive the additional 10% for been at Baltic level ? It only worked for us as we like a lot of the wines in the glasshouse, and we had a number of sea days

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Well you learn something everyday, We booked the drinks package for the first time ever on our recent Azura cruise and obviously received the 10% discount but did not receive the additional 10% for been at Baltic level ? It only worked for us as we like a lot of the wines in the glasshouse, and we had a number of sea days

I dont think you get the 10% discount on the drinks package, just your loyalty discount.

[Maamgu74]

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I dont think you get the 10% discount on the drinks package, just your loyalty discount.

You do at the moment if you book before you travel 

it’s normally £44..75 on the new package but if you book before it’s £40.75 then you’re loyalty discount 

I was surprised too

[Maamgu74]

14 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I would be waterlogged with much less than a quarter of those adult drinks.

I think you’d be very surprised to see how much you’d drink in a day 

this is based on two people not one 

😜

[Maamgu74]

13 hours ago, cuatbar58 said:

Yes you do get the discount and your loyalty bonus. I would never suggest that it suits everyone but because of our grandchildren travelling with us we will have to give up our long lunches ashore so it will work for us. I have looked at the wine selection and you can have large glasses of wine that would could cost £12+ and other drinks that we probably would have denied ourselves. We are approaching retirement and I am am aware that a drink package will not appeal in the future so going for it now.

Be silly not to in your case ! 
great idea as kids can cost a fortune for drinks on holiday 

[Selbourne]

My personal opinion is that if you have a couple of kids who get the free soft drinks package then buying the adult package is worthwhile. 
 

Just as a couple it would be a massively costly mistake for us. We’d be about £50 a day down if we bought the package 😂 

[gsmt47471015]

47 minutes ago, Maamgu74 said:

You do at the moment if you book before you travel 

it’s normally £44..75 on the new package but if you book before it’s £40.75 then you’re loyalty discount 

I was surprised too

I'm also very surprised  as my understanding when we booked it earlier this year was that you received 10% for booking beforehand and that was all we got , no mention of also been able to use your loyalty tier to gain additional benefits, just wondering if this is a recent change ( we used it on Azura in June) 

[JeanieC,Aston]

I’m sure on my Iona cruise in February if you booked in advance you got the 10% discount and the loyalty discount.

But you couldn’t use any OBC,,,,,you could use OBC and get your loyalty discount as well if you booked it when you got on the ship.

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

My wife likes a Prosecco,,,,price today onboard is £6.75 for a tiny measure.

One before dinner,one during dinner and maybe three after dinner,and three is easy if you go to different bars of an evening.

Hot day on deck maybe a couple of Cokes,,,,a Cappuccino in the morning and a Hot Chocolate for bed.

A couple of bottles of water.

Im over the DP price already.

[cuatbar58]

I must admit OBC certainly complicates the package. By using the OBC you have to pay approximately £150 more per couple. The majority of our onboard spend goes on drinks so we would have no use for it if we pre paid. We only have £150 shareholders benefit on our cruise which will be spent on ice cream etc for the grandchildren. I know you can use OBC in the shops etc but feel this would be wasted I treat OBC as real money that I have paid for when buying a select fare.